It Is Right To Rebuke The Bob Jones University Crowd

Titus 1:10-13, “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;”

Titus was not an apostle, yet the Apostle Paul taught him to rebuke false teachers, that they may be sound in the faith. Paul didn't make any exclusions. Paul didn't say, “rebuke them sharply, unless they are a local church.” Some pompous arrogant pastors have been misled to believe that they have authority in the church. No, the pastor is not the authority, the inspired Word of God is the only authority. The pastor is the under-shepherd, having only the power of influence, if he deserves it! If he teaches wrong, he ought to be corrected and/or fired.

Bob Jones University alumni, Lou Martuneac, has turned against his college, exposing them for preaching the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation. For that I commend him. Likewise, I have turned against Hyles-Anderson College, where I graduated in 1993, because since 2008 they have denied the inspiration of the King James Bible. What is wrong with Christians today? Lou makes this helpful true statement, defining Lordship Salvation:

Defined briefly: Lordship Salvation is a position on the gospel in which “saving faith” is considered reliance upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. Lordship views “saving faith” as incomplete without an accompanying resolve to “forsake sin” and to “start obeying.” Lordship’s “sine qua non” (indispensable condition) that must be met to fully define “saving faith,” for salvation, is a commitment to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Christ in submissive obedience. (In Defense of the Gospel: Revised & Expanded Edition, p. 48.) 

Do you see the lying deception of Lordship Salvation? It is a half-truth. The Bob Jones' crowd will claim to believe that salvation is wholly by grace, as does the shameful Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, but then they subtly add the unbiblical requirement to live the Christian life, which to them saving faith encompasses. This is exactly what Miss Ellen G White (Seventh-Day Adventist false prophetess) and Dr. Steve Pettit (president of BJU since 2014) heretically teach. The Devil is very sneaky, so subtle that he has even deceived many preachers today concerning the Gospel. I have a book in front of me by Miss Ellen G. White (1827-1915) titled: “The Great Hope.” Sadly, it has been published by Thomas Nelson (the same company who publishes the Bible). Right doctrine matters folks! Miss White teaches a counterfeit gospel of Lordship Salvation. She writes on pages 48-49 of her book 'The Great Hope':

The sanctification now gaining notice in the religious world carries a spirit of self-exaltation and a disregard for the law of God that identify it as foreign to the Bible. Those who teach it claim that sanctification happens instantly, and by this means, through “faith alone” they reach perfect holiness. “Only believe” they say, “and the blessing is yours.” No further effort is supposed to be required from the receiver. At the same time they deny the authority of God's law, claiming that they are released from any obligation to keep the commandments. But is it possible to be holy without coming into harmony with the principles that express God's nature and will?

The Word of God testifies against this traplike doctrine of faith without works. It is not faith that claims God's favor without complying with the conditions on which He grants mercy. It is presumption. (See James 2:14-24.) [emphasis added] —Ellen G. White, 'The Great Hope,' pp. 48-49; ©1979, Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Oh my, what ungodly heresy! According to Ellen White's demonic teaching, a person cannot be saved by “faith alone,” there must also be a turning from sin, she says, otherwise you have not met the conditions of holiness which God demands to validate your faith! That is of the Devil. You see friend, she is basing her false plan of salvation on one's holiness. The inspired Holy Bible teaches something very different. The Bible says our salvation is based upon GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS! Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” This Bible verse exposes Ellen White as a liar, and the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) religion that idolizes her as a fraudulent false religion. 

Philippians 3:9 says we are not saved by our OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH IS OF THE LAW! Ellen White says you must keep the law. She says obeying the law is the condition upon which God grants mercy. Is that Biblical? Absolutely not! The sole basis of the believer's salvation is Christ's sacrifice on the cross, by which God's righteousness is imputed to every believer by faith. Ellen White was a religious fool, who is forever burning in the fires of Hell.

Even more tragic is that Bob Jones University's new president since 2014, Dr. Steve Pettit, teaches the same crap theology. Read what he told 2,700 BJU students on January 26, 2015 in chapel:

“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)

Do you see how they agree? They both teach that you can't just get born-again and that's it. They both say more is required, that you are OBLIGATED to live a life of surrender and obedience to God. This is the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, that Lou Martuneac correctly defined. The churches are being bedazzled dear reader! People are being hoodwinked by the Devil. I have no doubt that Steve Pettit, Ellen White, Marty Herron, Gary Walton, Sam Horn, John MacArthur, Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, and Bob Jones University are very sincere. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

The Gospel is so simple. Why do men change it? Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 20:31). Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. He was buried. Three days later Christ raised up from the dead. This is the Gospel (or Good News) as taught in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. We are taught 85 times in the Gospel of John to simply “believe” to be saved, with no mention of repentance. This is because repentance is included in believing. Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) explains this wonderful truth in his sermon titled, “Repentance: What Does The Bible Teach?” 

Humbly said, shame on the Bob Jones Crowd! BJU was once a citadel of fundamentalism in America. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. (1883-1968) believed in a free grace Gospel, not the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation. What happened? How did BJU end up preaching the same Satanic heresy as Seventh-Day Adventists? Bible-believing Christians must reject and expose the apostate Bob Jones' camp today, lest a little leaven corrupt many more churches. Someone once asked the famous preacher John Wesley why he preached on the subject, “Ye Must Be Born Again,” thousands of times. Wesley replied: “It is because, 'Ye must be born again!'”