Satan Has Crept Into Most Baptist Churches Today

Galatians 3:1-2, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

This morning I got to thinking about how Satan has crept into most Baptist churches today. To prove my suspicion, I typed “Baptist church Statement of Faith” into Duckduckgo's search engine just to see what would come up. Since I live in Pensacola, it didn't surprise me that the Statement of Faith for the First Baptist Church of Pensacola came up, which reads:

Salvation

Since all persons are separated from God by sin and are in need of forgiveness, God offers the free gift of salvation. Each person must individually accept this gift, repent of sin, and place faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. [emphasis added] SOURCE

Dear reader, what you have just read is a gross perversion of God's simple plan of salvation. I have attended their church a dozen times over the past few years. I enjoy going to their Christmas cantata each year, to hear all the beautiful music, children singing and lighting of candles. The church was founded in 1848 and is the oldest church in Pensacola. They do much good to help the needy in the community, but sadly are wrong on the Gospel (the most important thing). I have sat in both their contemporary and traditional services. Pastor Dave Snyder (who came to the church in 2018 from Missouri as their senior pastor) preaches hard core Lordship Salvation and misunderstood repentance. It is heart breaking.

On one particular Sunday a couple years ago, at the end of the contemporary service, Pastor Snyder announced that a 12 year old boy had been saved that morning by “becoming a Christ follower.” Folks, that is not the free grace Gospel that saves!!! Judas Iscariot followed Christ as one of His very apostles and yet is burning in Hell forever. You get saved by resting completely in Christ's death on the cross, burial and physical resurrection from the dead three days later. That is the only “gospel” according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-6, not becoming a Christ follower.

I was mailed a letter from the First Baptist Church of Pensacola in 2022, an official invitation to attend their Discovery Class with other prospective new members. I went to the class because I was curiosity to find out exactly what they believe about salvation, and also to be a gentleman since they cordially invited me. At the meeting one of their associate pastors told us that the church believes in salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ. I was so delighted to hear that. There was no mention of turning from your sinful bad habits, following Christ, surrendering all or anything else to get to Heaven, just BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.

I didn't join at that time, but was thinking about it. I needed to investigate further to make sure I knew where I was leaping before I jumped. But, to my horror, when I attended their traditional service the next week, Pastor Snyder said you couldn't go to Heaven without surrendering to the absolute Lordship of Christ, and he said you must forsake your sinful past and live a changed life. I was so sad in the pew. I just put my head down and felt like crying. Not another heretic in the pulpit! Yes, sad to say, Pastor Dave Snyder is a damnable false teacher!

Oh dear reader, the accuracy of the Gospel is of paramount importance. What you believe will determine where you spend eternity. So, it is not a small matter to dismiss.

Satan's Greatest Weapon is to Con People into Living the Christian Life Without Ever Being Born Again

In Matthew 7:21-23, we read a disturbing true story about a group of people who dedicated their lives to following and serving Jesus Christ. They boasted at the judgment of having done “many wonderful works” in Jesus' name. They had prophesied (preached) in Jesus' name. They had even cast out devils in Jesus' name. Judas Iscariot had the power to cast out devils, but was unsaved (Matthew 10:1). By all outward indication these false prophets in Matthew 7:21-23 were redeemed saints, but Jesus denied knowing them as His sheep, citing the reason why in verse 21, “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.”

The best way to interpret the Scripture is by using the Scripture. 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.” The Father's will is that you and I believe on the name of His only begotten Son (which includes accepting His death on the cross for our sins, burial and bodily resurrection the third day), and that is how anyone gets saved. There is no other way to Heaven (Acts 4:10-12).

I heard a great sermon today from 1956 by Pastor Jack Hyles, when he was just 29 years old. The sermon is titled: 'Three Types Of leaven.' I made this an excerpt from the sermon and titled it: “Get Born Again Or Go To Hell.” Dear reader, the Devil is more subtle, dangerous and crafty than you or I could ever imagine (2nd Corinthians 4:3-4, 11:13-15). I found this meme today and it is correct. ...

I have met numerous incompetent Baptist pastors who gave a free pass to other Baptist churches merely because they identify as being “Baptist.” That is so shallow, wrong, sinful and unethical. A sore evil that I have found is that your average Baptist pastor today doesn't pay attention to the details. They couldn't care less about what the Baptist church down the street is teaching, and that's s big problem when you're supporting that church.

Satan's Little Helper: Pastor Sean Quinlan

Case in point is Pastor Sean Quinlan at the Lighthouse Baptist Church on Guam. He was a Pensacola Christian College (PCC) intern pastor there for a few years. He quit in 2018, thankfully. One evening after church I was sharing a private conversation with a friend in the church. We were standing outside in the parking lot, by the front of the church. I told my friend Bill that “Bob Jones University sells corruptible seed,” which immediately angered Quinlan. He rudely interrupted me and Bill and said, “I've been over-hearing your conversations for the past several months and you're obsessed with the Bible issue.” What a disgrace for a pastor!!!

It didn't surprise me, considering that he is working for the cult at PCC. The name if Harvest Baptist Church was brought up, which Pastor Quinlan instantly defended as their “sister church.” I felt like regurgitating! “Sister Church?,” I said, “They teach the heresy of Calvinism at Harvest, Lordship Salvation!” Quinlan responded, “It's none of our business what they teach at Harvest!” Oh man, did Pastor Quinlan dig a grave for himself. I scolded him for not caring, and for wickedly bidding Godspeed to a damnable cult that perverts God's simple plan of salvation.

Dear reader, this is what is wrong with over 95% of Baptist pastors and layman today, they just couldn't care less about right doctrine, the purity of the Word of God or the accuracy of the Gospel. As long as the money keeps flowing in, and the attendance is increasing, they are content, at ease in Zion. Pastor Quinlan even shamefully told me, “I am trying to build a church and you're bringing controversies into my church.” Well, first of all, to the best of my recollection Bill was the only person I had ever talked to in the church about the Bible issue, and they were private conversations. I hardly think I was a threat to split HIS CHURCH, or run off new members. What the hell is wrong with pastors today?

A month earlier I was having a conversation with Pastor Quinlan outside the front doors of the church, when he admitted to me that if pressed he couldn't show someone one thing wrong with the modern Bible revisions. I couldn't believe that he admitted such a shameful thing. A few weeks earlier during a Sunday evening sermon, Pastor Quinlan warned the church members that some of the new Bibles are “bad news”! Yet, he couldn't show someone one thing wrong with the new Bibles, even if his life depended upon it, by his own shameful admission. Does that make any sense? Shame on him! And shame on PCC!

What do you mean, “It's none of our business!,” what they teach at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam? If that be true, then why do you care what the Mormons, Roman Catholics and Seventh-Day Adventist cults teach? Why does a Baptist church get a free pass on what they teach and preach? Harvest uses the Easy-To-Read Version (ERV), which is highly corrupt! They preach hardcore Lordship Salvation, as does the entire Bob Jones University cult.

I heard their wicked pastor Marty Herron with my own two ears in 2014, tell hundreds of church members on a Sunday morning during his sermon invitation that quote: “It's not enough to admit you're a sinner, you must forsake a lifestyle of sinning to get to Heaven.” That is another gospel! That is a counterfeit plan of salvation! That is damnable heresy!!! Why does Pastor Sean Quinlan support and wickedly bid Godspeed to such evil? Maybe if he would pay attention to the details, as I am doing, instead of criticizing me and making lame excuses and turning a blind eye to deadly false doctrine, he would.

This is why the inspired Word of God warns us about THE LOVE OF MONEY, which is the root of all evil (1st Timothy 6:7-11). Sean Quinlan was paid by PCC to build the attendance at Lighthouse Baptist Church, with no regard for doctrinal integrity. SHAME!!! PCC gave Quinlan $25,000 to spend on fixing up the church's property. He bought a playground set for the children. He paid to have a thick concrete slab put down for a large outdoor patio. He used the money to install a basketball hoop on the church property. But he harshly reprimanded me for caring enough to make an issue over Satan's corruptible seed at Bob Jones University, in a private conversation that was none of his damn business. What a dingleberry for a pastor!

That is the big problem with the whole PCC camp, they are only concerned about protecting and improving their public image, while throwing the Gospel and the inspiration of the King James Bible under the bus. In this sermon excerpt, Pastor Jack Hyles exposes Pensacola Christian College for denying the inspiration of the King James Bible. I wouldn't enroll a dog into PCC! You are a fool as a parent if you entrust your impressionable child to PCC's wolves! Pastor Jeff Redlin is a devil at PCC's corrupt Campus Church. All they care about is money at PCC and protecting their public image, but individual people mean nothing to them. I found that out firsthand when I attended Campus Church in 2021 for a few months.

Tragically, most Baptist churches today have strayed far away from a free grace Gospel, and you simply ought not go anywhere near those cults. I am warning you about the Family Baptist Church in Pensacola (who are in bed committing spiritual adultery with PCC). I am warning you about the Smyrna Baptist Church in Pensacola (whose pastor's daughter attends PCC). I am warning you about the Fairfield Baptist Church in Pensacola (whose shameful pastor Josh Thompson teaches a class at PCC). RUN from these places!!!

Satan has crept into most Baptist churches today. Before you attend any particular Baptist church, you need to ask them these important questions (the answers you should receive are in bold red font):

1. Do you use the King James Bible? YES
2. Do you believe that the King James Bible is verbally inspired? YES
3. Do you use or support any other version than the King James Bible? NO
4. Do you teach that Bible repentance means to turn from your sin? NO
5. Do you believe that repentance is a separate act from faith? NO
6. Do you believe that faith alone in the Gospel as an admitted sinner is enough to get to Heaven? YES
7. Do you believe that you must also accept Jesus as your “Lord” to be saved? NO
8. Do you believe that your behavior must change to prove that you are really saved? NO

If the pastor refuses to answer those questions, or gives you the wrong responses, RUN!

Please don't become another victim by trusting the name “Baptist,” because most Baptists today are hellbound fools, trusting in their misunderstood repentance and Lordship Salvation.

Do You Have Doubts About Salvation?

Luke 10:20, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”

When I attended the shameful Harvest Baptist Church on Guam in 2013-2014, one of their deacons approached me after a Sunday evening service. He kindly asked me a question, while his wife respectfully waited abut 10 feet behind him. The deacon said something like:

“Brother Stewart, I have doubted my salvation for a long time. Could you help me understand God's plan of salvation better.”

Over the next 10 minutes, I expounded the Scripture to him to the best of my humble ability. When I had finished, he said: “Why don't they teach stuff like that from the pulpit?” Without hesitation I replied that it was because his pastors do not understand what it feels like to doubt that you are saved, but I fully understand that pain and grief of soul.

I was saved as a young teenager. I don't remember how old I was. I do know that I was in junior high at the time, in either 7th or 8th grade. It was early summertime at the Northland Baptist Temple on Chicago's northside. I used to tell everybody that I was 13 years old when I got saved, but after much thinking about the matter, I started telling people that I was 12. I truly do not remember. I wish I had thought to write down the date when I got saved. My guess is that it was in 1979 at age 12, but I could have just as easily been age 13. Only God knows! The important thing is not WHEN I was saved, but that I AM saved. Thankfully, I DO have a recollection of a PLACE and an EXPERIENCE of calling upon the name of the Lord.

Anyway, I was a shy teenager, and still today at age 59 I am very self-conscious and shy around people. So, I didn't walk an aisle or tell anyone that I trusted Jesus as my Savior. But on the day I was saved a battle started in my soul over whether I was saved or nor. I feared, simply because no one had ever plainly explained to me what I needed to do to be saved. I wish that my pastor had shared from the pulpit that day exactly what I needed to do (and not do) to get to Heaven, but he didn't. He simply invited people to walk the aisle to find out how to be saved. That is why for many years now I have discouraged preachers from requiring lost sinners to walk down a church aisle to learn how to get to Heaven. In so doing, they are adding an unnecessary step to God's simple plan of salvation, which God does not require.

The day I got saved, I did ask Jesus to save me. I knew that He died in my place on Calvary's cross. When I called out to Him silently in my soul, I believed that I was calling upon a risen and living Savior. I didn't realize at the time that you don't even have to ask, call or pray to be saved, you just simply need to BELIEVE THE GOSPEL (1st Corinthians 15:1-6).

Dear reader, if you ever have the opportunity to speak about God to a group of people at church, please DO NOT ask anyone to meet with the pastor at the back of the church after the service, or to walk down an aisle, because someone may go to Hell because of you! Always share the Gospel with people right there in their pew. To show just how easy, free and simple it is to be saved, I wrote this blog titled: “The Gospel In 45 Seconds.” I could have even shortened it to 30 seconds if I left out some extra comments that I wanted to make.

My ministry friend Michael P. Bowen explains God's simple plan of salvation on page XII in the Introduction of his helpful book titled: “I NEVER KNEW YOU”...

Here is the gospel: God says that we are sinners and that no amount of good works or behavioral changes on our part could ever make us holy enough to enter heaven. God sent His Son to pay for all of our sins. Jesus paid for our crimes by dying on the cross for us all. His dead body was buried in a grave. On the third day, Jesus arose from the dead.

The instant you believe this, He knows it and He saves you. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life”(John 6:47). The free gift is based solely upon your trust in what Jesus did for you and has nothing at all to do with what you do for Him. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

That's it dear reader, BELIEVE IT OH SINNER, and you are saved! Nothing more is required nor allowed to enter into God's heavenly Kingdom. Sadly, well-meaning religious men complicated God's simple plan of salvation by adding sacraments, stipulations, obligations and service. You get saved by getting out of the way, to simply RES in what Christ has already done through Calvary's cross to pay for your sins (Hebrews 4:10-11). Simply believe that Jesus did it all for you!

Just like my deacon friend at the horrible Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, where the Devil's lies of Lordship Salvation and Misunderstood Repentance are taught still today, millions of people are confused about God's simple plan of salvation. When those wicked neo-evangelical preachers foolishly say to “repent of your sins” to be saved, that confused people.

They are sinfully mixing service with salvation (which is what Lordship Salvation is), combining works with grace to pervert the Gospel (Galatians 1:6-7). Christ died for humanity on the cross, taking the whole burden of your sins upon Himself, so that you wouldn't have to. Nowhere in the inspired King James Bible does it teach that to be saved a person must shoulder the weight of their own sins by being willing to forsake them. To be willing to give up one's sinful bad habits is a very difficult, challenging and complicated FALSE plan of salvation. Sadly, this is the Satanic garbage taught at Pensacola Christian College today.

Dear reader, you don't need to have even the slightest doubt about whether or not you are going to Heaven. If your trust (faith, reliance) is in Jesus Christ alone because of WHO He is (the Christ, the only begotten Son of God); and WHAT He did for you on Calvary's cross (Jesus died, was buried and physically resurrected from the dead three days later), then you are forever born again (saved, redeemed, a child of God). Nothing less or more is required.

Remember, it's not what you are DOING that gets you into Heaven, it's where you are LOOKING. Look to Jesus, the slain and risen LAMB OF GOD (John 1:29; Isaiah 45:22).

Pastor Charles Lawson Is A Clever Deceiver On Lordship Salvation

2nd Corinthians 11:13-15, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Pastor Charles Lawson (born 1950) who has been the senior pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, for 48 years is sadly a dangerous false prophet! Mr. Lawson preaches a counterfeit plan of salvation, perverting the Gospel of free grace by adding his own form of Lordship Salvation to it, deceiving his victims. Here is what Pastor Lawson teaches...

“Easy-Believism folks, in my estimation, is an abomination to God. Really, because you're giving people a false hope that everything's okay between them and God.” [emphasis added]—Pastor Charles Lawson, “Repentance” (Sunday morning service at Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville; preached on April 8, 2018)

What a darn fool! Tragically, Mr. Lawson falsely teaches that if you are still living in gross immorality then you are not saved.

Pastor Lawson is preaching the same dangerous tommyrot as Evangelist Ray Comfort. On page 1513 of 'THE EVIDENCE BIBLE,' under the section “Questions & Objections,” Ray Comfort addresses the statement: “Because Jesus died on the cross we are forgiven of every sin.” Here’s Ray Comfort’s reply to this statement…

“The forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ is conditional upon ‘repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 20:21). It is a gift that God offers to everyone, but individuals must receive it by repenting and trusting in Christ, or they will remain dead in their sins. No one has Biblical grounds to continue in sin, assuming that they are safe just because Jesus died on the cross. See 1 John 3:4-6.” [Emphasis added]

SOURCE: THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, by Ray Comfort, p. 1513; 2003, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, Florida

Those are some very dangerous words at the end, “…assuming that they are safe just because Jesus died on the cross.” But that's exactly verbatim what Charles Lawson preaches when he accuses the Easy-Believism camp of “giving people a false hope that everything's okay between them and God.” Clearly, infidels' Charles Lawson and Ray Comfort think you are not 'SAFE' through faith in Jesus Christ if your life is still filled with sinful behavior. Dear reader, I don't care if you've been a born again saint for 50 years, your life is still filled with sin! We sin every time we fail to pray for others, which I am quite guilty of, and I suspect so are you friend (1st Samuel 12:23). Psalms 106:6, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.”

“Easy-believism and Lordship Salvation are both wrong!” —Pastor Charles Lawson, “Repentance” (Sunday morning service at Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville; preached on April 8, 2018)

Easy-Believism is 100% biblical and right! It is free, simple and easy to be saved by simply BELIEVING that Jesus did it all for you. Pastor Lawson is ass-u-me-ing that everyone who prays a sinner's prayer does not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a pretty bold assumption! Does not Romans 10:14 teach that they who call, do so from a believing heart? Romans 10:14a, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?” It is wicked and very deceitful to dismiss everyone who prays a sinner's prayer as being a false convert, when Mr. Lawson has no idea what's in their heart (1st Samul 15:23).

Pastor Lawson is a Dangerous False Prophet

At best Lawson is very confusing. In his sermon “Repentance” he mentions two infamous serial killers (David Berkowitz “Son of Sam” and Karla Faye Tucker) and how they allegedly found Christ in prison. He uses them as showcase examples of how all sinners should react when they get saved, which is ridiculous and unscriptural. It is clear that Pastor Lawson is implying that every convert should react to the Gospel in the same radical way that these two serial killers did. Dear reader, the only thing you need to know to be saved is that you are a needy hell-deserving guilty sinner and that Jesus is the only Savior who was crucified to pay for your sins, was buried and resurrected from the dead three days later (i.e., the Gospel).

Pastor Lawson is a very confused and confusing man. At no place in his sermon does he bother to tell you what is so wrong with Easy-Believism, except that he thinks it means to pray a sinner's prayer, which he thinks are all false conversions. I am sick and tired of corrupt preachers attacking the sinner's prayer. There is absolutely nothing wrong with praying a sinner's prayer. Granted, you don't get saved by praying, asking or calling, you get saved by BELIEVING THE GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen from the dead. It's difficult to know what Charles Lawson is talking about because he just foolishly attacks Easy-Believism without explaining hardly anything. What an incompetent preacher!!! I said Pastor Charles Lawson is INCOMPETENT!!!

Here is another heretical statement that Pastor Lawson foolishly makes...

“Repentance in your life is God's way of letting you know that you have saving faith, and not just a bunch of stuff you believe up here. Somebody says some mumbo-jumbo over you, or gets you wet in some pool somewhere, or confirms you, or you prayed the sinner's prayer, and everybody assured you that you're a Christian, but deep down inside your soul you know you're just as dead as you've always been; nothing has changed. But if repentance begins to blossom (and this is important), you're going to do far more repenting after you get saved than that day when you're praying for God to save you. For once the Holy Ghost moves into your soul, you're really going to see what you're made out of.” [emphasis added] —Pastor Charles Lawson, “Repentance” (Sunday morning service at Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville; preached on April 8, 2018)

Now, that sounds great to the unlearned Bible student, but it is totally unbiblical. Lawson is confusing repentance with the Holy Spirit. He pounds home the idea that you must repent of your sins and turn away from them as part of getting saved, but then he mentions the Holy Spirit. Dear reader, which is it? The work of the indwelling Holy Spirit is something VERY DIFFERENT than our human efforts to turn away from our sinful ways. Lawson fails to make a distinction.

Although I agree that conformation and water baptism do not save a sinner, I take issue with his horrible attack against the sinner's prayer. Even though prayer does not save someone, if a sinner prays from a BELIEVING HEART, they are saved according to Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Even before someone calls upon the Lord they are already saved, the moment that they BELIEVED. You need to understand that Charles Lawson DOESN'T believe this to be true. Lawson foolishly thinks that you must turn from your sins to get to Heaven. Honestly, the guy has no formal theological training, which shows in his utter ignorance of the Holy Bible. I say this kindly to be honest and to warn others, lest you end up in Hell with him and his cult.

There is no guarantee just because you get saved that your life is going to radically change for righteousness. The idea that you must feel a profound hatred for your sins, experience guilt and have an earnest desire to turn from your sins is NOT what it means to repent to be saved. In fact, what Pastor Lawson is preaching is by every definition, LORDSHIP SALVATION!!!

The Greek noun for “repent” in the New Testament is metanoia, which simply means “to change your mind,” period. Since we don't know what to change our mind about, we need supplemental information, which can only be determined by the text of a particular passage. For example: The Bible says in Jonah 3:10 that God Himself “repented.” It is clear from the text that the LORD changed His mind not to destroy Nineveh. If repent means to turn away from your sins as Charles Lawson, Pensacola Christian College and other infidels today errantly teach, then how could God repent of sin? God is holy and cannot sin! God just changed His mind, which is all that the word “repent” means, nothing more.

Here are some godly Bible teachers who get Bible repentance 100% right, and I encourage you to read their writings, and then go back and look at the garbage Charles Lawson teaches:

• Pastor Brad Strand Gets Repentance Correct
• Dr. Mark Cambron Gets Repentance Correct
• Evangelist Alexander Marshall Gets Repentance Correct
• Pastor Jack Hyles Gets Repentance Correct
• What Is Repentance For Salvation?

Easy-Believism is Not Wrong!

In his corrupt sermon “Repentance,” Pastor Lawson refutes two alleged heresies:

1. Easy-Believism
2. Lordship Salvation

Pastor Lawson describes a very radical definition of Lordship Salvation which requires obeying all of God's commandment in order to validate one's faith. That is what the Seventh-Day Adventist cult believe, a radical form of Lordship Salvation. But most forms of Lordship Salvation today are much more subtle. I like how Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold describes Lordship Salvation...

“Lordship Salvation is the unsupportable and unbiblical belief that the performance of good works, the promise of good works, or the evidence of good works, must accompany faith in Christ to establish or provide evidence that such faith has resulted in eternal life.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Jesus Versus John MacArthur”

Pastor Charles Lawson's corrupt plan of salvation is absolutely Lordship Salvation, even though he is in denial and refuses to admit it. He foolishly calls Easy-Believism “an abomination to God.” An abomination to God? Whoa! What a darn fool!

Mr. Lawson is a confused man, caught between grace and works. Dear friend, I challenge you to show me anything in the inspired King James Bible that says getting saved is difficult or hard. You cannot. Jesus likened getting saved in John 4:10 to drinking a cup of water. Jesus likened getting saved in John 10:9 with walking through a door. Jesus likened getting saved in John 6:53 with eating some bread. Jesus likened getting saved in John 3:14-16 with looking at a serpent on a pole. Getting saved is free, simple and easy, which is why we call it 'EASY-BELIEVISM!' So, what in tarnation is Pastor Charles Lawson talking about?

In the Gospel of John we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times with no mention of the word “repent.” That speaks volumes! Pastor Lawson in his sermon says that Jesus continually preached about repentance, but that simply is not true. Sure, Jesus did preach about repentance at times, but there are ten times more passages in the inspired Word of God where Jesus simply said to simply “BELIEVE ON HIM” without any mention whatsoever about repenting. The reason why is obvious, because repentance is an automatic thing. The man who believes has repented; the man who repents has believed. THAT IS EASY-BELIEVISM!!!

Dear reader, if you have put your trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, believing that He was crucified in your place but is risen from the dead, then EVERYTHING IS OKAY BETWEEN YOU AND GOD (1st Thessalonians 4:14). You have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

I ask you, what is so hard about getting saved? The inspired Holy Bible says eternal life is a “free gift” (Romans 5:15-18). Jesus said in John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” What is so hard about that? Where in the world did Charles Lawson ever get the Satanic idea that it is hard to get to Heaven? He is a fool to call Easy-Believism “an abomination to God.” No, Charles Lawson's heretical preaching is an abomination to God!!!

Charles Lawson preaches with zeal and authority. I have listened to his sermons for years and he says a lot of helpful things. Yet, he is wrong on repentance and God's simple plan of salvation. A man who is wrong on repentance simply cannot be trusted in his theology. It's like buttoning a dress shirt, if the first button is wrong then all of the other buttons will also be wrong. To be wrong on repentance is to be wrong on the Gospel. What you believe will determine where you spent eternity dear reader, so it is of vital importance that you get it correct. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!

Things are Not as They Appear

The fact that Charles Lawson said Lordship Salvation is wrong makes his false gospel even more deceiving. I heard a spiritually blind man say that Charles Lawson doesn't preach Lordship Salvation. And I suspect the reason why is that by saying Lordship Salvation is wrong, it looks like Charles Lawson is right simply because he is correct that Lordship Salvation is wrong. It looks like he preaches right on repentance, when in actuality he's wrong in his own views, and does in fact preach Lordship Salvation himself. He is very sneaky!

Dr. John MacArthur (1939-2025) didn't say Lordship Salvation is wrong. That's what makes John MacArthur's falsehood of the gospel more obvious. But by Pastor Lawson saying that Lordship Salvation is wrong, while he is preaching it too, provides a cover for his deception. It was 33rd degree Freemason Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) who rightly said: “The best place to hide a lie is between two truths.” Manly Hall also eloquently said: “The most effective lie is the half-truth because in part it can be defended with incontestable logic.” This Luciferian man well understood the art of lying and deception, which tactics Charles Lawson employs in his preaching. Being closer to the truth without the truth is more deceitful because it looks genuine. Remember, Satan is a beautiful liar!

Please don't fall for the crafty lie that Pastor Lawson is against Lordship Salvation, because he absolutely preaches Lordship Salvation! The pastor says if your behavior hasn't radically changed to depart from sinful living, you're not really saved. Lawson couldn't be more wrong! But you ask, “Doesn't 1st John 3:8 say, 'He that Committeth sin is of the devil'?” Yes, that is why Jesus called the Apostle Peter “Satan” in Matthew 16:23. Peter was thinking like the Devil. You're never more like Satan then when you accuse others (Revelation 12:10). As Christians we are all guilty of being of the Devil at times because of the sins that we commit. The difference is that when you are a child of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit convicts, scourges and chastises you because of sin (1st John 3:24; Hebrews 12:6-8).

Every Child of God Still Horribly Sins

There is not such thing as a child of God who no longer sins. So, if committing sin makes us of the Devil and evidences that we are not saved, then how much sin crosses the line between saved and unsaved? Who makes that determination? When my wife divorced me in 2006, she falsely accused me of not being saved. She and a wicked group of hateful women in the Family Baptist Church on Guam decided that I was not a Christian. That is how evil people can be when they meddle in other people's marital problems, ruining families. Shame on them!

Respectfully, Pastor Lawson is placing the burden of sin upon the sinner's shoulder, instead of upon Christ who bore the total weight of our sins on Calvary's cruel cross 2,000 years ago.

Without Christ you have a hopeless end; with Christ you have an endless hope.

There is nothing standing in the records of eternity against any soul that believes in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Good works are not the payment for sin; the payment for sin is death.

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty.

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

If salvation is truly by grace, then you don't need to start or stop anything to be saved, nor to prove you're saved. Eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23). 

The Devil is a clever deceiver and liar, just like Charles Lawson. 2nd Corinthians 11:13-15, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” When any Baptist pastor calls Easy-Believism “an abomination to God,” he has been inspired by demons!

The foolish idea that Christians somehow have moved on to stop sinning is FALSE. Just because you may sin less today than you did yesterday doesn't impress God one bit. The very idea of repenting to turn from your sins is crazy. Who has ever done that? That's right, no one! Let me tell you something dear reader, the ONLY righteousness that I possess is the imputed righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” That is Easy-Believism!

The only thing that makes me (and you if you are saved) any more righteousness in God's sight than Ted Bundy, Adolf Hitler, Benjamin Netanyahu, Taylor Swift, Jeffrey Dahmer, Oprah Winfrey and John Wayne Gacy is the imputed righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. If you doubt that truth then please read Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Our best is filthy rags to a holy God.

There's Nothing Wrong With Using a Sinner's Prayer

Please don't miss what Pastor Lawson sneakily does, very surreptitiously. He downplays the sinner's prayer as being mere “Easy-Believism,” giving the impression that everyone who has ever prayed a sinner's prayer is an insincere false convert. On that basis alone he attacks Dr. Jack Hyles and falsely accuses him of “leaving off repentance,” which is a blatant lie. Kindly said, Charles Lawson should shut his big mouth and stop lying about free grace preachers.

Here is what Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) teaches about Bible repentance...

“Repentance is not some little silly, 'I'm sorry.' Repentance is not simply a fear of God. Repentance is not a monk fasting and afflicting his body in a monastery. Repentance is not remorse because of sin's consequences. Repentance is not penance performed before the pope as you kiss his toe... Repentance is not being sorry for what I've done wrong. It is not confessing one's sins to a priest. It is not just conviction of sin. It is not the signing of a pledge of abstinence. Repentance is that thing when you come before God and see yourself as you are, and see Him as he is, and say with Isaiah 'Woe is me, for I am unclean!'” —Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), 'THE GOODNESS OF GOD LEADETH TO REPENTANCE'

You need to know what you are being saved from. You are a guilty sinner, and so am I. We all deserve to spend eternity burning in the fires of Hell to pay for our own debt of sin. But thanks be to God the Father for sending His only begotten (biological) Son into the world to die on a cross for our sins. JESUS PAID IT ALL! Jesus paid a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt of sin we could not pay. That is true love! Thus, eternal life is a FREE GIFT, paid for by Jesus' precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19).

Just because there are some people who mistakenly think they are saved because they prayed a prayer without having faith in Christ, doesn't negate everyone who has ever prayed a sinner's prayer at the time of salvation. What Charles Lawson is horribly doing is condemning everyone who has ever prayed a sinner's prayer, and that is wicked. He is teaching that simply believing the Gospel to get to Heaven is an abomination to God, because that is exactly what Easy-Believism is. The heretical idea that more than faith is necessary to be saved is evil.

A popular heretical Calvinist teaching in churches today is that when somebody gets saved, decades later they should be actively involved serving God, walking in holiness and showing forth solid evidence that they have been redeemed. If these virtues are not present, then they are deemed never to have been saved at all. So, fools like Charles Lawson will attack places like the First Baptist Church of Hammond and say, “Where are those tens of thousands of alleged converts today?”

Well, where are the 3,000 Jews who were saved on the Day of Pentecost? We never hear one word about any of them again in the Holy Bible. When Phillip led the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ, we never hear about that eunuch again. Nor do we ever hear anything later about the Samaritan woman or her people in Samaria who believed on Jesus. The Bible is full of sinners who believed on Christ, but were never heard from again. So, their point is mute when they slander the soulwinning ministry of the First Baptist Church of Hammond.

The Evil Men Who Hated Pastor Jack Hyles

Hey, how about Acts 4:4, “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.” Great fluffy biscuits in the morning! Wow, there were another 5,000 men (not including women and children) saved. I can hear soul-barren hecklers like David Cloud, Charles Lawson, the late Victor Nischik (1934-2015) and the late Robert Sumner (1922-2016) criticizing the apostles, casting doubts on the validity of those 5,000 converts. God hates critics who never lift a finger to go soulwinning, they just sit in their La-Z-Boy armchairs and critique those who do.

By the way, all four names of the horrible men I just mentioned, who have all been bitter enemies of Pastor Jack Hyles and his ministry, all strongly deny a free grace Gospel and preach that you must turn from your sinful bad habits to be saved. Robert Sumner preaches hardcore Lordship Salvation more than anyone. In the preceding article Sumner slanders Pastor Harry Ironside too, falsely accusing him of preaching the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation. But read for yourself what that faithful man of God Harry Ironside actually taught...

WHEN THE REVIVALIST comes promising salvation to those "who make a full surrender" of all that they have to God, and who "pay the price of full salvation," he is preaching another gospel, for the price was paid on Calvary's cross and the work that saves is finished. It was Christ Jesus who made the full surrender, when He yielded Himself unto death for us that we might be redeemed from the curse of the broken law and forever saved from the judgment to come upon all who refuse His grace. —Pastor Harry Ironside, “Another Gospel”

IN YOUR FACE Robert Sumner! What a liar!

Sadly, I humbly believe that all of these four wicked men that I have mentioned who despise free grace will spend eternity in Hell. Victor Nischik plainly denies a free grace Gospel, attacking Easy-Believism in his hatred of Brother Hyles. Missionary David W. Cloud has slandered Pastor Hyles for decades, wickedly dubbing him as: “The King of Shallow Soul Winning!” If anyone is “shallow” it is David Cloud and his hateful rhetoric. These men are envious of Dr. Hyles massive success in the LORD! I have lived long enough at age 59 to see that wicked neo-evangelicals despise and hate fundamentalist Christians. That is why I have been kicked out of the last five churches that I've attended, by ungodly incompetent pastors!

I encourage you to read my helpful article, 'What Is Biblical Repentance?' This article contains many helpful quotes from godly, soulwinning, free grace preachers that will help you understand Bible repentance concerning the new birth. Pastor Lawson in his sermon “Repentance” totally avoids the Greek meaning of what “repentance” means, assigning his own human rational to define what it means to “repent,” and in so doing perverts God's simple plan of salvation to include living a radically changed life.

Pastor Lawson commits the classic error of mixing service with salvation, and in so doing corrupts the inspired Word of God and casts stumbling blocks before the people. It is because Pastor Lawson fails to put a difference between sanctification (discipleship) and justification (the new birth) that he is utterly confused and cannot explain what he is attempting to say. That he does not understand the subject couldn't be more obvious.

God's Simple Plan of Salvation is to Believe the Gospel

You don't need to “ask” to be saved because God is already freely offering you eternal life as a gift. You simply need to TAKE IT by faith. Simply take God at His written Word to accept Christ's sacrificial death on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was buried, but then physically resurrected from the dead three days later. This is “the gospel” (GOOD NEWS) according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-6. Romans 1:16 teaches that “the gospel” is the POWER OF GOD unto salvation “to every one that believeth.” BELIEVE IT, oh sinner, and the work is done!

If you want to pray a sinner's pray to accompany your faith that is fine to do, just so you understand that it is not praying that saves you, it is BELIEVING THE GOSPEL. 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

Dr. Richard Seymour Foolishly Criticizes And Misrepresents Easy Believism

Philippians 1:15-17, “Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.”

Dr. Richard A. Seymour (1938-2015) was the founder of Clarity Ministries and a former professor of Bible and theology at Frontier School of the Bible. Dr. Seymour has authored several books. One of them is titled: “Easy Believism, Lordship Salvation Or Justification By Faith?”

Kindly said, I have a serious issue with Dr. Seymour's book. He foolishly misrepresents “Easy Believism” as being something bad, using the term to designate an unbeliever who merely believes that there is a God, or who acknowledges that Christ exists (things which do not produce the required new birth to enter into God's Kingdom). But dear reader, other than Dr. Seymour I have never heard any free grace preacher portray “Easy Believism” as being anything other than the simplicity that is in Christ. His book is confusing at best, which is potentially harmful to the reader, misleading someone to think it is not easy to be saved.

If you read his book, Dr. Seymour foolishly breaks down his book into three sections:

1. Easy Believism
2. Lordship Salvation
3. Justification By Faith

This is very misleading. What Dr. Seymour should have done is label believing in God, or belief that Jesus existed 2,000 years ago, as “Knowledge” (because that's exactly what it is). Thus, he should have titled his book: “Knowledge, Lordship Salvation Or Easy Believism.” I am very concerned over what he has done, foolishly misleading the reader to think “Easy Believism” is a bad thing, when in reality it is the only way to get to Heaven. Justification by faith in Jesus Christ is “Easy Believism” and don't ever let anybody tell you different dear friend.

RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!

You Don't Have To “Ask” God To Save You

John 3:14-16, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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.”

The inspired Holy Bible couldn't be more clear that the way to Heaven is through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Any needy sinner who by faith (simply taking God at His written Word) accepts Christ's sacrificial death on the cross as full payment for their sins, believing that He was buried, but then physically resurrected from the dead three days later is saved. This is “the gospel” according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-6. Whosoever BELIEVES IT is saved instantly, irrevocably and permanently (Romans 1:16). You have God's promise on it (Titus 1:2).

That being said, an issue has arisen in the New IFB (independent fundamental Baptist) movement by some pastors, who insist that you cannot be saved without praying to be saved, which is essentially “asking” God to save you. Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) in the following sermon excerpt refutes this blatant false teaching...

Dr. Jack Hyles on a 'Sinner's Prayer' for Salvation

I posted this truthful video today on my Facebook page, and as expected a member of the New IFB quickly got upset at me. Here is my original post...

I humbly agree with Pastor Jack Hyles that prayer is not necessary to be saved. Granted, it is natural for most converts to pray at the time of faith, but the Bible is very clear in Romans 10:14 that we are saved at the moment of FAITH, and not calling or praying (i.e., asking to be saved). When a sinner walks down a church aisle in response to a salvation invitation, they are simply going down front to find out what just happened. They were saved before they even left their pew, at the moment they BELIEVED the Gospel. 

Having said that, I am opposed to pastors who require people to walk an aisle to learn how to go to Heaven. Every preacher should tell sinners how to be saved in their pew, regardless of whether they want to come forward. It is a grave sin to add an additional step to God's simple plan of salvation, when God only requires that someone BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST to be saved. 

I don't know when I was saved. I didn't think to write it down. I remember a place, an experience and calling upon Jesus in faith to save me around 1979 or 1980. Since I know that I am saved, I do not worry about the year. But everyone should definitely remember a place and a time when you knew that you were a needy sinner, and you put your trust in Jesus as your personal Savior.

I learned a great truth from Pastor Bob Gray Sr. years ago, which is that Jesus does NOT forgive sin. Jesus has already paid for everyone's sins with His precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19), which is why eternal life is offered to us as a “free gift” (Romans 5:15-18). A gift need only be taken, not merited. Dr. John MacArthur foolishly taught that salvation is an exchange, a trade of sorts. ... 

“Thus in a sense we pay the ultimate price for salvation when our sinful self is nailed to a cross. ...It is an exchange of all that we are for all that Christ is. And it denotes implicit obedience, full surrender to the lordship of Christ. Nothing less can qualify as saving faith.” (The Gospel According to Jesus, p. 140) 

Sadly, John MacArthur (1939-2025) is now burning in Hell forever without hope. His counterfeit plan of salvation that required "full surrender" to Christ's Lordship could not produce the required new birth to enter into God's Kingdom. We see this truth demonstrated in Matthew 7:21-23. They devoutly followed Jesus in dedicated service, but failed to ever rest in the finished redemptive work of Christ. 

No, Mr. MacArthur, salvation is NOT an exchange of all that we are for all that Christ is; it is NOT a trade of sorts! It is a FREE GIFT! You don't have to "ask" for a gift, you simply receive it by faith (by taking God at His written Word), to accept Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was buried, but then miraculously resurrected from the dead three days later. This is the true Gospel which saves according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-6. 

I do not scold pastors for using the sinner's prayer. Even Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), who emphasizes in this sermon excerpt that you don't have to pray to get saved, chose to use a sinner's prayer in the Roman's Road presentation of the Gospel. So, I am okay with pastors using the sinner's prayer, providing that they explain it is faith and not prayer that saves a sinner, which is exactly what Brother Hyles is doing in this needful and helpful video excerpt. 

When I got saved I worried for several years that I might not be saved. I was fearful because I was focusing on the sinner's prayer. Since I couldn't remember what I had prayed, I just figured I would ask God to save me again, and again, and again, and again for over 10 years, wallowing in needless fear, mental anguish, tears, frustration, uncertainty and worry. 

No one had ever properly presented God's simple plan of salvation to me. Although I knew that prayer does not save a man, faith does, I still associated getting saved with the sinner's prayer, and that effectively blocked my brain from seeing the simplicity that is in Christ. 

As the years passed, I finally found peace in the matter. I had stopped worrying about God's free gift of salvation long before I had finally obtained perfect peace that solidified my salvation beliefs from Pastor Max D. Younce's helpful book: “SALVATION AND THE PUBLIC INVITATION”...
https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/.../salvationandthepublic...
In this book, Dr. Younce strongly criticizes the needless practice of requiring sinners to walk down a church aisle to find out how to go to Heaven, which practice I hate.

God only knows how many people are burning in Hell forever, all because some incompetent pastor refused to tell them how to be saved in their pew. The reason why Pastor Max Younce's book helped me so much is because I was saved in a pew. I had always felt guilty for being too shy to walk forward as a young teenager, wondering if it would have made a difference if I had gone forward that day. Oh, that my pastor had simply told everyone how to be saved right there from the church pew!

In the years to follow I read Chick Tracts and every piece of religious literature I could get my hands on, searching for answers to settle my ongoing struggle with the assurance of God's free gift of salvation. Unfortunately, they all ended with the requirement to pray a sinner's prayer, which kept me in bondage. Oh that I would have had the following wonderful book by Michael P. Bowen, "I NEVER KNEW YOU," when I needed answers. THE TRUTH in this Bible-based book would have cleared the dark stormy clouds in my soul and set me free!

I have not doubted my salvation in decades, because I now by God's wondrous grace fully comprehend His great plan of salvation. I gleaned this great quote from Brother Younce: "Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith." I love that truth! 

So, I do not use the sinner's prayer, nor do I recommend that others use it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with accompanying one's faith with a sinner's prayer, which is essentially asking God to save you, and that is just fine. However, I do take offense and stand firmly against those preachers today who insist that you cannot be saved without praying or calling (i.e., asking) to go to Heaven. No such requirement is taught in the inspired King James Bible.

My ministry friend Onorato (Norm) Diamante on YouTube has been horribly verbally attacked (especially by that clown Pastor Jonathan Shelley in Texas who called Onorato an "idiot," “demonic,” “arrogant,” “a loser,” “a jerk,” “effeminate” and "a child of the Devil" for simply faithfully preaching the biblical truth that you don't have to pray to be saved. Well, Pastor Jack Hyles and myself agree with Onorato. If anyone is arrogant and a jerk, it is Jonathan Shelley!

There is no mention of the 3,000 sinners who were saved on the Day of Pentecost praying or asking to be saved, they simply "gladly received" Peter's Gospel message (Acts 2:41) and were born again. 

Nor is there any mention of Cornelius and his companions calling, praying or asking to be saved, they simply believed the GOOD NEWS that they heard preached unto them and were converted (Acts 10:43-44; Galatians 3:2). Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. 

I have heard numerous preachers down play this issue, asking what's the big deal. But they are the one's making it a big deal, by denying that you can get to Heaven without asking, calling or praying to be saved. What saith the Scripture? John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

And although Jesus did invite the Samaritan woman in John 4:10 to "ask" Him for the Living Water, there is not one mention in the remainder of the chapter about any of the Samaritans asking Jesus to save them. Here is what we read... 

John 4:39-42, “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. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; 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.”

Let me give you a good illustration. Let's say that it is your birthday and I mail you a birthday present. It arrives by UPS on your birthday and you are holding the gift in your hands with excitement, anticipating what might be inside. Oh boy! Would you call me on the phone, or send me an email, asking if you can open your gift? No, of course not, that would be silly! So what in the world makes someone think that receiving a gift from God is any different? Why would you need to pray to ask God for a gift that He is already freely offering you? 

In the cases of the 3,000 Jews saved at Pentecost in Acts 2, and Cornelius and his friends in Acts 10, and the Roman jailer in Acts 16:30-31—there is no mention of anyone "asking" to be saved, they simply believed on the dear Savior and were saved. Shame on any pastor who tries to make you feel bad or stupid for simply believing that faith is enough to get to Heaven.

In his response to the preceding Facebook post, a New IFB member posted this (unedited)...

“John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”

And here is my reply...

Kindly, did you read my post, I addressed that Bible verse? You cannot base a doctrine on a single passage of Scripture. Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) rightly said, “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” We find dozens of Scripture passages where sinners simply BELIEVED without asking to be saved.

His unedited reply was...

“there is nothing obscure about it”

My biblical response to his foolishness...

You're missing the point my friend. We've got several dozen passages in Scripture that simply teach to "BELIEVE" on the name of Jesus to be saved (John 1:12-13, 3:14-16; 6:28-29, 40, 47; 10:9, 11:25; 20:31; Acts 10:43, 16:30-31; 1st Corinthians 15:1-6; Galatians 3:26; 1st Thessalonians 4:14, to name but just a few). It is bad Bible interpretation to take John 4:10 to teach that you must "ask" God to save you, when the Bible is full of people who didn't. I am not against someone asking God to save them, but it is not mandatory to be saved.

According to John 20:31, the Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract, written to show the reader the way of salvation, “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.” There is no mention of asking, praying or calling.

And again, as I have kindly mentioned, the Bible is very clear in Romans 10:14 that no one can call until they have first believed, and it is one's faith that saves them. Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Again, no mention of praying to be saved.

Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) got it absolutely right...

“'Pray to be saved. Ask the Lord to save you.' This is what I heard a minister say to a convicted sinner who came forward for prayer at the close of an evangelistic service. Nowhere in the Bible are men told to pray to be saved. There are examples where men did pray and were saved. Men are told to repent, to believe, to obey the Gospel, but the Bible never says to pray for salvation. It does say that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, but nowhere does the Bible command men to pray to be saved. I think I know why, God, who made the human heart, knew that it was not necessary to tell convicted sinners to pray. If a sinner can see Jesus Christ on the cross, it is as natural for him to pray as it is for birds to sing or flowers to bloom. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.'” —Dr. Bob Jones Sr., “Comments On Here And Hereafter,” chapter: Prayer And Praise, p. 163; Bob Jones University Press, Inc., © 1942

Kindly said, you can stand your ground on this issue, but it is shaky ground to be certain. What you are defending cannot be supported with the inspired Word of God. Just because Jesus invited the Samaritan woman to "ask" Him for the Living Water doesn't negate the over 100 other passages of Scripture which simply invite the reader to "believe" on Christ to be saved.

He replied...

there are just as many scriptures that talk about calling on the name of the Lord and I personally believe that if someone trusts Christ they will ask him to save them aka call on his name. You can disagree I've got better things to do than argue on Facebook.

And here is my final response to his blatant heresy...

Well, I don't have better things to do than to defend the integrity of the Gospel. You are very wrong in your position. Obviously you've been listening to preachers and don't have a leg to stand on in the matter. And you are wrong that just as many verses talk about calling upon the name of the Lord, as versus simply believing to be saved. You don't seem to want to admit that God specifically wrote the Gospel of John to show us how to get to Heaven (John 20:31). Apart from one lone verse in John 4:10, the word "believe" is mentioned 85 times in John. Many places in the Bible where it says men "called upon the LORD" have nothing to do with salvation.

“The conversion of Cornelius and his household completely contradicts the notion that faith must be coupled with prayer in order to result in salvation. Acts 10:43, 'To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. 'While Peter yet spake these words...' Don't miss that! 'While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.' Notice, 'WHILE PETER YET SPAKE THESE WORDS, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.'  Why? Because their hearing was mixed with faith. These men were saved while the preacher was still speaking.”—Evangelist Onorato Diamante  

“To assert that man is not saved until he calls, knowing that believing precedes (or comes before calling) is to assert that man is not saved the moment he believes.” —Evangelist Onorato Diamante