Salvation Verses Transformation

Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

I love rescue missions! Pacific Garden Mission (PGM) was founded in 1877. The renowned professional baseball player turned saw-dust-trail evangelist, Billy Sunday, was saved at the Pacific Garden Mission (PGM) in 1886, when Mrs. Sarah “Ma” Clarke shared the Gospel with him. I enjoy listening to PGM's radio program called “UNSHACKLED,” which began airing in 1950. Unfortunately, I have heard multiple plans of salvation taught in various episodes (there's now over 3,000 episodes).

In episode #3396 the PGM narrator makes the statement: “LIFE TRANSFORMATION IS THE GOAL AT PACIFIC GARDEN MISSION.” Although that motto sounds noble, it is disturbing because their primary goal ought to be PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO GET SOULS SAVED!!! But you say, “They do preach the Gospel at PGM as the first step of seeing lives transformed.” The problem is that the heresy of Calvinism and various forms of Lordship Salvation have crept into many churches today, which are all false Gospels. In so doing, they have mixed DISCIPLESHIP with SALVATION, which is ANOTHER GOSPEL. Despite having some heart-wrenching testimonies, which are a blessing, PGM's UNSHACKLED series propagate the false teaching that a person must stop their willful sinning to be saved, which is “ANOTHER GOSPEL” (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4).

“The worst pervert in America is the Gospel pervert!”

SOURCE: Brother Lester Roloff, from the sermon, “The Gospel Perverts Or Jesus?”

Please notice our text passage of Scripture from Romans 12:1-2. The Word of God commands believers to “BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND.” Getting saved does not transform a person. When a person gets saved (by faith alone in the Gospel), the Holy Spirit of God comes in to indwell that person (1st Corinthians 3:16-17). Getting saved does not change a man one bit. The change is the glorious presence of the blessed Holy Spirit of God, Which is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9). Once a person is saved, a whole new world of understanding is opened unto them, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit (1st Corinthians 2:14-16).

In UNSHACKLED episode #3187, the story of Henry Christian, the narrator says:

“Jesus said, 'he that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth aboard.' Salvation begins with repentance: Turn from your wicked ways and follow the One Who said, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” [emphasis added]

My friend, that is NOT the Gospel. PGM preaches a forked-tongued Gospel. They speak of the free grace of God in one statement, but then they tell people they must forsake sinful behavior to be saved. That is works! Receiving the “free gift” (Romans 5:15; 6:23) of God does not require turning away from your wicked ways. That is reformation! We read in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Romans 4:5 plainly teaches, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

UNSHACKLED is really unbiblical sometimes. Later in episode #3187, Henry Christian heretically says to his mother:

“I'm saved mom, I gave my life to Jesus Christ... Jesus will change your life too. Please, think about giving your life to Christ... Mom, if you put your trust in Jesus for salvation, He'll lead your life.”

Being saved doesn't mean having your life changed! Being saved doesn't mean letting Jesus lead your life! You don't have to give your life to Christ to be saved! You don't get better to get saved, you get saved to get better. But growth in grace takes time, as a new believer nurtures on the milk of the Word (1st Peter 2:2). UNSHACKLED may all sound really good, but it is NOT the Gospel. PGM is wrongly mixing discipleship with salvation. Nearly all of the UNSHACKLED episodes that I've listened to, automatically conclude that receiving the free gift of God mandates: following Christ, being led by Christ, turning away from sinful behavior, surrendering your life to serve God, forsaking the world and being completely transformed; yet, none of this is required to be saved. Pacific Garden Mission teaches Lordship Salvation, which is Calvinism, a false doctrine of devils.

What PGM needs to do is preach the simple Gospel, and then mentor new converts, helping them find a local New Testament church where they can be water baptized and join the church; otherwise they won't make it to spiritual maturity. New converts need to be indoctrinating with the Words of God, teaching them the things of Jesus Christ. The problem is that rescue missions operate on a short-term basis, unlike a church family where you grow together over the years. PGM tries to do it all in a week! 

If you doubt anything I say, listen to UNSHACKLED for yourself, and you'll hear a bunch of religious heresy instead of “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). The new life that Christianity offers requires transformation, which salvation alone cannot bring! The mind must be RENEWED by the preaching, studying, searching, abiding, memorizing and teaching of God's inspired Words in the King James Bible!!!!!!! Your salvation didn't change you one bit!!! PGM doesn't seem to understand that truth. The presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit doesn't mean instant maturity, instant consecration, instant surrender, et cetera. Just as a newborn human baby must grow into adulthood, so also must a baby believer grow into maturity (which takes years). I say that kindly, but truthfully.

I've noticed that nearly all of UNSHAKCLED's episodes are based upon testimonies of people from churches (not the mission), all around the country, and even international. Where are the stories of the men who were saved at PGM, from off the street, whose lives were immediately transformed? They don't exist!!! The only one I know of is Billy Sunday, but he was already a successful man in the secular world, not a bum off the street. If PGM's Lordship Salvation is so great, then where are all their converts from off the streets of Skid Row??? The spectacular stories make great radio shows (with some captivating background organ music and amateur actors), but in reality it takes many years for a properly mentored new believer to grow in maturity in the Lord.

When a person gets saved, they don't change one bit. The only difference is now they have the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. All things become new, as a baby believer's spiritual eyes are now opened for the first time, and they must begin to grow. There may be instant coffee, but there are no instant mature Christians!!! PGM's UNSHACKLED radio programs give the impression that a person must commit them self to substantial lifestyle changes in order to be saved. That's what they repeatedly teach! The Holy Bible says that salvation is a gift! A gift can only be received, not achieved. God only saves those who are trusting to be saved, not those who are trying to be saved. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

“When anyone comes promising salvation to those ‘who make full surrender' of all that they have to God, and who 'pay the price of full salvation' he is preaching another gospel, for the price was paid on Calvary's cross and the work that saves is finished. It was Christ Jesus who made the full surrender when He yielded His life on Calvary that saves us, not our surrender in any way to Him.” —Pastor Harry A. Ironside, from the Gospel tract, Another Gospel.

Pacific Garden Mission (PGM), whether they intend it or not, teach Calvinism in some of their episodes. In one UNSHACKLED episode I heard a man teaching that you cannot just write your name in the back of your Bible; but rather, you need to surrender your life to Jesus every day for the rest of your life. That is a satanic plan of damnation!!! Eternal life is a free gift, that you receive ONE TIME by faith alone, and then it is yours forever. Calvinism requires a believer to persevere in holy living, otherwise they say you're not saved. This is a false works-based plan of salvation.

The idea that repentance is from sins for salvation is not found in the Bible, and constitutes a works-based plan of salvation. In UNSHACKLED episode #3399, the story of “Dorie: The girl nobody wanted,” the PGM narrator guides the listener to pray “Please come into my heart and transform me to be more like you.” Although innocent sounding, this is not the Gospel. You don't have to “ask” Jesus into your heart to be saved. You don't have to ask Jesus to “transform” you to be saved. Being “transformed” according to Romans 12:2 comes only by having our mind “RENEWED,” which comes by nurturing on the milk of God's Word (1st Peter 2:2).

Kindly, Pacific Garden Mission hypes the spectacular ideology that a man is supposed to get saved and become an instant transformed creature! That is not biblical. Growth in grace requires a lifetime. A new believer requires YEARS to mature. A new believer can choose to behave as a mature Christian does, but there are no shortcuts, the same as is true in the physical body. A child may choose to act like an adult in some ways, but they won't actually be an adult until they become an adult. The same is true spiritually in the Lord. 

It is important that people understand that Pacific Garden Mission is a rescue mission, not a church. In a church, the church family is edified and built up in the Holy Scriptures from week-to-week. In a rescue mission, souls are pulled from the flames of Hell by the preaching of the Gospel, “saved; yet so as by fire” (1st Corinthians 3:15b). It is totally unbiblical to propagate the idea that alcoholics, drug addicts, perverts, thieves and hardened sinners, who come off the street into a rescue mission, instantly become radically transformed mature saints by simply getting saved. Salvation doesn't work that way, nor does getting saved have anything to do with transformation of one's behavior. God saves us (John 1:12-13), and then the indwelling Holy Spirit begins to sanctify us with the Word of God (John 17:17).

I realize that some people do get saved and instantly demonstrate some type of outward change, but that is not the norm. Alcoholics are chemically addicted to the drug alcohol and in most cases will required medical intervention to recover. You cannot just tell them to believe the Gospel and be transformed from alcoholism to recovery. Some men do suddenly walk away from alcohol, never to return to it, as did guitarist Joe Walsh of The Eagles band in the 1990's. Joe sobered up to get back into the band. So we see that a man can change even without getting saved. A changed life is NOT part of the Gospel. I love what Dr. Curtis Hutson said...

“You don't go to Hell because you won't quit your sinning!” —Pastor Curtis Hutson; Quote from the classic sermon, Why Do Men Go To Hell? (exposing 'Lordship Salvation')

I have literally laughed at numerous UNSHACKLED episodes, as I hear ACTORS testifying of instant recovery from alcoholism just because they got saved. For every such claim there are a hundred SAVED ALCOHOLICS like Noah! I'm sick and tired of corrupted preachers, including many of Pacific Garden Mission's UNSHACKLED episodes, misusing the Gospel as a crutch to force behavioral changes upon sinners. Growth in grace has absolutely nothing to do with receiving the free gift of eternal life. New converts need to be mentored, or else they will not grow to maturity (Luke 8:13-15; Matthew 28:19-20).There is nothing more important than the Gospel. Either a person must turn away from deliberate sinful behavior to be born-again, or they do not. It cannot be both. The Bible says they do NOT (Romans 4:5-6).

Heresy is creeping into our churches by the hour!!! Churches all across the world love, support and listen to UNSHACKLED. I have been blessed by some of the life's stories myself, but as a born-again Christian I am commanded by God to be on guard against heresy creeping its way into the church (Jude 1:3; Ephesians 5:11). I haven't heard all 3,000 plus episodes, but I'm working toward it. Of the hundreds of UNSHACKLED episodes I've heard, I'm saddened that many of them make unbiblical statements, adding things to the Gospel.

Here are some very helpful quotes refuting the idea of turning from sinful behavior to be saved:

"It is an inexcusable error to confront sinners with problems that concern the Christian life and call upon them to make promises regarding them. An unsaved person is never called upon to surrender himself to God. The saving act is in no instance represented as our 'giving ourselves to God'; it is, on the contrary, taking His Son as our Savior." Ryrie, Charles. Balancing the Christian Life. Moody Press, Inc., 1969 (p. 170).

"The second approach finds faith in the gospel alone an 'easy Believism' and seeks to add something to faith in order to accomplish salvation. To repent is to 'change one's mind,' and to believe is to remove one's trust from that in which it has rested and place it in Christ." Howard, William. "Is Faith Enough to Save?" Bibliotheca Sacra. January-March, 1942 (p.99).

"This kind of faith is not 'easy believism'. It is not easy to say, 'I can't save myself, I must recognize that there is something wrong with me, and I must seek help from someone else.'" Hook, H. Phillip. "A Biblical Definition of Saving Faith." Bibliotheca Sacra. April-June, 1964 (p. 133, 138).

"Eternal life is free. Discipleship is immeasurably hard. The former is attained by faith alone, the latter by a faith that works... the former brings with it the righteousness of God so that a man is 'justified freely by his grace' (Romans 3:24). The latter develops a personal righteousness, based on good deeds, so that a man was also 'justified by works' (James 2:24). The former constituted the believer God's workmanship, the latter fulfilled the wonderful purpose for which he had been created. The former cost man nothing, the latter could cost him everything, including life itself." Hodges, Zane C. The Hungry Inherit. Moody Press, Inc., 1972 (p. 114, 115).

"There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness." DeHaan, M. R. Hebrews. Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117).

"For the unregenerate man, repentance is the change of mind whereby he turns from unbelief to faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ." Post, Roger. "The Meanings of the Words Translated 'Repent' and 'Repentance' in the New Testament." Master's Thesis, Wheaton College, June 1972 (p. 80).

"There are those who, in their zeal to get people to turn from their sinful ways and receive the Lord, almost put repentance on a par with believing... Repentance, as it relates to Christ, means to change our minds about Him, who He is and what He's done to provide forgiveness and deliverance from our sins. When we place faith in Jesus as having taken our place personally on the cross and borne the penalty due our sins, then we're automatically repenting, because we couldn't accept Him in this way without having had to change our minds in some way concerning Him." Lindsey, Hal. The Liberation of Planet Earth. Zondervan Publishing House, 1974 (p. 136, 137).

"Discipleship is frequently equated with salvation and often erroneously made a condition for becoming a Christian". Pentecost, J. Dwight. Design for Discipleship. Zondervan Publishing House, 1971 (p. 11).

"Certainly discipleship is a most important aspect of our relation to Christ, but it belongs to the sphere of Christian life rather than entrance upon that life... One does not become a disciple in order to become a Christian, but because he has become a Christian by faith in the Savior, it is fitting that he embark upon a life of discipleship". Harrison, Everett F. "Must Christ be Lord to Be Savior?-No." Eternity, September 1959 (p. 14).

"There is no more piously subtle abrogation of the Gospel than to tell a Sinner that he must not only believe in the Savior, but dedicate himself to do God's will, crown the Savior Lord of his life, etc., etc. Obviously, dedication and service are highly desirable, but they are the privilege and the duty of the saved, never a condition of salvation for the unsaved (cf. Romans 12:1, 2)." Unger, Merrill F. God is Waiting to Meet You. Moody Press, 1975 (p. 117, 118).

"People are sometimes led to believe that there is saving value in some public confession of Christ, or profession of a decision. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." This is salvation. "With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is the voice of the newborn child speaking to and of its father. The only condition on which one may be saved is to believe." Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Salvation. Dunham Publishing Company, 1917 (p. 46).

Lordship salvation is where someone teaches that there must be a commitment to Christ as Lord of one's life in order to be saved. Recently there has been a modification of this position to say that willingness to be controlled by the Lord at the time of salvation is all that is required in addition to faith in order to be saved. 

Galatians 1:8, 9 says, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed.”

You are saved in a moment of time, because you are trusting in the true Savior now, not working your way to heaven day by day which is not even possible. Once saved you can never be lost, for any reason. This is because you were born spiritually the moment you put your trust in Him. Just like your physical birth which brought you into this human world, your spiritual birth gave you a new spiritual life that is permanent. You were born-again, made righteous and holy in Gods eyes. In fact you have the righteousness of God himself, your are sinless and perfect in God's eyes now and that's why you can enter into a perfect heaven.

God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved. You MUST put ALL your trust in Jesus to be saved, trust in the blood that He shed on the cross, trust that He is God in the flesh, trust that He made the complete payment for your sins, not just part; He paid for ALL of your sins (past, present, and future)! Trust that He rose again from the dead after 3 days and 3 nights, and in return for this trust, He gives YOU Eternal Life. All false Christians put part of their trust in Jesus and part of their trust the Church and part of their trust in themselves. If you put 99.99% trust in Jesus and 00.01% in something else, you will go to hell. It must be 100% trust in Jesus and what He did and 0% in you or your church! This information in critical... (grace always cancels works!) You are going to hell if it's by your works or you are going to heaven by Gods grace. It's as simple as that.

So the question comes down to who are you trusting. Are you trusting yourself to get to heaven by being a good person and giving lots of money to your church or are you trusting Jesus, the Lamb of God, that was slain for the sins of the world to get you to heaven? You receive the Gift of God (Eternal Life) as soon as you stop trusting in yourself, your church, your synagogue, your mosque, your money, or any other works and put your trust in Him and Him ALONE, Jesus Christ.

If all this makes sense to you and you would like to trust Jesus as your personal Savior right now, then tell the Mighty God in Heaven of your decision to trust Jesus Christ as your only hope of heaven. Tell Him that you are no longer putting your trust in your actions, or your church, or your church membership, or in your money, or in your Rabbi, or in your synagogue or your Mosque but that you are putting all of your trust in Him and the shed blood of the cross to pay your sin debt. Thank Him for doing it for you! Thank Him for giving you the Gift of Eternal Life that He paid for with His life. There is no greater deed than that of laying down your life for another.

Biblical Salvation is forsaking any other means of salvation but Christ and casting ourselves fully upon Him for eternal life. The Gift of God, Eternal Life can never be lost once possessed for any reason. John 6:39, " And this is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should LOSE NOTHING, but should raise it up again at the last day." You have God's promise that once you put your trust in Jesus you can never be lost for ANY reason whatsoever.

The Bible teaches in Romans 12:2 that a believer is transformed by the RENEWING OF THEIR MIND. The following Scripture passage applies to the Christian, and is a matter of discipleship, not being saved. Ephesians 4:22-24, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

“You don't get better to get saved, you get saved to get better!”
SOURCE: Pastor Curtis Hutson; Quote from the classic sermon, Why Do Men Go To Hell? (exposing 'Lordship Salvation')

Pacific Garden Mission needs to leave the Gospel alone, and stop requiring people to turn from sinful behavior to be saved. You will not find the words “turn from sin” or “repent from sin” anywhere in the King James Bible to be saved. We are saved by BELIEVING the Gospel, period. John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

We are saved by God's IMPUTED 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.” Eternal life is a free gift, which dies not require turning from sinful behavior. Those who teach that a changed life is necessary to be saved are liars. On their UNSHACKLED program, Pacific Garden Mission often quotes 1st John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” The Bible doesn't say that such a person is not saved, it says they don't have God's love in them. The evidence of salvation is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit (1st John 3:24), but this is not a part of God's plan of salvation. To get saved, you simply need to admit you are a guilty sinner in God's sight, and believe the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

We read about many worldly men in the Bible; namely, Lot, Samson, Solomon, David, Demas, Peter, et cetera. Proponents of the Lordship Salvation heresy would lead us to believe that they weren't really saved, but that is untrue. I'm tired of hearing false prophets saying that salvation is solely by God's grace, while at the same time hypocritically teaching that you must forsake sinful behavior to be (or prove that you are) saved. Romans 11:6 plainly teaches that it cannot be both—salvation is either by works or grace! Works have no place in God's simple plan of salvation.

When you hear a pastor teaching that repentance is “a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior,” he is adding to the Bible. He got that from a theologian, or a Greek thesaurus, or some manmade source, but he didn't get that from the inspired Word of God. Repentance in the Bible simply means, “metanoia (Greek noun): a change of mind,” that compels a lost sinner to believe the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (Acts 16:30-31). Repentance is a change of mind. The Bible does not even tell us what this change of mind is about. God intentionally chose to use this open-ended, all-inclusive, term. Of what must a man repent to be saved? Why, of whatever has been hindering him from believing on Christ to be saved. So if a person believes the Gospel they HAVE repented!

I am not trying to be unkind, but what Pacific Garden Mission is preaching is a false Gospel. The matter of transformation has nothing to do with receiving the free gift of eternal life, which is solely by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26).