WRONG REPENTANCE - NO SALVATION

Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Pastor Hank Lindstrom was the founding pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. In this message, Dr. Lindstrom explains exactly what biblical repentance is, and what it is not. He went on to be with the Lord in 2008. Dr. Lindstrom's sermon, 'Wrong Repentance - No Salvation,' will help solidify your salvation beliefs, or lead you to Christ is you're lost.

A Miami native, the Pastor Lindstrom graduated from the University of Florida with an electrical engineering degree, then he went to Florida Bible College. Dr.  Lindstrom taught Bible at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for 14 years in the good old days before they tuned Calvinist. He later taught Bible at Florida Bible College.

Dr. Hank Lindstrom led me to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ years ago, and has since gone home to be with the Lord, but his crystal clear presentation of the gospel lives on and on and on. The following article was written by Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008).

“For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

HOW TO CLAIM THE GIFT OF GOD

Rule #1 -  The Holy Bible is the only book that you will use to confirm what I will be showing you. That is because it is God's word, it is perfect. 2nd Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” This phrase, given by inspiration of God, translates a single Greek word. Literally the word means God-breathed. If you follow God's plan of salvation written down in His Holy Bible and you don’t get into heaven I think you would be able to stand in God's presence in heaven itself and call Him a liar! (The Bible states many times that God cannot lie) Never rely on any other book or person, not the Pope, not Mohammed, not the Koran, not the book of Mormons, not Buddha, or any other book or person because your eternal life depends on it! The Bible is the only book in the world that has been PROVEN to be the word of GOD. You can prove the Bible to be God's word just by looking at the things that were written in it about the coming Messiah.

This information was given 500-1000 years before Jesus was born and yet each item came to pass exactly as written in the Bible. This is how God Himself tells us to identify His word, when the word comes to pass it was from Me and if it does not come to pass it was not from Me. The Bible has and continues to tell us of future events, hundreds if not thousands of years before they are to come to pass. No other book of any religion has proven it's ability to tell the future like the Bible has for thousands of years. The Bible was not written by men but was written thru men by God Himself.

Rule #2 - There is only ONE way to get to heaven. John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Notice the bible verse does not say (Jesus is A way); because that wording would mean that He is one of many ways. The Jews have one way, the Muslims have another way and the Christians have even more ways depending on the denomination. If you’re church, synagogue, or mosque tells you that there is ANOTHER way to heaven other than thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, run don’t walk to the nearest exit and NEVER go back!

I am not trying to get you to join my church or get you to convert to my religion or get you to buy a prayer cloth or some other ridiculous item. I am warning you of the dangers of being in any false religion! No religion can save you! The only thing that matters is WHO you are trusting to get you to heaven. Galatians 3:6 "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Abraham was saved, given eternal life, made righteous just like we are today, he believed (trusted) God! Abraham was not a member of ANY church, he was not water baptized, he did not have any Priest or Rabbi or Imam praying over him. All he did was trust what God told him about the coming Messiah who would wash him of his sins. What we do in this age is exactly the same, Trust God by believing, trusting in the Messiah that came 2000 years ago who washes us of all our sins and we are then given the Gift of God, Eternal Life and His righteousness.

Rule #3 - Jesus is God in the flesh, the Creator of all things seen and unseen, the giver of ALL life, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. John 14:7 "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him" You can see in this passage Jesus is saying very clearly when you see me you have seen the Father! That’s why when Jesus (God) died on the cross to pay for our sins, we can be sure that He paid for ALL our sins past, present and future. Do you really think that you going to church every Sunday or you giving your 5, 10 or 20 dollars a week to church is going to put a dent in the vast amount of sins you have committed during your life? It won't! When you do good things in order to help yourself get into heaven it’s like spitting in Gods face!

You are basically saying that you appreciate what He did on the cross 2000 years ago, you appreciate Him suffering and dying for your sins, but just in case it's not enough to get ME to heaven here is a few of MY good works to put me over the top. Most people don't understand that God is a trinity, (3 parts in 1 God) but you can see for yourself that God IS a trinity by just reading the Old Testament for yourself with a passage like Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…” notice God clearly says “in OUR image” God is a triune God, God the Father = the Soul, God the Son = the Body, God the Spirit = the Spirit, but put all three together and it equals one God.

It is hard for us to understand, but when you see that we are made in His likeness it becomes a little clearer. We were created with a soul like God the Father (that’s the real you, your personality, your memories, your very essence), we also have a body like God the Son, Jesus (this is how we interact with this world, we can see, hear, feel and act upon this world whether for good or bad it's our choice), and we also have a spirit like God the Holy Spirit (this is how we communicate with God in Heaven, thru our spirit).

We really were created in his image, three separate parts (Body, soul and spirit) in one package. When you get to heaven you will not see God the Father (the soul of the trinity) like an old man with white hair and a long white beard because he is described as pure unwavering light, and you will not see the Holy Spirit either because he is an invisible spirit. What you will see is Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh. You will see the scars on his hands and feet, and the scar in his side from the spear of the roman soldier; that is how you will be able to identify God in heaven… look for the scars that he got while on this earth paying for all of your sins!!!

Rule #4 - You will never get to heaven by being good. The Bible says in Romans 3:10 "As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one." and Romans 3:23, “For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” So if you try to get to heaven by being good and following the Ten Commandments, the Bible is guaranteeing that you will fail! All the false religions of the world teach that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.

The problem is that no one is reading their Bible that CLEARLY states that ALL have sinned and that there is NONE righteous no, not one. It only takes one little lie to send you to hell forever and all of us have told a lie! You must be absolutely perfect to enter heaven. The wages of sin is death (Hell). There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood. You need a blood sacrifice to pay for your life of sinning! You have no blood sacrifice and you WILL die in your sins if you continue to practice in any of the false religions of the world!

One example of a false religion is the Jewish Faith, you are indeed God’s chosen people and Jerusalem is God’s Holy City but the vast majority of Jews will go to Hell when they die because they continue to reject their Messiah Yeshua, (Jesus) the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is your blood sacrifice and if you die without trusting Him as the lamb without spot you will be the one paying for your sins in hell forever. All you need to do is read the Bible for yourself so that you can learn how to identify the Messiah when you see Him.

The Messiah must...

1. be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
2. be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
3. be crucified with thieves (Isaiah 53:12)
4. be sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12)
5. have His hands and feet pierced (Psalms 22:16)
6. have his clothes fought & gambled over at his death (Psalms 22:18)
7. be God Himself in the flesh (Isaiah 9:6)
8. be crucified and shed his blood to pay for our sins (Isaiah 53:6)
9. be risen from the dead (Isaiah 53:10)
10. the temple would be destroyed AFTER the Messiah had come and given His life (Daniel 9:26)

Jesus did all these things and more exactly as the Old Testament said He would. Don’t wait for your Rabbi to tell you these things because they won't, they want to keep you in the dark. I want to bring you into the light with the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Rule #5 - Your religion will not save you. Those practicing the Jewish religion will go to hell because they have no blood sacrifice to cover their sins. YOUR sins must be covered by a blood sacrifice before you die. The Jewish people have no temple and they have no priests. All these things were taken away from them by God because they rejected Him 2000 years ago when He walked into the temple that was built for Him as Jesus (Yeshua) and told them He was God.

The Jewish people of the day however loved Jesus (Yeshua) and witnessed all of His miracles and were amazed. The Jewish rulers were the ones who plotted to kill Him because he was about to make the Jewish faith obsolete. The Jewish leaders of this day are still leading their followers away from the true God who we Christians call Jesus and the Jewish people call Yeshua the Messiah. They are one in the same, God in the flesh.

Why did the Jewish rulers arrest Jesus (Yeshua) in the middle of the night? Simple, the Jewish people would not have allowed anyone to lay hold of Him during the day because they loved and worshipped Him. No other man before or after Jesus has raised a man from the dead after 4 days (Lazarus) John 11:38-45, or gave sight to a man born blind John 9:1-7, or told someone crippled 38 years to get up and he did John 5:1-9.

They rejected their Messiah Yeshua and because they did, God has blinded them to the truth and has turned to the Gentiles for the past 2000 years. Jesus is Yeshua, the God that saves His people from their sins, trust in Him and receive forgiveness for all your sins and eternal life. Read the Old Testament for yourself and see how to identify the real Messiah! Do not expect your Rabbi to tell you, because he is the one who is keeping you in darkness. Pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and ask him to open your eyes, so that you may see His truth, and He will answer that prayer even if He has not answered any other prayer.

Those practicing the Muslim religion will go to hell because they are following another book and are worshipping another god. The Koran is NOT the word of God nor is it holy. They do not believe that Jesus is God; they believe He is a prophet of God. Jesus said that if you do not believe that I AM you will die in your sins. John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” What He meant by that statement is that you must believe that He (Jesus) is God himself in the flesh in order for your sins to be paid for by Him.

The Muslims are worshiping the Moon god Allah, a pagan god, not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is the real God of the Bible. It is just another religion made up in a man’s imagination and promoted by the devil, sword and gun, a false religion indeed. So many souls are being led needlessly to hell because of this false religion. I use the word led because you can go to the nearest exit of the mosque and never look back any time you want.

God will always protect the man or woman or child who is diligently searching for Him, thru war, thru famine, thru any calamity He will protect you from anything and anyone and no harm will come to you if you truly are searching for the truth. This goes for any false religion that you may be stuck in at this time. The Jewish ruler Nicodemus, was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin and came to Jesus in the middle of the night in order to find out how to get to Heaven.

He knew if he came during the day he would be thrown out of the synagogue or worse. Do not fear the one who can kill the body, fear instead the One that can kill the soul. An Arab Woman named Ruth who came from a Muslim country made her decision known in this Bible passage. Ruth 1:16-17, “Do not urge me to leave you or return from following you,” she said. “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God...” This was a great Arab woman of the Bible and one of the great stories of the bible. Do not fear those that ARE leading you to the slaughter of Islam, leave while you still have the breath in your lungs to run to the Lord God Jesus Christ!

Those practicing the False Christian religions will go to Hell if they don’t follow Gods REAL plan of salvation as stated in the Bible. The devil knows that he can deceive many more people by having churches that look, smell, and taste like a real Christian church but are just a little bit off on doctrine. This little bit off that I am speaking of is usually adding a little bit of works to the plan of salvation.

If your church says that in order to have eternal life:

1. you need to turn away from your sin,
2. you need to give your life to Jesus,
3. you need to give money to the church,
4. you need to go to church every week,
5. you need to confess your sins to a priest,
6. you need to ask Jesus into your heart,
7. you need to be a member of our church,
8. you need to be water baptized,
9. you can lose your salvation
10. you can't know that you are saved right now

...RUN, don’t walk, to the nearest exit and never go back!!!

These are ALL false doctrines promoted by the devil and his demons!!! The god of this world is the devil and if you don’t think so just read about all the pain and suffering that is going on all over this world.

Rule #6 - Forget everything you’ve ever learned in any church if you did not personally look the information up in the Bible! I have found that over 99% of the religions being taught on this earth are wrong. I know how crazy it sounds but it is very true. That means if you have 100 churches in your town only 1 will be teaching correctly and giving you the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly states in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat, Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." You must be looking for this narrow path that leads to Heaven.

Do you want to be in the huge group on the wide path that leads to destruction or do you want to be in the small group that has found the narrow path that is Jesus? I plan to show you that narrow path that leads to Heaven and I expect you to confirm everything I tell you by checking everything I say against what the Bible says. This is the most important decision of your life so don’t take it lightly. Some churches are way off from what the Bible teaches and some are just a little bit off. In order to get to heaven you MUST be 100% correct according to the Bible, not according to me, so please check and recheck all the information I give you against the word of God.

May God open your eyes, ears and heart to His truth, may He protect those who are truly seeking Him and His plan of salvation, and may He bless and protect this ministry and our website as we do His will of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. In Jesus name we pray, amen

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2nd Corinthians 9:15)

The golden key to your salvation, eternal life is Trust, Faith, Belief. All three basically mean the same thing, To lean upon, to cast your weight upon or to TRUST. In order to receive this Gift of God, you must transfer the trust that you had in a church, synagogue, Mosque or yourself and put all your trust in Jesus Christ. The moment you do this, God in Heaven knows and He saves you now and forever.

Who do you trust right now to get you to Heaven; be honest and think about it? ALL of the false religions are telling you to put your trust in yourself or them. The Jewish person must follow a set of rules which state what they can and cannot do and what they can and cannot eat and when they can and cannot worship. If you do these things you will go to Heaven and if YOU don’t do these things you will go to Hell. That makes you the savior, not God.

I will repeat this again, it makes you the savior! The Muslim person must pray 5 times a day, they must give to the poor, and they must make a pilgrimage to Mecca if able to do so financially. They must be a good person and if so, God might show them favor and allow them into Heaven. Again, guess who the real savior is: you are, again. The false Christian must go to church every week, must give 10% of his income, must confess his sins, must be water baptized, must keep the faith all the days of his life, and live a good life.

Again he is the savior. If he is good he will go to Heaven and if he is bad he will go to Hell when he dies. ALL false religions make you the savior. This statement is very, very important! Think about the church you are in right now… what happens if you stop doing what they keep telling you to do every week. You will go to Hell. But on the other hand what happens if you do all the things that they tell you to do, you might get to Heaven.

It’s not even a sure thing when you go thru all the hoops! What you are doing is trusting in YOUR actions to get you to heaven! If you really want to know if you are going to heaven or hell just ask yourself who is MY savior. If the answer is my Church, Synagogue, Mosque, Rabbi, Priest, Buddha or yourself consider yourself toast when you die!

If on the other hand you can say:

1. I am a sinner in need of a Savior.
2. The wages of my sin is death (Hell).
3. I understand I must be perfect to enter Heaven.
4. I understand I cannot save myself.
5. I understand that Jesus made a complete payment for all my sins.
6. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior.
7. I believe Him to be God in the flesh.
8. I believe he shed his blood & died on the cross to pay MY sins.
9. I believe he was buried and rose from the dead after three days and three nights.

...then you are saved dear reader. The moment you put your trust in Jesus Christ ALONE, God who can read your mind knows, saves YOU, makes you perfect in His eyes, and gives you the Gift of God, Eternal Life.

You do not need anyone to pray over you, or pray for you, because this is between you and God in Heaven. Because of your new trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ you are now a child of God. Before you trusted in Jesus, God was your Creator but now and forevermore He will be your Father.

You are saved in a moment of time, because you are trusting in the true Savior now, not working your way to Heaven day by day, which is not even possible.

Once saved, you can never be lost for any reason. This is because you were born spiritually the moment you put your trust in Him. Just like your physical birth which brought you into this human world, your spiritual birth gave you a new spiritual life that is permanent. You were born-again, made righteous and holy in Gods eyes. In fact, you have the righteousness of God Himself You are sinless and perfect in God's eyes now and that's why you can enter into a perfect Heaven.

My favorite saying is: “God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved.”

You MUST put ALL your trust in Jesus to be saved, trust in the blood that He shed on the cross, trust that He is God in the flesh, trust that He made the complete payment for your sins, not just part; He paid for ALL of your sins (past, present, and future)! Trust that He rose again from the dead after 3 days and 3 nights, and in return for this trust, He gives YOU Eternal Life. 

All false Christians put part of their trust in Jesus and part of their trust the Church and part of their trust in themselves. If you put 99.99% trust in Jesus and 00.01% in something else, you will go to hell. It must be 100% trust in Jesus and what He did and 0% in you or your church! This information in critical... (adding your works to Gods plan of salvation will cancel out Gods grace!) You are going to hell if it's by your works or you are going to heaven by Gods grace alone. It's as simple as that.

So I guess the question comes down to who are you trusting. Are you trusting yourself to get to heaven by being a good person and giving lots of money to your church or are you trusting Jesus, the lamb of God, that was slain for the sins of the world to get you to heaven? You receive the Gift of God (Eternal Life) as soon as you stop trusting in yourself, your church, your synagogue, your mosque, your money, or any other works and put your trust in Him and Him ALONE, Jesus Christ, Yeshua, The King of Kings, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Alpha and Omega, the Mighty God.

False religions are everywhere and they will find you, the one true God and His plan of salvation must be found.

If all this makes sense to you and you would like to trust Jesus as your personal Savior right now then tell the Mighty God in Heaven of your decision to trust Jesus Christ as your only hope of heaven. Tell Him that you are no longer putting your trust in your actions, or your church, or your church membership, or in your money, or in your Rabbi, or in your synagogue or your Mosque but that you are putting all of your trust in Him and the shed blood of the cross to pay your sin debt. Thank Him for doing it for you! Thank Him for giving you the Gift of Eternal Life that He paid for with His life. There is no greater deed than that of laying down your life for another.

Will you trust Jesus as your Savior right now, the one who shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary to pay for all your sins?

Sinners Prayer:

Lord, I admit that I'm a sinner & I don't understand a whole lot about the bible, but I do believe that Jesus Christ died & paid for my sins in full, by His death & shed blood on the cross. I trust right now the He died for me, was buried & rose again from the dead and will live forever more. I trust Jesus Christ right now to save me, to be my savior, to forgive my sins & to give me the GIFT OF GOD Eternal Life. Amen

By reading this sinners prayer aloud, you are putting your trust in God and His plan of salvation. You are not saved by saying this prayer, you are saved the moment your mind made the switch from trusting in yourself to putting your COMPLETE TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST. 

That moment may have been five paragraphs up on this page or that moment may have been on another one of our pages. You will not feel any different, but you will be changed and changed for the better forever. Once you have trusted Jesus as your savior and received his gift of eternal life, this gift can NEVER be lost. You can NEVER go to hell for ANY reason. Your past, present and future sins were paid in full the moment you put your trust in Him.

You are blameless and Holy in God's eyes now and FOREVER. If you have eternal life today what kind of life will you have in five years? ETERNAL! What kind of life will you have in ten years? ETERNAL!! What kind of life will you have in 50 years? ETERNAL!!! God does not give probationary life or temporary life, His gift is ETERNAL LIFE! Thanks be to GOD!

Why be good, now that I am assured of going to heaven? Because God's law of sowing and reaping still applies to you and me. You will reap what you sow. You will reap more than you sow and you will reap later than you sow. If you drink alcohol like a fish, you will reap a diseased liver. If you smoke like a chimney everyday, you will reap lung cancer. If you rob, murder, and steal you will reap a life in prison. You will reap what you sow.

I guarantee it! Now that you are saved, when you do good things you WILL be rewarded here on earth and in Heaven. And when you do bad things you WILL lose rewards that God had planned on giving you here on earth and in Heaven. But you will NEVER lose your guarantee of going to heaven. That can never be lost for any reason!! You have God's word that your salvation can never be lost for any reason. You did not earn salvation and you do not work to keep salvation! Eternal Life, salvation, being born again, becoming a child of God, was, is, and always will be the GIFT OF GOD.

Remember: If your not saved forever, you are not saved!

Why is this true you might ask? Because if a person is not sure that they are saved TODAY, RIGHT NOW it means that they are still trying to be the savior! They can't be sure they are going to heaven because they don't know what sin's they may commit next week, next month or next year. We who have trusted in Jesus alone, can have comfort knowing that all our sins have been paid in full on the Cross of Calvary (past, present, and future sins).

Jesus has already died for my sins so I don't need to pay for any sin I have or will commit in the future because Jesus already paid the price in full with His blood. So called Christians who say that you can lose your salvation because of suicide or murder or falling away from the church don't have a clue what the Bible says and clearly have not trusted Jesus ALONE!

Biblical salvation is forsaking any other means of salvation, but Christ, and casting ourselves fully upon Him for eternal life.

This article was written by Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008).

If Sin Separates From God, Why Cannot A Christian Lose Salvation?

Romans 8:35-39, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Once saved, always saved (OSAS) is 100% biblical. Eternal life and Eternal Security are NOT two separate doctrines in the Bible. They are one and the same. The Bible teaches that Jesus is eternal life. 1st John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” If you have the Spirit of Christ in you, you have eternal life (Romans 8:9).

Jesus Christ died on a cross 2,000 years ago to pay everyone's debt of sin (1st John 2:2; Romans 5:6-9; John 3:16). We as sinners contribute nothing to our own salvation except the sin that made it necessary. Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9).

It is biblically true that sin separates the sinner from God (Isaiah 59:2), which is exactly why Jesus died on a cross 2,000 years ago to bring peace between God and man (1st Timothy 2:5), to those who trust Him (1st Corinthians 1:21). Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Once a sinner comes to God by faith, accepting Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as full payment for his or her sins, believing that Christ was buried but is risen from the dead, God the Father declares that individual 'JUSTIFIED' (just if I'd never sinned).

Once saved, a believer's POSITION is eternally settled in Heaven. They are sealed with the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:15; Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:24). Once saved, always saved. We can know this because eternal life is the free gift of God, which has nothing to do with our performance.

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty.

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

The damnable heresy of misunderstood repentance has sadly crept into nearly every Baptist church today. Biblically, you don't have to repent of your sins to be saved. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. A born again Christian should repent (change their mind) about their sins. But regarding the new birth (regeneration), faith is the only righteous thing that I can do (Galatians 3:26).

Pilgrim's Progress author John Bunyan (1628-1688) said it best, I humbly think...

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan

In other words, we must always keep service (discipleship) separate from salvation (sonship), lest we pervert God's simple plan of salvation. Since unbelief is the only sin that can keep us out of Heaven, then unbelief is the only sin from which we must turn to be saved.

If sin were to separate the redeemed Christian from God, resulting in loss of salvation, then no one would be saved. Remember, we are saved by God's grace, not our works. Romans 6:1-2, “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” I love this Scripture passage. When we sin as believers (and we all continually do), God's grace reaches lower than our sins so that we can never risk losing God's free gift of eternal life, which is by faith alone. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

As humans we all have have a free will. When a Christian sins we have broken fellowship with God (1st John 1:6-9), and in this respect we are separated from God. But nothing could ever separate the worst sinful Christian from the saving grace of the Gospel that redeemed them. Our walk with God as saints is our CONDITION in Christ; our salvation is our POSITION in Christ. These are not the same thing.

Dear reader, I encourage you to read chapter 4 from Pastor Jack Hyles' (1926-2001) helpful book titled, 'Enemies Of Soul-Winning.' The chapter is called, 'Misunderstood Repentance: An Enemy Of Soul-Winning.'

According to Romans 5:15-18, Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8-9, eternal life is the free gift of God, obtained without works. The spiritual new birth is as irreversible as the first physical birth. Getting saved is not a process, it is a supernatural miracle of God in response to a man's faith in the only begotten Son of God.

Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965) said it very well...

"There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness." —Pastor M.R. DeHaan, “Hebrews”; Zondervan Publishing House; 1959 (p. 117)

If You Trust Someone Mostly, You Do Not Trust Them At All

Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

Have you ever said that they trust someone, kind of. The truth is they don't trust that person, period. Either you trust someone 100% or you don't trust them at all.

Dear reader, do you really trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? In fact, sadly, nearly everyone who claims to be religious on the planet does not completely trust Christ.

In 2003 in the Chicago Sun-Time during the Iraqi War, I read a sad article titled: “U.S. Troops Line Up For Baptism Just In Case.” Oh my, that is not the Gospel. That is not how you get to Heaven! In case the soldiers were killed on the battlefield, they were being invited by the heathen military chaplain to be dunked in a baptistry to prepare to meet God. Fools!

Salvation is not found in any religion, baptistry, sacrament or ritual; but rather, in Jesus Christ's crucifixtion on the cross, His burial and bodily resurrection from the dead three days later. This is the Gospel, the “Good News,” according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-6. There is no other way to Heaven (Acts 4:10-12). Any admitted guilty sinner who believes the Gospel is saved (Romans 1:16). Christ died for our sins! He is the only Savior and Mediator between God the Father and men. You can pray to Mary all you want, you are wasting your idolatrous breath!

If you trust someone 99%, you don't trust them. It's that simple. If you are relying upon church sacraments to get to Heaven, which includes the baptistry, you are not wholly trusting Christ. If you are relying upon the fallacy of having “repented of your sins,” you are not wholly trusting Jesus as your Savior. Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches that you must repent “of your sins” to be saved. Yet, wicked Baptist pastors everywhere are preaching this damnable heresy today, misleading the masses. Please don't let some slick false prophet take you to Hell with him. Salvation is of the LORD, and you have no part in your own salvation except the sin that made it necessary. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

Now, I am not saying that you cannot have doubts as a Christian. It matters not how much lack of confidence you may have that Christ can save you, it you trust wholly in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins, accepting His sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, burial and His physical resurrection the third day, you are going to Heaven. It's that simple. Billions of sincere people are going to miss Heaven and spend eternity in Hell someday because they trusted in TOO MUCH. Do not add anything to your faith in Christ and what He did for you on the cross. Salvation is simply believing that Jesus did it all for you through Calvary's cross. Do not be foolish by adding to that.

Beware of the lying false prophet like Pastor Joel Osteen, who says that to be saved you must turn from your sins and invite Jesus into your life. Jesus was a part of Judas Iscariot's life, yet Judas is in Hell forever. Judas turned from his sins, even returning the thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 27:3 tells us that Judas “repented” of his sins and still ended up burning in Hell. Judas felt sorry for betraying an innocent man, Jesus, but Judas never repented toward God by faith in His only begotten Son (John 3:16). I feel sad for Judas.

Dear reader, I cannot stress just how important this blog is. Are you relying upon Christ alone and what He did to pay your debt of sin on Calvary's cross? Cults like Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) and Lutherans redefine what “faith” means, perverted it's biblical meaning. SDA's errantly teach that you must obey the Ten Commandments to prove that you love God, and if you don't they say your faith is false and you are not saved. Martin Luther (1483-1546) errantly taught that you put your faith in Christ by getting water baptized. This is what Lutherans (his cult followers) still teach today nearly 500 years later.

I ask you again with a concerned heart dear friend, are you trusting Christ alone? If you are relying upon the Gospel alone for salvation, then despite any doubts you may have in the veracity of the Holy Bible, you are trusting Jesus 100%. If you trust your wife 95%, you don't trust her. If you trust her 99.99%, you don't trust her! Trust means that you wholly place your full confidence in someone.

I ask you once more friend, are you wholly relying upon the Lamb of God to save you? John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Not church membership, not the baptistry, not sacraments, not loving thy neighbour, not religious devotion, not serving Christ, not repenting of your sins, not making Jesus “Lord” of your life, not living a lifestyle of repentance, not faithfully running the race 'til the end, not anything but “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST” (Acts 16:31b). Thank you for reading my ministry blog.

Every One Of You Can Be Saved

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.”

There is a beautiful Bible truth hidden in this Scripture text. The Apostle Peter preached the Gospel and extended a salvation invitation to “every one of you.” This truth disproves the Calvinist lie that God only chooses certain people to be saved, and others to go to Hell. According to the inspired Word of God, God desires for all men to repent (change your mind) from unbelief to belief to be saved. 2nd 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.”

Dear reader, it matters not who you are or what you may have done, Jesus Christ died on Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago to pay your debt of sin. It matters not if you are Judas Iscariot, God would have saved Judas if he simply trusted Christ. It matters not if you paid Judas the 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus, God still wanted to forgive them. No one is beyond the hope and saving-power of the Gospel. John 5:40, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Notice that Christ did not say “ye cannot come”; but rather, “ye will not come” unto me to be saved. No one ever went to Hell who didn't consciously choose to go there by rejecting Jesus as their Savior.

But you say, “I'm like unto one of the Pharisees who plotted Jesus' death. Would God save me?” Yes, yes, ten thousands times yes! It matters not if you are a murderer, thief, child molester, adulterer, extortioner, crooked politician, homosexual, transvestite or some other evil monster, yes, absolutely yes, God will save you if you'll just BELIEVE the Gospel. You must understand that there is no “you” in God's simple plan of salvation, there is only Christ and what He did for you through Calvary's cross. Jesus paid our debt of sin. If you and I were to pay for our own sins, we would be cast into the everlasting fires of Hell. That is justice!

Thank God for His mercy and grace. Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” The ONLY means of obtaining peace with God is through faith in His only begotten Son. Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” There is no peace in any religion! There is no peace in the sacraments of Roman Catholicism and the Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations. Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

WHOSOEVER will can be saved. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Anybody can and should be saved. Your eternal happiness depends on it. When you die your location changes, but what you believe determines the neighborhood you move into. 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.” The Apostle Peter told the crowd that every one of them could be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. The choice is yours along to make dear friend.

Pastor Harry Ironside Refutes Misunderstood Repentance

Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

In chapter 16 of his insightful book, “The Preaching That Produces Repentance,” Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951) writes:

“In many quarters, men have attached to the words 'repent' and 'repentance' meanings that do not properly belong to them. So that there is the possibility that our hearers may altogether misunderstand us if we urge them, in so many words, to repent. They may imagine they must by some effort of their own, produce that which entitles them to consider that they have attained a state where they are acceptable to God. This is not the truth as set forth in His Word, as every Bible-taught preacher well knows.” —Pastor Harry A. Ironside, “The Preaching That Produces Repentance,” chapter 16

Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” The last portion of our text passage of Scripture literally could be read translated, “Change your mind and believe the GOOD NEWS that Jesus died on a cross to pay your debt of sin, was buried and three days later bodily resurrected from the dead.” Christ died, that's history; Christ died, was buried and resurrected FOR ME, that's salvation. Anybody can be saved! Whosoever will may come! Every one of you may be saved.

Confusion About Repentance

2nd Timothy 2:23-26, “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

In our text passage of Scripture, we are taught that repentance is “a change of mind” toward THE TRUTH. In the New testament, the word “repent” (Greek noun: metanoia) comes from two Greek root words: meta (after or beyond) + noia (mind - e.g., paranoid, i.e., alongside your mind). Hence, to “repent” simply means to think afterwards, that is, to change your mind from UNBELIEF to BELIEF in the “GOOD NEWS” (Gospel) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and resurrected the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). Repenting unto life (the new birth) has absolutely nothing to do with forsaking your sinful bad habits, which would be reformation.

Confusion About Repentance
(by Dylan McNutt)

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) said it well...

“Repentance is not some little silly, 'I'm sorry.' Repentance is not simply a fear of God. Repentance is not a monk fasting and afflicting his body in a monastery. Repentance is not remorse because of sin's consequences. Repentance is not penance performed before the pope as you kiss his toe... Repentance is not being sorry for what I've done wrong. It is not confessing one's sins to a priest. It is not just conviction of sin. It is not the signing of a pledge of abstinence. Repentance is that thing when you come before God and see yourself as you are, and see Him as he is, and say with Isaiah 'Woe is me, for I am unclean!'” —Pastor Jack Hyles, from the sermon: "THE GOODNESS OF GOD LEADETH TO REPENTANCE!"

Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951) also said it very well...

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.” —Pastor Harry A. Ironside, from the ministry tract: "What Is The Gospel?"

Also, my ministry friend Michael P. Bowen wrote those doctrinally sound words...

"I am at eternal odds with the false, counterfeit messages of salvation-by-works that are taught from virtually every pulpit today, on every television channel, and on every Christian radio station; however, I am not at eternal odds with the individuals who preach these counterfeit messages. My heart literally goes out to all of them because they simply do not understand Christ’s plan of salvation. They have been lied to by a crafty enemy named Satan, whose sole aim is to take as many people with him to the lake of fire as he can possibly manage to steal away from God using a counterfeit plan of salvation that appears so real, so genuine, and so holy that few ever realize they have been deceived by it. Oh reader, so many of today’s professing Christians who think they are going to heaven when they die are not going to make it to heaven as they had assumed because they’ve been lied to by today’s error-filled gospel messages." —Michael Patrick Bowen, from his book: "I NEVER KNEW YOU," p. 17

These three godly Bible preachers have faithfully interpreted the correct biblical meaning of repentance to be saved. THANK YOU Brother Dylan for this helpful ministry video. To God alone be all the praise and glory. Jesus is precious!

God Is Not Sympathetic Toward Gospel Perverts

Galatians 1:6-12, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

I hear foolish professed Christians expressing sympathy toward damnable false prophets and false converts. Such bleeding-heart, neo-evangelical, churchgoers try to convince us that those who errantly teach you must “repent of your sins” to be saved are still going to Heaven, they're just confused. They would have us to succumb to the corrupt belief that “Lordship Salvation” falls within the realm of orthodox theology, when it clearly does not. Lordship Salvation is the heresy of mixing works with grace, of combining service with salvation.

Adding Anything To The Gospel Perverts It

But I contend that if we as saints are expected by God to show tolerance and extend a welcome arm of Christian fellowship toward Reformed (Calvinist) Baptists who preach Lordship Salvation, then why not extend the same sympathy and Olive Branch to Roman Catholics who add the Seven Sacraments (works) to salvation by grace through faith?

I mean, you cannot include as born again Christian Brethren those who add being willing to turn away from your sinful past ways to be saved, or to follow Christ as “Lord” of your life to be saved, while at the same time vehemently rejecting Catholics who trust in their accursed Seven Sacraments to merit Heaven. Lordship Salvation is a dubious plan of salvation that generates fear and uncertainty instead of providing sweet assurance of eternal security. And may I say, Eternal Life is Eternal Security, these are not two separate doctrines in God's Word.

In the inspired Holy Bible there is no verb for the word “faith.” The verb form of the noun faith is “believe.” These two words are synonymous and interchangeably used in the Scripture. John 5:38, “And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.” The reason why sinners refuse to come to Jesus Christ to be saved is simply because they refuse to believe the inspired Holy Bible. This is why Abraham told the rich man (now poorer than poor) in Hell concerning his five living brothers, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” In other words, God is not going to provide you with any more truth than the King James Bible. If the Scripture will not convince you to believe on Christ to be saved, then nothing will convince you.

The Apostle Paul certifies in Galatians 1:12 (from our Scripture text) that Jesus directly gave the Gospel to Him; he didn't receive it from man. Throughout human history there has always been only one plan of salvation, not two or more. One is saved by God's grace through faith in the finished Work of His Son on the Cross, His burial and bodily resurrection as payment in full as our pardon for sin. JESUS PAID IT ALL!

Psalms 32:1, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”

Oh, how wretched we all are as sinners in God's sight. You miserable dog! We're peanut-brained, weasel-eyed, hog-jowled, beetle-browed, bull-necked lobsters! I stole those lines from Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935). Psalms 106:6, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.” We all deserve to go straight to Hell. Do not pass GO! Do not collect $200. Remember the board game Monopoly?

Dear reader, if it is unacceptable to add sacraments to God's simple plan of salvation, thus corrupting grace, then it is equally as wrong to add being willing to turn from your sins, forsaking the world, becoming a Christ follower, inviting Jesus into your life, walking in holiness, living a lifestyle of repentance, faithfully running the race, surrendering to Jesus as “Lord,” or adding anything else to God's simple plan of salvation; which is by grace through faith alone in the 'GOOD NEWS' (Gospel) of Jesus crucified, buried and risen the third day.

What Exactly Is 'The Gospel'?

So, it is not merely a trifle matter of semantics when someone adds junk to embellish and change God's simple plan of redemption. The inspired Word of God plainly defines “the gospel” in 1st Corinthians 15:1-6 as three things:

1. Jesus DIED on a cross to pay our debt of sin.
2. Jesus was BURIED.
3. Jesus RESURRECTED from the dead three days later.

Any admitted guilty sinner (Romans 3:19-20) who by faith (taking God at His Word) accepts Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for their sins (believing that Jesus died, was buried, but then bodily raised up from the dead after three days) is saved immediately, irrevocably and permanently. Nothing more is required not permitted to get to Heaven.

As born again believers we won't receive eternal life in the future, we already have eternal life now! I believe that when we someday leave this earthly body at death, there will be no break in our conscience. We have eternal life because Jesus is eternal life. 1st John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” Amen and amen.

I do not glory in myself as a fundamentalist Baptist preacher, but only in Jesus Christ my God, Lord, Friend and Savior. 1st Corinthians 1:29-31, “That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” Jesus is all we need! Ephesians 2:13-14 teaches that Jesus is also our PEACE. Galatians 2:20 teaches that Jesus lives the Christian life through us, that is, the 'FRUIT' of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). 

I just showed you from God's inspired Word exactly what 'THE GOSPEL' is and is not. Although it may seem harmless to add repenting of your sinful bad habits to be saved, it completely changes God's simple plan of salvation to something complicated, difficult and burdensome. There is nothing easy or simple about trying to forsake your sinning. I've been trying my whole life to live right and I still fail every day (Romans 7:10-25). Thankfully, I am not trusting in my own righteousness to merit Heaven. I am not trying to avoid sinning as a means of proving that I am really saved, which would be works. I try to live right because I love Jesus (John 14:15), but this has absolutely NOTHING to do with going to Heaven.

My Hope Is Built On Jesus' Righteousness Alone

The ONLY reason I am going to Heaven is because at age 12 in 1979, I put my childlike trust in the only begotten Son of God, Christ my Savior. I am trusting in God's imputed righteousness through faith alone in Jesus (Philippians 3:9). I have no righteousness apart from that which has been counted (imputed) to me by faith in the Lamb of God (John 1:29).

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

SOURCE 

That is my Christian testimony. I am not going to Heaven someday because I have turned from my sins, because the truth is that NO ONE has ever turned away from their sins. We are all sinful piles of manure! That is why God the Father sent His only begotten (biological) Son into the world 2,000 years ago, to pay our debt of sin on Calvary's cross because we simply couldn't pay it without burning in the fires of Hell forever (Galatians 2:21). Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay (2nd Corinthians 5:21).

So, when you hear a lying neo-evangelical false prophet telling you that to get to Heaven you must follow Christ, be willing to turn from your sinful bad habits, pick up your cross, surrender all, receive Jesus as “Lord,” repent of your sins, live a lifestyle of repentance, faithfully run the race, forsake the world or invite Christ into your life—you know that he is preaching another gospel accursed by God (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-9).

Only A Fool Is Slow To Believe The Inspired Words Of God

Acts 28:23-27, “And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he [the Apostle Paul] expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”

The Apostle Paul was being horribly persecuted and prosecuted for preaching the Gospel. He calls for the chief leaders among the Jews to hear his petition This is the context surrounding our text passage from Acts chapter 28. I love this chapter of the inspired Holy Bible. Our text passage says that Paul expounded the Jewish leaders from morning until evening with the Word of God. Yet, at the end of the day only some believed, others did not believe.

I encourage you to read Acts chapter 28. It is an amazing passage of inspired Scripture! I find it disturbing that it was the Christian women, not Jesus' own chosen Apostles, who were the first to visit Christ's tomb after He was laid to rest. When Jesus' mother (called the mother of James), Mary Magdalene and the other ladies saw that the tomb was empty, and two angels in shining garments confirmed to them that Jesus had risen from the dead as He foretold, they immediately went to back to tell the Apostles.

You couldn't make this stuff up. Jesus' own Apostles didn't believe the report of the women. Luke 24:11, “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” That is hard for me to process. These eleven men (Judas Iscariot commit suicide after betraying the innocent Son of God to death, who was the twelfth) who had seen Christ perform umpteen miracles—Who made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, who healed the sick, and raised the dead—now refused to believe THE TRUTH that Christ has risen triumphantly from the dead. Jesus Christ is risen dear reader!!!

Two of the disciples who were present when the ladies testified of all they had seen at Jesus' empty tomb, walked to Emmaus with downcast saddened faces. We read in Luke chapter 24 that Jesus approached them and started asking them why they were sad. They engaged in a lengthy conversation as Christ expounded them in Moses and the prophets concerning Himself, yet the Bible says Jesus' true identity was kept holden (hidden) from them. The two disciples expressed their disbelief of all which had happened, which compelled Jesus to lovingly reprimand them in Luke 24:25-26 “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” Why are humans so stubborn to believe the plain truth that is right in front of them?

They invited Jesus to stay with them, but the Bible says Jesus pretended that He couldn't stay for the evening, but He really wanted to stay. Luke 24:28, “And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.” I am so grateful to God for being transparent in His Word, to allow us to see Jesus' humanity. They asked Jesus to stay, but He so: “No, than you anyway, but I must be going.” The Bible says they constrained (begged) Him to stay, and Jesus did. I love that. The Lord was being a true gentleman, not taking advantage of their kindness and hospitality. We serve an ethical Savior!

As the three finished their dinner, Jesus' true identity was revealed unto the two disciples and they marvelled. Luke 24:32, “And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” Dear friend, you should read the inspired King James Bible each day until you get heart burn, that is, until your soul burns from THE TRUTH (Jeremiah 20:9).

So the two enlightened disciples (who now believed) went back to tell the eleven Apostles all that they had seen and heard. Then suddenly, Jesus appeared in the room, but they thought it was a ghost. Luke 24:36-37, “And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” Again, their woeful lack of faith is disturbing. Not once, but twice, the eleven Apostles express their foolish lack of faith. That blows my mind!

I mean, the Apostles had seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, who stank with bodily rot after being dead for four days in the grave. They had seen Jesus feed 5,000 people with a little boy's lunch. They had seen the blind healed so that they could now see. They had beheld lame people walk again, and a woman with an issue of blood healed after 12 years of suffering. They witnesses miracle after miracle. Yet, after witnessing all of these hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of supernatural miracles by the Son of God, they still were not convinced. Good night in the morning folks, what does it take to convince someone to believe?

I have learned in my brief time on earth that in every circumstance, some sinners will believe the Gospel but other will not. The Bible teaches that even if some lost sinners were to see the dead raised, they still would not believe the Gospel. That is so sad and tragic! Luke 16:30-31, “And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” The formerly rich man (now poorer than poor) begged Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead to warn his five living unsaved brothers, but his sincere request was denied. Abraham reiterates the truth that if lost sinners won't believe the written inspired Words of God, then they are beyond hope.

About thirty-five years ago, I shared the Gospel with an older man that I worked with as truck mechanics. His name was Andy. I'll never forget what he said to me: “I won't believe until God knocks on my front door, hands me a Bible and says, 'This is my Word'.” I have often felt sorry for Andy. His wife was a devout Catholic, but he was more of an agnostic (not sure what he believed). Andy was a good man, but lost in his sins without Jesus Christ. Dear reader, if you still don't believe the truth, despite the clear signs of God's existence everywhere we look in nature, then there's nothing that will change your mind (Psalms 19:1-3; Romans 1:20). 

There is an abundant amount of evidence showing that Jesus is who He claimed to be. History verifies the Holy Bible. Archaeology verifies the Holy Bible. Science verifies the Holy Bible. Nature verifies the Holy Bible. The dark sinful human nature verifies the Holy Bible.

The Greatest Faith In Israel

I love this precious true account in the Scripture...

Luke 7:1-10, “Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.”

Do you know why Jesus said this centurion (a commander over 100 soldiers) had the “greatest faith” in Israel? By the way, I cannot think of a greater compliment than for Christ Himself to bestow such admirable words of praise toward any man. Wow! I love this Bible passage, because it encourages me to have like faith. Why did Jesus say that this Roman centurion had the GREATEST FAITH in Israel? It was simply because the centurion believed that Jesus was who He claimed to be, God in the flesh (John 10:33; 1st Timothy 3:16 - cited only from the King James Bible). If Christ has been a mere mortal man, then He couldn't have commanded the sick servant to be healed. But Jesus was the God-man, 100% God and 100% man.

Pastor John MacArthur Denied Jesus' Deity

I heard Pastor John MacArthur (1939-2025) foolishly teach that if Jesus had God's blood flowing in His veins that he couldn't have been 100% a man. So, according to Dr. MacArthur Jesus DIDN'T have God's blood flowing in His veins. That is the sin of BLASPHEMY! John MacArthur slanders the inspired Word of God by denying Jesus' deity! Let me remind you dear reader that the Bible teaches Jesus was born of a virgin, meaning that God in Heaven alone is Jesus biological Father (Isiah 7:14; Matthew 1;23).

Pastor John MacArthur heretically teaches:

“It isn't human flesh, human bones, and divine blood. That's not a man. It is medically impossible to think of Christ's blood as divine. It is theologically impossible to think of Christ's blood as divine. It is Scripturally impossible to think of Christ's blood as divine. He would be less than man. His blood is human blood.” [emphasis added] —Dr. John MacArthur, 'The Precious Blood - Part 1'

GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN!!! Evidently Mr. MacArthur forgot the VIRGIN BIRTH! What normal man has ever been born of a virgin? That's right, NONE! Jesus was 100% a man, but he had God's divine blood in His veins, making Him 100% God as well; otherwise Jesus would have had a sinful nature, just like you and me (Romans 5:12). Woe unto John MacArthur!

Woe unto Bob Jones University (BJU) for bidding John MacArthur Godspeed! Woe unto Dr. Steve Pettit (incompetent BJU president from 2014 to 2022), Marty Herron (former incompetent pastor of Harvest Baptist Church on Guam from 1999 to 2018), and anyone who else who bids this false prophet John MacArthur Godspeed. Woe unto the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam for bidding this ungodly reprobate Godspeed! 2nd John 1:11, “For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” All of the aforementioned religious people and organizations have blood on their hands, for betraying the Lord Jesus Christ!!!

What saith the Scripture? Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Did you catch it? The Bible says that GOD purchased THE CHURCH with HIS OWN BLOOD. There you have it in writing—Jesus had God's blood flowing in His veins! Woe unto Dr. MacArthur and any other theological liar who teaches that Jesus' didn't have God's blood flowing in His earthly veins. How could Jesus be the only begotten (biological) Son of God and not have His heavenly Father's blood?

Are you a fool dear reader? That is, have you been slow to believe all that Moses and the prophets, and all that Jesus and the Apostles, have spoken? I believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, the very Christ, God almighty in the flesh!

The Big Lie

Acts 13:39, “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”

I found the following helpful information at the GraceAnswers.info website...

“Free Grace Gives People a Free Ticket to Sin”

Expose the Lie. Reveal What They Refuse to Say.

There is a charge constantly leveled against Free Grace theology:

“If salvation is free and eternally secure, then people are free to live however they want.”

• That statement sounds forceful.
• It sounds moral.
• It sounds protective of holiness.
• But it is not honest.

Because it deliberately ignores the other half of the biblical argument.

The Lie Is Not What They Say — It’s What They Omit

• They talk endlessly about salvation.
• They warn loudly about assurance.
• They threaten constantly with loss.
• But they say almost nothing about divine discipline.

That omission is not accidental. It is essential to keeping the accusation alive.

Remove discipline from the conversation, and grace looks reckless.
Restore discipline, and the accusation collapses.

This Is a Category Error, Not a Moral Concern

The argument assumes something Scripture never teaches:

“If salvation cannot be lost, then consequences disappear.”
That is not biblical logic.
That is philosophical fear.

Scripture never ties daily behavior to eternal destiny.

It ties behavior to fellowship, discipline, and reward.

Eternal life is a gift.

Accountability is ongoing.

Those are not competing truths.
They are complementary ones.

What Free Grace Actually Teaches

• Free Grace does not say sin is harmless.
• Free Grace does not say obedience is optional.
• Free Grace does not say God looks the other way.

Free Grace says something far more sobering:

• You cannot undo regeneration. But you can invite divine discipline.
• You can lose intimacy with God.
• You can suffer real consequences in this life.
• You can forfeit eternal rewards.

That is not leniency. That is seriousness without fear-mongering.

Divine Discipline Is the Missing Doctrine

God disciplines believers precisely because they are secure.
Discipline is not the threat of rejection.
Discipline is the proof of sonship.

A judge punishes criminals.
A Father disciplines children.

If God never disciplined His people, grace would be suspect.
But Scripture says He does — firmly, personally, and lovingly.
Grace does not remove God’s hand.

Grace explains why that hand belongs to a Father, not an executioner.

The Irony They Never Address
If fear of Hell were the only thing restraining sin, then assurance would be morally dangerous.

Yet, Scripture does not motivate holiness with terror of damnation.

It motivates holiness with:

• love
• identity
• accountability
• discipline
• future evaluation

Fear-based systems produce outward conformity and inward anxiety.

Grace-based systems produce responsibility grounded in security.

The Real Issue Is Control, Not Holiness

Threat-based religion needs uncertainty to function. Grace removes leverage.

When eternal life is settled, teaching must appeal to truth, growth, and responsibility — not fear. That makes grace dangerous to systems built on intimidation. So they call it license.

The Mic Drop

Free Grace does not teach: “Sin freely.”

Free Grace teaches:

“You are eternally secure —and therefore fully accountable to a holy Father who disciplines His children.”
The Big Lie is not grace.
The Big Lie is pretending discipline doesn’t exist.

SOURCE: GraceAnswers.Info