How God Saved a Baptist Preacher

I recently read this "heavy” testimony of a Baptist preacher from the last century named LR Shelton Sr. He was a preacher for 25 years before he realized he was not saved. I thought I’d share some notable quotes from his testimony and the link to the full two-part article:

"I kept reasoning to my own satisfaction that surely a man who had preached for twenty-five years could not be a lost sinner. I had preached to multitudes all over the South from San Antonio, Texas, to Cross City, Florida ”“ surely I must be saved! I had also led the church in a great missionary program here in southeast Louisiana, leading thousands to a decision for Christ as Savior, building chapels, raising tens of thousands of dollars for mission work and giving away all that I had for the cause of Christ. How could I do this and not be saved?! Yes, in the face of all these facts, I wondered how I could be a lost sinner."

"Then there was another point I would rest the assurance of my salvation upon, and that was my clear understanding of the plan of salvation and the doctrines of God's Word. I believed the Bible, I believed Christ died for sinners, and I believed Christ died for me. Again I would say, "Surely I am saved!" In the face of all of this and the religious experiences I had had and the answered prayers, I could not see or make myself believe that I was a lost sinner. Also, many had confirmed me in this conclusion by saying, "If anyone in all the world is saved, I know Brother Shelton is."

"This one fact I did not know ”“ that salvation is Christ, and the assurance of salvation is Christ, based upon His Word. The blood secures; the Word assures. I believed and preached salvation by grace, wholly of the Lord, but I had never experienced it in my own heart as a living reality. I knew about Christ and His Word, but I did not know Christ experimentally. This was because I had missed Holy Spirit conviction and Bible repentance and had built my religious superstructure upon an intellectual faith in God's Word without having known anything about heartfelt repentance."

"I cannot emphasize this fact too strongly ”“ a vision is not salvation or the assurance of salvation. Neither is salvation resting upon the Word of God, nor upon the truth of God's Word, nor upon a promise of God's Word. Salvation is not even resting upon the finished work of Christ. But salvation is Christ ”“ the Christ crucified, buried and risen as lifted up in the Word, revealed to the sinner by the Holy Spirit and received into his heart by faith. Then the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ secures the believer, and the Word of God assures the believer that the blood has been applied. If you are not saved, the Word of God cannot and will not assure you, because you do not have anything for the Word to assure you about, for the Word testifies of Christ."

"I have found that the vast majority of the religious world today thinks and believes that all religious experiences come from God, but this is not so."

"Satan's program today is to make the world religious without Christ; the missing note in present-day preaching is Bible repentance, and Holy Spirit conviction is an ancient mystery. To be true to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I must cry out against this religious shallowness and empty profession at any cost."

"Satan can give any type of religious experience, but he cannot give life in Christ."

"I know now that any preacher, or Bible teacher, who will try to comfort an awakened sinner by trying to persuade him that he is already saved, and that the only thing he needs is a surrendered life, does not know Christ himself."

"just to accept an invitation and to make a decision for Christ is not salvation."

"This one fact I have learned ”“ if an individual cannot go back to the time when he was awakened as a lost sinner and took his place before God as a lost, guilty sinner, condemned to die and that justly, and cried for mercy, he is not saved."

"By nature every sinner hates God (Rom. 8:7); by nature every sinner (religious or otherwise) does not want God to rule over him (Matt. 21:33-46). He does not know this until his will is brought in contact with the will of God by the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11)."

"I found myself crying unto God, "Oh God, if I'm not saved, save me." I soon learned another truth, that God does not deal in "if's". A sinner is either saved or lost. Christ came to save only lost sinners."

http://www.radiomissions.org/sermons/bapprch.html

Quote from article:

"This one fact I have learned ”“ if an individual cannot go back to the time when he was awakened as a lost sinner and took his place before God as a lost, guilty sinner, condemned to die and that justly, and cried for mercy, he is not saved."

This would seem up negate any child under 11 or so from being legitimately saved.

Something about the article bothers me but it is hard to state exactly why it bothers me.

I think one reason why many would have a problem with LR Shelton Sr.'s testimony is that the standard of conversion has been largely lowered from what it actually is according to God's Word. In other words, because of so much watered down preaching and apostasy many today have a shallow view of conversion.

It's a view which places much emphasis on external performance rather than true heart-change. This is why many are proclaimed saved as soon as they make a "decision for Christ" or start going to church or start reading the Bible or praying, etc. Yet there is so much more to true conversion than all of those external things.

I think the key truth that sticks out in LR Shelton Sr.'s testimony is that salvation is found in Christ Himself, in His Person, not merely in an intellectual belief. It is a genuine, powerful relationship with Christ as He lives within us. When you truly have Christ the Spirit of God will bear witness with your spirit that you are indeed a child of God-Romans 8:16.

That is not to say that all the "external" things I mentioned are not important. But simply to say that making those things in and of themselves the proof of conversion is putting the cart before the horse.

I agree that easy believism is a scourge in the church today.

That being said, it is not hard to come to Jesus.

There is no indication that the Ethiopian eunuch had a tear-filled repentance before Philip baptized him. He just made a profession that he believed what Philip told him. There is no indication he had any sort of mystical experience. Whether he truly believed in the biblical sense can only be judged by how he lived thereafter, and this is not known to us.

But if a person believes the facts about Jesus and has committed to following and serving him and actually does so, it would certainly seem they are saved.

There is no indication that the Ethiopian eunuch had a tear-filled repentance before Philip baptized him.

The point is that one must come to a place where he/she realizes the gravity of their sins before the holiness of God and truly repents and trusts Christ as Lord and Savior.

But if a person believes the facts about Jesus and has committed to following and serving him and actually does so, it would certainly seem they are saved.

But there is a need for preaching on true and false conversion especially in these days when it is almost never brought up or dealt with.

L.R. Shelton was from somewhere in Louisiana, Shreveport I think I've read before. He was a PK at a baptist church (probably an IFB/KJV only church) in or near New Orleans. He later pastored that church, then pastored in Minnesota. He was a voracious reader and learned the old-school way. In the late 70s or early 80s he wound up in Pensacola, FL and started Mt. Zion Bible Church. He died in 2003.

Near the end of his life, at Mt. Zion a name that might be familiar to some of you joined that church as one of the elders/pastors. Jeff Pollard.

Jeff Pollard was the lead singer in the 1970s rock group "Louisiana's LeRoux"; their most famous single was "New Orleans Ladies" with Pollard singing lead. You can see a picture of the rock and roll Pollard at http://www.laleroux.com/HTMLPages/jeff.html . The biography info is out of date about where he is serving the Lord. He has been at Mt. Zion since around 2001 or 02. The song is till a favorite on classic rock stations around the country.

Pollard was saved -- and I mean saved -- in the early 1980s. A more recent photo of Jeff Pollard is at http://www.exodusbooks.com/author.aspx?id=1206 . After his conversion, he couldn't reconcile the lifestyle with his new life in Christ. It wasn't immediate, though. He spent some time with LeRoux after his conversion. He would spend his bus rides on tour studying the Bible and talking to his bandmates -- and other bands' members whom they toured with. One fellow whose name you may also know was converted during this time, in part due to Pollard's talks with him: Kansas' Kerry Livgren. Livgren is a SS teacher at Topeka Bible Church, and laid out a nicely compiled defense of the deity of Christ here: http://www.numavox.com/study.html .

I'm not going to charge any of y'all for that unsolicited information. :)

I just think it is mighty interesting how streams of influence from the Lord flow.

L.R. Shelton was from somewhere in Louisiana, Shreveport I think I've read before. He was a PK at a baptist church (probably an IFB/KJV only church) in or near New Orleans. He later pastored that church, then pastored in Minnesota. He was a voracious reader and learned the old-school way. In the late 70s or early 80s he wound up in Pensacola, FL and started Mt. Zion Bible Church. He died in 2003.

I thought I'd share this vid of another powerful testimony of true and false conversion. It's the testimony of Paul Washer's wife, Charo Washer. She was a missionary for 12 years before she was awakened to the reality of her false conversion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAxeDX-GYHw

Oracio, thanks! I WAS confused. :)