On May 19, 2020, CNN reported:
"Ravi Zacharias, who spent his life defending Christianity through books and lectures, has died. He was 74.
"Zacharias died at his home in Atlanta on Tuesday, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) said, 'He was a leading figure among Christian Apologists'"– a branch of Christian theology that defends Christian doctrines against objections.
"Zacharias founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in 1984, and 'launched a global team of nearly 100 Christian scholars and authors who continue to speak, resource, train and address the questions of millions around the world,' a news release said."
“(Ravi) saw the objections and questions of others not as something to be rebuffed, but as a cry of the heart that had to be answered,” said Michael Ramsden, president of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries."
Shortly after his death, allegations of instances of the apologist's moral failures began to surface. RZIM, which was carrying on his worldwide ministry, became concerned as more details of impropriety continued. The organization hired the law firm of Miller and Martin to investigate the complaints.
The report of the firm destroyed the ministry which issued the following statement: "We are devastated by what the investigation has shown and are filled with sorrow . . ." The statement also said that the ministry would call for "organizational repentance."
On March 10, 2021, "Christianity Today" quoted Zacharias' daughter:
“RZIM cannot and should not continue to operate as an organization in its present form. Nor do we believe we can only rename the organization and move forward with ‘business as usual,” said Davis, who has led the ministry since his death.
"RZIM’s speakers have had invitations rescinded since allegations against Zacharias were reported in September. Over the past several months, donations slowed to the $35 million–$40 million ministry as it investigated and ultimately confirmed abuse by its late founder.
"The investigation found 'guilt beyond anything that we could have imagined,' Davis acknowledged on Wednesday."
The multi-layered scandal then ignited a dilemma for Calvinists to whom people looked to answer the question, "Where is Ravi Zacharias?" In one video posted on YouTube, leading Calvinists met to discuss the matter. What was causing the question and the meeting was a single letter in the alphabet, "P," as used in the Calvinist anacronym, TULIP, the Perseverance of the Saints.
Calvinist Robert Rothwell summarizes the "P:"
"All those who have truly believed in Him will not finally fall away from faith. True believers in Christ might seem to abandon Him for a time, but if they have truly believed in Him, they will always come back to Him. Those who profess faith but then fall away finally, never actually believed in Christ in the first place."
There are several problems with the above definition: How long is "for a time?" How is "truly/actually believed" defined? The Bible never uses the term, "truly/actually believe," a person either believes or he does not believe. And what about the fact that we have the record of the outrageous and scandalous final years of the life of Solomon, the author of Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes?
The summary of the end of the king's life is one of an apostate: "He had seven hundred wives (!), princesses (!), and three hundred concubines (!), and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been!" I Kings 11:3-4. Was Solomon never "actually" a believer? According to the "P," the author of those books was not.
The question of, "Where is Ravi Zacharias?" prompted the making of a YouTube video in which three Calvinists questioned the salvation of the world-famous apologist. John MacArthur, Abner Chou, and Justin Peters discussed question, "Is Ravi Zacharias in hell?
MacArthur started the conversation by asking, "Can a Christian behave like that? Can we question his salvation?" Chou answered, "Zacharias was not repentant and wasn't fighting against the sin." STrike 2.
MacArthur said that he wanted to add something: "In order to live that way, you have to be sinning on multiple levels; lying, hiding, living a false life, all massive sins." Strike 2.
Chou spoke again: "If someone came to you and admitted those sins in his life, would you tell him he was going to hell? Yes." Strike 3. He's out.
MacArthur and Justin Peters echoed each other by saying, "He never quoted the Scriptures; they were not a part of his life, and that was a dead give-away."
In another video, Peters said about Zacharias, "I never did like him; he was always traveling, traveling, traveling, never sitting under the teaching of the Word. He was an Armenian and ecumenical."
OK. Let's take a look at this. Notice that the comments are heavily involved with an examination of Zacharias' behavior, not his beliefs. As MacArthur said during the discussion, "The fruit speaks." Two of the participants kept pointing to I John (without quoting any verse in it) using it incorrectly as containing tests for salvation whereas John, right up front, says that he's going to be writing about fellowship with God, not tests to see if his readers are saved. (cf. I Jn. 1:3)
The comments during the discussion focused on the wrong issue--works. Once that occurred, the ship is sailing on the deep and wide Sea of Subjectivity, the assurance of salvation vanishes when we comment the next sin, which we will (I Jn.1:8). Our assurance disappears when we say to God, "I'll never do that again!" and then we all prove ourselves to be liars because we "do that again."
The issue is Zacharias' belief, not his behavior. The points the three raised have to do with sanctification, not salvation. In a discussion about sanctification, the points they raised are valid ones, that is, by traveling, traveling, traveling all the time, Mr. Zacharias was not under a regular and consistent ministry of the Word by a Bible-teaching pastor. This is a common snare for a Christian celebrity, as Zacharias was. But it's a trap for a Christian businessman as well.
At some point in his life, Ravi Z may have trusted Christ alone as the Son of God who died for his sins and rose from the dead. If so, he trusted in the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." If so, he believed that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him might have eternal life."
If so, we can say with Paul, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."
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