In 1989
Dr. Kent Hovind started Creation Science Evangelism (CSE)
ministry. I greatly admire Dr. Kent Hovind as a man who stands for his
convictions. My heart goes out to Dr. Hovind and his entire family. They've
been through so much, especially over the past several years. Satan is
trying to destroy all of God's children.
I admire Dr. Kent Hovind for his tireless work over the decades to straighten
out all the messed-up kids and adults today alike, who've been fascist-style
Nazi-indoctrinated with the lies of
Devilution.
Albeit, my first allegiance, love and loyalty is to Jesus Christ and the
inspired King James Bible. I have little patience with heresy and the
neo-evangelical garbage of John MacArthur,
Ray Comfort, Paul Washer,
Kirk
Cameron and others who sinfully teach that a person MUST try really hard to
stop sinning (or determine to do so) in order to receive the free gift of
eternal life by God's grace. Salvation is by grace through faith PLUS
NOTHING! I'm tired of religious people saying they believe that, but then
require people to make changes to be saved. In this article I will make my
heart's appeal to all who are curious and interested and I pray you'll hear
me out as a humble servant of my King, the Lord Jesus Christ!
Eric Hovind and Paul Taylor of Creation Science Evangelism
(CSE) may not realize it, but they are in
theological agreement with the demonic Jehovah's Witnesses cult. May I say, God makes the changes
in a person's life! Our part is to believe
the Gospel. Our part is to acknowledge our sinnership and trust the Savior
for forgiveness. Salvation is without obligation on the part of the sinner.
God is obligated to keep His promise to save those who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is no obligation in any way whatsoever upon the sinner
to stop sinning, be willing to stop sinning, forsake the world, nor change anything
in order to be saved! Eternal life is received, not achieved. Change is a result
of genuine repentance, and not a prerequisite to be saved.
I greatly admire the Hovind family and have prayed for
Kent often during his tribulations for the Lord. I pray for the Lord's will
to be done in Brother Hovind's life. That is also my prayer for all my web visitors,
and my own. I always pray for
God's will, not my will. God sees what we don't see. He knows all. I
continually pray for God to work in the hearts and lives of my web visitors.
It's God's ministry, not mine. Nothing matters if it's not bathed in prayer.
God resists the proud, but giveth grace to the humble (James 4:6). I need
God in everything I do. I can't do it alone. I need thee every hour.
CSE's False Gospel
Having said that, I was saddened, hurt and
angered this week (June 20, 2012) when I found the following heresy at the
Creation Science Evangelism (CSE) website. I've promoted their
ministry for a long time and I feel betrayed when I see stuff like
this...
“How can you be
saved?
First, you must recognize the truth of what I have written above
— that you are a sinner, who deserves hell and who needs and
wants a Savior.
Second, repent of your sin.
This means that
you must turn completely away from your sin. It is more than
just saying sorry; it is a complete change of direction as you
endeavor,
by God’s power, to go His way, instead of the way of sin.
Third, you must trust in Jesus completely. You see, He took the
punishment for your sins on the cross. He is the only person who
never sinned — yet God the Father punished His Son in your place
and in my place, if we will accept Him. So put your complete
trust in Jesus. Pray to Him (this is like talking to Him) and
ask Him to forgive you. He always and immediately forgives those
who genuinely call on Him in this way.” [emphasis added]
SOURCE:
http://www.creationtoday.org/about/how-to-be-saved
The Bible doesn't anything about being
sorry for one's sins to be saved. Some people are, but is it
required? We must be careful not to ADD to the Gospel, nor SUBTRACT
from it. CSE
says not only is being sorry for sins not enough, but the sinner must also make a
complete turn about in his or her life—they must ENDEAVOUR!!! That's the word
CSE uses. My intent is not to criticize CSE, but to defend the
simplicity that is in Christ. It's not just CSE... Lordship
Salvation is becoming the rot of dead churches everywhere.
Evangelist Lester Roloff beautifully put it this way... “Real
repentance is putting your trust in Jesus Christ so you will not
live like that anymore.” This is very different than requiring a
person to endeavor to BE SAVED. No Sir, you don't have to endeavor
to be saved. Jesus bore our burden of sin upon Calvary's cross so
that we wouldn't have to spend eternity in the fires of Hell.
The
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines endeavour as “to
attempt (as the fulfillment of an obligation) by exertion of
effort.” Is this the Gospel? Does God require a person out of
OBLIGATION to attempt and put forth effort to stop committing sinful
bad habits? I mean, according to this corrupted teaching by Eric
Hovind and CSE, a person would have to try really hard to stop going to the
gambling casino, race track, strip-joint or whore house to be saved.
Check this out... CSE's interpretation
of REPENTANCE is in 100% agreement with the Mormon cult's
understanding of repentance...
"To
repent we need to recognize and feel sorry for what
we’ve done wrong,
do
whatever is possible to repair the damage it may
have caused, and to leave our sinful behavior behind.
Repentance can be difficult
and requires a lot of honesty, but the joy and
freedom we feel when we turn away from our sins are
well worth the effort. Because Christ suffered for
our sins, we can be forgiven when we repent. That’s
why the Atonement is so important to all of us."
SOURCE:
Jesus
Christ | Mormon.org
I have absolutely nothing
personal against Eric Hovind, God knows my heart. I like the
Hovind family from everything I've read and learned. I'm
like a pitbull on the internet, standing guard against
heresy. My bark is louder than my bite. Actually, I don't
bite at all; but I can bark quite loud sometimes and amen to
that! Someone needs to take a stand! I have to be careful who and what I bark
at, which can sometimes be difficult, but I pray for God to
guide my heart. I am barking here in
this article against this blatant false teaching concerning
salvation.
Look for yourself and you'll learn, that CSE has
aligned themselves with Mormon theology. Let's get back to
the Bible folks! “Repentance” in the Greek in Mark 1:15 is
metanoeo, which
I'm going to cover in detail in a moment. It simply means “a
change of mind,” no more.
One of my personal heroes is Harry
Ironside (old ironsides they called him). Listen to how eloquently
this wise man who never stepped foot into a seminary, explains the
simplicity of the Gospel...
Jehovah's Witnesses And
'Creation Science Evangelism' Agree
Here is what the satanic Jehovah's Witnesses teach at the Watchtower.org
website...
"Salvation is a free
gift from God. It cannot be earned. Yet it does require effort
on our part."
SOURCE:
What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web
Site
What a major contradiction!!! How can salvation
not be earned, but it requires effort?
Now read and see that Eric Hovind and Paul
Taylor teach at 'Creation Science Evangelism' (CSE), which is the same exact
heresy...
“How can you be
saved?
First, you must recognize the truth of what I have written above
— that you are a sinner, who deserves hell and who needs and
wants a Savior.
Second, repent of your sin.
This means that
you must turn completely away from your sin. It is more than
just saying sorry; it is a complete change of direction as you
endeavor,
by God’s power, to go His way, instead of the way of sin.
Third, you must trust in Jesus completely. You see, He took the
punishment for your sins on the cross. He is the only person who
never sinned — yet God the Father punished His Son in your place
and in my place, if we will accept Him. So put your complete
trust in Jesus. Pray to Him (this is like talking to Him) and
ask Him to forgive you. He always and immediately forgives those
who genuinely call on Him in this way.” [emphasis added]
SOURCE:
http://www.creationtoday.org/about/how-to-be-saved
Here again, the Jehovah's Witnesses are
teaching the same exact false understanding of repentance as CSE...
The message is clearly that admission of
sinnership and faith in Christ is NOT enough to save a person; but that
there must also be some amount of personal effort to depart from iniquity
and ENDEAVOR to go God's way instead of the way of sin. That my friend is
100% self-righteousness!!! The Jehovah's Witnesses teach at Watchtower.org
that eternal life is a free gift, and that it cannot be earned; but then
they turn right around and also teach that some amount of effort is required
ON OUR PART.
That's exactly what the Creation Science
Evangelism team is teaching as well, that is, that admission of being a
sinner and believing the Gospel is NOT enough to get saved... there must
also be “A COMPLETE CHANGE OF DIRECTION AS YOU ENDEAVOR.” Oh, that our
churches and ministries who profess the name of Christ would wake up to
what's going on in the world today. Satan with all his corrupt Bibles and
corrupt Bibles teachers (like heretics Ray Comfort and Paul Washer) are
redefining what it means to have “faith,” what it means to “repent” and what
term “Lord” means in relation to salvation. By wrongly redefining terms,
they are preaching ANOTHER GOSPEL that cannot save, for it is a false plan
of salvation based in personal effort instead of the finished redemptive
work of Jesus Christ.
Any plan of salvation that places the burden of
sin upon the sinner, instead of completely upon Christ is a false Gospel.
Anyone who teaches that salvation is a free gift, but some amount of
personal effort is required is a liar. Paul Washer, Rap Comfort, John
MacArthur, Paul Taylor, Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn, Eric Hovind, Max Lucado,
Joel Osteen, Moody Bible Institute (and the list is growing larger
quickly)... all teach that faith in Christ is not enough to save; but that
some amount of personal effort is required (which they wrongly understand to
mean repentance).
The only object of repentance is to believe the
Gospel (Mark 1:15, “repent ye, and believe the gospel”). A sinner
repents of unbelief, which compels them to believe the Gospel. That's all
that repentance means, that is, a change of mind.
False prophets turn salvation into two steps.
They require repentance as man's part (to stop living in sin); and then they
say to place faith in Christ (which is God's part). That's not what the
Bible teaches. Salvation is one step of believing the Gospel. Repentance is
part of the same act of believing. That is, one who has repented has
believed, and one who has believed has repented. Repentance without
believing is turning over a new leaf or amending one's ways, but it is not
Biblical salvation.
Judas repented (Matthew 27:3), throwing the 30
pieces of silver onto the ground, but he wasn't saved because he didn't
believe the Gospel. The word “repented” concerning Judas is an entirely
different Greek word, which means “to have remorse afterwards.” That is
quite different from “a change of mind,” which is the Biblical definition of
repentance concerning salvation.
Pastor
Harry Ironside (1876-1951) Has it Correct
Please read the following excellent
explanation of the Gospel by former Moody Memorial Church
pastor,
Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951)...
“The
Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways,
to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in
the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do
not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to
be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the
mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a
call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave
yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the
past …
Nor is the Gospel a
demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins,
that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones.
You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel
and consequently never be saved at all.”
SOURCE: Dr. Harry A. Ironside,
from the sermon:
What Is The Gospel?
Clearly, Ironside correctly taught a
Free Grace view of the Gospel. Amen! Don't mess with the Gospel.
Just believe it!
Charles Spurgeon
required sinners to renounce every sin, which simply means not
to hold back on any sin. Not one! We must confess to God every sin
and acknowledge that we are as guilty as He says in His holy Word
(Romans 3:19). Lordship Salvationists have it all backwards. They
mandate change as a requirement for salvation; but a changed life is
the FRUIT of genuine repentance unto salvation, and not a part of
the ROOT of saving-faith.
CSE requires... “A complete change of direction
as you
endeavor?” This is a false plan of salvation. The only direction
that a person needs to go to be saved is the cross of Calvary. Why
do so many people pervert the Gospel message? Just leave it alone
unless you truly understand it. Christ died, was buried and rose
again. If that's your hope for \Heaven then you're saved. Kent
Hovind is So close to accurate. I watched a handful of videos and he
did a great job presenting the Gospel,
then He sounded like an
entirely different persons HERE (teaching Lordship Salvation).
If they ever correct their beliefs
concerning salvation at CSE, then I'll gladly promote them and count
them friends in the work of the Lord. Right now I feel like they're
working against me as I'm trying to preach the integrity of the
Gospel. We mustn't add nor subtract from it, and if I do, or you do,
or anyone else does, let him be accursed as Galatians 1:7,9
warns!!! Let's not pervert the Gospel as Ray Comfort and John
MacArthur blatantly and arrogantly do. I'll gladly be considered the
villain for doing a hero's dirty work. Someone's got to be on the
firing line for God. Here am I Lord, send me!!!
Kent Hovind's Disturbing
Gospel
Beware of anyone who associates
with the Ray Comfort Crowd (who
idolize and sell John
MacArthur's books on their websites). Sadly,
Dr. Kent Hovind also teaches a
false view of repentance. In the video, Dr. Hovind errantly says...
“God's looking for a
change in your attitude where you say, “Lord I don't want to do
wrong anymore. I'm sorry. I've offended you. I want to do
right.” And you turn from sin, and you turn to God, and you say,
“Will you please forgive me.”
SOURCE:
Kent Hovind
Says You Must "Repent of Your Sins" to be Saved - YouTube
Ladies and
gentleman, that is NOT the Gospel taught in the Scriptures. Do you
have to change your attitude to be saved? Repentance is changing your
mind so you'll believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15); not changing your
mind so you'll stop living in sin. You depart from sin because you
are saved, not to get saved. It is a big deal, because people are
going to Hell.
Where
does the Bible say that we have to desire not to do wrong any more?
Kent Hovind admits that he refused to receive Christ for
salvation the first couple times he was approached by a soul-winner.
He was honest and said, I know that God will expect changes when I
get saved and I'm not ready for that. I've had unsaved people tell
me the same thing, that is, that they aren't ready to get saved because
they're living in sin. I commend them for being honest, but Hell awaits
them.
Men are saved by believing the Gospel, not by
changing their attitudes. True repentance is the change of attitude that
causes a man to believe the Gospel; not a change of attitude that causes man
to to amend one's ways, forsake the world and cease from sinful bad habits. A
sure sign of Lordship Salvation is when a false prophet says that being
sorry for one's sins is not enough to be saved, but that there must also be
a desire to cease from personal sins as well.
The truth is that neither are required to be
saved. No where in the Scriptures are we told that a person must be sorry
and feel remorse (penance) for their sins to be saved. That is Roman
Catholic false doctrine. Romans 3:19 says that God's Law was given that all
the world might become “guilty before God.” A person need only acknowledge
their guilt of sin and believe the Gospel to be forgiven and saved
eternally.
It's really
tragic... R.B. Thieme Jr. mentors John MacArthur, then John
MacArthur mentors Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron and thousands of his
followers, then Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron infect ministries like
CSE, Moody Bible Institute, et cetera. Moody publishes all of
MacArthur's newer books, but McArthur thinks
Jesus' literal blood soaked into the ground at Calvary's hill
and stayed there. Hebrews 10:29 says that MacArthur is cursed for
trodding underfoot the precious blood of Jesus as if it were a
unholy (common) thing, like trash or an old tire, or a toilet
plunger. Oh my friend, Jesus' precious and
literal blood is tonight on the mercy seat (Hebrews 9:22,24) in
the heavenly Holy Place (Hebrews 9:12).
Churches
today are plagued with this type of neo-evangelical liberalism.
First, if the Death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ is not mentioned, then there absolutely can be no salvation,
because the cross is the way of salvation. By definition, 1st
Corinthians 15:1-4 tells us plainly that the Gospel is the death,
burial and resurrection of the Lord.
Biblical repentance unto salvation is “a change
of mind” that compels a man to believe the Gospel (Mark 1:15); but to teach
that a person must have a changed attitude—a desire to clean up their life
of sin—is a false plan of salvation. Repentance pertains only toward
believing the Gospel; NOT ceasing from a sinful lifestyle. It is a subtle
difference, but the difference between free-grace verses self-righteousness.
In other words, the Gospel is the object of
true repentance; not ridding one's life of sin, which is what heretics like
Ray Comfort and John MacArthur teach. Mark 1:15 plainly teaches that the
Gospel is the object of repentance. Men repent and believe the Gospel. That
is salvation. Repentance and believing are not two separate steps to
salvation; but rather, repentance is a change of mind that prompts a man to
believe the Gospel. They are two parts of one step. The man who has repented
has believed, and the man who believes has repented. This is why the Gospel
of John mentions the word “believe” and “believed” 85-times, but the word
“repent” is never mentioned, not even once.
An Important Basic Lesson
On The Greek Meaning Of 'Repentance'
Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God is at hand:
repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
ONE WORD can start a war, end a war,
turn the tide in a battle, and even restore lifelong friends who
were previously separated by one word ill-spoken in gossip. Ah, yes
the power of words.
What does the word “repent” mean here
in Mark 1:15? The important word “repent” here is the Greek word
metanoeo, meaning “to think differently
or afterwards, that is, reconsider.” That's not my opinion. This
is what the original Greek word means. Hence, it is upon realizing
one's sinfulness and need for the Savior that a sinner places faith
in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what repentance means.
Repentance is a change of mind, not of lifestyle nor priorities.
CreationToday.org is teaching a false gospel of self-righteousness.
Like most false prophets, they maintain their belief in salvation by
grace through faith in their official statement of faith; but then
teach something totally different in their daily ministry.
The Gospel is so very simple that
people miss it entirely. Most people don't think they need the
Gospel. They don't think they're going to Hell. Others just don't
care because they're either too young and having fun, or too old and
growing cold. Most people think they can get to Heaven by their own
merit and following a few church ceremonies like water baptism,
confession, holy matrimony, last rights, et cetera. My friend, none
of those things can help you get into heaven. Your sins are the
issue. Your sins need to be forgiven and only the God-Man with the
nail-scared hands and feet can save you.
Kindly,
Jack Chick needs to learn that
metanoeo
in the Greek means “To think
differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider.” Then he'll stop
being so blind and stubborn on the issue and edit his tracts a
bit. Here's the WHOLE PROBLEM (and please listen carefully
everyone)... Ready? ...
Whereas the Bible teaches
that repentance is a change of mind which leads to believe the
Gospel; Jack Chick teaches that repentance leads to turn away
from sins.
Whatever has been hindering you from
getting saved, repent (change your mind) about the matter, so you'll
believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ and get saved.
Jack Chick
does the same thing. So also does
Ray Comfort. So also does
Paul Washer. They're
all Making Salvation Hard.
It is ashamed that so many professed Independent Baptists have
fallen into the neo-evangelical falsehood of the Lordship Salvation
heresy. I wish Eric and Kent Hovind would just go back to ther plain
ole Gospel.
Not only do they completely fail to
mention the DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ (which is
the Gospel according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4); but they also
REQUIRE that a person completely change the direction of their life
concerning sin to be saved.
This is 100% Works Salvation!!! ...
Where The Burden Rests In Salvation
That's total self-righteousness!!! Eric Hovind and his staff at
Creation Today ministry are unsaved heretics!!! Beware of anyone
who fails to mention the death, burial and resurrection.
Salvation is by grace through
faith plus nothing! So many men today are
arrogant—jumping-on-the-bandwagon to support their friends in the
ministry—friends who are corrupted and pulling on the same rope as
the Devil. Ecumenicals gravitate toward each other. They all have a
total misunderstanding of what Biblical repentance means.
Not only do they completely fail to
mention the DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ (which is
the Gospel according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4); but they also
REQUIRE that a person completely change the direction of their life
concerning sin to be saved.
This is 100% Works Salvation!!! ...
Moody Publishers publish many of John
MacArthur's books. Moody church tries to pretend that they still
believe like they once did a century ago when D.L. Moody (their
founder) was still alive, and also back when Henry A. Ironside (who
pastored the Moody Memorial Church from 1930 to 1948). BUT THEY ARE
INDEED CHANGING AT MOODY, evidenced by their spiritual love affair
with Dr. John McArthur.
I am not trying to be unkind towards
anyone, but souls are at stake here. Galatians 1:9 plainly warns
about ANOTHER Gospel which is cursed. The members of Christian
Science Evangelism (CSE) are certainly
preaching a false gospel which cannot save. I thought at first that
perhaps Eric Hovind was behind it; however, from listen to a video
of Dr. Hovind himself I am saddened to conclude that he also teaches
Lordship Salvation.
God
winked
at the ignorance of the Samaritan's in the Old
Testament; but men are without excuse today, and God commandeth all
men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). But be careful my friend,
because Satan has crept into churches to REDEFINE important Biblical
words like inspiration, faith, repentance, Hell and Lord.
The Devil has succeeded, but not in all
the churches. The Lord has 7,000 men who haven't bowed their knee to
Baal (1st Kings 19:18). I love that. Elijah thought he was all alone
and God reminded him that there were many others too. The beloved
King James Bible is still the golden standard by which Christians
worldwide look for truth, strength and purity of doctrine. It ain't
been messed with! Let the Devil's children use the corrupt modern
Bibles. Look no further than Romans 10:9 in the perverted
New International
Version (H.I.V., I mean, NIV) for heresy. What do you expect
from a Bible committee featuring homosexuals and lesbians?
However, their college today requires a
person to make a commitment in order to be saved. It is a false plan
of salvation. The Holy Spirit doesn't need our help to convict new
converts and try to alter the Gospel to force men to forsake their
sins in exchange for salvation. All they're doing is turning
salvation into a deal, a reward. Eternal life is supposed to be a
free gift paid for by the literal precious blood of Jesus (1st
Peter 1:18-19). ADDING anything to simple grace by faith in the
finished work of Christ is a false gospel. Men are arrogant and want
to have part a cleaning up people, but that's no salvation.
Their false plan of salvation requires
the sinner to ENDEAVOUR!!! That's the word they use. The
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines endeavour as “to
attempt (as the fulfillment of an obligation) by exertion of
effort.” Is this the Gospel? Does God require a person out of
OBLIGATION to attempt and put forth effort to stop committing sinful
bad habits? I mean, according to this corrupted teaching by Eric
Hovind, a person would have to try really hard to stop going to the
gambling casino, race track, strip-joint or whore house to be saved.
According to CSE's false gospel
a person would have to put forth much effort in an attempt to stop
lying, lusting, cheating, cursing and gossiping. Is this what the
Bible teaches? No, not at all! Eric Hovind has been infected with
the same perverted garbage that Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Paul
Washer and John MacArthur all have. It's frightening the number of
professed evangelical Christians who have bought hook, line and
sinker into the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation! They say to be
saved, “Follow Jesus for the rest of your life” and “accept Jesus
into your heart” and “surrender your life to Christ” and “make a
commitment to Jesus Christ.”
May I say, Judas did all of these
things and still went straight to Hell when he died. And Judas was
one of Christ's very 12 apostles. Judas wasn't saved because he had
never believed the Gospel, that is, the good news that Jesus DIED,
was BURIED and ROSE bodily three days later. Jesus said that Judas
had a devil in him (John 6:70).
Read how
John MacArthur's perverted Gospel aligns with the Mormons. Also,
read how John McArthur's perverted
Gospel aligns with the Seventh-day Adventists. It is frightening
when false religions and false prophets agree in theology concerning
salvation, with the leading theological evangelical leaders of our
day. It's apostasy and Satan is behind it. Roman Catholicism totally
agrees with the
New Ecumenical meaning of being born-again that Lordship
Salvationists use. The simple Gospel of Jesus Christ puts them all
to shame and silence. Jesus DIED, He was BURIED and was RESURRECTED
after three days (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). If you received the
Gospel as payment for YOUR SINS, then you are saved forever. Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God Who came into the world to save
sinners.
Is John MacArthur a Mormon, Seventh-day
Adventist, Calvinist, Catholic, Evangelical, Ecumenical, et
cetera???
Paul Washer Calls
Soul-Winning Baptists 'Stupid'
Dr. Kent Hovind's
HERESY
That Sin Didn't Exist Until Adam
I just took a look at
Eric
Hovind's website and they strongly teach Lordship Salvation and
a false Gospel of self-righteousness. Dr. Hovind's son has taken
over the ministry and changed it for the worse in my opinion. I also
disagree with Dr. Kent Hovind on some of his false theology, such as
this quote he makes:
"Without
a doubt, the foundation upon which our salvation and hope rests
is the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. God created
a perfect, sinless earth and placed upon it a perfect, sinless
man. This man, Adam, enjoyed close fellowship with his Creator
until he sinned and broke the perfect relationship between God
and man. Ever since that time, death and degradation have
plagued God’s once-perfect creation, and man has been separated
from God. However, the shedding of Christ’s innocent blood on
the cross can restore man’s fellowship with God and provide him
eternal life. Through Adam’s sin, death entered into the world;
but through Christ’s sacrifice, salvation is made possible
(Romans 5:19). Therein lies the gap theory’s
greatest error, the placement of sin and death prior to the
existence of Adam. If death existed prior to Adam’s sin, then
how could it be the result of sin?"
SOURCE:
Creation Today » The Gap Theory Denies the Purpose of the Cross
Remember, Adam merely let sin into the
world, but he didn't manufacture sin. Sin was already at his
doorstep waiting to enter in. Adam simply opened the door, and it
became a Pandora's Box (Greek mythology: a box that Zeus gave to
Pandora with instructions that she not open it; she gave in to her
curiosity and opened it; all the miseries and evils flew out to
afflict mankind). In reality, Satan came to Eve and tempted her to
do evil. God planted the tree of knowledge; thus providing their
only opportunity to sin. Satan will always tempt us to do evil, but
it is God who gives us the opportunity and freewill to do right or
wrong. Life
is a test. God tested Job. God led the Jews into scorpions, thirst,
snakes and hunger in the Wilderness to test them,
to see if
they would keep His Commandments (Deuteronomy 8:2-3).
Dr. Hovind fails to address the issue
of man's sin by itself. We're talking about the human race, not
Lucifer or the fallen angels. Romans 5:12 plainly teaches that
Adam's sin opened the floodgate of sin and death; which passed upon
the world through conceiving children unto this day. Whatever sins
that the fallen angels or Lucifer commit prior to mankind has
nothing to do with the opportunity given to Adam and Eve to live in
paradise for ever. Had Eve known about the serpent and what would
happen, she never would have gone near that tree. Albeit, God
planted the tree of knowledge to test Adam and Eve. They failed the
test. God always tests us, even in His perfect will. God will not
tempt us, but He will place us in situation where we have a freewill
and the opportunity to do evil if we so choose.
So you see, there was sin prior to
mankind; but it was the sin of Lucifer and one-third of the angels
who rebelled and fell. Notice that the Bible mentions the angels
THAT SINNED...
2nd Peter
2:4, “For if God spared not the
angels that sinned,
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”
It appears Biblically that God cast
some of the worst angels into Hell right away; but cast others to
the earth with Lucifer, for where did these demons come from...
Matthew
8:28-29, “And when he was come to the other side into the
country of the Gergesenes, there met him two
possessed with devils,
coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might
pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have
we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?
art thou come hither to
torment us before the time?”
So some demons are bound in chains in
Hell, reserved for judgment; and yet there are others still free to
do evil upon the earth and afflict men's lives. We call them “fallen” angels, but actually
they chose to rebel and then they were cast out of Heaven down to
the earth. So they didn't fall in that sense. We call them “fallen”
because of their fallen moral character.
I don't like the term 'Gap Theory';
because it's a FACT and not a theory. It's best to just call it the
'Gap Principle.' Dr. Kent Hovind accuses proponents of an Old
Earth theory of attacking the cross of Calvary. Those are very
serious charges indeed!!!
Dr. Hovind argues that since Adam's sin
brought DEATH into the world (Romans 5:12), then how could there
have been a pre-Adamic world where dinosaurs lived and DIED? Lucifer
sinned prior to the fall of man in Eden. The fallen angels sinned
prior to the creation of man. These truths cannot be denied. If all
things were created 6,000 years ago, then there's a problem; because
God didn't make a devil. God made Lucifer and Lucifer walked and
served in the presence of God until Lucifer was lifted up in sinful
pride and haughty arrogance and fell, according to Ezekiel
28:13-19...
Ezekiel
28:13-19, “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every
precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the
diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the
emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy
tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that
thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;
and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God;
thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast
created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of
thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with
violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as
profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O
covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine
heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted
thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the
ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine
iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I
bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee,
and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of
all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the
people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and
never shalt thou be any more.”
Lucifer was cast down to the earth in
his anger no doubt. Science plainly teaches that an EVENT wiped out
the dinosaurs. Genesis 1:1-2 tells us that the world which God
created BECAME void. This would explain the ice age. Something
chaotic happened after Genesis 1:1 and the earth was (Hebrew: HAYAH)
without form, void and dark. This reality cannot just be ignored in
the Scriptures.