I desire that Christ may be glorified through the following letter to the elect and all others that might read it. In the past 150 years there has been a “new” doctrine that has sprung up from Rome that is as or more subtle and deceptive as the Roman Catholic Institution that I hope will be brought into the clear light of “Scripture and right reason.” Let our consciences be “captive to the Word of God” and not by the interpretations of man who have so long erred by wresting certain portions of Scripture while ignoring others. Let those that call themselves Christian examine this statement with Scripture that is interpreted justly with Scripture, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” May God Almighty, who hath made all things for His pleasure, have His holy and just way and be glorified. Amen. 1. When the Holy Scriptures says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12) it means the act of having the heart filled with the Spirit without the consent of the recipient (verse 13).
2. This word cannot be understood to mean accepting Christ, that is, the mere acceptance in the mind of Christ’s eternal work of Salvation, as preached by modern preachers.
3. Nor can it be understood to mean “asking the Lord into one’s heart” to save him from the destruction of Hell, but rather a filling of the Holy Spirit that is given based on God’s will rather than man’s; as it is God who makes a man willing. (Phil 2:13).
4. Yet it means not inward filling only; nay, there is no inward filling which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh based on this filling. (Gal. 2:20, Col 3:5-7)
5. Therefore, this filling of the Holy Spirit is accompanied with the total change of a man’s life, from sin to holiness, one that transforms the inward man and then overflows into his daily life. (II Cor. 5:17).
6. No, the word “received” cannot be labelled as “accepting Christ” or “asking Him into your heart” for if it was, then would a man that was dead in trespasses and sins be able to raise his own self from the dead. (Eph 2:1, 5)
7. Man cannot do one thing to obtain salvation for John 1:13 says, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
8. If it was the responsibility of man to accept Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour, why is the phrase not in any of the apostolic sermons? If it was so important, why instead of telling the men on the day of Pentecost to “Repent,” did he not say “accept Christ?”
9. So why is it that the modern preacher says that a man’s salvation depends on whether or not an individual will accept or reject Christ?
10. The palmist writes in Psalm 80:18-19, “So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” This verse shows us that God must do the enlightening before the man dead in trespasses in sin can do anything.
11. Therefore, any act done before the quickening of the Holy Spirit to obtain salvation, whether it be accepting Christ, repenting, believing, or calling on Him, is a work and is no longer grace because the work that should follow and be the result of salvation is done before the work of God. (Rom. 11:6)
12. And if this is the case then there is only one difference between the saved and the lost; a work. It would be a work because God bestows only on the ones who accepted Him instead on those who He chooses. (Eph. 2:8-9, John 15:16)
13. To accept Christ is to do a good and righteous thing, a thing that a spiritually dead man is unable to do, and according to Isaiah 64:6, “all of our righteousness is as filthy rags” and Psalms 14 and 53 and Romans 3, “there is none that doeth good, no not one.”
14. We must consider what Jeremiah 13:23 says about men doing good, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.”
15. John 6:44 says very clearly, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Also, in John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
16. When we tell men to accept Christ so that God will save them, we are telling them that they can do something in order to obtain the favour of God and that they can defy what God says about their lost condition.
17. The lost often look upon worldly men who claim to have accepted Christ and declare that there is no difference between them and the “Christians” because what they see is not the God-originated transformation, but a man-made attempt to be godly without the holiness of God in his life. (Gal. 5:19-23)
18. We are told in Ephesians chapter one that the “elect” (called so by Christ’s own mouth in Matthew 23:24) were “chosen… in him before the foundation of the world… predestinated…unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
19. This is the key to understanding salvation for it reveals the thought that man had no part of his salvation, but that it originated and is worked out by God. (Rom 9:17-18)
20. Wicked and ignorant are the doings of the modern preacher, who wrests The Word of God out of context to prove their own doctrine. It is mostly done out of laziness and pride, for we are too lazy to find out the truth and too proud to declare that we might be wrong, but the wresting of the Scriptures is still sin. (II Pet. 3:16)
21. The modern preacher has twisted the meaning of the John 3:16 and 1:29 word “world” from meaning, in context of Ephesians 1, Romans 8, 9, 11, John 6, and particularly I Corinthians 4:9 where the word “world” is used with men and angels, from the world of the elect to meaning the entire world of sinners, which is unscriptural.
22. “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:18-21.
23. Preachers say that men can do the work of accepting Christ to be saved when God says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “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.”
24. Many of the modern day churches have become a business, trying to bring as many souls to Christ before He comes back by using the most “effective” way; from hosting “Christian rock” singers to giving away free food, presents and bus rides on the mission field, the main thrust of the “church” seems to have become a numbers game. (Dan 2:43, Lev. 19:19)
25. It has become such a dominating thrust that the “church” has sent out an “army of soul-winners” (to compete with the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons) to “lead men to Christ.”
26. Some preach that you might be the only gospel that a man might hear, indicating that a man’s salvation depends on your faithfulness. (I Thess. 5:24)
27. Those that do thus preach by their actions that God cannot saves souls without our cooperation and so send an army out to evangelize.
28. What is amazing about this “bible-believing army” is that it is comprised of women leading men to Christ who should be following the Titus admonishment in chapter two not to blaspheme the Word of God and “be… keepers at home” and the admonishment found in I Timothy chapter two to “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
29. When did God become so helpless that He, the Ancient of Days, the Almighty, Alpha and Omega, needs the help of a man that can’t cover his own nakedness without the complete grace and mercy of God? (Gen. 3:7)
30. We cannot forget the many ambassadors in the foreign lands who say that they are going to serve God in another country who are pressed (by the fear of man) to produce numbers and conversions or be in fear of losing support from their sponsoring churches if expected quotas are not met. (Pro. 29:25)
31. Whether it is said in public or not, often times the modern missionary is graded as “successful” by how many conversions he has had or how big the ministry is.
32. How have we changed in the turning of our hearts and minds from doing right to tallying numbers? I believe it has been because we have turned our focus to the work of God (and indeed it is His work) instead of looking to the person and being of God.
33. Paul said, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;” not “Looking unto the forgiving power of the cross the author and finisher of our faith.”
34. Yes, it is true that it is the blood that Christ shed on Calvary that takes away our sin, but it should not be the focus of our thoughts: Christ should be. (Acts 17:28)
35. A good illustration is that of a marriage, the preacher says not, “Do you John take Sarah to be your lawfully wedded cook?” Certainly, one of Sarah’s jobs will be to cook, but John is not marrying her to be a cook, he is marrying her to be his wife.
36. This shift has made preachers focus on only certain attributes of God instead on the completeness of God.
37. Some want to see God as a one sided coin, merciful, gracious, loving, and giving to all men, but they forget the other side of Him, righteous, almighty, holy and just. (Rev. 15:3-4)
38. They don’t want to see Almighty God as the Infinite One that has everything in control and that He does everything for His glorification without the consultation of a dead finite man. (Ps 50:12)
39. We are told in Colossians chapter one that “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
40. We were not made to accept Christ as some have preached, but to bring honour and glory to God, by having God’s merciful hand or by God’s righteous, just, and wrathful hand put upon us.
41. That is why there is an election. Not so that one man would be lifted up above another, but that we should be humbled at the thought that God should be merciful to us sinners and give Him the honour and glory. (Lam. 3:18-23)
42. Men say that if God had an elect then He would be unfair for not giving everyman a chance. This is true, for God is not fair; He is Just. (Job 34:17)
43. If God was to have as many men be saved before He returned and be held down by the wills and wishes of men, He would not be the Almighty, but like an unstable politician who only degrades his moral standards to suit the masses. (Psalm 50:21)
44. We have come to a state in our society that indicates that God is a weak, effeminate God that is wholly dependant on the doings and will of man because the preachers (as it was in the Catholic Institution) are afraid to proclaim the truth because men might leave their church which would affect the offering. (I Cor. 6:9, I Pet. 5:2-3, John 10:13)
45. The doctrine of accepting Christ is dangerous as it is not coupled with the true repentance that only God can give. II Timothy 2:25.
46. Even though men who believe in this heresy might preach repentance it is not the God-given repentance for their repentance is in order to obtain salvation instead of the result of a changed heart. (Rom 2:3-4)
47. This is not a new thought as the Catholics have painted God to be the same figure, one that will forgive sin if the right prayer is said or if the right deed is done. If you don’t thinks so look at the similarities and you will be shocked. (read Chinquay’s The Priest, The Woman, and the Confessional)
48. I see this “selling” of the doctrine of the “Acceptance of Christ” closely related to the “selling” indulgences of the Reformation. (Gal 1:6-9, II John 10-11)
49. The preachers that are preaching this doctrine are acting like God is going out of business with the same cry of the indulgence preachers; “When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from Purgatory springs.” Only it has been updated to the attitude of “When man’s ‘accepting will’ is offered, Christ and Heaven will be proffered.”
50. Idol worship is still part of the system; only instead of worshipping an idol of stone they worship an idol of a self made image of the soul-winner, preacher, and man that has just a little more intelligence and good in him than the next guy who couldn’t accept Christ and be saved. (Ex. 20:1, Rom 1:25 Hos. 8:1-4)
51. Also, instead of the Crusades and the exploration attempts in the name of evangelism you have the Soul-winning army that goes out and tries to evangelize, but lacks in the day to day training of a holy and blameless life before God and man. (I Thes. 4:11-12)
52. Many great men of God, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, George Whitfield, and C. H. Spurgeon, to name a few, have been prejudged for their stand on the Doctrines of Grace without fair study. (I Cor. 4:5)
53. We must be very careful with this “new” doctrine for it takes its roots from the pope because it gives the glory to a man and not to God.
54. Preachers might say that this doctrine does give glory to God, but take a closer look and you will find that it does not. How does God receive the glory from a man that raises himself from the dead on his own accord and elects himself?
55. We must watch for this doctrine also because it has “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
56. As the Catholic institution, the modern preachers have taken religion and the laws of the land and added Scripture and Christ to them to make them Scriptural. (II Pet 3:16)
57. Take for example the business meeting; Acts 6 is taken to prove that business meetings are biblical, where it is done because it is federal law for a registered church.
58. Soul-winning (as we know it as the door-to-door knocking) was also not done in practice until the Jehovah’s Witnesses made it popular. (Mark 12:17)
59. The church is not a building, but the body of believers. So why is it that man strives so hard to bring the lost into the building set apart for the worship of God when the lost cannot worship Christ because they cannot worship Him in “Spirit and in truth” for they have not the Spirit? (John 4:24)
60. When did any of the apostles say unto the lost, “Come to church and hear the Gospel?” So why rush to “bring in the sheaves?” (Acts 2:47)
61. The lost are told that all that they have to do is accept Him and say a well formulated prayer. The interesting thing is that saying a prayer was not even part of the “Plan of Salvation” before a hundred and fifty years ago.
62. We must watch for this doctrine for it changes the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, saying that God is dependant on the will of man and that He would not want us to be puppets. (Rom. 1:23 I Cor. 7:5)
63. It is not surprising then that so many that have “accepted Christ” or “asked Him into their heart,” like the Catholic, doubt their salvation.
64. They have accepted Christ, but for many there is still the continual fruit of sin. They try to stop, but it is impossible, for their salvation started with their prayer or acceptance and not with the quickening of the Holy Spirit and had not the “operation of God” so they go about thinking they are saved, but all the while doubting their salvation because they know that there is more to Christ. (Col. 2:11-12)
65. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.
66. With salvation comes a complete change that only God can do for it is He that performs the operation made without hands and He does it without our permission so that He can receive all the glory.
67. Abraham, Isaac, nor Israel were given a choice of whether or not they wanted to be circumcised and follow God or not and neither did Jonah when he was in the belly of the great fish, so the Almighty God that delivered Israel from Egypt doesn’t give us a choice either. (Gen. 17 Jonah 1)
68. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Therefore, if this is the case then the same God that hardened Pharaoh’s heart and killed all the first-born of those that had not the blood of the lamb on their doorposts is the same Omnipotent, Almighty God who said “this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28)
69. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.
70. What is the problem with the thought that God is Almighty and His will, not our own, shall be done? Is not it His own blood that He shed? Why can He not limit the distribution of own His redeeming blood?
71. Romans 9:11-18 says, “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”
72. God will be God and He will have His way and His almighty will so that He may be glorified beyond any and all men.
73. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? (Rom. 9:19)
74. If God desires to send all men to Hell how is a man going to stop Him? When he gets to Heaven will he be able to say that he has a right to Heaven because he accepted Christ?
75. He will not, for what work has man done that God has not superseded in every shape and form?
76. No matter what kind of work a man brings, whether he accepted Christ, was baptized by the pope himself, or has done miracles he shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven unless God has done an evident change in his life. (Matt. 7:20-23)
77. “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.” Romans 9:14
78. Can man through misinterpretation and wresting of Scriptures say that a man can be saved if he only calls on the name of the Lord and accept Him to be saved and change the mind of the Almighty? God forbid! (I Cor. 2:16 Is. 55:9)
79. Shall a man declare that God is unjust for making one man to display His wrath and another to shew His great mercy and have His greatness declared for His own Glory?
80. Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Romans 9:20-24
81. How foolish are we to think that the Omnipotent God can be manipulated by the hands of corruptible man!
82. We who preach the Omnipotence of God are often unjustly called “Calvinist,” but it was not John Calvin who first believed this way as many of the early church fathers believed this way.
83. It was Christ who said in John 15:16 “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”
84. And it was the Apostle Paul that wrote, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,” in Ephesians 1:4-5.
85. Now preachers say that because of His foreknowing that we would accept Him, He elected us, so…God knowing that we would try to do a work to obtain His grace elected us because of that work?
86. No, God elected us because He loved Christ and predestinated that Christ should have a bride and therefore foreknew who Christ would choose for His bride (does not the bridegroom choose the bride and not the bride the bridegroom?) and because of the love that He has for Christ He loves us because we are one with Him.(John 17:23,26)
87. Some might say that there is no difference between the words accept and receive. Then why did God, in His master ability to speak every language more fluently than any man, for He created it, not use the word accept to mean, man accepts God, but rather God accepts man?
88. Why is it that a university accepts a student’s application and not receives it? It is because receive is to take something and not having a choice to take it or leave it. Whereas accept takes into consideration the cons and pros and weighs them in a balance and then decides on which is the better choice.
89. If it is a matter of accepting Christ to be saved then I guess the thief on the cross is in Hell because He did not accept Christ as his saviour and as I think of it neither did the apostle Paul.
90. No, to think that man has any doings in His salvation is ludicrous and heresy. It gives the glory that belongs to God and gives it to man and Christians ought to have nothing to do with it. (II Tim. 3:19)
91. We must return to the Scriptures and use those words that are in the Bible and not those, like “rapture,” “sovereign,” and “trinity.” Most certainly these principles are in Scripture, but if God did not use them we should not. (Ps. 12:6-7)
92. We must also be watchful in using phrases, such as “accepting Christ” and “asking Jesus in your heart,” because to do so redefines God’s intentions and desires and subtly changes the basis of our faith.
93. These phrases, on which man has built doctrine, give the assurance of salvation based on a work that man does to procure it.
94. Away, then, with all those preachers who say to the people, “Peace, peace,” and there is no peace! And all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Cross, cross,” and there is no cross! (Rom. 3:4)
95. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through holiness, mercy, and grace; and thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through the grace that God gives to His elect, than through the assurance of peace given by men who teach that salvation is by the work of a man. (I Pet 1:15-16, Heb. 10:25)
All Bible References are taken from the
Holy Bible, the Authorized Version 1611.
Robert W. Nerovich
October 31, 2007