When I was studying Spanish, I would listen to sermons in Spanish from a church in Mexico called Casa de Oración (“House of Prayer”). The pastor spoke distinctly, which helped me understand the language. He was an Arminian, believing a believer could lose eternal salvation. Sometimes he said that if a Christian continues in sin, he will become hardened spiritually and will give back his salvation. Other times, he said that if you’re a true believer, you won’t live according to the flesh. The Holy Spirit causes a drastic change in the life of the Christian and will not allow him to live that way.

Recently, I saw on the internet that he preached a sermon titled, “All of Us Will Give an Account to God” (Todos daremos cuenta a Dios). This comes from Rom 14:12 and refers to the Judgment Seat of Christ. I was curious as to what an Arminian pastor would say about this verse, so I listened.

I couldn’t believe what I heard. I thought Bob Wilkin, the Executive Director of GES, was preaching the sermon. This pastor, even though he believes that a true believer cannot walk according to the flesh without losing eternal salvation, declared all kinds of Biblical truths. He said that Rom 14:12 is talking about the Judgment Seat of Christ. This judgment is different from the Great White Throne judgment. Only believers will be at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and only unbelievers will be at the Great White Throne. The Judgment Seat of Christ is a place where rewards will be given and has nothing to do with eternal salvation.

He added that if a believer walks according to the flesh, his works will be burned up and turned to ashes, based upon 1 Cor 3:10-15. Some believers will experience the loss of rewards on that day because they lived according to the flesh. He then said that the NT speaks of four crowns given as rewards to faithful believers and that Christians should desire those rewards. Not all believers will be rewarded with these crowns. To support his view that Christians will be rewarded for their good works, he pointed to Moses. Moses was already a believer, but looked for rewards and riches from Christ (Heb 11:26).

I have no idea how he squared what he said with his view that a true believer cannot live according to the flesh. How could he preach one Sunday that the believer who is not faithful to the Lord will forfeit his eternal salvation and be cast into hell at the Great White Throne, and the following Sunday say that such a believer will not appear before the Great White Throne, but will lose rewards and crowns at the Judgment Seat of Christ?

I don’t know whether he recognized the contradictions in his messages. If he did, maybe he lived with the tension. Perhaps he thought the unfaithful believer would not be cast into hell unless he was really unfaithful.

My bigger question was: What did his listeners think? He is the pastor of a huge church. Did they catch the contradictions between what he said one Sunday and what he said the next? If someone only heard his “All of Us Will Give an Account to God” sermon, he would think that works have nothing to do with receiving and keeping eternal life.

I like to think the pastor was unaware of his contradictions and that the sermon about giving an account to God resulted from his sincerely trying to see what the Scriptures say. He saw that Rom 14:12, 1 Cor 3:10-15, and Heb 11:26 taught that works result in rewards. Fleshly works will not cause a believer to lose eternal life. No believer will ever appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, but all believers––including fleshly, unfaithful believers––will appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

If this is what the pastor did, it reminds me of the scribe in Mark 12. He believed a person had to do good works in order to inherit eternal life, but he also sincerely sought the truth from the Lord. He commended the Lord for His wisdom. The Lord told him that he was not far from the kingdom of God (Mark 12:34).

That is what I hope has happened at the Casa de Oración. A confused pastor has been told by his denomination and mentors that he can lose his salvation. But he studies the Scriptures and sees that is not the case. He doesn’t know how what the Scriptures say fits with his traditions. Like the scribe in Mark 12, the light of God’s truth comes through on at least one occasion. I like to think that the scribe in Mark 12 believed in Christ alone for eternal life. I hope the same is true for this pastor in Mexico and some of the people who heard him speak on Rom 14:12.