Have you been rickrolled?
For the uninitiated, getting rickrolled is a recent internet phenom where a person basically gets e-punked by clicking on an interesting link and getting redirected to Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up - an annoyingly bad yet quirkily compelling 1980’s video that (in train wreck fashion) - you just can’t seem to look away from.
Who’s been rickrolled? Everyone from the New York Mets to the Muppets to Doom to even Scientology!
Here’s the way the bait and switch goes:
Person One: “Hey - check out this awesome preview clip for Pirates of The Caribbean 5: The Return of Johnny Depp’s Eyeshadow.”
Person Two: “Cool! That sounds awesome (click) - oh nooooo! I’ve been rickrolled!”
It just seems like human nature to bait and switch, doesn’t it? To promise one thing and deliver something entirely different for the sake of fun, cruel amusement or even revenge.
Have you ever been religionrolled? No, this isn’t an internet thing. This is a Christianity thing.
Here’s the way the bait and switch goes:
Person One: “Hey, can I tell you about an amazing message about forgiveness and the incredible love of God?”
Person Two: “Yes – I’d love to hear about that…(listens to message) - oh nooooo! I’ve been religionrolled!”
What happened in that conversation? How does religionrolling work? Easy. First, invite someone to listen to the greatest promise in the universe - which is the gospel message. In fact, the word ‘gospel’ means ‘good news’. The ‘good news’ part is the fact that God loves us too much to live without us for eternity. So much, in fact, that He sent Jesus Christ to earth. Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died. Then He came back from the tomb, proving He is the Savior of the world and that death had been conquered.
That is great news - but that’s not the best part. The best part is that we can receive the free gift of eternal life simply by trusting in Christ’s death and resurrection as our only hope of salvation.
But here is where the religionrolling comes in. Instead of telling them this amazing news, you bait and switch it like this:
Person One: “Ready to hear this great news?”
Person Two: “Totally!”
Person One: “OK. You can have eternal life in heaven by trusting Christ, but there are a few things you have to do before that. First, you have to repent. Turn from all your sins. Feel really bad about them. Next, make Jesus ‘Lord of your life’. I know you can’t truly do either of those things until you trust Christ and He gives you the power to repent and submit to His Lordship, but I guess you’re out of luck otherwise.”
Person Two: “Oh nooooo! I’ve been religionrolled!”
To me, baiting and switching with a video is one thing…but baiting and switching with the truth of the gospel message is something entirely different. In fact, the Apostle Paul had the same opinion when he wrote these words to a church that was definitely religionrolling -
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:6-9). Continue >>
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If one truly believes then they WILL repent. This is not an option nor is it a "work." It is the first fruit of true regeneration. You cannot make yourself be sorry for your sins and turn from them. Only the Spirit of God changing the heart of stone into a heart of flesh can accomplish this.
This business of treating repentance as something that we do to be saved is simply hogwash. The call to repentance is an essential part of any gospel message because this is how you will know who the truly regenerate believers are.
It's the classic half-truth that "all you have to do is believe".
Jam 2:19 "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."
Devils believe. Will they be saved?
NOT.
"The ‘good news’ part is the fact that God loves us too much to live without us for eternity."
Huh?
Where does it say "that God loves us too much to live without us for eternity" in the Bible? The only other person I have seen/heard teach that sort of deceptive falsehood is Rick Warren.
What about all the multitudes in the lake of fire? God continues to live gloriously for all of eternity without those who are in constant torment in the lake of fire. Does God love them too much to live without them? Does God love them too much that He eventually loves them out of hell so as He can live with them?
I think you need to get the true biblical gospel right, don't you?
Salvation without repentance?
Without repentance from sin, wicked men cannot have fellowship with a holy God. We are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and until we forsake them through repentance, we cannot be made alive in Christ.
The Scriptures speak of "repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18). We turn from sin to the Savior. This is why Paul preached "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21). The first public word Jesus preached was "repent" (Matthew 4:17). John the Baptist began his ministry the same way (Matthew 3:2). Jesus told His hearers that without repentance, they would perish (Luke 13:3).
If belief is all that is necessary for salvation, then the logical conclusion is that one need never repent. However, the Bible tells us that a false convert "believes" and yet is not saved (Luke 8:13); he remains a "worker of iniquity." Look at the warning of Scripture: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." (1 John 1:6). The Scriptures also say, "He that covers his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesses and forsakes them [repentance] shall have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). Jesus said that there was joy in heaven over one sinner who "repents" (Luke 15:10). If there is no repentance, there is no joy because there is no salvation.
When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he commanded his hearers to repent "for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). Without repentance, there is no remission of sins; we are still under His wrath. Peter further said, "Repent . . . and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). We cannot be "converted" unless we repent. God Himself "commands all men everywhere [leaving no exceptions] to repent" (Acts 17:30). Peter said a similar thing at Pentecost: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you" (Acts 2:38).
If repentance wasn’t necessary for salvation, why then did Jesus command that repentance be preached to all nations (Luke 24:47)?
2 Cor 7:10 "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."
Acts 20:20-21 "... I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you
publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."
Acts 3:19 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,"