A Brother Delivered From Hardshellism

I recently received the below email from a brother who has been rescued from Hardshellism, much like I was a decade ago.  I could indeed comment on much of what is written, but practically everything he correctly states has been addressed FULLY on this blog in literally hundreds of articles.  So I will just say 'AMEN' to what this dear brother has to say.

Dear Kevin:

My name is Henry, I am a follower of Christ living in Greenville, SC. I left a Conditionalist p.b. church about two and a half years ago. I came to realize how their false doctrine of salvation without faith not only forced a mutilation of scripture interpretation but had a negative impact on my zeal for living right for the Lord. When my wife and I started attending Mountain Home Primitive Baptist Church in Asheville, NC we were very new to our understanding of God's sovereignty in salvation. We were taken in with the many "primitive" practices and teachings (which I am thankful for) but unfortunately went with them going beyond what the Lord had taught us about what being saved actually is.

I say all of that to tell you that part of me wishes that I had come across your blog about two or three years ago. Another part is thankful that I came across it right when I did. After leaving the p.b. congregation finding a biblical church has been no easy task. As I stated previously, they have enlightened me to some, I believe, important biblical practices that the majority of Christianity is ignoring or compromising (wont take up the space to go into detail on these).

This situation has made it very tempting to compromise and look past the notion of Buddhists being saved (actually heard that from the preacher) to share in common some of the other truths that I now hold fast to. It is precisely at this point where your blog has been a help to me. Through lots of prayer and study I came to the same conclusions that you have, but had no one else confirming them to me. Much of what I had read in your blog sounded like I could have written it. I believe God used your blog in my circumstance to solidify my concerns. God's plan of salvation no doubt ALWAYS includes His people placing their faith in Him for their justification. And their faith is ALWAYS evidenced by works done out of gratitude and humbleness in light of what God has done by Himself on their behalf.

This is crucial and worth defending against anything contrary to it. God will not be mocked on the last day and He will not be mocked "in time". The complete truth brings us to our knees before Him in all of the ways He has intended.

I have recently been in contact with a primitive baptist Church of the Absoluter persuasion. Much of what weighed negatively on my conscience with the Conditionalists does not exist with these folks. I am considering moving to be with them. 

Brother, the past four years of me and my wife's life has been a religious roller coaster. Do you have any advice for me?

Thank You and may God bless you.

Sincerely- Henry Barrick

My advice to you, Brother Henry, is to be careful switching to the 'Absoluters'.  While they are correct in the letter regarding the absolute predestination of all things (for this is the view espoused in the old confessions) there's a potential problem.  When the split with the Conditionalist's occurred, many of them took an extreme view of predestination and carried it to the point of fatalism.  They did exactly what our forefathers cautioned against in chapter 3 of the London Confession.  They did not handle the doctrine with care!  One of my cousins, pastor of an 'Absoluter' church, stated in a sermon once that there were three doors to the church, and that he could only go out of the one which the Lord had ordained. While technically true, he presented it in such a way as to suggest that he was a puppet on strings, and had no volition of his own!  Surely, this gross perversion of God's decree is part of the reason why those of the Conditionalists' fail to ever consider the doctrine as they don't hear it explained correctly themselves.

The biblical and historical view is that while God has ordained all to occur, men are still free agents (not to be confused with free will) and still make choices according to their strongest intentions.  Men do what they most want to do. Always what they most want to do! But what they do is but ever and always perfectly harmonious with God's decree.