If Jesus had been concerned about their eternal destiny, would he not have given them a gospel formula whereby they could be saved for glory? Did his answer to them seem to be in accord with Solomon's admonition? (Prov. 26:5.) If he came to save his people from their sins, and if any of these were his people, why did he not give them the rule or instructions required in order for them to become sons of God? From the scriptures we know that the case related in Mark's gospel, the one who came who had great possessions, was one of Jesus' beloved. (Mark 10:17-22.) Jesus' love for him would not make him a disciple, but he was a son.  In Rev. 3:19 we read: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent." Then in Hebrews 13:8, ". . . if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." So, we see that this rich man was a beloved of Jesus and, therefore, a son.  It is a little difficult for men to believe that Jesus did not love every person on earth because of the texts that use the word "world"; however, the scriptures are abundantly clear that he did not love all. (See Rom. 9:13; Mal. 1:2-3.) Humanistic tendencies cause men to think that somehow God is obligated to love all men and to offer them a formula, whereby they can have eternal life.  The scriptures do not in any way support such a position.

     Because Satan is able to make men feel relatively important; to feel that in a measure they are the masters of their own fate, they believe that they can reach up and grasp the things in the spiritual realm and, even though they believe that eternal life is a free gift by the grace of God, it is only natural for the carnal mind to think that he has to make some move or give some assent of mind in order for God to translate him into the kingdom of his dear Son.  This idea did not make much headway into the church until after the end of the apostolic age.  Then as Christianity began to spread, going into countries committed to pagan religions, religions worshipping false gods with the idea that they had to approach the gods, to meet some kind of criteria or conditions in order to get their pagan gods to bless, it was naturally easy for Christianity to be influenced by this paganistic practice.  This agreed with the way that seemed right unto men and Christianity soon became inundated with much that was "man made." There were a few men of God during the second century who were contending for the truth, but due to the persecutions of that day, very little is known about the early church.  Apparently, the impenetrable gulf between the New Testament church and the beginning of uninspired church history was according to the providence of God to cause men of honest research to go back to the New Testament for the true pattern of doctrine and practice, rather than follow the traditions of men.  Traditions are valuable in many instances, but many of them being the ideas of men can cause the followers of the Lord to go astray in their actions.  It appears that today many are not trying to bridge the gulf and are looking only to the writings of men as recorded in history, but mostly from the works of men later than Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc.  The Baptists of this reformation era were influenced by the Reformers who had in turn borrowed some traditions from the Roman and Greek Catholic churches.

       During the first century, there is no recorded instance of infant baptism and this was true until about the beginning of third century.  As humanism began to penetrate deeper and deeper into the early church, it was only natural for obedience to the commandments of the New Testament to be construed as necessary for sonship; therefore, if one had to obey in order to be a son, then in order for infants to be "sons," they would have to be baptized.  This practice of baptizing infants was resisted by some of the more noted men of that time, but gradually spread from north Africa over the whole of the area controlled by the Roman church.  Jesus and the apostles were concerned about making disciples, but the early church soon degenerated in their belief to the point that they actually thought that there was no difference between a son and a disciple.

      When Augustine of Hippo came to the flower of his ministry, he refuted the humanistic tendency that had established itself in the Roman Catholic (Latin) church.  He was born in 353 and lived until 430.  Many of his writings are still extant, and he believed and contended for the monergistic theory of regeneration: viz., "That there is but one efficient agent or actor in the renovation of the soul: namely, the Holy Spirit; that the will of fallen man is, like all his other faculties, utterly depraved, and has not the least ability or inclination to act holily until it has been renewed by Divine grace." (Hassell's history, page 329.)

      His views were adopted by the Latin church in councils in 529, but were not accepted for very long: men going back to the way that seems right unto man.

     When Martin Luther, through the study of the scriptures and by the grace of God, nailed his "Theses" to the church door in Wittenberg in 1569, the reformation was born and most of the reformers went back to the Augustine doctrine of salvation by grace alone.  However, they were not able to make the distinction between sonship and discipleship, and Luther believed that justification by faith was a legal justification rather than a declarative and experimental one; consequently, believed that one had to exercise faith in order to be a son of God.  Calvin was of the same persuasion and the idea diffused itself among all of the reformation.  The Baptists were also persuaded that belief of the gospel was absolutely necessary in order for one to live in glory. 

     John Gill, in his commentary, promoted this idea; although in his Body of Divinity, he acknowledged that it was possible for men to go to heaven without having had the gospel as the means of their salvation. This inclination of all the reformers to believe that it was necessary for men to make some kind of response was due to the humanistic tendency that is present in all the sons of Adam -- all the human family.  The preaching of the Reformers and the Baptists of that day urged men to obey the gospel in order to escape the burning fires of hell.  Although they preached that all of salvation was of the Lord, by his free grace; that the debt was paid in full by the Son of God, however, it was necessary for each one to accept the gratuity.  They had confused the "rest" of Matthew 11:28 with the "life" that Jesus had said he would give. (John 10:28.) They were not able to separate the "water of life" of Revelation 22:17 from the eternal life that God promised before the world began. (Titus 1:2.) As this theory developed more and more, there became a consciousness of the people in other lands and their lack of the knowledge of Jesus.  Soon efforts were under way to get the gospel to them.  George Whitefield of the church of England, a Calvinistic preacher with a great gift of preaching, believing that God had many people in America, made much effort to come to America and preach the gospel.  He did not agree with much of the practice of the church of England and fell into disrepute with the church; then joined with John and Charles Wesley and gave much assistance in the establishment of the Methodist church as a separate entity.  This movement was originally a society, dedicated to the dissemination of the gospel, but because of the antagonism of the church of England, became a separate denomination.  The Wesleys' were more Arminian than Whitefield, and before Whitefield's death there was a rift between him and the Wesleys'.

     As we look back on the development of the Missionary movement in England, and see Andrew Fuller of the Baptists and his concern for the heathen, we see how humanism gradually took over the theology of the days following the reformation.  The seeds of this had been present from the time of the New Testament church, but as transportation and knowledge of other parts of the world increased, it was only natural that men of deep religious persuasion; and, who like John Wesley, did not consult the Bible to ascertain whether the doctrine of election was biblical or not, would become concerned with the "heathen" in other lands.  Because all of the men of the leadership of the Reformed churches, as well as the Baptists, believed that the gospel was necessary in order for one to be a son of God, a movement was instituted to "save the heathen." Theology in almost all denominations gradually was transformed from Calvinistic to Arminian.  This put man "back in the driver's seat." He had fallen for the old ruse of Satan: "You will become as gods," and had deluded himself into thinking that by his own will he could determine his eternal destiny.

     Many today are seeking to restore New Testament Christianity, but it appears that they are not going back far enough to find the basis for it.  I fear they are making the same error of the reformers; looking to the traditions of the fathers rather than bridging the gap back to the New Testament church.  If we are going to have true apostolic worship, the emphasis has to be on making disciples.  If we deceive ourselves with unscriptural efforts, it will lead to other divisions as it did in the Baptist ranks in the early 19th century in America.    

     As men have drifted more and more into humanistic theology in the last few years, crime has increased in direct proportion to the hedonism that was a direct result of turning away from discipleship among the Lord's people.  In the first epistle of John we read:

                "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

     The "cheap grace" offered in many modern pulpits, which teaches that men only have to obey the gospel (what constitutes gospel obedience varies from denomination to denomination) and they become heirs of heaven with all of its glory, is conducive to slothful Christian living. Our philosophers, also many of our educators, are encouraging hedonism among both the young and old; teaching that the pleasure of each individual is more important than anything else in this world.  The preachers have been leaving the impression that God is standing with open arms, ready to receive them when they have had their fill of sin, that the only risk they incur is that they might die before they obey, but if that does not happen, then they will have all the blessings of heaven as soon as they repent of their sins.  This is not a scriptural position at all, yet the vast majority of the population in Christianity believes it.  It is the way that seems right unto man.

     In every nation where the teachings of the Bible regarding election have been believed, where men have read their Bibles to try to find out if they were among the elect or not, crime has reached its lowest point.  This is a matter of history and can be verified by very little research.  In fact, in the early days of the United States the vast majority of the churches were Calvinistic in their teachings, but as free-willism grew and was believed, crime grew in direct proportion to it.

     It is also true that not believing one text in the Bible leads to not being ready to believe others.  Satan gets his "foot in the door" and leads God's children astray by causing them to put their own construction on the texts that do not agree with their ideas.

       In fact, it appears that most people read the Bible to try to prove what they believe, rather than to find out what they should believe.  Unbelief has caused the downfall of many of God's children through the ages.  In fact, the sin of unbelief has caused more grief than any other one sin; yet so many think it no offense to not believe some texts that do not agree with their pet notions. 

      We need to remember that unbelief kept the children of Israel from the promised land of Canaan -- it did not keep them from being delivered from Egypt, but it barred their entrance into the land of Beulah.  So it is today.  Unbelief does not prevent one of God's elect from being a son, but it can sure block the way to discipleship.  Apparently, it is high time for God's people to awake out of sleep. (See Romans 13:11, etc.) During the last 150 years there has been a drawing back by many who believe the doctrine of grace, lest they be accused of becoming Arminian in their theology.  This needs to be put behind and the church assume the responsibility placed upon it by Jesus just before he returned to his throne.  "Go ye therefore, and teach (make disciples of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 28:19.)