Program #L6—“The Theological Adventures of Johnny Lukewarm and Pastor Loophole: Salvation by Grace”
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Radio Show Transcript, © 2001, Persuade The
World Ministries, Gordon James Klingenschmitt, Servant. Copying
and distribution (without editing) is highly encouraged.
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<Many more transcripts and free MP3 radio shows CLICK HERE>
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Opening introduction by Mark
McWilliams…
Welcome and thank you for joining this radio
broadcast of Persuade The World Ministries. You’re
about to hear our radio production of the book written and taught
by Gordon James Klingenschmitt, entitled “License To Sin,
The Number One Reason America Is Losing Its Moral
Foundation.” If you call us in the next hour,
we’ll mail you a free cassette tape of today’s
broadcast, which you can copy and give to your friends. Just
call our toll-free phone number: 866-Obey-God. That’s
toll free, 1-866-O-B-E-Y-G-O-D. Gordon James
Klingenschmitt is a graduate of the United States Air Force
Academy, and a seminary graduate of
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Thanks Mark. Today we continue our mini-drama entitled “The Theological Adventures of Johnny Lukewarm and Pastor Loophole.” You may remember our characters, Johnny Lukewarm, and Pastor Loophole from our last broadcast. But before we re-introduce these two characters, let’s read again from 2nd Timothy chapter 3. “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” People often turn to counselors who tell them what their itching ears want to hear. As is the case with our character, Johnny Lukewarm, who comes into Pastor Loophole’s office to get advice…
(Lower) “Please have a seat, Johnny. What seems to be
bothering you today?”
Johnny’s brow furrows with concern. (Higher)
“Pastor Loophole, I’m very upset about this particular
passage of scripture. It seems as though God is commanding
me to do something I really don’t want to do. Do I
really have to repent, and stop sinning, and obey God? Or
is there some other alternative?
(Lower) “Why, certainly there is, Johnny, you just relax.
I can offer you dozens of alternatives, and give you very logical
reasons why you don’t have to obey God.”
(Higher) “Oh, thank goodness. For a minute there, I
thought I’d actually have to change my behavior and obey
God!” Johnny breathes a sigh of relief. He sits
forward eagerly, with his itching ears searching for some escape
from the Holy Spirit’s conviction. But the Spirit of
God is grieved away, and He slowly withdraws his conviction from
Johnny’s life.
(Start) And after
re-defining mercy, love, and truth, Pastor Loophole continues his
excuses with Loophole #4, entitled “Salvation by grace
through faith, not by works.”
So Here’s Loophole #4:
(Lower) “Johnny, it says here in Ephesians chapter two,
‘For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works,
so that no one can boast.’ [1] Now you’ve got
to understand the proper meaning of these words, Johnny. So
listen carefully to my definitions. Salvation, Grace,
Faith, and Works. If you just re-define these four words,
and you’ll never have to give up your favorite sins.”
(Lower) “First let’s re-define the word Salvation.
Salvation. Hmm. Salvation from what, Johnny? What
did Jesus come to save you from? I think Jesus came to save
you from God. In other words, Jesus came to rescue us
sinners from God’s angry wrath, even if we don’t
repent. That’s why Jesus died on the cross, so God
would never be angry with us, even if we continue to enjoy our
sins. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, sinners
can’t go to hell anymore.
God doesn’t look at your sins anymore,
he only looks at what Jesus did for you on the cross. God
doesn’t even notice your sins. He just sees a Jesus
mask over your face. That way, you can go to heaven, even
while you continue to enjoy your sins. Now that’s a
great way to define the word salvation, isn’t it?”
TIME OUT !! Let’s look at the
scriptures, and analyze Pastor Loophole’s advice. Let’s
rightly divide the word of truth, and separate the truth from the
lies in the advice given by Pastor Loophole. First, I want
to acknowledge the true part. It’s true that “It
is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works,
so that no one can boast.” [2] No argument here.
That’s the Biblical description of how God saves us.
But the lie is that Jesus came to save us from God, or from
God’s anger, or from God’s wrath. Here’s the
truth to replace that lie: Jesus didn’t come to save
us from God’s anger about our sins. Instead, Jesus
came to save us and separate us from our deadly sins
themselves!
The Bible says God
told Joseph to give him the name Jesus, (which means the LORD
saves) because he will save his people from their sins.
[3]
Johnny Lukewarm, if you’re out there listening, has Jesus
ever saved you from your deadly sins?
Again, from what terrible danger must sinners be set free? The
Bible says you have been set free from sin
and have become slaves to God, the benefit
you reap leads to holiness, and the result
is eternal life.[4]
Johnny Lukewarm, have you somehow reaped eternal life, without
first having been set free from sin into holiness?
And again, the blood Jesus shed on the cross, what does it do?
Does it shield us from God’s anger about our sins? No,
the Bible says, Jesus freed us from our sins
by his blood.[5] That’s
why Christ’s blood is so important, because it can free us
from our deadly sins.
Jesus didn’t come just to save you from hellfire, or
punishment, or God’s Holy Wrath. If He had, He’d
be opposing God, who has every right to be angry when you sin
against Him.
No, it’s far more important to be saved
from your deadly sins than to be saved from hell. Why?
Because hell does not offend God nearly as much as our sins
do.
Listen to this quote from Charles Finney, written in 1850: “Salvation
consists in being saved from sin; and the reason why a
great many persons are not saved is that they are unwilling to
accept salvation on such a condition—they are unwilling to
give up their sins…Some individuals will spend much time in
praying for pardon while they indulge themselves in sin…they
are seeking comfort while they refuse to be holy…such people
know nothing at all of the gospel! They make Christ the
minister of sin! They seem to think that Christ came to
justify them in their sin instead of saving them from
it….In support of this monstrous idea, they will even appeal
to the Scriptures. They found justification in the
atonement; now, this work of Christ can never be imputed to any
man in such a sense as to justify him while he remains in sin!
Justification in sin is a thing impossible! Now how
can a man be pardoned and justified before he repents and
believes! It is impossible!…Now, who does not know
that the true Christian is more afraid of sin than of punishment?
Yes, and a great deal more!”[6]
You can’t
continue to sin, while claiming that Jesus has saved you. The
Bible says You know that he appeared so that
he might take away our sins…No one who
lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has
either seen him or known him. [7] So if you continue to sin,
then Jesus hasn’t taken away your sins! You’ve
never known Christ the Savior who takes away the sins of the
world ! So let me ask you, has Jesus taken away your
sins, or hasn’t he? Then why do you continue to enjoy
them?
Again, salvation
from hell is just a side effect, but first Jesus came to save you
and separate you from your deadly sins. If
you’ve never been separated from your sins, there’s
only one reason: You’ve rejected the Savior. You’ve
willfully refused to be saved by Him, because you love your sins
more than you love God.
If you really knew
how terribly dangerous your sins are, you’d reject them all
immediately. Your sins are like ravenous parasites with
venomous fangs, and they will destroy you. They’ll
enslave you into addiction, or even worse, deceive you into a
slumbering denial. Your sins will attract the Furious
Wrath of God like an irresistible magnet. They’ll
betray you, and loudly call out for your destruction on the day
of judgment. Your sins will shout and scream and give away
your location, no matter where you try to hide. And when
you’re found, your sins will demand you be cast into eternal
torment. They can’t be silenced and they can’t be
ignored. Your sins can only be cast far away—now,
while your heart’s still beating and you still have a chance
to repent.
Will you allow
Jesus Christ the Savior to rescue you from your deadly sins?
Will you let Jesus remove them from you, as far as the east is
from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us? [8] Let me draw your
attention to Jesus Christ, the Savior, who is able to save you
from sin. He is able to keep you from falling and to
present you before his glorious presence without fault.[9]
Let’s pray to
him together. Would you pray to the Savior with me? Pray
these words along with me to our Savior: “Lord Jesus,
save me, and separate me from my deadly sins. Remove my
sins from me, and I reject them and I forsake them and I cast
them far away right now. I stop resisting your rule over my
heart, Lord Jesus, and I invite you to come and rule my heart
right now. Take me, Lord Jesus. Here I am. Come
and rule every part of my life.” Amen.
Did you just pray with me? If you just prayed with me, say
Amen. Say it out loud. Amen. Now if you just
said Amen, I want you to write to me, and get a copy of this book
you’re hearing me teach from. Here’s Mark with
that information.
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Middle segment by Mark McWilliams…
Thanks Gordon. He’ll be back in just a moment. But first, do you know somebody who needs to hear today’s message? If you call our toll-free number in the next hour, 866-Obey-God, we’ll mail you a free cassette tape of today’s broadcast, which you can copy and give to your friends. All our tapes are copyable and free, but please remember we need your donations to stay on the air and to give away these free tapes. So please pray and obey, then send us your best possible donation, after you receive your free cassette. (Gordon: Hey time out! If it’s your first time calling us, no donation is required! Just call us!) Our toll free number is 866-Obey-God, that’s 1-866-O-B-E-Y-G-O-D. And please specify you’re requesting today’s program. Do you believe America needs to hear these messages? If so, then we need you to sponsor us, by joining the Persuader’s Club with a monthly pledge of just $15. If you join the Persuader’s Club, we’ll also send you an autographed copy of Gordon’s book that you’ve been hearing. Just visit our web-site at persuaders-club.com. Or call us in the next hour at 866-Obey-God. Right now, let’s return to Gordon James Klingenschmitt.
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Thanks again, Mark. Let’s
continue Loophole number 4, entitled “Salvation by grace
through faith, not by works.” Here’s Pastor Loophole
again—
(Lower) “It says here in Ephesians chapter two, ‘For
it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works,
so that no one can boast.’ [10]
“Now we already re-defined the word salvation. So now,
let’s re-define the word Grace. For it is by Grace you
have been saved, Johnny. Grace. Hmm. What does
the word Grace mean, Johnny?” And Pastor Loophole
continues his perversion of the word grace, changing the grace
of our God into a license for immorality.[11]
(Lower) Grace means tolerance, Johnny. It means that
because of what Jesus did on the cross, God now tolerates your
sins, even while you continue to enjoy them. He just turns
his head and graciously ignores your sinful behavior. God
only sees the imputed righteousness of Christ on you, kind of
like a Jesus mask, so God can’t see your willful,
rebellious, unrepentant heart. Now that’s grace.”
TIME OUT !! Let’s
look at the scriptures everybody, and analyze Pastor
Loophole’s advice. Let’s rightly divide the word
of truth, and separate the truth from the lies in the advice
given by Pastor Loophole. Again, I want to acknowledge that
“It is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works,
so that no one can boast.” [12]
No argument here. This is the Biblical description of how
God saves us.
But the false part is that Grace means tolerance. God
doesn’t tolerate your sins. Here’s the true
definition of the word grace: According to Strong’s
Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, the English word
“grace” comes from the Greek word “charis,”
which means “divine influence on the heart, and its
reflection in the life.” [13]
Grace means divine influence on your heart. What’s
divine influence?
Well let me
suggest—the very fact you’re hearing this broadcast
suggests that God might be trying to influence you. Will
you respond to God’s influence?
Grace doesn’t mean “tolerance,” it means
“Divine influence.” Have you ever been influenced
by somebody? Think back to that situation. How did
they influence you? What did they do? Did they
persuade you to choose a certain thing, using words and truth and
argument? Did they induce, impel, incite, inspire or offer
you an incentive to voluntarily move in a certain direction?
Did they entice, exhort, or encourage you to follow their
example? Did they convince you, sway your mind, and win you
over to a new way of thinking? This is influence. And
when influence comes from the Divine, it’s called grace.
Throughout human history, God has been patiently persuading and
influencing rebellious people to voluntarily forsake their sins.
He does this by the Holy Spirit, who comes to convict and
persuade.[14] He did this
through the example that Jesus lived.[15]
He does this through the bold, persuasive arguments of His
prophets and preachers.[16] He calls out to
everybody through His beautiful creation, so nobody has any
excuses.[17]
And what tool does God use to influence and persuade? His
Word; His Undeniable Truth. That’s how God influences
you to voluntarily forsake your deadly sins. He persuades
you and cleanses you with His influential Truth. That’s
why Jesus said to his disciples, “you are already clean
because of the word I have spoken to you.” [18]
And why He prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them by the
truth; your word is truth.” [19] And why he told his disciples, “You
will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” [20]
There is only one way to be set free from sin. You must
believe God’s truth when you hear it. It will cleanse
you. It will free you. It will change your thinking.
It will persuade you to change your choices. And
you’ll voluntarily stop your sinning and follow Christ.
That’s what grace is. God sovereignly reveals truth to
your heart, and you must voluntarily embrace it, and submit to
it, and obey it. Sin shall not be your master, because
you are … under grace.[21]
So if God persuades you to be holy by telling the truth, then the
devil persuades you to sin by speaking lies. Did you know
that every sin has its roots in a lie? If you expose the
lie, and confound it with Truth, you shall pluck the sin out by
its roots. How did the devil persuade Adam and Eve to sin
in the Garden of Eden? By speaking a lie. “You
will not surely die.” the serpent said.[22] They believed the lie, submitted to the
devil’s persuasion, and it caused them to sin.
So Johnny Lukewarm,
if you’re out there listening, how many lies are lodged in
your mind? Do you see how important it is to read the Bible
every day? How much of Christ’s Truth do you let
penetrate your heart, to make [you] holy, cleansing [you]
by the washing with water through the word, and to present
[you] to himself....without stain or wrinkle or any other
blemish, but holy and blameless?[23] You’ve got to be transformed by
the renewing of your mind.[24] So God influences with Truth, and the
devil influences with lies. You out there listening,
who’s been influencing you?
Did you know you can resist God’s influence? People
have resisted God’s influence and persuasion throughout
history. That’s why Stephen said in the book of Acts, “You
stiff necked-people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears!…You
always resist the Holy Spirit!” [25]
And that’s why Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “He
who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God.” [26]
So Johnny Lukewarm, if you’re out there listening, do you
resist God’s words when you hear them? When God
convicts your heart with his blazing truth, do you immediately
repent, or are you waiting for something more? If today you
hear his voice, harden not your hearts.[27]
Now some of you out
there listening have been struggling with the same sins, over and
over, and you can’t get free from them. You know what
the answer is? Grace! You need to let God influence
you with His truth! Stop resisting God’s influence.
“But you
don’t know how powerful my sins are, they’re too
strong, and I’m too weak to resist the devil’s
temptation,” cries Johnny Lukewarm. But Johnny if
you’re out there listening, you don’t know God’s
conquering grace. How can you say you’re too weak
to resist the devil’s temptation, but you’re so strong
that you can resist the Spirit of Almighty God? Relax
and submit to God. Stop resisting. Give in to
God’s persuasion. Let God’s Truth set you free
from your deadly sins. It’s no use waiting for God to
influence you, when you’re still resisting the influence
He’s already given you.
Now if I had a set of balancing scales here, and on the left
scale I could measure the amount of influence God needs to apply
to get you to repent, how much would it weigh? How many
grams of influence would it take to get you to repent? Well,
that just depends how stubborn you are. It would weigh just
as much as the amount of stubborn, willful resistance you’re
putting on the right side of the scale. Or think of it this
way, if you were a donkey and Jesus were leading you with a rope,
how hard would Jesus have to pull on the rope? Well, it
depends on how stubborn you are. If you weren’t a
stubborn donkey, Jesus wouldn’t have to pull the rope very
hard at all.
So now how are you going to get free from your sins? Are
you waiting for God to just zap you, and force you to turn into a
holy, robotic puppet? No. Your sins are voluntary,
just like holiness is voluntary. God won’t force
you to be holy, you’ve got to choose that. God will
influence you, but you’ve got to voluntarily respond. You
sin with your choices; you must also be holy with your choices.
This is how you’ll be saved from your deadly sins. God’s
grace will influence you to make a choice. So make a choice
already. God’s waiting. It’s like playing
checkers. It’s your move.
Now I don’t know everything about predestination vs.
free-will, or Calvinism vs. Arminianism, or all that. I
know the Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but
God also asks us to not harden our own hearts. Here’s
how I see it. If any man gets saved, he cannot boast,
because it was God who overpowered that man’s resistance,
influencing him to repent. But if any man goes to hell, he
can’t blame God. It’s his own fault for resisting
God’s influence. Give God the glory when anybody gets
saved. And blame us men if we don’t get saved. Let
God be true, and every man a liar.[28] Makes sense, doesn’t it?
So the next time
somebody says to you “give me a little grace here,” ask
them what they really mean. Do they want you to back off,
and tolerate their sins, (which is false grace), or do they want
you to influence them, and persuade them to stop sinning (which
is true grace)? The Bible says, Whoever turns a sinner
from the error of his way will save him from death.[29]
This is true, biblical grace. It’s not tolerance,
it’s influence and persuasion. Knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.[30]
Let’s pray for a moment. Would you pray these words
with me to God? Stop what you’re doing for a moment,
and pray these words with me to God. “Father in
Heaven, I want to embrace your Words of Truth whenever you try to
influence me. I welcome your gracious influence, and I stop
resisting you, in every area of my life. Lord Jesus,
I’m not going to harden my heart to you, and I’m not
going to resist you anymore. When you pull on my rope Lord
Jesus, I’ll follow you willingly. I welcome you to
rule my heart right now. And I welcome you to lead me
wherever you want me to go. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Did you pray with me just now? If you prayed with me, say
Amen. Go ahead, say it out loud. Amen, Lord Jesus.
Some of you are being set free from habitual sins right now, as
God’s loving rulership takes over in your heart. I
hope you’ll write to us and tell us about that. But if
you said Amen just now, I hope you’ll write to us and get a
copy of this book you’re hearing. I’ve been very
fortunate and blessed to have this book read and endorsed by
people like C. Peter Wagner, Tony Campolo, Jon Mark Ruthven who
was my systematic theology professor, Pastors Ted Haggard and
Floyd McClung, Joy Dawson and Bill Hamon. So you know
it’s trustworthy. In our book and in our very next
broadcast, we’ll tackle the controversy of faith versus
works.
And you’ll hear more theological
adventures of Johnny Lukewarm and Pastor Loophole. So I
hope you’ll write us tune in again next time. Now I
love you, and I care about you. So here’s Mark with
more information.
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Closing trailer by Mark McWilliams…
Thanks Gordon, and thanks everybody for
listening. Do you know somebody who needs to hear today’s
message? If you call our toll-free number in the next hour,
866-Obey-God, we’ll mail you a free cassette tape of
today’s broadcast, which you can copy and give to your
friends. All our tapes are copyable and free, but please remember
that we need your donations to stay on the air and to give away
these free tapes. So please pray and obey God about how
much these teachings are worth to you, and return to us your best
possible gift after you receive your free cassette. (Gordon:
Hey time out! If it’s your first time contacting us,
no donation is required! Just call us!) Our toll free
number is 866-Obey-God, that’s 1-866-O-B-E-Y-G-O-D,
and please specify you’re requesting today’s program.
Now do you believe
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<Many more transcripts and free MP3 radio shows CLICK HERE>
[1] Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
[2] Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
[3] Matthew 1:21 (NIV), translators text note included in parentheses.
[4] Romans 6:22 (NIV)
[5] Revelation 1:5 (NIV)
[6] Charles G. Finney, 1850, at the Moorfields (No. 1,566 from The Penny Pulpit), reprinted in Principles of Union with Christ Ed. Louis G. Parkhurst, Bethany House Publishers, (Minneapolis, 1985), pp. 136-148.
[7] 1 John 3:5-6 (NIV)
[8] Psalm 103:12 (NIV)
[9] Jude 1:24 (NIV)
[10] Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
[11] Jude 1:4 (NIV), and previous discussion in Chapter 3.
[12] Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
[13] Strong, James, Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, Hendrickson Publishers, (Peabody, MA), p.77
[14] See John 16:8-11
[15] See John 14:9
[16] See 2 Corinthians 5:11
[17] See Romans 1:20
[18] John 15:3 (NIV)
[19] John 17:17 (NIV)
[20] John 8:32 (NIV)
[21] Romans 6:14 (NIV)
[22] Genesis 3:4 (NIV)
[23] Ephesians 5:26-27 (NIV)
[24] Romans 12:2 (NIV)
[25] Acts 7:51 (NIV)
[26] 1 Thessalonians 4:8 (NIV)
[27] Heb 3:7-8 (KJV)
[28] Romans 3:4 (NIV)
[29] James 5:20 (NIV)
[30] 2 Corinthians 5:11 (KJV)