Bible Studies

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Sweeping Out the Myth of Passive Salvation
By Patricia Backora, author of the book
Tough Love in Christ's Millennium
Which you can order online from: http://www.publishamerica.com


"Millions were swept into the Kingdom of God during that crusade." Such an assertion begs the question of whether those "swept in" were all genuine conversions to Christ. My Bible never speaks of multitudes being swept into God's Kingdom. It does indicate in various places the difficulty involved in entering that Kingdom.

Acts 14:22 says: Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.*** We must not only enter the faith, we must CONTINUE in the faith once we're in it, and the Christian life isn't always easy going while we're on earth.

Matthew 19:24: And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.*** Here is one group which can't easily be "swept" into God's Kingdom.

I looked for instances of "sweep" and "swept" in Scripture. Those words appear only a few times. Isaiah 14:23 speaks of God sweeping Babylon with the besom (broom) of judgment. In Judges 5:21 men are swept away by a flood. In Jeremiah 46:14 valiant men are swept away by the Lord. Proverbs 28:3 warns of "a sweeping rain which leaves no food". No form of the verb "sweep" appears at all in the New Testament Epistles. It occurs a total of three times in the Gospels. Only once is the action of sweeping likened specifically to the salvation of a lost sinner, and even then it refers to just one soul, not millions!

Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose ONE PIECE, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it. And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over ONE SINNER THAT REPENTETH (Luke 15:8-10).

The other two occasions where Jesus uses sweeping as an illustration occur in Matt. 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26, where He teaches about a man who has been delivered from evil spirits. His soul is all swept and clean. Having no where else to go, the evil spirits decide to go back and re-infest the man. Only this time the spirit takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and the latter state of that man is worse than the first.

The unscriptural notion of multitudes being "swept" into the Kingdom brings to mind someone with a broom sweeping something along on the floor. The items being swept have no choice but to yield passively to the action of the arm wielding the broom. The items swept have no voice in where they go.

"Being swept into the Kingdom of God" as part of a huge mindless mass connotes not only passivity, but a loss of individual choice. Dispensing with individual choice is the hallmark of a cult. The very concept of mass conversion smacks of mass hypnotism. Appealing to mass sentiment and mass response opens the door wide open to satanic counterfeit and deception. It must make you wonder. In stadiums or churches where profoundly beautiful melodies stir a sea of souls, and silver-tongued preachers plead with sinners to "come forward" and sign pledge cards for Jesus, is it always the Holy Spirit Who motivates people to rush forward, or is it sometimes attributable to the sweet music and powerful oratory of the speaker? The answer to this question could mean the difference between eternal life and death. How many souls who come forward in surging throngs in response to melodramatic altar calls are still found to be praying to and walking closely with the Savior five years down the road? If raw emotion, or conformity to the crowd, is what propels people forward, rather than a genuine heart desire to follow Jesus, then their "commitment to Christ" will dissolve away once the emotional magic of the crusade music fades from memory.

The apostle Peter preached a stirring message which resulted in the conversion of 3,000 souls to Christ (Acts 2:14-41). Peter did not hand out decision cards or modulate his voice in sync with a groaning organ. He did not ask every head to bow and every eye to close so "no one would be looking" to see who would be first to step out into the aisle to go up to shake his hand. No, Peter managed just fine without all these traditional tricks of the trade. Peter's sermon was so powerfully anointed he didn't need to wheedle and beg sinners to step out onto the aisle and come forward to meet Christ. Instead, lost sinners were asking HIM what they needed to do to receive mercy from the Lord.

The Bible teaches the election of God through predestination (Rom.8:29; Eph.1:5; I Pet.1:2). But misapplication of valid Biblical doctrines can give rise to deadly error. The devil specializes in subtle religious lies, which sound oh, so holy. Some say: "I couldn't do a thing to save myself." It is true that only Jesus can save us from sin, but this concept of being unable to do a thing to save ourselves is overblown by many to mean we don't even have the power of choice to decide to forsake our sins and follow Jesus. Truly we were dead in sin before coming to Christ. But many who carry predestination to extremes say: "I am saved only because God foreordained (predestined) it, and for no other reason. A dead man can choose nothing, so it must mean there is no part I can play in my own salvation. The Lord must do it all, even make the choice on my behalf."

Lovely religious sentiment, but laced with lethal error. The devil is not above using religious bait to create passivity in people where they ought to be seeking God with all their heart. Passive salvation sounds like the deepest humility, and it even seems to give God greater glory in the face of our utter helplessness as individuals. But passive salvation relieves sinners of the responsibility to "seek the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6). There comes a point where the Holy Spirit ceases to strive with man (Gen.6:3). Some suppose that they can wait till they’re on their deathbed, then repent. But there is no guarantee that the Holy Spirit will be present at the time of their choosing to initiate the process of repentance. A sinner must reach out to God while the Spirit of the Lord is there to convict him of sin (John 16:8).

But if passive salvation is valid, and sinners are too dead in sin even to call upon the Lord for salvation, then how will God be able to hold sinners liable for their lost condition at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev.20:11-15)? If God must do it all, even force the sinner to pray for forgiveness, where is the justice in that most dreaded of judgments? If "John Smith" is standing before the Throne of God as a lost sinner because God didn't pull "John Smith's" string to make a prayer of repentance come out of his mouth, then who is culpable for "John Smith's" eternal condemnation? God, or John?

Are millions automatically "swept into the Kingdom of God", en masse and independently of their own free will? This one Scriptural passage warns against supposing that vast numbers will be swept into heaven on a tidal wave of ease:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat (Matt.7:13).*** The most popular doctrine of the day proclaims that God not only embraces the sinner, but He is even willing to overlook the sinner's sin so the sinner can be saved with the greatest possible ease, with no inconvenience to himself.

Because strait (difficult to pass through) is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matt.7:14).*** When we were physically born, we had to squeeze through a very narrow birth canal, at the cost of great pain and discomfort to the mother. It cost Jesus excruciating pain to provide the narrow passage through which we must enter to become spiritually born again. In order to enter through the Gate of Salvation and walk the Narrow Way, people must humbly acknowledge that they are sinners, deny themselves, and take up their cross daily and follow the Master (Mark 8:34-35).

Passive salvation would turn people into robots who only end up in heaven because God forced them to choose Jesus and respond to His love. God does not even force the angels to love Him. God allowed angels the choice of whether or not to stay loyal to Him, although He knew they would suffer terrible consequences if they did rebel. It is believed that as many as one-third of the angels of heaven rebelled against God when Lucifer tried to seize God's Throne (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezek.28:16-19; Rev.12:4). The fallen angels suffered the loss of the glory of God shining upon them. They turned into loathsome demons who oppose God's will to this very day. Like humans, the angels of heaven could make choices, but they could not choose the consequences of their choices.

Jesus paid it all, and we couldn't do a single solitary thing to help Him pay for our salvation. But does God act independently of our desire (or lack of it) to be saved? Do we, as people, have any responsibilities to carry out regarding our own (and others' salvation)? Read these Scriptures (areas of personal responsibility capitalized) and decide for yourself:

HE THAT BELIEVETH AND IS BAPTIZED shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark16:16).

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH on him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

And it shall come to pass that WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD shall be saved (Acts 2:21).

And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, SAVE YOURSELVES from this untoward generation (Acts 2:40).

Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, and FAITH TOWARD OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, ALMOST THOU PERSUADEST ME to become a Christian (Acts 26:28).

That IF THOU SHALT CONFESS with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and SHALT BELIEVE in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9).

Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee goodness, IF THOU CONTINUE IN HIS GOODNESS: otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off (Rom.11:22).

And that they may RECOVER THEMSELVES out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will (2 Tim.2:26).

For WE ARE LABOURERS TOGETHER WITH GOD: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building (I Cor.3:9).

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, WE PERSUADE MEN….(2 Cor.5:11).

WE THEN, AS WORKERS TOGETHER WITH HIM, beseech you also that YOU RECEIVE not the grace of God in vain (2 Cor.6:1).

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always OBEYED, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION with fear and trembling (Phil.2:12).

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and ONE CONVERT HIM (get him to change his mind); Let him know, that HE WHICH CONVERTETH THE SINNER FROM THE ERROR OF HIS WAY, SHALL SAVE A SOUL FROM DEATH, AND SHALL HIDE A MULTITUDE OF SINS (James 5: 20).

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: FOR IF YE DO THESE THINGS (cultivate in your life the fruits of the divine nature), ye shall never fall (2 Pet.1:10).

IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).

And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: AND THEY REPENTED NOT TO GIVE HIM GLORY (Rev. 16:9).

And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and REPENTED NOT OF THEIR DEEDS (Rev.16:11).

And the Spirit and the bride say, COME. And let him that is athirst COME. And whosoever will, LET HIM TAKE the water of life freely (Rev. 21:17).

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I do not subscribe to the Private Messenger Service. I can be contacted at:
[email protected] http://www.kingdomageministry.com

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