The Way Some Call Heresy
“But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets…”
(Acts 24:14)
Someone recently referred to our congregation as a cult saying, “They don’t believe like most churches. They have this weird view of God as sovereign in everything, even to the point of saying that He doesn’t actually want to save everyone, and that Christ didn’t die for everyone.”
Isn’t it a shame that the state of affairs is such today that people actually consider what we believe as heresy?
Yet, we can take heart in knowing that natural men have always considered the truth of God’s sovereignty in all things as heretical. That is because the flesh is at enmity with God. That is why they said of Christ, “He has a demon,” (John 10:20).
Look at the context!
It was because He said that He came to redeem those sheep that the Father had given Him and not everyone. Our Lord concluded with these words, “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them (from all eternity), and they follow me” (John 10:26-27).
If you are the Lord’s, why would men say anything less of you than they said of Him?
As the Apostle Paul testified, “That after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets” (Acts 24:14).
Is anything but a sovereign God taught in Scripture?
“But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”
(Psalm 115:3)
Then I confess Him as He is!
Do the Scriptures teach that my salvation is because of His choosing me, not me choosing Him?
Yes!
“Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”
(Psalm 65:4)
Then I give Him all the glory!
Does the Bible say that I am dead in my sin and that God must give me life in order to know the Lord Jesus and believe on Him?
Yes!
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.”
(John 6:63-65)
Then I bow to Him and agree with God.
Because the Bible teaches that God loves only those He has chosen in Christ, will I then try to alter His Word to make His saving love applicable to all?
No!
That is to pervert the Scriptures to my own destruction, II Peter 3:16-17.
I confess that the only way I or anyone else can worship God is if He accepts me and receives me as His own.
How does He do that?
By His sovereign electing grace, through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, whereby all that He has chosen are made accepted in Him (Ephesians 1:3-7).
Is this your confession of faith?
By Donald Bell
Jesus is LORD! 
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