Oops I didn’t post the entire page, just kidding, I felt it necessary to split it up. My apologies for the deception but If I had just presented my argument, most pastors are preaching works, I would have been stoned, called legalistic etc.
I work with this guy and for the last 15 years he comes to me at least once a week asking how to be saved. He works the Sunday shift, doesn’t attend a church, so I’m basically his only source for biblical teaching. Every time he asks how to be saved I simply say, “try to be more like Jesus.” He occasionally mentions a problem like alcoholism, to which I quote a bible verse on how being a drunkard is wrong and again tell him, try to be more like Jesus. He’s cheating on his wife, I quote a verse on adultery and give a call to action, be more like Christ. This has been the pattern for 15 years and he is still cheating on his wife, getting drunk every other night and coming to me week after week desperately seeking advice on how to be saved. Is my approach, the quoting of scripture paired with a call to action, biblical? What am I doing wrong?
This hypothetical situation was concocted in an effort to reveal the false, works based gospel the majority of modern day pastors teach.
For some, this works based salvation taught to my hypothetical coworker is easy to spot. In this scenario, I am this guys only source for biblical truth, he seeks my guidance every week and I simply toss out a verse and tell him to try harder to be more like Christ. Obviously this teaches that his salvation is dependent upon his decision to try. As a believer who understands salvation is given, not earned, I could never make this mistake week after week, year after year.
Over the past 20 years I’ve seen this tactic of preaching, a verse based sermon mixed with a life story, capped with an effort based call to action. This style of preaching would be acceptable if the room was entirely filled with Christians, but what if there’s a single nonbeliever? Then a distinction must be made, every time, without acceptation, right? A Christian pastor would never take, even the slightest chance, of preaching a works based gospel would he?
But that’s exactly what they’re doing. By continuously, purposefully, failing to make the distinction between the believer’s spirit guided effort in sanctification and the nonbelievers futile effort to be Christ like, they are in fact preaching works based salvation to nonbelievers.
Year after year these lukewarm tacticians preach a "soft message" which attracts a majority of nonbelievers. The formula of verse based, call to action preaching without distinction then teaches nonbelievers a works based salvation. A works based gospel is a false gospel no matter how it is presented. No matter how likable your pastor, no matter how much "good" he does for the community, if the product of is teaching is works salvation to nonbelievers then he is a false teacher. Your pastor may not realize this error, he may have simply adopted this preaching formula taught in many seminaries, be gentile but be vigilant.
I work with this guy and for the last 15 years he comes to me at least once a week asking how to be saved. He works the Sunday shift, doesn’t attend a church, so I’m basically his only source for biblical teaching. Every time he asks how to be saved I simply say, “try to be more like Jesus.” He occasionally mentions a problem like alcoholism, to which I quote a bible verse on how being a drunkard is wrong and again tell him, try to be more like Jesus. He’s cheating on his wife, I quote a verse on adultery and give a call to action, be more like Christ. This has been the pattern for 15 years and he is still cheating on his wife, getting drunk every other night and coming to me week after week desperately seeking advice on how to be saved. Is my approach, the quoting of scripture paired with a call to action, biblical? What am I doing wrong?
This hypothetical situation was concocted in an effort to reveal the false, works based gospel the majority of modern day pastors teach.
For some, this works based salvation taught to my hypothetical coworker is easy to spot. In this scenario, I am this guys only source for biblical truth, he seeks my guidance every week and I simply toss out a verse and tell him to try harder to be more like Christ. Obviously this teaches that his salvation is dependent upon his decision to try. As a believer who understands salvation is given, not earned, I could never make this mistake week after week, year after year.
Over the past 20 years I’ve seen this tactic of preaching, a verse based sermon mixed with a life story, capped with an effort based call to action. This style of preaching would be acceptable if the room was entirely filled with Christians, but what if there’s a single nonbeliever? Then a distinction must be made, every time, without acceptation, right? A Christian pastor would never take, even the slightest chance, of preaching a works based gospel would he?
But that’s exactly what they’re doing. By continuously, purposefully, failing to make the distinction between the believer’s spirit guided effort in sanctification and the nonbelievers futile effort to be Christ like, they are in fact preaching works based salvation to nonbelievers.
Year after year these lukewarm tacticians preach a "soft message" which attracts a majority of nonbelievers. The formula of verse based, call to action preaching without distinction then teaches nonbelievers a works based salvation. A works based gospel is a false gospel no matter how it is presented. No matter how likable your pastor, no matter how much "good" he does for the community, if the product of is teaching is works salvation to nonbelievers then he is a false teacher. Your pastor may not realize this error, he may have simply adopted this preaching formula taught in many seminaries, be gentile but be vigilant.
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