On Baptist / Evangelical Belief and Practice


  INTRODUCTION --- MY RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND              2/98

   The following is a collection of things I have written over the 
   last 25 years on Baptist / Evangelical belief and practice.  My 
   background is fundamentalist Baptist.  I grew up attending a 
   fundamentalist Baptist church and accepted Christ as my Savior 
   when I was 9 years old.  The Baptists have placed a very strong 
   stamp on my beliefs and outlook and I owe a great deal to them.  
   However, from my early youth I have wrestled with certain of 
   their beliefs, trying to square them with reason and common 
   sense; trying to sort things out in my mind.  I have long been 
   unhappy with the Baptists in many ways.  I attended a Baptist 
   church when I was in college and then after college I started 
   sampling a lot of different churches, Baptist and others, to 
   find one that I really felt good about, really liked, trying a 
   different one every Sunday.  This continued for many years, 
   along with my wife after I got married, and I finally gave up 
   and we now attend no church.  We have attended churches in most 
   of the mainline denominations.  My wife was raised Catholic and 
   for a period of years we attended Catholic churches a lot, but 
   although I like the Catholic worship service, there is too much 
   in Catholic belief and practice that I could not possibly 
   accept.  For a period of years we attended a number of Assembly 
   of God churches (Pentecostal), but never shared the Pentecostal 
   experience, were never really one of them, and always had 
   reservations and doubts about them.  My religious outlooks are 
   strongly conservative so the liberal churches, Baptist and 
   otherwise, turn me off in a second.  Consequently we have 
   always gone to conservative type churches.  I have always 
   listened to my feelings, my deepest intuition, my deepest 
   instincts, in regard to these matters.  And my feelings have 
   always led me to be dissatisfied, to look more, to move on.  I 
   can be turned off not just by beliefs that I don't agree with 
   but also by a spirit that I don't think is right.  I look for 
   the spirit that characterized early Christianity.  I have been 
   turned off by many churches, mainly conservative Baptist, 
   because I didn't like the spirit that I sensed.  I have seen a 
   great deal of hypocrisy, foolishness and scandal in churches 
   (conservative, fundamentalist churches).  I am disillusioned 
   with churches.  My Christianity is now just a quiet, personal 
   one.  It has always been my habit to avoid reading any kind of 
   religious propaganda -- and that means any religious literature 
   from any religious denomination.  I don't wish to be influenced 
   by other people's ideas on what Christianity is or what the 
   Bible means.  I prefer to read only the Bible and to make up my 
   own mind on just what it means.  I know from experience the 
   power of hard preaching to bend and manipulate the mind.  As a 
   consequence I tend to be skeptical of preachers. 

   One of my main criticisms of evangelical Christianity is the 
   following:  I observe that a "repent, turn from your sin" 
   message is not being preached very much today.  Instead a "just 
   accept Jesus" message is being preached.  And I suggest that 
   this "just accept" message is a falsehood, a theological error, 
   a self-perpetuating, self-propagating Satanic lie, that causes 
   deep self-deception and a sham Christianity that tends to be 
   superficial, only "skin deep"; a Christianity lacking in real 
   substance.  Even those preachers who do preach repentance tend 
   to mix it with the "just accept" message; they preach 
   repentance one minute and then a minute later they are 
   preaching the "just accept" message, causing an ambiguity and 
   mental confusion because they are really preaching two 
   different and conflicting messages.  The "accepting" is 
   supposed to, in some miraculous way, make you a Christian.  
   They tell us, "don't trust your feelings, if you don't feel 
   like a Christian it is nothing to be concerned about, your hope 
   of salvation is based on God's promise, you have to just have 
   faith in his promise."  Well, our feelings and intuition warn 
   us when we are being imposed upon by untruth, lie and fraud.  
   We make a big mistake if we don't listen to them.  Listen to 
   those feelings, that intuition, within you.  It can tell you a 
   lot that simple reason may not.  When the logic becomes too 
   intricate, abstruse, vague and obscure, have doubts.  If the 
   proposition sounds too good to be true it probably is.  
   
   I believe in reason, common sense, perspective, mental balance.  
   I distrust the highly dogmatic, highly doctrinaire.  I feel it 
   leads into self-deception, self-delusion and mental problems.  
   It is easy to get sucked into a religious quagmire that is very 
   difficult to get out of.  I believe that religion can be very 
   dangerous business. 
     
   In the following I have been quite hard on conservative 
   Baptists.  In all fairness to them, however, it does seem like 
   they have tended to remain closer to Biblical teaching and 
   Biblical moral standards than most other denominations.  We 
   don't hear, for example, of conservative Baptists out 
   performing homosexual marriages or ordaining homosexual 
   ministers as you do in many other denominations.  Indeed I have 
   been hesitant about putting this set of articles on the 
   internet.  I have had them on, removed them, then put them back 
   on again.  I am sure there are many good Christians among 
   Baptists and other evangelicals and I have mixed feelings. 
   
   In some of the following pieces I may be accused of over-
   generalizing.  In some cases it may be a valid criticism.  
   Whenever you make a general statement on subject matter of this 
   nature there are likely to be exceptions, instances where the 
   statement is not true.  And there is considerable variation 
   among evangelical denominations.  They are not all alike by any 
   means.  So when I have made statements about evangelicals, for 
   example, there may be denominations for which the statement 
   isn't valid.  And I make no claim to infallibility.  However, I 
   would say this: read these pieces to see if you see any truth 
   in them.  Perhaps you will find thoughts and insights that will 
   be of benefit to you.  Each individual knows best if the shoe 
   fits.  If it fits put it on.  My object in writing these pieces 
   was the search for truth.  Honesty.  I believe in it.


  WHERE I DISAGREE WITH BAPTIST FUNDAMENTALISTS            4/81


   There are two things that fundamentalist Baptists emphasize 
   over and over, two main points of their doctrine, that sets me 
   apart from them.  Although I may not wish to totally disagree 
   with them I don't like their fanatic, uncompromising emphasis 
   on these points.  These two points are: 

   1. Eternal Security (Once saved, always saved).  This point is 
   closely related to their emphasis on salvation being guaranteed 
   through compliance with a rather ritualistic formula (i.e. 
   "Accepting Christ as your Savior", "Giving your heart to 
   Christ"). 

   2. Salvation is by faith not by good works.  Baptist 
   fundamentalists fanatically emphasize that salvation is not by 
   good works.  They repeat this over and over again.  They 
   have, in fact, become so biased and polarized against the idea 
   of "salvation by good works" that you never hear anything about 
   the value of Goodness and Virtue in their sermons.  They have 
   become so carried away, so fanatical, that they have totally 
   separated the ideas of Goodness and Virtue from religion.  It 
   has nothing to do with religion in their minds.  Their sermons 
   are devoid of reference to it.  They live in a spiritual vacuum 
   devoid of it.  To mention it would be an act of treason to 
   their doctrine.  Now that I have been away from Baptistism for 
   awhile I note that "salvation by good works" is just another 
   way of saying "salvation by following God's commandments and 
   teachings" and that is not very far from my own view of 
   "salvation through faith in God and following his 
   commandments".


  MY CRITICISMS OF BAPTIST CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES           10/77


   I question the prudence, value or propriety of the following 
   customs, practices and tendencies in conservative Baptist 
   churches: 


    - Various contests.  Sunday School contests, Bible reading 
       contests, Visitation contests.  To me a church should be a 
       place of worship, quiet reflection and reverence.  These 
       contests give it a commercial, worldly air.  It becomes 
       more like a circus than a church.  I just don't like these 
       contests.  I think they destroy the proper atmosphere for 
       worship.  Church is not the place for competition and 
       emulation. Competition is worldly, not spiritual.  Indeed 
       it is sin. 

    - tendencies for preachers to intersperse jokes and levity 
       into sermons.  I don't like it, don't think it is proper or 
       right for a house of worship. 

    - tendencies toward emotionalism in the sermons.  The best 
       sermons are considered to be the hard-hitting tirades and 
       harangues.  I mistrust this emotional tendency.  They 
       resemble too closely the tirades and harangues of Adolf 
       Hitler.  They stir strong emotions and create strong 
       beliefs, feelings and attitudes but I have my doubts about 
       those beliefs, feelings and attitudes generated.  Too many 
       are too unchristian and wrong.  Hard-hitting, nice 
       sounding, categorical statements are too deceptive.  They 
       sound great and true, stir strong feeling, but too often 
       contain hidden grains of error.  This type of preaching is 
       too much like brainwashing.  To me Christian belief is an 
       appreciation of spiritual truth and an honest trust in God 
       that comes only with quiet teaching, reflection over holy 
       scripture, and observation of life.  I don't think true 
       Christianity is the blind, militant fanaticism this type of 
       preaching leads to. 

    - the strongly doctrinaire emphasis.  The preaching tends to 
       be highly theoretical, abstract, obscure and visionary.  It 
       tends to be made up of obscure deductions and reasonings of 
       a highly impractical and theoretical nature arrived at by 
       parsing holy scripture (this is a consequence of the pride 
       they take in preaching the Bible only, relying on no other 
       source but holy scripture for their beliefs).  At any rate 
       I am highly skeptical of highly theoretical, visionary and 
       abstruse arguments and reasonings.  I like the simple and 
       uncomplicated.  I like both feet firmly on the ground. 

    - public, extemporaneous praying.  I have my doubts about this 
       type of praying.  I feel the prayers tend to be empty; many 
       nice sounding words saying nothing; that people "pray to be 
       heard" as the Pharisees in the Bible.  Jesus said to go 
       into your closet to pray and I think his injunction was a 
       good one.  I would prefer a good prepared prayer to an 
       empty extemporaneous one. 

    - practice of giving testimonies.  I don't like this practice.  
       It is too much like boasting.  People give testimonies just 
       because others expect them to or they "feel they should".  
       They give a testimony and contradict it with their life, 
       doing more damage than good.  I think too much folly comes 
       of the practice.  I think the best testimony is the good 
       life.  I distrust too much talk. 

    - their aggressiveness and pushiness in witnessing and soul-
       winning.  They give the impression that it is one's duty to 
       aggressively accost strangers on the street and speak to 
       them about their spiritual welfare. I think one's life and 
       example are his best witness, that it is impolite, 
       unchristian and useless to attempt to push anything down 
       someone's throat.  At most, you have a duty to witness only 
       to those who know you, have confidence in you, and want to 
       hear what you have to say.  Talking to someone about his 
       spiritual welfare is very touchy business.

    - Wednesday evening prayer meetings.  I am doubtful about them 
       for the same reason I am doubtful about extemporaneous, 
       public praying.  I am in favor of restricting praying to 
       the closet.  I think public praying tends to be empty, 
       shallow and "done to be heard". 

    - Bible studies.  I don't like them.  I think they result in 
       more bad and folly than good.  They produce a lot of half 
       thought out ideas and opinions.  I don't think that one can 
       arrive at deep spiritual truth by discussion.  Discussions 
       only give the foolish consensus of common, superficial 
       minds and thoughts.  For me, deep spiritual truths are 
       discovered only in the quiet of solitude --- through 
       thought, reflection, meditation on holy scripture, and 
       observation of life. 

    - Sunday Schools.  I think they are mostly a waste of time.  I 
       don't think I ever learned anything in Sunday School.  I 
       learned on my own --- through serious reading of the Bible. 

    - obsession with building bigger and bigger.  Many Baptist 
       preachers spend the most of their time harping on one of 
       the following topics: 1. Importance of attending all 
       services   2. Importance of becoming involved in church 
       activities  3. Giving money to the church  4. Going out 
       "calling" (to bring more people into the church)   5. Soul-
       winning. Three quarters of their time is spent talking 
       about one of these topics. This seems to be the sum total 
       of what "spirituality" means to them.  If you do these 
       things that is all that is necessary.  You are then a 
       spiritual person.  That is the extent of their spiritual 
       depth.  It just doesn't impress me.  It sounds to me more 
       like an ambitious preacher trying to build an empire for 
       himself; like the worldly ambitions of an unspiritual man 
       seeking his own aggrandizement.  Every one of these themes 
       has the single result of building a bigger and bigger 
       church.  And bigger and bigger churches bring in more and 
       more money. 

    - they "pick and choose" from holy scripture.  They pick that 
       which agrees with their dogma and doctrine and omit that 
       which they don't like.  They emphasize the "plan of 
       salvation" and "eternal security" and use scripture that 
       bears out their beliefs in these areas but totally 
       disregard any scripture that speaks of the importance of 
       obedience, goodness and just living.  They totally gloss 
       over and ignore any scripture that deals with the 
       importance of love, forgiveness, kindness, meekness, 
       patience, etc.  Thus, in fact, they are very dishonest in 
       their treatment of holy scripture.  They are guilty of the 
       very thing they so rabidly accuse others of.


  HOW THE BAPTISTS DECEIVE THEMSELVES                11/77


   How do the Baptists deceive themselves?  They think that 
   interest in  dogma, doctrine, and sophisticated theological 
   arguments is equivalent to being serious about God.  It isn't.  
   Seriousness about God is seriousness about his commandments;  
   seriousness about obeying them.  Baptists become so completely 
   hung up in theological sophistries and subtleties that they 
   never become serious about God.  It is their stumbling block.  
   It stands between them and God.  They never get past it.


  THE BAPTIST CHURCH --- A BASIC SOURCE OF EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS        
                                                            11/77

   I have known a great many conservative Baptists over the years.  
   It is the group of people I have always been among and 
   identified with.  And after so much experience with a 
   particular group of people, after such a good sized sample of 
   acquaintances, one starts feeling he is able to make some 
   generalizations.  Specific groups of people do often tend to be 
   alike in certain ways, to carry certain marks which identify 
   them, to be characterized by certain personality traits or 
   attributes.  And the conservative Baptists do have some strong 
   ones.  How often I have said to myself, "Why is it that the 
   nasty, critical, disagreeable people always turn out to be 
   conservative Baptists?" or "Why do so many conservative 
   Baptists seem to have emotional problems?"  These are two 
   strong distinguishing marks that seem to characterize them.  
   Why?  The reasons are perhaps complicated and many.  Perhaps 
   the basic reason is that they overreact to Modernism and 
   Liberalism and fall into the sin of Hate.  Perhaps the fault 
   lies in their basic theology, with its strong emphasis on 
   "salvation by grace, not by works" and its "once saved, always 
   saved" doctrine, causing them to regard "obedience" as 
   optional.  Perhaps it lies in their idea that as Christians 
   they are supposed to be out aggressively testifying, witnessing 
   and winning souls --- and the negative response they receive 
   when they do this.  Perhaps the cause lies in their 
   preoccupation with doctrine and theological argument.  And 
   perhaps there is another basic reason, too.  It lies in their 
   basic conception of what sin is and what goodness, spirituality 
   or "being a Christian" should consist of.  Their concept of sin 
   is drinking, smoking, dancing and sexual immorality but it 
   (their concept) is completely silent, completely blank, with 
   regard to the subjects of Hate, Anger, and Strife.  They have 
   only a partial concept of what constitutes sin.  There are 
   missing elements in their concept.


  CONSERVATIVE BAPTISTISM --- A LOPSIDED RELIGION           10/77


   When one looks at conservative Baptistism in perspective 
   certain salient features stand out.  One is that it preaches a 
   very slanted, skewed, version of Christianity.  The entire 
   emphasis is on "the plan of salvation" and the doctrine of 
   "eternal security".  They dwell on these subjects totally.  
   They totally slight the value and rightness of Love, Kindness, 
   Forgiveness, Peaceableness, etc. or the folly and wrongness of 
   Hate, Malice, Strife, etc..  They preach only the part of 
   the Bible they want to preach, the scriptures that support 
   their doctrine, and totally ignore everything else.  They don't 
   see anything else.  They don't want to see it and really don't 
   see it.  Their minds are blinded to it.  Why is this?  I think 
   there are two reasons: 

     1. The modernists, their enemies, preach love so they won't 
        preach it. 

     2. Their doctrine on salvation causes it.  In particular the 
        "eternal security" (i.e. "once saved, always saved") 
        aspect of the doctrine.  How does it do it?  The doctrine 
        of "eternal security" causes almost of necessity, by its 
        very nature, the following attitude:  "Follow the formula 
        or recipe for salvation.  Be saved.  Give your heart to 
        Jesus.  That is all that is important.  Once you have done 
        that you are 'in'.  If you haven't done that you are 
        'out'.  Once you have done it you have 'arrived'  --- you 
        are 'there'.  There is nothing more --- nothing more to 
        desire or to be had".  In this attitude there is no 
        appreciation of the importance of Spirituality --- no 
        appreciation of the absolute vitalness of spiritual 
        values, attitudes and outlooks; of right thinking and 
        feeling, of a right heart towards God.  Salvation is 
        simply an action.  Once you have done it it is done.  The 
        questions of "following", "doing", "implementing 
        Christianity in your life" and "spirituality" are 
        questions apart and get no emphasis.  They tend to assume 
        that the totality of Christian responsibility, the 
        totality of Spirituality, lies in "witnessing", "soul-
        winning" and evangelization.  Instead of being a religion 
        focusing on "what you are" and "substance" it focuses on 
        "an action performed".  Consequently, since the questions 
        of Spirituality, Morality, and Right Living are questions 
        apart and not relevant to Salvation, since it is only 
        "Salvation" that is really important, they choose to not 
        talk about the subjects of Morality and Spirituality at 
        all.  Their reason?  It might cloud their simple and easy 
        formula for Salvation.  Unsaved people might get confused, 
        might think "works" are part of "Salvation".  The result 
        is a kind of spiritual vacuum.


  BAPTIST DOCTRINE STUNTS SPIRITUAL GROWTH             3/88



   The Baptist doctrine of "once saved, always saved" (eternal 
   security) stunts spiritual growth.  It more than stunts it.  It 
   kills it.  Why?  Because it gives the convert the idea that he 
   now has everything that there is to be had, that he now has all 
   that is important.  Once he is saved he has it all.  There is 
   no more to seek.  He now has the whole extent of spiritual 
   knowledge.


  THE FALLACY IN BAPTIST BELIEF               12/91



   The first and foremost question of the Baptist is:  "Are you 
   saved?"  That is their only question.  If you answer "yes" then 
   you are safe.  You are going to heaven.  You are one of them, 
   one of the "elect", one of the few, one of the "chosen".  You 
   have done everything that is needed, done all that matters.  It 
   is around this idea that their entire doctrine is shaped and 
   molded.  They have an entire vocabulary built around this idea: 
   they talk in terms of words and phrases like "being converted", 
   "being saved", "being born again", "accepting Christ as 
   Savior", "believing in Christ", "confessing Christ", etc. most 
   of which do indeed come from the Bible.  What they mean by the 
   term "getting saved" is, at some time in your life, repenting 
   of sin, turning from sin, turning to God and promising to 
   follow him.  The formula is often stated in this way, at least.  
   Or it may be stated in other ways such as "Ask Jesus to come 
   into your heart", or sometimes as simply as just: "Accept 
   Christ as your personal Savior.  Salvation is a free gift.  All 
   you have to do is accept it. It is that simple."  It is an act 
   which, they stress over and over, is essential for each man to 
   do at some time in his life.  I do believe that it is important 
   for every person, at some point in his life, to repent of his 
   sin, turn away from it, turn to God and follow him.  So what is 
   wrong with their beliefs and ideas, what is wrong with their 
   theology and dogma?  Where is the fallacy in their thinking, 
   where do they deceive and delude themselves?  They deceive 
   themselves in the idea that this act (or any act performed in 
   one's past) can be counted on to guarantee the salvation of 
   your soul --- that the salvation of your soul is guaranteed by 
   some action that you can take.  This idea gives them a 
   smugness, assurance and a kind of arrogance that is not 
   justified.  To me the important question determining whether a 
   person is a true Christian or not is not whether, at some time 
   in the past he turned away from sin and turned to God, but 
   whether he is following in God's way now, is now living a 
   righteous, godly life.  Moreover, I don't see the salvation of 
   the soul as clear cut as the Baptist sees it.  I feel pretty 
   sure that if a person follows God's way and lives a righteous, 
   upright life he will go to heaven.  But I don't know anything 
   for sure, I am not the final judge, God is the final judge.  I 
   only hope and believe this is the case.  I have faith that it 
   is the case.  I believe God is a merciful God and if even a bad 
   man, on his deathbed, repents of his sin and turns to God, God 
   will save him (as Christ promised the thief on the cross). 

   The truth is if one were to look at a list of all the things I 
   believe and don't believe and then looked at how the Baptists 
   believed in regard to the same list one would be struck by how 
   much we have in common, how similar our beliefs and sentiments 
   were.  Yet we are also very far apart.


                          BAPTISTISM                        3/94



   "ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the 
     truth"

   a religion of gross self-deception and self-delusion, a 
     religious cult brainwashed into believing its own lies

   conceitedly regarding itself as the elect, a privileged people 
     with sole knowledge of the truth, while being as far away 
     from the truth as east is from west 

   a people who are prisoners to their own self-delusions and 
     self-deceptions 

   going to church two or three times a week to renew the 
     brainwash, to freshen it up, to keep it from fading away 

   What is its error?  Its error lies in thinking that 
     Christianity is a thing of the head instead of a thing of the 
     heart, a matter of possessing the right dogma and doctrine 
     rather than a matter of servitude, piety and practice.  It is 
     the error of thinking that being in possession of the 
     directions to Timbuktu is the same thing as being in 
     Timbuktu.  It is the error of viewing salvation as something 
     guaranteed by performance of a simple act --- rather than a 
     thing dependent on the condition of the heart.  It is the 
     error of attempting to reduce salvation to a simple cut and 
     dried formula. 

   The animal says he is a lion, believes he is a lion.  But he 
     doesn't look like a lion, he doesn't roar like a lion, and he 
     doesn't walk like a lion.  He looks like an ass, brays like 
     an ass, walks like an ass and kicks like an ass.  So what is 
     he?


  WHY BAPTISTS ARE SO SHALLOW SPIRITUALLY         9/94



   Q. Why are Baptists so shallow and vacuous spiritually?

   A. It is because they have embraced such a doctrinaire system 
   causing their minds to become calcified, rigid, narrow.  One 
   must understand what gives spiritual truth, spiritual depth.  
   It is thought, reflection, observation, reason.  It is an 
   ongoing impartial quest for truth and understanding.  It is 
   thinking about things, reflecting over things, philosophical 
   thought.  The Baptist believes he has all that there is to be 
   had once he walks to the front of the church and is "saved", 
   "converted", "born again".  Once he has done that all is done.   
   He thinks he has it all, knows it all.  All that remains is to 
   "testify", to "witness", "to rescue the perishing".   He then 
   stops seeking, stops learning, stops thinking.  He just accepts 
   the Baptist line, the dogma, and parrots it.  Spiritual depth 
   comes from constant observing, constant experience in life; 
   constant learning about life, ourselves and other people; 
   constant examining, questioning, doubting (within a context of 
   love of God, faith in God, commitment to God).


  BAPTIST DELUSION                     3/98


   The "plan of salvation" is the heart and core of Baptist 
   teaching.  All of their doctrine revolves around it.  It is the 
   main thrust of every sermon.  Every sermon is a sales pitch.  
   They keep emphasizing the simplicity of it:  salvation is a 
   gift from God --- all you have to do is just accept it.  It is 
   that easy.  And then at the end of every service they call on 
   people to "give their hearts to the Lord" ("accept Christ as 
   Savior", etc.).  And the truth is they do have hold of an 
   important truth and have things partly right: repenting of your 
   sin and turning to God, giving your heart to him, is indeed the 
   critical first step one must make in becoming a Christian.  
   That is a critical and important truth.  The problem is it is 
   only the first step and it isn't what makes you a Christian.  
   Walking in God's way is what makes you Christian.  And they 
   don't talk about that part.  For them that step of "accepting 
   Christ" is everything.  Walking in God's way is a completely 
   separate issue and totally disconnected from the subject of 
   salvation.  And this is why their teaching is such a big fraud 
   and deception.  People are told that when they "accept Christ" 
   they automatically become a "new creature in Christ Jesus" by 
   some miraculous process ---- and it is not them that effects 
   that change, it is God that does it.  And in believing that 
   comes the self-deception.  What actually happens is that they 
   regard themselves as transformed creatures, born-again, but in 
   reality the majority of them don't change at all --- they just 
   continue the same old person.  Some may change some but it is 
   probably short-lived because the preachers completely neglect 
   talking about the practice of Christianity, the importance of 
   following the way of Goodness and Virtue.  They are told they 
   are different from the world, they believe they are different 
   from the world, but they are no different from the world.  They 
   are just laboring under a grand delusion. 

   Promising to do a thing is not the same as doing it and 
   committing yourself to God is not the same as following him.  
   Their great error: the idea "once saved, always saved".  It 
   leads to great self-deception.


  EVANGELICAL BELIEF ON SALVATION             3/98

   Evangelicals, most of them at least, believe that a person will 
   or will not go to heaven according to whether he has or has not 
   performed a certain action.  If he has performed that action he 
   will go to heaven; if he has not, he will not go to heaven.  
   The action alone determines whether he will or will not go to 
   heaven.  It follows then as a direct corollary that after he 
   has performed the required action nothing else in the way of 
   actions, conduct, attitudes, values, beliefs, affections, etc. 
   has any relevance or bearing as to whether he goes to heaven or 
   not.  It is a totally separate issue, an unrelated matter.  He 
   can live an immoral, profligate life, do anything he wants, and 
   still go to heaven.  This conclusion follows immediately and 
   inescapably from their belief.  They may hem and haw when asked 
   about this but it is a direct consequence.  And, of course, 
   this conclusion stands in direct conflict not only with a large 
   body of scripture, but also with common sense.  If it were true 
   God would be a God of sham.  Wicked people would be going to 
   heaven and good people would be going to hell.  Let us now 
   compare their view that a person's eternal destiny is 
   determined by the performance or nonperformance of some action 
   with my view that it is determined by the affections of the 
   heart and mind (i.e. whether a person loves God and is 
   following in his way or not).  Their view is legalistic and 
   mechanical, nonsubstantive; my view is substantive --- it 
   refers to what a person is, what drives him. 

   The evangelicals use various phrases to describe the action to 
   be performed in order to go to heaven:  "accept Christ as your 
   personal Savior", "give your heart to Jesus", etc.  These 
   phrases are somewhat vague and nebulous as to their meaning and 
   their meanings vary --- they are not completely consistent with 
   each other and really represent different criterions for 
   salvation  (some are just rewordings of those scripture that 
   state that if you just believe in Jesus you will be saved).  
   However, in practice, the action generally involves just saying 
   a prayer to God telling him that you want to accept Christ as 
   your Savior, give your heart to him, etc.. 
   
   The evangelical question is, "Did you give your heart to 
   Jesus?"; my question is, "Is Jesus the lord of your heart?"  
   They want to know if you have done something; I want to know 
   what you are, who is in control of your heart.  Do I have any 
   objection to someone giving his heart to Jesus?  Of course not.  
   It is the proper place to start.  But one must keep one's mind 
   clear on what makes one a Christian.  I believe you are not a 
   Christian because you have done something; you are a Christian 
   because of what you are, because of who is ruling your heart.  
   And I know that the beliefs and doctrines of evangelicalism 
   lead into deep self-deception.


  HOW THE EVANGELICAL COMES ACROSS TO OTHERS              6/79


   How does the evangelical come across to the non-evangelical?  
   What kind of impression does he make?  The impression is one of 
   arrogance, presumption, and self-righteousness.  One of 
   irritating, disgusting hypocritical piousness and presumption.  
   Why?  Because the first and only thing the evangelical wants to 
   know about you is "Are you saved?" or "Are you a Christian?"  
   And you are at an immediate disadvantage because he is really 
   asking if you have complied with his evangelical formula for 
   salvation (i.e. the act of "accepting Christ as Savior") and if 
   you have not, no matter how religious you may be, no matter how 
   seriously you may take the things of God or how much faith you 
   may have or how seriously you follow God's teachings and 
   commandments you are unsaved, a non-Christian and are going to 
   hell.  You are immediately struck by the presumption and 
   arrogance with which he uses the term "Christian" for he has 
   usurped the word, bent it so as to make only him and his group 
   "true Christians".  In his mind only those who have complied 
   with his formula are true Christians.  To him all the world is 
   divided into two camps --- the saved and the unsaved --- and 
   the saved are those who have complied with his formula.  It is 
   a black and white world.  All that really matters in life is 
   whether you are "saved" --- and that means whether or not you 
   have complied with his magical formula for salvation.  And as a 
   consequence of this belief the evangelical carries the 
   compulsive feeling that he is supposed to be always witnessing, 
   evangelizing and trying to "win souls".


  PSYCHOLOGY OF THE EVANGELICAL                   11/77

                 
   - evangelicals don't seek after spiritual depth, wisdom and 
       spiritual understanding.  They feel they already have it.  
       They spend all their time and energy trying to justify 
       their doctrinal positions and dogmas. 

   - evangelicals don't pursue Goodness or Righteousness
       as the first call of God.  They feel they already 
       have it (they would argue that they have been "made 
       righteous" by the blood of Christ). 

   - I think evangelicals are afraid of the idea of "trying to be 
       good".  I think their doctrine and dogma instills the fear 
       into them that it is dangerous to "try to be good"; that 
       one runs the risk of falling into a trap of the devil, the 
       trap of "depending on Goodness for one's salvation".


  HYPOCRISY, PERSONAL DISHONESTY, AND FALSENESS AMONG 
      EVANGELICALS                     11/77
                                                              

   God has said that if we truly seek him we will find him.  I 
   believe that is true.  I think the key to finding true 
   spirituality is earnestness, sincerity and honesty (honesty 
   with ourselves and with God).  It is only when we read the 
   Bible in true honesty, earnestness and sincerity do we really 
   understand it.  I think the biggest problem that conservative 
   Baptists, and evangelicals in general, have is the one of 
   honesty.  They have a problem of self-delusion, self-deception.  
   They are forever reading the Bible but they simply are unable 
   to read it honestly.  The problem is all that dogma that they 
   have been indoctrinated with, the dogma on salvation, etc. that 
   stands in their way and prevents them.  Instead of reading it 
   honestly all their preconceived notions and dogma makes them 
   try to bend it and twist it to fit their own ideas.  This is 
   one way in which they are dishonest.  There are others, too.  
   They want to be zealous for God.  They work themselves into 
   great zealousness.  But how do they channel their zealousness?  
   In going to all the many church services --- morning worship, 
   Sunday School, evening service, prayer meeting, ladies 
   fellowship, etc..  In going "calling" on Thursday nights.  In 
   getting involved in the church, teaching Sunday School, taking 
   a job as an usher, etc..  In going out with groups to 
   "witness".  All these things and more.  But in all these things 
   they are deceiving themselves.  They are not being honest with 
   themselves or with God.  They are grossly duping themselves.  
   Why?  Because in doing all these things they are evading the 
   true point, the essential point.  They are not facing up to 
   what God really wants.  God wants spirituality.  And 
   spirituality just does not consist in these things.  
   Spirituality comes with first being honest with God, being 
   truly honest, sincere and earnest with him.  And when you are 
   truly honest with God you realize that what he is really 
   interested in is Goodness --- that Goodness is the first 
   calling of a Christian --- not activities.  He wants you to 
   look for your sin, ferret it out, and try to get rid of it.  He 
   wants you to focus your mind on changing yourself, trying to 
   improve yourself.  He wants you to at least try to obey him.  
   He wants you to take his commandments and injunctions 
   seriously.  He wants you to face yourself and to face him --- 
   he wants honesty --- an honest response on your part.  His main 
   concern is not a lot of deeds, actions and talk, his main 
   concern is "what you are".  He wants a better person, a good 
   person.  He wants you to channel your efforts into changing 
   yourself, not the rest of the world (at least not at first).  
   He wants you to focus on your own values, attitudes, priorities 
   and outlooks.  He wants you to look at yourself --- your own 
   heart.  The object is a "new you" first of all;  you can 
   convert the world second.  Spirituality comes first;  
   evangelization comes second.  

   So, because of the evangelical emphasis on "activity" rather 
   than on "spirituality" we see how it is possible for a person 
   to be so zealous and fervent, always doing a lot of religious 
   talking, boldly attempting to "win souls", involved in all 
   kinds of church activities, yet at the same time, be an 
   unhappy, angry, hate-filled person, confused and mixed up. On 
   the one hand we see all kinds of religious cant and pious talk 
   and on the other a person angry at the world, hostile, without 
   any warmth or love for others, a person putting the lie to 
   everything he says by everything he is.  He lives in a home 
   filled with argument, strife and turmoil and is forever 
   gossiping and speaking badly of other people.  It is all called 
   hypocrisy, that terrible sin that so often affects the 
   religious, the sin Jesus hated so much and condemned so 
   pitilessly. 
  
   There are reasons evangelicals get caught up in this web of 
   self-deception:  
   
   1. They believe, by their doctrine, that on becoming converted, 
   immediately on accepting Christ as Savior (i.e. "being saved") 
   they are in some mystical way, suddenly transformed beings, 
   "new creatures in Christ Jesus".  Thus, because of this, they 
   tend to assume that they then have everything they need, all 
   the spirituality, wisdom and understanding that is to be had.  
   Thus there is no real impetus, no motivating force, to push 
   them to seek spirituality.  They are taught not to trust their 
   feelings, that feelings lie;  that if they don't feel like a 
   Christian, if they feel a dearth of faith or belief or 
   spirituality, if they "don't feel saved", not to worry about 
   it;  that feelings lie and are not to be trusted.  They are 
   taught that "being a Christian" is not based on feelings but on 
   "promise" (God's promise, as found in various scriptures, that 
   if they perform a certain action they are saved) --- all of 
   this, just more of the grossest self-deception and personal 
   dishonesty. 

   2. They put up "evangelization" as the sole purpose of 
   Christianity, the one and only important responsibility of the 
   Christian.  He has one mission, purpose and responsibility --- 
   to "win souls".  Thus the attention given to spirituality, to 
   spiritual growth, to the need for spiritual understanding is 
   zero. 

   3. They argue that a person can't be good on his own power, but 
   only as God gives him power --- that Goodness is a fruit that 
   must come of itself. 


   And so we see that underneath a lot of religious talk and cant, 
   underneath religious zealousness, can be a lot of the most 
   grave self-deception, dishonesty and falseness.  And all this 
   shows why a person who never goes to church may be a lot more 
   serious about God, a lot more spiritual really, than the most 
   religiously zealous person.  And that is the reason why a very 
   religious person can have so many problems (emotional and 
   otherwise) and the person who never goes to church so few.  The 
   main thrust of Christianity is to follow God's holy law, follow 
   one's conscience, be good and do good, and a person who has 
   never opened a Bible or gone to church can do that just from 
   his own conscience and good sense --- and God honors him for 
   it. 

   Do I think all evangelicals are hypocrites?  I think that due 
   to their particular religious doctrines and practices there are 
   very strong forces that tend to push them in this direction.  
   The evangelical's mind is blinded to that deep spiritual truth 
   that "Goodness is the first calling of a Christian" --- and 
   nothing else, not soul-winning, not anything, ranks with it.  
   To start out with, God wants one thing.  Goodness.  With 
   Goodness (Honesty, Morality, Love, etc.) we are all God wants 
   us to be, we will automatically "stand out" as a light to the 
   world, we will bring glory and honor to his holy name and 
   delight to his heart.  From the condemnations of Christ on 
   hypocrisy one might well wonder if the sin that God hates the 
   most is not Hypocrisy.  God is not a God of sham or falseness.  
   He is a God of honesty, goodness and truth.  Religion without 
   Goodness is sham and fakery.  Talk without substance is sham 
   and fakery --- detestable to God and a curse to Him and his 
   gospel.


  ON RELIGIOUS JARGON                                     11/03


   I don't like religious jargon, stock religious phrases, 
   religious cant.  Let the language of the Christian be plain, 
   honest and simple.  I don't trust jargon. I think it leads to 
   deception, not just deception of others but also deep self-
   deception.
   
   You often hear evangelicals, especially missionaries and 
   ministers, say they were called by God to do this or that, God 
   directed them to do this or that, or they were led of the Lord 
   to do one thing or another.  When I hear statements like this I 
   am immediately skeptical.  I think, "On what basis do they say 
   God called them to do something or told them to do this or 
   that?  How did he communicate his wish?  Did they actually hear 
   his voice?  If so, how do they know it was his voice and not 
   the voice of the devil?  Or do they just make the assumption 
   that if an idea played on their mind to do a thing it was God 
   who put the idea there and therefore the idea represents His 
   will?  And if this is the case, what kind of self-deception is 
   this?"  It is easy to make such statements and if you are doing 
   something because God told you to do it, who can question the 
   action?  You have God behind you.  There is at least the 
   possibility here of dishonesty and an attempt to manipulate.  
   And I suspect that that is very often the case.  Now if a 
   person were to say that he felt that God wanted him to do this 
   thing or that, that is an honest statement of how he felt and I 
   would have no problem with that.  There are different ways of 
   saying things, some honest and some not. 
 
   There are a lot of phrases that you sometimes hear religious 
   people use.  Called by God, directed by God, led of the Lord  
   are just some.  Examples of others:  the center of God's will, 
   God laid it on my heart to do one thing or another, submission 
   to God's will, led of the Spirit, sanctification by the Holy 
   Spirit.  They often have their origin in some system of 
   theological dogma and carry with them implicit assumptions.  
   People pick them up from Christian literature, or from hearing 
   them frequently, and start using them.  I think that is a very 
   unwise practice.  I distrust dogmatic systems.  I read only the 
   Bible and distrust Christian literature.  Trusting doctrinal 
   systems and the ideas and teachings of man leads to 
   intellectual dishonesty, hypocrisy, deception --- and most of 
   all, self-deception.  And these things lead to deep emotional 
   problems.


  EVANGELICALS GUILTY OF SELF-DECEPTION               4/77



   I believe a lot of evangelicals (Baptists, Pentecostals, etc.) 
   fall into the trap of self-deception due to their emphasis on 
   "talk" (i.e. witnessing, testimonies, etc.) and their 
   inclination towards rigid dogma and doctrine.  Instead of 
   saying what they really do feel and think they say what they 
   think they should feel and think, kid themselves into thinking 
   they really do feel and think what they are saying they feel 
   and think, and thus perpetrate a hoax on themselves and others.


  EVANGELICALISM                          9/83



   Tony.  Aggressive, pushy, rude and obnoxious.  And religious!  
   A Baptist!  What a combination!  But how often it has happened 
   that that person who has come to my attention as standing out 
   from others as being especially obnoxious, nasty and 
   emotionally and mentally messed up has turned out to be a "born 
   again Christian".  And the ones who are messed up the worst 
   usually turn out to be Baptist.  It is a definite pattern.  I 
   have seen it too many times. "Born again" people are so often 
   confused, messed up people.  There is something about 
   evangelicalism that messes people up.  Evangelicalism is like a 
   disease and people who catch it start exhibiting certain 
   symptoms.  It twists and changes them according to certain 
   patterns and in ways that are not good.  Why?  I am not sure 
   exactly but the following are some of the things that I think 
   contribute and are, at least, partial causes: 


    - Because of their emphasis on Christ's commandment "Go ye 
        into all the world and preach the gospel" they put a lot 
        of emphasis on witnessing, testifying, etc. and feel under 
        obligation to go about witnessing.  The preachers 
        continually tell them that if they are Christians it is 
        their duty to be witnessing and testifying to those around 
        them.  Thus they feel that they ought to be continually 
        witnessing and testifying (where they work, where they 
        live, etc.) and feel guilty if they are not.  Yet it is a 
        difficult and impractical charge for it only brings 
        dislike and ridicule down upon their heads if they do it.  
        Who wants to have someone trying to impose his religious 
        views on you or telling you that you are going to hell if 
        you don't believe in his way?  Just that simple practice 
        is enough to ensure them of being obnoxious pests.  Doing 
        it brings rejection, ostracism and discrimination.  And if 
        you do it at your job it can be dangerous.  You can make 
        enemies and lose your job.  As a result most Christians 
        have enough sense to keep your mouths shut.  Losing your 
        job is serious business.  Especially if you have a wife 
        and children that are dependent on you.  So, as a 
        consequence, they usually don't do what they feel they 
        ought to be doing (making for a big differential between 
        the ideal of their beliefs and the practice of them). 

    - They believe that they are fundamentally different from 
        other people.  This creates a sort of wall between them 
        and the rest of humanity, a wall created in their minds 
        and existing in their minds.  The reason they think they 
        are different is because they believe that once you are 
        converted and become a "born again Christian" you are 
        miraculously changed and transformed in some mysterious 
        way, that you suddenly have God's spirit within you 
        whereas formerly you didn't.  Once converted you are one 
        of the "saved", one of the few who will go to heaven;  all 
        the rest of mankind will go to hell.  Your conversion has 
        made you special and different, substantively different, 
        from other people. 


    - Their simplistic formula for becoming saved can be rather 
        difficult to support intellectually and they become all 
        hung up trying to defend it and rationalize it to 
        themselves.  Since belief without works can get pretty 
        close to sham their doctrines can get hard to defend.  
        They sense the weaknesses in their doctrine, the 
        shallowness of their doctrine, the holes in their 
        doctrine. 


    - Because of their emphasis on salvation by faith and not by 
        works they tend to grossly slight the value of goodness, 
        virtue, uprightness and Christian practice.  Thus they 
        become spiritually weaker and weaker (they become less and 
        less spiritual) and end up spiritually vacuous.  The 
        natural concepts of honesty, integrity, kindness and 
        morality as measures of goodness and Godliness become 
        forgotten and replaced with the duties their preachers 
        keep harping about (namely, much attendance of church 
        services, being active in the church, giving money to the 
        church, testifying to others, reading the Bible each day, 
        etc.). 



   So once they start making themselves obnoxious to others by 
   testifying and witnessing, they become friendless and isolated.  
   They start disliking others, start becoming hostile to others, 
   and start regarding themselves as martyrs to their faith.  One 
   thing leads to another.  They are rejected, scorned, spurned 
   and laughed at by others and they respond with anger and 
   bitterness and become confused, unhappy and mixed up.  
   Unwilling to admit they are wrong they become stubborn, 
   hostile, militant, angry and hard to deal with.  They are angry 
   at society because they are rejected and spurned and they are 
   rejected and spurned because they are angry at society.  It is 
   all an ugly vicious circle.


  EVANGELICALISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM --- DELUSION AND BRAINWASHING             
   8/86 

       
   Evangelicalism.  Fundamentalism.  Isn't there a dark side to 
   them.  If one is to be perfectly blunt about it, aren't these 
   religious movements deeply wrapped up in deep mind-bending, 
   brainwashing, self-hypnosis and self-delusion?  I think they 
   are.  And they can so powerfully delude and brainwash that one 
   is very lucky if he can ever get out from under them once they 
   have a firm hold on him.  If he does manage to break away from 
   their hold it is likely to take years.  And there is nothing 
   more able to cause emotional and mental imbalance and confusion 
   than deep self-delusion, self-deception and brainwashing.  The 
   most confused and unhappy people I have known have been 
   evangelical fundamentalists.  It is a whole body of theory and 
   practice that I am deathly afraid of.  I have to consider it a 
   variety of Christian apostasy.


  PITFALL OF THE EVANGELICALS                   4/86



   Evangelicals emphasize certain things to the neglect and 
   exclusion of everything else.  To name these things that they 
   emphasize: 


       - doctrine            - giving money to the church 
       - Bible study         - being actively involved in church 
       - witnessing              activities
       - testimonies         - the "gospel" message 



   They emphasize these things to the point of fanaticism.  They 
   become so obsessed with them, so carried away with them, that 
   they become intellectual automatons.  The consequence of it is 
   that they become starved spiritually and end in spiritual 
   emptiness, spiritual bankruptcy.  What is it that is so vital 
   to spiritual growth and health that gets neglected, crowded out 
   and excluded?  The search for spiritual understanding.  The 
   process of asking questions, the process of inquiry. The search 
   for knowledge of self.  Spiritual truth and understanding comes 
   from thinking, questioning, and examining.  It comes from 
   observing life, learning from life.  It comes from asking what 
   is important in life and what isn't.  It comes from reading 
   things that wise and thinking men have written down through the 
   ages.  It comes from searching for truth and understanding, 
   from whatever the source.  It comes from listening to your 
   feelings and intuition, from listening to the light that lies 
   within you (if your basic feelings and intuition tells you 
   something is wrong, listen).  And it comes from serious reading 
   of the Bible. 

   True Christianity is a thing of the heart, a thing of the right 
   values, outlooks and priorities.  The obsessions and 
   fanaticisms of evangelicalism create a religion of the head, a 
   religion of ideas instead of feelings.


  EVANGELICALISM                          5/87


      
   Traits and Characteristics

       - extravagant claims, hype, propaganda, exaggeration 

       - salesmanship, selling, commercial atmosphere, "selling of 
           the gospel" 

       - too many words, too much talk, too much public praying, 
           too much religious cant, an abundance of words and no 
           substance 

       - a Christianity that is all words and no substance, all 
           froth and show and nothing underneath 

       - glib talk, easy formulas, self-deception; an easy, 
           effortless Christianity; a Christianity without self-
           discipline, self-denial or self-sacrifice


  A STUDY IN EVANGELICAL HYPOCRISY                       4/89

     
   An evangelical Christian goes to church twice on Sundays and 
   also to the midweek prayer meeting services; reads his Bible 
   continually; is always giving testimonies in church about all 
   the things God has done for him; involves himself in all the 
   church activities; goes calling with others from his church 
   every Tuesday evening, inviting outsiders to come to his 
   church; believes that only he and his particular sect are saved 
   and will go to heaven; abstains from alcohol, smoking, dancing 
   and profanity. 

   At the same time this person is warped and twisted by anger, 
   hatred, envy and jealousy.  He is steeped in bitterness and 
   hostility.  He is disagreeable, mean and unloving.  The 
   atmosphere in his home is hellish.


  EVANGELICAL DOCTRINE AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS        12/89



   Q. The evangelical doctrine that you become a born-again 
   Christian though the unbelievably simple formula of "accepting 
   Christ as Savior", through a simple one-time act, through a cut 
   and dried recipe, makes the question of whether a person is a 
   Christian or not a very clear-cut thing.  What is the effect of 
   this doctrine psychologically? 

   A. It causes people to feel they belong to a special group, an 
   elitist group, that they are substantially different from other 
   people.  Regarding themselves as the only ones who will be 
   saved, they see their group as privy to special knowledge, to 
   "The Great Spiritual Secret", to final, ultimate Truth.  It 
   creates an illusion in their minds, a delusion.  And it creates 
   within them a certain presumptuousness and arrogance.  In 
   addition, it acts to isolate them psychologically from the rest 
   of humanity.  They come to think they are so different from 
   everyone else and lose sight of how little different they 
   really are. 

   When one reads the great works of ancient times, many of 
   which are written by pagans, one realizes how much alike we all 
   are and how men of many religions, cultures and ages have 
   penetrated to deep spiritual truths. 

   It is interesting to note that when you take as your criterion 
   for "being a Christian" that of "faith" or "righteousness 
   before God" the question of who is a Christian and who is not 
   becomes much less clear-cut.  The criterion is much more 
   nebulous and indistinct, more a matter of judgment best left 
   for God to decide.  When this is your belief the big delusion 
   of being so different doesn't take place.


  PARALLELS BETWEEN COMMUNISM AND EVANGELICALISM         12/91


   There are parallels between the fanatical Communist and the 
   fanatical evangelical:  They are both committed to an ideal 
   that is unrealistic, a body of doctrine that doesn't correspond 
   to Reality.  They are both victims of brainwashing, hypnosis 
   and self-deception.  They are both intellectually dishonest.  
   They both need to keep hearing their own lies over and over to 
   keep going.  They are both subject to the psychological 
   consequences of personal self-deception. 

   What is the core of the evangelical lie?  It is the 
   evangelical's recipe for salvation:  the idea that one's 
   salvation is guaranteed by a simple, ritualistic act, a magic 
   formula  i.e. "confessing Jesus before men", "believing in 
   Jesus", "going forward", the act of "accepting Christ as 
   Savior".  It is something that is the main thrust of all their 
   sermons, something they repeat over and over, harp on 
   continually.  And it is dangerous because it is half true --- 
   it is a half truth.  All of their doctrine is shaped and molded 
   to this idea.  They keep repeating the lie to themselves, 
   hypnotize themselves, believe it through constant repetition.


  THE EVANGELICAL ASKS THE WRONG QUESTION AND CONFUSES HIMSELF     
                                                          3/96

   The evangelical (Baptist and many others) asks the wrong 
   question.  They ask, "Is he saved?" or "Is he born again?"  By 
   this question what they really mean is, "Has he at some time in 
   the past performed a certain act (which they term 'being 
   saved') which involves making a profession of faith in Christ?"  
   It is something like a ritual that supposedly gives a 
   guaranteed ticket to heaven. The question they should ask is, 
   "Is he a righteous, God-fearing man; a man who loves God and is 
   faithful to him?"  The criterion they use for deciding if a 
   person is a true Christian or not, a true child of God or not, 
   is wrong.  They may claim that if a person is "truly" born 
   again he automatically loves God and is faithful to him.  But 
   in fact their actual test is an act, a ritual (albeit quite 
   possibly a sincere one at the time).  They are engaging in 
   specious logic and being deceived by their own sophistic 
   arguments.  As often happens with complicated doctrine, 
   difficult logic often leads to conclusions that don't square 
   with practical facts and Reality. 

   Because evangelicals ask the wrong question they see other 
   people wrong and they see themselves wrong --- they see 
   everything wrong.  They are the deceived.  These basic 
   assumptions cause them to make fallacious judgments with regard 
   to others and themselves.  Their basic assumptions distort and 
   warp their vision of others, of themselves, and of spiritual 
   truth in general.  They are children of Error; the Self-
   deceived.  Salvation is a question of spiritual substance not 
   one of having said some magic words, performed some mystical 
   act, had some mystical experience, or complied with some magic 
   formula.  God is not a God of sham or farce, not a God to be 
   fooled.  He looks at substance.  It is not what you say but 
   what you are that counts.  It is important that we judge others 
   and ourselves according to substance and not according to some 
   past act.  This makes making judgments of others more difficult 
   because only God really knows the heart, only God can really 
   judge substance (the evangelical has a very easy time passing 
   judgment on others because his test is very cut and dried and 
   easy to apply --- you just need to get the answer to a simple 
   question). 
   
   All this is not to say that it is not important for a person, 
   at some time in his life, to turn away from sin and the ways of 
   this world and to turn to God.  That is important and 
   constitutes a very important act in your life, but it is not 
   that act that saves you; it is your love of God and 
   faithfulness to him that saves you.  It is of critical 
   importance that one understands that salvation is a question of 
   spiritual substance and not of past actions or past religious 
   commitments (even if sincere).  Being faithful to God is a hard 
   road requiring self-denial, restraint and discipline.  It is 
   doing right and eschewing evil out of faithfulness and loyalty 
   to him because we love him.  It is a road that creates 
   character.  It is a road exemplified by such Biblical 
   characters as Abraham, David and Job in the Old Testament.


  THE EVANGELICAL MESSAGE --- DECEPTION         3/96
                                                           

 
   The evangelical will tell you, "just accept Christ as your 
   personal Savior and you will be saved", "just believe on Christ 
   and you will be saved", etc.  He will say, "Just accept God's 
   salvation, it is a free gift, all you have to do is just accept 
   it.  It is unbelievably simple.  You just say a simple prayer.  
   Here, I can help you, just repeat after me ....   There, your 
   salvation is assured.  You have God's promise on it -- and God 
   cannot lie.  You just have to have faith in his promise."  And 
   they back up their assertions with lots of scripture.  All this 
   is a dangerous, fraudulent deception --- self-deception.  The 
   true child of God, the person who will go to heaven, is the 
   person who loves God and is faithful to him by living an 
   upright, Godly life; it is not that person who is distinguished 
   by the fact that at one time or another in his life he has 
   publicly declared a faith in God or an intention to serve God.  
   At least such a person is not necessarily a child of God. 

   In this age of convenience, easy fixes for everything, magic 
   pills to solve every problem, evangelicalism could be called 
   the "magic pill" religion.  Just swallow this magic pill and 
   you will be saved.  It is the "easy recipe" religion, the "sure 
   and easy way" religion.  It is interesting that the style of 
   preaching of the evangelicals often closely resembles the high-
   pressure, "hard sell" styles of certain types of salesmen. 

   Note that many statements that Jesus made, especially in the 
   gospel of John, do appear to support evangelical beliefs, 
   teachings and doctrine.  If you ask me to explain these 
   statements I cannot.


  EVANGELICAL CRITERION FOR BECOMING SAVED         4/96



   What are the phrases that evangelical Christians use to 
   describe what one must do to be "saved"?  Let us list them: 

         - accept Christ as your personal Savior
         - accept Christ as your Savior
         - accept Christ as your Lord and Savior
         - profess your faith in Christ
         - make a profession of faith
         - surrender your heart to Christ
         - give your heart to Christ
         - give your heart to the Lord
         - serve the Lord
         - surrender your heart to the Lord
         - get saved 
         - be born again

   Let us examine these phrases.  What do they mean?  Suppose a 
   person completely unfamiliar with Christianity, a being from 
   some other planet, say Mars, were to hear them.  What would he 
   think they meant?  Would he find their meanings clear?  Are the 
   meanings all equivalent? 

   Where did the above phrases come from?  How many of these 
   phrases can you find in the Bible?  If they didn't come from 
   the Bible where do you suppose they came from?  Can we guess 
   that they came out of attempts of the founders and forerunners 
   of evangelicalism to summarize what they thought was required 
   in order to be saved? 

   What does it mean to "accept Christ as your personal Savior"?  
   To just say to Christ, "I now accept you as my personal 
   savior"?  Will these words, sincerely said, do?  Is that what 
   is meant?  What support can you find in the Bible for this 
   phrase as the means for becoming saved?  Is it simply a little 
   different wording from the words of Jesus, "Believe in me and 
   you will be saved"?  

   How do the above phrases compare with my own formula for going 
   to heaven: "Turn away from sin and evil, renounce it, and turn 
   to God and be faithful to him by leading an upright, righteous 
   life"?  Are they the same?  My formula focuses on God, not 
   Christ.  But yet, Christ said he was God, so is there a 
   difference?


  DOES THE EVANGELICAL MESSAGE WORK?            1/97

                
   Does the evangelical message of "Turn to God", "Give your heart 
   to Jesus", etc. work?  Let me respond to this question in this 
   way.  In my observation of people and life over the years I can 
   say that there are things that definitely do work, that 
   definitely make a great difference, all the difference.  Let us 
   list some of them: 
     
   Virtue, goodness, morality, patience, temperance, hard work, 
    industry, perseverance, honesty, integrity, character, 
    humility, kindness, self-denial, self-reliance, frugality, 
    good sense, good personal habits. 
   
   Now, after examining this list, let us ask, "Are not these very 
   things taught to us by the Bible and Christianity?"  If we 
   follow the commandments of God and Jesus are we not on the 
   right track?  If to turn to God means to us to turn our back on 
   wrong values, attitudes, outlooks and habits and to embrace 
   right values, attitudes, outlooks and habits then I would say 
   that the message of the evangelicals works.  The message in 
   this case really does transform us and turn us into new 
   creations in God.  If, however, turning to God means to us only 
   a lot of things like belief, faith, going to church a lot, 
   reading the Bible a lot, praying, testifying, becoming 
   mesmerized by a lot of complicated dogma, tithing, involvement 
   in a lot of church activities, engaging in a lot of pious talk, 
   etc. and does not include those things in the above list then I 
   would say the message does not work.  It does not work, at 
   least, in the sense that it creates happy, well-balanced, 
   spiritually whole people. 

   My philosophy:  Love God and, for his sake, live upright, godly 
   lives.  Forget the pious talk.  Talk simply.  Talk little.  
   Actions speak louder than words.


  THE CONDITION FOR SALVATION                    8/76
    

   Is a person saved by virtue of a decision or commitment he has 
   made at some point in his past life or by virtue of a current 
   "right heart toward God"?  (Note that in the Old Testament the 
   latter criterion was the one used).  If you ask a Baptist if he 
   is saved (or if he is a "Christian") he will automatically ask 
   himself if he has ever, in the past, "accepted the Lord" (i.e. 
   "accepted Christ as Savior", "given his heart to Christ", etc.) 
   and his answer will be yes or no based on whether he has or has 
   not performed that past action.  He feels that when he performs 
   this action something mystical happens to him in which he 
   suddenly, miraculously and mystically, "becomes a new creature 
   in Christ Jesus --- old things are passed away and all things 
   become new".  He may not feel any different but he claims that 
   it is indeed so because, he says, the Bible says it will happen 
   and the Bible cannot lie.  Thus he claims it on the basis of 
   the promise of the Bible.  It is perhaps the most central part 
   of Baptist doctrine.


  INTELLECTUAL AND LOGICAL PROBLEMS IN THE "SALVATION BY FAITH" 
   POSITION     11/77 


   There are intellectual and logical problems in the theological 
   stance that we are saved solely by virtue of our belief or 
   faith in Christ, that belief or faith are the sole criterion or 
   requirement for salvation.  Why?  Because of the vagueness of 
   the words.  And because one can well ask "How much belief?" or 
   "How much faith?"  There many degrees of belief, many degrees 
   of faith.  There is a spectrum.  At one end of the spectrum 
   belief and faith can be very near zero.  Also, toward the low 
   end of the spectrum they become mere intellectual assent.  Can 
   a person be saved solely by simple intellectual assent?  Do not 
   even Satan and his devils believe?  Are they saved?  Thus the 
   whole theological position can become very subtle and illusive 
   when thought about.  At one extreme, under an extreme 
   interpretation, it can lead to a religion that is obviously 
   sham.  And we know God is not a God of sham.  The whole 
   criterion is just such a very vague and poorly defined one.  It 
   just doesn't tell with enough precision what attitudes, what 
   condition of the heart, is required for salvation.  [ How much 
   more explicit and clearly understood, for example, is the 
   following criterion: "A person is saved if he repents of sin 
   and turns to God, takes him seriously, fears him, and follows 
   him" or "A person is saved if he repents of sin, turns to 
   Christ, takes his teachings seriously, and sincerely and 
   earnestly endeavors to follow them"? ]  Of the salvation by 
   belief or faith criterion it is just too easy to ask the 
   question "What is the minimum amount of belief or faith 
   required?"  and then we get into trouble.  We all know that a 
   person can be a long ways from God, have a heart very out of 
   tune with God, and still have a certain amount of belief or 
   faith.  [Incidentally, what is the difference between belief 
   and faith?  From the F&W Dictionary definitions it would seem 
   that the meanings are so close as to be indistinguishable or 
   almost indistinguishable.] 

   So if we take for our theological position the "salvation by 
   belief or faith" criterion we wind up in the situation of 
   having a very vague, nebulous, ill-defined criterion on a very 
   important subject (salvation).  What does that spell?  It 
   spells confusion, disagreement, strife, anger, prejudice, and 
   an inclination toward subtle and sophistical reasoning.  It 
   spells falling right into the snare of the devil (all of the 
   above are sins).  It spells getting all tangled up in a net of 
   constantly having to justify foolish contentions that don't 
   make sense or square with experience;  trying to defend things 
   that, down deep in our hearts, we know are false;  of getting 
   hopelessly tangled up in a lot of self-deception and self-
   delusion.  All problems of the Evangelicals. 

   We would be much wiser to take for ourselves a much clearer, 
   more easily understood, more workable criterion for salvation.


  NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR SALVATION                4/85


                               
  Repentance stated to be a necessary condition for salvation.
      
     Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of 
     heaven is at hand.   (Matt 4:17) 

     I came not to call the righteous but the sinners to 
     repentance.  (Mark 2:17) 

     They went out and preached that men should repent.   (Mark 
     6:12) 

     I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one 
     sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just 
     persons which need no repentance.   (Luke 15:7) 

     ... that repentance and remission of sins should be preached 
     in his name among all nations.   (Luke 24:47) 

     Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be 
     blotted out ...    (Acts 3:19) 





  Obedience to God's commandments as a necessary condition for 
     salvation. 

     For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in 
     heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.    
     (Matt 12:50) 

     If a man love me he will keep my words.  And my Father will 
     love him and we will come into him and make our abode with 
     him.   (John 14:23) 

     If you keep my commandments you shall abide in my love.  Even 
     as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his 
     love.   (John 15:10) 

     Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.   (John 
     15:44) 

     Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his 
     commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his 
     commandents is a liar, and the truth is not in him.   (I John 
     2:3,4) 

     Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into 
     the kingdom of heaven.  But he that doeth the will of my 
     Father which is in heaven.   (Matt 7:27) 

     If we walk in the light ... the blood of Jesus Christ his son 
     cleanseth us from all sin.   (I John 1:7) 

     Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is 
     good.  He that doeth good is of God.  But he that doeth evil 
     hath not seen God.  (III John 11) 

     For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.  
     And his commandments are not grievous.   (I John 5:1) 

     What does it profit, my brethern, though a man say he hath 
     faith, and have not works?  Can faith save him?  ... faith, 
     if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.  Yea, a man may 
     say, You have faith and I have works.  Shew me thy faith 
     without thy works and I will shew you my faith by my works.  
     Thou doeth well.  The devils also believe and tremble. 





  Believing that Christ was the messiah.

     In many of the statements that Christ made he seems to assert 
     that believing that he is the messiah or that he is the Son 
     of God is a necessary condition to salvation.  For example, 
     he told the Pharisees, "So I said to you that you will die in 
     your sins.  For if you do not believe that I am He, you will 
     die in your sins."   (John 8:24) 


      



  "Believing in God" stated as a condition for salvation

     Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and 
     believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and 
     shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death 
     into life.   (John 5:24) 







  "Believing in Christ" stated as a condition for salvation.

     For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
     Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
     have everlasting life.  He that believeth on him is not 
     condemned.  But he that believeth not is condemned already, 
     because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten 
     Son of God.   (John 3:16,18) 

     Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath 
     everlasting life.   (John 6:47) 

     Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.  He 
     that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live.  
     And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.   
     (John 11:25,26) 

     But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is 
     the Christ, the Son of God.  And that believing ye might have 
     life through his name. (John 5:24) 





     The most of the scriptures above that present "believing in 
     Christ" as a condition for salvation present it not only as a 
     necessary condition for salvation but also as a sufficient 
     condition i.e. they imply that nothing more is needed.  No 
     repentance from sin, no departing from evil, no obedience to 
     God, no godliness or righteousness are specified as being 
     required.  Just "believing" is sufficient to get us into 
     heaven.  This is perplexing, however, because we also know 
     that even the devils believe and tremble.  (James 2:19)  
     There is here a conflict, an inconsistency, a paradox, a 
     source of intellectual confusion, that has plagued 
     Christianity down through the centuries.  Even the early 
     apostles (Paul, John, James, etc.) seemed to spend a great 
     deal of time and effort grappling with it.  The cause is the 
     difficult inconsistency in the words of Christ himself.  On 
     the one hand he taught repentance, departing from evil and 
     obeying God.  On the other hand, he often appeared to say 
     that just "believing in him" was a sufficient condition for 
     salvation (which just doesn't seem right or to make good 
     sense).  Out of this has come all that the apostle Paul had 
     to say on the subject of Faith and Works, out of it rose 
     Martin Luther's break with the Catholic Church and the rise 
     of Protestantism, out of it has risen the teachings of John 
     Calvin, John Knox and the doctrines of modern evangelicalism.  
     Through the ages it has been the root cause of basic 
     disagreement and conflict between Christians.


  NEW TESTAMENT CRITERION FOR SALVATION --- SAME AS THE OLD         
    TESTAMENT CRITERION?          3/85


   The pre-Christian, Old Testament message in regard to salvation 
   seems to be that preached by John the Baptist:  "Repent of your 
   sins, forsake evil, turn to God.  He will then forgive you of 
   your sins and save you."  This message seems to be the main 
   thrust of the Old Testament.  We hear it there again and again.  
   Now I ask a question:  Did Jesus, when he came, change this 
   recipe for salvation?  Did the criterion for being saved change 
   with the arrival of Jesus?  What exactly is the "gospel" (i.e. 
   the "good news") that the New Testament represents?  Did Jesus 
   add anything to this Old Testament recipe for salvation?  If so 
   what?  Jesus was God.  Does it make sense that God, at some 
   point in human history, would change the recipe for the 
   salvation of the human soul?  Jesus made a number of statements 
   in reference to salvation.  Many of his statements seem to 
   say that the recipe for salvation is believing or trusting in 
   him (those which imply that the criterion is believing in him 
   are somewhat intellectually troublesome because we know that 
   even the devils believe and tremble).  At other places Jesus 
   makes statements which emphasize the importance of following 
   his teachings and commandments and "living in him" as critical 
   to being a true disciple of his.  And, in addition, to these 
   statements that Jesus made in regard to salvation we know that 
   Jesus also endorsed John the Baptist and his message.  So from 
   all the statements that Jesus made in regard to the subject of 
   the salvation of the human soul did he attempt to present any 
   new criterion for salvation, one any different from that 
   presented by John the Baptist and the Old Testament?  If so, 
   what was it and how was it different?  The modern day 
   evangelicals have a couple of phrases which they use as a 
   recipe or formula for salvation:  "accepting Christ as your 
   personal Savior" and "giving your heart to Christ".  What 
   exactly and precisely do they mean by these phrases?  Exactly 
   what do they entail?  Do they represent a different criterion 
   for salvation from that presented by John the Baptist?  If so, 
   how is that criterion different?  Are they suggesting that you 
   can be saved through a ritualistic, one-time act that will 
   guarantee your salvation regardless of what you may do, or what 
   spiritual turns your heart may take, subsequent to that act? 

   There is a problem for the Christian in the John the 
   Baptist / Old Testament recipe for salvation.  The recipe makes 
   no mention of Christ.  Yet most of the teachings of Christ can 
   also found in the Old Testament.  He added little, if anything, 
   to what is taught in the Old Testament and he endorsed the Old 
   Testament and its teachings.  Since Christ claimed to be God is 
   perhaps belief in God, trusting in God, revering and serving 
   God equivalent to belief in Christ, trusting in Christ, 
   revering and serving Christ?  Christ came down to earth for a 
   very specific and theologically important purpose:  to pay for 
   the sins of mankind by dying on the cross;  to be that 
   sacrificial lamb whose blood would atone for man's sins in 
   order that sinful man could be saved.  But did he actually 
   change the criterion for salvation?

    
  WHAT DOES THE BIBLE HAVE TO SAY IN REGARD TO THE CRITERION FOR       
   SALVATION?         12/91


   What criterion will God use in deciding the eternal destiny of 
   the human soul?  On what criterion will he base his decision in 
   deciding whether a soul will be sent to heaven or to hell?  
   What does the Bible have to say on the subject of salvation?  
   What criterion does it set forth that one must meet in order to 
   go to heaven?  This question we have just asked is probably the 
   most important of all religious questions.  What does the Bible 
   have to say?  If we  collect all the passages together that 
   have something to say on this subject (and there are many, 
   especially in the New Testament) we would have a very difficult 
   time stating a clear answer to this question.  Some passages 
   seem to give one criterion, other passages another criterion, 
   and still other passages still another criterion.  When one 
   puts all the different passages together it is not at all clear 
   what the real criterion is.  Some of the criteria seem to be at 
   odds with other criteria.  There seems to be some 
   inconsistencies and contradictions between different passages 
   of scripture.  There may be a number of passages that would 
   suggest one criterion but then there are also a number that 
   would suggest a quite different criterion.  So, considered all 
   together, all these different passages give a rather nebulous 
   and confusing answer to the question.  In fact, they give no 
   clear answer.  The words and phrases that are used in defining 
   the criterion are often rather vague and nebulous.  One can 
   well ask questions like: "What precisely is meant by phrases 
   such as 'belief in Jesus', 'faith in God', etc.".  I personally 
   believe that the real criterion amounts to "turning away from 
   sin, turning to God, and following him by leading a righteous, 
   upright life."  This seems to be the criterion implied by much 
   of scripture and it appeals to my reason and common sense. 

   All I have said, I state as what I think is an impartial 
   assessment of the situation.  As a Christian I think one of the 
   first and most important things that are required of me is 
   honesty.  And I must then be honest in my appraisal of this 
   situation. 

   One of the big mistakes that evangelicals make is to claim that 
   the Bible gives a clear, unequivocal answer to the question of 
   how to be saved.  When they do this they are just not being 
   honest.  They are not being honest with themselves or with 
   others.  This is the beginning of their self-deception.  It is 
   their first big mistake.  They present their particular formula 
   for salvation and quote all the scripture that supports this 
   formula.  And they say the Bible is perfectly clear and there 
   is just no question.  What they do is to simply ignore and 
   refuse to see all the scripture that conflicts with their 
   particular viewpoint.  They persist in lying to themselves in 
   this regard and soon come to be perfectly blind to all 
   scripture that is inconsistent with their viewpoint.


  CONDITIONS FOR SALVATION                     1/92
  

   Suppose we are reading an advertisement which makes some 
   promises to the reader.  Suppose in one place it states, 
   "Whoever drinks a cup of Colombian coffee will be sent on an 
   expense paid trip to Hawaii".  Suppose in another place it 
   says, "Whoever throws a stone across the Potomac River will be 
   given an expense paid trip to Hawaii".  Let us now suppose that 
   in another place it makes the statement, "Anyone guilty of 
   adultery, lying, cheating, murder, hatred and other such sins 
   will not be eligible for an expense paid trip to Hawaii".  Let 
   us now ask a question:  Doesn't the phrasing of the statement 
   "Whoever drinks a cup of Colombian coffee will be sent on an 
   expense paid trip to Hawaii" imply that drinking a cup of 
   Colombian coffee is the sole condition required for eligibility 
   for a trip to Hawaii, that it is as simple as that, and there 
   are no extra conditions (such as not sinning)?  If this is so 
   doesn't the last statement prohibiting those guilty of certain 
   sins from eligibility for a trip to Hawaii sort of contradict 
   the promises of the first two statements?  Isn't the author 
   sort of going back on his first two promises when he imposes 
   the condition of the last statement?  If this is not a 
   contradiction then aren't the first two promises rather 
   incomplete and misleading?  

   In the Bible we find a number of statements in regard to 
   eligibility for salvation.  We read "whosoever believes on the 
   Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved" and "whosoever confesses 
   Jesus with his mouth and believes in his heart that God raised 
   him from the dead will be saved".  And then in other places we 
   read statements like "no one guilty of adultery, fornication, 
   murder, lying, hatred, etc. will go to heaven".


  CRITERION FOR SALVATION                 3/96


   The Old Testament presents as that person who will go to heaven 
   the godly, righteous, upright, God-fearing man; that man who's 
   first love is for Jehovah God (the God of the Israelites), 
   whose faith is in him, who serves him (as exemplified in such 
   Old Testament characters as David, Abraham, Job, Daniel, etc.).  
   The book of Psalms presents a good picture of the heart of such 
   a man. 

   Did any change occur in the criterion for being saved with the 
   coming of Jesus Christ?  Is the criterion for salvation any 
   different now, after the coming of Christ, than it was back in 
   the days of the Old Testament?  Jesus said that the person who 
   believed in him (Jesus) would be saved and the person who 
   didn't believe in him wouldn't (John 3:14-18).  This would seem 
   to present a different criterion for salvation from the Old 
   Testament criterion.  Using such statements as these that were 
   made by Jesus the Protestant evangelicals use such phrases as 
   "accept Christ as your personal Savior", "give your heart to 
   Christ", "turn to Christ", etc. to indicate the path for going 
   to heaven.  They emphasize in doing this a one-time experience, 
   a conversion experience, being "born again", being "saved", as 
   a sort of ticket to heaven.


  SCRIPTURES WHICH SPECIFY REPENTANCE AS A CONDITION FOR SALVATION  
                                                             4/96


      Matthew 3:2   And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of 
      heaven is at hand. 

      Matthew 3:8   Bring forth therefore fruits meet for 
      repentance: 

      Matthew 3:11   I indeed baptize you with water unto 
      repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, 
      whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you 
      with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 

      Matthew 4:17   From that time Jesus began to preach, and to 
      say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

      Matthew 9:13   But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will 
      have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the 
      righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

      Matthew 11:20   Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein 
      most of his mighty works were done, because they repented 
      not: 

      Matthew 11:21   Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, 
      Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, 
      had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented 
      long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 

      Matthew 12:41   The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment 
      with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they 
      repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater 
      than Jonas is here. 

      Mark 1:4   John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach 
      the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 

      Mark 1:15   And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the 
      kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the 
      gospel. 

      Mark 2:17   When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They 
      that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that 
      are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to 
      repentance. 

      Mark 6:12   And they went out, and preached that men should 
      repent. 

      Luke 3:3   And he came into all the country about Jordan, 
      preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of 
      sins; 

      Luke 3:8   Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of 
      repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have 
      Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able 
      of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 

      Luke 5:32   I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to 
      repentance. 

      Luke 10:13   Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, 
      Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and 
      Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while 
      ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 

      Luke 11:32   The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment 
      with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they 
      repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater 
      than Jonas is here. 

      Luke 13:3   I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall 
      all likewise perish. 

      Luke 15:7   I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in 
      heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety 
      and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 

      Luke 15:10   Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the 
      presence of the angels of God over one sinner that 
      repenteth. 

      Luke 16:30   And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one 
      went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 

      Luke 24:47   And that repentance and remission of sins 
      should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning 
      at Jerusalem. 

      Acts 2:38   Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be 
      baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for 
      the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the 
      Holy Ghost. 

      Acts 3:19   Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your 
      sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall 
      come from the presence of the Lord; 

      Acts 5:31   Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a 
      Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and 
      forgiveness of sins. 

      Acts 11:18   When they heard these things, they held their 
      peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the 
      Gentiles granted repentance unto life. 

      Acts 13:24   When John had first preached before his coming 
      the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 

      Acts 17:30   And the times of this ignorance God winked at; 
      but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 

      Acts 19:4   Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the 
      baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they 
      should believe on him which should come after him, that is, 
      on Christ Jesus. 

      Acts 20:21   Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the 
      Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord 
      Jesus Christ. 

      Acts 26:20   But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at 
      Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then 
      to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, 
      and do works meet for repentance. 

      Romans 2:4   Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness 
      and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the 
      goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 

      2 Corinthians 7:9   Now I rejoice, not that ye were made 
      sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made 
      sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by 
      us in nothing. 

      2 Corinthians 7:10   For godly sorrow worketh repentance to 
      salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world 
      worketh death. 

      2 Corinthians 12:21   And lest, when I come again, my God 
      will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which 
      have sinned already, and have not repented of the 
      uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they 
      have committed. 

      2 Timothy 2:25   In meekness instructing those that oppose 
      themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to 
      the acknowledging of the truth; 

      Hebrews 6:6   If they shall fall away, to renew them again 
      unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son 
      of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 

      2 Peter 3:9   The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, 
      as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-
      ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all 
      should come to repentance. 

      Revelation 2:5   Remember therefore from whence thou art 
      fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will 
      come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out 
      of his place, except thou repent. 

      Revelation 2:16   Repent; or else I will come unto thee 
      quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my 
      mouth. 

      Revelation 2:21   And I gave her space to repent of her 
      fornication; and she repented not. 

      Revelation 2:22   Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and 
      them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, 
      except they repent of their deeds. 

      Revelation 3:3   Remember therefore how thou hast received 
      and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou 
      shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou 
      shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 

      Revelation 3:19   As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: 
      be zealous therefore, and repent. 

      Revelation 9:20   And the rest of the men which were not 
      killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of 
      their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols 
      of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: 
      which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 

      Revelation 9:21   Neither repented they of their murders, 
      nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of 
      their thefts. 

      Revelation 16:9   And men were scorched with great heat, and 
      blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these 
      plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 

      Revelation 16:11   And blasphemed the God of heaven because 
      of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their 
      deeds.


  NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD        
                                                            4/96





      Matthew 7:24-27    "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of 
      Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who 
      built his house on the rock: {25} "and the rain descended, 
      the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; 
      and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. {26} 
      "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not 
      do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on 
      the sand: {27} "and the rain descended, the floods came, and 
      the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And 
      great was its fall."
       
      Matthew 12:50   For whosoever shall do the will of my Father 
      which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and 
      mother. 

      Matthew 28:19-20    "Go therefore and make disciples of all 
      the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of 
      the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} "teaching them to 
      observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am 
      with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. 

      Luke 6:46   And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the 
      things which I say? 

      Luke 11:28   But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that 
      hear the word of God, and keep it.
    
      John 8:31-32   "If you abide in my word, you are my 
      disciples indeed.  (32) "And you shall know the truth, and 
      the truth shall make you free"

      John 8:51    "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps 
      My word he shall never see death." 

      John 10:27-28    "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, 
      and they follow Me. {28} "And I give them eternal life, and 
      they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them 
      out of My hand. 

      John 10:3-5    "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep 
      hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads 
      them out. {4} "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes 
      before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his 
      voice. {5} "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but 
      will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of 
      strangers." 

      John 12:25-26    "He who loves his life will lose it, and he 
      who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal 
      life. {26} "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and 
      where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves 
      Me, him My Father will honor. 

      John 14:15    "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 

      John 14:20-21    "At that day you will know that I am in My 
      Father, and you in Me, and I in you. {21} "He who has My 
      commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he 
      who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him 
      and manifest Myself to him." 

      John 14:23-24    Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone 
      loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, 
      and We will come to him and make Our home with him. {24} "He 
      who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word 
      which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. 

      John 15    "I am the true vine, and My Father is the 
      vinedresser. {2} "Every branch in Me that does not bear 
      fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He 
      prunes, that it may bear more fruit. {3} "You are already 
      clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. {4} 
      "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit 
      of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, 
      unless you abide in Me. {5} "I am the vine, you are the 
      branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much 
      fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. {6} "If anyone 
      does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is 
      withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, 
      and they are burned. {7} "If you abide in Me, and My words 
      abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be 
      done for you. {8} "By this My Father is glorified, that you 
      bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. {9} "As the 
      Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 
      {10} "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My 
      love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide 
      in His love. {11} "These things I have spoken to you, that 
      My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 
      {12} "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I 
      have loved you. {13} "Greater love has no one than this, 
      than to lay down one's life for his friends. {14} "You are 
      My friends if you do whatever I command you. {15} "No longer 
      do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his 
      master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all 
      things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 
      {16} "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed 
      you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit 
      should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name 
      He may give you. {17} "These things I command you, that you 
      love one another. {18} "If the world hates you, you know 
      that it hated Me before it hated you. {19} "If you were of 
      the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are 
      not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, 
      therefore the world hates you. {20} "Remember the word that 
      I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' 
      If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they 
      kept My word, they will keep yours also. {21} "But all these 
      things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they 
      do not know Him who sent Me. {22} "If I had not come and 
      spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no 
      excuse for their sin. {23} "He who hates Me hates My Father 
      also. {24} "If I had not done among them the works which no 
      one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen 
      and also hated both Me and My Father. {25} "But this 
      happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written 
      in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.' {26} "But 
      when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the 
      Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He 
      will testify of Me. {27} "And you also will bear witness, 
      because you have been with Me from the beginning.    

      Ephesians 2:10   For we are his workmanship, created in 
      Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained 
      that we should walk in them. 

      James 1:22-27    But be doers of the word, and not hearers 
      only, deceiving yourselves. {23} For if anyone is a hearer 
      of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his 
      natural face in a mirror; {24} for he observes himself, goes 
      away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. {25} 
      But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and 
      continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of 
      the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. {26} If 
      anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle 
      his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion 
      is useless. {27} Pure and undefiled religion before God and 
      the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their 
      trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. 

      James 2:14-26    What does it profit, my brethren, if 
      someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith 
      save him? {15} If a brother or sister is naked and destitute 
      of daily food, {16} and one of you says to them, "Depart in 
      peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the 
      things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 
      {17} Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, 
      is dead. {18} But someone will say, "You have faith, and I 
      have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I 
      will show you my faith by my works. {19} You believe that 
      there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe; and 
      tremble! {20} But do you want to know, O foolish man, that 
      faith without works is dead? {21} Was not Abraham our father 
      justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the 
      altar? {22} Do you see that faith was working together with 
      his works, and by works faith was made perfect? {23} And the 
      Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, 
      and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was 
      called the friend of God. {24} You see then that a man is 
      justified by works, and not by faith only. {25} Likewise, 
      was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she 
      received the messengers and sent them out another way? {26} 
      For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without 
      works is dead also. 

      1 John 1:5-10    This is the message which we have heard 
      from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is 
      no darkness at all. {6} If we say that we have fellowship 
      with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice 
      the truth. {7} But if we walk in the light as He is in the 
      light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of 
      Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. {8} If we say 
      that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is 
      not in us. {9} If we confess our sins, He is faithful and 
      just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all 
      unrighteousness. {10} If we say that we have not sinned, we 
      make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. 

      1 John 2:3-6    Now by this we know that we know Him, if we 
      keep His commandments. {4} He who says, "I know Him," and 
      does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is 
      not in him. {5} But whoever keeps His word, truly the love 
      of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in 
      Him. {6} He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to 
      walk just as He walked. 

      1 John 2:17   And the world passeth away, and the lust 
      thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

      1 John 3:22-23    And whatever we ask we receive from Him, 
      because we keep His commandments and do those things that 
      are pleasing in His sight. {23} And this is His commandment: 
      that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ 
      and love one another, as He gave us commandment. {24} And he 
      who keeps his commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And 
      by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom He 
      has given us. 

      1 John 5:2   By this we know that we love the children of 
      God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. {3} For 
      this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and 
      his commandments are not grievous. 

      2 John 1:6   And this is love, that we walk after his 
      commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have 
      heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. 

      2 John 1:9   Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the 
      doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the 
      doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 

      Revelation 12:17   And the dragon was wroth with the woman, 
      and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which 
      keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of 
      Jesus Christ. 

      Revelation 22:14   Blessed are they that do his 
      commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, 
      and may enter in through the gates into the city.


  SCRIPTURES THAT PRESENT AS THE SOLE CRITERION FOR SALVATION 
     SIMPLE BELIEF IN CHRIST         3/96


   The Old Testament presents as the criterion for salvation 
   loving God and faithfulness to him by living Godly, righteous 
   lives i.e. obeying his commandments (as exemplified by such 
   Bible characters as Abraham, David and Job) whereas certain 
   statements of Christ in the New Testament present quite a 
   radically different criterion for salvation:  simple belief in 
   him (Christ).  Following are some of these passages: 

      John 3:14-18   And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
      wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: {15} 
      That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have 
      eternal life. {16} For God so loved the world, that he gave 
      his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
      should not perish, but have everlasting life. {17} For God 
      sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but 
      that the world through him might be saved. {18} He that 
      believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not 
      is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the 
      name of the only begotten Son of God. 

      John 6:47   Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that 
      believeth on me hath everlasting life. 

      John 9:35   Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when 
      he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the 
      Son of God? 

      John 11:25-26   Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, 
      and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, 
      yet shall he live: {26} And whosoever liveth and believeth 
      in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

      John 20:31   But these are written, that ye might believe 
      that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing 
      ye might have life through his name. 

      Acts 13:39   And by him all that believe are justified from 
      all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law 
      of Moses. 

      Acts 16:31   And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus 
      Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 

      Romans 10:9   That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the 
      Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath 
      raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

      Romans 10:13   For whosoever shall call upon the name of the 
      Lord shall be saved.


  SALVATION --- ONLY BELIEVE                7/97


   Following is a list of verses from the New Testament that 
   contain the word "believe".   Note the frequency of the use of 
   the following phrases in stating the criterion for being saved:  
   believe on his name, believe in his name, believe in him, 
   believe on him.  Exactly what do these phrases mean?  What is 
   being said?  Are they saying that anyone who believes that 
   Jesus was the messiah, the Son of God, will be saved? (i.e. 
   that believing in the divinity of Jesus is the criterion for 
   going to heaven).  But don't the devils also believe, and 
   tremble?  And wouldn't this idea be in conflict with other 
   things Jesus said in which he emphasized righteous living as 
   being a requirement for going to heaven? 


      Matthew 18:6   But whoso shall offend one of these little 
      ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a 
      millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were 
      drowned in the depth of the sea. 

      John 1:12   But as many as received him, to them gave he 
      power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe 
      on his name: 

      John 2:23   Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in 
      the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the 
      miracles which he did. 

      John 3:15   That whosoever believeth in him should not 
      perish, but have eternal life. 

      John 3:16   For God so loved the world, that he gave his 
      only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should 
      not perish, but have everlasting life. 

      John 3:18   He that believeth on him is not condemned: but 
      he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath 
      not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

      John 3:36   He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
      life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; 
      but the wrath of God abideth on him. 

      John 4:39   And many of the Samaritans of that city believed 
      on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told 
      me all that ever I did. 

      John 4:42   And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not 
      because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and 
      know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the 
      world. 

      John 4:53   So the father knew that it was at the same hour, 
      in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and 
      himself believed, and his whole house. 

      John 5:24   Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth 
      my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting 
      life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed 
      from death unto life. 

      John 6:29   Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the 
      work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 

      John 6:35   And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of 
      life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that 
      believeth on me shall never thirst. 

      John 6:40   And this is the will of him that sent me, that 
      every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may 
      have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last 
      day. 

      John 6:47   Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that 
      believeth on me hath everlasting life. 

      John 6:69   And we believe and are sure that thou art that 
      Christ, the Son of the living God. 

      John 7:31   And many of the people believed on him, and 
      said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these 
      which this man hath done? 

      John 7:38   He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath 
      said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 

      John 7:48   Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees 
      believed on him? 

      John 8:24   I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in 
      your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die 
      in your sins. 

      John 8:30   As he spake these words, many believed on him. 

      John 8:31   Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on 
      him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples 
      indeed; 

      John 9:35   Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when 
      he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the 
      Son of God? 

      John 9:36   He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I 
      might believe on him? 

      John 9:38   And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped 
      him. 

      John 10:42   And many believed on him there. 

      John 11:25   Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and 
      the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet 
      shall he live: 

      John 11:26   And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
      never die. Believest thou this? 

      John 11:27   She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that 
      thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into 
      the world. 

      John 11:45   Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and 
      had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. 

      John 11:48   If we let him thus alone, all men will believe 
      on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our 
      place and nation. 

      John 12:11   Because that by reason of him many of the Jews 
      went away, and believed on Jesus. 

      John 12:42   Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many 
      believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not 
      confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 

      John 12:44   Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, 
      believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 

      John 12:46   I am come a light into the world, that 
      whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. 

      John 14:1   Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in 
      God, believe also in me. 

      John 14:12   Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that 
      believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and 
      greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my 
      Father. 

      John 16:27   For the Father himself loveth you, because ye 
      have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 

      John 17:8   For I have given unto them the words which thou 
      gavest me; and they have received them, and have known 
      surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed 
      that thou didst send me. 

      John 17:20   Neither pray I for these alone, but for them 
      also which shall believe on me through their word; 

      John 20:31   But these are written, that ye might believe 
      that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing 
      ye might have life through his name. 

      Acts 2:44   And all that believed were together, and had all 
      things common; 

      Acts 4:4   Howbeit many of them which heard the word 
      believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. 

      Acts 5:14   And believers were the more added to the Lord, 
      multitudes both of men and women.) 

      Acts 8:12   But when they believed Philip preaching the 
      things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus 
      Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 

      Acts 8:37   And Philip said, If thou believest with all 
      thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I 
      believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 

      Acts 9:42   And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many 
      believed in the Lord. 

      Acts 10:43   To him give all the prophets witness, that 
      through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive 
      remission of sins. 

      Acts 10:45   And they of the circumcision which believed 
      were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on 
      the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

      Acts 11:17   Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift 
      as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; 
      what was I, that I could withstand God? 

      Acts 11:21   And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a 
      great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. 

      Acts 13:39   And by him all that believe are justified from 
      all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law 
      of Moses. 

      Acts 14:1   And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went 
      both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, 
      that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the 
      Greeks believed. 

      Acts 15:7   And when there had been much disputing, Peter 
      rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how 
      that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the 
      Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and 
      believe. 

      Acts 16:31   And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus 
      Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 

      Acts 17:4   And some of them believed, and consorted with 
      Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, 
      and of the chief women not a few. 

      Acts 17:12   Therefore many of them believed; also of 
      honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. 

      Acts 17:34   Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and 
      believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and 
      a woman named Damaris, and others with them. 

      Acts 18:8   And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, 
      believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the 
      Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 

      Acts 19:4   Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the 
      baptism of repentance, saying unto th