Deceitful Phrases Used To Share False Gospels

This past weekend I attended my church's annual Men's Retreat at Land O Lakes in Brooksville, MS. It was a good but rainy weekend. We had about 25 men at the retreat and our guest speaker was Dr Fred Chay. Dr. Chay is the Dean of Doctoral Studies at Grace School of Theology. He did an amazing job talking about the differences between man-made theologies that twist and distort Scripture and what Scripture actually says. It is sad to see that most of the churches in America today hold to what theologies say rather than taking scripture as it is. Whenever I listen to a sermon or read stuff from Christian authors, 9 times out of 10 a false gospel is presented. Sadly, most church laymen won't recognize this false teaching.

As I've previously written, most of these false Gospel presentations combine Justification and Sanctification.  This problem leads to unbelievers thinking they must do good works in order to be saved. Of course the teachers of this confusing false gospel messages have some type of philosophical semantic loophole that they use to explain how their conditions for salvation aren't good works, but that is simply an attempt to make scripture fit their theologies. I believe that many of these teachers of this false Gospel mean well. I think many of them are saved. I just think that their minds have been twisted by false teaching of theologies that do not line up with scripture. I pray for them and I hope that their blinders are taken off and they see the simplicity of the Gospel of God's amazing grace!

Dr. Chay gave a list of the most common phrases used by teachers that teach this false gospel.

1. "Give your heart to Christ"
2. "If any man wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me"
3. "James 4:7-10 is the clearest presentation of the gospel: "submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double minded."."
4. "May the Lord reveal to the sinners that the only way for them to be saved from their sins is to repent with godly sorrow inn their hearts to the Lord."
5. "We have the warning of Christ that He will not receive us into His Kingdom until we are ready to give up all, until we are ready to turn from all sin in our lives."
6. "Do we literally have to give away everything  we own to become Christians? No, but we do have to be willing to forsake all."
7. "Come forward and follow Christ in baptism."
8. "No one was ever saved by simply believing  without a commitment and the manifestation of righteousness."
9. "Repentance, confession, and submitting to the lordship of Christ are the intrinsic elements of gracious salvation and transformation."
10. "Believing in Christ is: believing God is the loving Father and that Jesus Christ is God and that all that He says is true and have an unswerving, unchanging, unquestioning obedience to that belief. That is saving faith."
11. "How are we saved? We must accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. That's the beginning, but then we must come to Him as Lord and commit our entire life to Him. And there must be the manifestation of the fruit of repentance."

In his book, "Desiring God", theologian, author, and pastor John Piper puts forth six conditions for salvation:

"These are just some of the conditions that the New Testament says we must meet in order to inherit final salvation. We must believe on Jesus and receive Him and turn from our sin and obey Him and humble ourselves like little children and love Him more than we love our family, possessions, or our own life. This is what it means to be converted to Christ. This alone is the way of Life everlasting."(pgs. 65-66).

Likewise, another popular theologian, author, and pastor John MacArthur lists three conditions for salvation in his book "Hard to Believe":

"It's pretty simple. Anyone who wants to come after Jesus into the Kingdom of God - anyone who wants to be a Christian - has to face three commands: 1) Deny himself, 2) take up his cross daily, and 3) follow Him." (pg. 6).

Those 11 phrases and the two quotes from these well-known authors are prime examples of how this popular false gospel of faith plus good works is presented.

Scripture tells us many places that the sole requirement for salvation is to simply believe.
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
In Acts 16:30-31 we read: " 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...'."
John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

The purpose of the book of John is stated in chapter 19 verse 31: "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name". With a book with that evangelistic purpose, you would expect for it to tell how to receive everlasting life. If what all the 11 phrases and the quotes from the pastors say are correct, you would expect to see those conditions of good works listed in this evangelistic book to tell people how to be saved, yet not once in the entire book are any of those conditions listed. On the contrary, over 73 times in that book alone the word "belief" or "faith" is used as the sole means by which one is saved.

Adding all these other conditions for salvation is in complete opposition to scripture. Don't get me wrong, all of those things are great things that we should do as believers, but they are all listed in scripture as acts of good works that we should do AFTER we are saved. We are not obligated to do these things. Yet, we should do them out of love and thankfulness to the Lord. These good works are a part of our sanctification, our Christian life, becoming more and more holy and Christ-like. These things are not automatic or inevitable for all Christians.  More times than not this attitude and living a life of good works in service and commitment to the Lord comes from discipleship and spending time in in the word and in prayer.

These things are not conditions for eternal life, but are conditions for walking in fellowship with God, sanctification, and receiving rewards in the Kingdom.

 Eternal life is given freely as a gift from God, received simply by believing in Christ for salvation. Being saved is only the beginning of the Christian life. Yes, many who have simply believed do not grow in their walk with the Lord, they remain as babes in Christ, but Scripture tells us that God wants so much more for us. Although we are saved and will spend eternity with Him, there is so much more that He wants for us. Yes, getting saved is great, and that is how we receive everlasting life, but that is not all that is available to us as believers. He loves us and wants to fellowship with us here and now in our earthly bodies. As believers, if we choose to accept His offer of fellowship, He can bring about amazing experiences for us now.

In his book, "Absolutely Free!", the late Zane Hodges describes this amazing experience that Christ offers specifically to believers:

"The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, offers Himself to individual believers as a divine Guest. If they will respond to Him, if they will love and obey Him, He will make their hearts and lives His personal habitation so that their experience will be like having supper with their Savior. Across the common 'table' which they share, they can communicate freely and He can make Himself known to them. He can manifest Himself to them... Yes, our bodies are the temple of God (1 Co 6:19-20). But our lives—our earthly experiences—can likewise become His place of residence." 

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... that He would grant you ... to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith..." (‭‭Eph‬ ‭3:14, 16-17‬) 

But did not Christ already dwell in their hearts? Most assuredly He did. Yet Paul can conceive of a special kind of inner experience of the Savior, which he associates with inward, spiritual strength (Eph 3:16) and with 'being rooted and grounded in love' (Eph 3:17). "
No, love is not an automatic response which every believer inevitably gives to God. The Christian is not a robot who has been programmed to love the Lord and who can do nothing but what he or she was programmed to do. The very thought is unnatural and abhorrent. 

God did not create machines. He created real flesh-and-blood human beings. And when humankind fell in the Garden of Eden and lost the capacity to love their Maker,  God redeemed them through the cross and re-imparted this capacity to every believer in Christ. Now He calls His children to the kind of loving obedience which is rooted in a gift of life that is absolutely free. 'We love Him because He first loved us' (1Jn 4:19).
But God Himself loves us freely and He loves us with infinite spontaneity. So He obviously desires that our love for Him should mirror His own for us and be spontaneous in return. 

For that reason, in the New Testament Scriptures, God seeks our love. He encourages and invites it, and He promises to meet it with an experience of rich fellowship with Himself. He desires our love greatly, to be sure. But He will never compel it: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.' "

Believe! Not Repent!

Last night I volunteered at an event that came to my town. It is a Christian event that has been around for about two decades that is geared towards teens. I don't want to mention the event or the people involve by name for several reasons, but it isnt really necessary for the purposes of this blog to mention the name. It is an amazing organization that changes lives and encourages teens to live godly lifestyles. I sat through the program and really enjoyed it. There were approximately 300 students in the audience from various churches across town.  Towards the end of the night the time came for the speaker to share the gospel. 

(Side Note: As many who know me personally or have read my blog before, you know that I am very cautious and critical of how people share the gospel. About 95% of speakers, authors, or pastors, that I have heard, read, or seen share a very muddled presentation of the gospel that is confusing and contradicts scripture. Many of which, I believe, are not doing this intentionally. I believe they are just reciting what they learned at church from other pastors growing up or from man-made theologies and have never bothered to look further into scripture or study the context of the passages or the meaning of the original Greek words. I think many of these people who share these confusing gospels are saved, I just think they have been grievously misled.)

The speaker did a fantastic job explaining how we are all sinners and are all in need of a savior. He used examples from his own life to demonstrate this and used humor and sarcasm in the examples in order to better connect with the teens. I have a lot of respect for this guy because I know how difficult it can be to figure out how to reach that age level. But he did an amazing job......up until he got to the important part. 

He shared:

"You can never work your way to heaven because you can never be good enough. Salvation is a free gift from God. And the only way to get to heaven is to repent..."

When the speaker said this I was stunned. As I said, everything was perfect up until this point. I was shocked. Afterwards I talked to some of the members from my church about it. One said "I wish I had a tract I could give him to show him that the only way to heaven is by believing!" Our youth director said that when he heard that he looked at his wife and they shook their heads. A mother whose daughter is in the youth group came up to me shaking her head. "Believe! Believe! Not Repent! How hard is it to realize that the only way to heaven is to believe in Christ?!" I didn't even have to ask her, those were the first words that came out of her mouth. 

And they are all right. Nowhere in his message was the word "believe" used! All throughout scripture it is made abundantly clear that the ONLY requirement for being saved/justification/getting to heaven is by believing, also the same Greek word for faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." John 3:16 says " For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." In Acts 16:30-31 the Philippian jailer asks Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved. Paul and Silas simply reply, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." The entire book of John is written with the purpose of telling people about Christ and His life so that people may believe and have everlasting life (John 20:31). Throughout that book, the word believe or faith is used over 73 times in reference to salvation. Each time it is used it is the sole requirement to receive everlasting life. Repentance is nowhere to be found. It is always believe.

Lets look at this:

1. You can never work your way to heaven. You can never be good enough to get to heaven 

2. Salvation is a free gift from God

3. The only way to get to heaven is to repent

Number 1 is clearly written in scripture. Isaiah 64:6 says "All of our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Meaning that even the most righteous works we do are like filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord.

 Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.". Romans 3:10 says that "There is none righteous, no, not one."

Number 2 is also stated clearly all throughout scripture. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our lord.". Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Number 3 isn't found anywhere in scripture. Lets take a look at the word "Repent."

According to Webster's Dictionary, the English definition of Repentance is "Act of repenting, or state of being penitent; specifically, contrition for sins with amendment of life". So, in essence, the English definition of repentance is an act of being broken or sorry for sins to such a state that one turns from them. Most pastors, authors, and speakers use this definition. I have only heard a small percentage that do not define it this way.  In his book, "All about Repentance" author Dick Seymour says the following:

"During Bible times the word repent was used in everyday language to refer to changing one's mind. But...English dictionaries define the word in a totally different way...We find that the Greek words metanoia and metanoeo are the primary words used for repentance. Metanoeo is the verb form of the noun metanoia and means basically the same thing. The definition of these words is 'to think differently, to change one's mind, or to reconsider. These words are translated into some form of the word repentance 58 times in the New Testament." 

So, in essence, Biblical repentance is a changing of mind. That is, thinking differently. It is a mental thought process. But in English repentance does not mean the same thing. It refers to a complete turn around in regards to sin and bad works. It is an action, and in many cases requires efforts to do so. 

It is important to note that not once in scripture is repentance ever a requirement for salvation/eternal life. There are many verses that talk about repentance and some can even be confusing in regards to salvation. It took me a while to figure it out, but now it is straight forward. If, in fact, repentance (in the english definition) were part of salvation, then that would contradict every time the Bible says that Faith/Believing is the only way to be saved. It would also contradict the verses that say that works have no part of salvation. If this were true, and the Bible contradicts itself, then it cannot be the inspired word of God, because God cannot lie or go back on His word. 

Thankfully repentance (in the English definition) isn't a requirement for salvation, and the confusing verses can be cleared up with a better digging into the context of the passages and looking up the meanings of the original words. 

Salvation is by God's grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone.  The moment we have been convinced in our minds that Christ is who He claimed to be and that what He said about Himself was true and that He died on the cross to pay for your sins and rose again conquering death, scripture tells us over and over again that we are saved.  Nothing can take that away or undo it because both Christ and the Father hold onto us, securing our eternal life. Our name is written in the Book of Life. We are made righteous and just in the eyes of God through Christ. At that moment, we are born again as children of God. We can call on Him as our Father. We have a personal relationship with Him. 

Now, usually people ask "So, if we get to heaven simply by believing in Christ, does that mean we can go sinning and living how we please?" Amazingly, people in the first century wondered the same thing. Paul responds by saying "By no means!" (Romans 6:2). He tells believers throughout his letters that once we are saved, we should start living in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. We are told that this process of living a life pleasing to Him and being made Holy is called Sanctification. It is the next step after we believe, but it is completely separate from our initial justification which s simply by believing. Many believers have to "repent" in the English meaning of the word. This was an act of turning from sin and realizing that it is not pleasing to God. For many people it is a difficult process to turn completely from various sins. And for most believers we are always in a state of repentance (in the English definition). We still sin, so we confess our sins to the Lord and get back in fellowship with Him. Repentance (in the English definition) is not at all connected to getting to heaven. But it is an essential part of living the Christian life and becoming more Holy and Christ-like. 

It is of utmost importance that we share the gospel in its simplest terms. Then, once someone believes, we stress the importance of living the Christian life, "repenting" from sin, and doing good works. But we should always specify that the two things are completely separate. Because if we tell people that they must do good works such as "repent" in order to be saved, we are not teaching the gospel written in scripture, we are in fact, teaching a false gospel. A gospel, which Paul tells us in Galatians, is "no gospel at all". 

I had the opportunity to talk to and get to know the guy who shared the gospel before and after the show. I truly believe that he is a believer, I just think he, at some point was misled.

After the show I was able to give the speaker a copy of the book "Whatever Happened to the Word Believe?" by Donald Bunge. I ask that you please pray for the guy. Pray that he reads the book and that he realizes that he is teaching a works-based false gospel. Pray that he changes his approach. 

Overall, I think the guy who shared "the gospel" meant well, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would reach these kids and they would realize the truth. And amazingly we had 28 students who claimed to have trusted in Christ. I hope these kids trusted in Christ and not their ability to turn from sins, as the speaker preached.

For more information on the Biblical definition of Repentance I  recommend:

• "The Ten Most Misunderstood Words In The Bible" by Robert N. Wilkin
• "All About Repentance" by Richard A. Seymour
• "Lordship Salvation: A Biblical Evaluation and Response" by Charles C. Bing

An Atheist and a Calvinist: A Tale of Two Methods

Thursday night I went to hear a Christian speaker on campus who is a scientist and he was speaking on how modern genetics proves neo-Darwinism wrong. The event was sponsored by the Society for the Advancement of Creation Science (SACS) which their president goes to church with me. The auditorium was almost packed, I estimate about 75 people attended. There were a lot of atheist who came, as well as Christians. The atheists were pretty easy to spot. It was interesting and VERY scientific, so it was all over my head. The speaker hardly mentioned God at all, but when he opened the floor up for questions the majority of people were angrily attacking him for being Christian and believing in God, which had nothing to so with his thorough presentation about modern day genetics. It was getting a little too hostile for me in the Q&A so I left and just sad down in the hallway and prayed for the speaker. I prayed that The Lord would give him strength and the right answers to give these harden-hearted people. And I prayed for the people,that they would see the love and amazement of God.

While I was sitting out there, a guy approached me. I've known him for over a year and he is a very strong Calvinist who is a follower of John MacArthur, a well known scholar who has some very far fetched misinterpreted  views on salvation. I've had some dealings with the student before and he has always been very hostile, even when he is being nice, he just comes across as hostile. So anyways, he and I are making small talk about the lecture we just heard when two guys walked by. One I recognized as a atheist that my friend Corbin and I talked to 3 years ago on the drill field. Corbin shared the gospel with him and brought him to Mr Jabe Nicholson to talk to. The guy has since been involved with the atheist group on campus. I've seen him many times in passing throughout the years but he didn't remember me. But I always had a feeling like I needed to share the gospel with him, but I was never in a situation where the opportunity presented itself.

So the atheist asks us what we thought about it and we told him, and I mentioned that, even though I am a Christian and I believe that God created the world in 6 days like the bible says, I get kind of frustrated when Christians put arguing about Creation/Evolution above sharing the gospel. I agree with them on the issue, but I see sharing the gospel as a much bigger thing than arguing over how old the earth is. The atheist guy agreed with me on that issue. He mentioned that he was an atheist and talked about how he sees issues like climate control as a much bigger issue. Not wanting to open or discuss that can of worms, I kept quiet.

In comes the Calvinist.

C: Are you a good person?

A: I'd like to think so...

C: Have you ever broken any of the Ten Commandments?

A: I don't think so. I grew up Catholic.

C: Have you ever lied?

A: I uh, um, yes, I've lied before

C: What do you call someone who lies?

A: a liar?

C: Correct! You're a liar

A: You're being kinda mean....

ME: That's just his voice, he can't help it (trying a bit of humor to lighten the tension)

C: Have you ever stolen anything?

A: Uh......yeah. When I was in second grade I stole this crystal rock thing because it looked really cool. But then I found out that it was quartz and it was worthless so then I felt bad.

C: What do you call someone who steals?

A: a thief...

C: Have you ever looked at a woman with lustful thoughts?

A: Um......yes....

C: Well, the bible says if you even look at a woman with lust then you have committed adultery in your heart. So by your own admission you are a lying stealing adulterer at heart. You are a sinner

A: I uh, um...

C: The bible says that if you are a sinner you deserve to go to hell.
(At this point the atheist is clearly offended and upset from the time and hostility that the Calvinist is using towards him)

ME: May I interject?

C & A: Yes

ME: Look, I see this all as like a courtroom setting. You know, like the courts we have in America. Laws are set up and if we break those laws we go to court and the judge gives us our punishment. Well, God set up these laws and told us what we can and can't do. But we have all sinned, and the bible says that if we even do one little sin, we deserve to go to hell. God requires perfection to go to heaven, and we aren't perfect. We all deserve hell! Even me! All the terrible things I've done, I deserve hell.

A: But why would you serve a God who is such a tyrant?

ME: He's not a tyrant, I was just getting to that in my analogy.

A: Oh, sorry, go ahead...

ME: It's cool. Now, I'm sitting in front of the judge and he tells me that I've broken his laws and that I deserve punishment. Which I do. But all of a sudden, a man stands up and comes I between the judge and I and says "let me take his punishment instead. I love him and I don't want him to suffer, let me take the pain and suffering so he won't have to". So the judge agrees. The man who stood up turns and says, I'm taking your punishment, if you simply believe that I am paying for your crimes and am saving you from that, then you can be free and live in eternity with me." That man is Jesus, God in the flesh. He loves us so much that he was willing to die for us and he offers everlasting life to all those who simply believe that he is who he claimed to be and that his death  accomplished what he claimed it accomplished. See? He's a loving God, not a tyrant. And even though we may mess up sometimes, he is waiting their with open arms as our father who loves us.

A: Huh....interesting...

C: May I say something?

ME: Sure

C: God doesn't want you. You're a sinner, you admitted it, and God doesn't want sinners. He won't take sinners. All the sins that you have done, you have to stop doing them and then he will take you when you believe in him. You have to turn away from all the sin in your life and the come to him because he doesn't want you right now

*At this point the atheist is very confused and still frightened by the hostile and accusative tone of the Calvinist. Throughout the Calvinist's confrontation the Atheist was slowly backing up, and I could tell by his body language that he was very nervous and uncomfortable.  Luckily, some more outspoken confrontational atheists come up and start arguing with the Calvinist, and he starts using the same questioning tactic with them. I notice that the first atheist is kinda slinking away and I can tell that he is very distraught and confused and timid. While the Calvinist is arguing with the other atheists, I approached the first one a bit always from the group of the others.*

ME: Hey man, I just wanted to let you know that I am sorry about the way he was acting. He and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things and I'm sorry he came across so hostile.

A: Oh......it's fine....he was acting very mean. If someone is trying to share an idea or their faith with you, they should do it in love and compassion, not mean attacking and hostile

ME: Dude! I completely agree with you. And unfortunately there are many people like him that aren't loving like they should be, and I hate it because it isn't right. I can't stand it

A: I can tell that you're a nice guy

ME: Ha, well, I'm a PR major and I love people, and I'm all about showing love and kindness to everyone.

A: That's good

ME: Look, here's my number, and if you ever want to talk more about this stuff, or if you have any questions, I would love to sit down and talk to you about all this in a non confrontation way.

A: I graduate at the end of this semester, but that sounds good, I'd like to do that sometimes.

ME: Awesome! You got my number, just call or text me sometime and we can get coffee and talk


So that was what went down. I was shaking the whole time (partly because I hadn't eaten hardly anything all day and I was nervous) but The Lord kept me calm and let me calmly and in a loving manner share the gospel with the atheist. I was worried because the Calvinist was very hostile and mean to him and shared a false gospel about how God doesn't want him until he cleans up his life, but I now realize that it was a good thing. The atheist saw two different approaches to witnessing. He saw an angry hostile judgmental and condemning person who claimed to be Christian and a quiet loving gentle and compassionate Christian. And he showed more interest in talking with the latter because if the love and compassion. Now, Im not at all trying to make myself look better than the Calvinist, Im just merely observing how the atheist reacted to the two types of approaches. I am argumentative by nature, but the Lord gave me the confidence and the right words to speak to the atheist. I could feel God's presence there. It was amazing.

Jesus never approached lost people and immediately started telling them that they were going to hell. He showed nothing but love and compassion to people. Also, Jesus never said he didn't want sinners, in fact, he said quite the opposite. He said he came to save the sinners. And in the book of John, which was written with the sole purpose of leading an unbeliever to faith, the word faith or believe (same Greek word) is used over 76 times in reference to eternal salvation. Not once does it give any prerequisites or additions to "believe". That is because we are saved by God's grace through our faith alone in Christ alone, not by our works. "Cleaning yourself up" or "stop sinning" is never a requirement to go to heaven.
John 3:16 says that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life."

The moral of this event is that we should always show love and compassion to people, ESPECIALLY when sharing the gospel with an unbeliever. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love."

He then goes on to say in the same chapter, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Now, some "Christians" who just pick and choose what they like from the bible will focus on the extremes. On one end you have people who focus solely on love, for instance, the author Rob Bell. He is notorious in the Christian community for writing all about how, even if you are living in a life of sin, then God is okay with that, God approves of your sin, and that it is wrong of other believers to confront you, even in love, and try to help you with overcoming your sin. That teaching is completely against scripture. The bible clearly says that if we simply let a brother continue to live in sin without trying to help them or talk to them in love, then that is the opposite of love. The bible tells us that God hates sin, and loves what is good, and that we should do the same. A person's sin does not define who they are. I hate the sin I do, but I don't hate myself. Likewise, we can love a person, but not approve of their sin.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have people like Westboro "Baptist Church", who have the infamous website God Hates Fags .org. Notice I put quotations around the second two words of their name. I put those there because these people have nothing in common with ether Baptists or the Church. These people focus on Gods wrath and judgement. They pick scripture out of context and use it to attack and viciously condemn people. They protest funerals of actors and soldiers because they believe that God killed those people because they were agents of satan. These people focus on hate. I have not heard an ounce of truth come out of these people. They are not a church, they are a violent and vicious hate group.

I do not subscribe to either Calvinism or Arminianism, nor do I affiliate with any denomination. I believe in the Bible, the inherent Word of God in it entirety and in context.

The bible teaches that we need to teach the truth of the gospel of Christ in a loving manner. We are called to tell people that we are all sinners and that we all have fallen short of God's requirement to get into heaven, which is perfection, and that we all deserve the punishment for breaking God's law, and that punishment is hell. But Jesus paid for all of our sins and took on the pain and death that we deserved. He then rose again proving that He was God and that what He said was true. And that if we simply believe that he is who he claimed to be and that his death  accomplished what he claimed it accomplished, then we will spend eternity in heaven with Him.

The word gospel means good news. So its like a bad news/good news type deal. Bad news: we are all sinners and are bound for hell. Good news: God loves us and in his grace he provided a way out. He provided a substitution. He freely offers everlasting life with him to whoever accepts it. We don't deserve this free gift of everlasting life, yet God extends his grace to us. Grace means, an undeserved gift. The offer of Salvation through faith in Christ is that undeserved gift. We are saved simply by grace. And that is amazing!

Do all that you do in a way that is glorifying to God and that shows his love for them.

*UPDATE: Since originally writing this, I have received a text from the atheist and he is open to discussing and hearing what I have to say. And to confirm my suspicions, he did comment on the harsh and hostile methods of the Calvinist, and I informed him that much of what he said and especially about "God not wanting" him was false and was not taught in scripture. I ask for your prayers as I meet with him and share the gospel and hear his views. I know that I am not called to "argue someone to Christ" because that will never work. But we are called to share the gospel. As the writer of Hebrews says: "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart."  My job is simply to share the gospel of Christ's love and grace, the Holy Spirit will take it from there. I will do my best and let God do the rest.