It seems as if John 3:16 is quoted in almost every salvation tract I've ever read. The same may be said for many televangelists' sermons. The ubiquitous John 3:16 is everywhere! Yet the follow up message is often:
Quote:
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For God had such gooey compassion on us that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever repeats a 30 second form prayer at an altar call should never have any inconvienience, but have a supremely beautific and blessedly happy life here on earth.
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Exaggerated for sure, but this is the message that has doomed many young Christians to a life of frustration and burden. We have enough frustrations and burdens from the world, the flesh, and the Devil, without adding more of them from the pulpit.
The truth will set us free, but modern teaching so frequently (I know, not always) compounds our problems.
The faith that will prevail over our problems must be based on God's Word, not sloppy humanistic theories that use portions, (and selected portions at that) of the Bible to support their weak hypothyses.
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Sterling Harmon
Coventry, CT
PCA
Deacon
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"Whatever is laudable in our works proceeds from the grace of God."
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John Calvin, Institutes III:xv.3.
"Our Lord God must be a good man, to be fond of worthless fellows. I cannot like them, and yet I, myself, am one."
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Martin Luther, Table Talk