Butch Paugh
As I start this article, I am ashamed and very repentant of the fact that I believed, taught and accepted the damnable heresy of “easy believeism” or what I also call “greasy grace” salvation! Oh how deceived I was. I shudder to think of the “many” people I may have unknowingly caused to falsely believe they were saved and born again! Many (millions) have been deceived into “thinking” they have been saved or born again. Mt. 7:21-23.
Now that I have your attention and probably have you already confused and quite likely have upset many of you, let me explain why I made such a bold, “hard” and straightforward statement. In II Pet. 1:10 we are instructed to give diligence to make our calling and election sure! Now let’s look at the meaning of a few words from this verse:
- Diligence – Strong’s Concordance 1589 – dispatch, eagerness, zeal, carefulness.
- Calling – 2821 – His (God’s) calling, high calling, your calling, Heavenly calling.
- Election – 1589 -divine selection, a picking out, choosing, a vessel.
In Mt. 7:22-23, Christ himself points out a very important point! That there will be a huge mass of people who “think” they are saved, redeemed or born again. Please understand! These people are not “fakers”! They sincerely believed they were the “elect” and “saved” of God through His Son! They put their lives into doing what they were certain was God’s will for their lives! They prophesied, cast out devils and did many good works in His name! But they were actually working lawlessness! Iniquity is lawlessness! Oh what a scary and sobering thought!
Can’t you hear them saying, “but Lord, I believed in You and Your name! We did what our church required to be saved!” But folks, Satan and his minions also believe! James 2:19. Simply “believing” is not enough. You must be born again! John 3:3. You must become a new creation in Christ! Literally a newborn babe, (spiritual creature)! II Cor. 5:17. You will have a radical change in your life! In your desires, your plans and in your conduct! Your goals will change! At least as to what your priorities are! All things will become new. You will no longer feel comfortable with your life! Your known, and even your unknown, wrong and/or evil desires and actions will condemn you! You will have a strong desire to please your Saviour! You develop an insatiable desire to know Christ and hunger for His Word! I Pet. 2:2-3 Please notice that, in verse three, the Word says that you will have this desire if you have experienced saving grace!
Some readers are probably thinking, “but, preacher, Romans 10:9-10 is the Romans Road to salvation! I believed, and I confessed! That is all that is required of me!” Dear Reader, please remember that Satan, himself, believes and, I’m certain, knows who Christ is, but he most definitely is not a “born again” believer. Let’s look at these two verses and what some words mean that are written!
Believe – 4100 – Not just to “believe”, but also to be persuaded of, place confidence in, to trust, reliance upon, commit to!
Confess – 3670 –to confess, admit guilt, His worshipper and servant, His loyal follower!
We must believe unto righteousness! Confess unto salvation! Verse 11 says that whosoever believes in Him will not be ashamed! NOT ashamed of Christ! And not ashamed to deny himself and live for Christ. No matter the cost!
If you are not obeying His commandments, doing His Father’s will, you are none of His. Mt. 7:21, John 14:15!
If you do not desire to study His Word and to “feed” on His Word, you are showing a very strong indication of a “false” confession! If we say we are saved, then our lives, words, actions and works will bear witness to this! Rom. 8:1-17, 12: 1-2, II Tim. 2:15, Ps. 119:11, James 2:14-18
Remember the Pharisees, of which Paul was one, thought they were God’s people! They had a strong zeal for God! Paul, himself, persecuted Christ’s true followers and even had some killed! And he was convinced that he was doing God’s will! Wow! What marvelous grace saved him! As a matter of fact, the word “Pharisee” means, from the concordance, number 5330, pious ones, zealous for “religion”! But their true god and father was the devil! John 8:44
Pay serious heed, my friends, that you are truly and surely a born again child of God! II Cor. 13:5. Remember that you truly are “saved” by grace, through faith! But you are a new creation born again into a new creature unto doing His will. Eph. 2:8-10
In Christ’s service,
© 2019 Butch Paugh – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Butch Paugh: ctdm@hotmail.com
