All,

Another Fishing story. I wanted to share what happened a few months ago when I had a chance to share the Gospel of salvation (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) on a Saturday in my driveway with a group of Jesus Name Only Baptism believers, also called "Oneness" (more on this in a moment)! This is long story because the people I was talking with hung around asking question after question so hang in there if you would.

Here is the set up. My wife and I take turns once a month to spend a special Saturday breakfast with my daughter who is almost a teen. We enjoy doing that so we can have time with just her and talk. It was my turn to have breakfast with her, just the two of us (and we take tracts with us) and as we left the house to get into the car I saw some young ladies going from house to house with door hangs promoting a local church. One of the ladies headed toward our house and I called out asking what they had for us. As I asked questions about the door hanger/flyer and the church they attend it became clear in 30 seconds that they were Jesus Name Only (JNO) baptism teachers. A few years earlier I had spent time witnessing to a person who was JNO and it helped me out on this occasion.

As I continued to ask basic questions two other ladies came to join us in the discussion. Now we had a crowd at our little corner of the neighborhood! Since they claimed to be Christians I asked them what they would do if I had a knife in my back and I only had 3 minutes to live what would I need to do to get to heaven? They said first they would pray for my healing. I said ok, now I got 2 minutes left what now? I'm scared to die! Bottom line was I could not go to heaven unless I somehow survived and was able to not only have true faith in Jesus but also get dunked in water and in only Jesus name. They said if God really wanted to save me he would keep me from dying right now in order to get dunked (this is my paraphrase.). I asked if I were to die would that mean that God really did not want to save me? Scripture says that God is not willing that any should perish but that all would be saved through faith in Christ.

Before I go further here is some background on JNO. This type of false teaching is known as Jesus Only (baptism), Oneness Pentecostal, United Apostolic Church, United Pentecostal Church, etc (Please note this is not most Pentecostal churches but specific groups that also use the Pentecostal name). In general, they deny justification by faith alone by stating that physical baptism is also required for salvation. Baptism must be administered with the phrase, "In the name of Jesus" instead of the phrase, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" which Jesus commanded in Matt 28. They do not believe in the trinity nature of God (Modalism instead) or the sufficiency of saving faith in Christ alone. They teach only Oneness people will go to heaven. Some of them believe speaking in tongues is also a necessary requirement to demonstrate that a person has been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and is, therefore, saved (it is the initial sign of the infilling of the Holy Ghost, no tongues means no Holy Ghost means not saved). Yikes!!!! What we have a works based religion that has stripped grace from being grace. More info on this false teaching is provided at the end of the story with a web link.

Back to the story. As we all chatted together in my driveway I thought you might be interested in what helped with these ladies. Their faces really changed as the Holy Spirit convicted them of the Law and the truth of God's scripture that corrected their false teaching and opened them to considering further investigation into God's word. Did it mainly through questions leading them through God's word. Here we go.

First they did consider themselves to be a good person. That was the first red flag. I went through the Law, Justice and eternal destiny with them. After going through the Ten Commandments they realized that they were not a good person, just like all the rest of us. No one is good. All have lied, stolen, lusted, hated, coveted, made false gods, etc… Including them.

One claimed not to have lusted since they were 16 years old. When I used the example of the computer chip behind the ear recording their thoughts, deeds and words being played back on the big movie screen for friends and family it got their attention. They were ultimately convicted by the law and fell back on the Cross for saving but they were still claiming to add physical baptism only in Jesus name to have the fine paid. UUUGH.

In other words what Jesus did on the Cross was not enough to pay the fine. You must go to the water and in Jesus name to connect to the blood of the Cross they said. And they used the usual verses to support that such as Acts 2:38. They also admitted that they could lose their salvation if they did not maintain there holiness (through works) which shed light as to where they were really putting their trust. In themselves!

I started by asking them to define baptism. This is important. They described the external act and it must be in Jesus name only. I asked them what Jesus was concerned with most, the inside and in the heart or the outside physical appearance and ceremony? They said both. Sure that is true, but clearly what was he most concerned with according to scripture... the inside or the outside? They were not sure. I said it is important because Jesus clearly had a focus that was so important to him that it should be important to us. And that focus was on the inside, the heart. Scripture after scripture makes this clear. And that sheds light on the true baptism Jesus commanded.

I said let's go through the law again and see were we are pronounced guilty to get an idea of when we are pronounced innocent. So that's what we did. Matthew 5 makes it real clear that Jesus looked at the heart to determine our guilt. Lusting is adultery. 1 John 3 says hate in the heart makes us guilty of murder without the external act being committed. We are condemned on the inside by our heart sinning even if we do not do the external act. Is that interesting? We are guilty in the heart before the external action is committed.

Then I said let's check out Matthew 23 where Jesus made a very important statement. He said to the religious leaders of the time that they were like cups that were clean on the outside (external acts) but dirty on the inside and at heart. But if the inside of the cup is cleaned the outside will be clean also. Check that out. Just as the Law condemns us as guilty in the heart before the external act following it occurs, so it is when Jesus cleans our heart on the inside (repent and trust) that we are saved and restored. When that happens we are justified in the heart (cleansed by Jesus, born again and baptized through the Holy Spirit on the inside) and saved before the external act of physical baptism occurs in the water.

They were seeing the connection because God knows our hearts and requires truth in the inward parts. As soon as the inside is clean the outside is also clean. God's work on our hearts on the inside is thorough because of the thoroughness and finality of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross to pay our fine with His blood is sufficient. This is so thorough the outside is also clean. It is inside out!

They understood Romans 2 (they need for circumcision of the heart instead of outward circumcision of the flesh) better in light of this. Again the inside instead of the outside but buy the inside the outside becomes clean. If the inside is clean and we are a truly saved by the power of God the rest will follow. So many are trying to clean the outside and yet still have a false cleaning of the inside and the result will be tragic on the day of judgment. Having started with spirit (the inside) do you make it perfect with the flesh (the outside)? Read the book of Galatians for more on that!

They were convicted and getting the difference but they had a few more questions because of the verses they use so often to support external baptism in Jesus name for salvation that were blocking progress. Since they were convicted, seeking understanding and also very polite and reasonable I went back to their definition of baptism and challenged them to consider what Jesus said about being born again and then the example of Acts 10:44-46 where the inside was baptized first and cleaned and saved by the Holy Spirit prior to the outside external act of physical baptism. This was hard for them to grasp because they are taught that you do not get saved by the Holy Spirit until after you go under the water and that it will not happen before hand. In Acts 10 these folks repented and trusted in Christ and were saved and born again of the Holy Spirit without physical water baptism. And then, after they were saved they immediately submitted to water baptism. It is inside and then out.

I went on to share with them that when Jesus spoke of water in relation to eternal life he really made it clear that the real water of eternal life is living water not tap water and that He is the Living Water! Living water washes the inside not the outside. He said "Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). This is internal spiritual water (not tap water) that makes an eternal difference of salvation. Then he says "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:38). Again the inside cleaning by the Holy Spirit is what causes salvation. This is the true baptism that saves and is where we are born again.

In John 3 it is where Jesus said we must be born again of water and spirit. Some say the water is external baptism, some say it represents physical birth. In the Greek the rendering could be that we are born again of water, indeed the spirit. In other words the water is the spirit. They are the same. That is true if the water Jesus spoke of in John 3 is the living water that Jesus spoke of in John 4 and John 7. That living water is what Jesus equated with the Holy Spirit and who he claimed to be (the living water). Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4 that God desires that we worship in spirit and in truth. Baptism is the same. We need to be baptized in spirit and in truth on the inside, born again from above not from below in the flesh through requiring physical baptism for salvation. We should be physical baptized but not for salvation but instead in obedience to Christ's command as a result of already being saved by grace through faith!

They got it. I told them I was so concerned with their salvation because they were denying the sufficiency of Jesus through vain works. They had created physical baptism in Jesus name as an idol they had lifted above or equal to the sufficient and perfect sacrifice of the Cross. They were preaching a different Jesus... a Jesus that was not sufficient in what He did on the cross to save us. A different Jesus then what is in the bible and Jesus said that if you do not believe I am who I say you will die in your sins. As teachers out to share God's word they are held to a higher accountability before God in rightly dividing the truth of scripture and so I pleaded with them that they were in a doubly dangerous place. I asked them to read John chapters 3 - 8 carefully as well as Matthew 23, 28 and Philippians 3. Mainly I appealed to the words of Jesus and asked them questions about his words to help them discover truth. I managed to stick strictly to what Jesus said about salvation and baptism in the scripture and that really made the breakthrough since they hold so deeply to a handful of verses and not the whole of scripture but will listen to Jesus words.

They really appreciated how civil and kind our discussion was and that someone took the time to answer questions and refer to the bible with verses instead of opinion. They said that they usually end up in arguments with most people and said this was a very different and cordial time. They stayed to have questions answered for over an hour. I believe the law and the need for a true savior that paid the full price kept them their asking more questions with sincerity. When people truly see the grace and free gift that God has offered they will hang around to learn more and draw closer.

They confused Justification (our secure and saving position in Christ based on the Cross) with Sanctification (our growing in Christ which is His work in us as a result of justification and salvation) and I was able to point out more verses to help them. I reinforced that they should not trust me (or anyone) but test all things by reading God's word and letting it be the standard for truth.

Seeds were planted and my daughter and I ended up having lunch instead of breakfast due to the divine appointment that morning. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would bring conviction of the truth of God's word and love and draw all of them to real repentance before the real Savior Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your prayers! Fish On.

4 Him,
Rob-roy
Luke 19:10

P.S. For more information on Oneness Pentecostal (Jesus Name Only Baptism) see
http://www.carm.org/oneness.htm