The Gospel of False Hope Among Some Southern Baptists (and Others)

By Mark W. Christy, PhD

Before beginning, it is important to affirm that many Southern Baptists rightfully (and in line with Scripture) declare salvation comes through faith and repentance in Jesus Christ alone. As a person who grew up, professed faith, and received baptism in a Southern Baptist church before eventually earning three degrees from a Southern Baptist seminary, I can certainly attest to this. Even so, a troubling thought frequently visited me in my early years at seminary concerning one’s assurance of salvation.

When asking questions to those within the church who were considered to be more knowledgeable, the typical response came in form of a question: Has there ever been a time when you responded to the gospel by repenting and expressing faith in Christ? This question in essence was (and in many cases still is) the litmus test for salvation especially among many Southern Baptists.

While I can answer the question affirmatively, I could not help but ponder the biblical teaching on the potential for self-deception. Simon the Magician, for example, believed and even got baptized according to Scripture before being told by John and Peter that his “heart [was] not right before God” (Acts 8:13, 21).[i] James, in his epistle, seems to have been greatly concerned about this problem when he warns his readers to “prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22; cf. 1:23-27; 2:14-26). The prophet Jeremiah proclaims the mind/will is completely unreliable: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick” (17:9). The Hebrew term translated here as “heart” is to be understood as person’s will and source of thinking.

Jeremiah also declares “the Lord…tries the feelings and the heart” (11:20). Once again, the prophet uses the same word translated as “heart” but adds the word “feelings.” This word is probably better understood as referring to the “inner person” because it “cover[s] the hidden elements in man’s character and personality.”[ii] Who could hope to pass such a test unless the Lord supplied him/her with a new heart to replace the sinful heart described by Jeremiah?

Thankfully, Ezekiel offers some help:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (36:26-27).

Clearly, it is the Lord Himself that supplies the new heart.[iii] The prophet also shows this new heart coincides with the indwelling of the Spirit.[iv] Given the information discussed so far, it should seem clear that a Christian will indeed possess a new heart. But how can a saved person know they are in possession of such?

Once again, many among the Southern Baptists (and others) may likely point once again to a specific event when one made a decision for Christ and received baptism. This same type of response is frequently given by families of the departed when they are desperately searching for some measure of hope for the salvation of their departed loved one. This frequently is the case even when the loved one showed no evidence of salvation in their post-decision life.

The answer can be found by looking back at Ezekiel 36:27. The prophet clearly teaches the indwelled believer with a new heart will “walk” according to God’s “statutes.” Jesus put it this way in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Real Christians, therefore, do not just simply make a decision for Christ; rather, they go on to live a Christ-like life of obedience. This does not mean they will not sin, but it does mean they will practice repentance (a command) when they fail to live according to God’s Word and become aware of their having failed. As Jesus tells his listeners, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt 3:8).

Unfortunately, many people want to hold onto to their one-time decision (decisionism) as their source of hope instead of growing in their hope as they receive empowerment from God’s Spirit in their inner person so as to live a Christlike life. This hope, however, is most certainly a false hope since hoping in one’s decision is the same as hoping in one’s self. Furthermore, such hope could be easily construed as idolatry. Instead of hoping in one’s self and in one’s own will, the Thessalonians exhibited “steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 1:3). The Psalmist(s) put hope in God and His Word (33:22; 130:5). In Romans 8:23-24, Paul writes that Christians hope in their resurrection (cf. Titus 1:1-2). In these Scripture references among many others, one learns true hope for the Christian lies in God and His gracious work on our behalf. It does not arise from our own efforts and experiences (including our decision to be saved). As Paul pronounces, “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Rom 8:24-25).

[i]All Scripture references are taken from NASB1995.

[ii]J. A. Thompson, The Book of Jeremiah, NICOT, ed. R. K. Harrison and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), 422.

[iii]Other terms used synonymously in Scripture to mean new heart include new creation, new self, and new spirit.

[iv]God’s work in the heart may coincide with the indwelling, but it does not necessarily all occur at that precise time. In other words, God’s saving grace can begin working in a person’s heart and enabling their reception of the gospel when it is proclaimed.