We are living in an increasing time of a difficult proclaimed gospel that includes the looking to self. Self-righteous fruit inspectors state that we cannot only be saved by faith, but that we need to continue to work for salvation. Sorry, but a gospel proclaimed in such a way is not good news. The gospel of Jesus Christ, his death, burial and resurrection, isgood news and it saves whomever who believes. The Holy Bible is clear on this.
The Gospel
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospelwhich I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures – 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (KJV)
The above Gospel is the one that Paul proclaimed to both the Jews and gentiles; it is the relevant Gospel that saves today. So why do Churches and ministers make it difficult to enter into rest in God’s kingdom?
Works Salvation
12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death– Proverbs 14:12 (KJV)
The simple Gospel of Christ is easy, so man cannot take God at His Word, so works are added because it seemeth right. The way of man, unfortunately, is to add works to the Gospel of Grace, because these Churches and ministers don’t really take God at His word, plus they have no understanding of what Jesus has done to save humanity. When He said, it is finished (John 19:30) His work was completed. Upon His Resurrection from the dead after seeing Mary Magdelene
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God – John 20:17
Touch me not, Jesus said to Mary, because she is not pure. She is still in the sinful body, whereas Christ was resurrected and pure.
Jesus ascended to God to offer his blood sacrifice for the sins of humanity, which God accepted. This is the whole purpose of Jesus Christ’s work upon Earth. While Adam caused the downfall of sin upon every human being to exist today, Jesus came to save man through His shed blood on Calvary.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord – Romans 5:12-21 (KJV)
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit –Romans 8:1 (KJV)
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light – Matthew 11: 28-30 (KJV)
We rest in HIS righteousness and not our own. This brings Glory to God. God is pleased with our faith in Christ.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them– Ephesians 2: 8-10 (KJV)
We MUST trust in Christ alone, and if we do not believe the Gospel of Christ proclaimed by Paul, we need to go to God directly and ask for clarity and understanding. He will help. He is a loving God who cares for us all. He does not want anyone to perish.
The Will of God
Contrary to what most Churches and pastors state is the will of God to ‘repent’ of sin etc, the will of God is whomever seeth the son and believes on him has everlasting life.
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day – John 6:28-40 (KJV)
Come as You Are to Jesus
We cannot attain sinless perfection before salvation. What would have been the point of Jesus dying, if we could attain salvation through our own works? We are to come as we are. Jesus came to save the lost, not the righteous. He came to call sinners to repentance (change our mind about trusting in our own works¾filthy rags before God¾and trust in His work).
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance– Mark 2:17 (KJV)
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance– Luke 5:32 (KJV)
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance– Matthew 9:13 (KJV)
metanoia: change of mind, repentance
Original Word: μετάνοια, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: metanoia
Phonetic Spelling: (met-an’-oy-ah)
Definition: change of mind, repentance
Usage: repentance, a change of mind, change in the inner man.
The King James Bible
If you are stuck in a church that is making you doubt your salvation, do the brave and courageous thing and walk away. It is the last thing that any of us need when we are earnestly seeking God. For God is not the author of confusion. Read and listen to God’s word. I recommend the King James Bible, as most modern translations have a works based gospel within and words have been changed throughout. The KJB is not difficult to read, contrary to popular belief. There are many free audio King James Bible apps to download. The Bible is the milk that we need to grow in His Grace. Yes, we may still crave companionship with fellow Christians, but fellowship with God should be our daily bread.
Here are some examples:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved – Romans 10:9 (KJV)
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved– Romans 10:9 (NIV)
Jesus is already Lord, He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, so no amount of confession of Him as Lord will change that, but the NIV version has been corrupted into a work unto salvation.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins – Colossians 1:14 (KJV)
In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins – Colossians 1:14 (NIV)
The blood of Jesus saves us, so why would the NIV remove the power of His shed blood that saves the sinner? If Satan can create a bible without saving power, he will. Working hard to become a ‘good person’ without being first saved by the true gospel, is fruitless. A person is still under the wrath of God and works is what he or she will be judged on at the White Throne Judgement. We need the cloak of righteousness of Christ to cover our sins, and His blood does exactly that when we believe solely on Him. Please please please ask God for discernment.
Separate Salvation and Discipleship
I would also like to address that salvation and discipleship are separate. Believe me I have been judged by others, fruit inspectors, who put me under condemnation and the psychological damage it causes does not go away. Please fellow brethren be careful about you treat others. Always inspect your self before judging others. No one can hide from God. Ask God to reveal the hidden sins that you don’t even want to address. God knows that I need His righteousness and Christ saved me. God came to save the lost. Anyone who knows they need Christ’s righteousness has no pride in that moment of salvation. He will save anyone who comes to Him.
Anyone who is preaching a Gospel of discipleship with salvation is front-loading a Gospel that does not save, and this leaves a person in bondage and not the freedom of Christ, who paid it all. The Blood of Christ saves. God accepted it for the sins of the whole world. Salvation and discipleship must remain separate. First to hear the gospel that saves – Jesus died for our sins, he was buried and resurrected. To believe His account is to believe unto everlasting life. We are saved and reborn into God’s Kingdom, but we still have our fleshy bodies. There will always be a war against sin. It is impossible to stop sinning, so anyone who judges another he himself will be judged.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us– John 1:8 (KJV)
These self-righteous people forget to look at what Christ has done. They are so full of condemnation against others because we do not live up to their perfection standards, and this is not a fruit of the spirit. Do not let them beguile you, making them seem that they are holier than holy. Only Jesus attained perfection. He kept the Laws of God perfectly, without sin. He was God in the flesh but without sin. The law is there to show us that it is impossible to keep the law and the self-righteousness to try to even do so is prideful. God looks at the heart.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for theLORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart– 1 Samuel 16:7 (KJV)
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith– Galatians 3:24 (KJV)
It is my belief that Churches and preachers who teach another gospel or another Jesus are just afraid that they will lead people to Hell if they do not frontload discipleship unto salvation, but these truths must be rightly separated, because salvation is what God has done for us and discipleship is what we do for God after we are saved. However, not everyone will become a servant for Christ, because Paul addressed carnal Christians in the books of Corinthians. Any time that Paul is saying ‘brethren’ he is addressing fellow believers, but they were immature in Christ. He desires to give them the meat of God’s Word, but they cannot understand it.
Only the Grace of God can help us develop the fruits of the Spirit that Paul speaks of in Galatians.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another – Galatians 5:16-25
When we try to become holy through the flesh, we are again under bondage, as Paul says in Galatians for the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and we struggle to do the things that we would. However, when we are in the Spirit, in Grace, in Christ, the fruits of the Spirit become a natural manifestation of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
I’m sorry that this has been such a long article to read, but it is important for us as Christians to keep the good news of the gospel simple and understandable for people, and leave the rest up to God. It is our job to rightly divide the word of God and keep it free from corruption, and to plant the seed. God bless to you.
