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...Causes False Conversions
 by Pastor Steve Brown, M. Div.
 

"Unless a person is drawn to Christ by being awakened to God a person cannot get saved. "

     Another reason the four spiritual laws has done much harm is because the gospel truths says a person must be born again to enter the kingdom of God (John 3).  Jesus says a person must be born again to enter the kingdom of God .  He must be born of the spirit and also by the word of God (the gospel of Christ -- I Peter 1:23-25).  The new birth or salvation is the work of the Holy Spirit with the  hearing and understanding God’s word through the gospel of Christ.  Unless a person is drawn to Christ by being awakened to God a person cannot get saved. (John 6:44) Unless a person being drawn hears the Gospel of Christ and  feels convicted and understand God’s word they can’t get saved.  (Romans 10)  Christians must work with the Holy Spirit to help people get saved. 

            Too often people work against the Spirit because of the rote shallow methods of evangelism.  People can actually quench God’s Spirit working in a person’s life by pushing for a false decision before one is ready.  It’s like plucking fruit before it’s ripe.  So if a person pushes an awakened soul into a premature decision before the spirit has finished his work the soul has a false conversion.  Coercing a person to pray after an oversimplified presentation of Gospel truth does not save anyone.  A sinner's prayer will not save anyone.  It is not magic.  If a person prays and then is told they are saved before  rebirth of the Spirit takes place it can cause a false conversion.  The person will quench the Holy Spirit convictions and wooing that bring salvation because he thinks he already is saved by a false faith.  There are many who have been awakened by the Spirit only to be cut short before being saved by someone telling them they got saved by praying some rote prayer.  There are too many oversimplified doctrines told to a person and other important Gospel truths are left out completely.  The four spiritual laws are :

     1.  Man is a sinner - All have sinned. 
     2.  The wages of sin is death.  
     3.  Christ died to save from our sins and gives us eternal life.
     4.  Confess your sin and accept Christ by faith by saying sinner’s prayer.
 
     At first glance this looks like the simple Gospel.  On further evaluation we realize that it is over simplified.  Why?  Because the terms are not defined and are left open to be interpreted anyway one chooses.  What does it mean - Man is a sinner?  Is he basically good, but once in a while makes mistakes or is he so sinful that even his nature is corruptible and vile that there is no good in him apart from God?  Is man good enough to chose God without God’s help?  What is this death that sin causes?  Is it physical or spiritual.  Is it eternal hell or just separation from God?  Does it happen now or in the future after death?  The death of Christ - how does it atone for sins?  Is this atonement earned by good works or certain acts?  Or is it a gift?  If it is a gift are all men saved then?  What does confess sin mean?  Just admit you’ve sinned at times.  Most will do that already.  Why is the command to repent omitted?  How does one receive Christ?  What kind of faith is involved?  Who is Jesus Christ and what happened at his death?  As you can see, an oversimplified Gospel is open to so much interpretation people can define theses terms as they will, which leads to great misunderstanding and even many false conclusions.  A sinner does not have to totally understand everything about the Gospel to get saved.  He must have a basic understanding of its’ truths and commands.  Without it how can one truly repent and deeply believe the truth.   A over simplified Gospel robs people of a basic needed understanding of the Gospel that is vital to true salvation.