What is "Salvation Insanity"?"Salvation Insanity" is a term we have given to the doctrine of Christian "Salvation" which is driving God's own children to think and do things, spiritually, which are insane. The current persuasion that one can come up to an altar to "repent", or repeat some prayer, or do any other single act that would give them "salvation" (now), is just that: INSANITY. A person has to lose their mind and to give up their reasonable thinking process to believe such a thing. The type of "salvation" being given to people who are looking for the right way in Christ at the hands of Christian ministers will make a person, at the very least, "unreasonable", and at the very worst, "insane". Let us look at "salvation", first from a biblical perspective. A biblical word whose meaning has been recently changed is saved. In the twentieth century, Christians have altered its meaning, so that saved is understood to mean "converted". But it is not so used in the Scriptures. When Jesus said, "He who endures to the end shall be saved" (Mat.10:22), was he saying that he who endures to the end shall be converted? Or when Paul wrote, "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (Rm.13:11), was he saying that our conversion is nearer than when we believed? Of course not. The clear meaning of both these statements is that salvation is a future reward for faithful saints and that we should strive to be found worthy to receive it (Lk.13:24). Who, then, first altered the definition of salvation to mean "conversion"? I do not know. But I do know that it is a definition foreign to the Scriptures and that it is non-biblical to claim that we are "saved" merely because we are converted to Christ. It appears to me that "saved" was something invented by people who would not repent and receive the holy Ghost (with the evidence of speaking in other tongues), so they would have a spiritual "hiding place". But the astonishing thing is that now, God's own children who have the holy Ghost, accept this "getting saved" doctrine - and it is killing them. Isn't it revealing, concerning our priorities, that none of us would tolerate a dirty dish in a restaurant, yet so few have diligently searched the Scriptures to ascertain the cleanliness of the doctrines we are asked to receive? Eating from a dirty spiritual dish is what happens when we blindly receive Christianity's new definition for salvation, a definition which would have us to confess that we are already "saved" merely because we have been converted. It is astonishing that so few seem to have noticed that this modern usage of the word saved differs significantly from biblical usage. Biblically speaking, conversion is the blessing of God available now in Christ for all who repent of their sins; salvation, however, is the reward which is promised to converts if they are faithful to Christ after their conversion (Heb.5: 8-9). Conversion and salvation are NOT the same experience! Salvation is most frequently mentioned in the New Testament as a future hope, not as a past - nor even a present - experience. Sometimes, saved is used in the present tense with the meaning of "healed" or "protected", but the notion among many modern Christians that a believer is already saved and his future secure regardless of his works in this life is absolutely foreign to the Bible. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus responded, "If you would enter into life, keep the commandments" (Mt.19:17). Please notice that according to Jesus the way to salvation is the way of obedience to the commandments of God. Why else would Jesus point the wealthy young man to the commandments of God as the answer to his question? My dear friends, as much as our carnal nature would love to have it so, there simply is no formula, no ceremony, no single event or confession which can save anyone. Salvation is glorification - God's future reward for His obedient children. None of us has received that yet. Jesus warned us not to believe that a mere confession of faith in him will save us. He said, "Not every one that saith unto me, `Lord, Lord', shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Nor is merely knowing what is right sufficient, for "not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified" (Rom.2:13). Nor should we believe that the presence of spiritual gifts and power will suffice, for the Lord said, "Many shall say in that day, `Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?' And then I will profess unto them, `I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'" There is no way around it - we must obey God's will if we hope to be saved in the end. "Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). The truth is never more complicated than that. Clearly, then, a doctrine which denies that obedience to God is required in order to be saved in the end is evil. Therefore, any doctrine which teaches that we are already saved cannot be of God, for we certainly cannot be required to obey God in order to receive salvation if we already possess it. Salvation is the precious hope of the saints, which we do not yet see (Rom.8:24-25), and whether we obtain it or not will be determined solely on the basis of the deeds which we have done in this life. Jesus said, "All that are in the graves shall hear [my] voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (Jn.5:28-29). The word salvation has been used by Christians for so many years now as a synonym for conversion that it sounds unorthodox to teach that we are not saved yet, and that we will not be saved in the end if we are disobedient to Christ. But listen to what Peter says will happen to the man who is set free from sin by Christ Jesus, but then turns again to it: "If after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them" (2Pet.2:20-21) . Contrary to a popular Christian maxim, there is no such person as a "sinner saved by grace". If you are a sinner, then you are not being saved; instead, you are being lost because you are sinning. When Paul wrote that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners", and that he (Paul) was the "chief" example of that truth (1Tim.1:15), we must agree. But the issue is not whether or not Jesus came to do that. The issue is, how does he do it? And the answer is clearly laid out for us in the Scriptures. In order for a sinner to be saved, he must first hear the gospel preached (Rom.10:17). Then, the Spirit must convict him of sin so that he can repent (Lk.13:1-5). Next, the Spirit must work the wonder of conversion in his heart, baptizing him into the holy assembly (which is the same as receiving the holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues - 1Cor.12:13). Finally, the newly converted person (no longer a sinner) must be led by the Spirit throughout his life (Rom.8:14). This is how sinners are saved, and this is what Jesus came to do. Paul is indeed the "chief" example of this process. Hearing about Jesus, convicted of sin, converted into God's kingdom when Ananias laid hands upon him, and then led by the Spirit into all truth, Paul as an old man said without fear, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day - and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing" (IITim. 4:7). Paul possessed this great confidence that he would be saved only because he had obediently followed Christ. And those who "walk after the Spirit" as Paul did will also eagerly look for their salvation to be brought to them at the return of Jesus Christ. Obedience alone begets such faith. In the end, a person who claims the "salvation" of Christianity, will first become "unreasonable". They will have to deny that living morally, and completely holy is required, or else they will "lose" what they claim to possess already. And if one can claim salvation now, in must necessarily follow that when a person sins, thinking they are already "saved", while the Spirit of God is crying to their hearts something completely to the contrary, they will be driven to do some very "insane" things in the name of God. They will consider themselves to be right with God, at times when they are very wrong with God - much like the Pharisees of Jesus day. The leaders of Jesus' day went "insane" - they crucified the very one that was wanting to "save" them - much like the "insane" children of God today slander us for telling them the truth: you are not "saved" yet. How much you agree with that will determine how much of your mind you have already lost. Pray about it, and let us know what you think.
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