the basic message #E314
11/20/04
I was listening to a radio preacher yesterday that had sharp words for anyone who had any view of Christianity beyond "saved by grace alone". He went on to express his disgust towards anyone who used the term "cheap grace". "Cheap grace", he stated, is an insult to Jesus Christ's sacrificial death. I agree 100%, but what this pastor is totally missing is that when someone like myself uses the term "cheap grace", I'm no way minimizing the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, rather I am minimizing the "faith" that some Christians claim while living lives that are anything but Christ-like. As the preacher railed on, he challenged the radio audience to provide "chapter and verse" for any position different than his own. I called the phone number listed after the program and left a message saying to please call me and tell me how many scriptural references he'd like- I have plenty. As of yet I haven't received a call-back.
It's tragically funny how this little game works. The "all grace" preachers of the world issue dire warnings to their congregations to be on the lookout for people like me who "trample on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ". May I ask you a serious question? If a person simply says, "I trust Jesus as my Savior", and then goes on to live a life of premeditated sin, and another person says, "I trust Jesus as my Savior, and I'll do everything I can to live the life he commanded me to live", which of the two is trampling the sacrifice of Jesus? All grace preachers will disgustingly say that people like me are trying to "work our way to Heaven". They say that people like me are heretics who don't believe that Jesus can take away our sins. They insist that past, present and future sins are all covered by Jesus Christ once a person invites Jesus into their heart. "Repentance", they snort, "is something that is done prior to accepting Jesus as Savior". Oh really?
I'm going to prove to the radio preacher in question, and to all of the other "all grace" preachers out there that assure their congregations that past, present and future sins are all taken away when a person gives their life to Christ.
Let's take a look at a typical salvation experience. Rather than take the easy way out by putting a 12 year-old kid in the example, let's be a bit more realistic and use a typical 25 year-old American male in this scenario. What would your typical, red-blooded American male be guilty of by the time he reaches 25 years-old? Let's go down the laundry list: He's probably spent many hours looking at porn, smoked, drank, did drugs, had premarital sex many times, used foul language, lied, has stolen, and the list goes on and on. Perhaps he's known all along that he should clean-up his act, but hasn't done much to change. He gets an invitation to go to a church service or revival, and the next thing he knows, the preacher is "calling unregenerated sinners to come to the altar and invite Jesus to be Lord of their life". Does this seem far-fetched to you? It shouldn't, because this sort of thing goes on in America every Sunday morning thousands of times. When the young man in my example goes to the altar, often times tearful and emotional, the preacher isn't going to do a big interview, rather he will probably ask a couple of simple questions: "Are you sorry for your sins?", "Do you want Jesus to take away your sins?", and "Do you want Jesus to be Lord of your life?" Generally speaking, the preacher won't get into a long-winded discussion asking, "So, son, just what are your sins before we go any farther". According to the "all Grace" preachers, there's no need for that kind of questioning, since Jesus can and will take away all of the new convert's sins- past, present and future. Are we in agreement so far? Good.
In the example above, I profiled a "typical" young American male. I'd guess that my description would cover about 80% of all 25 year-old men in America prior to conversion. The "all Grace" preachers in America include men like D. James Kennedy and Charles Stanley, among notable others. There's a little flaw in their approach to "all Grace", and that flaw becomes as big as a freight train when exposed for what it's worth. Both of the men I just mentioned are very vocal about their feelings towards homosexuals. They will tell you right quick that homosexuality is an "abomination to God", and sometimes will come out and say that a homosexual can't be a Christian.
Let's go back to my earlier example, same church service or revival, same preacher. This time the 25 year-old is still guilty of all of the sins mentioned before, but the premarital sex has been with other men. Once again, in the call to the altar, especially in large churches, the preacher will seldom ask anymore than the rudimentary questions: "Are you sorry for your sins?", "Do you want Jesus to take away your sins?", "Do you want Jesus to be Lord of your life?" Since someone like Kennedy wouldn't likely ask the specifics of the nature of the sin, he would likely just wave them through onto the streets of gold. Some of you are crying "foul" at this point, arguing that the homosexual misrepresented himself at the altar. No, he didn't. Go back and read the questions, and see if he did anything wrong. "Oh, but he's guilty of worse sins than the heterosexual man." Really? How did you decide that? Now is my turn to request "chapter and verse" from you to support your view.
You should by now see the total hypocrisy of the "all Grace" preachers who are really dispensing grace to those who they deem "worthy". The sin of homosexuality is beyond grace in the opinion of many hard-hearted preachers. "But John, homosexuality is a serious sin." I agree, but may I ask a question? What's worse- a homosexual man who has been in a 10-year relationship with another man, or a heterosexual man who's been married 3 times, has had children by all 3 wives and doesn't support any of them, and while he was married he had regular affairs? Don't even begin to say that my example is far-fetched, because this type of behavior is becoming more and more common.
The facts are plain and simple- the majority of "all Grace" preachers in America want to pick and choose Holy Scripture to suit their purposes. They'll look the other way when women in their congregation get abortions and when their deacons frequent strip-clubs. They won't even begin to question how many of their teenage members are having premarital sex, but boy, when it comes time to preach on homosexuality, they suddenly get a big burst of energy. That simply shows total weakness of their own character, and I believe they're leading just as many people to Hell as they are to Heaven.
I'll be listening for a phone call from the radio preacher, and I'll keep you posted. He sounded like a macho type of guy that will engage in debate quite easily, so I'll invite him to provide his top-ten Scriptures that should convince a sinner that all-Grace is sufficient, and I'll provide my top-ten Scriptures that will prove that Grace is the beginning, and that Jesus expects his people to heed his instructions. It should be interesting.