The false “reprobate” doctrine, taught by Steven Anderson, Donnie Romero and others is a modern heresy that attempts to change the eternal Gospel of grace to all sinners and limit the blood atonement of Jesus against a certain class of sinners, like homosexuals. It is a “limited atonement” message, a “new doctrine”, and “another Gospel” that has no basis in Scripture or in historic Christianity.

Romans 1, Jeremiah 6, Hebrews 6, and 1 Corinthians 6 is covered from the King James Bible within their proper context.

THE FALSE “REPROBATE” DOCTRINE

There is a new doctrine, a new false teaching, that has gained serious momentum among some of God’s people …

It’s another GOSPEL, a Gospel that limits the atonement of Jesus Christ, and attempts to CHANGE the everlasting Gospel of Grace to ALL SINNERS.

… And it’s all based on a FALSE INTERPRETATION of Romans 1 …

What I’m talking about is the FALSE REPROBATE DOCTRINE coming out of 1 particular SECT of IFB churches …

… being pushed by Steven Anderson, Donnie Romero, David Berzins, & Roger Jiminez, among others …

… which claim that if you are a HOMOSEXUAL, you cannot be saved!

And the way they justify is by saying that being a homosexual is a sure sign that God has given up on you and that you’ve been given over to a reprobate mind.

But the Bible teaches that there is only 1 sin that is UNFORGIVEABLE and that is BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Mark 3:28-29 says:
28 Verily I say unto you, ALL SINS SHALL BE FORGIVEN unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

That’s the only direct reference to someone being UNSAVEABLE in this life, along with taking the MARK OF THE BEAST …

… which is really the same thing, since you have to worship the beast to receive the mark, which would be blasphemy against the Godhead.

Otherwise, the Bible teaches that until our dying breath, men have the opportunity to call on the name of Jesus and be saved …

And what they are doing is preaching a LIMITED ATONEMENT Gospel message that bars the way to heaven from sinners they deem unworthy of God’s grace.

But the Bible teaches that WHOSEOVER shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The Bible teaches in Acts 10:43: “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

THE BIBLE TEACHES in 1 Timothy 2:4: “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

THE BIBLE TEACHES in Titus 2:11 says: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,”

John 3:16, the most famous Bible verse of all says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The BLOOD OF JESUS avails and covers EVERY SIN listed in the BOOK OF THE LAW, in Leviticus, in Deuteronomy …

Sin is Biblically defined as trangression of the Law, and every sin listed in the Law can be atoned for.

Therefore, if homosexuality could not be atoned for, then Leviticus 18:22 which forbids homosexuality, would not be listed in the Book of the Law.

And I find it ironic that these pastors preach aggressively against Calvinism, but they themselves preach a LIMITED ATONEMENT message.

And admittedly, there was a short time, when I had begun to fall for their false teaching, but I repented of it, and I advise you to do the same, if you are caught up in their DANGEROUS HERESY.

2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.”

So we see repeated throughout Scripture, numerous, CLEAR passages, which say that ALL & WHOSOEVER believes in Jesus will be saved …

• And so today, we’re going to cover 4 KEY PASSAGES: ROMANS 1, JEREMIAH 6, HEBREWS 6, & 1 Corinthians 6.

Let’s get right to it. TURN TO ROMANS 1 and we’ll begin w/ the famous “reprobate” passage.

Now, most people start in Romans 1:18, but let’s back up 2 verses, and begin reading at 1:16 to get more of the context.

VERSE 16 – notice that the framework is being laid that ALL MEN can be saved …

… for it is the power of God unto salvation to EVERY ONE that believeth …

• It’s IRONIC that the passage that’s being used to LIMIT SALVATION …

… is the very passage that Paul says is “the power of God unto salvation to EVERYONE ONE that believeth”

So let’s read more of the passage & we’ll come back & dissect it.

READ ROMANS 18-28.

Now let’s back up to VERSE 18

This is talking about ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNES & UNGODLINESS Of MEN …

… this is a GENERAL LIST of sins that men are capable of committing.

And this is what people miss.

Romans 1 describes the FALLEN STATE of MAN … of HUMANITY …

Whenever this passages that GOD GAVE THEM OVER or GOD GAVE THEM UP to a reprobate mind …

the pronoun THEY & THEM is referring back to its antecedent in VERSE 18 …

speaking of ALL MEN, ALL HUMANITY …

… ALL unrighteousness & ungodliness of men.

In Romans 1, Paul is condemning HUMANITY under the curse of the Law.

That’s what this CHAPTER is about.

It’s not exclusive to homosexuals.

Everybody has a corrupt mind, a vile mind, a carnal mind, a reprobate mind and is filled with unrighteousness … WITHOUT CHRIST.

Romans 1 is a general description of FALLEN HUMANITY.

REPROBATE is being used as an ADJECTIVE in this passage, not a NOUN.

It’s describing the mind of the unbeliever who is at enmity with God in his corrupt mind.

& IF YOU LOOK at the context of the whole BOOK OF ROMANS …

• In CHAPTER ONE, Paul speaks about the GENTILE and condemns them ALL under sin.

• In CHAPTER TWO, Paul speaks of the JEWS and condemns them ALL under sin.

• In CHAPTER THREE, Paul speaks of ALL sinners.
Romans 3:9-10:
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

And then Paul moves onto FAITH & GRACE in ch. 4 …

Romans 4:15-16 Paul says:
15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed …

We see a pattern here.

The context of ROMANS 1 is concluding the GENTILE NATIONS under WRATH …

… the same gentile nations who fell into LITERAL IDOLATRY …

… their idolatrous practices included HOMOSEXUALITY as a part of their false religious worship.

It’s historical fact that many pagan religions included homosexuality as a part of the idolatrous worship of false gods.

That’s what Paul is describing in Romans 1, the FALSE PAGAN RELIGION of the GENTILES.

• THAT’S THE CONTEXT! & that’s why we see in verse:

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. [speaking of pagan idolatry]
24 Wherefore [which means for this reason] God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

That’s the context of Romans 1 and what Paul is describing.

Nowhere is he claiming that HOMOSEXUALS are UNSAVABLE and that we have to hate them, like they teach.

• And we see parallels of this in the BOOK OF ACTS, when Paul & Barnabas preached to the gentiles in ACTS 14.

Paul heals someone and the gentiles believe that Paul is the god Apollos & want to worship him …

In ACTS 14:15-17, Paul says to them:
15 … Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways [doesn’t that sound a lot like GOD GAVE THEM OVER? Just like Romans 1?]
17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness …

So Paul says that they were given to their own ways … their own foolish hearts were darkened … but that God has not left himself without a witness.

THEY CAN BE SAVED!

We see the same thing in Acts 17:29-30
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. [This sounds a lot like the idols that the gentiles worshiped in Romans 1].
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

• And the problem is that ANDERSON and his followers never study beyond ROMANS 1.

They are stuck in that passage in their Bible reading, fixated on hating sodomites.

But this all becomes very clear when you read past ROMANS 1 to ROMANS 2!

ROMANS 2:1-4

• Romans 2 proves that people who do ALL the things listed in Romans 1 can repent!

So Romans 1:16 begins with Paul saying ALL who call on Jesus can be saved and ROMANS 2 shows that the people listed in Romans 1 can repent.

The whole so-called “REPROBATES ARE UNSAVALBE” passage is sandwiched in between the Gospel of Grace to ALL SINNERS.

But they take a few verses in Romans 1 out of context, apply a modern reading to it, and then turn to Jeremiah 6 to claim that REPROBATE = UNSAVABLE.

So let’s take a look at that.

JEREMIAH 6:30

And they say, see, REPROBATE = REJECTED BY GOD.

Yes, ALL unbelievers are rejected by God before they are saved!

They are condemned to an eternity in Hell, unless they call on Jesus for savlation!

And on top of that, the context of Jeremiah 6:30 has nothing to do with salvation!

Jeremiah 6 is GOD pronouncing judgment on the nation of Israel!

God had sent Jeremiah to pronounce judgment on His own people, on Judah & Benajmin, the southern tribes, because they had become rebellious.

• Jeremiah 6 has nothing to do w/ homosexuals or even w/ SALVATION.

So they’re jumping from one verse to another, ignoring the context, and CHERRY PICKING verses to say that homosexuals can’t be saved.

God was sentencing His people to captivity in Babylon, as a form of CHASTISEMENT.

• That’s the context!

… It has nothing to do with homosexuals being given over to a reprobate mind …

… it has nothing to do with spiritual salvation …

… it has nothing to do with being unsaveable.

… it has everything to do with God’s judgment on an entire NATION!

• In fact, God has MERCY on these so-called “unsavable reprobates” in Jeremiah 6:1

God warns the “REPROBATES” to flee out of Jerusalem before they’re complete destroyed, even showing them mercy in the midst of judgment, as He warns them to escape the invading armies of the North: “O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.”

But because they would not heed God’s warning, & had hardened themselves against God’s Word …

They had become worthless in God’s sight!

… & God likened them to REPROBATE SILVER …

Which is a way of saying they had become useless and were fit only to be cast aside into Babylon as a part of their chastisement.

God was using an ANALOGY to express that they had become worthless as dross in His sight.

When you understand the proper context of Jeremiah and when you understand the context of Romans 1 …

… it becomes far-fetched to use these passages to claim that God only died for STRAIGHT PEOPLE!

• AND AGAIN, if the ANDERSONITES read beyond JEREMIAH 6:30 to the next chapter, JEREMIAH 7, their argument would fall apart.

(that is if they are being honest with the Scriptures).

… because God calls the same people he called REPROBATE SILVER to repentance in Jeremiah 7!

(just like we saw in Romans 2!).

JEREMIAH 7:3-7.

God says THEY CAN REPENT.

It was within their means to CHANGE.

But since they had hardened THEIR OWN HEARTS (God didn’t do it to them), God pronounces judgment on them and says not to pray for them in v.16, because His judgment is sure.

Judgment had been pronounced on the NATION and they were going to be given over to captivity in Babylon.

• THE LESSON we learn from JEREMIAH was that Israel is eventually redeemed & rebuilt in the days of Daniel & Ezra.

That’s the STORY OF JEREMIAH. It has nothing to do with being unsavable or unredeemable or God giving up on people.

In fact, the opposite is true: it’s an incredible example of REDEMPTION!

• You have to also consider that this whole HOMOSEXUALS CAN’T BE SAVED DOCTRINE IS NOT historical Christian doctrine.

The churches of God have always believed that SALVATION is for ALL who call upon the name of the Lord!

So this is a NEW DOCTRINE, A NEW TEACHING, A NEW HERESY, coming out of the churches of Steven Anderson, Donnie Romero, & friends.

William Tyndale, who was martyred for translating the Bible into English, in his prologue to Romans 1 wrote that Paul’s purpose in writing Romans 1: “… first through opening of the law, to rebuke all things and to prove all things sin, that precede not of the spirit and the faith in Christ, and to prove all men sinners and children of wrath by inheritance, and how that to sin is their nature, and that by nature they can none otherwise do than to sin, and therewith to abate the pride of man, and to bring him unto the knowledge of himself, and of the misery and wretchedness, that he might desire help. Even so doeth saint Paul and beginneth in the first chapter to rebuke unbelief and grossed sins which all men see, as the idolatry, and as the gross sins of the heathen were and as the sins now are all them which live in ignorance without faith, and without the favor of God: and saith, The wrath of God of heaven appeareth through the gospel upon all men for their ungodly and unholy living. For though it be known and daily understood by the creatures, that there is but one God, yet is nature of herself without the spirit and grace so corrupt and so poisoned, that men neither can thank him, either worship him, give him his due honour, but blind themselves and fall without ceasing into worse case, even until they come unto worshiping of images and working of shameful sins which are abominable and against nature …”

So THIS IDEA that HOMOSEXUALS cannot be saved is a NEW DOCTRINE, not found anywhere in Scripture or supported by historic Christianity.

And the SINGLE MOST CLEAR PASSAGE that REFUTES this heresy is 1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-11.

And I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this, because I’ve gone over it before …

… but there are two phrases that they love to change in this passage: “Abusers of Themselves with Mankind” & “Such Were Some of You”.

READ 1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-11

Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Leviticus 20:13: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”

• I’ve personally received the testimony of at least 5 X-HOMOSEXUALS that have contacted me online who are now FAITH-ONLY, OSAS believers.

I’ve talked to some of them extensively & know that they’re saved!

But the cult followers of Steven Anderson will go so far as to claim that they’re LYING about their salvation …

… Even though they profess faith alone in Jesus Christ!

That’s how far they’ll take this heresy, denying the power of the blood of Jesus over their own brothers and sisters in Christ!

It’s downright shameful!

• Finally, let’s look at HEBREWS 6, as this is another KEY PASSAGE that they misinterpret.

HEBREWS 6:4-15

What they claim is that HEBREWS 6 is about people who received the Gospel clearly & but reject it & BECOME REPROBATE …

… But notice that the people mentioned in Hebrews 6 are people who the Bible says were “ONCE ENLIGHTENED” …

… And these are people who had “TASTED OF THE HEAVENLY GIFT” & were “MADE PARTAKERS OF THE HOLY GHOST” …

They actually PARTOOK of the Holy Ghost …

And then notice the phrase in v. 6: “IF THEY SHALL FALL AWAY” …

You can’t fall away from something you didn’t have.

I FIRMLY BELIEVE that HEBREWS 6 is talking about APOSTASY.

This is the same terminology we see in 2 Thessalonians 3:2, talking about the FALLING AWAY: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first …”

You don’t become ENLIGHTENED & PARTAKERS OF THE HOLY GHOST & FALL AWAY …

… unless you believed at one point & then become APOSTATE!

This is talking about BELIEVERS WHO ABANDON the FAITH altogether.

That does happens sometimes.

@ The start of CHAPTER 6 in HEBREWS …

…. Paul starts out by rebuking the baby Christians for not understanding the BASIC PRINCIPLES of the DOCTRINES OF CHRIST …

Then in v. 4 Paul says, “FOR it is impossible for those who were ONCE ENLIGHTENED …”

That “FOR” is important, it means, “BECAUSE”.

These are people who had once believed & then left the PRINCIPLES OF THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST & become APOSTATE.

• BEFORE I GOT SAVED … (just to give you a real life example) …

Back when I was in college, there was a young woman who preached the Gospel to me frequently …

We had become friends & we would always debate the Bible.

She told me repeatedly that unless I was born again, that I could not enter the Kingdom of God.

& That Jesus was the only way to Heaven!

She wasn’t the only person who preached the Gospel to me …

… But she was instrumental in many ways in my salvation.

But AFTER I got saved, she decided to go to MEDICAL SCHOOL & ended up completely denying the faith!

She stopped believing!

It was very shocking, because she had the right Gospel of faith.

But She FELL AWAY. She became APOSTATE.

Was she saved to begin with? It definitely seemed like it at the time.

A few years ago, I had an opportunity to speak with her again.

Even after 20+ years, when I asked her about her faith …

… she told me that she believes that GOD is simply the ENERGY around us & the ATOMS & MOLECULES & all the MATTER that makes up the universe.

• This is the type of person that HEBREWS 6 is describing.

It’s impossible for her to repent after such great apostasy.

She is too far gone … as evidenced over 20 years later.

• And if you read the rest of Hebrews 6, it confirms this, because Paul goes on to talk about the good works that the believers would do as those who stay the course …

READ V. 9-12

If were to interpret these passages to say that some people are UNSAVABLE REPROBATES who rejected the Gospel, this passage would be teaching works …

and we know that’s false!

• vs. 9-10: speak of the believers works

• vs. 11 speaks of enduring unto the end (thus not falling away, as the apostates and backslidden do)

• vs. 12: speaks of blessings for those who patiently endure and obtain the promise.

AND THERE’S SO MUCH MORE WE CAN COVER …

We almost need a 2-part sermon to fully cover this topic …

And perhaps I’ll do one one day or maybe bro. Marshall will do a sermon on it, covering aspects that I missed.

But we can talk about PHARAOH, who they say was a reprobate who’s heart God hardened …

… but again, even w/ Pharaoh, that was a very unique circumstance in history …

… when God showed forth His glory by rescuing His people from bondage in Egypt.

And God didn’t harden Pharaoh’s heart against SPIRITUAL SAVLATION, that’s not what the passage was about.

God hardened his heart about letting His people go, when Pharaoh had already made up his mind.

It was so God could accomplish His purpose in Egypt by His providence.

We can talk about 2 Timothy 3, where the Bible talks about FALSE TEACHERS who are ever-learning & never able to come to the truth …

But, again, this isn’t talking about homosexuals, but about accursed false teachers who preach another gospel …

… & who rely on their own intellect & carnal knowledge for salvation.

Of course, such people will never be saved, because they reject God’s truth and rely on their own knowledge instead.

It doesn’t mean that God has given up on them … but that because of their own pride, they refuse the Gospel.

And how are we to know who falls into these categories?

That’s the danger of the false reprobate teaching. People take it upon themselves to call everyone they don’t like REPROBATES.

And if we could determine who will accept the Gospel or who can be saved, God wouldn’t tell us to “PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE”.

Or they’ll misapply John 12:39-41:
39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

Again, context is key.

This was a specific reference to the Jewish nation and the Pharisee (false teachers) who had rejected Christ and fallen into great apostasy.

After they had already hardened their hearts against God, God allowed them to remain in blindness, so that the Gospel could be opened to all nations.

Remember, Jesus first came to preach the Gospel to the Jews, and it was necessary that they reject Him …

So that the Gospel could be opened unto the gentiles.

This parallels: “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.”

But to take this specific instance & to say that God has rejected people today …

… when we are under the NEW COVENANT OF GRACE …

… when God is calling on ALL MEN to repent everywhere and to believe the Gospel is a misapplication of this verse.

Further in the same passage, John 12:42, the Bible reads: “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him …”

• And what’s shameful & dangerous about all this is that it leads to an EXTREME HATRED for everyone that they deem to be REPROABTE …

… and even for CHRISTIANS who disagree with them!

They don’t allow any disagreement among their ranks!

So they go around calling Christians fag lovers and unsaved and so on, because you don’t fall in line with their false teachings and their railing hatred.

• If anything, the ANDERSONITES behave like REPROBATES!

They’re IMPLACABLE. They’re UNMERCIFUL, they’re backbiters, despiteful, proud, filled with all unrighteousness, praying that people die & go to Hell, walking around with slanders & filthy communication.

They behave worse than atheists & homosexuals, the way they attack both the unsaved & other Christians they disagree with.

And they say that we’re supposed to love OUR ENEMIES, but HATE GOD’S ENEMIES …

They misuse verses like PSALM 139:21-22, because ultimately, their false teachings lead to unprecedented hatred:
21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

But the Bible teaches that were ALL God’s enemies prior to salvation.

ROMANS 5:10-11:
10 For if, when WE WERE ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Romans 8:7: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

What the ANDERSON & co. are doing is what the SELF-RIGHTEOUS PHARISEES DID.

They restrict the Gospel to sinners whom they deem unworthy of God’s grace!

Matthew 23:13 says: “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men …”

• Their false reprobate doctrine was not obtained by the Holy Spirit & diligent study of God’s Word, but was taught by men.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THE BIBLE SAYS:

“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”

…that God “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” …

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men”.

WHOSOEVER. ALL.

Preach the Gospel to “Every Creature”.

“Be gentle unto all men”.

Let God decide the rest.