Recently I had reason to visit David J. Stewart's www.jesus-is-saviour.com website. It is a site that I visited on and off until about ten years ago, hoping to glean truths from God's written word. The site, according to its counter has now had over one hundred million hits (100,100,736) at my last visit! a quite staggering number, I am sure you will agree?
His site reminds me of Monty Pythons Flying Circus, very comical in its structure; confusing and full of half truths, a veritable jumble of everything thrown into the mix as it were!
One thing caught my eye on my latest visit, Stewart says;
"It is very simple to be saved and takes only a minute to explain. Please let me show you how to get to heaven from the Bible, God's Word...."
and then he proceeds with his formula.
But, is it really "very simple to be saved" as he so confidently asserts? I can only speak from my own personal experience, and I can tell you that it was anything but "simple", in fact, I did all that I possibly could to resist the truth as it is in Christ with every bent of my body! I fought and struggled against Christ with all my heart and soul, as His citizens did; to not have this Man reign over us, Luke 19:14. But, praise God, I lost! so what is it that finally bends a man to submit to His Lordship? Can a man simply say to himself; "I think it a pretty darned smart idea to be saved, after all it really does make so much sense, doesn't it, for why would one want to be forever burning in hell?" Scripture says; For who maketh thee to differ from another? 1 Cor.4:7, indeed, Who?
I was having a conversation with a believer in Stornoway who had an Arminian mindset some weeks ago on the subject of salvation, and he appealed to the words in Acts 7:51; ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye, as to mean that a man can resist God's Holy Spirit! But, what does this verse really teach? if you read the first part of the aforesaid verse, you will see that Stephen was addressing the stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, that is those that had not been born again of God's Holy Spirit, that is His indwelling presence was not in these people. They were resisting (as the natural man ever does!) the Spirit's words that were spoken through the prophets, and more latterly the apostles and disciples of the Lord. They were resisting the external work of God's Holy Spirit, not the internal, for it is impossible to do the latter.
It was well said by William Secker of Tewkesbury (around 1622):
"Repentance, though it be the act of man, is but the gift of God".
The whole testimony of Scripture bears record to this veritable fact, and I think only a couple of consecutive verses will suffice here, though a great many more can be adduced.
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:
Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13.
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