Why are you against saving souls?
Our answer to this question is based on a doctrine and understanding of salvation quite different than that taught in most churches. We totally reject the freewill concept of salvation. We totally reject the popular salvation theory of decisional regeneration. We believe from the Bible that God has purposed to save His elect by grace, has covenanted to perform all the necessary operations of grace, and He will not lose or miss a single one of them. There are links at the end of this answer providing much more complete answers found in other documents on our website.
But before you read further, may we ask how you found this document you are now reading? Is it because we do preach and write and spend money to find souls seeking for the truth and help explain the way of God more perfectly to them? We have great desire for any soul the Lord will allow us to help know Him better and grow in the grace of the Christian life. We are very much for saving souls. It is just that our definition of this great work may be different from yours.
Mel Gibson’s movie will not, and cannot, add a single name to the book of life. The names in the book of life have been there since the foundation of the world, when the elect were chosen in Christ Jesus for salvation (Rom 9:22-24; Eph 1:3-12; II Tim 1:9; Rev 13:8; 17:8). God did not give man either the ability or obligation to get any names in his book of the everlasting covenant. Eternal life is a promised gift by God to His elect before the world began (Titus 1:2; I Pet 1:2).
Man’s responsibility to his fellow man is limited to the work of conversion – the educational process by which the elect come to know Jesus Christ and lay hold of the promise of eternal life in Him. God chose His elect; Jesus Christ died for them; and the Spirit regenerates them without any human means or cooperation whatsoever (John 1:13; 3:8; 5:25; Eph 2:1). Only after being born again is a man even capable of recognizing spiritual things like Jesus Christ and His kingdom (John 3:3; 8:47; I Cor 2:14-16). Evangelism and preaching are only to bring this gracious salvation to light for the comfort and motivation of the elect (II Tim 1:9-10; 2:10).
Regarding the conversion of the regenerate elect to the truth, God has not chosen to use movies, which He could easily have given to Adam, Moses, John, or Paul. He chose to convert men by sending other men to preach the gospel (Rom 1:14-17; I Cor 1:17-24; 2:1-5; II Cor 5:18-21; II Tim 1:10; 2:10). Paul explained very carefully that enticing enhancements to preaching would cause men to be falsely “converted” without any real internal spiritual change (I Cor 2:1-5).
If a man does not respond to the preaching of the gospel, he will not respond to any other method, no matter how attractive it might be. Abraham explained this well to the rich man, who did not want his brothers coming to join him in hell (Luke 16:27-31). He said that even sending Lazarus back from the dead (which would be quite a blockbuster, huh?) would not do any more than hearing the Scriptures in the synagogue. A born again person will respond to preaching; he does not need or desire enticing methods. A person not born again will not be changed no matter how you try to seduce or scare him. He is a dead sinner and unable to regenerate himself.
Furthermore, the doctrinal heresies and errors of this movie are so many that they have no real bearing on any person’s conversion or growth in grace. There is no doctrine of Jesus Christ communicated. The movie is simply a two-hour commercial for Catholicism and an R-rated experiment in gratuitous gore. The character and teachings of Jesus Christ are entirely overlooked, which are the main components of spiritual education and growth in godliness. The present position and future expectations for Christians were totally overlooked as well. There was nothing to help convert anyone. Emotional reaction to the visual images and moving soundtrack are not conversion or conviction. Brian’s Song or Romeo and Juliet or many other melancholy dramas can do the same thing.
Any “conviction” or “results” from watching a Catholic commercial of an animated crucifix will quickly dissipate into nothing. Ever read the statistics on modern evangelistic crusades? If you come back after two years, you will only find about 2% of the “decisions for Christ” even living a nominal Christian life. The results from the movie are simply Pavlovian emotionalism that will bring tears to the eyes but no holiness to the heart or life. If a true child of God is stirred emotionally by the movie, he will have to go to the Bible or a preacher to obtain anything of value for the conversion or edification of his soul, for the movie had nothing at all to help in these matters.
Please consider the following documents in order, if you are interested in understanding the doctrine of salvation more clearly:
Unconditional Salvation by Grace
