Adrian Rogers
“A whole library of arguments is not worth one soul-winner.”
Adrian Rogers explains: “If you go to Hell, you’ll be an intruder. Hell was not prepared for you. It was prepared for the Devil and his angels. But if you choose to follow Satan, you’ll follow him to Hell.” (Five Minutes After Death: Luke 16:19-31, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers states: “There are those who believe that some being born today, no matter what age they may attain, whether they die in infancy, or whether they die of old age, will never have an opportunity, a chance, to be saved, no matter what else happens, if they are not one of the elect, they cannot be saved.” (Let the Earth Hear His Voice, 2004)
Adrian Rogers states: “Did you know that there are some people who believe, honestly believe this, have a form of theology that teaches this, they’re very serious about this, that God does not love everybody. ... that God only has a select few that He loves, but that He does not love the entire world, that some are loved and therefore predestined for heaven, and there are others who are not loved of God, not chosen, not elect, and therefore, have no chance, none, nada, none, of ever going to heaven. There’s some who believe that. There’s some who teach that. I reject that with all of the unction, function and emotion of my soul! I believe that God wants everybody saved!” (Let the Earth Hear His Voice, 2004)
Adrian Rogers adds: “Now some of these people who believe that God only loves some are missionaries. I want to say in all honesty, and fairness, some of them are soul-winners, and I thank God for that. But I’m going to tell you, if you take this kind of belief and let it go to the extreme, it is deadening to evangelism; it is stultifying to soul-winning.” (Let the Earth Hear His Voice, 2004)
Adrian Rogers continues: “Now I want to make it very clear. I believe in the Sovereignty of God. I believe in Election. I believe in Foreknowledge. I believe in Predestination. But I do not believe in Fatalism, that says that some can never, ever, be saved, no matter what.” (Let the Earth Hear His Voice, 2004)
Adrian Rogers asks: “Does God love everyone? Did Jesus die for a certain few?, for the chosen ones? Friend, can I walk up to any man on the face of this earth and tell him without studder-stammer, apology or equivocation that God loves you? I can do that, without qualification.” (Let The Earth Hear His Voice, 2004, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers comments: “In evangelism today, sometimes we hear about seeker sensitive services. Now they say to preachers today, ‘Now if you want to build a church, all these people who come who are seeking God, you be sensitive to them.’ Well, humanity is not seeking God. Do you know who the seeker is? His name is Jesus. Luke 19:10 says the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. Isn’t that great? So you know we need to be sensitive to the seeker, but we need to be sensitive to the seeker which is the Holy Spirit, and not sensitive to the sinner who couldn’t give a hoot, because we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit to convict him. And that’s the reason we have to pray and soak all that we do in prayer, because there is none that seek after God. No, not one.” (God vs. Humanity: Rom. 3:9-10)
In terms of Illumination, Adrian Rogers explains: “Spiritual blindness makes beggars of us all. ... The blind need more than light in order to see. ... I used to think, as a young preacher, that what you had to do to get people saved is just to tell them how to be saved. Just turn on the light. But it doesn’t matter how much light there is, or the person is blind because he cannot see it. It takes more than light, it takes sight. And a person who is blind cannot see the light, no matter how strong the light is or how pure the light is. It takes more than preaching to get people saved. That’s the reason I frequently say to you, I can preach truth, but only the Holy Spirit can impart truth. That is the reason why we must be a praying church. That’s the reason you must be a spirit filled soul winner. That is the reason that we must have the anointing, because we are dependent upon God to open blinded eyes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It takes more than light, it takes sight. We need to understand that nobody can be argued into the kingdom of heaven. Nobody can be educated into the kingdom of heaven. I’m not against letting the light shine. You must let the light shine. You must preach. But remember, there is another dimension.” (Jesus is God’s Answer to Man’s Darkness: John 20:30, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers offers another analogy: “But when a man is justified by faith, God gets the glory. It’s amazing how many people want to put together faith and works. There’s something about human pride that wants to do it. Now suppose Bob were to say to me, ‘Pastor, I love you so much, and I have just struck oil, and I’m very wealthy now, and I’m going to buy for you, Pastor, a brand new automobile.’ And I don’t want a cheap one. I want one that’s $50,000. Now he’s going to buy a $50,000 automobile for me. What would that be? Mercedes. He’s going to buy me a Mercedes. See, I’ve got that on record now. You’ve all heard that. Alright now, $50,000, he’s going to pay for that Mercedes. And he comes to me and says, ‘Pastor, I want to give you this automobile.’ I say, ‘Bobby, thanks a lot, fella. That’s really nice, but Bobby, I can’t just let you give me a car like that. That’s too much. Let me help pay for that car. There’s a quarter.’ So Bobby has paid $49,999.75 and I’ve paid two bits. Now I’m driving that Mercedes and somebody says, ‘Rogers, nice car you’ve got.’ And I say, ‘Yeah, Bobby and I bought this car.’ Wouldn’t that be ridiculous? Friend, let me tell you something. When you add your two bits worth of self-effort to the grace of God, you destroy the whole thing. You take the glory from almighty God. If you go to heaven, you’re going to say, ‘Jesus paid it all, and all to Him I owe.’”
Adrian Rogers: “If the devil could steal your salvation, why hasn’t he? Don’t you know that if he could, he would? And if he hasn’t, hasn’t he been good to you? And if he has been good to you, then you are saved by the grace of the devil. That’s something for you to think about.” (Foundations For Our Faith: A Solid Word For An Unsure Age, Vol. II A Study In Romans Chapters 5-9)
Adrian Rogers states: “Jesus came to deliver you. Jesus came to set you free. He came to give you peace and power, forgiveness of sin and a home in heaven, but He will not force it upon you. The same God that gave to Lucifer the power of choice, gives to you the power of choice. ‘Choose you this day whom you will serve.’” (From the Palace to the Pit: Ezekiel 28:8, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers explains: “God is a God who gives us the choice. Now I want to give you some Choice Principles. You are free to choose God. God says, ‘I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.’ Here you’re in the Valley of Decision. There’s a mountain of misery and a mountain of mercy. You can choose. You are free to choose. Now, I am a Calvinist to the degree that I believe that God is sovereign. But I am not a Calvinist to the degree that I believe that God does not enable anybody to choose, or that God chooses for anybody. God gives you the choice. You must choose. And God says to all of us, ‘Choose you this day.’” (Choices Made in the Valley of Decision: Joshua 8:1, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers explains: “Your responsibility is your response to His ability. … Now you must choose. Listen, you can’t do it without Him; He will not do it without you. You must yield. … When temptation comes, you must yield, and you will yield. That much is settled. The only question is, which way you will yield? Will you yield to Satan, or will you yield to Christ?” (Abounding Victory Thru Amazing Grace: Romans 6:6-7, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers continues: “God did not say that some people can be saved and other people cannot be saved, that some are in a select group. No! There is no respect of persons with God. None whatsoever. The Lord is not willing that any should perish. If you go to hell, a broken-hearted God will watch you drop into hell. It is not God’s plan that you die and go to hell. The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (The Christ of the New Testament: Acts 10:43, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers adds: “Some people submit to the will of God, some people do not. All are called, but not all respond. Those who do not say to God, ‘Not my will, but thine,’ will one day in hell hear God say to them, ‘Not My will, but thine be done.’ What a terrible way to end, resisting God.” (Foundations For Our Faith, Vol.II, A Study In Romans Chapters 5-9, p.94, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers explains: “God is the author of everything. God made everything perfect, and when God made man, God made His creature perfectly free. Free Will, then, man’s Free Will, is the origin of evil. God did not create evil. God created perfection, and God made man perfectly free, and freedom therefore gave rise to this evil. You see, this is what makes us moral creatures. Somebody says, ‘Why didn’t God just make us where we couldn’t sin?’ Well if God had made us where we couldn’t sin, He could have no more fellowship with me than I could have with that pulpit or that speaker. Because God made us moral creatures; love is the highest good; and God wants us to love Him. This is the first and great commandment: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind.’ Love is the highest good, but forced love is a contradiction in terms. Forced love is not love at all. In order to love, we must be free to love, to choose to love, and to choose to love, we have to be able to choose not to love. And so God gave us perfect choice. Adam chose in the Garden of Eden, and the sons of Adam after him, to sin, and that’s where the heart-ache, and the groan and the moan come from, as we’re going to see in a moment.” (Turning Hurts Into Hallelujahs: Romans 8:8-11, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers states: “Do you know when we have been saved, we are born again, and we are born from above, and when we’re heaven-born, we are heaven-bound, and when we’re heaven-born and heaven-bound, we’re heaven-blessed, and there are some radical transformations that take place in our lives. And when we’re born from above, there are some birthmarks, there are some traits of the twice-born because not everybody who is talking about heaven is going there; not everybody who says he or she is saved is saved.” (Birthmarks of the Believer: 1 John 2:3-11, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers explains: “You are not saved by submitting to His Lordship. You are not saved by seeking His lifestyle. You are not saved by showing His love. But if you are saved, you will do all of those things. You’re saved by the grace of God.” (Birthmarks of the Believer: 1 John 2:3-11, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers states: “You live the Christian life not in order to be saved, but because you’re saved. I don’t want to insult your intelligence, but Jesus did not say to this man, ‘Walk, take up your bed and rise.’ He couldn’t walk until he was up, and you cannot live the Christian life until you receive the Christian life.” (Jesus is God’s Answer to Man’s Disability: John 5:1, emphasis mine)
Adrian Rogers comments: “There are people like this who come to Church and they listen to a preacher preach, and they find themselves running from God, and fearing God, and afraid of God. ‘God is love,’ and God loves you, and God has made with His Son, the Lord Jesus, a blood covenant on your behalf.”
(The Blood Covenant: 1 Samuel 18:3)
Rogers adds: “Again, don’t get the idea that God only wants some people saved. God says all are unbelievers, and God says, ‘I want mercy upon all.’” (Is God through with the Jews?, Romans 11:1)
