WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION?
THE EARLY YEARS OF HEARING THE GOSPEL
PREACHED

• My dad’s ministry lasted as far as I know nearly forty years. Donald and I were born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1947, 1948. Dad was pastoring there. Then we moved to Roanoke in 1950 and lived there until dad died in 1966. Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ was dad’s life. It seemed that we were in church all the time. Dad was preaching revivals, or he was preaching in the Gospel Tent Meetings. The only Gospel I knew was the kind that dad preached. Quite simple in terms, but I believe it was right. So how do I know? By the result of the preaching, and the evidence of those who were saved.
• I realize that the Gospel of Jesus Christ never changes. People have been saved the same way from the beginning. By the grace of God, by faith in God, and by trusting God in obedience to do His will.
• I am still working out in my own mind, how this process took place with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Isaiah and Jeremiah and Nehemiah and Ezra, and Samuel. When I have the answers I will write an article. "How were people in the Old Testament Saved?"
• Are people saved today the same way that people were saved in my dad’s day? Well, the answer to that is simple: YES.
• If I remember one thing about the preaching in my early days, there was a lot said about "repentance." I understood that for a person who wanted to be saved, there was a need of repenting of their sins, and obeying Jesus Christ in all that Christ asked us to do and be.
• It seems over the years, preachers have gotten away from preaching repentance, and obedience. It’s more "just believe by faith and you will be saved."
• I have finally woke up to the fact that there are people in this world who are not Baptist. (Well, in the last thirty years). I think the Hell fire has gone out of a lot of preaching today. I think a lot of "repentance" has been removed from a lot of sermons preached.
  I remember at FBC I spent a lot of time talking about "salvation." I would point out the results of one who has been saved. If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, here is what will happen.
• Today people will turn to Television and here a lot of religious teachings that are false. But to the unbeliever they do not see any different in Joel Osteen’s preaching and Paula White’s teaching than they would mine. So as a pastor I need to be clear from Scripture to point out what the Gospel is, and how God brings one to a saving knowledge of Himself unto salvation.

What must a sinner do to be saved?

To this question, we answer as Peter did in Acts 2:38, "Repent;" and as Paul and Silas did in Acts 16:31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." We echo the words of Romans 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." To confess (willingly acknowledge and affirm) Jesus as Lord (meaning God, the sovereign Ruler of the universe—Php. 2:10) involves both allegiance and worship. And to believe in your heart (meaning trusting completely in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross) involves dependence. Saving faith necessarily includes both of these elements: allegiance (or affection, devotion, and worship) and dependence (or wholehearted trust). The sinner must turn from his sin, which 1 John 3:4 defines as lawless rebellion, and turn toward Christ. To "turn from" is to repent. To "turn toward" is to believe.

A repentant faith, then, is what God requires.

As Paul described it in 1 Thessalonians 1:8-9, saving faith evidences itself in a turning from idols to serve and worship the living and true God. "turning from idols" includes turning from the idolatry of self-love. "Turning to serve God" necessitates giving Him first place (Exod. 20:3; Mark 12:30). To claim to have turned to God, and yet remain in rebellion to Him, is to deceive oneself. Or as the apostle John said it, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth" (1 John 1:6).

Repentance, then, is essential to our evangelism.

This is why Jesus Christ commanded His apostles to preach a message of "repentance and remission of sins" to the unbelieving nations (Luke 24:46-47). Peter, in evangelizing the Jerusalem crowds, commanded his hearers to "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). The apostle Paul, in his evangelistic sermon on Mars Hill, said that God "commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). He later said, in his evangelistic sermon to Agrippa, that his message to both Jews and Gentiles was "that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance" (Acts 26:20) And he did this because Christ himself had commissioned him to do so, "that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in [Christ]" (v. 18). Free Grace advocates may assert that it is not necessary to include repentance in our evangelistic presentations. The Word of God (from these verses and others) says otherwise. What God commands and Christ commissions, we must do. (Contributor Nate B)
ARE WE CALLED TO SALVATION /AT THE SAME TIME CALLED TO DISCIPLESHIP?

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant 11-15-16 2006 Proof read by Charity Whisnant Posted 11-17-06
Saved under file 00 11 15 06

MY SYNOPSIS CHRONOLOGY OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL,

{A brief outline or general view and a record of events in the order of their occurrence}
THE EARLY YEARS OF HEARING THE GOSPEL

PREACHED

Part Two

AGAIN WHAT IS A PERSON TO UNDERSTAND IN ORDER THAT HE MAY KNOW

THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESITON?

"What must I do to be saved?"

TODAY NOVEMBER 28TH IS MY 100th Article.

I don’t remember dad talking about how many were saved on Sunday or in a tent revival. That didn’t seem to really concern him. He didn’t seem to be concerned with numbers, but he did have real genuine love for people. People loved dad, especially those who were in our church and those who had been in his church in another town or state.

• One other story: Fate and Zelda Spencer in Hildebran, North Carolina. Fate was a drunk, and he came to a Tent Revival that my dad had in that town. He came one night with a gun to kill my dad for preaching, but that night he came and he was saved. For the next thirty plus years was dad’s best friend. His whole family came to know the Lord. Some of my best memories are when we visited them in their home. They were dad’s best friends. Dad had a lot of best friends. About once a year Fate would call and say "Everette, why don’t you come down this week and I will get the boys a pair of shoes and buy you a new suit." That was the pattern for a number of years. And we love the girls June and Sue.

I don’t remember the sermons, nor remember the invitations. But I saw the result of the work of the Lord. Dad would be 102 years old this year. I know that the Lord does the saving, but I know it’s by the means of the preaching of the Gospel. Dad must have preached a great message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

• Well, maybe another story. Dad loved Tent Revivals. In those days a Tent meeting could last up to a month or more. One place was Amelia, Virginia. I remember that Revival. For over a month, dad would preach during the week and then come back to Roanoke and preach at the church. We would stay in a home for the week, and then drive back to Roanoke on Saturday night. I can remember playing in the sawdust on the ground. I still have a vision in my memory about that place, and dad standing up there preaching, and then seeing people come forward. For years later we kept up with folks that were saved.

Whatever Gospel message Dad preached, it worked. The Lord saw fit to use my dad to see some folks come to know the Savior. What was great about this is that many became friends of ours for a long time.

• Maybe one other and I will quit. Lynchburg, Virginia. Dad pastored a church there, and after dad moved to Roanoke, he would return to Lynchburg at least once a month. One of our friends was a funeral director Mr. Tomlinson who was in charge of the Lynchburg Cometary. We would go and visit. Don and I would visit the graves each trip. The family was saved when dad was the pastor of the church in Lynchburg. (Macel Pate Falwell was the pianist in dad’s church when she was just a young girl.)

What ever the Gospel that dad preached it worked. Amen.

• Okay, another story: The Unroe family, who was saved in a Tent Meeting in some town. The family had several girls. One was named Judy Unrow, and she was my girlfriend. The family would come up to Roanoke and sing for us. Judy asked me to marry her when I was sixteen years old in a letter she had written. I asked mom about this matter and she was not too happy with that at all.

Well I better quit for tonight. Charity is in bed, she is asleep with the light on and her glasses still on and the book on her lap. Sometimes the book is in her face. She has worked since 5:30 this morning until 6:00 p.m. tonight. She deserves a rest. It’s nice that Thanksgiving pies are only once a year!

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant, and Proof Checked by Charity Whisnant and I called my mother Pauline who lives with my sister Ellen in Texas..

• Mom is 84 years old and I asked mom about the events that i
  mention above and she remember the people and places.
• My sister Ellen who lives in Texas, e mail me to tell me that mom liked to remember these days.

My point is: Even if you didn't know about Lordship Salvation, I believe that Christ will still be your life style. A Christian will be know as someone who Knows Christ and wants to be just like Christ.

MY SYNOPSIS CHRONOLOGY OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL

A brief outline or general view and a record of events in the order of their occurrence}

THE EARLY YEARS OF HEARING THE GOSPEL PREACHED

I certainly remember my early childhood days growing up in a pastor’s home. Every day seemed to be filled with church ministry activity. Our house was one of the first Bed and Breakfasts. Some family, some preacher and wife, some friends, some evangelist seemed to be eating breakfast with us. The conversation around our house was about church evangelism, church growth, and Christian discipleship.

Dad was always in a dialogue with an evangelist, or missionary, or pastor about the ministry of the local church. They would talk about what the Bible had to say about current issues of the day. In those days, we didn’t have a television, and I remember sitting listening to those conversations .

This is how Donald and I learned to play church. In our preteen years we lived next door to our church. Our play time would be going over to the church to play Sunday Morning Church. I would preach and give an invitation and Donald would lead singing and would get saved during the invitation. So the altar call, or invitation was a part of our life. Then Donald and I would switch roles.

Dad’s preaching always seemed to draw people to Jesus Christ. I had a very healthy respect for Jesus in those early years. I was always conscious of the power and authority that Jesus Christ had. I was as aware of the presence of Christ in my life as I was with the presence of my dad and mom. They didn’t need to be where I was, but I knew they were there. There were few actions I ever took that I first didn’t think, "What would Jesus do, and how would dad react."

The gospel preaching of my dad had an early affect upon my life. The energy with which he lived had an affect upon me for life. I felt if I could live like him and preach like him that would be my life’s goal. Then I turned twelve.

The Gospel I heard in my father’s church was : The truth? I can’t remember. It was 1966 since I heard him preach his last sermon.

What I remember is my dad’s preaching was topical. My memory of my dad’s sermons is gone. I can’t hear him preaching in my mind. There are some recorded sermons of dad, but I have no idea who would have them.

What I do remember was people coming forward in the service and that they were coming to be saved. One illustration was my friend Melvin Gray, as a teenager I was teaching the Youth Class, and Melvin was a young adult who became a great friend of the family. One Sunday Night in our church service, I was standing beside Melvin, and when we had the invitation, he walked forward that night because he wanted to be saved. And for the next few years that I was in Roanoke, Virginia, Melvin’s life was changed.

There were many like Melvin who were saved. Twenty years after my dad died we went back to Roanoke, for a Roanoke Baptist Temple/Whisnant’s Reunion. The number of people and families that were there was amazing. They told stories of how they came to Christ as a result of the ministry that dad had in Roanoke. It was just astonishing.

The reason our home was always filled with friends was because they were friends who were saved, humanly speaking, because of the preaching of the gospel by my dad.

In 1998 I received a phone call from Asheville , North Caroline. The family that was on the line said, "Is this Charles Whisnant, whose dad was Everette Whisnant?" I said yes. "Well this is Mrs Grady Harden. Your dad started a church here in 1940's and our family was saved. We lost contact with you and your family after your dad died. I want you to know that the church is still doing good and people are still being saved."

I loved going to Red House, Virginia, when I was still at home. The Arrington family lived there, and dad and mom would go to visit them at least once a month. Why? Dad was used of the Lord to see there whole family come to know the Lord. There were I think six children, and they were all saved as well as their mom and dad. Irene, and May andAnn, Linda, June, the three girls, started a singing ministry, and even today they are still singing. They were our first girl friends as kids. June married a young man, and he is an evangelist. Forty years later the children of that family are still singing and serving the Lord.

When the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, and God brings people to Himself and they are saved, the result will be that they will become believers for eternity. Those that are saved will become obedient to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, even if they don’t know what that position says.

Dad did not preach doctrinal messages that I can remember. The simple Word was taught. I know his library was filled with doctrinal books, (I have some of Spurgeon’s books that he had, so I know he knew the Word.)

My point of this is: In those days, the effectiveness of dad’s preaching must have worked. The method of an altar call, or an invitation must have worked in those days, at least in dad’s church.

I will finish this part next.

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant 11 - 24-06 Proof Checked by Charity Whisnant

WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION?
Part Eight

Part Two of John MacArthur's Just how faithful must a Christian be?

"Ryrie suggests that if we cannot state precisely how much failure is possible for a Christian, true assurance becomes impossible. He wants the terms to be quantified: "Could he turn away almost completely? Or ninety percent? Or fifty percent . . .?" To put it another way, Ryrie is suggesting that the doctrines of perseverance and assurance are incompatible. Astonishingly, he wants a doctrine of assurance that allows those who have defected from Christ to be confident of their salvation.

There are no quantifiable answers to the questions Ryrie raises. Indeed, some Christians persist in sin for extended periods of time. But those who do forfeit their right to genuine assurance. "Serious sin or unwillingness" certainly should cause someone to contemplate carefully the question of whether he or she really loves the Lord. And those who turn away completely (not almost completely, or ninety percent, or fifty percent) demonstrate that they never had true faith (1 John 2:19).

Quantification poses a dilemma for no-lordship teaching, too. Zane Hodges speaks of faith as a "historical moment."" How brief may that moment be? Someone listening to a debate between a Christian and an atheist might believe for an instant while the Christian is speaking, but immediately be led back into doubt or agnosticism by the atheist’s arguments. Would we classify such a person as a believer? One suspects some no-lordship advocates would answer yes, although that view goes against everything God’s word teaches about faith.

Jesus never quantified the terms of salvation; he always made them absolute. "So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions" (Luke 14:33); "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Matt. 10:37); "He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal" (John 12:25). Those conditions are impossible in human terms (Matt. 19:26). [Even those who want to make these statements of Christ apply to a post-conversion step of discipleship don’t solve the dilemma of their absoluteness.] That does not alter or mitigate the truth of the gospel. It certainly is no excuse for going to the other extreme and doing away with any necessity for commitment to Christ.

Ryrie’s comments raise another issue that is worth considering. It is the question of whether lordship teaching is inherently judgmental: "How long can I be fruitless without having a lordship advocate conclude that I was never really saved?" Zane Hodges has made similar comments: "Lordship teaching reserves to itself the right to strip professing Christians of their claims to faith and to consign such people to the ranks of the lost" (Absolutely Free 19).

Certainly no individual can judge another’s heart. It is one thing to challenge people to examine themselves (2 Cor. 13:5); it is entirely another matter to set oneself up as another Christian’s judge (Rom. 14:4, 13; James 4:11).

But while individual Christians must never be judgmental, the church body as a whole very definitely has a responsibility to maintain purity by exposing and excommunicating those who live in continual sin or defection from the faith. Our Lord gave very explicit instructions on how to handle a fellow believer who falls into such sin. We are to go to the brother (or sister) privately first (Matt. 18:15). If he refuses to hear, we are to go again with one or two more people (v. 16). Then if he refuses to hear, we are to "tell it to the church" (v. 17). And if he still fails to repent, "let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer"" (v. 17). In other words, pursue that person for Christ as if he were utterly unsaved.

This process of discipline is how Christ mediates His rule in the church. He went on to say, "Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven"" (Matt. 18:18-19). The context shows this is not talking about "binding Satan" or about praying in general. Our Lord was dealing with the matter of sin and forgiveness among Christians (v. 21ff). The verb tenses in verse 18 literally mean, "Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." Our Lord is saying that He Himself works personally in the discipline process: "or where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst" (v. 20).

Thus the process of church discipline, properly followed, answers all of Dr. Ryrie’s questions. How long can a person continue in sin before we "conclude that [he] was never really saved?" All the way through the discipline process. Once the matter has been told to the church, if the person still refuses to repent, we have instructions from the Lord Himself to regard the sinning one "as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer."

The church discipline process our Lord outlined in Matthew 18 is predicated on the doctrine of perseverance. Those who remain hardened in sin only demonstrate their lack of true faith. Those who respond to the rebuke and return to the Lord give the best possible evidence that their salvation is genuine. They can be sure that if their faith is real it will endure to the end—because God Himself guarantees it.

"I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6). And "I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (2 Tim. 1:12).
John MacArthur
http://www.sfpulpit.com/2006/11/17/how-faithfully-must-christians-persevere/On

Next:
THE EARLY YEARS OF HEARING THE GOSPEL PREACHED

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant

WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION?
Part Seven
How Faithfully Must Christians Persevere?"How much obedience is enough? Twenty percent? More? Less? How do we quantify our obedience?"
Just how faithful must a Christian be?

A FOOTNOTE:

• The general purpose of this "GROW BY LEARNING" BLOG has been for the purpose of writing my journal of how I have grown by learning. I have tried to write my thoughts of events that have happen in our family life and ministry. In this journey I have grown in maturity, (well maybe) and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have tried also to record the development of thought about ministry. The development of preaching and teaching.
• Generally I have just written for the express purpose of my family. Along the way, now only three months into this journey and ninety six posts, there are a few more who from time to time drop by "GROW BY LEARNING." For the present its still my purpose to write about my journey, and my growth in the Christian life. Periodically I will address an issue that I think would be neat to think about, but again its from my perspective, and has been part of my experience in life and ministry. I have tried to make this Blog "GROW BY LEARNING" how my personal thinking has moved and developed over the last fifty years.
• One of those perspectives that I have dealt is the topic of "Preaching the Gospel." If there has been an issue in my ministry its been over "Preaching the Gospel." The issue of what does the Bible teach about "salvation." How does a person become a Christian. And how do you know if a person really has become a Believer. The issue is how you preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• And in these last seven Blogs, or threads, or articles I have tried to address my perspective, and how I have arrived to my understanding on this issue. I am sure this issue will take more then seven articles, but I will try to enter weave this issue in with articles as we go along.

Today I want to continue to address the issue Just how much do we as Christian have to live like Christ in order to be said "He is a Born Again Christian."

I will refer you to the link below that will address this issue. The article is from this link. Phil Johnson over at "PyroManiacs"
http://www.sfpulpit.com/2006/11/17/how-faithfully-must-christians-persevere/ Phil Johnson

These last seven posts have been as a result of the Pulpit Magazine’s Nathan Busenitz articles. Though this issue has been a part of my personal journey in ministry for over forty years.

The following article is taking from John MacArthur’s book, an excerpt from Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles (189-92).
I will post this article in Part One and Part Two. (For the sake of the length)

PART ONE
"After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you" (5:10).

Can you grasp the magnitude of that promise? God Himself perfects, confirms, strengthens, and establishes His children. Though His purposes for the future involve some pain in the present, He will nevertheless give us grace to endure and persevere. Even while we are being personally attacked by the enemy, we are being personally perfected by God. He Himself is doing it. And He will accomplish His purposes in us, bringing us to wholeness, setting us on solid ground, making us strong, and establishing us on a firm foundation. All those terms speak of strength, resoluteness.

The Problem of Quantification (to determine or express the quantify of:)
Inevitably, the question is raised, "How faithfully must one persevere?" Charles Ryrie wrote,

• So we read a statement like this: "A moment of failure does not invalidate a disciple’s credentials." My immediate reaction to such a statement is to want to ask if two moments would? Or a week of defection, or a month, or a year? Or two? How serious a failure and for how long before we must conclude that such a person was in fact not saved? Lordship teaching recognizes that "no one will obey perfectly," but the crucial question is simply how imperfectly can one obey and yet be sure that he "believed" . . .?

. . . A moment of defection, we have been told, is not an invalidation. Or "the true disciple will never turn away completely." Could he turn away almost completely? Or ninety percent? Or fifty percent and still be sure he was saved? . . .

Frankly, all this relativity would leave me in confusion and uncertainty. Every defection, especially if it continued, would make me unsure of my salvation. Any serious sin or unwillingness would do the same. If I come to a fork in the road of my Christian experience and choose the wrong branch and continue on it, does that mean I was never on the Christian road to begin with? For how long can I be fruitless without having a lordship advocate conclude that I was never really saved? (So Great Salvation 48-49, emphasis added).

Part Two: Next

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant 11-20-06 (Charity is working at the Bakery) Thanksgiving A record number of pies. Over 200 pies and over 150 dozens rolls. Debbie and Charity, Pauline, Tammy, Rich and Sonda have worked hard this last week. My little part is in the clean the floors and making flyers.

WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION?

Part six

SO HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE TRULY BEEN BORN AGAIN?

How Faithfully Must Christians Persevere?
"How much obedience is enough? Twenty percent? More? Less? How do we quantify our obedience?"

1 John 5:10 ¶ He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his Son.

Ver. "10. He that believeth on the Son of God, as a divine person who came in the flesh, and obeyed the law, and brought in everlasting righteousness, and obtained life and salvation for men: he that with the heart believes in him for righteousness, and eternal life, He being the Son of God, truly and properly God, and so is able to save all that believe in Him."

John Gill’s thoughts , but I put this in its final form.
With this next statement you need to stop and think through each statement:

"hath the witness in himself;" of the cause, need he stands in of Christ, and of the acceptable appropriate, fulness, and excellency of Him..
The Spirit of God edifying:

• him into the foulness of his nature,
• his feebleness to do anything spiritually good,
• his inability to atone for sin.
• The insufficiency of his righteousness to justify him before God;
  and influencing him that nothing but the blood of the Son of God can cleanse him from sin.

Only Christ’s sacrifice can atone it, and Christ’s righteousness justify him from it, and that without Jesus Christ he can do nothing.

Witnessing also to:

• the mastery of Christ blood,
• the completeness of His sacrifice and satisfaction.
• The excellency of His righteousness,
• The energy of God ‘s grace and strength.

So man comes to have such a witness in himself, that if ten thousand arguments were ever so artfully formed:

• in favour of the accuracy of human nature,
• the power of man's free will, and
• the sufficiency of his own righteousness,
  

and that witness in himself against

• the sacrifice and righteousness of Christ,
• the dignity of His person, as the Son of God,
• which gives virtue to Christ’s blood, sacrifice, and righteousness,
• they would all manifest nothing to him, Christ would be proof against them.

And therefore he would immediately receives into him the testimony God gives of His Son, of the glory and excellency of His person, and employs it in himself..

I know I am a child of a KING., the LORD of LORDS.

Salvation is not something we do. Salvation is a person - Jesus Christ. If we are IN Him, it is a settled matter.

• Ephesians 1:13-14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
• 2 Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
• Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• John 8:47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
• John 6:44 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.
• John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
• 1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

The issue before us in this discuss is:

The sinner’s role in salvation. How much does God redeem the elect?
What happens at regeneration? Is the believing sinner really born again?
Is our old nature really dead. "crucified...that we are no longer slaves to sin?
Are believers really "partakers of the divine nature?"
Are those who are "in Christ, really a new creature?"
Can we say that as new believers that we are free to live righteous?"
Is there a call for the unbeliever to repentance?
Does repentance add something to the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone?
Is obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ part been born again?

"How Faithfully Must Christians Persevere? "This statement was what Charles Ryrie wrote:

These last six threads have been as a result of reading the posts over at Pyromaniacs. Phil Johnson started the thoughts, then Nathan Busenitz (personal assistance to John MacArthur) These articles appeared also on the Pulpit Magazine, an online magazine of the Shepherds’ Fellowship. The issue was LORDSHIP SALVATION.

In 1988 John MacArthur wrote the book "What Does Jesus Mean When He Says, "Follow Me"?
"The Gospel According To Jesus" I brought the book in July 1989. And I have read this book several times. The principles set forth by John MacArthur became the position that I took while the pastor/teacher at First Baptist Church, in Altoona, Kansas.

John MacArthur points out in his book: "This is the purpose of salvation: to transform an individual completely. Genuine saving faith changes a person’s behavior. , it transforms his thinking, and it puts within him a new heart." (p. 96)

So these last six articles I have posted have been a result of over twenty posts and some 1000 comments that have been made. And I have down loaded them. (Some 400 pages).

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant

WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION?
Part five
SO HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE TRULY BEEN BORN AGAIN?

From part four:

Here is a great divide in thinking.

• If a person has made a decision for Christ at any time in their life, they are saved.
• If a person has been baptized he is saved.
• If a person lives right and goes to church he is saved.

Well, it is surley possible that any of the above folks could be saved but if they are resting upon the outward actions only for their salvation, there would be a need to examine their thinking.

I personally believe, salvation is a gift from God. I believe that He in His wisdom saves those whom He in His wisdom saves. He brings those whom He wills to be saved to Himself. Personally, I do not believe that God leaves that decision up to man to make totally on his own.

I do believe that many made a decision that they would like to be saved, until they realized what that means. I have given the plan of salvation to many, who went right along with what I was saying and even prayed the prayer. But they were not saved. Why? Good question. But in many cases they really didn’t believe what they were doing. And God hadn’t opened their heart unto salvation.

Of course, you could ask the question, if a person went forward in a service as a response to the invitation of the preacher, and prayed the sinner’s prayer, why wouldn’t they become saved? Most people would think every one that is saved in a revival in the Philippines, or New Zealand, or Mexico are going to be saved. Some believe every person who walks the aisle in a Billy Graham meeting is going to be saved. I only wish that every person would be saved.
So if they have the mind to be saved, why then aren’t they. Some believe they are. They say, it’s not a matter of what happens necessarily after this event, that you are saved. I have had mothers say of their adult children. "My son was saved when he was five?" And her son has not been in church since he was a child. I think many do what they believe they are told to do to be saved, but are not saved.

"But the idea of "saving faith" apart from good works, is ridiculous. The saved man is not a perfect man; but his heart's desire is to become perfect, he is always panting after perfection, and the day will come when he will be perfected, after the image of his once crucified and now glorified Savior, in knowledge and true holiness."We cannot be saved by or for our good works, neither can we be saved without good works. Christ never will save any of His people in their sins; He saves His people from their sins." Charles Spurgeon

"There is no one who can live in sin,——drinking, swearing, lying, and so on,——who can truly declare that he is one of the Lord's chosen people."Charles H. Spurgeon

http://teampyro.blogspot.com/

A SALVATION THAT IS BIBLICAL IN CHARACTER IS A GIFTED OF GOD BY HIS WONDERFUL GRACE. BY WHICH GOD SAVED US FROM HIS WRATH AND GIVES US A NEW NATURE. THIS IS CALLED "BORN AGAIN." THE NATURAL RESULT IN THIS MAN’S NEW LIFE IN CHRIST WILL BE AN REPENTANT HEART OF HIS OWN SINFULNESS. AND THERE WILL BE A WILLINGNESS TO BE OBEDIENT TO THE WILL AND PURPOSES OF GOD. WE COULD CALL THIS THE LORDSHIP SALVATION POSITION. FAITH, REPENTANT, OBEDIENCE. THESE ARE EVIDENCES OF A PERSON BEING BORN AGAIN IN TO CHRIST.

[Charles E. Whisnant]

A WILLINGNESS TO TURN FROM SELF’S ITINERARIES AND BE COMPLIANT TO THE WILL OF GOD. THIS BEHAVIOR WILL START TO OCCUR AT THE MOMENT OF THE NEW BIRTH EXPERIENCE. ITS CALLED THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE. THE FOCUS OF LIFE WILL BE AS "WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS." Ephesians 2:10. THE TERM IS LORDSHIP SALVATION.

{Charles E. Whisnant}

1. WHEN DOES THIS BEHAVIOR START IN THE LIFE OF A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN BORN AGAIN? AT THE MOMENT OF SALVATION.
2. HOW MUCH OBEDIENCE WILL THERE NEED TO BE IN ORDER FOR A PERSON TO BE SAVED?
3. HOW MUCH OF HIS PERSONAL LIFE HAS TO BE FOCUS ON BEING OBEDIENT TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST? 10% 20% 90% 100% 110%?
4. HOW MUCH EFFORT DOES A PERSON GIVE IN LIVING LIFE? HOW MUCH TIME DOES A PERSON GIVE IN HIS OWN PURSUIT, CHASE OF HIS OWN LIFE’S GOALS?
5. CAN A PERSON BE SAID TO BE SAVED, IF HE DOES NOT GIVE 100% OF HIS EFFORT IN THE LIVING A CHRISTIAN LIFE?

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant Proof Checked by Charlity Whisnant