“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.” I John 5:13

This is probably one of the most misused verses in the Bible today. This verse is often used by “soulwinners” to “give assurance” to someone after “leading them to the Lord”. In another words, a person agrees to a list of facts from the Bible, repeats a prayer and then he or she is “given assurance” with the abovementioned verse.

There are several problems with this flimflam evangelism. As a matter of fact I would say there is not too much of a Biblical element in the whole scheme. I believe the plight of modern day fundamental Christianity can, for the most part, be traced back to our salesman like preaching and soul winning methods. {And we are in a plight in case you didn’t know.} One fundamentalist leader said not long ago, “this is Fundamentalism’s finest hour” It may be “ fundamentalism’s” finest hour but true Biblical Christianity has certainly seen better days. He is just another typical “yes man” doing what yes men do, not admitting that the emperor is naked.

Many Baptist have been taught how to win “converts” without the Holy Ghost. Many of our churches are filled with people who are religious but lost. Scores of of our churches are no different than the cults they rail against. They are made up of deceived people who have accepted another gospel and another Christ. The late missionary James Stewart said, “So great has been the perversion that many congregations are astounded when they hear the true Gospel of the lordship of Christ. They believe that we are preaching a new gospel.”

They may have the name Baptist and carry a Bible but many of them have never been born again. They have been “given assurance” by their pastor or their mother or by the date written in the front of their Bible. I fear that many professing Christians have assurance but it is often a false assurance. This is the reason that many of our churches are so worldly. The reason many churches are going to the world for instructions is that world-lings must be entertained. In the words of Spurgeon you feed sheep but entertain goats. Many CINO’S {Christians In Name Only} do not have the Holy Ghost. Their spouse or parents or their preacher is the one who tries to keep them on the straight and narrow.

Regrettably, it has been found out the hard way that you cannot keep dogs and hogs from reverting back to their old ways. It is because they do not have a new nature. There is no struggle within. There may be a struggle with their preacher or their parents or maybe even their conscience but they only have one nature. They know nothing of the struggle that the Apostle Paul talks about in Romans chapter seven. They do not say with Paul “O wretched man that I am!” They know nothing of putting off the old man and his deeds and putting on the new man. They know nothing of a contrite heart or a repentant spirit.

Shawn

{This is a portion of an article I wrote several years ago entitled, That Ye May Know}