The Damming Effect of Decisional Regeneration (Part III)

Decision or Delightful Duty

Mega church pastor Steven Furtick says he's setting "strategic goals in the areas of attendance, salvation decisions, (and) baptisms.”. That's what Steven reports on another post in which he shares how God told him that "100 people would give their lives to Jesus" , and before he preached a sex sermon God told him that "50 people would be saved.

A staffer at one church talks about their goal of saving "hundreds" over the upcoming year.

Another church, on the verge of their upcoming iPod sermon series, says that the 200 people that recently got saved are just the tip of the iceberg this year. How do they know that? What if God decides to melt that iceberg?

At Granger Community Church, where church-goers were once asked to make salvation decisions by coming forward and signing a Davinci painting, 600 were said to have "decided to follow Christ" this time, but they don't mention anything about God's role in those salvations.

The Cool Church mission’s blog points out that 300 made decisions when "Pastor George spoke". Elsewhere, Pastor Greg talks about 1600 people who got saved in jail, and makes a special point of mentioning that "I led over 130 to the Lord myself".

A nursing home evangelist says that he resists boasting about 'decisions' but, you guessed it, he ends up doing it anyway. Not only that but, he lets you know that the decisions occurred "due to our ministry".

Another church says 50 kids decided to let "Jesus be the boss of their life" through their VBS.

Here's a pastor that says in ALL CAPS that 6 people made "REAL decisions.” But just saying they are REAL doesn't demonstrate that they really are[1]

These wild statements, comments, and “promises” are not restricted to the fringe, or the Emerging Church, or to mega churches. You find this same kind of mentality right at home in our own evangelical/fundamental bible, community or Baptist churches. The average church today bases the eternal security of its membership on a decision that was made on a certain date.

The Apostle John wrote his first letter with a distinct purpose of providing “proof” or assurance of salvation in his readers. He never mentioned “decisions” or “dates” as the means of obtaining or maintain assurance. The whole body of his letter deals with the grounds of Christian assurance of salvation. He writes that the grounds of assurance are found in: 

• Defining and Describing true fellowship with God through the Son
• Discerning the truth from error in various conflicts of our faith
• Demonstrating true God-like love for both God and the children of God
• Determining our son-ship, or true Christian faith by the witness of the Holy Spirit 

John wrote some pretty deep and “heavy” things about these topics. He pulled no punches and minced no words. He was clear and direct as he spoke of the evidence of salvation. There was no “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” for John. Salvation was free and it was a gift. Salvation was received by faith. But true salvation was not guaranteed by a decision but by delightful duty as one worked out one’s salvation in works in fear and trembling.

How did we get here? Where did this hellish and demonic idea of decisional regeneration develop? Before we look at the evidences given by John for the assurance of salvation, let’s answer this question.

To be continued…

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[1] Cited from “Philosophy of Joel” weblog, dated August 26, 2007 entitled Man Saves Man and Decisions are the Plan

The Damming Effect of Decisional Regeneration (Part II)

Works Necessary for Salvation

Calm down! Take a chill pill. I don’t mean that works are a part of becoming saved or converted. We know that salvation is a free gift of God obtained through faith. Not a single soul can earn or merit salvation based on any work, righteous or not.

…he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and renewal of the Holy Spirit…” (Titus 3:5a, ESV)

It is clear that no one is saved by any kind of a work, good, bad, or even indifferent. Salvation is a work of God in the soul of a man whom the Holy Spirit has been brought to the conviction of sin and sins. No one will ever enter heaven who worked for it.

There are at least two questions that must be addressed when we talk about salvation. These two questions are even inherent in our word “repent.” Repentance means that we turn from our sin and sins and we turn to God in faith and obedience. So, the first question that one must address in regards to salvation is, “What are we saved from?” In other words, why do we need salvation? This, I think, is the missing element from most offers of salvation. We must be convinced and convicted of the gravity of our sin against God. We must “feel the weight” of the judgment and damnation of our sin.

The second question that must be addressed is, “What are we being saved to?” In other words, what happens when we turn from our sin and sins and turn to God in faith?

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)

Of course the epistle from James, half-brother of Jesus and first pastor of the Jerusalem Bible Church was written to demonstrate that true salvation results in a lifestyle of works.

“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:17-18, ESV)

Paul exhorted the Philippian believers to, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12b-13, ESV)

My Confession

I confess to you that these thoughts have not just come out of the blue. Neither do I desire to stir up a hornet’s nest nor create fear or uncertainty in anyone who reads this about their own personal salvation. Yet, I do not wish to see anyone deceived concerning the reason for their “assurance.” I have no desire to see anyone base their assurance of eternal salvation off of a date or a decision.

My morning devotions at this time are taken from the first epistle of the Apostle John. As I am meditating through this letter I am seeing example after example of the assurance of salvation. As a matter of fact this is one of the reasons John wrote this letter, “…these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” (I John 5:13, KJV) John wrote about what constitutes the assurance of salvation and the confidence that a believer can have. Not once did he refer his readers to a date or decision. He listed works as the evidence of salvation. True salvation is evidenced by and results in various types of works.

To be continued…

The Damming Effect of Decisional Regeneration (Part I)

The Gospel for Believers

Paul wrote to the Christian believers in Rome, “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” (Romans 1:15, ESV) Why would he want to preach the gospel to men and women who were already Christians? In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul wrote, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which also you stand…” (I Corinthians 15:1, NASB) Again, I ask you, why would Paul preach again the gospel that first of all he had already preached, and second, they had accepted, and third were committed to?

There are a number of reasons for this of course. The gospel, for Paul, was not just a call to saving faith. It was a call to continue in a daily walk of faith. The gospel converts the unconverted and completes the converted. We make a drastic and dangerous mistake when we relegate the gospel to just the unbelievers. The gospel is for believers!

I agree with Milton Vincent (A Gospel Primer) when he wrote, “God did not give us His gospel just so we could embrace it and be converted. Actually, He offers it to us every day as a gift that keeps on giving to us everything we need for life and godliness.” [1]

If you read Paul very carefully you will note that in each of his epistles he spends almost if not half of his letter restating the gospel. Paul rehearses the gospel to the recipients of each of his letters. Once he has carefully restated the historical data concerning the gospel of God, he then demonstrates how those gospel facts apply to their lives. Paul restates the gospel message so that it is accurately recalled and brings each believer to the same page in order to show how those gospel truths affect their lives.

False Assurance

The most damming and destructive effect of decisional regeneration is the false assurance it produces. When asking an individual such questions as, “How do you know you are “saved,” or “What are you placing your confidence in,” or “Why do you think God should let you in His heaven,” we usually are given the answer, “On such and such a date I asked Jesus into my heart.”  Or, one may hear, “I made a decision for Jesus.”

First of all, such terms and expressions as “receive Jesus,” ask Jesus into your heart,” or “pray the sinner’s prayer” are not biblical terms. Nowhere in the Bible are we told to receive Jesus or ask Jesus into our hearts. Second, a date upon which one hangs their eternal security is not necessarily the grounds for assurance of one’s salvation.

Neither the bible nor the gospel for that matter advocates using a date or a decision for assurance of salvation. Are you shocked? You should be! So, you say, “What does the bible teach about assurance?

To be continued...

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[1] Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer, (Bemidji: Focus Publishing, 2008), p.5

What is Biblical Contentment?

“Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.”

― Jeremiah Burroughs

c. 1600 – London, November 13, 1646)

Just An Observation...

A survey of the contemporary evangelical scene reveals some startling facts: church attendance is up, way up, while Bible knowledge is down, way down! More people now say they believe in God than ever before according to a recent Gallup survey, while an equally high number of respondents said they did not believe that truth is absolute. 


You are left to wonder just what kind of God these people worship!? These paradoxes shouldn't surprise us; never before in the history of the church has doctrine been so universally disparaged and held in contempt. And this attitude threatens the very gospel message Christ commissioned His Bride to proclaim (Matt. 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-47). The title of a MacArthur best-seller sums it up well, the church has become Ashamed of the Gospel!

    The church too often today is more concerned with "relevance" than truth. It marches to the drum beat of popularity and trendiness. It gets its agenda from the world and has succumbed to worldliness. 


For example, tolerance is the great virtue of our age, and anyone who would dare "call a spade a spade" and refer to someone's activities or lifestyle as "sinful" is stigmatized as the real enemy of society and progress. More than ever it seems churches are full of people with "itching ears." There seems to be no shortage of men who will "scratch" or "tickle" those ears.


Tolerance has also invaded the church in the form of a growing acceptance of heresy (the openness of God theology, for example) and a corresponding reluctance to confront sin within the Body as the Bible specifically instructs (Matt. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5:1-13). It seems "live and let live" is the motto or mantra of the day. Churches tolerate both sin and sinners rather than confront the people of God with the Word of God.

Are Muslims Violent?

44% of Americans say that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its followers

The new nationwide survey of 2,002 adults, conducted June 24-July 8 by the Pew Research Center and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, shows that 44% of Americans say that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its followers, a sharp rise from 25% who held this view in March 2002. 

A separate Pew Research Center study found that nearly half the public thinks that half or more Muslims worldwide hold anti-American views, up from just a third who felt this way in 2002.

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What say ye?

Discipleship in a Facebook World (Part IV)

Knock, Knock – Who’s There?

Living in a “virtual” world lends itself to developing a facade of who we really are. In many cases there is no real-person behind the Facebook picture or avatar. If there is someone behind the picture, it is often a caricature of who we want people to think we are. Facebook personalities become two- dimensional. When we become two-dimensional we run the risk of projecting an image of perfection. Living behind such a façade requires no responsibility or accountability for oneself or for anyone else. I was saddened to learn in an article that Facebook has become the preferred place for posting suicide notes.

I agree with one writer I read when he said, “We have to get in touch with reality again.” Living in this electronic and digital age allows us to do almost of our business online. Banking, shopping, medical issues, research, movies, music, mapping, and virtual living can all be done online now. We have limited our interpersonal connections to almost zero. The church seems to be following right along with these two-dimensional social mediums.

For all of the usefulness of Facebook, it is not a substitute for reality. It certainly not a substitute for fellowship. I don’t mean fellowship where we discuss the weather, the lousy Seahawks season, or Grandmother’s gall bladder surgery. Fellowship isn’t where we catch up on the latest gossip and dish the dirt. Fellowship is where we, in a face to face encounter, minister our spiritual gifts to one another in an attempt to comfort, correct, or counsel a fellow brother or sister in Christ.

When we are not sure of who is behind the “status update” we cannot make an environment where corporate repentance, restoration, and re-vitalization take place. Of course Facebook was never intended to do this. Someone said it well when they said there is no spiritual discipline app. We must be part of face to face discipleship encounters to foster a healthy spiritual environment.

After all this is why the body gathers together. Unfortunately most believers do not know why the body gathers, nor are they aware of its importance. As it takes a mother and father (the exceptions prove-not disprove the rule) to successfully raise a child, it takes a gathered and committed body of believers to develop the spiritual wherewithal to “raise” or disciple new believers. The gathered body is not designed to facilitate “hiding” or anonymity.

As much fun as Facebook can be and as useful in other areas as it has been, Facebook is not a substitute for discipleship.  Encouraging quotes, verses rooted out of context, spiritual one-liners might comfort, encourage, and even edify someone momentarily, but Facebook will never replace one on one face to face encounters. It takes three dimensional, risky; often confrontation personal encounters to truly foster the environment in which true biblical discipleship takes place.

Discipleship in a Facebook world is probably an oxymoron. It cannot be done successfully. Facebook is not designed to develop disciples!