The Big Difference Between Me And The New IFB

Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”

On May 30th, 2026, I noticed a post on Pastor Steven Anderson's Facebook page by Pastor Matthew Stuckey, which redirected the viewer to this YouTube video. In this video, which overall is good because it refutes Pastor Jack Trieber's new heretical book, Matthew makes a horrible error in his teaching. He says that the Epistle of 1st John was not written to show believers how to know we have eternal life, but rather to give us joy. That is a blatant contradiction to 1st John 5:13, “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.” Matthew is absolutely 100% WRONG!

That being said, I had a choice to make when I saw this post on Steven Anderson's Facebook page. I could have just stayed quiet and thought to myself: “Gee, I know how sensitive Steven is and I should probably just let it go, for the sake of getting along.” But that thought never once crossed my mind. As a fundamentalist Bible preacher, I instinctively reacted the moment I saw his video and in the kindest of words refuted Matthew's teaching. Here is my unedited post...

Kindly, Pastor Matthew Stuckey gets this wrong. He plainly says in this video that the Epistle of 1st John was written so that believers can have joy, but he denies that the epistle was written so believers can KNOW we are saved, which blatantly contradicts the plain statement of John. 𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝟱:𝟭𝟯, “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.” 

The Epistle of 1st John was not just written to give believer's joy, but also to help us individually determine if we are saved. 

I humbly think the key verse is 𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝟯:𝟮𝟰, “𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗺. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗯𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀, 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝘀.” The acid test is whether or not we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, and that is what 1st John helps us determine, individually, if we have the Holy Spirit. 

If we hate a Christian without cause, we may not have the Holy Spirit, and thus are not saved (1st John 2:9-11). If we can sin without any conviction whatsoever from the Holy Spirit, then something is very wrong, and we may not have the Holy Spirit, and are not saved (Hebrews 12:6-8). John is NOT saying that we are unsaved if our life is filled with sin; but rather, if we can live like the Devil without being chastised by God, then we may not have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Hebrews 12:6-8 plainly calls someone a "bastard" who is never scourged and chastised by God for our sin. Anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit (i.e., the Spirit of Christ) is unsaved (Romans 8:9). 

We have to be very careful when interpreting the Scripture to rightly divide it. Many people read 1st John 2:4 that you are not saved if you don't keep God's commandments. They assume that this means keeping all of God's commandments, but john plainly writes in 𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝟯:𝟮𝟯, “𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝗻 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.” 

So, you are not saved if you don't believe on Christ. That is God's commandment. We know from umpteen other Scripture passages that works are not allowed or necessary to get to Heaven (John 6:28-29; Romans 3:20; Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 5:4). So, we know that John is not teaching that you must keep God's law to be saved. The ONLY commandment that you must keep to be saved is to BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, which the dear Savior Himself confirmed in John 6:28-29. Many Bible students get 1st John wrong. 

1st John 3:9 simply means that the indwelling Holy Spirit cannot sin. The Bible does not say that we won't practice sinning as the new corrupt Bible versions read, it says the man who walks in the Spirit "cannot sin." It means when we sin, we do so in the flesh. When we walk in the Spirit we cannot sin (Galatians 5:16). But we all walk in the flesh every day by default, because we are all carnal sinners by old nature. I reject the heresy that when a person gets saved, they only have a new nature and the old nature is gone. No, we still have the old flesh to contend with. The Apostle Paul makes this clear in Romans 7:14-25. 

This is mostly an excellent and needful video by Pastor Stuckey, but he is wrong that 1st John was ~not~ written so that believers can KNOW we are saved. 

The day I got saved, the preacher said that if you can commit sin without any conviction whatsoever from the Holy Spirit, you are not saved. I knew that I didn't have the Holy Spirit, because I had never felt bad about my sinning. When I look back now in my mind, before I got saved at age 13 there is only a blank in my mind concerning God. I was spiritually dead. 

But from the day I got saved until today I have felt the presence of God's blessed Holy Spirit in my life: convicting, comforting, guiding, rebuking and teaching me as His child. The day I got saved was like a light switch being turned on in my soul. For the first time in my life I heard an inaudible small voice in my soul convicting me about sassing my mother. I started reading my King James Bible in Genesis through Leviticus, and then I jumped to the New Testament like most believers do...lol. There was a change in my life. I remember my mother saying to me one evening, "You've changed." In hindsight, that is a beautiful confirmation of God's Holy Spirit in my life. I had been born again! 

To clarify, I do not believe in Lordship Salvation. I do NOT believe that a changed life proves anything, because the false prophets in Matthew 7:21-23 lived a changed life, doing many wonderful works and they followed Jesus while calling Him: "Lord, Lord," yet they were hellbound sinners. They were living the Christian life without ever having been born again. That is Satan's favorite weapon! 

There is only one thing that the unsaved person cannot have, and that is the blessed indwelling Holy Spirit, and that is why 1st John was written, to give us the joy of knowing that we are truly saved. 

I have heard Benny Hinn preach different plans of salvation to various audiences. When he was in Colorado speaking to Catholics, Hinn praised the Virgin Mary and presented a Catholic plan of salvation. When in Israel, he preached a different gospel. But when I heard him preach in Tennessee, he preached a free grace gospel, which confused me. I had to give it some thought but eventually figured out what he was doing. Benny Hinn is a chameleon, changing colors to appease different crowds to get their money (2nd Peter 2:1-3). Even though I heard Benny Hinn preach a free grace gospel, I realized that he doesn't believe a word of what he is saying. So, to me, that helps understand why God gave us the Epistle of 1st John. 

Pastor Jack Trieber is definitely wrong in his errant views put forth in his book; but this video also needs to be corrected, because the Apostle John did write his epistle to help the Christian KNOW that we are saved according to 1st John 5:13. 1st John 3:24 plainly teaches that we KNOW we are saved by the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by which we were "sealed" the moment we trusted Christ to be saved (Ephesians 5:13-14).
One of the reasons for which God gives us His indwelling Spirit is “𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻” (𝗘𝗽𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝟭:𝟭𝟰𝗯). The Holy Spirit is God's downpayment on His child. No preacher is perfect. I didn't post these comments to shed a bad light on Pastor Stuckey; but rather, to contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3b).

In response to my kind post, some New Independent Fundamental Baptist (New IFB, or NIFB) bully named Melch Garcia replied to my post, falsely accusing me of "railing against a pastor" and of "bringing an accusation against an elder." That is crazy talk! So, I sharply rebuked Melch for having zeal without wisdom, and for his ridiculous claim that I did something wrong to correct one of their New IFB pastors for a stupid YouTube video. Steven Anderson went ballistic, unfriending and blocking me completely on Facebook. Really nice guy, huh? I admit that I am deeply hurt by his rejection, and for throwing me under the bus for telling the truth.

Matthew Stuckey is 26 years old, I am 59, old enough to be his grandfather. Yet, he and Steven Anderson have ZERO respect for me as a fundamentalist Baptist Bible preacher. The idea that Matthew Stuckey can upload a YouTube video, and nobody is permitted to weigh in and correct his unbiblical teaching is absurd. I did not "rail" on God's man. Humbly said, I am as much "God's man" as any New IFB pastor, if not more so for my older age and formal theological training for eight years. I have been saved for 46 years! They have no respect for anyone outside of their NIFB camp. That is not right! The NIFB think much too highly of themselves. They are not God's gift to humanity. They are not Popes! They ought to be servants, for “he that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11).

Very kindly said, the big difference between me and the New IFB is that I am loyal to truth and principles, not to men and institutions. Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) wisely taught me that truth. In sharp contrast, the New IFB are loyal to their own, prioritizing following their peers over the truth. There is absolutely no way that Pastor Stuckey has a leg to stand on, to say that the Epistle of 1st John was not written to show us how to “know that ye have eternal life,” when that is the exact text verbatim in 1st John 5:13. And for Steven Anderson to blindly defend Stuckey and throw me under the bus speaks volumes of where his loyalty rests.

Dear reader, I am a loving and sincere man. God knows that I truly do care. Unlike the vast majority of NIFB pastors, I do have a caring heart. I love people. I would NEVER have rejoiced when 49 people were murdered in 2016 by a 26 year old gunman in a gay nightclub in Orlando. But Steven Anderson praised the shooting and said he hated homosexuals. That is not a man of God in his right mind! That is hatred of people created in the image of God, not hatred of sin. The NIFB are a dangerous influence because of their hatred toward sinners. For that reason I have never, nor will I ever, be a part of the hateful NIFB community.

I took a stand on May 30th, 2026, for THE TRUTH. Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” Matthew Stucky is so horrible that after Steven Anderson broke off all contact with me on social media, Matthew posted laughing Emojis on Facebook to rub it in and mock me. Really nice fella, huh? That's the NIFB!

This video by my ministry friend Onorato Diamante exposing the sickening New IFB, shows just how immature their pastors are. The New IFB don't take anything seriously except themselves. They are incompetent, most of whom have zero formal theological training, evidenced by their butchering of God's inspired Word. These are perilous times. God knows that I love everyone and hate nobody. I am just a struggling redeemed sinner, trusting in God's mercy and grace day by day. God is faithful.

Thank you for reading my ministry blog. To God be all the praise, credit and glory (John 15:5).