Pat Robertson of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and the 700 Club has a staggering influence on the religious world. He can be seen in 90 nations and in more than 50 languages. Among many other endeavors, Robertson has a dedicated satellite earth station at the CBN Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
His banner reads: To Win 500 Million Souls To Jesus Christ, but one must ask with what Gospel? Since Robertson believes in the license for immorality commonly called eternal security, his view of winning a soul to Jesus begins and ends in a moment of time. There is no need after getting born again to walk holy, endure persecution for godly living, continue to hold to the real Biblical Gospel of grace, bear fruit, etc. taught in the Bible for salvation's sake! All of that and much more is subtly removed by believing in eternal security. Robertson writes the following in his article entitled Pat's Perspective—Our Eternal Security (Aug. 9, 2002) about his doctrine:
Jesus said, "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand" (John 10:29). So we are secure in the hand of God, and we are to rest secure in the Lord.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand (John 10:27-29).So, if we believe Robertson's gospel we don't have to endure to the end for salvation's sake (Mt. 10:22; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:10,11). We can now rest secure. This kind of teaching has bred lukewarmness, fruitlessness and outright wickedness over the years. What a masterpiece the devil has with this teaching in lulling Christians to sleep spiritually and putting them off guard.
At times the eternal security teachers will say something that implies they are teaching holiness and commitment, like the following, which Pat has stated:
If we truly are dead to sin, then we are not going to live in sin any longer, but we will aim to serve God.Dear reader, don't be deceived by such double-talk. If asked the right questions, Pat Robertson, as all other eternal security teachers, will say that King David did not lose his salvation when in adultery and murder. Hence, this implies that the elect today will not either even if they do the same wicked things. So all their fine-sounding arguments are nothing but reasons to think you can indeed commit the most heinous sins known to mankind and still remain a true Christian.
In John 10:27-29, the Lord Jesus taught those who are following him (continuous tense in the Greek) will never perish and not be snatched out of his hand or the Father's. There is no implication here, or anywhere in the Bible, that the righteous who would turn away from God temporarily or permanently as was the case for Adam, David, Saul, Solomon, Judas, Peter, Demas, Hymenaeus, Alexander and many that are unnamed throughout the Scriptures, would retain that same righteous standing with God. In contrast, the Bible says that a righteous man that turns to evil will die spiritually (Ezek. 33:13,18; 18:24; Gen. 2:17; James 1:14-16; 5:19,20; Lk. 8:13; 15:24,32; Gal. 5:19-21; 6:8,9; 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Rom. 6:16-22; etc.).
We should constantly remind ourselves that we are secure, that God loves us, and that we belong to Him.Robertson offers no Scripture to prove that Christians should constantly remind themselves that they are secure (even if indulging in various acts of immorality). In contrast, Jesus taught what our constant attitude should be, if we are going to enter the kingdom of God some day:
Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to" (Lk. 13:23,24).The Greek reveals a continuous tense effort is to be made to enter God's kingdom. Likewise, Paul wrote about himself:
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Cor 9:27)Robertson ends his attempt to defend his distorted version of grace with the following insult to Christians who know they can yet die spiritually through sin, disown Christ, come to believe a false Gospel, etc. and consequently fear God (Mt. 10:28 cf. Isa. 8:13):
But as far as losing my salvation, it just does not come up for me, nor should it for any sincere Christian.So if a Christian would think it is possible to lose his salvation, which can be shown in the Bible in many verses, then he must not be a sincere Christian or is acting in ignorance. Robertson has employed the old straw man fallacy.
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