If you ask most Christian pastors, irrespective of their denomination, about what it means to be saved, you will most likely hear something along the lines of repent and “believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved”, referencing Acts 16:31, or the even more classic John 3:16.

 

To the ANTMer, it’s much different. See, it depends on what you mean by the word “saved”. If what you mean by saved is “kept from the wrath of God” then they would agree that we are saved by grace through faith. However, if you press them further, they will admit that to remain in that state, one must daily confess all sin or else that state of being saved can be lost.

 

Also, to most Christians, when you are saved, that’s it. You are completely saved. Oh, you can walk out your salvation and over time allow the Holy Spirit to transform you more and more in to the image of Christ, in a process called sanctification. But to the ANTMer, being “saved” or more precisely being “justified” is merely the first step, a step that can be lost through sinning. The particulars of how many sins, or how frequent the sin is, is never discussed, only a knowledge that those who are “only justified”, and not “fully born again”, are in a precarious state of grace that can be lost through sin, which would result in going to hell.  Justification, to the ANTMer is simply a legal declaration made by the Father. Nothing happens to the believer on the inside - no heart change, no indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
 

However, in the ANTM, there is a second call to the select few, who are fortunate enough to be in a church that preaches “the rest of the truth”. This is known as a call to follow the “gospel of the kingdom”, where new birth is offered. Eternal Security for the ANTMer is found when they experience this new birth. Once it is experienced, it cannot be lost.
 

The breakdown in their doctrinal logic of the assertion that there are different types of salvation is readily apparent when you consider the Doctrine of Election, which is firmly taught in their MTS (Ministry Training School) classes. They believe in 4 of the 5 points of Calvinism. They do not hold to Limited Atonement. Even their own theology contradicts their Calvinistic positions.

For instance, if man has Total Depravity and can only come to Christ if the Father first draws him, then why would the Father only draw most of the Elect on planet earth to a version of Christianity that can result in a loss of salvation? Isn’t the Father’s point in saving to keep those that He saves?

Also, the Father’s drawing is an Unconditional Election, meaning the believer had no merit to recommend being called, so why would God only choose to “partly save” most of those that He calls. It makes His calling largely ineffectual.

If the Father’s calling is one of Irresistible Grace, doesn’t that grace carry us to completion? Then, why are so many “Christians” only partly saved in the ANTMer’s mind? Is God’s grace not sufficient to finish what He began?

And finally, if the Father truly draws the Elect, how can He draw one that He knows will not Persevere as a Saint until the end, since that believer, in the ANTMer’s mind, has not been equipped to persevere, since his heart has not been changed and has not received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God either does a work or He doesn’t.

Either everyone outside the ANTM doctrinal rubric is not saved at all, not drawn by the Father and only manufactures a false repentance and non-saving faith or the ANTMer has made himself out to be special with his secret knowledge of a Three Part Gospel, that in fact weaves man’s effort into what should only ever be God’s completed work.

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