No Froth

The Standard Bearer is an excellent publication, thoughtful in its presentation of the Reformed faith and utterly free of superficial “froth.” I look forward to receiving each issue. Renew my subscription.

Donald Granger

Garden Grove, CA

Unsaved Professing Christians?

Enclosed is a check so that I will continue to get The Standard Bearer. I enjoy the magazine. You are right on the mark.

I became a Christian six years ago and God led me to a good Reformed church. . . . When I first became a Christian, I was afraid of being deceived. Therefore, I became an avid reader, starting with the Bible and continuing with Reformation writings. I have just finished John Owen’s The Holy Spirit and The Works of the Spirit.

Could you answer a question for me? Do you think there are 60 million unsaved people out there thinking that they are saved? The doctrine being preached in most churches today is heresy. The same is true of most of the preaching on television. After reading The Holy Spirit, I am amazed at the number of people who claim to have Him in them, but who do not show the true work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Will Jesus Christ forgive ignorance of doctrine when He comes? Could there be some of the elect among them?

Mrs. Sandra Wittner

Otis Orchards, WA

Response:

We appreciate your encouraging remarks about The Standard Bearer and your renewing your subscription.

Your resolve to read and the kinds of material that you read are cause for rejoicing. It is no small contributing factor to the great apostasy of our day that professing Christians either do not read or read the frothy religious literature being published widely today.

As to your question about heresy and salvation, the Bible takes heresy and belief of heresy in dead earnest. Heretics are servants of Satan (cf. II Pet. 2). The seriousness of the teaching of heresy is that many are led astray to eternal perdition, being deceived (cf. Matt. 24:4, 5, 24; II Thess. 2:3, 10-12; II Tim. 3). The way to salvation, established by election itself, is “sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (II Thess. 2:13).

What this may mean concerning the relatively small size of the true church today does not justify our concocting a new way of salvation other than belief of the truth. Fact is, the Bible prophesies that the number of believers will be small in the end time (cf.Luke 12:32; Luke 18:8). The ignorance of the truth on the part of so many should only motivate us the more energetically to bear witness to the truth – the Reformed faith.

– Ed.