JOHN BOOKMAN AND HIS
BOY
[John Bookman is a God-fearing, church-going deacon, loving
husband, and caring father. He is also a firm believer in the teachings of
something called “Lordship Salvation.” Mr. Bookman is concerned about his nine-year-old
son and his spiritual state. One evening, he calls his son into his study for a
man-to-man talk.]
JB: Son, it’s time you and I had a serious talk about the
good news of the gospel. Now I know son, that you’ve been in church all your
life from the Cradle Roll on, that you’ve gone to Sunday school every Sunday
and you’ve been in the church’s Youth for Truth group since you were seven. I
just want to go over a few things with you so that we’re clear.
Son: What are we gonna talk about?
JB: I just want to go over the gospel with you and make sure
you understand what it is. I mean, you know, what you have to do to be saved.
OK?
Son: Sure, Dad. This is great for you and me to talk like
this. I really like it.
JB: Well, son, first off, I want you to know that salvation
is a free gift from God, no works, no good deeds to get it, it’s free. Now, then,
to be saved you have to repent.
Son: What’s “repent?” I’ve heard the pastor talk about it,
but I don’t understand it.
JB: That’s a good question, son; I’m really glad you want to
know, so, ask questions when you don’t understand. “Repent” means that to be
saved you renounce sin and you start longing for righteousness. Along with
that, it means that you feel sorry for your sins and you confess them.
Son: OK. . . I guess. What if I can’t remember all of them?
How many should I confess? And what does “confess” mean?
JB: Don’t worry about the number, son, just think of a few
of them, the more the better, and confess those. “Confess” means that you say
what they are.
Son: Who do I say them to?
JB: Name them to God; that would be good. But there’s more
to “repent,” so let me finish. “Repent” also means that you need to make
restitution for those sins.
Son: What’s “restitution?”
JB: There’s a dictionary over there; why don’t you look it
up? There’s nothing like looking it up so you can really learn what it means
and you won’t forget it.
[After thumbing through the pages of the huge dictionary his
father was using as a doorstop, he finds “restitution,” and reads:] “Reparation
made by giving an equivalent or compensation for loss, damage, or injury
caused; indemnification.”
Son: Gosh, Dad, there are a lot of words there I don’t
understand.
JB: Yeah, but let’s don’t get all bogged down in this; let’s
just say that “restitution” means that you go to the boys and girls you’ve
sinned against, tell them you’re sorry, that you want to make it up to them, so
you buy them a candy bar or buy them a new toy to replace he one you broke when
you got mad at them, something like that. See what I mean?
Son: Yes sir; I guess so. How many of them do I have to go
to? What if I can’t remember them all?
JB: Uh . . . don’t worry about that son. God will tell you
who to go to. The next thing you have to do to repent is to resolve that you’re
going to do better, promising you’re going to change your life. You know,
promise to turn from your sin; then do it. That’s like a 180-degree turn.
Son: What’s 180 degrees? And do I have to turn from all of
my sins?
JB: A 180 degree turn is like when we’re in the car and I’m
driving along and Mom says that she forgot to turn off the oven, so we turn
around and go back. Well, uh, let’s say you turn from some of your sins; we
can’t be perfect, you know, so, like, turn from the big ones. That covers
“repent.” Now that you understand that, you need to publicly express your faith
in Christ and identify with our church.
Son: I have to get up in front of all those people at church
and tell them? Then I have to join the church? But, Dad, I’m scared to get up
in front of people. I don’t know what I’d say. Just walking down that long
aisle is scary. Why do I have to do that?
JB: I don’t know why you have to do it; I think Jesus said
you have to in Matthew somewhere. But, don’t be scared, son. God will give you
the words to say when you get up there in front of all those people.
Now, let’s talk about some other things you need to do. You
also must commit your life to Christ, tell Him you’re going to serve him for
the rest of your years. You need to enthrone Christ and deny self. I like the
word “surrender;” surrender your life to Christ. Like our pastor always says,
“If He’s not Lord of all, He’s not
Lord at all.” (Mr. Bookman emphasized
“of” and “at,” just as his pastor always did.) This means a life-long
commitment to Christ. You do your part and God does His part. You know son, grace
is costly. It costs you your life, just like salvation cost Jesus His life, so
why shouldn’t it cost our lives?
Son: “What’s “deny self?” What’s “grace?”
JB: “Deny self” means you don’t do what you want to do; you
do what Jesus wants you to do. Grace means “unmerited favor,” it means
salvation is free, like a gift.
Son: But you just said that grace costs something, like my
life. I don’t understand. You just said it’s a free gift. How can it be a free gift
if it costs something and I have to do my part?
JB: Well, let’s look at it this way; maybe this will help.
Last Sunday our pastor said, “Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is
never alone.”
Son: Uh? I don’t get that either. “Faith alone saves, but the
faith that saves is never alone?” If faith alone
saves, doesn’t it have to be alone to save? This is really complicated stuff. This
doesn’t sound like good news to me; it sounds to me like it’s pretty hard to
get saved. It’s going to cost me my life? Are we talking about me getting
killed in some jungle somewhere? Yet it’s free? Can I go play a video game?
JB: Wait a minute, son. I want to be clear on this; it’s
important. Just a few more minutes. To be saved, you must submit to God, resist
the devil, draw near to God, cleanse your hands, purify your heart, be
miserable, mourn, weep, let your laughter be turned to gloom, and humble
yourself in the sight of God. In addition, you have to sell all you have, give
the money to the poor, and follow Jesus.
Son: Gosh, Dad, that’s an awful lot of stuff. Do I have to
do all that? When did you and Mom sell all our stuff? You haven’t sold all we
have. We have a car, a new TV, and a house, lots of other stuff, and besides,
do I have to sell my video games and give the money to the poor? The pastor
drives a nice car and lives in a nice home, too; his son plays video games. If
they haven’t sold anything, then why do I have to?
JB: Good question, son. I think the Bible means you don’t
have to do it, but you have to be willing to do it.
Son: But that’s not what you said a minute ago. You said
that I have to do it. Are you and Mom gonna sell our house, car, and our new TV
and give the money away? Where would we live? Please don’t sell the TV until
after the Super Bowl.
Can I go play video games now?
JB: Sure, you can go play, but think about what I’ve said. I’m
glad we’ve had this talk. It’s important. I like it when you ask me questions.
You’re never going to understand things unless you ask questions.
John didn’t want to admit it, but as he talked to his son, even
he was getting confused. “He’s right;
this is complicated. He just doesn’t
get it. I guess we’ll have to wait until he’s older for him to be saved,” John
mumbled.
John felt uneasy. It was hard for him to sleep that night,
so he turned on his 50-inch Samsung flat screen plasma HD TV and watched “Billy
the Kid vs. Dracula” until midnight.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
The above conversation is a hypothetical one, but really,
not so hypothetical at all. What John Bookman was telling his son is actually
compilation of the “gospel” as presented by lordship salvation teachers,
writers, and preachers, direct quotes from them, as a matter of fact.
They are such highly respected individuals as Dr. John MacArthur,
Dr. John R. W. Stott, Dr. J. I. Packer, Dr. James Montgomery Boice, A. W. Tozer,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, with the Wesleyan Articles of Faith thrown into the
confusion and Anna B. Mow, a quote from her book, Your Child: A Guide for
Parents and Teachers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1963)
Mr. Bookman’s uneasy conclusion about his son was a correct
one; how could a nine year old be saved by that “gospel?” Here’s the conclusion
of one of those listed above on the matter of child evangelism, speaking at a
Q/A session at a conference in Brewster, Maine on September 25, 1990:
Now let me say this and I don’t
want you to panic when I say it. Saving
faith is an adult issue. Saving faith is an adult experience.
Am I saying that a child cannot be
saved? I’m saying that salvation is a conscious turning from sin to follow
Jesus Christ with an understanding of something of the sinfulness of sin, its
consequences and something of who Jesus Christ is, what He has provided and
that I’m committing my life to Him.
At what point can a child
understand that? I tell parents that salvation is an adult decision. There is no illustration in Scripture of childhood
salvation. There is none. People want to throw the Philippian jailer and his
household [oikos] [at me]; well
that’s talking about his servants so there is no reference there about his
children. So there is no such thing as a childhood conversion. [Incorrect:
“household” in the ancient world included the family. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, pg. 441
Def. 2: oikos--“The inmates of a
house, all the persons forming one family, a household [as in] Acts xvi.31”]
Don’t misunderstand: Dr. MacArthur is not saying that a
child cannot be saved. But he is saying that if a child is to be saved, he must
understand as an adult, make an adult decision, and have an adult experience. Yet,
in Matthew 18:3, Jesus tells us that to be saved, adults must become as children
(simple faith alone in Christ alone), not the other way around where children
must have an adult understanding, make an adult decision, and have adult
experience.
Since 1990, the speaker has become more cautious, writing, "Children
cannot be saved before they are old enough to understand the gospel clearly and
can embrace it with genuine faith.”
But the question remains, “How old does a child need to be
before he can understand the gospel as defined by Lordship salvation advocates?”
The bottom line is this: Lordship salvation is complicated for a child and for an adult.
Salvation by grace isn’t complicated: anyone can have
eternal life by trusting Christ alone, the Son of God, who died for our sins
and rose from the dead.
The Bookman boy would understand John 3:16, but he sure
couldn’t understand his dad.
PART II
During all of last week, John Bookman had been worried about the conversation he and his son had regarding salvation. The boy found the talk with his dad confusing and John himself had to admit it was no wonder that the boy didn't understand.
John had told his son that salvation was free, but then told him that, although it was free, it would cost him everything. This didn't seem to make any sense to his son, and it didn't make any sense to John either, he was just parroting what he'd been told.
As John recalled the conversation, he'd told his son that to be saved, a person had to sell all he had and give it to the poor. But when the lad had pointed out that neither his dad nor his mom, nor any one he knew, including his pastor had done that, John had backtracked and said, "Well, you have to be willing to sell everything."
But that didn't make much sense to the boy, because he wasn't willing to sell everything, not really.
John was wondering how the conversation last week had gotten off track when his son came into the room and said, "Dad, can we talk like we did last week?"
"Sure, son, I'm always here for you. What's on your mind?"
The Bookman boy sat down on the couch opposite his dad's recliner and waited respectfully until until his father put "Wheel of Fortune" on mute. (John was sitting on the remote, so it took him awhile to figure out where it was, but when he found it, Pat Sajak and Vanna White fell silent.
"Well, dad, I've been thinking. How can I know if I'm saved or not? I've tried to feel sorry for the sins I could think of; I've told myself that I'm willing to sell everything, and I guess I've done like you said, 'Submit therefore to God. Draw near to God. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord.' I've felt sorry, made restitution, surrendered, turned, vowed, and promised all those things you said to do, but I still wonder how I can know if I'm saved or not."
Mr. Bookman began to think of all the things he'd heard his pastor say and, with a deep deep breath and exhalation, said, "Son, that's a good question, a very good one for an eleven-year old. A lot of adults ask that same question too.
"Son, the way you can tell is if you produce fruit in your life."
The boy got that look in his eye and asked, "What's fruit?"
"Well, son," John began," it's like the good things you do, things like helping people, being nice, you know, good works."
The boy was getting confused again and said, "But people who don't even claim to be Christians do good things too. Many celebrities give a lot of money to good causes, people lend a helping hand to their neighbors and live morally good lives of providing for their families, taking care of their aging parents, things like that. And, besides that, what if I stop doing these 'good things?'"
John Bookman wanted to change the subject, so he continued, "You'll love the brethren, son, like the Bible says. That's another way you can tell if you're saved or not."
"But Dad, you and Mom don't like Bertha Johnson at church; you say that she's a gossip, a busybody, a troublemaker, and I heard Mom tell you that she'd like to tie Mrs. Johnson to a tree and shout Bible verses at her."
"Son," Mr. Bookman said, "I'm sure Mom didn't mean it in exactly that way, but let's go on. Do you have any other questions?"
"Yes, Sir, I do. What if later on, after I'm grown up and all, I kill somebody, or maybe like the man at the church who walked down the aisle six years ago, that everybody was so proud of, what if I get addicted to drugs and gambling, leave the church, and kill somebody and go to prison like you said he did in your prayer request last Sunday."
"That's another good question, son. Mr. Randall is his name and he really backslid didn't he? Well, that just goes to show that he wasn't really saved in the first place, like we thought. He didn't persevere to the end."
Now the boy was getting confused even more. "But wait a minute. How do I know I won't go off the beam like Mr. Randall?"
Mr. Bookman got really serious and said, "You don't; we don't have any guarantees in this life."
"Then, I really can't know if I'm saved or not because I don't know if I'll commit murder or suicide or if I might leave the faith. None of us knows what we'll do in the future, do we?"
The boy continued, "And what about my Sunday school teacher? He said that he doesn't believe that once we're saved, we're always saved. He believes that after you're saved, you can lose it if you sin, like a really big sin. So, from what you're saying and what he's saying, Mr. Randall either lost his salvation, or according to you, he never had it in the first place.
"I'm really confused, dad."
Now, Mr. Bookman was getting confused again. This conversation, which he'd hoped would bring his son assurance of his salvation, had turned into its depressing opposite; fear of losing salvation, confusion, doubts, and no assurance. Things were a mess and getting messier.
About that time, Mrs. Bookman, who'd just gotten off the phone with Sister Bertha Johnson, told everyone she was too upset to cook dinner and that they were going out to eat. She asked her husband if, after dinner, they could stop by Home Depot. She said she wanted to buy a rope.
________________________________________________________________________
John Bookman's error is a typical one for Lordship Salvationists: they try to find assurance of their salvation based on their subjective experiences and introspection. Instead of looking to Christ and His word, they look inward, at themselves and their works. They hope against hope that they'll be faithful to Christ to the end of their lives. When sins come, as they will, they lose their assurance and wonder if they were "really saved," many times doubting that they were. They live in a world of fear and doubt.
Doubts depart when the believer looks to Christ and to His word because those are objective foci. We look to Christ's promise that "whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life," that "whoever comes to Me, I will in nowise cast out," as well as Romans 8 and a host of other promise texts. After all, eternal life is eternal. His word tells us that if we trust Him alone for salvation, no matter what we do at any point in life after that, nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8). That's why we call grace "amazing."
The Bookman boy was confused because his Sunday school teacher was telling him one thing, his father another, and both were wrong.
Mr. Bookman got his "tests of salvation" from a misunderstanding of the book of I John which he thought was telling a person how to know if he's saved, whereas I John is telling a Christian how he can know if he's in fellowship with the Lord. (See I John 1:3-7. for the purpose statement of the book)
We can know if we're saved or not: look to Christ--have you trusted Him and Him alone for forgiveness of sin and eternal life? When a person's faith meets the right object, Jesus Christ, that person is saved and forever so.
That's it! Amazing grace!
__________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Mike Halsey is the chancellor of Grace Biblical Seminary, a Bible teacher at the Hangar Bible Fellowship, and the author of Truthspeak, available on Amazon.com. A copy of his book, Microbes in the Bloodstream of the Church, is also available as an E-book on Amazon.com. If you would like to a receive a copy of his weekly Bible studies and other articles of biblical teaching and application, you can do so by writing sue.bove@gmail.com and requesting, "The Hangar Bible Fellowship Journal."
If you would like to contribute to his ministry according to the principle of II Corinthians 9:7, you may do so by making your check out to Hangar Bible Fellowship and mailing it to 65 Teal Ct., Locust Grove, GA 30248. All donations are tax deductible.
Come visit the Hangar some Sunday at 10 AM at the above address. You'll be glad you did.
Other recommended grace-oriented websites are:
notbyworks.org
literaltruth.org
gracebiblicalseminary.org
duluthbible.org
clarityministries.org
Also:
Biblical Ministries, Inc.
C/O Dr. Richard Grubbs
P. O. Box 64582
Lubbock, TX 79464-4582
No comments:
Post a Comment