Evangelical Outreach and eternal security
There are several cult groups that try and refute what CARM says and, unfortunately, there are those who are apparently Christians who also try and refute CARM.
These attacks are most often misguided and such is the case with the Evangelical Outreach, apparently headed by a Mr. Dan Corner. His website has an article that has attacked CARM and me personally. Therefore, I'm writing a short response.
Unfortunately, people who are obsessed with a particular issue and demonstrate a lack of Christian maturity and balance cannot always be trusted. Since I consider this person to be hostile to the work and Ministry of CARM, I've not reproduced the entire article lest Dan Corner (I assume he is the author of the article) seeks justification for a lawsuit for copyright infringement. But, according to fair use laws, I am allowed to quote excerpts from the article. Therefore, I have reproduced sections of it so I might offer a short response. In addition, I have used the name "Evangelical Outreach" and "Dan Corner" numerous times so to allow an increase of traffic to this article should people inquire about it.
Obviously, I've not linked to his site since I do not want to support it.
Finally, I have changed all the colors of the article from Evangelic Outreach to brown and standardized the font size for clarification. My responses are in green and are numbered for future reference if necessary.
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The so-called “Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry” (CARM) wins our skull and crossbones award for teaching and trying to defend the heresy of “eternal security.” How sad and misleading it is to read on that web site:
What is the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry? (CARM)? CARM is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose purpose is to equip Christians and refute error. (Bold emphasis mine)
Perhaps one of the most loathsome
things about most of the eternal security teachers is they
often try to hide what they really believe.
This is the case here, at least sometimes.
Matt Slick (CARM) teaches a license
for immorality but periodically tries to hide it. In other words,
he isn’t always open and honest about his own theology. But how
could he do better than teach a license for immorality since
he is a Calvinist and therefore believes in the perseverance
of the saints (eternal security)? In fact, in a recent email exchange
with CARM this came out. I wrote to Matt the following about King David
when in his sins of adultery and murder. Here is one of my emails to
him:
What is CARM's position?
- Romans 14:1-12 tells us that Christians are to not pass judgment over debatable issues. Eternal security is just such a debatable issue. There have been very godly and very intelligent people throughout the Christian Church in the past 2000 years who have argued on both sides of the issue. The position that CARM holds is that our salvation is secure in Christ because it is God who is the author of our salvation (Heb. 2:10), it is God who atoned for our sins (1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 2:2), we have been changed by the work of God (2 Cor. 5:17), and we who possess eternal life will never perish (John 10:27-28). Furthermore, CARM states that our security in Christ is not a license to sin. Instead, it is a license to rest from trying to maintain our position with God through our own efforts and thereby be free to serve God without fear.
- CARM does not condemn or restrict fellowship with any Christian who believes that it is possible to lose one's salvation because as Romans 14:1-5 says, "...Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind." Therefore, we recognize that Christians have the right to disagree on this topic, as well as others, and as long as they do not deny the essentials of the Christian faith, we are all to exhibit mutual love and forgiveness and tolerance towards each other.
- Furthermore, there are essential doctrines in Christianity. The Bible declares those essentials by citing a consequence for denying them. Whether or not a person can lose his salvation is not considered an essential doctrine in scripture. In other words, the Bible does not condemn to hell anyone who believes that we are eternally secure in Jesus nor does it condemn those who believe it is possible to lose salvation. Therefore, to make this a dividing issue between orthodoxy and heresy demonstrates that the critic does not understand biblical theology and, in my opinion, is immature in the Christian faith in this regard.
- In an e-mail exchange that this critic and
I had, he asked whether David remained saved in his sins of adultery
and murder. I did not respond to that issue because, to be
quite honest, there are so many people who want to pick theological
fights with me that I recognize when a trap has been set and I don't
want to trigger it. Nevertheless, I am not judging whether or not
David was or was not saved since the Holy Spirit, it seems, could
be taken and given from Israelites in the Old Testament times.
However, there is theological debate on whether or not this can
occur presently since the atoning work of Christ.
I don't want to get into it here, but the issue is not as simple
as might first be expected. Since I don't want to get into
huge e-mail discussions with countless individuals, I pick and choose
what I respond to.
by his ignoring my challenge to debate eternal security he is saying indirectly that he is not confident with his own theological position. He likes to teach it dogmatically to new converts and the like, but doesn’t want to debate someone like me acquainted with this issue. Without a doubt, Matt Slick (just like Mr. James White) would debate eternal security with me in a flash if he (they) thought he (they) could win. Remember this when either of them, or any other Calvinists, authoritatively teach this license for immorality commonly known as eternal security.
- Again notice the error in logic on his part. I am confident in my theological position but I'm also experienced enough to know that someone with a chip on his shoulder is not open to rational discourse. I do not consider it to be a profitable use of my time to debate a single individual who is so negatively predisposed to a topic and who also makes illogical assertions and attacks my character.
- Notice how he brings in another individual, Mr. James White, and seems to impugn his character as well. Again, this is a serious mistake. Dan Corner needs to stick to the issue and not attack the motives of individuals. This is a serious error and has no part in intelligent thought.
- If this individual wants to discuss eternal security with me he is more than welcome to call my radio show and discuss it live. I do not know if he is aware of the show but it is linked on the homepage of CARM and has been so for quite a while.
More CARM Poison
Matt, under your question found on CARM, “What do I do if I have committed sexual sin?” you wrote the following. [All emphasis is my own.]:
Christians are not exempt from sexual sin. If you are such a person who has fallen into fornication, adultery, pornography, homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, or any other sexual deviation, then you need to stop .... If you are a Christian involved in sexual sin then you know that the Holy Spirit has been convicting you. If you feel no conviction then you are either not really saved or are so hardened by the sin you’ve been committing that you are close to God taking your life. This is the case in 1 Cor. 5:5 where a man was having sex with his father’s wife and he would not repent. Paul said, “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Rest assured that God takes this seriously. He will take your life to essentially save your soul. This is a loving move on God’s part.
- Notice that I tell those who are committing sin to stop, that the Holy Spirit should be convicting the person of sin, that God takes sin very seriously, and that God may very well kill an individual per 1 Cor. 5:5. The logical question is where in my teaching is there a license to sin when I teach people to stop sinning and that there are serious spiritual consequences to sin? Perhaps, and this is my opinion, that this individual is so obsessed with the eternal security doctrine issue that he cannot read the article clearly.
CARM would have us think there are Christian adulterers, Christian fornicators, etc. CARM refers to 1 Cor. 5:5 which has nothing to do with teaching such immoral people are Christian. The unnamed man in 1 Cor. 5 is called wicked in v. 13, and therefore, can not be a Christian. To teach he was a Christian while in sexual immorality is to declare exactly what the devil (and Calvinists) would like us to think.
- This yet another offensive attack where this individual equates Calvinism with the devil. Perhaps he is unaware that this country was founded by Calvinists, that Calvinism is one of the few remaining branches of Christian theology that has not gone liberal, and that we hold to an extremely high view of Scripture and personal sanctification. Of course, I would not expect this critic to grant any leeway and affirm that reformed theologians stress sanctification. It is apparent to me that the agenda-laden attack prevents this individual from seeing the issues rationally and with Christian love.
CARM’s grace illustration is demonic. The following is found under, Salvation is God’s work:
One more change. I sneak over to your house and steal your bike. You catch me. You don’t send me to jail. In fact, you give me the bike plus a hundred dollars. That is grace. (Emphasis mine)
CARM would dangerously have us thinking we receive grace from God by doing a wicked deed. But that is not all. In an unrepentant state we get that grace and a nice bonus too! Matt, you have clearly changed grace into a license for immorality. I will fight your false version of grace (eternal security), with God’s truth, as long as I live.
- This is a serious misrepresentation of my position. In the CARM article Salvation is God's work, I do not teach that in order to receive God's grace we must do something wicked. The illustration that I used in that article was meant to demonstrate that grace is getting what we do not deserve. Again, it is my opinion that this individual is so obsessed with denying eternal security that he is unable to accurately read and represent my article.
Dear reader, CARM is not a ministry that Evangelical Outreach can recommend since the various points of Calvinism, embraced by Matt Slick, will be laced throughout it (especially the most deadly point—eternal security). Any teachings on grace, salvation, sin, and other related subjects, will be distorted in one way or another to allow for the heresy of eternal security and Calvinism.
The reader is encouraged to warn his friends about the dangerous distortions and doctrinal perversions found on CARM.
- Calvinism is not laced throughout CARM. I specifically seek to avoid emphasizing Reformed Theology. I do, however, adopt eternal security, as do many non-Calvinists, for two reasons. First, it is what I believe is the biblical position. Second, all of the cults and false religions I have studied teach that it is possible to lose one's salvation and that a person must maintain his position with God through his efforts: keeping commandments, remaining faithful, staying good, etc. Therefore, I thought it best to tackle this issue on CARM.
- It should go without saying that CARM does not recommend the evangelical outreach ministry since it does not display rational analysis of the eternal security issue, since it practices the logical fallacy of ad hominem (attacking a person's character), and since it condemns Calvinism as a heresy. In so doing this, so-called evangelical outreach ostracizes millions of Calvinist Christians worldwide who hold to the doctrine of the Trinity, the vicarious atonement of Christ, his physical resurrection, justification by grace through faith, repentance of sin, the need for holiness, that we are secure in our salvation because of the work of Christ, and that or salvation does not depend upon our faithfulness but on Christ's. We further maintain that we are of such sinful natures that if our salvation depended in any way upon our faithfulness, then we would not have it since we would surely fail to remain faithful if left to our own efforts. We are all predisposed to pride, arrogance, foolishness, and various forms of sin that are still working through our fallen natures. This would destroy any ability we might have to maintain our faithful standing before God. Therefore, we rely completely and totally on the work of Christ and rest in our security in him -- to his praise and glory.
- Praise be to God who has made us new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), given us Christ's righteousness, and that we are freely justified by the grace of God through the work of Christ on the cross. To God be the glory.
Thank you
Matt Slick
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