1st Corinthians 15:1-6, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”
I ran across a website today called peacewithgod.net, which says it is a ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). On their website the following demonic heresy is what they teach you must do to be “born again”...
So how can we be born again?
First, we must admit our sin—that we can’t live up to God’s perfect standard on our own. Then we must ask forgiveness for that sin and repent, which means to make every effort in turning away from that sin. Finally, we ask Jesus to be part of our lives.
That’s when God’s Spirit penetrates our hearts to guide us and help us be more like Him. That’s when we’re born again. [emphasis added]
SOURCE: What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?
Where does the inspired Holy Bible tells us to “make every effort in turning away from sin” to be born again? That is, to get to Heaven? It doesn't. Also, where does the Word of God tell us to ask Jesus to be part of our life to be saved? Billy Graham and his followers are hellbound infidels, imposters who masquerade as children of God. What you just read is a false plan of salvation which cannot produce the new birth in Christ.
Our text passage of Scripture plainly defines “the gospel” as three things:
- Jesus DIED on a cross to pay our debt of sin.
- Jesus was BURIED.
- Jesus bodily RESURRECTED three days later from the dead.
The only prerequisite necessary to believe the Gospel is to admit you are a guilty sinner, because you need to know what your being saved from. You are a sinner and so am I (Romans 3:10-23). There is a penalty (wages) for our sins, which is death (Romans 6:23). This includes a second death in the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:11-15, 21:8). The Bad News is that we are all guilty sinners deserving of being punished in the fires and torments of Hell forever. The Good News is that God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, into the world to die on a cross for our sins, to make a way of escape through His shed blood (Romans 5:9).
Biblically, you don't have to turn from your sins to go to Heaven; but rather, Christ died on the cross to pay your debt of sin and mine. Jesus fully bore the weight and curse of our sins, so that we don't have to. The Devil's fallacy of Lordship Salvation (which Billy Graham and his followers errantly preach) places the weight and burden of sin upon the sinner instead, which is an impossible burden to bear. Who can turn away from their sinning? That's right, no one. Psalms 130:3, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”
Like Billy Graham, Pensacola Christian College (PCC) Perverts The Gospel
I am astonished and deeply frustrated that so many Baptist preachers today ignorantly bid Godspeed to Billy and Franklin Graham. Particularly, the Pensacola Christian College (PCC) cult is guilty. There's an old adage that says: If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. There is much truth to that. He that is not zealous against error, is not likely to be zealous for the truth. PCC are not zealous to expose error. They refuse to contend for the faith or step on anybody's toes (e.g., PCC won't expose the Bob Jones University (BJU) cult for preaching another gospel of Lordship Salvation, or for their use of the Devil's corrupt Bible revisions, et cetera).
Consequently, the churches that associate with PCC rarely rise about cult headquarters, so they don't contend for the faith either. I am not aware of even one PCC alumni or associated church who zealously exposes error and rebukes false teachers today (Titus 1:13-14). They just go along to get along and play church, collecting a minister's salary, and criticizing preachers like me who do contend for the faith and expose false prophets. I know God is on my side because I am preaching THE TRUTH. Like BJU, PCC is wrong on the Gospel.
Billy Graham's Ministry Wrongly Understand The New Birth
Here is what they claim it means to be “born again”...
That’s when God’s Spirit penetrates our hearts to guide us and help us be more like Him. That’s when we’re born again.
SOURCE: What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?That is NOT what it means to be born again. The Bible says when Adam sinned he opened the floodgate of sin into the world, and by sin came death upon all men (Romans 5:12). Consequently, every human being born since Adam has been born with a sin nature. We are all sinners by nature and by choice. The greatest sin, next to rejecting Christ as one's Savior, is to condemn another sinner (Matthew 7:1-5). There but for the grace of God go I.
Ephesians 2:1 teaches that we were all born “dead in trespasses and sins.” We were all born spiritually dead. This is different than the second death, when a lost sinner goes to Hell. The first birth is the physical birth, by flesh and water (John 3:5). A baby spends 9 months in its mother's water bag during development, and then the water bag breaks when ready to be born into the world. Jesus also spoke in John 3:6 of being born of the spirit, that is, born anew by the Holy Spirit of God. This is a supernatural miracle in response to a sinner's faith in Jesus Christ. In theology this is called regeneration.
Being “born again” has nothing to do with our behavior changing. Billy Graham's ministry is very wrong when they teach that the birth is “when God’s Spirit penetrates our hearts to guide us and help us be more like Him.” Our heart changing more like God's heart is NOT being born again. Your spirit was dead from birth. That is why we all need to be reborn by the Spirit of God, so that we will be spiritually alive in God. The natural (or unsaved) person is spiritually lifeless and cannot understand or discern the things of God (1st Corinthians 2:14-16).
The unsaved heathen world cannot perceive the Holy Spirit because they do not know Him. That is, because they reject Jesus Christ as their Savior they have not been born-again; therefore, they do not have the indwelling Holy Spirit, nor can they see Him. John 14:17, “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
Sadly, evangelist Ray Comfort, who is an unsaved false prophet, also has a wrong understanding of what it means to be born again. Since these religious infidels are not genuine born-again Christians, and do not have the indwelling Holy Spirit, they cannot understand the new birth. They all associate the new birth with a radical change of attitude and behavior, instead of the presence of God's blessed Holy Spirit.
I mean no unkindness, God knows my heart. I am strictly going by what the Holy Bible teaches. There is nothing in the inspired King James Bible which teaches to “make every effort in turning away from sin” and to “ask Jesus to be part of our lives” to be saved? Billy Graham and company ADDED those extra requirements to God's simple plan of salvation. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” I didn't add to God's Words, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wickedly did. I didn't add to God's Words, Pensacola Christian College and their ungodly Campus Church wickedly did.
To be saved you receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He died, was buried and then physically raised up from the dead three days later. This is “the gospel” according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. Why does the BGEA preach a different plan of salvation than the simple one taught in the inspired Word of God?
Billy And Franklin Graham Are Unsaved False Prophets
According to Billy Graham and his ministry today, to be saved you must:
- Ask forgiveness for sins
- Make every effort in turning away from sin
- Ask Jesus to be part of our lives
I triple-dog dare you dear reader to show me any of that tommyrot, balderdash, tomfoolery or poppycock in the Holy Bible. You cannot! The Bible says that the Ninevites turning from their evil ways at the preaching of Jonah. God called it “works.” Jonah 3:10, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” Also, carefully notice in Jonah 3:10 that God Himself “repented.” That is, God changed His mind not to destroy the Ninevites. We know that God is incapable of committing evil (James 1:13). So, if repentance concerning salvation means to “turn from your sins,” then how did God repent, since He cannot sin? Obviously, all those “repent of your sin” preachers are misguided, deceived and wrong.
True repentance has nothing to do with “turning from sin” and everything to do with “acknowledging one's sinfulness” (Romans 3:19-20). Like the thief on the cross who simply acknowledged his sinfulness (Luke 23:39-43), the only part a person has in salvation is the beggar's part. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.
May I remind your dear reader that Judas Iscariot was a part of Jesus' life, but that didn't save him from the pits of Hell beneath. Judas was one of Christ's very chosen apostles, yet went to Hell. Judas repented (Matthew 27:3). That is, he turned from his sins. This is reformation, not true repentance toward God (Acts 20:21). In fact, Matthew 27:3 even says that Judas returned to 30 pieces of silver, which he had been paid to betray Christ to death. This is penance, not true repentance toward God. Judas felt remorse for betraying an innocent man (Matthew 27:4). This is penitence, not true repentance toward God. Judas never changed his mind about himself, to admit that he is a guilty sinner. Nor did Judas change his mind about Jesus, to admit that He is the Christ, the Savior. Judas went to Hell in his sins without Christ.
We also see in Matthew 7:21-23 that a group of followers of Jesus went to Hell. They boasted of having done “many wonderful works,” but they had never put their faith in Christ alone (John 6:40). The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has done “many wonderful works” for several decades now (since 1950 when they began), but they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God (Romans 10:3-4). You don't “make every effort in turning away from sin” and to “ask Jesus to be part of our lives” to get to Heaven.
Christian author Michael P. Bowen offers these helpful words to expose Billy Graham's counterfeit plan of salvation...
Billy says that we must repent of our sins and attempts to provide examples from the bible that suggest we are supposed to repent of our sins in order to be born again; however, his examples are weak and hold no truth at all because the bible “never” tells us to quit sinning in order to be saved; in fact, the phrase “repent of sin” does not even occur in the bible. Billy often refers to the Greek word for repent which is metanoia, which he erroneously defines as turning away from our sins, to feel sorry for our sins, that we should change our minds about sin and walk away from it altogether as a “requirement” for our being born again. Very often, as a way of telling us that we have to quit willfully and deliberately sinning in order to be born again, he will refer to where Jesus said in Luke 13:3 that we must repent or perish, yet in the original Greek manuscript, the word for repent means to change your mind and has nothing at all to do with turning from sins. —Michael P. Bowen, “I Never Knew You,” p. 137
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