Gospel Guidebook: Getting and Keeping It Right 
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Jon Moffit Banned Me from the Theocast Community Forum
by Robert P. TerryUpdated July 20, 2025
To make a long story short, I got banned from the Theocast Community Forum for criticizing Jon Moffit's understanding of faith. My main contention is that a correct understanding of the Gospel requires that faith (or more literally "belief") be no more than the persuasion of the mind that the content of the Gospel is true. In every realm of life, to believe something means to accept it as true or real, so why should it be any different when it comes to the Gospel? If Jesus really did it all, then faith can be no more than a recognition that Jesus did it all. This is the only understanding of faith that preserves the principles that (1) God only receives the glory, (2) faith must be apart from works, and (3) God justifies ungodly people who don't work. God confers faith on His elect in order to reveal to them the justification accomplished by Christ on the cross. This is justification by faith. Therefore, to say that faith produces works, is like a fruit tree, or is evidenced by works is a perversion of the Gospel because it moves the focus from what Christ did for sinners to what Christ is supposedly doing in sinners. Anyone who says that faith produces works or is like a tree bearing fruit is teaching works salvation. Such a person has failed to understand that the sole function of faith is to behold the righteousness of God in Christ. This is why the Apostle Paul told us that the Gospel "reveals" the righteousness of God from faith and to faith, that is, solely through faith, and then spent a relatively large portion of his letter insisting that this faith is apart from works.