I found the above sermon by John MacArthur in which, starting at 3 minutes into the video, he relates the following anecdote (emphasis added):
“One of my favorite events as I look back over my life happened a few years ago, and I’ve… I’ve… I’ve told this story a few times because it’s a highlight of my life. It just… it’s been a useful experience the Lord gave me. I was flying from Los Angeles to El Paso, Texas, and I was going to El Paso because I had been invited to come to a men’s conference at the civics center in El Paso sponsored by Calvary Chapels and to speak for a day there. I sat down on Southwest Airlines and in the middle seat, the dreaded middle seat, and there I was in the middle seat on Southwest progressing toward El Paso.
“We were in the air about a half an hour. I had become very aware that the man by the window was a Muslim from the Middle East. He was dressed that way and distinguished himself in that way by his presence… by his demeanor in every way. About a half an hour in, he looked over at me. I had my New Testament out. I was writing a few notes. And he said, ‘Excuse me, sir, may I ask you a question?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ He said, ‘Is that a Bible?’ And I said, ‘It is a Bible.’ ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘sir, can I ask you then another question?’ And I said, ‘Of course.’ And this was his question, ‘Can you tell me, sir, the difference between a Catholic, a Protestant, and a Baptist?’ That was his question. So I… I knew the answer, so I told him the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant, and I put the Baptists where they belong in the Protestant category sort of.
“And… and so this was perfect, and I said to him, ‘Sir, may I ask you a question?’ And he said, ‘Of course, of course.’ I said, and I knew the answer, I said, ‘Do Muslims sin?’ He said, ‘Oh, we have many, many sins.’ I said, ‘Well, do you do them all the time… all the time?’ And then he got very honest. He said, ‘In fact, I am flying to El Paso to do some sins.’ I said, ‘Really?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘I’m a new immigrant. I have just immigrated into the U.S. I came to the El Paso immigration center. I met a girl there, and we have arranged to meet this weekend to do some sins.’ Wow, that’s pretty honest stuff. I said, ‘May I ask you another question.’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘How does Allah feel about your sins?’ ‘The God al-Ilah?’ He said, ‘Uh, it’s very bad. I could go to hell forever.’ ‘Really? Why don’t you stop doing those sins?’ ‘I can’t stop.’ I said, ‘Do you have any hope that in spite of your sins, you might escape hell?’ And I’ll never forget what he said. He said, ‘I pray Allah will forgive me.’ And I said, ‘Well, why would he do that?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. I just pray he will.’”
I have two issues with that story: The first is that the Muslim guy was either an extremely ignorant one, or he is being misrepresented by John MacArthur. Every Muslim who knows anything about his own religion, knows that repentance is an essential and integral part of the theology of Islam. It teaches that God is kind, merciful, compassionate, and forgiving; and that if a sinner genuinely repents of his sins (meaning to stop committing them), he will be forgiven. It has no concept of the need for the sacrificial death of a redeemer etc., as in Christianity; but it is still very much focused on forgiveness of sins by a kind, loving, merciful, compassionate God, on condition of genuine repentance (meaning abandonment of the sin, not committing it again). The second issue I have with that story is that John MacArthur is offering him the hope of forgiveness, salvation, and “reconciliation” without repentance, which is 100% heretical and false, unchristian, and diametrically opposed to the teaching of the Bible. It is the recipe for damnation rather than salvation. He then continues:
“And I said, ‘Well, let me tell you something. I know God personally, and I can promise you, He won’t.’”
Wrong! Of course He will—on condition of genuine repentance. That is what the Bible teaches:
Acts 10:
34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 But in every nation [and religion] he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
To “fear God” and “work righteousness” includes repentance. It is impossible to comply with that requirement without repenting of one’s past sins in the first place. So it looks like John MacArthur doesn’t know much about God at all, otherwise he would have also known what his true doctrine should be. He continues:
“He looked at me like I was crazy. ‘You know God personally and you’re in the middle seat on Southwest? You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I said, ‘I know Him personally, and He cannot overlook your sin, the true God.’”
Only if he doesn’t repent. If he genuinely repents, and “works righteousness,” like it says in Acts 10:35, he will be forgiven. That is what biblical Christianity teaches—and oddly enough, so does Islam. So it looks like he is badly deluding himself. He does not “know” God at all. He continues:
“But I said, ‘I have some good news for you. There’s forgiveness available. There is reconciliation available with God.’”
Only on condition of repentance, which in his heretical, Calvinistic theology is almost non-existent. He continues:
“And I went on to present the gospel to him, followed it up with a letter, sent him some material, never heard from him.”
He was very wise! He stood a better chance of salvation by remaining a Muslim, and attempting genuine repentance according to the theology of his own religion; than by accepting his heretical theology of “reconciliation” without repentance, that John MacArthur with his Calvinistic theology is trying to impose on him. He then continues:
“That’s what I do. That’s what all of us as believers do. We tell people God will forgive their sins, don’t we? Isn’t that what we do? Sometimes I actually say that, sitting next to somebody on a plane when they say, ‘What do you do?’ And I say, ‘I tell people God will forgive all their sins, are you interested?’ It’s like cutting to the chase, right?”
Wrong! There is no “reconciliation” without genuine repentance. That is written all over the Bible. Teaching people “reconciliation” without repentance is a recipe for damnation, not salvation. Skipping a few lines he continues:
“Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, and I want to talk about this responsibility that we as believers have to proclaim the message of forgiveness, the word of reconciliation. And that’s the word we’re going to look at as we consider this text, 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verses 18 to 21. I’m reading from the NAS. It’s pretty similar to whatever one you happen to be looking at, and I want you to follow it closely, starting in verse 18. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
The Apostle Paul was notorious for saying things that are “hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). Basing your theology on a few isolated and misconstrued passages of Paul, to the exclusion of 99% of the rest of the Bible that teach something different, is not going to result in a sound biblical theology. Nothing is taught more clearly in the Bible than the need for repentance to obtain forgiveness and reconciliation with God:
Matthew 4:
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 12:
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Mark 6:
12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
Luke 5:
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Luke 13:
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luke 15:
7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Luke 24:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Acts 2:
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 17:
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Acts 20:
20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 26:
19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Romans 2:
4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
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.
Revelation 2:
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; …
Revelation 3:
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
And to “repent” means to stop sinning—as the people Nineveh did (Jonah 3:5–10; Matt. 12:41). Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinners to “repentance” (Luke 5:32); and there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that “repenteth,” than over ninety and nine just [righteous] persons, which need no repentance (Luke 15:7). “Repentance” is the prelude to the remission of sins (Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38). There is no forgiveness without genuine repentance; and repentance entails doing works meet for repentance (Rom. 2:4; also Matt. 3:8; Luke 3:8). To “repent” doesn’t just mean to “change your mind,” as the heresy of Calvinism teaches; and it is not something that just “happens” to people willy-nilly just because they have “believed”—whether they like it or not—which is another heretical teaching of Calvinism. The choice is always theirs whether to keep the commandments of God and be saved, or continue in sin and transgression and be damned. “Believing” doesn’t prevent one from doing either. “Devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19); and “believers” who sin receive a greater punishment than “unbelievers” who commit the same sin (Luke 12:47-48). He then continues:
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Five times in the verses that I read, you see the word reconcile in some form. The message of the gospel is the message of reconciliation. The alienated sinner can be reconciled to God. Reconciliation with God is possible. That’s what we proclaim. That’s what we pray. That’s what we teach. That’s what we live for. And that perhaps is what some even die for. It is the unparalleled message of reconciliation with God.”
Only on condition of repentance. There is no “reconciliation” without genuine, whole-hearted, sincere repentance. That is what the Bible teaches—and oddly enough, that is also what Islam teaches. His heretical Calvinistic theology is leading him far astray. He continues:
“That’s the message that I gave the Muslim on the plane that day. You can be reconciled to God. And then I explained to him how that has been made possible through the work of Christ.”
The Muslim guy was wise! He stands a far better chance of salvation by heeding his own Islamic doctrine of genuine repentance, than the abominable Calvinistic heresy that John MacArthur is trying to impose on him.
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