Legacy · Q&A
Faith in Christ and the Requirement of the New Birth

Comment:
I've just read a few articles on your website and so far, I am amazed and the twisting of scripture. To say that one must speak in tongues to be saved is heresy. What one must do to be saved? One must be born again. You must be born of water and born of the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven Christ spoke to Nicodemus. I do not recall in my bible that Jesus said, "You must be born of the Spirit AND speak in tongues." I don't read that because it's not scriptural. Paul also said that "if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Again, I fail to see the scripture saying if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, AND SPEAK IN TONGUES, you will be saved. It doesn't say that. Your defense of what you believe is in your interpretation of scripture. These two simple passages leave no room for your or my interpretation. It is simple and true, that one must confess their sins and acknowledge that Christ is the risen Son of God, they shall be saved.
It is unfortunate that your heretic message, the same message given by the cult UPC, has probably driven more people away from Christ than it has drawn them to Christ. That alone should make someone realize the false and errant teaching.
The glory of Christ's crucifixion, resurrection and ascension to glory making the way for all of creation to come to this knowledge in Christ and be saved should NEVER be compromised. Your teaching and isolation of scripture may prove your distorted point to some, but taking the Word of God in the context it was written in as well as obvious doctrinal points such as 1 Cor 12's teaching on the gifts provides the real truth.
Sincerely,
Robert Salmon
Answer:
Dear Robert,
Thanks for your inquiry regarding the gospel truth contained on our website. Most of the things you mentioned are answered soundly and consistently from the Scriptures, on articles posted on the site. I'm sure if your heart really seeks the truth of God, you will be able to find those answers therein. I will address the mention of Rom. 10:9,10 because I'm not altogether certain at the moment that there is a direct reference to that drastically misunderstood passage of scripture on the site. Like Deut. 30:11-14, from which this passage is taken, the text is an admonition to people who are already in covenant with God, to continue steadfastly in the faith. You can see the equivalent of Rom. 10:9,10 in I Cor. 15:1,2.
The only people that this passage of scripture can apply to, are people, like God's people at Rome whom Paul was addressing, who have been baptized by one Spirit into one body (I Cor. 12:13). No one is in the one body, or congregation of the Lord, except those who have experienced the holy Ghost baptism by means of true repentance, and faith in Jesus (Jn. 7:37-39; Jn. 4:14; Acts 19:4-6, etc., etc.). You mentioned the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension to Glory by Jesus. The one reason for all three of these realities, was so that people could be baptized with the holy Ghost by the hand of Jesus, even as John the Baptist, Jesus, and Peter affirmed (Mk. 16-8; Acts 1:4,5; Acts 2:33). You may want to refer to our article on The Baptism of The Holy Ghost From Jesus.
It was no mistake that when Jesus first began baptizing with the holy Ghost, that all of the recipients thereof spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. In I Cor. 14:21,22 the Apostle Paul let us know that speaking with other tongues is a sign to unbelievers. This God-appointed sign has always and is always present with every single experience of new birth, even as circumcision was required to be with all of the male children of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 17:10-14). The females were identified with the circumcision of their father or their husband. Circumcision was the sign to all the rest of the world, who it was at that time that was in covenant with God. There's so much more that can be said, but it appears by my tracker that you came into the website through the Bible study on "Speaking in Tongues and The New Birth," so there's a whole lot of solid scriptural evidence right there supporting this truth if you care to go over it. I have to wonder, and you should probably ask yourself, what were you doing typing in a search that would lead to my site, which is totally devoted to this holy truth? If you are interested in learning about this powerful and necessary experience of true, literal deliverance from sin, I would be more than happy to hear more from you. If some kind of religious contention and debate is more what interests you, I truly don't have time. I'm too busy working with people who are interested in growing in God, and striving after the eternal salvation of the Lord. I hope you
fall into that category.
Sincerely,
Lary Hale
P.S. Whatever this UPC is that you mentioned, I can assure you that they are not teaching the same things that are on my website. I sure wish they were.



