I cannot recall the exact words, but John Owen once said something like this: The two greatest soul-damnnng delusions in the world are: 1. Men and women think they can be in the kingdom of God and go to God's heaven without being born again; 2. Men and women think they can be born again and not be new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This, sad to say, describes the majority of Baptists in our day. They teach (and practice) that sinners may enter the kingdom of God through a simple change of mind, giving mental assent to a few chosen verses of Scripture, and/or repeating some form of a so-called sinner's prayer. But the Scripture is plain and clear, "You must be born again." Furthermore they teach that once the sinner has gone through this ritual of decision making, then he or she is certain for heaven, though they show no interest in God, his Word, his gospel, his glory or his people. But the Scriptures are plain and clear, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold; all things are become new."
That precious faith which God gives is a faith which "works by love" (Gal. 5:6).
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