Chapter Eight – Jesus Died in Sins

The theme of chapter eight is that Jesus died in sins on the cross without repenting of them,and paid the penalty of sin which is death. ” Since Christ was mankind’s substitute, all mankind will share with Christ in the salvation he obtained. This is why salvation is guaranteed to all mankind through the works of Christ Jesus.’ (p.90)  Martin mentions nothing about repentance,faith, being born again.

Chapter Nine – What About Hell Fire?

Martin says there is a gehenna fire for those who have sin, but because Jesus is our substitute no one will ever go to hell. All suffering for sin is done in this present life. The one thing that will happen if one does not ” repent”, is that one will not be resurrected until the final judgement. He does mention in this chapter, ” The false Trinity doctrine places the Holy Spirit in our place. This is wrong. The Holy Spirit is the power of God that the Family of God uses to do the will of the Father,but the Holy Spirit is not a personality such as the Father,the Son, or the Us ( who make up the rest of  the Godhead).( p.113)

A Brief Summary- According to Martin, all mankind is saved by Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus is the first – created being by God, and the Holy Spirit  is not personal. The gospel, the ” good news” is that all men are saved,  so realize that and act like it. We are not only saved, but members of God’s family, to the point that we are also part of the godhead. Those who do not recognize and believe this will not be resurrected until the final judgement, but will not be punished in hell. There is no room for boasting  as all have been chosen by God’s lottery for either evil or g0od.

A brief rebuttal:

Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians ( born again believers) said this, ” You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of  the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. ” There is only one way to change our fallen human nature – by ” grace through faith- then and only then are we raised with Jesus Christ. This in done by the power of God: salvation is the gift of God.( Ephesians 2:1-10) But there must be gospel preaching and there must be repentance, and there must be a true work of the Holy Spirit !

There is one and only one God, eternally existing and fully expressed in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Godhead is equally God, each is eternally God, and each is fully God- not three gods but three Persons of the one Godhead. Each person is equal in essence as each possesses fully the identically same external divine nature, yet each is also an eternal and distinct personal expression of the one undivided divine nature. ( Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Relationships, Roles, and Relevance, Bruce A. Ware, p.103)This is a very clear, detailed exposition of the Trinity – you owe it to yourself  to purchase and to read it as quickly as you can.

Some key scriptures that point to the personality of the Holy Spirit :

• John 16: 12-14-  He is the Spirit of truth – ” He will guide you into all truth”
• I Corinthians 12:3 – The Holy Spirit leads us into truth about Christ and will cause us to honor Christ
• I John 4:1-3 – Same principal – and a false spirit will not confess Jesus as Lord
• Acts 1:8 – The Holy Spirit empowers Christians – ” You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…”
• Romans 1:16, 10:9 – the gospel must be preached in order for men to be saved – Dr. Martin does not believe in the person of the Holy Spirit, thus it is no wonder he has a false gospel.
•  John 3:3-8 – “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,…you must be born again. The Holy Spirit is a necessity for the new birth.
• Ephesians 3:14- 19 – The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all mentioned in separate verses in relation to their roles and relationships.

There is much more that could be said about all the topics raised in this ” book report”.  Jesus spoke quite a bit about hell, and one does get the impression that not only does it exist , but that many will reside there. “  Broad is the way that  leads to destruction.” Dr. Martin allowed his desire for universal salvation to ” tint his glasses” to such an extent, that he forced many scriptures out of context and used them as a pretext to establish his doctrines.