You are out of town and are looking for a good church.  After doing online research, you find one and visit.  The church says “Baptist,” “independent.” They go soulwinning, telling people to repent and be saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. They all have King James Bibles. They say nothing about Ruckman. They reject Jack Hyles’s anti-repentance heresies.  They reject CCM, Contemporary “Christian” Music.  They believe in eternal security but are not Calvinist.  They dress modestly and believe in gender distinction.  They reject the charismatic movement.  They reject covenant theology and are dispensational, premillennial, and pretribulational.  Truths such as the resurrection of Christ, the Trinity, etc. are, of course, all believed.  The people are friendly and the pastor preaches with conviction and makes application.  Everything looks great!

 

You go to the tract area to pick up some gospel tracts.  The content seems fine for most of them.  Then you find a pamphlet about the future.  On one side it says: “Very soon millions of people shall suddenly disappear!”  Everything that it says in that part sounds fine.  But on the other side it says “Why have millions of people suddenly disappeared?” and in that section you are shocked when you discover statements that deny the gospel!  In this section, which is addressed to people who miss the Rapture, appear statements such as:  “Remember, to be saved you must put all your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and keep the commandments of God,” and “You can only enter [God’s] Kingdom  if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and … by … keeping the commandments.”  What is going on here?

 

You look at the pamphlet a bit more carefully.  You notice within it a drawing of people going up in the Rapture; one of the graves with a person going up says “Peter Ruckman.”  Hmm.

Then you see that it is published by one “John Davis” who runs a “Time for Truth!” website and helps lead “The Oaks Church.”  You discover that these sectaries are significant publishers of Ruckmanite literature.

 

The church you thought was fine turned out to be one where Peter Ruckman’s heresy that there are different ways of salvation in different time periods is being believed and practiced, although they did not openly proclaim their Ruckmanism.  That is bad.  It is really bad.  Such a church is not one to go back to unless they repent and renounce their heresy on the gospel.  Multiple (alleged) ways of salvation is a false teaching to tolerate “not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you” (Galatians 2:5).  Ecclesiastical separation is commanded by God (Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Ephesians 5:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 14).

 

Ruckman believed an eternally secure salvation by grace alone through faith alone is only for the church age; supposedly in past times for Israel and in future times such as the Tribulation period salvation is not by repentant faith alone, but by faith and works.  What are some questions you can ask someone who believes or is being influenced by this heresy?  Here are a few.

 

1.)   Does the fact that Genesis 15:6 is referenced in Habakkuk 2:4, and these two verses are themselves referenced in James 2; Romans 4; Galatians 3; and Hebrews 10-11 show that justification has always been by faith alone, rather than by works?  (The extremely powerful nature of this development of salvation by faith alone from the patriarchal times of Abraham, through the Mosaic dispensation, into the New Testament is developed in the study “The Just Shall Live by Faith”). Why does Paul prove his teaching of justification by faith alone with these kinds of Old Testament texts?  Don’t these passages show that Abraham, Moses, Habakkuk, James, and Paul all taught the same human response was required to be saved—faith, and faith alone?

 

2.)   For century after century the Jews were singing Psalms with many verses such as: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12). If salvation was ever by works in the Old Testament, why would God command them to sing that ALL who trust in God’s Son are blessed (not “some” are blessed, those who trust and also do enough works to be saved?) Is the Psalter deceiving Israel when it regularly teaches salvation by faith alone?

 

3.)   Why does Peter testify that ALL God’s OT prophets witnessed to justification by faith alone in the Messiah? “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43).

 

4.)   Why is the Old Testament full of the truth of salvation by grace alone? (For example, the Sabbath teaches salvation by faith and resting from works, according to Paul in Hebrews 3-4, so from the very seventh day of creation God’s resting taught man: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10). One major reason working on the Sabbath deserved the death penalty was to teach Israel what a grave sin it was to seek to enter God’s salvation rest by effort instead of resting in Jehovah and His provided atonement alone. Likewise, Moses told Israel that their being chosen was sheer and totally undeserved grace (Deut 7:6-8); the very preface to the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-2) indicates that Israel was to obey because they were already a redeemed people, not in order to merit salvation, just as believers today obey because they are already a redeemed people, not to merit salvation.  There are many texts such as: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1-2); how? Through the Messiah, in the immediate context—Isaiah 52:13-53:12; 55:4.

 

Read part two on Peter Ruckman’s Multiple Ways of Salvation Heresy by clicking here.

 

–TDR