False Doctrines

Friends, it is important to follow biblical concepts (“What Does The Bible Say…Exactly?“), especially when it comes to:

  • Getting Saved
  • Going from Lost to Saved  (vs already being saved and being restored back to God after a biblical salvation)
  • Going to heaven
  • Getting biblical forgiveness.
  • Contacting the blood of Christ by faith or…even
  • believing.

Let’s discuss these things further…

List of False doctrines to review:

  1. Pray/Accept Jesus into your heart
  2. “Faith”/Intellectual Belief Alone Saves You
  3. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace
  4. Baptism is a work of man
  5. That ‘EIS’ means “Because of”. (What does ‘EIS’ Mean?)
  6. Infant Baptism
  7. Once Saved- Always Saved

False Doctrine #1:

The concept of Jesus “coming into your heart” is no where to be found in any preaching in the Bible….anywhere.

In fact, None of the Apostles ever said these things, they just  aren’t in the bible:

“Pray Jesus Into Your Heart”- Not in the bible.

“Accept Jesus In Your Heart”- Not in the bible.

“Accept Jesus as Your Personal Savior”- Not in the bible.

“Invite Jesus Into Your Heart”- Not in the bible.

“Invite Christ Into Your Life”- Not in the bible.

“Trust Jesus as Your Lord & Savior”- Not in the bible.

Q: What scriptures do people use to justify “Accept Jesus into your heart”?

Answer 1: Revelation 3:20-“Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Problem: This passage in NOT teaching an unsaved person how to be saved. it is teaching an already saved person who has become Luke-warm on how to repent.

Look at the context of the passage and who it is written to: “14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: (Revelation 3:14). This is written to a church, (by definition a church are believers who have gone from unsaved to saved Already). And…Jesus is addressing luke warmness, and warning them that he is about to spit them out of his mouth, unless they repent.

Don’t be fooled if you are unsaved into thinking that this is how to become saved, or born again.

False Doctrine #2:

Faith Alone Saves You (Sola Fide).

Real Saving Faith has more “Ingredients” in it, other than intellectual belief.

John 3:36 NASB- “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Saving Faith & Obedience Are Coextensive!

Faith = Hear The Word – Believe – Repent – Confess – Get Baptized – Live Faithfully Till You Die

Salvation is by Faith, Salvation is NOT by “Faith Only”

  • If you have Faith in Christ, you will repent of your sins and turn to Christ and away from your old life
  • If you have Faith in Christ, you will confess your sins and confess that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is Lord of your life, not you anymore.
  • If you have Faith in Christ, you will get baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and be added to God’s universal church
  • If you have Faith in Christ, you will live faithfully till you die.

Examples of “Saving Faith” in the Bible:

  • “4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice”- Hebrews 11:4
  • “7 By faith Noah, … moved with godly fear, prepared an ark…”- Hebrews 11:7 
  • “8 By faith Abraham obeyed… And he went out…” Hebrews 11:8
  • “17 By faith Abraham, … offered up Isaac…” – Hebrews 11:17
  • “27 By faith Moses forsook Egypt” – Hebrews 11:27
  • “29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land…” – Hebrews 11:29
  • “30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.”- Hebrews 11:30
  • “31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who [j]did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.”- Hebrews 11:31

True Faith: Conviction combined with Obedience!

In the New Testament, salvation is ascribed to many things, including:

  • Hear the Gospel (Romans 10:14,17)
    • – vs 14-“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
    •  Vs17 “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
  • Belief (Hebrews 11:6)
    • “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
  • Repent (Luke 13:3, Acts 11:18, Acts 17:30)
    • “ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”- Luke 13:3
    • “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”- Acts 17:30
  • Confession (1 John 4:2)
      • 1 John 1:9– “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 
      • Proverbs 28:13– “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
  • Baptism (1 Peter 3:21)
  • Holding to Jesus’ teaching (Obedience)- (John 8:31-32)

Proving that faith is essential to salvation does not prove that baptism is not necessary—no more than proving we are saved by hope rules out faith.

Repentance, Lordship & Baptism are the acts which faith obeys!

Belief and confession are unto salvation or lead to salvation, but salvation is not complete until one truly repents of his sins and is baptized into Christ for the remission of his sins.

Practical Tip For You:

  1. Read the Bible Personally – Go To Church – “Hear The Message” (Daily)
  2. Believe that Your Sin Killed Jesus! Read Acts 2:22-24. These Israelites were not in Jerusalem when Jesus was killed, yet Peter says “You with the help of wicked men, put Jesus to death on the Cross!”. What? How is that So? It is yours and my sin that puts Jesus to death. My personal sins nailed him to the cross. Your takeaway: Believe that Your Sin Killed Jesus!
  3. Believe that Jesus Christ personally died for your sins. Acts 2:22-24. If you killed Jesus, then he died for your personal sins! Jesus loves you, you need a savior, and he died and took the punishment of your personal sin (Isaiah 53:5)
  4. Write out your sins, make a sin list, use Galatians 5:19. Define sin, then write down all of yours and confess it to God. Also, make a choice to confess it to another believer you trust.  Walk in the light. 1 John 2-8-9, John 3:19-21
  5. Make a decision to Repent of your sin and turn to God. Renounce your sin, tell someone.
  6. Make a decision to make Jesus the Lord of your life, Luke 9:23-26, Luke 14:25-33.
  7. Get Baptized for the remission of your sin, receive the free in-dwelling gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
  8. Make a decision to Read and pray daily, and make disciples for Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20)
  9. Find a church, a group of believers and be committed to seeking and saving the lost

False Doctrine #3:

“Baptism is an “outward sign of an inward grace.”

Baptists mostly say that baptism is merely a symbol of being saved previously, and baptism is a sign to the world.  Yet, if we examine every New Testament (NT) conversion in the book of Acts, we never see the focus of baptism being done to show the world, as if we have something to prove.

For example, the Phillipian jailer and his family were baptized in the middle of the night

Here Is Every Conversion in Book of Acts (the history and beginning of his church):

<Acts 2:38- Pentecost ( were the 3000 saved in front of “the world” or in front of their Jewish Brethren? 
<Acts 8: 36- Ethiopian Eunuch- He was saved by himself with Philip only- There was no Declaration to the world.
<Acts 8:13- Simon the sorceror- No declaration publically or to the world
<Acts 9:18 Saul- He was saved by himself with Ananias only- There was no Declaration to the world.
Was Saul Saved on the Road To Damascus?

If He Was…

    • The Lord didn’t know it (Acts 9:6)
    • Saul didn’t know it (Acts 9:9)
    • Ananias didn’t know it (Acts 22:16)

If the only condition for salvation were heartfelt belief, then Paul would have been saved when he was knocked off his horse.

<Acts 10:47-48- Cornelius ( He and his family were saved by themselves with Peter only- There was no Declaration to the world.)
When Was Cornelius Saved? (Acts 10:1-48)
    • While he was praying?
    • When the angel appeared?
    • When Peter began to speak?
    • When the Holy Spirit came?
    • When he heard the message?
    • When he obeyed the command?
<Acts 16:15- Lydia-  There was no Declaration to the world.
<Acts 16:33- Philippian jailer- the Phillipian jailer and his family were baptized in the middle of the night privately- There was no Declaration to the world.
<Acts 18:7 Corinthians-No declaration to the world
<Acts 19:1-5 “12 men”-privately- There was no Declaration to the world.
<Acts 22:16 Paul- He was saved by himself with Ananias only- There was no Declaration to the world.
 

False Doctrine #4: Premise 1: “Baptism is a Work.”

Premise 2: “We’re Saved by Grace (Alone)-Nothing Else, not by Works… It is by God’s doing…not mans.”

Conclusion: Therefore, Baptism cannot have anything to do with receiving salvation.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Point of Contention: This Reasoning that “Baptism is a Work” is FALSE and Flawed.

The assumption often made by the reader is that Baptism is a Work of Man, or something “We Do” in the sense that we are using our free-will decision to submit to the act.

Let’s Explore this closer:

  •   Yes, Salvation is a gift of God
  • Yes, Salvation is not by Man, so that Man may not boast, not of our own doing.
  •   Yes, Salvation is by Grace alone through faith  The 2 are connected. Grace is “accessed, through your faith”. ie. hitler has no grace.
  • Yes, Jesus saved us and we will NEVER EVER be able to pay him back!
  • “Baptism is a Work of Man,”———FALSE! Baptism is NOT A WORK OF MAN, but of God.

 

-Moreover, Baptism is done to you, you stand there and submit to God out of faith and obedience and someone else baptizes you (after repentance, confession and believing that Christ died for you , putting faith in his blood for forgiveness AND that your sins killed him as well (“This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” Acts 2:23 )etc.

Romans 6:4- “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

So..Baptism is actually participating in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ!( Romans 6:1-4).

Also, Colossians 2:11-12 says “In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
  • so, when we go down under water through faith, we die to our old self through faith & repentance, we contact the blood of forgiveness of our sins by faith, we are given the spirit ( indwelling gift), our name is written in heaven and in the book of life and we are clothed with Christ and also added to God’s universal kingdom, his church (Galatians 3:27-28 Baptized into his body)!

  • The raising to a new life happens in, through or by means of (Greek dia) our faith in God’s operation or working. We, in effect, are trusting in God to save us through Jesus Blood in that act of baptism. Note that in baptism it is faith in God’s working. Baptism is God’s work, not ours. When we are baptized, we believe (trust) that God is working. It is through our faith in His working that He works! For our baptism to be effective we must believe that God is working to raise us to a new life (save us). 9 Again, that’s what baptism is: crying out to God to save us and trusting that He will, based on the cleansing power of Christ’s blood.

    we are trusting in the working of God through faith at baptism

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False Doctrine #5: Premise 1: “‘EIS’ means ‘because of’ in Acts 2:38″

Acts 2:38 & Acts 3:19- “Repent and be baptized for (εἰς– pronounced EIS) the forgiveness of sins and you will received the gift of the Holy Spirit”

Acts 3:19- 19 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your (εἰς) sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”

Conclusion: Therefore, Baptism cannot have anything to do with receiving salvation.