When I ask people what they believe and teach, I am often told: “our pastor doesn’t really major on doctrine, but he just preaches love”. While there is hardly any doctrine of Scripture that modern day religion stands for, yet the essential doctrines of God’s word they firmly and unitedly stand against. They oppose the truth of God’s sovereign, saving grace. They insist on an equal opportunity god, and hate the Bible doctrines of man’s depravity, God’s unconditional election, particular redemption, effectual calling, and preservation and perseverance of the saints. While only God can convince anyone of these precious truths, we shall never be ashamed or embarrassed to own them and preach them. To deny man’s total depravity is to assert that man does have something to bring to the table, and salvation is not God’s work alone. To deny unconditional election is to assert that there are conditions we can meet to cause God to favor us more than others. To deny particular redemption, (that Christ died for His elect) is to assert that He was somewhat a failure, if multitudes for whom He shed His blood perish in their sins. To deny effectual calling is to assert that man’s will is stronger than the convicting power of God the Holy Ghost. To deny the preservation and final perseverance of all the saints is to assert that the Good Shepherd, who said that no man can pluck a single one of His sheep out of His hand, has lied to us, and is not to be trusted at all. Truth is that salvation, start to finish, is of the LORD, apart from which all men perish helplessly in their sins.

C. Poole