When I attended Hyles-Anderson College (HAC) between 1985 to 1993 (when I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Pastoral Theology), we attended chapel Monday through Friday at the college. One day in chapel I heard a staff member named Johnny Pope preach to all the students. He said something that I have never forgotten: “We need a whole new breed of preachers in this next generation!” Johnny Pope was so right!
Unfortunately, Johnny Pope is scheduled to speak at Pensacola Christian College (PCC) next year in 2024 on February 28 to March 1. Sadly, Raymond Barber is also scheduled to speak at the Bible Conference. Dear read, in case you didn't already know, PCC is a cult that preaches another Gospel. At PCC they errantly teach that to get to Heaven you must “follow and obey God's will instead of your self-serving sins.” Oh my! That is the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation!!! PCC also errantly teaches that to be saved you must have the mindset, “I repent of my sins. I realize that sin is something that God hates and I no longer want to hold onto sinful bad habits.” Oh my! That is the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation!!! ...
“I repent of my sins. I realize that sin is something that God hates and I no longer want to hold onto sinful bad habits.” [emphasis added]
SOURCE: “John & Romans,” Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, p. 62
That is another gospel, not what the Gospel that the inspired Holy Bible teaches in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. Why, oh why, would Johnny Pope support such wickedness? I'll tell you why, because he is also deceived by the Devil. Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) made a great statement: “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” I'll apply this principle a little later.
Johnny Pope is the pastor of Christ Church Baptist Fellowship in Houston, Texas. On their church website, on the page titled: 'What Is Your Answer?,' you'll read the following words...
What to do to be saved
There are two commandments in the Bible for the sinner to obey in order to be saved. They are not outward deeds, but one decision of the heart and mind. You can obey these two commandments without moving a muscle! These commandments are: repent and believe.
“Repent ye, therefore, and be converted [turn], that your sins may be blotted out.” [Acts 3:19] To repent is to confess that you are a sinner, turn from sin to God and pray to Him for mercy and forgiveness through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. [Luke 18:13; Romans 3:25] You remember how you have told your parents you were sorry and asked forgiveness, or how you made up to a friend you had wronged, don’t you? Well, you have done wrong before God, and you must “square” things with Him. You must be willing to run from sin (be converted), but you cannot do this on your own power—that is where faith (believing) comes in.
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” [Acts 16:30,31] You must not only believe facts about Him, you must believe on Him. By illustration, it is not enough to believe facts about a doctor. If a doctor saves your life when you have had a serious illness, you must trust him with your life. And you do not help him, you simply submit to him, don’t you? Saving faith, then, is to receive Jesus Christ [John 1:12], to trust Him to take you to Heaven, and believe that He will. Once you put your soul into His hands, you are His responsibility. He takes your sin, and you take His righteousness [2 Corinthians 5:21]. You will then become God’s child, born again by His Spirit, sealed forever! [Ephesians 1:13; 4:30] You will then be saved—and saved means “to be made safe.” [emphasis added]
SOURCE: 'What Is Your Answer?,' Johnny Pope; Christ Church Baptist Fellowship
Dear reader, what you have just read is damnable heresy!!! I am going to refute the preceding heresies below:
- There are NOT two things that you must do to be saved. There is only ONE, which is to believe the Gospel (i.e., the 'GOOD NEWS' of Jesus' death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection - 1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
- Repentance does NOT mean to turn from your sin. Bible repentance concerning salvation is always either the Greek noun metanoia (which means: “a change of mind”), or the Greek verb metanoeo (which means: “to think differently”). Repent does not mean to “turn from your sins” to be saved; it does not mean to “run from sin.”
- Johnny Pope perverts the meaning of Acts 3:19. Pastor Pope heretically says, “you must 'square' things with Him. You must be willing to run from sin (be converted).” Oh my, that is damnable heresy! Dear reader, you absolutely cannot square things away with God on your own. You can turn from your sins all you want, but that won't make you one iota right with God. That is the whole reason why Jesus had to come into the world to die on a cross to pay your debt of sin (and mine). Johnny Pope was inspired by demons when he wrote his plan of damnation. Pastor Pope horribly misinterprets Acts 3:19, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” Pastor Pope ASS-U-MEs that the word “converted” means to turn from our sins. Although it is accurate that the word “converted” means “to revert,” from which the English word “turn” used elsewhere in the New Testament is also translated; the word converted is not referring to turning from your sins, it means to be saved. We know this by taking into consideration the whole of Scripture. Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) made the following helpful statement: “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” Kindly said, Johnny Pope is using an obscure passage of Scripture from Acts 3:19, while completely ignoring the entire Gospel of John (which God authored for the primary purpose of showing humanity how to have eternal life). Not one verse in the Gospel of John teaches to “turn from your sin” to be saved. Ungodly but well-meaning religious men have embellished God's simple plan of salvation, adding to God's Word, making themselves liars (Proverbs 30:5-6).
- You don't have to “square things” with God by turning from your sins to be saved. Johnny Pope is telling a big lie. Burger King aren't the only one who sell Whoppers!!!
Dear reader, somebody's got to care. If a preacher is wrong on repentance, then he is wrong on the Gospel and is preaching another gospel. I love what Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951) said:
“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …
Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”
SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside, from the sermon: What Is The Gospel?
Bravo Pastor Ironside!!! I wish every pastor and preacher today had this sound Bible understanding of repentance and the Gospel. It is very wrong that Johnny Pope has based his heresy (that you must “turn from your sin”) upon one obscure Bible verse, while he totally ignores the rest of the inspired Holy Bible.
When the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas in Acts 16:30b, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?,” their simple answer in verse 31b was to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” No mention is made that the jailer must run from his sins, or turn from his sins, to be saved. Wicked false prophets added these extra words, to appease their hatred for sinning. But dear reader, perverting the Gospel will not save anyone. Acts 3:19 simply teaches that if a man repents (i.e., changes his mind) to believe the Gospel (be converted), his sins will be blotted out immediately, irrevocably and eternally. That is what the inspired King James Bible teaches!!!
I am saddened that Pastor Johnny Pope has the Gospel wrong, which means he is not saved. He's been preaching for over 42 years now, messed up doctrinally. Please read the simplicity of God's plan of salvation in the following passages...
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.”John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
I didn't see anything about running away from your sins, or turning from your sins, did you? Why does Johnny Pope and other corrupt Baptists add those extra-biblical requirements to be saved. Pastor Pope even says that the purpose of turning from one's sins is to “square things” with God. Oh, what a fallacy! Only a fool thinks that he could ever “square things” with God apart from the precious shed blood of Jesus Christ. ...
1st Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
In fact, biblically, you DON'T have to “square things” with God by turning from your sins to be saved. Kindly said, Pastor Johnny Pope is preaching the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, not the free grace Gospel taught in the inspired King James Bible. Jesus died on the cross to square things away for us with God the Father. ...
Revelation 1:5-6, “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty!
Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.
Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.
If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?
The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.
Dear friend, THANK YOU for reading my ministry blog. I am just a humble VOICE crying out in cyberspace for Jesus Christ, desiring by the power of the Holy Spirit to be a blessing to others.
“If we don't take our conflict seriously, the Devil will conquer us easily.” —Evangelist Lester Roloff (1914-1982)
The Devil is working relentlessly to kill, steal and destroy people's lives (John 10:9). Jesus said He came to give men life, and life more abundantly (John 10:10). One of the great joys of the Christian life is contending for the faith. It saddens me that Johnny Pope is not one of the new breed of preachers that we need. Tragically, he is one of the corrupt preachers of our perverse generation who is pulling on the same rope as the Devil, by preaching the fraud of Lordship Salvation. Jesus died on the cross to square things with God for us, because it is impossible for you or me to square things with God on our own. Why? It is because you cannot turn from your sins, no one can! The whole idea is absurd.
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