A reader sent me an article dated August 28, 2018 from The Commercial Appeal. I think this is from the Memphis paper. The article is entitled, “It is not enough for us to just ‘believe in Jesus Christ.’” A question is given: “My friend asked me to become a Christian and said all I had to do was believe in Jesus to be saved. Is that all there is to it?” Then an answer followed. The answer was said to be “from the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham.”
I’m fairly sure that Graham did not answer this question. Some ghost writer wrote this answer in Graham’s name.
The answer given is amazingly bad.
“Just to say, ‘believe in Jesus’ can produce a false assurance of salvation, because even the devil ‘believes in Jesus.’” (See this 1995 article by Dr. John Hart for a clear explanation of James 2:19 and the faith of demons.)
Then the author says, “To believe in Jesus is to turn from a life of sin, to receive him as savior, and to follow him as lord by obeying his word.” Say what? Believing in Jesus is not about believing in Him at all? Instead it is turning from one’s sins, receiving Jesus as Savior (whatever that means), and following Him as Lord by obeying Him?
So saving faith is turning from sins and obeying Christ?
A bit later in the article the author says, “there is a cost to following this wonderful savior…Those who truly believe in Him will want to obey him with joy, no matter the cost.”
Confusing.
From what I’ve read about Billy Graham, he basically proclaimed the faith-alone message early in his ministry. It wasn’t until around 1955 that he began to court Roman Catholic clergy to sit with him on stage. Around that time his message started to shift to a more generic message (receive Christ, commit your life to Christ, accept Him, etc.). However, I do not recall anything as confusing as what was published in the newspaper clipping I received.
I recall a story in his biography, Just As I Am, from around 1989. Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas at the time. Graham was there for a Little Rock Crusade. Governor Clinton asked Billy Graham to meet with him and his pastor, W. O. Vaught (see Just As I Am, pp. 651-52). Vaught was pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock. Though Vaught was under 100 pounds and was near death, he preached to Graham and Clinton from his bed for 30-40 minutes (p. 652).
What is amazing is that W. O. Vaught was well known in Southern Baptist circles for proclaiming that faith in Christ was the sole condition of everlasting life. He authored a book called Believe Plus Nothing.
I have that book by Vaught on my shelf. Note this beautiful quote: “The only thing a sinner can do to be saved is to believe in Christ, change his mind about Christ. Therefore, sin is not the issue in salvation; Christ is the issue” (p. 22).
Note this great quote from Vaught about the security of our salvation: “The power that keeps a man saved, once he has believed, is the power of God. God’s hand holds on. Christ’s hand holds on. God’s faithfulness prevails. Man’s power is not involved in keeping himself in a saved condition” (p. 30). “God gives only one kind of salvation and it is everlasting, eternal, never ending” (p. 30). “Christ never saves a man twice, only once” (p. 30).
That account in Graham’s biography of his meeting with Vaught and Clinton made me think that Bill Clinton likely came to faith in Christ through the ministry of W. O. Vaught. It also made me think that Graham was at that time still at least open to the faith-alone message. I would have loved to have heard what Vaught taught Graham and Clinton.
If believing in Jesus is not enough to be born again, then lots of verses in the Bible are totally wrong, including, John 1:12-13; 3:14-18; 4:14; 5:24, 39-40; 6:35, 37, 39, 47; 11:25-27; 20:31; Acts 16:31; Rom 4:4-5; Gal 2:16; 3:6-14; Eph 2:8-9; 1 Tim 1:16; Rev 22:17.
Believing in Jesus for the everlasting life He promises is indeed the one and only condition of everlasting life. Turning from sins is not a condition of everlasting life. Nor is following Christ. As W. O. Vaught put it so well, Believe Plus Nothing.
Leo Z
Amen to all the quotes you have on this blog from W.O. Vaught. Yes, “believe”, simply “believe”! Simple yet powerful!
It’s the simplicity of God’s saving message that confounds people and drive them to make more out of the message and amend what Scripture says about it. I have met many people that say, it’s too simple to be true, if believing is all there is to it. I just tell them to pray, give them the verses on it and encourage them to study their Bibles to see what God says about it.
Thanks Pastor Bob. As always, I’m in continued prayer for you and GES.
Pam
Great post, Bob. Thanks for writing this. In the past you’ve mentioned that you think Bill Clinton is a believer. Now I understand why, and I hope for his own sake that you’re correct.
The SBC today desperately needs men like Vaught. Sou Baptists went off the rails salvation wise when they abandoned John 3:16 for Rom 10:9-10. To make things worse, Calvinism and Reformed theology have overtaken the SBC. That’s not to say every SBC church is Calvinism and/or Reformed. But Calvinism and Reformed theology are an infection that is spreading.
Katie
It would be nice if some free grace website could republish Believe Plus Nothing so we could all benefit from that work. Any chance of that happening 🙂 Katie
Dwight Hunt
Great article! I often wondered why Billy Graham would add conditions to his Gospel message. I have heard, and this may not be true, that Graham was asked at a conference on evangelism that took place in the 80’s if he believed that faith alone in Christ alone was all that it took to make one a Christian. He said he did believe that.
Barry Blundi
When souls are doubtful do to it being to simple, two things escape them. First, the unimaginable difficulty of the Lord Jesus to make atonement for us. Second, starting at the dead end, themselves, blindness to thier own irremenable wretched dead condition before God. “they said to Him, “are we blind also”? Jesus answered them, “If you were blind, you would have no more sin, but now you say we see, therefore your sin remain.” Again the conscience has not been reached yet, for when it is, the soul looks outside themselves, and finally ( hopefully ) realizes why Yeshua cried out, “My God my God, why have you forsaken Me.” For them! The narrow way is severly diffucult, because of the pride of the lost. They still say “we see.” The question of “too easy” shows they know not Lord Jesus’ infinate diffulculty in making atonement, and AGAPE love for them, and thier truly not knowing the holiness of God, and thier dead and undone condemned standing in His sight. Praise you Lord Jesus forever and ever, Master! Our King immortal, eternal! Salvation is of the Lord!
Alvin
I found it interesting that W.O. Vaught’s message on eternal security was based upon 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 the carnal Christian. I would liked to have heard that message.
Brady
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16.
1. John 3:16 tells you who ALL can be saved (Nicodemus and the world/who so ever believes in Christ).
2. It tells you WHEN a person is saved( the very moment one believes in Christ for everlasting life, salvation is said NOT to be a process, but a “present” POSSESSION).
3. It tells HOW a person is saved(by one ACT of ONLY “intellectually”) believing in Christ alone for everlasting life.
4. And it tells you ONCE one believes in Christ they shall “NEVER” perish (once saved always saved, CAN’T lose your salvation).
What a powerful, powerful verse John 3:16. Rom. 11:29 (irrevocable).
John 3:16 never ever mentions repentance, baptism, confession, nor even to believe Jesus death, burial, and Resurrection nor any type of moral reform or good works, but has only ONE condition, Faith alone in Christ is enough Jesus said and said many times in the book of John.
Brady
If anyone “reads” Billy’s final column they will see he said. “Do you know you will go to heaven when you die? You can, by COMMITTING your life to Christ today.” And then go the his website where he says this, “We believe that all men everywhere are lost and face the judgment of God, that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, and that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ results in regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Furthermore we believe that God will reward the righteous with eternal life in heaven, and that He will banish the unrighteous to everlasting punishment in hell. Luke 24:46-47; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Ephesians 1:7 and 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7.”
Born Again
Bob,
Yes, faith is required, but let us not trust in our faith to get saved…it sounds like idolatry of the self. Rather, let us thank God that He opened our eyes to first see the Son of God, and for giving us the free will and faith to enable us to trust in Him for salvation. Salvation is a miracle and a great mystery. All persons of the Trinity are involved when someone is born again….let’s not reduce salvation to catchy things like, “only faith alone in Christ is needed for salvation”…. that sounds heretical even to an unbeliever. We are not selling insurance here, souls are at stake. By the way, when people come to Christ they come because they are convicted how worthless they are in their sins…sounds to me that repentance is already been sown at the moment of salvation, don’t you think? Can an alcoholic come to Christ and still be a drunk and die that way? What kind of Christ did he come to? One that could not set him free from that addiction? Who is his god, alcohol or Christ? I have every right to question the salvation of such a person, after all the Scriptures say not to be deceived, such folks do not inherit the kingdom of God…Do not get me wrong, good works, repentance, great capacity to have faith, cannot save anyone, only God saves people.
Alvin
John 5:1a Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God
So, “only faith alone in Christ” is what Scripture says~!
Born Again, we’re talking about a gift not a contract. You need to meditate on the story of the Woman at the Well, it was all about getting her to drink (believe), that’s how she got the gift. And we don’t know if she left the man she was living with?
Your problem Born Again is you don’t understand what John means by the Christ.
And God doesn’t give us faith, faith is being persuaded that what He says is true.
Acts 28:24 And some were PERSUADED by the things which were spoken, and some DISBELIEVED.
Born Again, a little child can simply believe Jesus promise of life and be born again. They could be at a funeral and dealing with the death of a loved one, and be told by their mother that Jesus offers to give them eternal life by simply believing His promise of eternal life. So they will go to heaven if they were to die. Real simple~!
You can’t paint everyone into your own corner.
Also entering a house and inheriting one is not the same. It doesn’t say that they won’t enter the Kingdom, it says that they won’t inhert the Kingdom. Which is to co-reign with Christ.
Born Again
You misunderstand me. I am simply saying faith saves no one, God does. Our salvation and new birth is a work of God, faith alone is required for our part as humans, we agree on that. Nobody births themselves into the kingdom of God by faith, rather God does that work when we place our faith in Christ. By the way, that faith we have is ours, but can you exegete Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” ?
Alvin
Hebrews is written to believers, who have already been sanctified in Christ. Their position is perfect (Hebrews 10:10,14, 29 we HAVE BEEN sanctified…..For by one offering He HAS perfected forever them who ARE sanctified…..which he WAS sanctified.
But, to be a brethren who Jesus is not ashamed of takes more than positional sanctification but obedience. Just as He was obedient to the Father (Hebrews 5:7-9 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him).
It’s only after He became perfected through obedience could He be the author of eternal salvation(inherit salvation 1:14).
If you look at Romans 8:17 you’ll see that all of God’s children are heirs. That is they will have a new body without sin, and death, and live with God forever.
But, it’s only the ones who SUFFER for Him will be joint—heirs who will be glorified together with Him (Deut 21:17 firstborn double portion also see 2 Tim 2:11-13). Their faith produced obedience, faith for faith. That is they saved their life by losing their life for Jesus sake. As James said about Abraham: Do you see that faith was working together, with his works, and by works faith was made perfect (James 1:21; 2:22). That is that was God’s intention that our works produce obedience. But we must as Jesus did, not My will, but Your will be done……a free will to choose~!
Born Again
So we have free will, although Christ initiated our faith? By faith that means salvation faith? Or the actual christian life called faith? Or both? What is Hewbrew 12:2 referring to when it says faith? Either way, Christ is the author and perfecter of our faith. My faith was authored by Christ, but where does that leave my free will to choose Christ? How free is my free will if Christ initiated my faith and is working to finish it? By the way, I don’t know myself what to think, but since you think you got it all figured out, tell me more, what makes you so sure of your free will? What are the boundaries of this so called free will?
Born Again
I tried to reply but it did not go thru…Let me try again. So, Christ is the author and perfecter of our faith? Wait a minute, which faith is that? Our saving faith or the faith as in the christian life we have? Either way, it sounds to me like Christ made the first step in us being in the faith or having the saving faith? No? Am I wrong? How free is my free will if He is the author of this saving faith?
Born Again
Alvin, let me clarify. Faith is NOT all that is required for salvation. You leave out the mighty power of God in salvation. The Holy Spirit causes one to be born again, our faith is but one aspect of salvation. Leaving aside the moment of salvation, the issue is sanctification. The new birth in Christ is so radical that from the moment of salvation until physical death, inside of every born again believer, there is a real war between the Holy Spirit and the flesh. Repentance is a side effect of being a child of God, would that be fair to say?
Matthew 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;”
Lets look at John 3:19-20
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
How can one come to Christ if they don’t think they have a serious problem called sin?
1John 1:10 “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
Alvin
You end up mixing apples and oranges. You go from apples to oranges, and then back to apples….ha~! Your confused~!
Let’s break it down:
Faith is ALL that is required for salvation, that is being saved from eternal condemnation John 3:16-18.
I think probably your definition of salvation is broader than that. Wherever you find saved or salvation you need to ask yourself saved from what~?
We don’t have to understand what the details are or HOW Salvation happens. What it comes down to, is do we believe the testimony of God or are we calling Him a liar~? (See John 12:42-50; 1 John 5:9-11)
If you don’t look up these verses and think about them we need to end this discussion.
I don’t think you understand what a GIFT is~? There are NO strings attached, just as the woman at the Well would do all the work of drawing the water, and Jesus would just drink. He tells her if she knew the gift of God, and who it was who said, ‘Give Me a drink.’ You would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.
Paul if she would have known those two things the giving and receiving would have ALREADY happened. It’s that simple, the giving and receiving of a GIFT.
Your other verses are jumping the tracks, and are not the point.
Born Again
My messages don’t always go thru, so here I try again. Hebrews 12:2 says Christ is the author and perfecter or finisher of faith….It kind of favors Calvinism? Yes or no? Let me put this another way, when a demoniac is possessed by a demon, that demon can sometimes take control of the persons’ mouth and speak its thoughts. What about believers who are filled with the Spirit? How much free will is a person possessed by the Spirit exhibiting? In my opinion free will has parameters and limitations. Yes, we do have free will, but to what degree?
Alvin
Calvinism isn’t even a factor. It’s a man made ism, and all five points are unbiblical. It’s probably easier for us to live in the flesh than it is by the Spirit. Paul died to himself daily (1 Cor 15:31). I’m sure Christ was formed in him (Gal 4:19), and being an Apostle he was given a greater grace. We choose to who we serve (Rom 6:16), or why do the Scriptures even say it?
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness.
Paul,
But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (1 Cor 9:27)
I’ve been an athlete all my life, it’s work and discipline.
I think your thinking to much.
Born Again
Alvin, I appreciate the Bible verses, very good. I am finding that sanctification too has more to do with God’s will than my own. I do not want to say my will is insignificant in sanctification, it is not. There is a real war inside every believer between the Spirit and the flesh. I am realizing how utterly dependent I am on God in this war. We should never be afraid of how weak we are (being weak humbles the heart and brings repentance from dead works), but rather we should fear the delusion of our own strength.
Philippians 2:13 “For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God.”
Alvin
Born Again, I’ve experienced both sides of it, or you might say three sides of it. Born again at age 12, then staying a babe until age 35. Between those years at around 30 years of age I started taking my wife and daughter to church. But, even though I was going to church I was not yet set free, as John 8:30-36 speaks of. I had no one in that church who came along side me to teach me. I was losing the battle in my mind. When asked to get up and give my testimony while the pastor was gone, I declined. I wasn’t going to get up in front of people and tell them something I didn’t believe worked. I didn’t have the power to live the Christian life, and instead of crying out to God as Paul did, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I went back to living in the flesh. It wasn’t until sin got so bad, and I got into a debate with a Catholic at work which got me back into my Bible that I cried out to God for deliverance. He delivered me from the power of sin~! From that point I got overly caught up in my experience, but still wasn’t really set free by the word of God. That takes time in the word, and a Godly man such as Zane Hodges came along side. I was renewed in my mind, and knew who I was in Christ which is MORE than my experience:-)
Alvin
Romans 7:21. Therefore I discover this law for myself that, when I wish to do what is good, evil lies ready at hand for me.
Zane,
Paul does not share the illusion that some modern Christians have that if we have been regenerated then obedience to God’s law is both simple and natural. Such Christians are forgetting a fact of which Paul was painfully conscious—that although the Spirit within us is life, the physical body remains completely dead to God’s will (see 8:10). In other words, they are forgetting the law Paul is referring to here. End quote.
The Christian life is a supernatural life, and we can only be delivered by Christ’s life (see 5:10)…..we shall be delivered by His life…”shall be delivered” which is a gnomic future not a predictive one.
Alvin
Paul, I got fed traditional false teaching long after I was born again. Like the Four Spiritual Laws, and Romans Road.
These are man made ways to evangelize. And most of the verses come from Books in the Bible written to believers concerning discipleship. All it does is sow confusion.
There is only one Book that is written to the unbeliever that he might have life, and that is the Gospel of John (John 20:31).
I knew I wasn’t understanding something right, because it can’t be a gift and at the same time cost everything. So, I asked God to show me what I wasn’t understanding? That is when I came upon a book called “Absolutely Free.” And I saw where discipleship and the gift of eternal life was being mixed together like a contract. Making it not a gift at all, but having to lose your life in order to get the gift.
And they were making sin an issue, when in fact the sin barrier had already been removed (John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:19).
That is why John can say in Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, Come~! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who thirsts come.
Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Born Again
Alvin, we agree on this. Salvation is a free gift, received by faith in Christ. But this gift once received, keeps on giving. The Holy Spirit lives inside and makes war with the flesh…sanctification is sure to happen, don’t you think that’s what the Scriptures say? I am not saying you have to do good works to keep yourself saved, not at all. I am saying born again people naturally love God and others, it is a consequence of the new birth.
1 John 3:7-10 “Little children, let no one deceive you: the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous.
The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God was revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil.
Everyone who is fathered by God does not practice sin, because his seed resides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.
By this the children of God and the children of the devil are evident: everyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, namely, the one who does not love his brother.”
Alvin
Born Again, it would be more accurate to say that sanctification is what is expected but not guaranteed. I know that I went for 18yrs after being born again and really had no spiritual growth to speak of. A believer MUST drink that milk, and appropriate truth for spiritual growth. Paul himself gives an example to us in Romans 7 showing that it’s not automatic.
If I was a betting man which I’m not. I would bet that most Christian’s don’t know that they are living in a spiritually dead body (Romans 8:10 And if Christ is in you, the body is DEAD because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
That can be a real problem~! Paul found that out, and it wasn’t until he cried out to God to deliver him from this body of death, that he got delivered~!
And the Epistles of John are not a guarantee that if your born of God that you won’t walk in the flesh, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
Alvin
What you don’t understand Born Again is that you don’t have to believe in Jesus as Lord of your life to be born again because eternal life is a gift that can be taken freely.
But, to GROW Jesus MUST be Lord of your life, because it’s ONLY when you abide in Him are you saved (delivered) by His life~!
But making Jesus Lord Of your life is a CHOICE, that is counting the cost of building on His foundation. Another way of putting it, which Jesus did quite often is, you MUST lose your life to gain it. Paul died daily.
Many born again believers have not made that choice, and therefore are slaves of sin. If you don’t think so, your just fooling yourself. But, it all starts with REALLY believing that the gift of life Jesus offers is a GIFT. And that is the ONLY way it can be by GRACE~!
Born Again
Go read Romans 11 and Hebrews 8. The mystery that they did not know in the OT is that the gentiles partake in the new covenant promised to Israel. What is that new covenant? A new heart with God’s law written in it. They will obey God and they need not anyone teach them to obey because the law is in them. This is talking about born again people whom the Spirit teaches to love God and others. Born again people naturally obey God. What about the war between the flesh and Spirit? There are no true slaves of sin among the born again, they can act like it, but they are free from the slavery of sin. If they are true slaves of sin, then they are not born again. Christ says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.” John 10:27.
Alvin
John 8:31-32. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “IF” you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 10:27-28. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Born Again you need to pay closer attention when your reading Scripture. In John 8:30-32 being set free is conditioned “IF” the believer abides in My word. That is talking about the believers experience not in his position.
And in John 10:27-28 notice they follow Him, then they get eternal life. So, you have it backwards. There is NO guarantee that a believer is going to follow Jesus in discipleship, that is a choice, and one that Jesus said “count the cost” before you undertake it (Luke 14:28).
What your confusing is the difference between a believers position in Christ and their EXPERIENCE of eternal life.