The Counterfeit Plan Of Salvation Of 'UNSHACKLED!'

Acts 16:28-31, “But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Over the years, I have written numerous ministry articles refuting Pacific Garden Mission's (PGM) false doctrine. We hear a lot about “fake news” nowadays. Well, there are many “fake gospels” as well. Since 1950, PGM has broadcast their popular radio program in Chicago called 'UNSHACKLED!' Their latest episode #3942 is titled: “James Blair.”

Here is an excerpt from the heretical presentation, and then afterwards I will break it down to explain what is unbiblical about much of it...

Minister speaking to James: God wants to save you from going to a burning Hell that lasts forever. He did it because He wants you to be with him in Heaven forever. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.” If you died tonight, do you know where your soul would go? If not, you need to repent of your sins, and by faith, invite Jesus into your heart to become your savior and the Lord of your life. Say “yes” to Jesus and you can know where you will spend eternity.

PGM Narrator: Friend, Christ died for your sins, for what the law could not do in that it was weak from the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in flesh. This is the Good News! Redemption not achieved, but received; for by grace are defeated from faith, it is the gift of God not of works, not of works; not of striving, lest any man should boast; therefore, the call is clear, repent and believe. Turn from sin, and place your faith in Him who has already finished the work.

Daughter: Because of the commitments that came with salvation, I had planned to wait till I was 40 to get saved. But the Lord drew me that night and I went to the altar, where I asked God to save me. I confessed every sin I could think of. We were very late getting home.

Mother:  You were saved tonight, weren't you?

Daughter: Yes, how did you know?

Mother:  I could tell by looking at you. 

Daughter: That's why we're late, I had a lot of sin to confess. And I sure feel clean.

Father: I couldn't figure out why a 13-year-old had so many sins to confess.

Daughter: I wanted to be sure I was really saved Dad.

Mother:  Now grow up to be a Sunday School teacher or something.

—[Emphasis added] 'UNSHACKLED!' - Episode #3942, James Blair

All of the following are unbiblical rubbish, damnable heresy:

1. You need to repent of your sins - Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches that you must repent “of your sins” to get to Heaven.
2. Invite Jesus into your heart - Not one verse in the inspired Holy Bible Bible teaches that you must invite Jesus into your heart to get to Heaven.
3. Invite Jesus to become the Lord of your life - Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches that you must invite Jesus to become “Lord” of your life to get to Heaven. 1st Timothy 4:10b says that Jesus is “the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”
4. Turn from sin - Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches that you must turn from your sin to get to Heaven. No one has ever turned from sinning. All you can do is try to sin less and live above reproach, but that is reformation not repentance.
5. The commitments that came with salvation - Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches that you must fulfil commitments when you get saved. Eternal life is a free gift with obligations. Certainly there are things God expects of every believer, but if you refuse to do them you are still saved.
6. I confessed every sin I could think of - Not one verse in the inspired Holy Bible teaches that you must confess “every sin” to get to Heaven. You simply need to admit you are a guilty sinner; you need to know what you're being saved from, which is the condemnation of God's Law (Romans 3:19-20).
7. I could tell by looking at you - You cannot determine if someone is saved or lost merely by looking at them. By all outward indications the hellbound false prophets in Matthew 7:21-23 were saved. Even Christ's own apostles couldn't see that Judas Iscariot had a devil in him (John 6:70).
8. I had a lot of sin to confess - Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches that you are obligated to itemize and confess all your sins to God in order to get to Heaven. Mark 1:5b says the people came to John the Baptist “confessing their sins.” The Bible doesn't say they made a long list of every sin; they simply acknowledged their sinnership (1st John 1:8-10). Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) wisely said: A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one. When 3,000 people got saved on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41), Cornelius and his companions (Acts 10:43-44), and the Roman jailer (Acts 16:30-31), no mention is made that any of them confessed their sins. They simply knew that they were sinners.
9. I wanted to be sure I was really saved - The only assurance that you are saved is your faith in the Gospel, not because you feel convicted to confess all your sins to God. You just need to admit you are a needy sinner.

Dear reader, I hope you can clearly see the spiritual dangers of UNSHACKLED! They have wickedly embellished God's simple plan of salvation, needlessly placing heavy emphasis upon the lost sinner to reform as a requirement to get to Heaven. This is another gospel. This is a works based counterfeit plan of salvation, not the free grace of God which is by faith alone without works (Romans 4:4-5).

The Apostle Peter preached the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost (named in lieu of Jesus' physical resurrection 50 days earlier). As Peter preached to several thousand Jews, we read in Acts 2:41 that 3,000 of them “gladly received” the Gospel truth by faith and were saved. There is no mention of anyone confessing all of their sins, inviting Jesus to become “Lord” of their life, or turning away from their sinful behavior or to be saved. Pacific Garden Mission are pulling on the same rope as the Devil, perverting the Gospel of free grace, which cannot produce the new birth. The preceding episode #3942 makes me want to vomit! This is not the simplicity that is in Christ.

Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) gets the Gospel 100% correct...

“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 tract: 'What Is The Gospel?'

Read what Pastor Ironside rightly said in his Gospel tract, 'ANOTHER GOSPEL?' ...

“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.”

SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside, from the Gospel tract, 'Another Gospel'

UNSHACKLED! has toxic theology! Galatians 1:6-7, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago has been taken over by ungodly neo-evangelicals, who erroneously think Bible “repentance” means to make an effort to reform your life of sin.

In Matthew 27:3 we read that Judas Iscariot “repented himself,” but we know that Judas was still lost and went to Hell without Christ. So sad. Judas turned from his sins. He was sorry for betraying an innocent man. He tried to make amends by returning the 30 pieces of silver to the Pharisees. Unfortunately for Judas, he never believed that Jesus was who He claimed to be—the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Salvation is strictly a matter of receiving by faith (taking God at His written Word) what Christ has done through Calvary's cross as full payment for our sins, and not of what we must do for Him to be saved. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Judas had a relationship with Jesus Christ, but he still went to Hell forever. A “relationship” is not the gospel. I get tired of hearing radio preachers telling people to start “a relationship with Jesus.” That is not God's plan of salvation. As I just mentioned, we read in Matthew 27:3 that Judas “repented himself.” The Greek word for “repented” here is metamellomai and means “to care afterwards, that is, regret.” Judas was sorry that he got caught betraying the Lord. Judas felt embarrassed and lonely, having betrayed his best friend and Lord (Master). Unfortunately, Judas did not trust Jesus as his personal Savior. Judas felt sorry for what he had done. However, feeling sorry for sin is not repentance. The Bible says that Judas repented, but then he went and commit suicide. Judas had NO FAITH in Christ.

The following meme is a classic. It perfectly illustrates the insanity of PGM's counterfeit gospel message. ...

First they tell you on 'UNSHACKLED!' that salvation is received, not achieved. They call it a free gift by God's grace; but then they do a Bait & Switch con job on you, emphasizing YOUR responsibility to repent and turn from your sinful ways. The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. All I hear in UNSHACKLED's perverted gospel is the things that YOU must do to be saved.

• YOU must repent of your sins to turn from them.
• YOU must invite Jesus to become LORD of your life.
• YOU must invite Jesus to come into your life.
• YOU must fulfill the commitments that come with salvation.

You, you, you! Dear reader, true salvation focuses on CHRIST because what He did through Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago to pay for our sins. The only thing that you and I contribute to our own salvation is the sin that made it necessary.