Saffold’s original objection to the mourner’s bench and sinner’s prayer
Claim examined: Baptism and conversion
Scriptural Answer
Brother Danny: I just want to take a few minutes to say AMEN AND AMEN to your post! There is absolutely no doubt that the gospel is more than mere “facts to be believed” but is also made up of “commands to be obeyed” as well as “promises to be received”. And the passage that you quoted makes it abundantly clear to any thinking person that the gospel is something to be BELIEVED and OBEYED. Therefore not only must we believe that Christ died for our sins, was buried and raised again the third day (1 Cor. 15:1-4) but we must also die to our sins, be buried with him in baptism, and raised to walk a new life with him. (Romans 6:3-6) and when we thus OBEY the gospel that we BELIEVE we shall then, and not one moment before then, be MADE FREE FROM SIN and become servants of righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18). Thus, it is clearly impossible for anyone to OBEY THE GOSPEL, which is the death burial and resurrection of Christ without being baptized. (Romans 6:3- 6). For Baptism is the “gospel in action” wherein a penitent sinner dies to sin, is buried with our Lord in baptism where his past sins are removed in the “circumcision of Christ” made “without hands”. When one is baptized by faith in the “operation of God” (Col. 2:11- 13) it must therefore be done with the fullest intent or purpose to obtain the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:15,16). For such is its very purpose and it is the will of God to remove our sins in that place (Col. 2:11-13). This explains what every person who ever became a Christ in the New Testament was baptized. And it expalins why Peter said, “repent and be baptized EVERY ONE OF YOU in the name of Jesus Christ FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS” (Acts 2:38). And this is how they “Named the name of Christ”. For it is without doubt that one is saved in OBEDIENCE to the gospel and lost for having not obeyed it. And there is another passage which demonstrates specifically that the gospel is not only a set of “facts to be believed” but also of “commands to be obeyed” as follows. “Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:16-18). Now there are several very significant things to notice about the above passage: 1.) We should not be ashamed to suffer as Christians but should rather glorify God because of it. 2.) The time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God. None should forget that the judgement is coming and it will BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD. And he says if it must begin “at us” that is the “house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15) 3.) Then by way of contrast between the house of God and those who are not a part of the house of God he asked, “ what shall be the end of them “THAT OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL”? Thus it is clear that the “house of God” is made up of those who obeyed the gospel and those not in the “house of God” are made up of those who “OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL”. Notice that it does not say those who “BELIEVE NOT THE GOSPEL” but rather it says those who “OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL”. Therefore those who have never obeyed the gospel are not in the “house of God” which is the “church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). 4.) And this question was a rhetorical question to which all Christians knew the answer. He asked, “what shall be the end of them that OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL?” and Paul, by inspiration gave the answer to this question in the passage which you have quoted, Brother Danny, as follows: “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;” (2 Thess. 1:7-9). Thus, the problem that I have with men like Billy Graham, whom Brother Davis supports wholeheartedly, is that they, by perverting the gospel of Christ through preaching the false doctrine of “salvation by faith only”, prevent men from ever “obeying the gospel”. They do this by teaching them that they are saved the moment that they “believe the gospel” and therefore they need not even contemplate that they must also OBEY THE GOSPEL in order to be saved. And for this reason they never even consider the question of “how does one OBEY THE GOSPEL”? This explains why they substitute various false and completely useless responses to the true gospel such as the mourner’s bench and the “sinners prayer”. Such responses cause persons to believe that they are saved when in fact they have never obeyed the gospel of Christ. But the truth is that no one who has not “obeyed the gospel” will be saved! Not ANY! Instead they will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of God and the glory of His power”. (2 Thess. 1:8,9). Just think of the thousands of souls who have followed Billy Graham’s perversion of the gospel! The thousands who have been deceived by him into believing that they were saved the moment they believed in Christ and on the day that they said the "sinners prayer" even though they have NEVER OBEYED THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. It is a terrible tragedy. And the only thing that is a worse tragedy is that one who is in the “house of God” and has “obeyed the gospel of Christ would actually support, sustain, and praise the very man who is responsible for this evil deception. A deception that was surely designed by Satan to lead thousands of souls to the judgement believing that they were Christians and were saved when in fact they were never Christians at all. And they had never received the remission of their sins and are facing eternal punishment of God because they have never OBEYED THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. What a horrible thing has been happening before our very eyes and men like Brother Davis consider deceivers like Billy Graham as “great men of God”. Oh, what shame! But let those who support Billy Graham and speak of him as if he is a "great man of God" know that they are “partakers in his evil deeds” (2 John 9-11) and they will share in his fate. Let those who love Christ and those who are lost teach the truth that we must hear the gospel, believe it and OBEY it in order to be saved. And let us fight against those who are daily and in increasing numbers deceiving those precious souls who are seeking to come to Christ for forgiveness with a perverted gospel which leads them to never obey the gospel of Christ by being baptized for the remission of sins. (Mark 16:15,16; Matt. 28:19,20; Luke 24:46,47; Acts 2;38, John 3:3-5; Titus 3:3-5; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Romans 6;3-6;16-18; 2 Thess. 1:8,9; 1 Peter 4:16-18; Gal. 3;26,27; Acts 8:12; 35-40; 1 Cor. 1:10-12). And let us show them the truth. Let us courageously tell them that it is in submission to baptism that a penitent believer actually obeys the gospel of Christ. And that without baptism it is impossible to obey the gospel for there is simply no other way given in the word of God for anyone to OBEY THE GOSPEL. The lost of this world depend upon the Church, which is the “pillar and ground of the truth” to teach these things. And God will hold us accountable for failing to teach them. And it is right that he should do so. And this may be one of the very reasons that judgement will begin at the “house of God” and woe be unto those who “preach not the gospel” and those who support and encourage men like Billy Graham who teach a perverted gospel! Let them all either repent or be “anathema”! Your Brother in Christ, E. Lee Saffold
KJV Scriptures Used
Read each passage in its chapter and compare the Scriptures together.