The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-19, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. Copyright 2000 by John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

I have someone who’s close to me who lives out-of-state and he’s a professing believer, but I fear his faith is a dead faith given the lack of fruits in his life. He does not currently attend church, although I’ve encouraged him to go. The last thing I want to do is point him to a church that might lead him to conclude, falsely, that he’s delivered if he’s really not. I was wondering if you could share some of your wisdom on this.

Answer

Yes, I think its very good, and this is a very pertinent question. He’s saying, “I have a friend who thinks he’s a Christian but I don’t think he is. I want to send him to a church, but I don’t want to send him to a church that’ll reinforce him as a Christian when he isn’t. That’s not helpful. You cannot make him a victim of any church, so what you have to do is you have to get him to understand the criteria. You can’t make him depend on the church. And that’s one of the reasons why when we preach series, like the series on deliverance, we put it on tape. You could say to the guy, “Boy, you know, I don’t want to send you to the wrong place, so let me run around and try to find the right place.” That’s really not helping him.

What you have to do is teach him the right criteria so he can make that judgment. So, your responsibility is to find whatever material is necessary to bring him to a proper understanding of his condition, and of the truth about salvation so that he is going to be able to make that judgment. It’s like your children. You know, if all you ever do with your children is tell them what to avoid, you haven’t prepared them for anything. Because when you’re not there, they’re not going to have the criteria to be able to make a choice that’s right. So, instead of telling your friend what to avoid or instead of protecting your friend from error, your friend needs to be taught the truth so that he then becomes the source of his own protection. So, take that series on deliverance and send it to him, and make him take notes and write the notes down and send them back to you so you know he gets it.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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