Paul Washer and John F. MacArthur's Quotes Against "Easy Christianity"

I really hate the idea of an easy Christianity because the more I read my Bible, the more Jesus has not promised me an easy life and I can trust Him on that. The more I read the Bible, the more I hate to listen to preachers who promise, "Well God wants you your best life now!" because that is nowhere to be found in the Bible. The Bible is more bad news for the sinner than good news to the sinner. The Bible speaks more about Hell than it does about Heaven, more condemnation than salvation because man really needs to hear the bad news more before they can even be given the good news.

Now I would like to share two pictures of two preachers who share their thoughts on "easy Christianity". These are the types of quotes that get taken out of context perhaps at the convenience of the Antinomian.

I don't blame Pastor Paul David Washer for showing an angry voice in a lot of his sermons against flimsy evangelism. The reason is because a lot of Southern Baptist churches, Baptist churches and Protestant circles have bought American "Christianity". How often is it that we see people who say, "Well I am saved because I said a prayer, I repeated after the preacher." and they have never been properly convicted of their sins and even if they say they are saved, they are not showing signs of true conversion. I have no reason to embrace anybody who says they are saved but instead of me seeing them struggling with sin that they are reveling in it without any conviction.

Many people today teach that it's possible to get saved and not result to any changes in one's life. I am sorry but that heresy is just as misguided as salvation by works. Worse, many say that if I teach that true salvation and true faith will result to works and that a Christian without sanctification is contradictory, they are taking the Bible out of context. Romans 3:31 says that the Law is not made void by faith but rather, faith establishes the Law as it should be established. Ephesians 2:10 and Titus 2:11-14 show that God's grace changes your life, not keeps you constantly in carnality. The doctrine of the continuous carnal Christian is deadly as it gives false assurance. The Christian is marked by perseverance because Philippians 1:6-7 says that He (God) who begun a good work will certainly finish it in the day of the Lord Jesus.


The more I listen to Pastor Washer, the more I see that he is not teaching salvation by works like I used to believe. He firmly believes in the eternal security of the believer but that is not the only point. It is true that Christ has died for all sins - past, present and future but that is not the only point. Those who are truly saved do not want to live like the world anymore. Grace is undeserved and yet it was given. The moment I got saved and even as a baby Christian, I wished that all my sins will go away in an instant but God chooses the process of sanctification. If I got saved, I am now being saved and I will be saved then if I got sanctified, today I am being sanctified and I will be sanctified for the days to come.

After listening to Pastor John F. MacArthur's sermon "The Holy Spirit: God's Prosecutor", the phrase that he quoted above really comforted me that I am listening to the right preachers but convicted me because there are times I shirk from duty. A preacher is called to be a prosecutor against sin, not somebody who makes people feel good in their sins. One of the reasons why I stopped watching a lot of so-called Christian shows on TV is because I don't hear them being sin-hating and the purpose I watch them is to grow. Instead of feeding me spiritual nourishment, I am instead fed spiritual junk food which is bad for my well-being and thank God the Holy Spirit convicted me that such people were not Christians but apostates. I used to support a lot of them until I found out that either they were unequally yoked with the Vatican or they were the feel good crowd.

One of Pastor MacArthur's books that raise the greatest controversy is "Hard to Believe". At first, it was released with a typographical error. But today's revised edition says, "Don’t believe anyone who says it’s easy to become a Christian. Salvation for sinners cost God His own Son; it cost God’s Son His life, and it’ll cost you the same thing. Salvation isn’t gained by reciting mere words. Saving faith transforms the heart, and that in turn transforms behavior. Faith’s fruit is seen in actions, not intentions. There’s no room for passive spectators: words without actions are empty and futile. Remember that what John saw in his vision of judgment was a Book of Life, not a book of Words or Book of Intellectual Musings. The life we live, not the words we speak, reveals whether our faith is authentic."

Looking at the statement that I mentioned earlier, even when it shows that salvation is not by works but people say, "Oh that's works salvation. If you teach that it's impossible for truly saved people not to grow up, then you are adding works to salvation." They also misrepresent the parable of the sower to show different believers than different types of converts where three were false converts and only one is the true convert. If they ever read the Bible on salvation in 1 Corinthians 6:11, I wonder if they ignore the words "such were some of you" and "but ye were sanctified" because whom God saves, He sanctifies and He does not save them then leave them on their own. Instead, good works start to flourish slowly but surely because they are true converts. Should they fail to produce good works, God will work on them so they will continue to be more productive.