ACROSS THE TABLE
A Conversation Dissecting the Gospel of Mainstream Religion and the Gospel of Christ
The following is a fictional conversation based on past personal discussions, and correspondence between a saved Christian (myself) and an unbelieving—and therefore lost—professing Christian. It is a tool designed to help true Christians witness the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those non-Gospel believers who claim to be saved but do not believe the true Gospel, thereby exposing their powerless-to-save gospels.
“Good evening, how are you?” ‘Good thank you. How are you?’ “Fine, fine. Are you having a good day?” ‘Yes, not bad thank you.’ “I’m a Christian, have you ever heard of Jesus Christ?” ‘Yes, I have actually. In fact, I’m a Christian, too.’ “Really? How long have you been a Christian?” ‘Oh, about 6 years now.’ “Interesting. I’ve been a Christian for 25 years.” ‘Oh, that’s nice.’ “Say, can I ask you a question?” ‘Fire away.’ “When did you first hear the Gospel, and what were your initial thoughts on Jesus dying for the elect and not everyone like most people believe?” ‘Excuse me. Jesus dying for the elect? What’s that? I’ve never heard of that.’ “You mean you’ve never read in Ephesians 1 where God chose a people from before the foundation of the world to be His people whom He would give to His Son, and Matthew 1 where the angel proclaimed Jesus would specifically save HIS people from THEIR sins? (see also Jn. 17 cf. Jn. 11:51,52; Acts 15:14).” ‘Well, yes of course I’ve read Ephesians 1 and Matthew 1, but I don’t ever recall reading those words.’ “Do you remember reading in John 10 that Jesus Himself said He would lay down His life exclusively for His sheep?” ‘No, I don’t. Wait a minute, are you talking about predestination and limited atonement?’ “Yes, I am.” ‘Well, I’m sorry, but I really don’t want to hear anymore. You see, our pastor calls those teachings heresy so I don’t believe either doctrine. Good day to you, sir’ “Hey, wait a minute, don’t run away from the subject. Let’s talk about this so you can see why I believe them and why you should believe them, for they are both clearly taught in Scripture and are part of the only Gospel that saves.” ‘Well, come to think of it, I’ve never really looked into those teachings. Ok, go ahead, I’ll listen to what you have to say.’ “Good. Let me read from Ephesians 1. Have you got time?” ‘I’ve got all night if you can back up what you’re saying with Scripture’ “I sure can: “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world…Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace…” (Eph. 1:4-6 cf. Eph. 1:11); you see, far from being something heretical as you have been wrongly taught, predestination is clearly and directly linked to the grace of God in the salvation of His people.” ‘Hmm.’ “Listen to what the angel said to Joseph in Matthew 1: “And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21 cf. Jn. 6:37), and Jesus said in John 10:15: “…I lay down My life for the sheep.” Clearly salvation is for His people who are none other than the sheep He laid down His life for.” ‘You know, I know I must have read those verses multiple times, but it’s like I’ve never seen them before. Like they’re totally new to me. I didn’t think the word predestinated was even in the Bible. I have heard and read so many people condemn the doctrine of predestination as evil, so I just assumed they can’t all be wrong, and yet here it is, right in God’s Word. I can’t believe this. And Jesus saying He would lay down His life for the sheep—where has that verse been all my life? I mean, I’ve read it in my Bible, but it’s like I’ve just glossed over the verse taking it for granted that I knew what it meant without really considering its meaning.’ “Believe me, I was the same as you are today until God literally opened my eyes.
“The Word of God teaches that Christ died exclusively for His people, His sheep, just like God directed His high priest in the OT to make sacrifice for His people, Israel, and not at all for those of other nations (see Lev. 16:16,17,21,33,34; Ex. 28:29 cf. Heb. 7:25; 9:11-24; 10:11-14). Again, Matthew 1 says: ‘…Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins’ (Matt. 1:21). God says, in Isaiah 53:8: “…for the transgression of MY people was He stricken” (see also Isa. 53:11 and Hebrews chapters 5,7 and 9).” ‘I know the high priest in the Old Testament only made sacrifice for the nation of Israel as directed by God, but Jesus as High Priest also making sacrifice for an exclusive group of people and not for the whole world—how have I never seen that? And now I see that God Himself says that Jesus was stricken for His people, this clearly shows exclusivity and not a general act. Wow!’ “Since the Atonement was always an exclusive act for a specific people, it clearly was never something that was conditioned on those for whom it was made.” “If Christ died exclusively for a specific group (the elect), then their salvation cannot depend on a condition they must fulfill on their own power (such as a free-will decision), because Christ's sacrifice successfully secured everything necessary for their salvation, including their faith.” “The Old Testament atonement was for God’s people ONLY, and this was the atonement which was the type, or shadow, of that which was to come: Jesus Christ (see Heb. 8:5; 10:1).” “Because the high priest in the Old Testament only made atonement for the defined nation of Israel (God's covenant people), the ‘antitype’ (Jesus) must also make atonement specifically for the true Israel of God (the elect), rather than a general atonement for every individual in the world.”
“You know, it never ceases to amaze me how so many professing Christians do not hesitate for one moment to believe and preach that God’s high priest in the Old Testament made sacrifice for no other people, no other nation, than Israel—that Israel was God’s exclusive people—and yet when the same claim is made concerning Jesus Christ as God’s great High Priest, and how He made sacrifice—not for everyone, but exclusively for God’s elect—suddenly such a concept is considered heresy and blasphemy of the worst kind.” ‘Yes, I’ve never seen or heard the parallel teaching of the Old Testament high priest’s exclusive sacrifice with that of Christ’s exclusive sacrifice for His people—ever. I’ve always heard in sermon after sermon how the teaching that Christ died for a few and not all limited the power of God. I’m so confused—it’s like we’ve been reading from two different Bibles.’ “That statement perfectly illustrates the paradigm shift that occurs when switching from a man-centred view of the cross to a God-centred view of election.” “Friend, it’s actually the teaching that Christ died for all that limits God’s power, for the premise of such a teaching is that God can only actually save those who ‘choose’ Him, and not all those Christ allegedly died for. Conversely, Christ’s death for His people alone reveals God’s full saving power because He Sovereignly saves everyone of those Christ died for. God makes it perfectly clear that: “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied…” (Isa. 53:11). “The Father’s satisfaction proves the exclusivity of the atonement: He is satisfied because the specific souls given to the Son before the foundation of the world were successfully and completely redeemed. Not one drop of Christ's suffering was wasted on a potential salvation that failed.” “By the way, which so-called version of the Bible do you read?” ‘The NIV.’ “That’s what I thought. Look, I won’t go into detail now, but I can tell you that the NIV is nothing but a perversion of God’s Word. It has changed and omitted so many words—predominantly the word blood (when referring to Christ’s death)—from so many verses even removing whole passages of Scripture from its pages. I would make time if I were you and do some online research comparing the NIV with the King James Bible and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.” ‘Ok, thanks I will. But, getting back to Christ dying only for the elect and not everyone, God is Love isn’t He? and He loved the world so much He gave His only Son to die for everyone, leaving each individual with the free-will choice of whether or not they want to accept or reject what He’s done for them.’ “Friend, that is the lie of Satan that deceives the whole world.” ‘Oh man, come on, you must be kidding! How can such an enormous display of love be a lie of the Devil’s?’ “No, I’m not kidding. I’m deadly serious.
“First of all, who exactly did Christ offer His sacrifice to?” ‘That I know, “…Christ…hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God…” (Eph. 5:2). So, doesn’t this verse prove He died for everyone, seeing it says Christ hath given Himself for us?’ “Friend, it doesn’t even come close to saying that. Just turn back to the start of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians where those words come from, and you’ll see exactly who the us are in Ephesians 5:2. If you don’t have the context correct, you will always be wrong in your conclusions. In this instance, isolating the word us from its context and making it mean everyone without exception simply plays havoc with the context of what Christ has actually done.” “Expanding us to mean every single person in the world without exception completely violates the internal structure of the epistle.” “Now listen closely to who Paul was addressing:” “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, TO THE SAINTS which are at Ephesus, and TO THE FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS” (Eph. 1:1 cf. Eph. 1:4,5). Paul was not writing an open letter to the world; he was writing exclusively to believers—those who are not of the world (see Jn. 17:16). Therefore, it stands to biblical reason that the us in Ephesians 5:2 cannot possibly be referring to everyone in the world, but is unmistakably and exclusively referencing God’s people. There is nothing in the entire Letter to the Ephesians—nor in any other part of the Scriptures for that matter—that refers to a universal sacrifice for all. This clearly rules out the fantasy—that fantastical lie—that Christ’s sacrifice was for all and that the decision to be saved or not is, consequently, left to the volitional caprice of each individual.” “When an author addresses a specific community as ‘we,’ ‘us,’ or ‘beloved,’ those pronouns cannot be universally applied to humanity at large without completely ignoring the literal context of the document.”
“If Christ made sacrifice to God, then it’s only God Who was in the position to accept the Sacrifice or reject it. Had God not accepted Christ’s sacrifice, then none would be saved. However, if God did accept Christ’s sacrifice—which He most assuredly did—then there is nothing left to conclude but that all for whom Christ died will be saved.” ‘When you put it that way, I guess it makes sense.’ “Friend, it is biblically and logically irrefutable.” “If a judge accepts a substitute's payment for a legal debt, the law cannot legally hold the original debtor accountable anymore. Therefore, if God accepted Christ's payment, everyone included in that payment must inevitably be set free (saved), otherwise God's justice would be flawed by demanding two payments for the same debt.” “So again, it makes perfect biblical sense that salvation is not the people’s choice at all, but God’s choice seeing that the people Christ made sacrifice for were all given to Him by the Father.” ‘Christ made sacrifice for the people given to Him by God?’ “That’s right.” ‘Where do you get that from?’ “Straight from the Word of God, that’s where. Listen to Jesus praying to the Father in John 17: ‘As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him” (Jn. 17:2,24).” ‘But I still can’t get over the fact that Christ gave Himself for us.’ “You haven’t even heard the words I’ve just quoted. Okay, let’s pause for a minute. When you say ‘but’ what does that say about what I have just told you regarding whom Christ made sacrifice to, and what you have seemingly agreed with? Are you just ignoring the facts? Are you being disingenuous? Do you simply deflect from all that I have told you, choosing rather to mindlessly stick to the false narrative you have been spoon-fed these past few years? Your problem is you cannot, for the time being, get over the lie that has been drummed into you and millions of others that us means everyone ever born. You clearly have not heard what I have just told you and made perfectly clear from the very Word of God no less: exactly to whom the us is pertaining. Stick with Bible language; make that your basis for belief, the foundation upon which you build your belief system, not what a man says the Bible is saying.
“Doesn’t it make perfect sense that the us in Ephesians 5:2 is referring to Christ’s sheep, seeing that the apostle addresses his Letter: “..TO THE SAINTS which are at Ephesus, and TO THE FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS” (Eph. 1:1)? Jesus laying down His life for the sheep, which we looked at earlier, is simply another way of saying He gave Himself for us: the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. Paul includes himself among the us and is writing to his fellow Christians at Ephesus, “…to the saints…and to the faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1). How can one make sense of Paul’s writing to the saints in Ephesians 1 while claiming that his use of the word us is a blanket statement referring to everyone in the world, regardless of whether they are believers or not? The only way I could be wrong is if you can provide biblical evidence that the us in this verse is a reference to the entire population of the earth at any given time. Can you prove that?” ‘No, I can’t from Scripture.’ “That’s the whole point! Nothing else matters but Scripture: the Word of God—what GOD says. The fact is that all the Letters in the New Testament were written to believers. None of them are an open letter to the world at large. I mean, how foolish would you be to intercept a letter I wrote to John and take all the references made in it to us and we personally. Moreover, to take all references to us and we as meaning everyone ever born?” “This perfectly illustrates the logical absurdity of universalizing pronouns in a personal epistle.” “So, can you now see that the us cannot mean everyone without exception but only those to whom the apostle was writing?” ‘Yes, I can’t see any way around that conclusion.’ “Good.
“If there’s one thing the Word of God never does: it never groups God’s people with those of the world. The following words of Jesus should show you the eternal separation that exists between the two: “…the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:14). Jesus knows His own while those who are not His, like those false Christians in Matthew 7:21-23, are not known by Him. “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His…” (2 Tim. 2:19); Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine” (Jn. 10:14). Whereas, those who are not His, the Lord declares: “…I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23). “God never confuses the spiritual status or the eternal security of His chosen people with that of the unbelieving world. From the perspective of the Father’s decree and the Son’s atonement, there is an impenetrable wall between the two groups. God knows exactly who belongs to Him (see 2 Tim. 2:19), and He never treats the debt of those Christ died for as if it were still grouped with the debt of the world.” ‘I find it amazing how with only a handful of verses you have made me question the entire gospel I have been taught over the years.’ “Friend, I have only begun to show you what the Word of God is really saying.
“You believe that God directed His high priest in the Old Testament to make sacrifice to God exclusively for the people of Israel and for no other nation, right?” ‘Sure I do.’ “Ok, so do you believe that it is 100% Biblical to say that sacrifice in the OT was exclusively made for God’s people and not a single person who was not part of God’s people.” ‘Absolutely, I have no problem with that.’ “Good. Can I ask you why you have no problem with that?” ‘Sure, because it’s the Word of God.’ “I’m glad to hear you say that, because everything the high priest did in the Old Testament was a precursor, or to be more precise, a shadow of, and a window into what the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, would do for His people in the New Testament. Check out Hebrews 8:5 and 10:1-4 and also Colossians 2:17 and learn the language of the Bible concerning the Old Testament high priest and the sacrificial system being a shadow of Christ and His sacrifice. We spoke about this earlier. All of this is succinctly laid out in the Gospel of Matthew: “And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21 cf. Isa. 53:8). Some parallel verses to this are, Jesus saying “…I lay down My life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:15); “…for the transgression of My people was He stricken” (Isa. 53:8); “…Christ…loved the Church. and gave Himself for it” (Eph. 5:25 cf. Acts 20:28). Now, how would Jesus save them from their sins?” ‘By making sacrifice to God for them.’ “Correct. The Lord Jesus will not save any from their sins who are not of His people, who were not given to Him by the Father—who were not of His sheep, not God’s people, not of His Church. Clearly, Christ did not lay down His life for all. Tell me, in light of Matthew 1:21 and these other verses I’ve mentioned, can you state with any certainty that Christ would save anyone other than those that are called His people or His sheep?” ‘No, I can’t. It clearly says He would only save His people, His sheep. But, aren’t His people those who would choose Him?’ “No. To say He would save the people who would choose Him reverses the entire context of Acts 13:48: “…as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” Your way of thinking denies the order God has set, making it: as many as believed were then ordained to eternal life.” “Acts 13:48 shows that Instead of faith being the condition to get into the group of the elect, faith is shown to be the evidence that someone is already in that group.” “The fact that God has predestinated a people to be His people, His chosen, by grace alone shows that Christ’s death was only for the ones God chose. Couple this with Jesus only giving eternal life to those whom the Father has given Him (see Jn. 17:2), and the teaching that salvation relies on people choosing God falls flat on its face. Any way you want to look at Matthew 1:21 you cannot escape the clarity of what it teaches and the fact it matches perfectly with the whole of the Word of God. You simply have to find out who His people are and that will make what He actually did—and for whom He did it—on the Cross perfectly clear. Make any protest against, and try and judge, anything that does not comply with the fact that Jesus made sacrifice via His death for His people, and you will always have a false gospel that, at best, only offers a potential salvation, rather than a sure salvation (see Heb. 10:12) based on God’s acceptance of the Saviour’s Sacrifice. Christ’s death for God’s chosen is an inescapable and unavoidable biblical fact, so do not ignore it or attempt to get around it by anything which contradicts it, for I can assure you it will have no biblical support.
“Let me show you in just six words what the Word of God says about God’s people: “But ye are a chosen generation…” (1 Pet. 2:9). The word chosen here comes from the Greek word eklektos which means elect. This matches perfectly with God having predestinated His chosen ones to be His to the glory of His grace. True Gospel believers are only those who were ordained by God to eternal life (see Acts 13:48). The choice is based on grace, not performance—foreseen or otherwise. The people for whom Christ laid down His life were a chosen people. God’s people are not a generation of choosers, but a chosen generation. They do not elect God, for God has elected them. They have been chosen; they did not choose. ONLY God has done the choosing. Salvation is by grace alone; therefore, it is God Who has done the choosing. If it is by grace, it is by God’s choice, not your decision. How can the grace-based decision to save be attributable to the chosen ones? How can the ones ordained to eternal life self-ordain themselves by choosing the One Who has chosen them? “Human choice cannot cause or secure a divine decree.” Jesus the Messiah came to save, and was successful in saving the people God had chosen; He came to save only those people from their sins. Listen to Jesus’ words as He speaks to the Father: “As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him” (Jn. 17:2 cf. Acts 13:48). No one else will be saved but those predestinated, pre-ordained, chosen and given people, for Jesus came to exclusively save them from original sin and their specific sins. Jesus speaks only of giving eternal life to those whom the Father has given Him. These are none other than the ones God has foreordained to eternal life, who shall be recognized by their belief in the Gospel of God and no other. Just look back to Ephesians 1 and you’ll see who those people are, the ones God chose before the foundation of the world, having predestinated them to the glory of His grace. All Matthew 1:21 is saying is Christ shall save His predestinated sheep from their sins. It is so clear and it is so simple that only the spiritually blind fail to see this. You know, ignorance is not the worst problem a person can have; rather, it is wilful ignorance that is the fundamental problem most people possess—especially professing Christians who refuse to acknowledge the truth of what God’s Word teaches, in favour of an underlying preference for their preferred pastor and the continuing fellowship with other equally blind followers (see 2 Tim. 4:3; Matt. 15:14). They would rather ignore truth so they can continue to enjoy their nice cosy little lives in their nice cosy little churches with their nice cosy little friends and families. United in ignorance; separated from truth. I hope you’re not one of those people.
“Jesus was never going to save the people who were not His sheep, not the ones God had given Him. He did not come to save the ones God had not chosen before the foundation of the world. Listen to the terminology used by Jesus Himself: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me…” (Jn. 6:37 cf. Jn. 17:2). Why do you think Jesus was so sure that all those the Father gave to Him would come to Him? Because they were all the ones God had elected, predestinated and ordained to eternal life. THESE are the only ones given to the Son by the Father. None but those whom the Father has given to His Son will ever come to Him, and the only reason they will come to Him is because the Father has given them to Him. Anyone ‘coming to Jesus’ that the Father did not choose and give unto His Son is an utter impossibility. Jesus said: “…no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6), and no one but those “…the Father giveth unto Me”, Jesus said, "shall come to Me” (Jn. 17:2). In light of these two Scriptures it stands to biblical reason that: “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn. 9). If you do not believe God’s Gospel you have not the Father or the Son. Look at Jesus’ words from John 6 for confirmation: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him…no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father” (Jn. 6:44,65). Those whom the Father draws, whom He has given to the Son, are none other than the ones God chose from before the foundation of the world—the chosen generation—and predestinated…unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His Grace (Eph. 1:5,6). It’s not about those who allegedly ‘choose Him’, but those whom the Father has chosen and given Him. Besides this, all the people who claim to have chosen ‘God’ have chosen the wrong god, for they are all believers in the fictitious god who allegedly saves those who choose him based on their works not on His grace alone. Salvation is not about people choosing God, for that would make salvation contingent on works. God choosing the people He wanted could only ever have happened according to His Grace alone. “No man can…except the Father…” (Jn. 6:44).
“What Christ did was not only for His people that were of the nation of Israel, but for all His chosen from the nations of the world.” ‘Do you have Scriptures to back this up?’ “Of course, otherwise, I wouldn’t believe it. John 11 is where the high priest, Caiaphas, “…prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also He should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad” (Jn. 11:51,52 cf. 1 Kings 8:53; Acts 15:14). So, now we have this same people referred to in three different ways: His sheep, His people and the children of God. Jesus died for the children of God in Israel and for the children of God scattered throughout the nations of the world. Notice how He died for His people in the world (scattered abroad), and not for the whole world. These are two distinctly separate groups of people. Let me present you with the following verse that absolutely obliterates the concept of Christ making sacrifice for everyone ever born and that God loved the whole world. Jesus said: “…I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine” (Jn. 17:9). Christ’s prayers are not for all the people of the world, but exclusively for those people the Father had given Him. Now we have God’s people, those He would save, referred to in five different ways: His sheep, His people, the children of God, those which Thou hast given Me, and I pray…for them which Thou hast given Me. Clearly, those whom the Father has given to the Son are His sheep, His people, the children of God: “…I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; FOR THEY ARE THINE” (Jn. 17:9). The Father gave these people who were not of the world BUT SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD to His Son because they are His chosen ones, the ones He draws to His Son to Whom they could come by no other means including their mythical free will. Pay attention to the language of the Bible. The distinction made is undeniable and leads to the only right conclusion possible: God’s people are called His sheep, His people, children of God, those which the Father has given unto the Son, and the fact that the Lord Jesus only prays for these people and not for the world, is evidence that can only lead to Christ dying for those people, and not for every individual ever born. Such evidence is biblically irrefutable; it cannot be avoided and therefore must not be ignored.
“What I am showing you directly from the Scriptures exposes the lie you have been taught: that the idea of universal love and therefore a universal sacrifice for one and all—for both the wheat and the tares, the sheep and the goats—is a teaching completely devoid of any biblical support. Jesus says: “…I pray not for the world…” (Jn. 17:2). This does not mean He does not pray for anyone, nor could it possibly mean that He prays for everyone. When Jesus says world He is not talking about everyone ever born, due to the fact that He DOES pray for some people—His people—those who are not of the world as He is not of the world (see Jn. 17:16). The world He speaks about is made up of those people who are not His own. How could they be? HE DOESN’T EVEN PRAY FOR THEM SO WHAT MAKES YOU OR ANYONE THINK HE DIED FOR THEM! Jesus prays for His people who are in the world, but He does not pray at all for those people who are of the world, for they are NOT the Father’s chosen ones. Those people who are in the world are of God; those people who are of the world are not of God. The following words of the Lord Jesus make the lie that world always means everyone plain for all to see: “I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:14). Here we see the distinction, the clear and unmistakable line drawn between God’s people and those who are not God’s people. The world, made up of those who are not God’s people, hate God’s people. God’s people are not of the world; they are of Him because of grace alone. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (Jn. 15:19). “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 Jn. 3:13).
“There is an abundance of other supporting Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments, which are plentiful in my books and articles. In order to prove to you in an instance that Jesus did not lay down His life for everyone who ever came into existence, allow me to ask you: how many goats did Jesus lay down His life for?” ‘None. Like you said, John 10, I checked it out, Jesus said: “…I lay down My life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:15). I also noticed in the preceding verse that Jesus called them “My sheep”. I also checked up on the word goats in my concordance, only to find that nowhere in the entire Bible is there any mention of any sacrifice being made for goats, or anywhere where goats and sheep are coupled for the purpose of salvation; nor did Jesus ever claim to have laid down His life for the goats’ “That’s right, Christ’s people were not just sheep, but they were His sheep: the ones the Father had given Him and designated to be His people. Now we just need to find out who the goats are. “In Christ's teaching on the final judgment, the sheep and the goats are entirely polarized—one represents the chosen people of God, and the other represents those who are excluded from eternal life (see Matt. 25:32-34,41).” “Notice in Matthew 25 that not everyone is called His sheep, not even just sheep. The world is made up of two groups of people: those who are God’s people and those who are not God’s people—His sheep and the goats. Obviously, God’s love was exclusively for the ones He gave unto His Son: His sheep. How then could God have possibly loved those He did not give unto His Son? How could God have loved any who were not His sheep? How could God’s love be upon those people whom He did not ordain to eternal life—who hate His people, and, therefore, God Himself? Jesus said: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you” (Jn. 15:18). How could God have loved those for whom Christ did not even pray? How could God have loved the goats? What makes the difference between the goats and the sheep? Is it because they did not choose Him? NO! It’s because God did not choose them; because He did not predestinate the ones who were not His people and give them unto His Son. If Jesus had died for everyone, as you and millions of others have been wrongly taught, surely that would include goats as well as sheep. The ones God did not love as well as those whom He did love. The ones He predestinated to be His people and the ones He did not. The ones He did not appoint unto His Wrath and those He did (see 1 Thess. 5:9,10). The ones He gave unto His Son and the ones He did not. The ones Jesus prayed for and the ones He did not pray for. The Church of Christ is not made up of sheep and goats, this is seen clearly in Ephesians 5: “…Christ…loved the Church, and gave Himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). Christ laid down His life for the sheep. The Lord never calls any of His people goats, He never refers to the goats as MY goats. Only God’s chosen are the sheep, His sheep. If Christ had died for everyone it would include those who were not His sheep, not His people, not the chosen, predestinated children of God and those which the Father has not given to the Son, as well as those for whom Jesus DID NOT EVEN PRAY! Most people just look at Scripture, God’s people actually SEE what it says.” ‘I think I’m starting to see the picture. It’s like all coming into focus. Tell me more.’
“Matthew 25 is where the Lord shows that all of humanity is split into two groups: the sheep and the goats. In other words, one group is made up only of God’s chosen and the other group is exclusively made up of those whom He did not choose to be His people, but has rather appointed them unto His eternal Wrath (see 1 Thess. 5:9; Jd. 1:4; Rom. 9:21). The former are those whom God has appointed to obtain salvation, and the others are those whom God has appointed to His Wrath (see 1 Thess. 5:9 cf. Rom. 9:21; Isa. 64:8). Christ died for those whom God has appointed to obtain salvation, not for those who have been appointed to Wrath. There are those who are God’s people and those who are not God’s people. Those who are God’s children and those who are not His children. Those who are God’s sheep and those who are not His sheep, but goats. Those whom the Father has given to His Son and those whom He has not given to His Son. The sheep are His because He chose them to be His sheep. They are the children of God because He chose them by grace to be His children. They are His people because God chose them to be His people and He gave them to His Son because He chose to give them to His Son. That is Grace. Now, why would Jesus pray—let alone die—for anyone other than these people?” ‘I can’t think of any reason.’ “Precisely, because there is no reason! There is not a single verse in the whole of Scripture that lends any support whatsoever to the concept of Christ dying for anyone other than the ones God has appointed to eternal life. The purpose of Hell is to torment all those who shall pay the price of their sins for all eternity. The Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ has paid the price of the sins of the people He laid down His life for. NO ONE FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED WILL END UP IN HELL; LIKEWISE, NO ONE FOR WHOM CHRIST DID NOT DIE WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD. The sins of the sheep have been paid for by their Saviour; the sins of the goats will be paid for, for all eternity, by the goats. Salvation is entirely according to God’s will, purpose, love, grace and mercy. The death of Christ for His people, the Righteousness of God imputed to them, and their sins charged to Him, are all according to God’s Grace. Salvation is by Grace because it obviously could not be achieved by human works. The sheep have no power. They are only His because of HIS Power (see Psa. 110:3).
“What is also inexorable and, therefore, undeniable is the enormously significant and irrefutable connection between God’s giving and God’s loving. In the context of salvation: the Lord gives to those whom He loves, and He loves those to whom He gives. The apostle Paul speaks of the Son of God “…Who LOVED me, and GAVE Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). He also writes of the Saviour to the saints at Ephesus: “…Christ also hath LOVED us, and hath GIVEN Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God…” (Eph. 5:2). Further on in his Letter to the Ephesian believers, Paul writes: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also LOVED the Church, and GAVE Himself for it” (Eph.5:25; see also vv 25-27).” ‘Yes, but who is the church?’ “That’s what I’ve been talking about: The Church of God is made up exclusively of those whom He called out of the world. Christ never loved the whole world, but only those whom He called out of the world: His sheep. The apostle, writing to the church of the Thessalonians says: “Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath LOVED us, and hath GIVEN us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work” (2 Thess. 2:16). John writing to the “beloved” (see 1 Jn. 4:1), said: “Hereby perceive we the LOVE of God, because He LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR us…” (1 Jn. 3:16 cf. 1 Jn. 4:10; Rev. 1:5). I mean, what a key verse that literally shatters the erroneous interpretation of John 3:16, when you learn exactly who John was addressing when he wrote his first Letter? John addresses them as: “My little children…Brethren…Beloved, now are we the sons of God…” (1 Jn. 2:1,7; 3:2 cf. 1 Jn. 3:13). Who are these little children? “Ye are of God, little children…they are of the world…We are of God” (1 Jn. 4:4,5,6). “Beloved, if God so loved US…” (1 Jn. 4:11). “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US: and WE OUGHT TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES for the BRETHREN” (1 Jn. 3:16). That is yet another verse which proves God laid down His life exclusively for the brethren—His chosen ones. The Lord Jesus Himself uses the same language in His declaration: “…I lay down My life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:15). And the piece de resistance: “These things have I written unto you THAT BELIEVE ON THE NAME OF THE SON OF GOD…” (1 Jn. 5:13). THAT’S who Christ laid down His precious life for because THAT’S who God loved. Paul writing to the “beloved of God…in Rome…called to be saints (see Rom. 1:7), says: “But God commendeth His LOVE toward us, in that…Christ DIED FOR us” (Rom. 5:8 cf. Jn. 15:13; 1 Jn. 4:9,10). There is no escaping the fact that Christ died only for the people God loved. These are the people God gave unto His Son. They are not all without exception, but exclusively those whom the Father loved: His sheep.” ‘Wow, I have never even heard such things. It’s like you’re showing me a brand new Bible. I’ve never heard my pastor ever preach a single word on these clearly highly significant issues of what these verses are saying and how they expose the false teaching that God loves all and Christ died for all.’ “Friend, these are not merely issues, but the very Gospel itself.
“You say you read the Bible?” ‘I sure do. I’ve read it several times Old Testament and New, but it’s like I’ve never really understood verses like these before, like I haven’t even seen them before. It’s as though my eyes were blind to them and my mind numbed to their meaning, a meaning which I never even thought to seriously search for. But, somehow I still can’t match what you’ve shown me with the plain wording of John 3:16 that says God so loved the world. Doesn’t that prove Christ died for everyone seeing that God loved everyone.’ “Well, I think that blindness and numbness still has a hold on you. How do you get God loved everyone from God so loved the world?” ‘Well, isn’t it obvious?’ “I guess it’s obvious to those people who read it like that, or should I say who have been taught and programmed to read that verse in that way, but it is clearly wrong when you know the context of John 3:16, who wrote that Gospel and to whom he was writing it. What you or anyone else can’t do is line up the verses I have shown you next to John 3:16 and tell me they are all talking about a universal love of God and Christ’s death for everyone ever born. For instance, how can you possibly reconcile Jesus’ words in John 17:9: “…I pray not for the world…” with interpreting “…God so loved the world…” (Jn. 3:16) to mean God loves everyone, when His Son does not even pray for everyone? But before we get into John 3:16 what about all the Scriptures I have already shown you? Have you forgotten or simply chosen to discard them even though you apparently agree with them? Or have you reasoned within yourself that the Scriptures I have shown you—and proved by comparing them with other Scriptures—could not mean what I have told you because it conflicts with your misunderstanding of a single verse? If you have actually found Scriptures that prove me wrong, please show them to me. Isolating one verse to build an entire doctrine around it is not comparing Scripture with Scripture; but forces the Scripture to fit with your preconceived idea of what it is saying with no regard for the Author’s intention. “If an interpretation of one verse contradicts the overarching narrative of the Bible, the interpretation of that single verse is incorrect (see 2 Pet. 1:20).”
“You cannot dispense with verses and passages from all over the Bible because of one misinterpreted word in one misunderstood verse. Such are the actions of those who refuse to face the reality of what the conflicting verses are saying. Again, what about the Scriptures I have shown you that you have agreed with and cannot deny and have not denied? What happens to those Scriptures? Does the meaning of all of them suddenly change because of a single verse, supported by no other, which you claim says what no other Scripture in the entire Bible confirms? “The Word of God explicitly states that truth is established by multiple witnesses (see Deut. 19:15; 2 Cor. 13:1). Applying this to doctrine, a single, isolated verse cannot override the collective weight of multiple clear passages. Often, when people encounter clear biblical truths that conflict with their traditions or preferences, they often choose to ignore them. Jesus confronted this mindset in Matt. 15:6, accusing the religious leaders of making ‘…the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition’.” How exactly does the meaning and mechanics of Jesus laying down His life exclusively for His sheep, and praying only for those sheep—the people God chose from before the foundation of the world and gave to Him—suddenly and completely change simply because one claims that “God so loved the world” means He loved everyone? How are you going to squeeze the goats in with those Christ calls “My sheep” in Christ’s statements: “…I lay down My life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:15), and: “…I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me…” (Jn. 17:9)? If God so loved the world means He loved everyone without exception and Jesus died for everyone without exception, why does Jesus never make any reference to the goats He allegedly died for, or the goats the Father allegedly gave to Him, or the goats he allegedly prays for? Moreover, if world always means everyone without exception then what you are left with is an eternal impasse—a logical contradiction—when you try to compare ‘I pray not for the world’ with ‘for God so loved the world’. I pray not for the world is a dead giveaway that God did not love the world of the unchosen, but only those who were His: the world of the elect. If God loved the world—every individual ever born—would the Lord Jesus not pray for the world? BUT HE DOESN’T! If the Father loved everyone, would He would not have given everyone to His Son? BUT HE DIDN’T! If Christ loved everyone—His sheep and the goats—would He not have laid down His life for everyone? BUT HE DIDN'T!” ‘Obviously there would be a contradiction, so world just cannot mean what I thought it meant.’ “Glad you can see that. Not only do these verses specifically and exclusively refer to Christ’s sheep—those who are God’s people whom the Father has given Him—but they most emphatically exclude all those who are not His sheep: the goats, those who are of the world. So how can the goats be part of the world God loves?” ‘I can’t think of any Scripture that I can answer you with.’ ”That’s because there are none.
“Incidentally, now that you’ve raised the issue of John 3:16, as we continue our discussion have you found even one other verse in the Bible that says God loves the world. You can lay your concordance down, friend. I’ll save you the trouble of trying to find one, because there is no other verse in all of God’s Word which contains any reference whatsoever to ‘God loving the world’, or ‘God loving everyone without exception’. In fact, not once in all the 287 times the word world is mentioned in Scripture does it ever refer to everyone ever born: past, present and future. If you don’t believe me see my book: ‘For God so Loved…Who?’ where I look at the meaning of the word world in every single verse it is mentioned.” ‘Really? Ok thanks I will. I’ve just remembered the verse in 1 Tim. 2:4 where it says God wants: “…all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth".’ “This verse is often used in defense of the lie that God wants everyone without exception to be saved. However, even a brief look at the context within which the verse is written reveals exactly who the all men are: “I exhort therefore, that. First of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority…” (1 Tim. 2:1,2 cf. Rev. 5:9). The context shows that “all sorts of men, agreeably to the use of the phrase in (1 Tim. 2:1) is here intended, kings and peasants, rich and poor, bond and free, male and female, young and old, greater and lesser sinners; and therefore all are to be prayed for, even all sorts of men, because God will have all men, or all sorts of men, saved. Paul immediately clarifies in 1 Tim.2:2 who he specifically means by ‘kings, and for all that are in authority’. The all men refers to all types or ranks of people (including gentiles, nobility, and rulers, not just the Jewish people) see also Titus 2:11; 2 Thess. 3:2. All is always restricted by its context” If God wanted all men without exception to be saved, it would sharply contrast with the fact that God has appointed some to His eternal Wrath (see 1 Thess. 5:9). “The whole concept of God loving everyone without exception is totally foreign to the Scriptures. It is an exegetical fallacy compounded by the ignorance of the masses—who place excessive trust in what their revered teachers tell them—and fuelled by their own carnal understanding of a subject they, in reality, know nothing about. To never challenge something or expose it to rigorous examination simply because an overwhelming number of people believe it to be true is to leave oneself open to deception of the highest order. Try telling Esau that God loves everyone without exception. God said: “…Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom. 9:13 cf. Mal. 1:1-3), and do not think for one moment that God’s hating Esau eventuated because of any action on Esau’s part, “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth;)” (Rom. 9:11). Try convincing the townsfolk of Sodom and Gomorrah that God loved them (see Gen.13:13; 19:23-29). In addition, how can it be said that God loved Eli, desiring his salvation, when Scripture tells us “…therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever” (1 Sam. 3:14). These three simple examples show in a trice how the false teachings that God loves everyone without exception, and desires the salvation of all, have no substance, and how billions have placed their trust in nothing but vacuous, yet not inconsequential lies.
“God’s love is an active and consequential love, and is inseparably connected to His will and purpose. It is immutable and, therefore, eternal (see Mal 3:6; Jas. 1:17; Jer. 31:3). God’s love is not aimless, it is resolute and always effective. ‘Scripture consistently presents God’s love not as a passive emotion, but as an intentional, sovereign force tied to His eternal decrees.’ God’s will comes first, God’s love comes first. God’s love is a purposeful love, and not some empty-hope love, or vain emotion. God’s love is never without corresponding action. God’s love and purpose cannot be detached from the will of God, and so they cannot be stopped. As with God’s Word, God’s love also does not return to Him void (see Isa. 55:11; 8:37-39). ‘God’s Love operates under the exact same Sovereign certainty as His Word—it is active, achieves its purpose, and never fails. The love of God is an unbreakable bond for those it is actually ‘in’—implying that it isn’t a vague sentiment floating around, but a targeted, successful force that secures its object.’ Of enormous significance is the fact that the love of God is in Christ Jesus Who does not pray for the world nor did He lay down His life for any but His sheep (see Rom. 5:8; 8:39; Eph. 2:4,5; 1 Jn. 4:9). ‘God’s love is never presented as independent of Jesus Christ. Christ is the location, the expression, and the proof of that love.’ “…My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure:…yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it” (Isa. 46:10,11); “The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:…For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (Isa. 14:24,27). Seeing that no man can interfere with the will of God, let alone stop it, or even hinder it, from being fulfilled, coupled with the fact that God’s love and the purpose for it come from His will, it cannot in any way be denied, therefore, that whomsoever God loves, He saves (see Job 42:2; Isa. 46:10). Again, God’s love has a purpose and that purpose is to save all those who are His own, the ones He loves, for He has given all His loved ones to His Son for the express purpose of His laying down His life for them thus saving them forever from their sins. Those whom the Father loves, He gives to His Son, and they WILL all come to Him (see Jn. 6:37).
“A man’s love for God can in no way be the distinguishing factor in salvation—that which separates the saved from the unsaved—for all who truly love God do so ONLY because they were loved by Him FIRST. If a man were to love God first, then grace would have nothing to do with God’s loving him. If grace is not first, then it ceases to be grace. “…if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace…” (Rom. 11:6). “Saving faith and love for God are the fruits of regeneration (being born again by grace), not the cause of it. Therefore, a person's love cannot be the ultimate root cause that separates the saved from the unsaved; God's sovereign grace is.” Those who die not loving the true God, were NEVER loved by Him (see Matt. 7:21-23). You see, it is not about works, and it is not about us taking the first step; otherwise, salvation could not be by grace, and a man’s love for God would not be the result of God loving him first. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). That is grace. If it were the other way around, if God loving His people was because they loved Him first God’s love would be because of their works and not His grace. “If God's love were a reaction to human initiative, it would structurally function as a reward (or wage) for human action, which directly contradicts the biblical definition of grace (charis) as unmerited favor (see Rom. 11:6).” "How perfectly this matches with Jesus’ words in John 6:37: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me…” They come to Him because they are the Father’s chosen, the ones He gave to His Son; they love Him because He loved them first. God’s love is for His chosen, not for the ones who claim to have chosen Him. God’s love is for the ones who are His own revealed in the fact He has given only THEM to His Son: “I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine” (Jn. 17:9). God’s love for these people is shown in His only giving them to His Son.
God loves because He wills to love for the express purpose of saving the ones He loves, therefore, it is God, and only God, Who makes the difference between saved and lost (see 1 Cor. 4:7). If it's God alone Who makes the difference between saved and lost, then clearly salvation is by grace alone. God’s love makes all the difference between saved and lost, it does not in any way give man the potential to be the difference maker. If God loves everyone but does not save everyone it would be an ineffectual love, an empty love, an inconsequential love, that does nothing for those who do not ‘choose’ Him. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). The reason and means for anyone loving God is due to His effectually loving them first. God’s love causes His people to love Him. God’s love is the cause; His people’s love for Him is the effect. God’s people shall be willing in the day of HIS power, not their own (see Psa. 110:3 cf. Psa. 106:8). Those who do not love Him were never loved by Him (see Matt. 7:21-23). Jesus says to those He did not love: “…I never knew you…” (Matt. 7:23). “The meaning of Christ here is, I never had any love, or affection for you; I never esteemed you; I never made any account of you, as mine, as belonging to Me; I never approved of you, nor your conduct; I never had any converse, communication, nor society with you, nor you with Me. I never knew you in My Father’s choice, and My own, nor in My Father’s gift to Me, nor in the everlasting covenant of grace; I never knew you as My sheep, for whom, in time, I died, and called by name…I have nothing to do with you.” "Conversely, Christ says of His own—the ones He did know: “I am the good Shepherd AND KNOW MY SHEEP, and am known of Mine…and I lay down My life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:14,15). Which sheep? The ones Jesus said: “…hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn. 10:27), the ones He calls “MY sheep” (Jn. 10:27). In the original Greek, the word know in this verse “means much more than just simple awareness. It implies an intimate, personal, and loving relationship.”
“Like any verse of Scripture, the vital component necessary to an accurate understanding of John 3:16 is to see it in light of the whole Word of God, specifically in relation to two other Scriptures. Firstly, Acts 13:48: “…as many as were ordained to eternal life believed”. We see here that those who would believe were ordained by God to believe. There is no other way a person can savingly believe the Gospel of the Lord unless they have been ordained by the Lord to do so. First comes the ordaining, then comes the believing. It is God alone Who is the catalyst for a man’s believing, not the mythical free will of man. This instantly rules out a universal love and sacrifice for all seeing that God has not ordained everyone to eternal life—leaving the decision to be saved totally in God’s hands and not the ‘free will’ of man. Couple this verse with Romans 9 and we have further confirmation of this. God said to Moses “…I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:15,16). You see, it’s all about God having mercy not a man’s free will choice of God. It is God Who decides whom He will save, not the individual. Those who believe are not then ordained to eternal life; rather, it is only those who are ordained to eternal life who will believe in the true God of grace. It is by God’s decree, not man’s ‘free will.’ Election and salvation are not based on merit at all; they are not based on what you do or what you were foreseen to do. I mean, what on earth do you think the word ‘grace’ means? Grace is not about your will or efforts in gaining salvation, but solely about God: His will, HIS purpose, His love, HIS compassion and His mercy. Grace immediately cancels out not only the need for a man’s efforts and obedience, but it also exposes the sheer, intrinsic inability of a man’s efforts and obedience to contribute in any way to his salvation.”
‘Ok, but what about the verse from second Peter where he said that God is not willing that any should perish’. “There you go again with ok but. Does this mean you understand and agree with what I am telling you, but you have no answer for the Scripture you mention, or are you just trying with all your might to pluck Scriptures from the Word of God in an effort to prove me wrong? Is that all you’re getting out of this conversation?” ‘No, I am trying to understand and genuinely want to know how what you have said aligns with the verse from 2 Peter. I am seeing what you are saying, but the verse from second Peter just popped into my mind and I’d like to hear your explanation’ “OK, good. I apologise, but I have talked with so many people and given them conclusive scriptural evidence only to be hit with what about this verse and what about that verse. My question is what about what I have just told you, nay proven to you? Let’s deal with that before we move on to the next verse. But I’ll take you at your word that you sincerely want to understand what I have said and how it aligns with the verse you mentioned from 2 Peter.” ‘Good, I’m not being argumentative I just really want to know.’ “Ok great, well I am so glad you brought that passage up. Those words come from 2 Peter 3:9 which reads, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (see also 2 Tim. 2:10,25). What should be our primary concern here, just as we read earlier in Ephesians, is to whom is the apostle writing. He says to us-ward so he includes himself in this group. In order to learn exactly whom Peter is addressing, simply turn to the beginning of Peter’s second Letter and you will instantly see to whom he is writing: “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us…” (2 Pet. 1:1). So, clearly, the apostle Peter is writing to believers, not to mankind in general; therefore, Peter could not possibly be referring to everyone ever born in his use of the word us. The verse is simply saying that God is not willing that any of His people perish. Context reveals truth. If God is not willing that something happen, you can be assured it will not happen.
“Further proof that this verse in 2 Peter is not saying what so many believe it to be saying is found in the very words of the Saviour Himself, Christ Jesus. Turn to Matthew 18 and you will see something that I doubt has been preached very much at all from any pulpit. Jesus Christ is here speaking to His disciples. They have asked Him, “...Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matt. 18:1). Christ responds by calling a little child unto Him and saying to His disciples, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). Jesus goes on in the next verse to explain what He means by becoming as little children: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4). For many, all this passage shows is that Jesus loves little children and that they will see heaven. When Christ walked this earth, of course He was kind towards little children etc., but small children is not what He is speaking about here. He has simply used a little child to illustrate the fact that if a person does not humble himself as a little child, is not converted and become like a child, he will not see the kingdom of heaven. One of the reasons He has done this is because “Children are, to a great extent, destitute of ambition, pride and haughtiness. They are characteristically humble and teachable.” To become like little children is all about humility, to see ourselves as God sees us and not as more than what we truly are in His sight (see Rom. 12:3). Christ is also not referring to little children—infants or toddlers—in this next verse, as so many who have merely skimmed the surface and looked no deeper into this verse have ignorantly concluded, but is in fact speaking about believers: “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones WHICH BELIEVE IN ME, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt. 18:6). The ‘little ones’ Christ speaks of here are those who believe in Him, who have humbled themselves as little children, and been converted. We see clearly then that the little ones Christ makes reference to here in Matthew 18 are not the toddlers and infants of Israel, but those people who believe in Him. He is speaking about saved, justified sinners.
“Now to the verse that will shatter the lies of those who maintain that when Peter states in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is not willing that any perish, that the ‘us’, the ‘any’ and the ‘all’ mentioned in that verse refer to humankind as a whole. Incidentally, such thinking turns God into a helpless God Who, though loving everyone and not wanting that any should perish, is nevertheless powerless to do anything about it. Does this sound to you like the Almighty Sovereign God of the Bible Who does whatsoever He has pleased?” ‘Not really.’ “No, not really, but NOT AT ALL! Ok, the verse I’m talking about is found in the very same chapter where Jesus referred to “these little ones which believe in Me”—Matthew 18:14: “Even so it is NOT THE WILL OF YOUR FATHER which is in heaven, THAT ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES should perish.” There it is for all to see. I have not made this verse up. I have not put words in my Lord’s mouth. I have not gone to some perverted version of the Bible in a desperate attempt to find support for what I am saying. Nor am I guilty of Scripture-hopping from various parts of the Bible, pasting together verses to try and prove my point. It all comes from the same chapter! I have simply—biblically and contextually—brought to your attention what Christ Himself says in His Holy Word. God is not willing that any BELIEVER should perish!! This is perhaps the clearest definition of 2 Peter 3:9 in the Bible and comes from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself. This is not reading into a passage what is simply not there. This is not an exercise in eisegesis but a clear case of exegesis. This is not forcing or twisting the Scriptures to say what they are not saying. That is the realm of those preachers who dare to distort the Scriptures and avoid others so that their lies can be presented as God’s Truth. The Scriptures say that such men “...are unlearned and unstable...”, that they “...wrest (pervert) the Scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:16). Christ’s own words are “But whoso shall offend ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES WHICH BELIEVE IN ME...” (Matt. 18:6 cf. Matt. 10:42), and later in the same chapter—which clearly makes it contextual—identical language is used by Christ which was used by Peter in 2 Peter 3:9: “...It is NOT THE WILL of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should PERISH” (Matt. 18:14). It cannot be denied that, contextually, Christ is here speaking about those who believe in Him and that this all fits perfectly with what the apostle Peter was inspired by the Spirit of the Lord to write: that it is not the will of God that any of His people should perish. IT IS OF A SURETY THAT IF SOMETHING IS NOT WHAT GOD WILLS, THEN IT SIMPLY WILL NOT HAPPEN! If God does not want it to happen, who would have the power to override what He wills and make it happen regardless? None of God’s chosen people will ever perish! Jesus confirms this: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand” (Jn. 10:27-29). The false interpretation of 2 Peter 3:9 is a direct attack on Who God is and who He saves. “Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which He hath made crooked?” (Eccl. 7:13; cf. Dan. 4:35).”
‘Wow, that is amazing.’ “It truly is, but it doesn’t stop there! In Luke 12:32, Christ Jesus the Lord uses similar language to that which He used in Matthew 18: “Fear not, LITTLE FLOCK; for it is your Father’s GOOD PLEASURE (WILL) to give YOU the kingdom.” Here He is comforting and assuring, the little flock (His children, those who believe in Him) that it is not God’s will for them to perish, for it is their Father’s good pleasure to give them the Kingdom. In John 6:39,40 Jesus declares: “And this is the Father’s WILL which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing....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...” “All that the Father giveth Me SHALL come to Me…” (Jn. 6:37). That is God’s Will. Only those whom the Father has given to the Son are they whom the Lord is not willing should perish! Notice, the Lord Jesus does not say, ‘all who have chosen the Father and given themselves to Me.’ No, Jesus clearly teaches it is according to the autocratic will of the Father, Who has chosen whom He gives to His Son. Everyone that believes in His Son is of those whom the Lord is not willing should perish. It is the Father’s will that none of those He has chosen and given (entrusted) to Christ should perish, but that all these who believe on His name may have everlasting life! How can you entrust something to someone with the desire that harm may come to them? How can you entrust someone to another whom you never knew? (see Matt. 7:23). The whole purpose of entrusting a thing to someone is for its safekeeping.” ‘Man, I can’t unsee the clarity of what the Scriptures say.’ “Why on earth would you want to? If you’d like to study this further you can read my book ‘Not Willing That Any Should Perish’ on my website at www.Godsonlygospel.com .” ‘Thanks I will.’ “Again, don’t forget I have also written a very in-depth study on such verses as well concerning John 3:16 in my book, ‘For God So Loved…WHO?’” ‘Great, I’ll check it out.’
“Returning for a moment to a previous verse I mentioned, have you ever actually read and studied John 17:9 where Jesus says to the Father: “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine”. I mean if God so loved the world and if He did not want any member of humanity to perish, don’t you find it rather odd, to say the least, that Jesus—Who allegedly expressed His love for the population of the entire world by dying for the world—literally does NOT pray for the world, but exclusively for those whom the Father has given Him? I mean He literally says “I pray for them which Thou hast given Me…I pray not for the world”. Moreover, Jesus only called those He prayed for the Father’s own, ‘for they are Thine’, thus clearly separating them from the world made up of those who were not the Father’s own and for whom He did not pray. Now, in addition to this, how can you or anyone make any sense of Jesus never knowing someone whom, it is alleged, He loves and died for? “I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23) means I never loved you’. Or are we to believe and subscribe to the utterly nonsensical idea: He loved them, but He never knew them? Or, He loved them but He never prayed for them. The ones Christ loves and for whom He died are those who are the Father’s whom He chose from before the foundation of the world. That is Scripture. Now back to John 17:9, what you have to realise from this verse is the fact that world cannot possibly mean everyone in it. Jesus does pray for those whom the Father has given Him, but He does not pray for the whole world which shows clearly that God’s people and the world are two completely separate groups. If world meant everyone ever born, then the verse would read like this: ‘I pray for them, I pray not for everyone ever born.’ It simply does not make any sense whatsoever. Clearly, Christ prays not for them that are of the world, but exclusively for those whom the Father has given to Him, for they are God’s chosen—they are His own: the ones He loves, the ones who are not of the world, but whom He gathers together in one: “the children of God that were scattered abroad” (see Jn. 11:51,52). Jesus does not pray for those who are not the Father’s—they that are of the world—for the Father has not given them to Him, for none of them are His. Obviously, God’s people, the ones Jesus does pray for ARE NOT part of the world for which He does not pray. Speaking to His disciples in John 15, Jesus said “…ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world…” (Jn. 15:19) and “I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world…They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:14,16). Clearly there is the world of God’s people and then there is the world of the lost: those that are not God’s people, that indeed hate the true God and His people: the world of the sheep, and the world of the goats.” ‘But surely He is just referring to the apostles and disciples who were with Him at that time.’ “I thought you might say that. Just look at this next verse, from the same chapter mind you so it is all contextual, and you will see exactly to whom Jesus is referring: “Neither pray I for these alone, BUT FOR THEM ALSO WHICH SHALL BELIEVE ON ME through their word” (Jn. 17:20 cf. Rom. 8:26,27).” ‘Man you are blowing my mind with this stuff.’ “Remember, this isn’t some new teaching, something a cult came up with; nor is it something someone fabricated the other day, though it is new to you because you have never heard it, the teaching itself is not new. As you can see, it’s right there in the Word of God in context and supported by the entire Bible—Old Testament and New—not a few isolated verses taken out of context.
“Friend, “The world of John 3:16 (the only world which God loves) is obviously not the world that Jesus says He does not pray for in John 17:9—a world that is clearly differentiated from those the Father has given Him: “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine.” Those whom God has given to Christ Jesus are clearly not the ones included in the world that Jesus does not pray for. If this were not the case then all we would be left with is God so loving the world which Jesus does not pray for. Nonsense. Jesus only prays for God’s people: the people God loves and gave to His only Begotten Son: the people for whom He died. Evidently, the world to which Jesus is referring in John 17:9 consists of those for whom He does not pray, for the Father has not given them to Him because they are not God’s people, they are not who God loves, they are not His sheep, they are not God’s people whom He gave to His Son, therefore, they are not the people Jesus gave His life for, they are the goats whom God has appointed to His Wrath. True Christians are not of the world, for they are God’s sheep. Again, Jesus said: “…they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:14). When John 3:16 speaks of God loving the world, He clearly cannot possibly be speaking of the world made up of those whom God does not declare His own, of the world the Lord Jesus does not even pray for, and clearly did not die for. God loves His Church, not the world. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). Christ’s Church is made up of the ones He has called out of the world (see Jn. 15:19). Jesus never once prayed for those who were of the world. He never prayed for the ones He did not die for, He never knew or loved anyone He did not lay down His life for. So, where is the logic behind the belief that Jesus died for those who are of the world? The only thing that makes perfect logical Scriptural sense is that the people Jesus died for are the only people Jesus prays for, for they are the only ones whom the Father loves and has subsequently given to His Son, the only ones whose sins Christ has fully atoned, the only ones God is not willing should perish. Therefore, Jesus did not die for the world He does not pray for, but for those Whom the Father gave to Him which were not of the world. You cannot confuse the Church of God with the world, so how can you or anyone believe that Christ’s love was for the world and not exclusively for His Church?
“Take a look at this next verse: “For God hath not appointed us to Wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us…” (1 Thess. 5:9,10 cf. Eph. 5:25; 1 Pet. 2:8,9; Jd. 1:4). Now, does the us here mean every individual ever born? Of course not. Clearly some have been appointed to the Wrath of God, while the others—those for whom Christ died—have been appointed to obtain salvation.” “If a person claims that the word ‘us’ in this passage includes those whom God has appointed to His wrath (the ungodly/reprobate), the statement collapses into a complete logical impossibility. The Scripture explicitly defines ‘us’ by what they are not: ‘not appointed...to wrath.’ If ‘us’ is forced to include those who are appointed to wrath, the sentence is forced to say: ‘God has not appointed [those whom He has appointed to wrath] to wrath.’ This is a text-level contradiction. A group cannot simultaneously be ‘not appointed to wrath’ and ‘appointed to wrath’ at the same time and in the same sense. The verse sets up a strict, mutually exclusive ‘either/or’ framework: Category A: Appointed to wrath. Category B: Appointed to obtain salvation by Jesus Christ, who died for them. The text binds the pronoun ‘us’ strictly to Category B. If Christ died for a universal ‘us’ that includes people who end up in Category A (wrath), then Christ died to purchase salvation for people whom God never appointed to receive it. This makes the death of Christ illogical because it would mean He died to obtain something (salvation) for someone whom God's decree had already blocked from obtaining it. The phrase ‘Who died for us’ is the operational cause of ‘obtain[ing] salvation.’ If the ‘us’ includes those who ultimately suffer God's wrath, the logic of Christ's sacrifice breaks down as follows: Christ died for them to ensure they obtain salvation. They do not obtain salvation; they suffer wrath. Therefore, Christ's death failed to achieve its stated purpose. To argue that the ‘us’ includes those appointed to wrath forces the conclusion that Christ's substitutionary death is ineffective, returning to God void—which contradicts the very nature of a sovereign God whose actions are always resolute and effective. The grammar of the Scripture makes it impossible for the ‘us’ to be universal. The ‘us’ is strictly limited to the specific group defined by the sentence: those exempted from wrath, appointed to salvation, and directly benefited by the death of Christ. To interpret it any other way requires a complete rejection of basic Scriptural logic.”
“In order to ascertain just exactly who the us are of whom the apostle Paul writes, we, again, must first determine to whom the apostle is writing. Take a look at verse 1: “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Thess. 1:1). With profound clarity, Paul was writing to—and therefore referring to—Christians (those that are in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ) as those people whom God HAS NOT appointed to Wrath, but HAS appointed to obtain salvation by their Lord Jesus Christ WHO DIED FOR THEM, and no one else! Clearly, Jesus Christ did not die for those whom God has appointed to His Wrath. The ones God did not choose to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth (see 2 Thess. 2:12-14). There is no redemption for them, nor is there a way to God for them, FOR God has appointed them to His Wrath. Now, for those who interpret all this to mean that God appoints to His Wrath even some who wanted Him, but whom He did not want—suggesting that many people will be banging on Heaven’s door wanting to be let in, only to be refused entry by an unjust God—I would refer them to Romans 3 which states clearly that, by nature, there are none that even seek God (see Rom. 3:10-12 cf. Matt. 7:21-23; Lk. 13:25-27). Those who are appointed to God’s Wrath have no desire to leave the false gods they have zealously embraced. They know not the true God, and He does not love them. How could He love them, and yet appoint them to His Wrath? How can God make one vessel unto dishonour, and yet that vessel be simultaneously one of mercy? How can the vessels of Wrath fitted, or prepared, to destruction at the same time be vessels made unto honour? (see Rom. 9:21-23). “A vessel made for dishonour and fitted for destruction is never described as a recipient of His saving mercy or love; the two categories stand entirely apart to serve distinct purposes in manifesting God's attributes.”
"Again, Jesus did not die for the vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction, He never knew them, nor does the Lord pray for those whom God does not love, but rather has appointed to His Wrath. The strong intimation here is those whom God has not appointed to His Wrath, but has appointed to obtain salvation (see 2 Thess. 2:13), are the only ones for whom Christ died. God loves His own, He prays for His own because they are His own. Paraphrased, the passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:9,10 says: For God hath not appointed to His Wrath only those for whom Christ died. So there is nothing left to conclude from the Word of God that God has appointed to His Wrath only those for whom Christ did not die. Now, in light of these Scriptures, how can one possibly reconcile the demonstrably false contention that God is not willing that any person at all perish, when He has clearly appointed some to His eternal Wrath, whilst appointing others to obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus laying down His life exclusively for them? “By pointing out that God has already designated vessels of wrath, there stands a logical and textual contradiction if 2 Peter 3:9 is wrenched out of its specific us-ward context and applied universally to all of mankind.” It’s clear, complete, exact and transparently specific. I mean, does God ever contradict Himself?” ‘Hardly. I can barely believe my eyes. And for all these years I have totally missed all of this.’ “Now you know what spiritual blindness is that only comes because of spiritual death. The world that is loved, and to whom God gave His Son in John 3:16, is the same world which has been given to the Son by the Father in John 17:2 & 9. It is the world that Jesus prays for, not the world He does not pray for. Moreover, “The objects of God’s love in John 3:16 are precisely the same, as the objects of Christ’s Love in John 13:1:” “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, HAVING LOVED HIS OWN which were in the world, He loved THEM unto the end.” God never loved the world, but only those He had chosen out of the world that were in the world. Notice the clear distinction made between the world, and those whom Jesus loved which were in the world, but not of the world.”
‘Man, I can hardly come to terms with what I am hearing and seeing for myself in the Word of God. This is unbelievable. Why haven’t I ever heard this? I have listened to men belonging to various denominations, sat through countless sermons and Bible studies, I’ve listened to hundreds of audio tapes and watched a plethora of videos on the Bible, I have read so many books which my pastor and friends have recommended to me and I have never heard anything to do with these monumental doctrines; nothing which has even come close to addressing these Gospel issues.’ “Friend, it’s because you have been sitting under the preaching of mainstream religion’s false gospel, like I unknowingly did for years, and not the only Gospel of God. How can God love everyone without exception when His Son only prays for the ones God has given Him based on the fact they are the Father’s whom He does love and has appointed to obtain salvation, the ones He has sanctified through His Holy Spirit and belief of the truth? How can God love everyone equally, and yet, choose only some to entrust to His Son for the purposes of prayer and salvation? How can God possibly love those whom He has appointed unto His Wrath? (see 1 Thess. 5:9). How can God love everyone, but not give everyone to His Son, Whom most assume has died for everyone supposedly based on God’s alleged universal love for all mankind? What kind of love is that?” ‘Well, clearly there is a contradiction between the two teachings.’ “Precisely my friend, and the difference between the two teachings is as far as east is from the west and as far as the truth is from a lie. This fallacious, two-pronged idea of Christ's death would have us believe that Jesus died effectively for those He knew would choose Him, and that He also died—whatever that may mean—ineffectively for those whom He knew would not choose Him. Now, if you can find me even one scripture in either the Old or New testament that can verify such a sacrifice, then I'll shut up, but you won’t ever find one because it doesn't exist. If, as some believe, Christ died for everyone but not everyone is saved, this not only makes Christ’s sacrifice ineffective, but such teaching causes Him to be wholly ineffectual as Saviour. You know, so many people reduce doctrine to the level of a minor issue among brethren, but the fact is that doctrine is THE major issue that reveals and draws a distinct line of demarcation (see 2 Jn. 9) between the true Gospel and the false, the true God and all false gods, and the true people of God and the false—separating those who are led by God’s Spirit of truth from those who ignorantly follow the spirit of error. This is because the Gospel of God consists of true doctrine, whereas false gospels consist of false doctrine which naturally overrides any true doctrines they may contain (see Gal. 5:9). The True God only reveals Himself through the Truth.
“Look at this verse: “Whosever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, HATH NOT GOD. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn. 9). That’s how serious the matter of doctrine is. To abide “…is not a one-time action; it describes a habitual state of being. To ‘abide’ means to remain stable and fixed in a position without wandering off. The word suggests making a home. To abide in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ means that His words are the environment in which you live, think, and act. It’s the difference between being a guest in a house and being the resident who lives there permanently. John is warning against transgressors—those who go beyond the gospel to teach something new or progressive. To abide is to refuse to move from the foundational truths of Jesus’ humanity and divinity.” Listen to what the apostle Paul wrote: “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” (Gal. 1:8 cf. Gal. 1:9; Mk. 16:15,16; 2 Cor. 4:3,4). Belief in any other gospel, abiding in any other doctrine other than Christ’s doctrine, no matter how minutely it strayed from the Gospel Paul was given, was definitive and clear-cut evidence of one’s accursed state. If you think this may be stretching things a little too far, listen closely to the following statement made by the apostle Paul: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9 cf. Matt. 16:6-12). A little leaven, a little yeast is all that is necessary to cause the batter or dough to rise. One does not require copious amounts of leaven to effect the dough, but just a little leaven. Paul warned that a little leaven will leaven the whole lump. Paul was using the word leaven here as Christ did in Matthew 16 where He warned of the leaven or doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees: “Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:12 cf. Matt. 16:6). The word little in Galatians 5 comes from the Greek word mikros from which we get our word micro, meaning very small. This confirms that even the slightest deviation when it comes to the doctrines of the Gospel of God is enough to brand that message a false gospel and anyone who believes it a false Christian. “The introduction of any degree of error, especially absolute error, into a statement or system that contains absolute truth will inevitably lead to a deviation from that absolute truth. The error acts as a corruption, preventing the composite from being purely and absolutely true.” To stray from God’s Word is to not have God’s Word; it is to deny God’s Word, and it is to replace God’s Word—invariably place one’s trust in that which is not God’s Word. To not abide in God’s doctrine is to not have God. Those who do not abide in God’s Word “…trust in lying words, that cannot profit” (Jer. 7:8 cf. Mk. 7:13).
“Evidently, doctrine is no minor, inconsequential issue. To say it’s just a doctrinal thing is to ignore the consequences that come with believing false doctrine. To dismiss the seriousness of believing true doctrine, is to virtually say that, on the whole, it does not really matter what a person believes. But if doctrine does not really matter, if it is not that important, then what the Gospel of God is does not matter; and if what the Gospel of God is does not matter, then the truth is useless and warnings of false doctrine, meaningless. Jesus says: “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4 cf. 1 Tim. 4:16). “If every word matters, then doctrine inherently matters.” If doctrine does not matter, then what you believe does not matter; and if what you believe does not matter, then what exactly you believe about the one you claim to believe in does not matter—because, you are literally saying ‘He’ cannot be defined by doctrine. All that would remain would be feelings, experiences, imagination and utter chaos when it comes to what exactly the truth is and who the true God is. In other words, the true God would only be defined subjectively and not objectively. “God…Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…” (Heb. 1:1,2). Look at what the Lord Jesus has to say concerning His Gospel: “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16:15,16). “This command to preach the Gospel to every creature exists precisely because the alternative for those who ‘believeth not’ the Gospel is damnation.” The apostle Paul confirms this by saying: “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth…” (2 Thess. 2:12). Does that sound like what you believe is inconsequential to where you will spend eternity?” ‘Clearly, one’s eternal future depends on it.’ “That’s right. If doctrine does not matter, then the Word of God does not matter; and if the Word of God does not matter, then God does not matter; and if God does not matter, then nothing matters. The single Scripture, John 17:9, presents you with an endless array of questions and problems which you must face and answer from Scripture, with Scripture, for it places a quite sizeable spanner in the works of your carnal understanding of John 3:16. Let me warn you: it will do a man no good to try to defend error with error, or—as the flesh is often want to do—to seek out those whom he knows will only support and confirm him in his beliefs, for such an exercise will only reveal an inward bias against the truth, and an utter disdain for, and rejection of, the true and only God. What such people need to do is immerse themselves in the Word of God, and honestly challenge themselves by studying the writings of those whom God has appointed to teach His Word: the men who know the only Gospel of God. To study the Scriptures IN CONTEXT and truly believe God’s Word, is to see it from God’s perspective, and then judge one’s beliefs and a man’s teachings accordingly.”
‘Yeah, yeah I get it like “…believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 Jn. 4:1), and be like the Bereans who “…searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).’ “Exactly. Sadly, so many people think that searching the Scriptures daily means that as long as the verses someone is teaching on are in the Scriptures, then that makes what they are saying about them correct. Moreover, many people who hear a pastor or preacher tell them, ‘Don’t believe it because I said it, search the Scriptures…’, don’t even bother to search the Scriptures, for their thinking is how could an obviously honest man tell his hearers to test what he is saying by the Scriptures if he wasn’t perfectly correct in what he was teaching. To search the Scriptures daily is to conduct an objective and contextual study of what they are saying, and what they could not possibly be saying. “Because God's Word is an objective, non-contradictory whole, a verse cannot be interpreted in a way that violates the rest of the established text (see Isa. 28:10; 2 Pet. 1:20).” Does the whole Bible agree, or is there only a verse or two saying what you are being taught they are saying.” ‘Wow, so Christ didn’t die for everyone, but exclusively for all those God chose before the foundation of the world and gave to His Son.’ “Correct, now you’re speaking God’s language. Ephesians 1:4, “…He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world…” Notice it says they did not choose Him after He made the world, but that He chose them before He even laid down the foundation of the world. Also, Jesus said: “…I lay down My life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:15). The only jesus who additionally laid down his life for the goats is the counterfeit jesus of mainstream religion. How can the goats be the beneficiaries of Christ’s laying down His life for His sheep? Christ the Lord said: “But ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep…” (Jn. 10:26). “Being a sheep precedes believing; a person does not become a sheep by believing. Therefore, those who are not of His sheep (the goats) stand outside the group for whom He explicitly stated He laid down His life.”
“Whenever you see the opposite to a truth, you know that it’s Satan who is the one behind it and the spirit of error that is promoting it. Please realise that, again, Paul was writing to believers at Ephesus, not to anyone else. Moreover, God “…predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:5,6). Who else could possibly have been predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ except those God has made accepted in the Beloved? Notice, their predestination is according to the good pleasure of God’s will which is to the praise of the glory of His Grace, not because of anything they were or did; not because of their will to the praise of their works. Predestination/election/justification/salvation are not according to the mythical free will decision of spiritually dead individuals, but the grace-based free will decision of GOD. Predestination is frowned upon in religious circles. It is avoided, labelled an unfair doctrine and even hated by most who claim to be Christian. The very word is anathema. And yet, the Word of God declares His people being predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, far from being an evil teaching, is what Scripture teaches: TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF GOD’S GRACE!!
“The Christian is, “...predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own Will: that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ” (Eph. 1:11,12). Now, how can anyone professing to be Christian—that is, professing to be in subjection unto the Gospel of God (see 2 Cor. 9:13)—possibly bring glory to God by trusting in a false christ of another gospel who did not predestinate his people to the glory of his grace, but who ‘saves’ them based on their choice of god to the glory of their works? If there is no belief in the Christ of God’s Gospel, there can be no evidence of predestination, but only a vacuum of grace. “Where the true Gospel of God is absent, there is not just a lack of grace, but a hollow space that cannot support spiritual life.” Predestination is inextricably linked with the good pleasure, grace and will of God, with Who He is and how He saves: “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:5,6 cf. 2 Tim. 1:9). SALVATION IS ALL ABOUT GOD, NOT MAN!! Salvation is all about Who God is and what He has done for His chosen people. Salvation is about the glory of God, the will of God, the praise of God and His great grace by which He eternally saves His people from their sins. The will of God is in accordance with predestination, not against it as so many would have us believe. It was the good pleasure of God to predestinate His chosen ones. Predestination was done TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF GOD'S GRACE!! If it is to the praise of God’s grace, then a man’s works are completely absent because they are excluded and, therefore, not required in a salvation that is completely founded upon the free gift of grace that accords only with the will of God (see Rom. 3:27; Eph. 2:8,9). There is no other way to God than by means of Him having "predestinated us (His people) unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace." ANYONE who denies predestination according to the Sovereign will and free grace of God, tears at the heart of the praise of the glory due unto the grace of God, and, ANY TEACHING which stands in contradiction to predestination IS NOT and CANNOT be to the praise of God’s glorious Grace, but to the conceptual destruction of it. God predestinated His people before the foundation of the world, not according to their will, but HIS will; not to the praise of their works, but HIS grace. Take away salvation by grace-ordained predestination alone, and all that remains is a conditional salvation based wholly upon a man's works and not on the grace of God which alone brings glory to Him. “Undermining predestination directly eviscerates the glory and praise due to God’s grace for it.” Every false Gospel takes away from God's grace by adding man's works. Any gospel that conditions salvation in any way to any degree on a man's works completely cancels out any need for grace, just as the true God's Gospel of salvation by grace alone cancels out—excludes—any requirement for a man's works. Grace and works are mutually exclusive (see Rom. 11:6). Predestination undeniably originated from, and is to the praise of, God’s Grace alone, allowing no room for a man’s obedience to effect or maintain salvation (see Rom. 4:4,5; Heb. 10:14). To praise God for His grace in salvation, IS TO praise Him for His Sovereign predestination of all those He chose to receive that grace.
“Predestination is hated by the world, including the majority of those who identify as Christians, even though the Scriptures clearly demonstrate that predestination proceeds from the Will of God and, unlike human initiative, is to the praise of the glory of His great grace. The true God is the God Who predestinates His people by His grace. To attack predestination is to attack the Sovereign will of God and His glorious grace. It is to dismantle the Bible doctrine of salvation by Sovereign grace alone, replacing it with a works-based salvation with a little help from grace to get the works done so one can be and remain 'saved'. "Because Scripture places predestination as the framework that displays God's grace, removing or attacking that framework inevitably alters how that grace is understood. Because Scripture binds predestination directly to God's personal plan and will, an assault on the concept of predestination is, textually speaking, an assault on the execution of His will. Scripturally, if grace is reduced to a mere 'helper' for human effort, it ceases to be biblical grace entirely (see Rom. 4:4,5; 11:6)" Salvation IS predestination by grace alone. "This is the core mechanism of the Gospel. Ephesians 1:5 establishes that predestination is 'according to the good pleasure of His will,' and Ephesians 2:8 cements that salvation is 'by grace... not of yourselves.'" The true God is the God Who predestinates His people by His grace. They have no capacity, no ability and no will to ever choose the true God—Whom by nature they do not even seek (see Rom. 3:11)—a man’s only hope is grace. That is the only way they get to be His people: predestinated to the glory of God’s grace. "The total reliance on grace as the only hope seamlessly connects that human state to the remedy found in divine predestination." There is no such thing as biblical Grace without predestination, just as you cannot have biblical predestination without Grace. "Predestination is the vehicle of grace: It ensures that salvation is completely unmerited, decided before the human recipient even exists to perform a work. Grace is the atmosphere of predestination: It guarantees that God's sovereign choice is motivated by His infinite mercy and favor, rather than a cold, arbitrary mechanical process." Grace = pre-world and pre-works predestination which automatically rules out works of any kind performed by anyone. “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16 cf. 2 Tim. 1:9). Predestination predates works just as grace predates the futile efforts of man to get himself right with God. Predestination works hand in glove with grace; predestination highlights the Grace of God, for it is to the praise of the glory of it. Election and salvation by predestination are to the glory of God’s grace, which stands juxtaposed with a man’s boasting in works as the supposed means to God’s choosing and saving. "This directly captures the exact theological contrast Paul sets up in Romans 3:27 and Ephesians 2:9. Boasting is entirely excluded precisely because the timing of predestination and the nature of grace leave zero room for human leverage." Scripture says: “For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion....Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy and whom He will He hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, ‘Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?...” (Rom. 9:15,18-20).”
‘I can see now how predestination is connected with God’s grace. Wow, so Christians really are predestinated by grace alone. I mean, this changes everything. I always thought that was some crazy evil teaching, and that people had to choose God of their own free will.’ “Let me ask you, what kind of free will does anything which is dead have?” ‘Obviously none.’ “That’s right, so what makes anyone think that a spiritually dead man has the power to choose God, the true and only God, by the way, Whom Scripture teaches no one, by nature, understands and that no one even seeks after (see Rom. 3:11).” ‘Again, obviously none.’ “Precisely. Incidentally, let me remind you that Scripture refers to believers as “…a chosen generation…” (1 Pet. 2:9). If believers were the choosers, wouldn’t they be referred to as a generation of choosers rather than the chosen ones? If their choice made the difference, wouldn’t the emphasis be placed on them being the choosers, and not on God as the One that has chosen them via predestination through grace-based election? God would not have any free will to have chosen, predestinated and saved whomsoever He willed by grace alone, if man had been given the free will to choose God. If the onus is on man to choose—if he is the difference maker—then salvation could not be by grace at all, but rather something merited, and the praise for such a 'salvation' would ultimately belong to man and not to God. Can you see how the doctrines of God loving the world and man’s free will destroy many undeniable doctrines—particularly salvation by Grace alone which alone gives God ALL the glory for salvation—clearly taught in Scripture? How they change Who God is, what He has done and for whom He has done it. If God is Almighty, then I fail to see how anyone could believe that God, and not man, is the one without free will.
“Man does not choose to comply with Grace, for it is Grace that makes a spiritually dead man alive. Lazarus did not choose to comply with a mere ‘request’ or 'invitation' from Jesus to come forth. Jesus, "...cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth" (Jn. 11:43), and so he could do nothing but come forth—not in response to the command, for he was dead, but as a direct result of the command. "The Greek word used for 'cried' (kraugazo) denotes an authoritative shout of command, not a polite appeal to Lazarus's free will. A dead man has no capacity to comply (i.e., willingly obey or respond through existing ability). A dead body cannot process a request, exert its will, or generate the life force needed to obey. The miracle is not one of Lazarus choosing to come out; it is one of Jesus giving him the life and power necessary to move at the moment the command was issued. Jesus' command, ‘Lazarus, come forth’ (Jn. 11:43), was a declaration that carried the power of God with it. It was a creative act, similar to God saying, ‘Let there be light’ (Gen. 1:3). The command created the life and capacity for movement within Lazarus. Lazarus' exit from the tomb was the direct result of the divine power of Christ's word, not a human effort or response prior to being made alive. The ability to ‘come forth’ (or to obey, or to have faith) is a consequence of the life-giving command, not a prerequisite for it.” Lazarus’ coming to life and exiting from the tomb was initiated by the will of God and accomplished by the will of God, just as God is the Author and Finisher of His people's Faith (see Heb. 12:2). No one disputes the fact that only the power of God could have raised Lazarus from the dead; how then, can anyone conclude that to be made spiritually alive is something a spiritually dead man can actively take part in?
“The lie of free will would have us believe that ‘God’—far from being all-powerful, Who does whatsoever He wills in Heaven and on earth (see Psa. 115:3; 135:6; Dan. 4:35)—is sitting on His Throne meekly, nervously and submissively waiting, desperately hoping that someone will choose Him, as opposed to the true Sovereign God, Who chooses whomsoever He wills according to His mercy (see Rom. 9:15,16,18). God is in charge; He is in complete control and is never subject to any man’s will. Religionists are so preoccupied with man’s free will that they completely overlook the awesomeness of GOD’S FREE WILL (see Eph. 1;5,11). To ignore the fact that God is completely Sovereign is to walk past the true God into the arms of counterfeit gods that cannot save. "A god who is bound by or dependent upon human volition is not the independent, self-existent Yahweh of Scripture. As the Apostle Paul argues throughout the New Testament, reducing God's authority to a mere reaction to human choices strips Him of His divine prerogative, resulting in a theological idol—a god made in the image of man's autonomy." Every Christian is: “… born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but OF GOD” (Jn. 1:13). “OF HIS OWN WILL begat He us with the Word of truth…” (Jas. 1:18). No Christian has ever been born again by their own will, nor without the Word of truth—the Gospel. “…it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but OF GOD that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16 cf. 1 Cor. 4:7). God is the one with free will, not man. It’s total grace and grace alone that saves a man and keeps him saved! Salvation is all of God, therefore, salvation is all by grace and mercy. It is not earned, it does not come after man does anything, for it is all unmeritable, and, therefore, unmerited. Mercy and Grace can only ever be granted according to the will of the One choosing to be merciful and gracious, not according to the will of those who are given them. "If the recipient could dictate, demand, or trigger the granting of mercy and grace through their own volition or effort, it would cease to be mercy and instead become an obligation or a wage. The sovereign right to grant mercy rests entirely with the Giver." “No one deserves mercy, and no one can earn grace. This immediately shuts down any notion of a man’s ‘free will’ and works playing any part in the obtaining and maintaining of salvation.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…” (Titus 3:5 cf. 1 Pet. 1:3,5). These ‘works of righteousness’ include the lie that God’s grace enables a person to do that which must be done so that God can then save them. It’s not at all by our righteousness—NO MATTER ITS SOURCE—but His mercy. It’s not by our righteousness, but by HIS Righteousness imputed to His people by Grace alone. There is no need for works of any kind when imputation has caused the charging of sin to the Saviour and the Righteousness of the saviour to the sinner.” “If the perfect Righteousness of the Saviour has already been imputed (credited) to the sinner, then the sinner's legal standing before God is already 100% righteous. Attempting to add human works to this completed imputation would imply that the Saviour's Righteousness is somehow deficient and needs to be supplemented by human effort.” “This would be as ridiculous, not to mention utterly blasphemous, as attempting to supplement the Saviour’s very Sacrifice for the sins of His people. As Christ’s Sacrifice for His people was performed once in time—never to be repeated, and so, needs no further sacrifice by the Saviour or any of His people—so too, His perfect Obedience requires no supplementation. “To try to supplement His perfect obedience with human works is the theological equivalent of trying to offer a new sacrifice for sins. Both attempts declare that the finished work of Christ was incomplete.” “…There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10 cf. Psa. 14:1-3).
“Paul goes on to say, in Titus 3: “...but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 3:5,6). These scriptures show that far from works being that which saves, it actually takes the Mighty work of God in the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ the Saviour of His people. How, in light of this, can any man walk away and think that what he does is essential to gaining salvation? “The active agent of salvation is God, not man. The verbs in Titus 3:5–6 show who is doing the work: ‘He saved us’ (God is the active subject; man is the passive recipient). ‘Which He shed on us abundantly’ (God pours out the Holy Ghost; man does not earn or pull down this gift). If a man's own actions were a necessary ingredient to secure salvation, then the statement ‘He saved us’ would be factually incomplete. The text would have to say, ‘He made salvation possible, provided we do our part.’ Instead, the Word of God declares a finished past-tense reality for the believer: ‘He saved us.’ Regeneration is a prerequisite, not a result. The text states that salvation occurs ‘by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.’ To ‘regenerate’ means to bring back to life. As established in Ephesians 2:1, prior to this washing, man is ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ A dead man cannot perform essential actions to gain his own life. The washing and renewing must happen first before any spiritually viable action can occur. Therefore, claiming that human works are essential to gain salvation is equivalent to claiming that a dead body must walk before it can be given life. Titus 3:7 concludes: ‘That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’ Justification is ‘by His grace,’ which Rom. 11:6 defines as the absolute opposite of works. Ultimately, to walk away from this passage believing that human deeds are essential to gain salvation requires a person to redefine mercy as a wage, grace as a reward, and the washing of regeneration as a joint human-divine effort—constructions that the Word of God does not permit. Justification is by His grace, which Rom. 11:6 defines as the absolute opposite of works. If a man's works were essential to gain salvation, then his justification would be, at least in part, by his own merit. This would allow for the very boasting that Paul states is completely excluded by the law of faith (Rom. 3:27).”
“Saving Righteousness cannot be earned—it is unreachable and unattainable by anything a man wills or does—for it is the gift of God: “…they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of Righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17). The receiving isn’t man choosing to accept, it is God’s Sovereignly given gift.” “As Paul writes rhetorically in 1 Corinthians 4:7: ‘For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?’ Receiving a gift from God leaves no room for human boasting or choice; it is entirely an act of divine bestowal.” “Saving Righteousness is a gift, therefore, it is not something that can be earned or chosen. It is by grace, not works. Look at Romans 5:19: “…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous.” Not forgetting Romans 5:18: “…by the Righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” If saving Righteousness comes only by the Obedience of Jesus Christ alone, then salvation can be by no other means than grace alone. If it is exclusively that which was earned by Another that justifies a man, then clearly there is nothing inherent in any man that can lead to his salvation. “The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psa. 14:2,3 cf. 53:2,3; Rom. 3:10-12). These elements do not conspire to produce a righteous man, but are the evidence that none are, and therefore can ever be, righteous by what they will or do (see Gal. 2:16).
“God chose His people before He even laid the foundation of the world; God predestinated His chosen ones, and this was all in accord with His Free and Sovereign will, not their alleged free will otherwise it would not be of grace but works. God saves His people in the only way they could be saved: by His grace not their works. Grace is God—works are you. Unveil the grace of mainstream religion and all you’ll see is works. Unveil the true Grace of the Gospel and all you’ll see is God. God chose His people before the foundation of the world, so, clearly, God chose them according to His will and grace and not because of their will and works. God did not choose them because they chose Him first, nor did He choose them because He foresaw they would choose Him, for the only reason they love Him is because He loved them FIRST (see Jn. 15:16; Rom. 9:11-16; Eph. 1:4,5,11; 2 Tim. 1:9; 1 Jn. 4:19). That is grace. Clearly then, this is all to the glory of GOD and His GRACE alone. YOU CANNOT HAVE SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE WITHOUT PREDESTINATION! God’s people believe because they were ordained to eternal life. Their ordainment comes not because of their believing, nor because of anything done by them. Rather, those ordained to eternal life were ordained to believe; and any good works performed by them were only possible because they were “…created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God had before ordained…” (Eph. 2:10 cf. Phil. 1:29). True Christians are pre-ordained and predestined creatures created in Christ Jesus totally according to the grace of God, and they all know it. You cannot have true biblical predestination without it being solely and wholly to the praise and the glory of God’s grace alone. Likewise, you cannot have pure, unadulterated grace without it being solely and wholly due to God’s having Sovereignly predestinated those whom He chose to be His own. You cannot have true biblical predestination unless it is to the praise of the glory of God’s grace + nothing. You cannot have Sovereign predestination without salvation being by grace alone. “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having PREDESTINATED us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:4-6). God chose His people that they should be holy, not because they were holy or that they would be holy. God is the one that makes His people accepted and He does it all by His grace—ALONE. God’s people are all “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience…” (1 Pet. 1:2 cf. Eph. 2:10). God’s people are made accepted by His grace alone. So, we’ve learned that far from being an evil teaching as so many have been wrongly taught, predestination is to the praise of the glory of God’s grace. Again, the concentrated attack on predestination is a direct attack upon Grace, and therefore upon God Himself. You cannot get anything more satanic than diminishing the role of grace in election, salvation and justification, than by attacking that which is to the praise of the glory of the Grace of God: predestination. God does not accept His chosen based on anything they have done—for what righteous act can any unrighteous man perform—otherwise salvation could not be by His unearned favour and predestination could not exclusively be to the praise of God’s grace. God makes dead sinners—not enabled sinners—alive. “And you hath He quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). God’s people are not the ones who make themselves alive, they are not the ones who make themselves acceptable to God by choosing Him and living obedient lives, etc., but are MADE ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED BY HIS GRACE THROUGH HIS CHOOSING/PREDESTINATING THEM! God has chosen His people that they should be holy and without blame before Him, not because they were holy and without blame. A predestinated people do not choose God; it is they who were chosen by Him. Spiritually dead people are not righteous. None of them understand; none of them even seek after the true God. By its very nature, the carnal mind of man is inexorably enmity against God (see Rom. 8:7): it is corrupted, it is not for the true God it is against Him: “…There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10-12 cf. Eccl. 7:20; 9:3).” ‘Wow, this all makes perfect sense to me. Again, I have never heard any of this in my pastor’s sermons or weekly Bible studies. All I ever hear is morality-based pep talks on how to live the Christian life, or some story about how an Old Testament character lived his life and overcame life’s obstacles. Doctrine like this is never spoken of not even as we all get together after the service. Come to think of it, it’s always bothered me that everyone has their own personal beliefs about Bible doctrines, so we all steer clear of talking about them for fear we might offend someone or get into an argument. I’ve noticed that our pastor even steers clear of subject matter that he knows is controversial to certain elements in our congregation.’ “That’s right, it’s been happening for years. I call it Churchianity, not Christianity.
“You see, everything changes—everything Christ has actually done, and for that matter, Who Christ really is—if you fall for the lie that He died for everyone, because that shifts the onus and the power of salvation into the hands of the individual’s decision, obedience and works (making them essentials for salvation), and takes it out of the hands of God, His grace and the Righteousness of Christ. Christ dying for everyone makes salvation happen because of the obedience of the many, rather than by the Obedience of One for the many: His chosen. It strips away the very essence of Who the Sovereign God is, Whom Scripture says does whatsoever He pleases (see Psa. 115:3). Moreover, it does away with God’s warning of death to Adam in the day he ate of the forbidden fruit and puts stock in Satan’s lie to Eve that death would not be the result of their disobedience to God, but that they would themselves become as gods (see Gen. 3:1-5). The ultimate consequence and the utter evil of the ‘free-will’ doctrine is that it completely nullifies the doctrine of Sovereign predestination, which is the very thing that highlights and exalts the glory of God’s grace. An attack on predestination is an attack upon grace which is in turn a direct attack on God. “By championing free will, one effectively abandons the doctrine of predestination and, in doing so, obscures the glory of God’s Sovereign grace.” Attacking predestination is a direct attack upon God and His grace, and the weapons Satan uses to do this are a man’s works, pride and self-righteousness; it should come as no surprise that all false gospels highlight and propagandize such things.
“I’ll wager you’ve read Ephesians 2 hundreds of times, but have you ever actually seen what it is saying? “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). The blind read these verses and then immediately go on believing that you have to choose God and that obedience is a must if you are to be saved and/or remain ‘saved’. They see, but they do not observe; they hear but they do not listen. The scales have yet to fall from their eyes. Whenever, and for whatever reason, you have something you must do BEFORE God can save you, you have a false gospel—an anti-Grace gospel, an anti-Christ gospel—the belief of which only serves as damning material evidence that will consign and confine you to an eternal Hell. Neither salvation or the gift of Faith is of you, or the result of what you do, for it is all of God by His grace. We see in Ephesians 2:8,9 man contrasted with God, and man’s works contrasted with God’s grace. The two can never be joined in the matter of how a man is saved and how he remains saved. “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” (Rom. 11:6 cf. Rom. 4:4,5). God could not have said it any clearer: God’s people are saved by grace through the gift of faith, and not by anything they have done. If His people are saved by anything they have done, works, then they cannot be saved by grace nor the gift of the Faith which comes by grace. If your claim is that your works of obedience play any part in getting or remaining saved, then you have no biblical right to even mention grace as having played any part in your alleged salvation. The person who knows they have been eternally saved by grace alone WILL NEVER AGREE THAT THEIR EFFORTS AT OBEDIENCE PLAY EVEN THE MOST INFINITESIMAL PART WHATSOEVER IN THEIR SALVATION. When a person truly believes that salvation is all by grace from beginning to final glory, they joyfully concur with the Word of God that “...by grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2:5). Those who only claim to believe salvation is all of grace from beginning to final glory, but in reality are lost, always qualify there claim that by grace ye are saved with ‘BUT…’ “Any conditional ‘but’ shifts the foundation back to human performance, which violates the absolute dichotomy between grace and works established throughout the Word of God.”
“Faith given by grace through which God’s people are saved is clearly not of themselves it is a gift from God, and so, none can boast of or say that they have done something, anything, that has somehow opened the door or made it possible for God to then save them—not even their believing. There is nothing intrinsic in man that could ever lead him to the true and only God. Salvation, grace and faith are all gifts. The Christian’s believing is not a work of his, it is not the result of his free will, but a work of God’s by grace. It’s a gift: “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent” (Jn. 6:29 Phil. 1:29). “…this is the operation of God, which He Himself works in men; it is not of themselves, it is the pure gift of God…This, as a principle, is purely God’s work; as it is an act, or as it is exercised under the influence of Divine grace…” “Saving Faith is not a work of man, but a gift from God: “But to him that WORKETH NOT, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for Righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). If Faith was a work of man, then clearly the reward would not be because of Grace, but of debt: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4). No one who claims that any part of their ‘salvation’ is contingent on anything they do—even their believing—can ever rightly claim that their ‘salvation’ is reckoned of grace, but only that God was indebted to save them because of what they have done. No part of salvation is by the efforts (works) of personal obedience of any kind. Tell me what you must do that grace cannot do. Tell me the part you play in salvation that comes from within you, yet simultaneously excludes you from boasting of anything you have done, as only a salvation by Grace alone through the gift of Faith does? Salvation is by grace through faith not works. Obviously, faith is not a work. Salvation is by God through a free gift; it is not of you through a wage you have earned. Salvation is not accessible to man by a man’s free will, but only attainable for man by the free will of God. Salvation is an outworking of the will of God. There are two reasons why man has nothing he can boast of in his salvation: 1) because he has not done and cannot do anything; and 2) because grace has done everything! “…by grace are ye saved…Not of works…” (Eph. 2:8,9). Both Grace and Faith in salvation are of God, not man’s works. There is absolutely nothing man can point to and say, ‘I did this and then God saved me’. If salvation was a response from God to a work of man’s, salvation would then not be by unmerited grace at all, for man would have earned God’s love by having loved Him first (see 1 Jn. 4). “For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive…” (1 Cor. 4:7 cf. Rom. 11:35). Believing the Gospel of God is the immediate result of salvation, it does not cause salvation. Believing is a product of salvation, not the catalyst. “…as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast…Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Eph. 2:8,9 & Rom. 3:27,28 cf. Gal. 2:16). Conversely, a dead faith believes that there can be no justification without the deeds of the law. If boasting is excluded by grace, then there is absolutely nothing a man can do or has done that has or ever will result in his eternal salvation. End of argument. The only conclusion from Scripture that can be rightly drawn is that salvation, election and justification are by Grace ALONE.
“No man is saved of himself through works, but of God by grace alone through the gift of Faith. Salvation by grace is solely based upon the Obedience of the Saviour Who alone established the perfect Righteousness necessary for the justification of His people. If salvation is not of works, then what else could it be but solely by grace? If it is not by what you do, then it must only be by what God has done. SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE IS A GLORIFICATION AND CELEBRATION OF THE ONLY TRUE and Sovereign GOD! A man must be born again; He must be made a new creature, for “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50 cf. Jn. 3:6; Gal. 6:15). Why? Jesus answers: “…verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3 cf. Jn. 3:6). If a man could boast, then salvation would be by works, his efforts, but man has nothing he can boast of in the matter of salvation, therefore, it is a given that salvation must be completely, solely and exclusively by the grace of God through the gift of faith, not in one’s own righteousness, but entirely in the Righteousness of the Saviour established by His Obedience alone for His people. Believing only in His Righteousness for your justification is believing in salvation by grace alone. Believing in your own efforts at becoming Righteous is damnation by works. If salvation were not by grace alone, then there would be no need to be born again. Why would a man have to be made a new creature in Christ if by his own efforts at obedience he could literally save himself? Obviously, salvation is “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9). Man has nothing to boast of. There isn’t a thing in the world man can say he did before God saved him, or so that God could save him or even keep him saved.” ‘So it really is totally by grace alone from beginning to end.’ “Yes, it is. God is the Saviour and He saves by Grace, nothing more and nothing less. You see, God’s love is not a reciprocal love, it is not a reactionary love but an initiating love. God is the one Who creates and initiates the covenant relationship between Himself and His people through their only Mediator the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (see Lk. 22:20; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 12:2). God does not love His people because they did this or because they did that. God does not choose them because they chose Him first. He does not love them because they loved Him first. Scripture confirms, “We (His chosen people) love Him, because HE FIRST loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19 cf. Rom. 9:11). Only a love not based on who a person is or what they have done, comes by grace alone. God and grace are always first. Again, who are the us John is addressing? He is writing to the “Beloved…” (1 Jn. 4:1), the people of God.
“This alleged free will that people are so insistent upon is an insidious lie that actually denies the spiritual death of man and calls God a liar when He told Adam, “…of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17), and pronounces Satan as the one who was telling the truth when he lied to Eve, claiming: “…Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). Now, you cannot have a foot in both camps, and there is no neutral ground. You either believe God was telling the truth and Satan was lying, or that Satan was telling the truth, thereby calling God the liar. The undeniable biblical fact that man is spiritually dead—utterly hopeless, for he is without Christ and without God in the world (see Eph. 2:12)—is seen clearly in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (see also Rom. 8:7,8; Eph. 2:1-3). Man cannot see the things of God because the things of God are spiritually discerned, and man, by nature, is spiritually dead—without the capacity or capability to spiritually correctly discern the things of God which is why no currently lost person believes the Gospel of salvation by Grace ALONE through the gift of Faith ALONE in the Justifying Righteousness of Jesus Christ ALONE. The lie of free will also turns Christ’s sacrificial death into a failure for the most part, seen in the fact that most people are not saved.” ‘Yeah, yeah I see it now. Man so why do so many Christians teach and believe this lie.’ “Wait a minute friend, who said they are Christians?” ‘Well despite their many doctrinal errors they certainly love God and meet each week to praise Him and they do good for each other and the community just like I do, and…’ “Friend, it is those very doctrinal errors that make up the false gospels they believe which reveal the false gods they have embraced, and therefore, the fact that they are not Christians at all. A person does not first become a Christian and then gradually learns the truth while believing a false gospel in the interim, for to do so would constitute having faith in a false god: “…God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and BELIEF (not ignorance) of the truth: whereunto He called you by our Gospel…” (2 Thess. 2:13,14 cf. Eph. 1:12,13). To be a babe in Christ is to be a Christian who knows the basic, foundational, doctrines of what the Gospel is—and what it could not possibly be. To be a babe in Christ is to have received no less a measure of the gift of Faith than one who is mature in the Faith. After all, the whole point of the gift of Faith being given is so that one does believe the Gospel of the Grace of God to the exclusion of all other so-called gospels.
“The Gospel of God does not contain error. To believe the doctrines of the Gospel of the grace of God incorrectly is by no means an inconsequential matter (see Gal. 1:6-9). Rather, it exposes the fact that the error one believes constitutes another gospel, not God’s Gospel. It is a false gospel, not the true and only Gospel of God, revealing the faith of the believer in an erroneous gospel as that which is not the gift God gives to His people, with which they believe only His Gospel and no other.” ‘I see, but exactly how wrong does one have to be to be lost?’ “I’m very glad you asked that highly pertinent question. I once posed the same question to a Presbyterian pastor, and a highly intellectual man I once knew who claimed to be a Christian. Neither man knew how to answer me. The ‘pastor’ literally said he did not know, and the other gentleman laughed nervously, a human trait that appears prominently in intellectuals and those who rely heavily on their reputation for knowledge. Another ‘pastor’ with whom I once corresponded, exclaimed that he did not know much error God tolerates regarding His Gospel. All three men clearly demonstrated that none of them knew the True God or His Gospel and the consequences of not believing it. They simply had no idea of the Standard, the Canon. They could not judge by the Gospel because they did not know or believe the Gospel of God. Their minds were roadblocked by the subjective because they literally had no idea of the objective. “Without an external, unchanging standard (the objective), a person's thinking becomes entirely gridlocked. They cannot move forward or make accurate spiritual judgments because they are trapped within the limitations of their own minds. Ephesians 4:18 describes those having the ‘understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart’. Without the objective light of the Gospel, the mind is naturally blocked by its own darkness.” If you do not know how wrong you have to be, then you obviously do not know what the truth is. You have no foundation and no starting point. If one does not know the answer to 4 + 4, then how can he know how wrong one has to be to be incorrect? Conversely, only the person who knows the answer to be 8, can state unequivocally that any deviation from the number 8—whether adding the smallest fraction, or removing any particle from the number 8—leaves one with nothing but error: the wrong answer (see Deut. 4:2; Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 2:14). “Truth defines the boundaries of error. Falsehood has no fixed standards or limits; it is infinite in its variations. Error cannot tell you how far it has strayed from the mark because it lacks a point of reference. Truth is the only standard. Truth is absolute, fixed, and unchanging. Like a straight line reveals a crooked one, truth acts as the measuring tape that shows exactly where correctness ends and deviation begins.” “The answer to how wrong one has to be to be lost, is: NO error, which is by its very nature contrary to and contributes only to the perversion of the Gospel of Christ, thereby revealing another gospel that God has not declared and another christ that God does not claim to be HIS Son, will be tolerated. No one who believes in such error can be considered among God’s people, for, God’s people are all taught of Him and have had His Truth revealed to them and been given the Faith to believe only the doctrines of the Gospel of God and not the erroneous teachings of men. “If a person cannot identify what constitutes a departure from the truth, or if they minimize the gravity of a false doctrine, it proves they do not truly grasp the precision of the truth itself. Light naturally exposes darkness; therefore, to be blind to the exact nature of an error is to be blind to the standard that exposes it. Truth is absolute, exclusive, and strictly defined—and that understanding it requires knowing exactly where it ends and where error begins.” What qualifies as an error when it comes to God's Gospel? Anything man says about it which contradicts what God has said constitutes His Gospel. The apostle Paul said it best: “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” (Gal. 1:8 cf. 2 Cor. 4:3,4). The only thing which could possibly constitute “any other gospel” is heretical doctrine—anything which differs from God’s Gospel. God only reveals the truth to His people, and thus, they no longer believe lies about Him: Who He is, what He has done and for whom He has done it. GOD REVEALS HIMSELF THROUGH HIS WORD AND BY GRACE ALONE GRANTS HIS PEOPLE THE FAITH TO BELIEVE IT. He grants them His Faith to believe all the doctrines of His Gospel correctly, otherwise, they would not be believers of it, and the granting of the gift of Faith would be pointless.
“Just because a person believes a gospel and performs good works, the good he does cannot validate the error he believes (see Matt. 7:21-23 & Gal. 1:8,9). Though many believe that any erroneous doctrine they hold can be made up for by moral sincerity, the reality remains that: “Moral sincerity is never a valid substitute for doctrinal truth.” Even atheists do good and help people. Many people who aren’t in the least bit religious seek to live decent, morally acceptable and community-minded lives. So, clearly, character and conduct alone do not qualify a person as a Christian.” ‘Well, what does qualify a person as a real Christian?’ “Look at what the Lord Jesus said: “…preach the Gospel…He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16:15,16). If not believing the Gospel of God reveals a person’s damned state, then only believing the Gospel of God reveals a person’s saved state. Being a Christian is being saved. Being saved is believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you do not believe God’s Gospel, to the exclusion of all others, you are not a Christian. Take a look how seriously the apostle Paul considered the matter of the Gospel in what he wrote to the Galatians: “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” (Gal. 1:8). Paul underscored his statement in Galatians 1:8 by declaring in the verse immediately following that it did not matter who it was that came to them bearing a different gospel to his: “…if ANY man preach any other gospel…” (Gal. 1:9). The truth of God, the Gospel of God, was never to be verified by personality, reputation or status! Paul said, “...if ANY man...” No matter a man’s eloquent style or manner of preaching, no matter his reputation for holy living, degree of humility and gentleness of manner. No matter his fame, no matter which religious order he belonged to or how long it had existed, no matter how highly respected he might be or how popular he was or how many people and noted scholars were convinced he was an authentic religious leader sent from God. Paul’s words to the churches of Galatia are his words to God’s Church today: IF ANY COME PREACHING A GOSPEL WHICH DIFFERS FROM THE GOSPEL THAT PAUL HAD TAUGHT THEM, THEY WERE TO CONSIDER SUCH MEN NOT AS MEN OF GOD, BUT AS MEN ACCURSED OF GOD!! THIS is Righteous judgement. There are no loopholes and no exemptions: the Gospel of God is what is to be believed, and no other!
“The same is true concerning everyone who believes a false gospel. It does not matter, it makes no difference, how close their gospels come to the true Gospel. It did not sway Paul in the least how many truths their gospels contained or how many good works they claimed to have done in the name of Jesus (see Matt. 7:22,23). Paul reiterated, he did not say it once but twice, that if any man’s gospel was not the exact same Gospel as the one he preached, with all its specifics and doctrinal accuracy—for how else could God’s unique Gospel possibly be identified and distinguished from false gospels and faithfully relayed to others—and which the people had received, they were to take this as a clear sign that such a person was not sent to them by God, they were not representing God—no matter how many trappings of Christianity they exhibited—nor was their message representative of, or could it rightly be called, the great Gospel of God. Consequently, they could not possibly be believing in the True and only Living God—they could not possibly be Christians. This rules out any possibility whatsoever that any other gospel could ever save anyone, or that this Gospel of Paul’s would ever disappear or undergo any change or modification under God’s direction, for it is the only Gospel ever Authored by God, and thus eternal; God’s Gospel will never lose its eternal status. Paul was saying THIS IS IT! This is God’s Gospel and it will always be God’s Gospel! It will never be any different, it will never change, it will always be recognized by the distinctive doctrines it contains and savingly believed in with the gift of Faith God gives to His people. God’s people would never change it, misinterpret it or misrepresent it—they would only ever believe it, and, therefore, will only ever preach it, for they have been given the gift of Faith by Grace to believe it and no other. “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him” (Eccl. 3:14).
“Christians are saved people who believe the Gospel of God and no other, and they believe there is no salvation by believing any other gospel. So how, according to Jesus’ own words in Mark 16, is a true Christian judged? By what he does or by what he believes, that is, by who he believes in? What you believe identifies the one you believe in. God’s Gospel = the true God — Any other gospel = false gods. Look at what Jesus said to those who did not believe Him: “…ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep…” (Jn. 10:26); “…ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). “He that is of God heareth God’s Words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (Jn. 8:47). The false Christians who did ‘many wonderful works’ did not believe in the true Jesus of God’s Gospel, for if they did the Lord would not have said to them: “…I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23). Their love was not for the true God, for: “If any man love God, the same is known of Him” (1 Cor. 8:3). Clearly, all those people did: prophesying in Christ’s name and even casting out devils in His name, meant absolutely nothing, for they did not in reality, love the true God as He has revealed Himself only in His Gospel, and therefore, were not known of Him. They believed the one they loved was the true God, but in reality their love was only for an impostor. The only way you can ever love the true God, is if HE LOVED YOU FIRST (see 1 Jn. 4:19).” ‘Man, that is scary.’ “It is terrifying, and it all comes back to the only way a man can know the true God, to really love Him, is for Him to have loved you first (grace) and revealed Himself to you through His one and only Gospel. Every other gospel is a lie that only reveals false gods, and the people who believe them as false Christians who evidently have no love for the true God and are not known by Him. A Christian is identified as one of Christ’s sheep by his believing in the Gospel Record—God’s Record—of Who Jesus is, what He has done and for whom He has done it. The only way you can be believing in the true Jesus is if you believe in His only Gospel, for the doctrines of the Gospel of God are the only ones which correctly identify Him: Who He is, what He has done and for whom He has done it. See, there is no point, and it profits a man nothing if his faith is in a false god whom he calls God or even Jesus and lives a highly moral life. If your faith is in a false god supported only by your experiences, lifestyle and a misinterpretation of what God’s Word actually says, you are in deep trouble. You do not have the true God if what you believe is not from Him, and therefore, does not reveal Him. False teachings only define and identify false gods and never the true God. How could they? ‘So are you saying I’m not a Christian?’ “Friend, that is precisely what the Word of God is saying. How can you be a Christian when what you believe about God and how He saves is not what God says about Himself and is in reality a denial of Who He truly is and how He actually saves. EVERY ERROR OPPOSES, AND THEREFORE, DENIES TRUTH. “To introduce, tolerate, or believe an error is not a minor deviation—it is a functional denial of the truth it opposes. Truth is exclusive, and error is inherently hostile to it.” You probably believe some truths, but it’s the errors you hold to that turn the whole thing into one big toxic lie.”
‘But I’ve been a Christian for years now.’ “How can you be a Christian when you say you are saved believing a false gospel? You have been fed a false narrative pertaining to what the Gospel is and, therefore, who the true God is. Your faith, your trust, is in something which never happened and in someone who doesn’t even exist. Your faith is in a fictional character born in the heart of Satan and warmly embraced by your carnal mind and corrupted heart. How can anyone be a Christian, born again by the Seed—the Word of God—by believing a false gospel which does not reveal the true God? What do you think Jesus reveals the Father through? A false gospel? Are you serious? It is only through the true Gospel that the Father and the Son are revealed to His people. Jesus said: “…no man knoweth Who the Son is, but the Father; and Who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him” (Lk. 10:22). The fundamental problem is you have not believed God’s Testimony which is His Gospel: God’s Good News. Look at the Scriptures: “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the Witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not THE RECORD THAT GOD GAVE of His Son” (1 Jn. 5:10). “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the Doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the Doctrine of Christ, HE HATH both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn. 9). HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD BY BELIEVING IN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT THE SON OF GOD? How can you have Him when you do not abide in HIS Doctrine? No matter how hard you try, you can never believe the truth by believing a lie. Moreover, how can you believe in the true God by believing a false gospel. How can you believe the truth by believing a lie? Can you see that to rightly believe in the true and only God one MUST believe the Record—the Testimony of God—or Gospel, that God has given of His Son? “…HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT GOD…BELIEVETH NOT THE RECORD THAT GOD GAVE…” Inverting this declaration makes it even clearer: HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT THE RECORD THAT GOD GAVE BELIEVETH NOT GOD. If you don’t believe the truth, you don’t believe God. If you do not believe the Gospel of God, if you believe in a false gospel, you are not a Christian, but one who calls God a liar. How in the world can a man be saved who by not believing God’s Gospel—HIS Record of HIS Son—calls God a liar! “…God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto He called you by our Gospel…” (2 Thess. 2:13,14). God does not sanctify anyone without the Holy Spirit or by a belief of error, nor does He call anyone by a false gospel. Listen again to Paul’s words in Galatians 1: “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” (Gal. 1:8,9). If you believe any other gospel but the only Gospel of God, you stand accursed.
“The Gospel Paul is speaking of is God's Gospel which is the only one that is fully in accord with the Holy Scriptures, and it is the only Gospel God ever revealed to him, for it is God’s one and only Gospel wherein He and His Righteousness are revealed. The Gospel of Christ is His power unto salvation, not the false gospels of men (see Rom. 1:16). Of course, various religious groups claim these verses in Galatians 1 as a defense of their gospel, however, how can Paul be defending any gospel which is not in accordance with the Word of God. We see clearly from these two verses how Paul does away with any need for conjecture or speculation as to what the Gospel of God is. The first thing we learn from these Scriptures is the fact that the Gospel of God is readily distinguishable, distinct, from all other gospels. Obviously, Paul is saying here that for one to be saved one must exclusively believe in God’s only Gospel, for every other so-called Gospel has absolutely no power to save because none of them are authored by God. Moreover, belief in any other gospel—which is believing in works—is to be accursed. Paul is telling us that his Gospel, the only one revealed to him by God Himself, is the only Gospel of grace which conveys the Truth about Who God is, how God saves and whom He saves. No other so-called Gospel is like it. And, that THIS Gospel, therefore, is the only Gospel God reveals to all His people and the only one by which He saves by grace through the glorious gift of Faith given to believe it and that can only believe it.” ‘So what is it that so clearly distinguishes Paul’s Gospel from every other gospel on the planet? What is it that makes it so distinct and instantly distinguishable from every other gospel?’ “God’s Gospel, the only Gospel God ever revealed to Paul, and for that matter, all His chosen ones, teaches that salvation from beginning to final glory is 100% by grace ALONE.
“Every religion has at least one common denominator, one unifying theme: they all teach that man must do something to either get saved and/or remain saved. This single teaching alone is both a denial of spiritual death and of the grace of God as the only means by which God saves His people and keeps them saved. Christians are “…kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation…” (1 Pet. 1:5). Paul says it this way: “For by grace are ye saved through faith…” (Eph. 2:8). “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation…” (Rom. 1:16). God’s Gospel is the Gospel of Grace, and God’s Grace is His only power unto salvation. Furthermore, these Scriptures reveal the impossibility of any of God's people, once they are saved, to believe in and promote any other gospel apart from God’s one and only Gospel, for they now all abide, dwell and remain in, HIS Doctrine (see 2 Jn. 9). All true Christians believe that they are saved by the power of God’s Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone. Nothing else is mentioned in Ephesians 2:8 and 1 Peter 1:5 because nothing else but Grace is the power of God unto salvation, and nothing else but the gift of Faith is that by which God’s people are saved through. The Gospel of God is salvation by Grace through Faith. If salvation is by Grace, then it must be through the GIFT of Faith which totally excludes Faith as a work of man. Likewise, if salvation is through the GIFT of Faith, then it must be solely by Grace, which also excludes any work of man upon which salvation depends. If salvation is by Grace, then it must be through the GIFT of Faith. Likewise, if salvation is through the gift of Faith, then it must be solely by Grace. If your gospel adds any other element to those prescribed by the Word of God, you have nothing but a false gospel which has never saved, and can never save, anyone. There is only one Gospel which comes from God, all the others are from men. God’s Gospel brings glory to God for His grace, while the gospels of men give glory to men for their works. God has only one Gospel, and that Gospel teaches salvation by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Obedience of Christ alone; all the gospels of men include the obedience of man as indispensable to getting and/or remaining saved.
"The importance of the above cited Scriptures cannot be overstated. The Lord God has not included them in the Holy Scriptures merely to fill up space. The purpose of these verses, 1 Peter 1:5 and Ephesians 2:8, is to underscore the fact that GOD HAS A GOSPEL—ONE SPECIFIC GOSPEL. It is to show to one and all that there is no salvation WITHOUT GOD'S ONE AND ONLY GOSPEL, and that there is no salvation believing in ANY OTHER GOSPEL! MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT SHOWS THAT THE FAITH GOD GIFTS TO ALL HIS PEOPLE BELIEVES ONLY IN HIS GOSPEL AND NEVER ANY OTHER! The gift of Faith is specifically given to God’s people for the express purpose of believing that salvation is by Grace alone. Consequently, no one who has been given this Faith ever concedes that they, or anyone else, were or are even remotely saved believing any other gospel. In the final analysis, salvation can only be by grace alone, works alone, or a combination of grace and works. The inescapable conclusion, which God has made abundantly clear in His Holy Word as to exactly how He saves His people from their sins, follows: “For BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES: it is the GIFT of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9); “And if by Grace, then is it NO MORE OF WORKS…” (Rom. 11:6). God saves His people BY GRACE THROUGH THE GIFT OF FAITH and IF BY GRACE, THEN IS IT NO MORE OF WORKS. The Gospel of God that declares salvation is by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone is the only Gospel recognized and believed in by His people as God’s only Gospel. For it is God Who has revealed it to them and granted them all the gift of Faith by Grace to believe only in that Gospel as the power of God unto salvation, for therein is the Righteousness of Christ revealed—the ONLY Righteousness by which a man is saved (see Rom. 1:16,17; 5:18,19). It simply makes no logical or biblical sense that the Gospel of grace would reveal anyone else’s righteousness as that which belongs to the Gospel of God, which is the power of God unto salvation (see Rom. 1:16,17). The Gospel of Christ is the very power of God unto salvation, FOR it exclusively reveals the Righteousness of God, not the righteousness of man! (see Isa. 64:6; Titus 3:5). “The Gospel of God reveals the Righteousness of God, utterly excluding the righteousness of anyone else (human righteousness) as the means or power of salvation.”
“I cannot overemphasize the fact that no truly born-again Christian believes that they or anyone else were, or can be, saved by believing any other gospel. Furthermore, no one who believes they were or can be saved prior to or without belief in God’s one and only Gospel—the only Gospel that gives HIM all the glory for salvation because it is the only Gospel that declares salvation is by Grace alone—is in a saved state. How can they be saved who believe they were saved believing in a gospel THAT IS NOT GOD’S GOSPEL? It is tantamount to saying that a person is sanctified by the Holy Spirit WITHOUT belief of the truth! (see 2 Thess. 2:13). If those who teach another gospel are accursed, it stands to biblical reason that any who believe they are/were saved believing another gospel are in an equally accursed state. Those who do not know God’s Gospel ARE NOT HIS PEOPLE; they are not His sheep, but reveal their caprine state. THEY ARE ACCURSED PEOPLE! God’s people are described in Scripture as “…them which believe and know the truth” (1 Tim. 4:3 cf. 1 Jn. 2:21). Those who are not God’s people are described by the Lord Jesus as those who “…believe not, because ye are not of my sheep…” (Jn. 10:26); “…if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). Believing that Jesus is HE is believing God’s Gospel Record of Who His Son is, what His Son has done and for whom His Son has performed His salvific Work (see 1 Jn. 5:10,11).” ‘But I believe that Jesus is the true God.’ “The jesus you have believed in all these years is not the true Jesus, for he is one of the many impostors spouted by man’s many false gospels. To believe in a counterfeit jesus of an accursed gospel is to believe “…not the Record that God gave of His Son” (1 Jn. 5:10). And again, “…God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto He called you by our Gospel…” (2 Thess. 2:13,14).
“God has not called His people through the spirit of error, nor are God’s people chosen to salvation through the belief of lies—false gospels. I have had people say they love my writings, with one well-read gentleman going so far as to state he has never read anything so precise outside of the Scriptures. And yet they all flee when they realise that I am saying a person is lost who believes they were saved before they ever claimed to believe the doctrines of the Gospel of God. How insane is that? Their velocity in fleeing is increased dramatically when they realise that what I am saying diametrically opposes what their favourite writers or preachers say and calls them lost. All I am saying is what Christ said. All I am saying is what the Holy Spirit of God inspired Paul to say. Simply because a person says they love God, or call Him Lord (see Matt. 7:21-23), is no evidence that the one they believe in is the true God of the only Gospel that has ever revealed Him and His Righteousness. No matter how highly a man is revered as a teacher, a message that is 99% truth is always going to be compromised by that 1% of error. The same rings true about the gospel one believes: if it is not 100% true, it is not truth. If it is not 100% true, it is not God’s Gospel. “Something cannot be designated as pure truth if it contains any fraction of falsehood. A mixture of truth and error simply becomes a modified error.” I mean people are more hesitant to believe some guy off the street who claims to be a mechanic and will look after their car, and yet they instantly believe anyone who claims they are Christian without knowing anything about what the person actually believes. The apostle did not entertain such a careless attitude, but spoke clearly when without any hesitation he declared anyone who believes another gospel accursed (see Gal. 1:8,9). Any claims of being a Christian that a person makes proclaiming love for God etc., are rendered null and void by what a person believes if what they believe is not the only Gospel that is not accursed: the Gospel of salvation by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone.
“There is nothing but accursedness outside belief of God’s Gospel, so I ask you how in the world can anyone be saved before or without belief in God’s one and only Gospel to the absolute exclusion of all others! If one claims to believe God’s Gospel and yet remains convinced that they were saved while believing a false gospel—which stands in opposition to God’s only Gospel—they are clearly in an accursed state. I mean, no one can be saved without God, so how can anyone assume that a person can be saved without the only Gospel that reveals Him (see Rom. 10:14-17)? How can you be saved without believing the True God? How can anyone be right when they are wrong? How can any be right when they say they were right even when they were wrong? It’s like saying: I am now correct in believing 4 +4 = 8, but I was also correct when I believed 4 + 4 = 7 or I am now saved because I believe the Gospel, but I was also saved when I did not believe it. HOW CAN ANYONE BE SAVED BEFORE BEING GIVEN THE FAITH THAT BELIEVES SOLELY IN THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD? How can anyone be saved without “Being born again…by the Gospel…” (1 Pet. 1:23,25 cf. 1 Cor. 4:15; Jas. 1:18)? How can anyone be saved who believes a gospel which the Holy Spirit has pronounced as accursed: that which is not the power of God unto salvation? How can anyone believe anything other than the Gospel of God with the gift of Faith that comes from God? How can anyone be saved believing with man’s inherent faith which can never savingly believe the Gospel of God? If you do not believe, you are not of His sheep: “…ye believe not because ye are not of My sheep…” (Jn. 10:26 cf. Mk. 16:15,16; Jn. 3:18). If you do not believe the Gospel you are not a Christian. “…he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16:16). This reveals that those who are not accursed, who have been appointed to obtain salvation, DO AND WILL BELIEVE IN GOD'S GOSPEL! The people who believe God’s Gospel are of His sheep. All others are not, for they believe in other gospels which are monuments to their accursed state. Anyone who would disagree with Paul's Gospel, anyone who would dare change it in any way, or who says it is only one of several valid interpretations of God’s Gospel, is an accursed person. Anyone who believes they or others are saved, or were saved, believing any other gospel—which God calls accursed—is suffering under a delusion aggravated by a state of spiritual death. THEY ARE NOT TRUE AND SINCERE BRETHREN WHO SIMPLY HAVE THEIR WIRES CROSSED, BUT HELL-BOUND FALSE BRETHREN WHO KNOW NOT GOD, FOR THERE IS NO LIGHT IN THEM! (cf. Isa. 8:20 & 1 Tim. 6:3-5).
“Clearly, the apostle Paul judged saved and lost by belief and unbelief of the Gospel of God (see Gal. 1:8,9 cf. 1 Pet. 4:17,18), as did the Lord Jesus Who revealed the Gospel to him (see Mk. 16:15,16 cf. 2 Jn. 9). What you believe is the primary characteristic that shows who you believe in, thus revealing a saved state or an accursed state. At any given time, you either believe the true Gospel of God which is His power unto salvation, or a false gospel that is not of God, and, therefore, is powerless to save. At any given moment in time you are either saved or you are condemned (see Jn. 3:18). No saved person has ever believed that the power of God to save not only lies in the true Gospel, but also in any number of false gospels. Professing, yet lost, ‘Christians’ ‘believe in God,’ and yet do not judge saved and lost by the word of the God/god they profess to believe in. Doctrines do not matter. They virtually pale into insignificance, as long as one is genuinely sincere and is a nice person professing an undying love for ‘God’.” ‘Yes, but, you can’t just discount a persons’ salvation simply because they believe differently than you.’ “Friend, it is precisely because they do not believe the Gospel that completely invalidates any claim by anyone that they are Christians. Paul made it abundantly clear that if any brought with them a different gospel than his, it exposed them as accursed people and not saved (see Gal. 1:8,9). There is no salvation in any other gospel, for the Gospel of God is His only power unto salvation. People are so deceived by the fact that simply because a person is genuinely sincere in what they believe that this somehow makes up for any error they hold to. No, the fact that they have embraced any erroneous gospel is THE sign that they cannot possibly be saved, for the faith with which they believe in a false gospel evidently CANNOT be from God, which is why they do not believe in God’s Gospel. How can such people be saved who discount belief of the truth as the principal sign of salvation? None of them would ever dare to even think that they are saved without being sanctified by the Spirit of God, so why does anyone—how does anyone—think they are saved whether they believe the truth of God or not? (see 2 Thess. 2:13,14). The first to discard the truth of God was Satan, and all lost people have done nothing but the same ever since. They carry on the satanic tradition of believing what they believe the truth to be—and oftentimes what they would prefer the truth to be—rather than believing what God says the truth is. The lost defer to the views, opinions and convictions of revered, and often deceased, men rather than to the Word of Almighty God (see Prov. 14:12; Jn. 12:43; Col. 2:8). Saved and lost are not judged essentially or fundamentally by character, conduct or lifestyle. Those who only believe in the Gospel of God are saved, and those who do not believe God's Gospel are lost. That is how it was — that is how it is — that is how it will always be. Believing one was/is saved by trusting in any other gospel instead of or as well as claiming belief in God’s Gospel is a rejection of God’s Gospel. The truth is always exclusive. Truth is not malleable; it does not bend, nor does it allow itself to be shaped by human desires or preferences (see Psa. 119:89; Jn. 17:17). “By its very nature, truth is exclusive because it immediately excludes anything that contradicts it. Truth cannot be all-inclusive; if it opens its boundaries to include falsehood, it ceases to be the truth.”
“Curiously, lost people who claim to believe in the one true God reject every other so-called god, but not every other so-called Gospel! The question is: from where do they think false gods come, if not from false gospels? How can you accept a doctrine, and yet reject the god whom that doctrine defines? How can you embrace a doctrine without embracing the god that doctrine elucidates? Understanding and believing the Gospel of God is not about how intelligent you are, it’s about revelation and the grace of God which reveals His Gospel to you according to His will and purpose and gives you the Faith to believe it. There is no salvation which exists without, consequently, there can be no salvation before, the unique gift of Faith which believes exclusively in the Gospel of God (see Gal. 1:8,9 & Eph. 1:12,13). Surely people cannot be serious in thinking that, whilst in possession of God’s precious gift of Faith, they can believe a false gospel and be saved. It is a veritable nonsense to suggest that the Faith they claim God has given them has convinced them that a false gospel is true, or just as powerful to save as God’s one and only Gospel. This rabidly insidious claim, in turn, asserts that the Holy Spirit, Who only guides God’s people into His truth, is also complicit in leading them to error (see Jn. 16:13; 1 Jn. 4:6 cf. 1 Tim. 3:15). Surely that is not God’s motivation in providing that most precious of gifts without which no one can savingly believe His Gospel to the exclusion and abandonment of all others. Moreover, God’s motive for sending the Holy Spirit is to indeed guide His people only to His Gospel, not to any false gospel.
“The apostle Paul did not qualify his warning to the churches of Galatia in chapter 1 by saying certain respected men preaching a different gospel were to be looked upon as an exception to his rule. Not at all. The direct revelation of the Gospel of God from God to Paul included the clear teaching that anyone who believed a different gospel was accursed. It did not matter to Paul who preached it, or with what elegant words they preached it, or how they preached it. The only thing that mattered was WHAT they preached! It did not even matter to Paul what the motives and intentions were of those who actually preached his Gospel; the only thing that mattered was that the Gospel of Christ was preached (see Phil. 1:15-18). Paul’s solemn and uncompromising warning was that anyone who brought with them another gospel that differed in any way from the only Gospel God had revealed to him was to be seen as accursed, and their message was to be recognized as not being of God. The inspired apostle warned that if what was preached unto the Galatians differed in any way to any degree—if the doctrines of any gospel brought to them were not the precise doctrines of the Gospel of Grace which God had revealed to him and which Paul had taught them—THIS was the decisive evidence, the irrefutable telling factor, which would inescapably expose and brand such preachers, the people who believed them and their gospels as accursed! Paul was not concerned with their reputations or the lack thereof, nor how they looked or what they wore. He did not warn of their character nor how they conducted themselves. Paul’s unequivocal warning to the Galatians was all about what they preached, and if what they preached was not the Gospel of God, such people were to be immediately viewed as accursed, and, needless to say, their gospels were to be counted as nothing more than the worthless ramblings of lost men. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom. 16:17,18 cf. Isa. 8:20). THOSE WHO BELIEVE NOT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST ARE NOT OF HIS SHEEP. Jesus said: “…ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep…” (Jn. 10:26), and “My sheep hear My Voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn. 10:27 cf. 2 Tim. 2:19). Believing a false gospel and not the true Gospel of God is not a sign that you are a Christian; rather, it is a prime indicator that you are not a Christian, that you are, in fact, accursed. A person who does not believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ has absolutely nothing to base their ‘salvation’ on: “…he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16:16). The apostle Paul could not have made any of this any clearer than by stating even if an angel from Heaven, not one of Satan's fallen angels, but an actual angel of God, sent by God fresh from the very Presence of God Himself and shining as bright as the sun, was also an accursed creature if he brought with him a gospel that differed from Paul's Gospel!
“Again, notice Paul did not say if an angel from Hell, a demon or even Satan himself dripping with evil intent were to come bringing another gospel, for they would all be readily recognized as not possibly bringing with them the true Gospel. It’s not the wolves who overtly presented themselves as wolves that they were to be concerned with, but rather those wolves who came in sheep’s clothing, recognizable only by their bearing different gospels. False gospels will invariably unmask all wolves. “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29). “The very next verse clarifies how these wolves operate: ‘Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them’ (Acts 20:30). The wolf nature is evidenced by the perverse things (false doctrines) they speak (see also 2 Pet. 2:3).” Paul’s warning remains unchanged and valid to this day, that even if an angel, radiant and fresh from the Presence of God, were sent by God bringing another gospel do not believe him. But Paul’s warning was even more powerful than this. Look closely at verse 8 of Galatians 1. We know from Scripture that any time an angel of God came to the earth he was actually sent by God for various and specific reasons and often to convey God’s specific Message. The very word angel means messenger. Gabriel in particular is often viewed as a messenger of God, or spoken of as being sent from God (see Dan. 8:15-26; Lk. 1:11-38). In light of this, the gravity of what Paul is actually saying here is quite revealing, even shocking.
“Angels are not ‘independent agents with their own personal agendas;’ they did not come to the earth on their own volition, but were sent by God for the express purpose of relaying God’s Words. “In the ancient Near East and in Scripture, a sent messenger representing a king or authority speaks with the exact authority of the one who sent them. When they speak the sender's exact words, it is treated as if the sender is speaking directly. There are numerous passages in the Bible where an angel speaks, but the text seamlessly shifts to state that God Himself is speaking (see Dan. 9:21-23; Matt. 2:13; Lk. 1:19, 26-28’Acts 8:26; 10:3-5).” Paul is saying that even if an angel sent by God relays a different gospel than the one Paul had preached to them, let him be accursed. So sure was the apostle that he had received his Gospel from God Himself, that he had heard, believed in and subsequently preached God’s one and only Gospel to the Galatians, that Paul was essentially saying that EVEN IF GOD HIMSELF through the agency of an angel brought to them a gospel which differed in any way from the one God had given to Paul, and which the apostle had subsequently preached to them, let even Him be accursed! This is not said lightly. An angel from God sent by God to relay God's words, or course, would and could never relay a false gospel because God would never command a false gospel be preached by any of His angels. However, Paul was saying that EVEN IF—clearly showing that it never could happen—an angel sent by God presented them with a different gospel, then not only would the angel be accursed, but ‘it would also imply a curse upon the very Authority Who sent him’ and directed him to relay a false gospel. You cannot separate the words of an angel sent by God, from God Himself. The only way an angel sent by God could ever relay another gospel would be if God specifically sent him to do just that. Of course, this would never happen. Paul was effectively saying—seeing that an angel sent from God only spoke God’s words—that even if God Himself brought with Him another gospel, let Him be accursed. There is also another extremely important teaching to come out of these Scriptures in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians: seeing that no angel sent from God would ever bring with him a different gospel, God would never direct an angel to bring another gospel to the people, this highlights the fact that God’s Gospel is ETERNAL. It has never changed, for it has always been, and it will never change, for it is not subject to change. There is no rebellion which exists in God’s Holy angels. Therefore, if one of God’s angels ever did come preaching another gospel, it would imply that God had directed him to do so—a circumstance that never has occurred and never will. God is the God of Truth, not of lies; He does not rebel against Himself or His Word. “Holy angels do not rebel, making Paul's statement an intentional, extreme hypothetical to emphasize that the Gospel is absolutely unchangeable.”
“There is no clearer or more emphatic way that Paul could have communicated the certainty that what had been revealed to him by the Lord God which he had in turn preached to the Galatians was the eternal Gospel, God's Gospel, and that they were never saved before they believed it and that no one can possibly be saved without it, or whilst believing in another gospel, or that any other gospel has any power to save. How can anyone be saved believing a false gospel if even an angel sent by God with a false gospel is pronounced accursed; if it would even imply a curse upon God Himself! This hypothetical situation is used by the apostle to make clear to his readers that in no way, shape or form will God’s Gospel ever be changed by God, nor will He ever direct any of His angels to promote a perverted gospel. Paul was certain that the Gospel God had given him was His one and only complete Gospel. There are no additions to be made, no alterations or corrections, no modifications whatsoever to suit different cultures or coming generations. God would not change His mind about how He would save His people and what, with the Faith He would give them, they were to trust about Him and how He saves. Paul showed that the Gospel that had been revealed to him and which in turn he taught the Galatians is God’s only Gospel and would always be God’s only Gospel. Anyone, even if God Himself, via the agency of an angel, came bringing a gospel that differed in the slightest way to the Gospel He originally revealed to Paul, would evidence His accursedness! Needless to say, this could and would never happen. Paul was simply stating that under absolutely no circumstances were the Galatians to accept another gospel even if it were brought to them by God Himself via a messenger sent by Him.”
‘Oh my! That is so awesome.’ “It is indeed. How anyone can read Galatians 1:8,9 and remain convinced that belief in a gospel that differs from the only Gospel God had revealed to Paul can save just as well, is a clear testament to their being blinded and lost (see 2 Cor. 4:3,4). “To reject Paul's warning is to willingly remain under the very curse he is pronouncing.” I mean, someone can say to you that they know your friend Jim, they can say all manner of nice things about him and praise him for being such a good man, and glad that he is their friend, etc., but when they begin to describe him by his appearance, his age, the identifying details of his life, etc., and define him by what he does, you immediately recognize that the person they know, whilst bearing the same name as your friend Jim, is not the same person. How crazy would you be to think, well their description of Jim is totally unlike the Jim I know, but seeing it’s the same name I believe we both know the same Jim. It’s like 15 people believe 15 different things about Jim, yet they all believe they know the same Jim. How insane is that! Moreover, to exacerbate the situation, every time these people hear anyone mention the name Jim, they all automatically and without question believe the one being spoken of is the Jim they know! DETAILS DEFINE INDENTITY! If you believe in false doctrines that can only belong to false gospels you believe in a false god. The elephant in the room, which cannot be denied and must not be ignored, is: how can varying, differing, conflicting and contradictory descriptions and details identify and lead to the same object, destination or person?
"False gospels are the vehicles which contain false doctrines which always and only identify and reveal a counterfeit. That is precisely why anyone believing a false gospel and its mythical saving power is accursed. And if you don’t know true Doctrine, the Doctrine of Christ—the Gospel of Christ, and, therefore, the true Christ Himself—you will believe that the counterfeit is the truth and view the truth as the counterfeit; some will even believe they all qualify as the Gospel of God despite the significant differences. I’ve had many people disagree with the Gospel I preach and yet they believe I am saved. On what basis? False gospels only come from and lead to false gods. Natural man is blind to the truth of the Gospel of God, and so, goes about believing the lies of false gospels while labelling them ‘the Gospel’. Imagine correctly believing that 2 + 2 = 4, but that 3, 5, 18 or any other number also qualifies as the correct answer! Imagine believing you were right when you were wrong! How can you believe the truth when you are convinced that anything that conflicts with it is also correct! “It is impossible to genuinely hold a truth as absolute while simultaneously believing that its direct opposite is also correct. Doing so creates cognitive dissonance and undermines the very definition of truth. Scripture describes the attempt to hold onto conflicting beliefs as a state of instability. A mind that fluctuates between truth and error has no solid foundation. James 1:8: ‘A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ Truth cannot be mixed with falsehood. Light and darkness, or truth and error, cannot fellowship or coexist as equally valid. 2 Corinthians 6:14: ‘...for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?’ Logically and scripturally, one cannot truly believe the truth while validating its contradiction. To accept error as correct is, by definition, to reject the truth.” In the absence of truth, a lie often makes perfect sense. This is why true doctrine is of the utmost importance, for believing in false doctrine gives one a false perception of reality and a totally misleading image of God. If false doctrine does not matter, as so many claim, then the truth becomes useless. If false doctrine does not matter, then the warnings in the Bible pertaining to false doctrine and its consequences do not matter, thereby rendering the truth useless. The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, exhorted him, saying, “Till I come, give attendance to...doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:13 cf. 1 Tim. 4:16). When a person is not fully informed, their logic becomes illogical. When you cannot—or refuse to—see the full picture, how can your perception be correct. What kind of understanding have you when you do not fully understand a matter? How can you fully understand a matter when your eyes are blinkered, when your understanding is skewed by bias and ignorance? How can you describe light when all you know is darkness? And how can you criticize that which you do not accurately understand and, therefore, cannot properly comprehend?
“False gospels do not portray the true God: Who He is, what He has done and for whom He has done it. That is why those who do not believe God’s Gospel are not His sheep and why they and those who believe in a false gospel are accursed. If you believe a false gospel has the power to save you are not hearing the Voice of Christ. Such people have no tangible evidence that they are sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God and been given the gift of Faith to believe His Gospel. Sanctification can never be without belief of the truth (see 2 Thess. 2:13). To truly believe God’s Gospel is to KNOW that no other gospel has the power to save. God will not, has not and never will save a person who believes in a gospel that is not GOD’S Gospel. God does not save people who believe lies about Him with the faith that is intrinsic to their sinful nature, and who, therefore, pray to a god that cannot save. God does not save people to whom He does not give the gift of Faith to believe exclusively in His Gospel. Why would God have given His Gospel detailing Who He is and how He saves—thus identifying Himself and distinguishing Himself from all false gods—if belief in any gospel could save just as well? How can anyone be saved by following a path which God has not laid? Lies keep a person’s perspective far from that which is real. The side-effects of believing lies are much worse and have far greater implications and consequences than any drug. Doctrine is no trivial matter, it is of the utmost importance. The gospel you believe is either of God, or it is not. Doctrine differentiates. Doctrines are the D.N.A. of the one believed in. Doctrines are the fingerprints—the X-ray results, if you will—of who a person’s faith is in. This is how and why the apostle Paul was so quick to, and absolutely convinced in, judging himself, an angel from Heaven and even God Himself, or anyone as accursed if they brought with them a gospel which differed from the Gospel God had personally revealed to him. Doctrine is the undeniable forensic evidence that proves—absolutely and conclusively—not only in whom a person believes, but also in whom they could not possibly be believing. “Doctrine leaves an unmistakable trail of identity.” No one in their right mind would ever think that believing the true Gospel equates to believing in a false god. On what basis, then, can anyone claim that this same biblical logic lends support to the concept that believing a false gospel—characterized and identified by false doctrines—can ever be rationally interpreted as believing in the true God? “How can a lie (false doctrine) ever rationally connect someone to the Truth (the true God)? A lie has absolutely no source or intersection with the truth. It is a spiritual and logical impossibility to worship the true God through the lens of a false gospel, because a false gospel only ever reveals a false god.” Put it this way: a digital photo is made up of a series of pixels (short for picture elements). These pixels are what constitute and define a picture; pixels are what gives a picture its individuality, and distinctive appearance. If it weren’t for the right pixels being in the right place, a photograph of the Mona Lisa could look like Fred Flintstone. The doctrines of the Gospel of God are the unchangeable and defining 'pixels' of what God's Gospel is made up of, and they are what differentiates God's Gospel from every other gospel. Only the pixels, or doctrines, which are exclusive to God's Gospel are able to accurately portray the God of the Gospel and the Gospel of God.” “Truth is composed of exact elements. Divine truth is built upon precise, unalterable details—down to the words themselves. Altering the fine details alters the whole image of God. Proverbs 30:6: ‘Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar’ (see also Gal. 5:9; Rev. 22:18,19). Just as a few wrong pixels distort a whole image, a small doctrinal error perverts the entire Gospel). False doctrine presents a distorted, counterfeit version of Jesus, which Paul warns against. If you change the doctrines, you are no longer looking at the true Christ (see 2 Cor. 11:4). Even small doctrinal changes completely transform the Gospel into something unrecognizable.” “A little leaven leveaneth the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9 cf. Matt. 16:6,11,12).
‘Well, this sure isn’t the kind of teaching I’ve been used to.’ “That’s because the church or churches you’ve been frequenting teach compromised truth, which of course is no truth at all.” ‘How do you mean?’ “Well, ‘Compromised truth’ refers to a situation where facts or realities are distorted, manipulated, or selectively presented, leading to a version of truth that is no longer fully accurate or trustworthy…The concept encompasses various forms of misinformation, disinformation, and subjective interpretations that blur the line between fact and fiction. Only certain facts or perspectives are highlighted, omitting important context or counterarguments that would provide a more complete understanding. Information may be deliberately altered or misrepresented to achieve a specific agenda, often to influence public opinion or to manipulate emotions. Personal biases and opinions may lead to interpretations of facts that diverge from objective reality, affecting how truth is perceived.” Compromised truth is nothing but bad rhetoric, which leads only to the acceptance of bad doctrine and false gods. Only the true doctrines which make up the Gospel of God, the only Gospel which can and does reveal God’s only Begotten Son and His Righteousness, rightly defines and identifies Who His Son is, what His Son has done and for whom He has done it. False doctrines are only found in and make up false gospels, which can only present false gods and false christs, and therefore produce only false christians. The most dangerous of these false gospels are those which contain more truth than not, and yet are still deadly. I refuse to eat a meal even though I am aware that it contains 99% of good wholesome food and just1% deadly poison. False gospels do not and can never reveal the true God nor His Messiah, for God is not the author of any of them (see 1 Cor. 14:33). The Word of God states that Jesus is “...the Author and finisher of our faith…” (Heb. 12:2). Imagine the confusion if Jesus being the Author of His people’s faith, and yet, with that faith, they believed in a different Gospel than the one and only Gospel God reveals to His people. A Divinely given Faith does not believe in a false gospel, for it is clearly granted so that a person believes only in God’s Gospel. God has sent His Spirit of Truth to His people, not the spirit of error; they are sanctified through believing the truth, not through disbelieving it (see Jn. 16:13,14; 2 Thess. 12-14). Only God’s Gospel contains all truth, no errors, no inaccuracies. False doctrines make up false gospels which are only believed in by false christians.
“Christ says that He is the Truth (see Jn. 14:6), and the reality is that only the Truth has ever and can ever reveal Him. A person is not sanctified who believes in a gospel which does not reveal the only true Jesus Christ. “…when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth…” (Jn. 16:13 cf. Jn. 18:37; 1 Cor. 2:10). “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14 cf. Jn. 14:17; 15:26; 1 Cor. 2:11). Literally, the Word of God is saying ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God into all truth are the sons of God.’ Christ’s people are led by the Holy Spirit into all truth. “…it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 Jn. 5:6). “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17). Jesus said: “…the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me” (Jn. 15:26). Now does this sound like the Spirit of Truth would ever lead God’s chosen people to believe in false gospels; or that the spirit of error could or would ever lead anyone to the true Jesus?” ‘Absolutely not.’ “Again, “…when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth…” (Jn. 16:13 cf. Jn. 18:37; 1 Cor. 2:10). “Before Christ even explains what the Spirit does, He declares who the Spirit is. By calling Him the ‘Spirit of truth,’ Christ establishes His essential nature. Just as God cannot lie (see Titus 1:2), the Holy Spirit cannot produce, cultivate, or guide anyone into falsehood, because error is entirely contrary to His essence. The word ‘all’ leaves no room for partiality or a mixture of error. If a guide takes a traveller down a path that is 90% safe but deliberately leads them off a cliff at the end, that person is not a reliable guide. Because the Holy Spirit's mandate is to guide into all truth, He cannot be the author of a detour into a false gospel or doctrinal error.” The only one who leads people into error—that is, false gospels—is the spirit of error. “Scripture explicity identifies a distinct, dark spiritual influence that dictates false teaching.” “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 Jn. 4:6 cf. 2 Cor. 11:13,14; 1 Tim. 4:1). “The origin of and guidance into false gospels is entirely attributable to the ‘spirit of error,’ completely vindicating the Holy Spirit from any involvement in spiritual deception. The spirit of error manifests as false doctrine and false gospels, and Scripture explicitly identifies Satan as the ultimate author and driving force behind all such spiritual deception.”
"Almighty God is the Spirit of Truth, not error, not lies and nothing which contradicts Truth: “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17). In accordance with this theme, Christ also said of His people: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free….If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (Jn. 8:32,36 cf. Gal. 5:1). God’s people are only made free by His truth. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the Witness in himself…” (1 Jn. 5:10). God’s people are sanctified by truth: His Word: “Sanctify them through Thy Truth: Thy Word is Truth” (Jn. 17:17). “…God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto He called you by our Gospel…” (2 Thess. 2:13,14). Jesus said: “Every one that is of the Truth heareth My voice” (Jn. 18:37), and “…I am…the truth…” (Jn. 14:6). There is only one Way, and that is the Way of Truth: the Way of Christ and His Gospel no other. The apostle John testified of all believers “…we are of the truth…” (1 Jn. 3:19 cf. 1 Jn. 4:6). There is no salvation without the “…sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto He called you by our Gospel…” (2 Thess. 2:13,14). The apostle Paul also stated: “…I declare unto you the Gospel…by which also ye are saved…” (1 Cor. 15:1,2 cf. 1 Pet. 1:23,25). Paul shows that the Gospel is: “The specific mechanism ‘by which also ye are saved.’ To reject or bypass this specific message results in ‘believing in vain.’” No one is saved without the Word of the Truth of God’s Gospel. “For the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven, whereof ye heard before in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel” (Col. 1:4,5 cf. Eph. 1:13). Those who are saved are sanctified through the Spirit of truth and belief of the truth. No excuses, no exceptions, and no loopholes. Those who do not believe the truth are lost. They are not sanctified, but lost and accursed people. Those who do believe the truth shall be saved.
“No one who hears Christ’s Voice believes in a false gospel, and no one who is of the truth, saved by the truth, can conceivably ever again believe in a false gospel, moreover, they will never believe the lie that they or anyone were/are saved whilst believing a false gospel (see Jn. 10:5,14). You cannot be saved without the Gospel of God, therefore, you cannot have been saved before belief in the Gospel of God (see Eph. 1:12,13 cf. Mk. 16:15,16). If you cannot be saved without the Gospel of God—you most assuredly were not saved before belief in the Gospel of God. If God’s Holy Spirit of Truth is not leading you, you cannot possibly have the Gospel of God, therefore, you have not the truth, and you will never arrive at the truth whilst being led by the spirit of error. How can anyone be saved being led by the spirit of error to believe a false gospel? If you do not believe the Truth of God: His Gospel, you do not have the Spirit of God: you are not a Christian: “…if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Rom. 8:9 cf. Rom. 8:14). This is the same as saying ‘if any man has not the truth of Christ, he is none of His’ or ‘if any man has not the Gospel of Christ he is none of His.’ Seeing that the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of truth, no one who believes not the truth can possibly be in a saved state. If you do not have the Truth, you simply do not have God. If you are not led by the Spirit of truth, you simply do not have God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, THEY are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). Obviously, then, those who are not led by the Spirit of God, who do not believe the truth of God, the Gospel of God, are NOT the sons of God. You cannot separate being a son of God from being led by the Spirit of God, and therefore believing in the Gospel of God. You cannot be a son of God without being led by the Spirit of God to believe the Gospel of God. You cannot be led by the Spirit of God to believe the Gospel of God without being a son of God. And you cannot believe the Gospel of God without being led by the Spirit of God, thus revealing yourself to be a son of God. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn. 9). If you do not believe the doctrines of truth, you obviously are not being led by the Spirit of truth, and thus you do not have God. The prime evidence that you have the Spirit of Christ is you have been led by Him to believe exclusively in the true Gospel of Christ and no other. If you believe not the true and only Gospel of God, you do not have the true and only God, you do not have the Spirit of Truth, you have not been made free, you are not saved.
“The Faith with which a true Christian believes the Gospel is given to him by God through grace alone. If you don’t believe the Gospel, then it is quite evident that the faith with which you are believing is not the Faith God gives His chosen, but your own natural faith which cannot rightly discern the things of God, for how can a man believe a false gospel with the Faith God gifts to all His children so they will only believe His Gospel. Christians are sanctified by the Spirit of Truth and BELIEF of the Gospel of God. How could they possibly be sanctified by the Spirit of Truth and not believe the Truth? They are not sanctified by the Spirit of Truth to continue disbelieving it (see 2 Thess. 2:13,14). There can be no evidence of a person’s sanctification without their belief of the truth. If you don’t believe the truth—the Gospel of God—then it is patently obvious that you are not being led by God’s Spirit of Truth. God has not revealed Himself to you. If you are not being led by the Spirit of Truth, you are being led by the spirit of error—the spirit “…that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2)—and the spirit of error has never led anyone to the true God. “Because the spirit of error specifically works to hide the true Gospel (see 2 Cor. 4:3-4), it is biblically impossible for it to ever guide someone to salvation or to the true God.” The very spirit of error is Satan seeing that he is a liar and the father of it (see Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:9). If you do not believe God’s Gospel you believe in a satanically inspired false god’s gospel. If you are not saved you are lost. The difference between a man’s faith and God-given Faith is a man’s faith believes any number of gospels except the true Gospel of God, while God-given Faith exclusively believes in God’s Gospel as His only power unto salvation.
“But again, the most critical issue is that, to different extents, all false gospels teach personal obedience as the way to Heaven. Many preachers of false gospels will wax lyrical about grace and faith etc., but ultimately they will condition salvation on what YOU do. The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches saving Righteousness only by the Obedience of ONE: Jesus Christ the Saviour Who saves His people from their sins: “…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Only by Christ’s Obedience can a man be in right standing with God. NO OTHER GOSPEL TEACHES THIS, FOR THEY ALL CONDITION AT LEAST SOME PART OF SALVATION, TO VARYING DEGREES, UPON THE INDIVIDUAL’S OBEDIENCE.” ‘But surely we’ve got to believe?’ “Of course we have to believe, but tell me how are you going to believe without first being born again by grace? How are you going to believe without first being made alive in Christ by grace? And if you think that you can become born again by first believing, then you have turned salvation and faith from gifts given by grace according to the will and purpose of God, to a reward because of works. False preachers make out that believing the Gospel is something that is conditioned on the individual—that it’s based on our ‘free-will’ decision. This completely does away with the teaching of a man’s spiritually dead state, and therefore the need for the Grace and Mercy of God (see Eph. 2:1,5). How can believing be conditioned on the individual, when the Word of God makes it perfectly clear that believing is the ‘work of God.’ Jesus said: ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent’ (Jn. 6:29 cf. 1 Cor. 4:7; Phil. 1:29). Making believing a condition firmly fixed on our decision or choice is the single clearest way to identify a gospel as not being the Gospel of salvation by the Grace of God alone through the gift of Faith alone. “...if it be of works, then is it no more grace…” (Rom. 11:6). If salvation, election or justification are conditioned on works, then it is no longer the God of Grace Who makes one differ from another, but each individual sinner (see 1 Cor. 4:7). IF SALVATION IS CONDITIONED ON YOU—IF ANY PART OF IT IS DETERMINED BY YOUR ACTIONS—THEN IT CANNOT BE CONDITIONED ON AND DETERMINED BY GRACE (see Rom. 11:6).
“Clearly, salvation is not by works—it is not AT ALL based on what the individual does—but solely on Grace alone: “For by Grace are ye saved…Not of works…” (Eph. 2:8,9); “…if by grace, then is it no more of works…” (Rom. 11:6). Salvation by Grace is by everything GOD has done, and by nothing you have done. That is the only salvation Plan of God that He grants the gift of Faith to His people to trust and believe in. If your trust is in a salvation plan that hinges on even one work of yours you are not believing in God’s Plan, and therefore, your trust is not in Him. Nothing can activate Grace but the Sovereign Will of God. The absolute epitome of Grace is that God saves His people not based on their obedience, but on the Obedience of the Saviour ALONE, and that their sins have been abolished not by their having done more good than bad, not by a reformed and repentant lifestyle, but by the Blood of the Saviour Jesus Christ ALONE: “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7 cf. Psa. 51:2; Isa. 1:18; Rom. 5:9; 1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Jn. 1:9). “…Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5); “…feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own Blood” (Acts 20:28). Couple this with the fact that: “…by the Obedience of One shall many be justified” (Rom. 5:19 cf. Rom. 5:18), and we see that the Word of God attributes the WHOLE of salvation to the Blood and Righteousness of Christ leaving absolutely no room whatsoever for any man’s works, efforts, decisions or choices that could possibly make him to differ from another (see 1 Cor. 4:7). If it is by Christ’s Blood alone that a man is redeemed from his sins and sinfulness, then IT MUST BE Christ’s Righteousness alone by which a man is justified before God. It is entirely God’s work, His effort, His decision and His choice that saves a man, “For by grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8).
“Indeed, this is precisely what Jesus confirmed on the cross when He cried, “...It is finished…” (Jn. 19:30). Of course, it is commonly understood that It is finished translates the Greek tetelestai, which means completed or paid in full. But what exactly was paid in full? Most people think Jesus was referring only to paying the price for sins, and they are partially correct; however, that's not where it ends. It is finished means Christ's whole work—His saving work, His work as Saviour for His people—was finished, perfect and complete. This means, that while the sins of His people were washed away by His death, by His blood, this finished work also crucially means a perfect Righteousness was established for His people (see 2 Cor. 5:21). This Righteousness would, in time, be imputed to each and every one of them, causing justice to be fully satisfied on that cross (see Dan. 9:24). God's justice needed every sin paid for in full and a perfect Righteousness established, so that the vital two-way imputation could, in time, take effect in the lives of everyone Christ died for. One simply cannot separate the inseparable doctrines of Christ’s Sacrifice for the sins of His people and the Imputation of His Righteousness to them. The moment you do this, or if a person is ignorant of this truth, the way is left wide open for a man to believe he must in some way help atone for his own sins and supplement Christ’s perfect Obedience with his own. Now, those who believe Jesus shed His blood for everyone—yet argue that not everyone will be saved because some would not choose Him—would have us believe that Christ died effectively for some, but ineffectively for others. This entire false narrative of Jesus dying effectively for some but ineffectively for others, or His dying sufficiently for all but only efficiently or effectively for some comes crashing down in light of Hebrews 9:22: “...without shedding of blood is no remission” (cf. Heb. 10:18). The first thing that comes to mind after reading this verse is that with the shedding of blood there IS remission. Not might be, but IS. The full and everlasting remission of sins does not await any prerequisite apart from the shedding of Christ’s blood. Remission of sins does not depend on something else or someone else to come to fruition; rather, because blood has been shed—the blood of the Saviour—sin IS remitted. This proves that it is the acceptance of the One TO Whom Christ’s blood was shed in Sacrifice that sanctions the full remission of sin, and not the acceptance of those for whom the blood was shed (see Eph. 5:2; Rom. 3:25). “If there is no shedding of blood, there is zero remission. Conversely, where the blood has been shed by Christ, remission is a completed, objective fact, not a conditional possibility left waiting for human cooperation. The word ‘remission’ consistently implies a total deliverance or sending away of guilt, as mirrored in Matthew 26:28 (‘For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins’). Christ’s blood does not merely make the sins of those He died for pardonable, but actually accomplishes the complete remission of them.” No one’s sins for whom Christ's blood was shed remain unremitted. Because there is no remission without blood, it stands to biblical reason that where blood has been shed, there most certainly is a definite, eternal and irreversible remission of sins. This completely rules out the foolish and utterly heretical view that Christ’s blood was shed ineffectively for anyone. “If the absence of blood guarantees the absence of remission, the presence of Christ's blood guarantees the reality of remission. ‘And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more’ (Heb. 10:17). If God remembers them no more, the remission cannot be reversed or rendered ineffective.” What was paid in full? It was the debt His people owed: the sin they had committed, and the Righteousness they had not.
“Salvation is through the Death, Resurrection and Obedience of the Saviour Jesus Christ, therefore: SALVATION IS, AND CAN ONLY BE, BY GRACE ALONE! “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21 cf. Rom. 4:4,5). “...by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Grace reigns through the Righteousness of God not yours. The Grace of God reigning through an individual’s righteousness simply makes no Scriptural sense at all. Everything is by and because of God, therefore all His people are “…COMPLETE IN HIM…” (Col. 2:10). That is Grace. Grace reigning through the Righteousness of Christ completely shuts out any concept of a man's personal obedience being part of God's saving grace. “Because the text establishes that grace reigns through righteousness, and this righteousness is explicitly identified as the finished work and obedience of Jesus Christ alone, any intrusion of human merit or personal law-keeping as a cause or component of saving grace violates the structural contrast Paul establishes throughout the chapter. Man's personal obedience is entirely excluded from the office of justifying the sinner before God. To suggest that grace reigns through an individual's personal righteousness contradicts the explicit mechanics of the passage. Romans 5:17 reinforces this by calling righteousness a gift that is received, rather than a performance that is rendered: ‘...they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.’ Furthermore, the Word of God consistently contrasts God's righteousness with man's righteousness in the context of justification. Paul explicitly addresses the theological error of substituting personal righteousness for God's in Romans 10:3: 'For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.’ The concept of grace reigning through human righteousness reverses the scriptural order, which establishes Christ's finished work as the sole foundation of saving grace.” If you are not submitted unto the Righteousness of God, you are not submitted to grace, and therefore, like the Jews of Romans, are going about trying to establish a righteousness of your own (see Rom. 6:14; 11:6).
"A man once wrote the following words to a hymn which are sung by most professing Christians countless times every year, and yet few understand what they are singing: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness…On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand…” People parrot these words and then go right on blindly believing that their obedience plays a part in forming the only foundation that will uphold them, without realising that their own obedience is the very sinking sand they are supposedly denouncing (see Isa. 64:6; Matt. 7:26,27; Gal. 2:16; 1 Cor. 3:11). The Grace of God simply cannot be if it is not completely free of anything you do. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). If you claim that Christ took your sins upon Himself, and yet insist that salvation cannot do without your efforts at obedience, then you have dismissed the need for Christ’s Obedience as the only obedience that justifies a man before God, thereby, disqualifying you from any legitimate claim that Christ took your sins upon Himself (see Gal. 5:2,4). If God has not opened your eyes; if He has not caused you to be born again, then nothing will tear you away from thinking that salvation cannot take place or be maintained without some contribution from you (see Eph. 2:9; Gal. 3:3; Jd. 1:24; 1 Pet. 1:5). “If Christ's being made sin for His people completely settled the legal debt of sin without human help, then being made the righteousness of God must completely settle the legal requirement of righteousness without human help. Demanding personal obedience as a requirement for saving grace directly compromises the truth found in Romans 5:19: ‘so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.’ If human obedience is required to secure salvation, then Christ's obedience was not sufficient on its own, which completely invalidates the parallel Paul establishes in 2 Corinthians 5:21. Any theological system that requires human works to ensure or preserve a saved state effectively invalidates the very grace it claims to preach, rendering the entire system internally contradictory and biblically compromised.” If salvation is not by grace alone, then the remission of sins cannot be by Christ’s shed blood alone, and justifying Righteousness cannot be by the Obedience of Christ alone. A rejection of grace alone is a rejection of the Saviour. The apostle Paul states: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation…For therein is the Righteousness of God revealed…” (Rom. 1:16,17). And that Gospel taught Paul to 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” (Phil. 3:9). “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay: but by the law of faith” (Rom. 3:27).
“The Gospel of God is the only Gospel where you will find the Righteousness of Christ untethered from anyone else’s righteousness, for it is the only Gospel that conditions all of salvation on the Grace of God alone. Grace reigns only through the Righteousness of Christ alone. “Christ’s Righteousness stands completely independent, isolated and unencumbered by human effort.” IF IT IS ALL BY GRACE, THEN IT MUST ALL BE BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ANOTHER! If it is by the Righteousness of Another, then it must be all by Grace. Nothing else makes any biblical sense. If it is by the Grace of God, then it is by the Righteousness of Christ established by HIS Obedience alone; consequently it cannot conceivably be by your righteousness established by your works of obedience. End of argument. If you believe that salvation is by—or cannot do without—your righteousness established by your works of obedience, then your faith cannot be solely in the Righteousness of Christ—HIS efforts at Obedience—therefore, your faith cannot be the gift God gives to His people by Grace alone. “Salvation by your own righteousness is not only wrong, but impossible to even imagine or justify within the framework of grace.” Salvation must be by Grace alone through the gift of Faith, not by grace through a carnal faith which cannot see past the works of the flesh, and therefore always believes in one’s own efforts to establish and/or maintain salvation. If this be not so, then why the need for the GIFT of Faith to believe that salvation is contingent on one’s own efforts at obedience, when this is the mindset every human by nature is hardwired with? “If the faith God gives to His people were meant to produce a works-based mindset, the gift of faith would be entirely redundant, since the natural fallen man already thinks that way. A carnality that attempts to establish its own salvation is inherently opposed to faith. The Word of God explicitly declares that the faith which receives salvation does not originate within man's natural capacity: ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God’ (Eph. 2:8). God must grant the gift of faith precisely because it performs a supernatural function—it causes a man to look away from his own efforts entirely and trust solely in the righteousness of Christ.” The Gospel of Christ which alone reveals the Righteousness of God by which His people are made Righteous before Him, is the sole power of God in the salvation of His people. God saves by Grace through the gift of Faith in the Righteousness of Christ, not one’s own.” ‘Ok, so what does this doctrine mean in relation to what most believe about faith without works being dead?’ “Well, most who profess to be Christian, in fact all of religion—and by religion I mean man-made belief systems (see Eccl. 7:29), and there are over 4,000 of them—put the focus squarely upon the individual to choose God and then try to appease Him by filling one’s life with good works. This is evil and at the hub of a world-wide satanic system which brings one no closer to the true God than if one lived a completely wanton and lascivious lifestyle. “Whether a man is religious or wanton, his natural state is equally separated from God apart from grace. As Romans 3:22-23 states: ‘...for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.’”
“Just look at those people Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7 who were left in a state of shock at Jesus’ rejection of them: “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:21-23 cf. Lk. 18:9-14).” ‘That is one passage I have never understood, and frankly, it scares me.’ “And rightly so. Firstly, we know that a man must be born again to see the Kingdom of Heaven (see Jn. 3:3). Clearly these people, though sincerely religious and dutiful, were not born-again people. “They did not lack zeal or religious duty; they lacked Christ.” Notice also, these people called Jesus ‘Lord,’ so we see that they must have considered themselves Christians; in utter dismay and puzzlement at being rejected by Christ their immediate response was not pointing to their faith in the Gospel, not to any such biblical concept as being saved by grace alone, but solely to their works. Importantly, these people who brought up their good deeds as a plea for their rightful justification proves that no true Christian, no true believer saved by grace alone resorts to anything they have done to assure themselves that they are saved. The good works that God has ordained His people should perform are the product of their salvation, and not the cause of their salvation or that which their salvation is founded upon (see 1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:8,9). False christians have a morbid fear of losing their ‘salvation’ because, ultimately, their own works is what they believe their ‘salvation’ relies upon. ‘But we did this, and we did that.’ The first and only thing these people turned to in protest that they ought to be saved was their wonderful works. “These individuals did not possess true salvation and lose it; rather, they never had it because their foundation was their own iniquity rather than Christ. These pleas and arguments will be of no use to him, nor of any avail to any at the great day. It may be observed, that these men lay the whole stress of their salvation upon what they have done in Christ's name; and not on Christ Himself, in Whom there is salvation, and in no other: they say not a syllable of what Christ has done and suffered, but only of what they have done.” These people believed they were Christians, but Jesus clearly did not. Can you see the inherent evil of self-righteousness?” ‘But Jesus says only those who do the will of His Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’ “Precisely—so what is the will of the Father? What is doing the will of God? Obviously, it isn’t just human performance, which these folk clearly did. What these people failed to do was believe in the true Jesus of God’s Gospel, for if they had truly believed in Him they would not have pointed to their obedience, but to His alone (see Rom. 3:27). Moreover, a man can only truly do the will of the Father only if he is born-again of the Father (see Rom. 8:8). Believing the Gospel of Christ is a work of God which clearly these people did not do: “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent” (Jn. 6:29 cf. Jn. 6:40). Do you think that Christ would have rejected these people, told them to depart and called them workers of iniquity if they truly knew the true God and had been given the gift of Faith by Grace to believe exclusively in His Gospel?” ‘Í guess not.’ “The word 'never’, in Matthew 7:23, is critical; it proves there was never a point where they possessed saving faith. They were completely devoid of the gift of faith by grace, which would have caused them to rely exclusively on Christ's righteousness rather than their own wonderful works. Because they lacked the imputed righteousness of God, all their legalistic, religious efforts were spiritually worthless. In the economy of God's grace, attempting to establish one's own righteousness is itself an act of lawlessness—making them 'workers of iniquity.'" They were ignorant of Christ’s Righteousness and went about trying to establish a righteousness of their own (see Rom. 10:3). These people did not believe in the true Jesus, but only a perverted image of Him constructed through a combination of false teachings fuelled by a carnally inspired imagination (see Jer. 23:16; Col 2:18). “Their ruin was not a lack of religious sincerity, but a foundational ignorance of who the true Jesus actually is and what his gospel requires.” Salvation is by Grace granting the gift of Faith to believe in Him, not in one’s own obedience. “By pointing to their own works instead of Christ, the people in Matthew 7 ensured that their religious pride was instantly turned into eternal shame. Because they trusted in their own obedience rather than Christ’s finished work, Jesus declared the terrifying truth: ‘I never knew you’ (Matt. 7:23).”
“Believing in works-based false gospels does nothing but draw a person ever deeper into the maze of false gods and their whirlpool of lies. You see, grace does not equip a man to do what is necessary to be saved, for grace alone is that which actually saves. God saves by a Gift of His, not by a work of yours. It is “…the grace of God that bringeth salvation…” (Titus 2:11 cf. 2 Tim. 1:9). The Grace of God is completely independent of man. Grace is according to the will of God, not man (see Eph. 1:5). Grace can only be given at the behest of God, not at the request of man. Grace is not based on, nor does it come because of the actions of any man, otherwise it would not be grace. For Grace to truly be Grace is must be free and unconditional, and not bound by what you do nor contingent on your ‘free will reception’ of it. “…if by grace, then is it no more of works…” (Rom. 11:6). If it is by Grace, then it cannot also be of works. If it is by Grace, it is by Grace and nothing else. Grace does not inspire a work so that it can then save, for the inspiration of grace is the will of God to save His people. The will of God is the sole prerequisite of grace. Christians “…are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10), but their salvation is not conditioned on those works, they are merely a product of their salvation. Those works are a manifestation of their salvation. Salvation produces good works, but good works cannot produce salvation, “For by grace are ye saved…Not works…” (Eph. 2:8,9). Grace is not a debt paid, but a gift given. Grace cannot be based upon nor work in tandem with anything but the will of Almighty God. Grace is not a reward, for it is completely unmerited. If grace was based on the actions of men, salvation would not be a gift but something earned, and if earned, salvation would then be according to works, a man’s obedience, and not the gift of grace at all. If any part of salvation is contingent on works, then it cannot be dependent on grace at all. If any part of salvation is conditioned on your works, then Righteousness does not come exclusively by the Obedience of One. “…a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:16 cf. Jas. 2:23). This is something the folk of Matthew 7 whom Christ NEVER knew, did not abide in, for they had never been born-again.
“If any part of anything you are given is free, yet conditioned on you paying any amount for it, then it is clearly revealed for one and all to see that it is not free at all. If getting and/or keeping that ‘free item’ depends on a fee that you must pay, then it isn’t a free item at all but one which you must pay for, earn the right to. Such is the case with salvation by works. Salvation is not leased, or rented out to the elect of God—subject to ongoing payments—it is GIVEN to them free of charge for all eternity (see Jn. 10:28; Rom. 4:4,5; 6:23; Heb. 5:9). Nor is salvation forfeited because of a 'missed payment' or because someone comes short of paying the full amount, for Christ the Saviour has already paid the debt His people owed IN FULL! "...IT IS FINISHED..." (Jn. 19:30 cf. Matt. 1:21; Col. 2:14). The Word of God states: salvation is by Grace through the gift of Faith, NOT WORKS! False gospels insist that salvation is by grace through your works! They teach that works close the deal, rather than the Obedience of Christ finishing or sealing the deal. The faith that subscribes to the lie that a man’s attempts at obedience are something salvation cannot do without exposes an explicit disbelief—an overt unbelief—in the fact that Jesus Christ has paid the debt of His people IN FULL (see Jn. 19:30). “Adding works to the Gospel of salvation by grace is not having a different perspective, but flat out unbelief. Believing that salvation cannot do without human effort is a systematic rejection of the Blood and Righteousness of Christ being enough to make the elect ‘complete in Him' (Col. 2:10).” How can salvation be conditioned on your works, when the Word of God plainly declares it is “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9); that it is: “…not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8) and so: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded…by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified WITHOUT the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:27,28). What else could a biblically literate mind conclude! Salvation is clearly and completely a gift from God given based solely upon His grace. THERE IS NO BOASTING BECAUSE THERE ARE NO PERSONAL WORKS INVOLVED!! Moreover, the word excluded in Romans 3:27 means: to shut out, to turn out of doors; to prevent the approach of one. “…the key is turned upon it; it is not allowed of; it is entirely exploded.” When it comes to the matter of salvation, works are shut out, they are turned out of doors; their approach is prevented, the key is turned upon them; they are not allowed of—they are exploded! And what has done this? GRACE. As the apostle Paul said, “…if by grace, then is it no more of works…But if it be of works, then is it no more grace…” (Rom. 11:6). The only way salvation is not by your obedience is by it being entirely by the Obedience of Another which has established the only saving justifying Righteousness that comes solely by Grace. If you believe grace has saved you through your works, you are living in a fool’s paradise. Your delusion is only exceeded by the fact that you are spiritually dead, for you know not God and are not saved. No matter how many times you claim to have been saved by grace, your understanding of grace is entirely perverted, for it cannot be separated from your works; it cannot work the work of salvation without the assistance of your works. “A claim of grace that remains conceptually bound to or dependent upon human performance is a perversion of the biblical definition of grace.” Works cannot possibly factor into the reason for salvation, nor its preservation. The Christian is “…preserved in Jesus Christ…” (Jd. 1:1), not by works. “…kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation…For by grace are ye saved through faith…” (1 Pet. 1:5 & Eph. 2:8). The saved man is eternally kept by Grace through faith. “Human obedience or law-keeping is completely excluded from both the saving and the keeping. The fruits of salvation are the result of being kept (grace); they are never the cause of being kept. If the elect are kept by the power of God, then salvation cannot be lost based on human weakness, failures, or imperfect obedience. If a believer's security depended on their own grip on God, they would fall. Instead, it depends on God’s grip on them. The same grace that rescues a sinner is the exact same grace that secures the saint. Salvation is a monolithic work of God from cross to crown.”
“To your point concerning faith being dead without works, what the apostle James was talking about, in James 2 was that “…genuine faith in God naturally leads the believer to participate in good works. In James 2:26, the apostle compares faith without works to a body without the spirit: ‘For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.’ Just as a living body naturally breathes, a living, God-given faith naturally produces fruit. The works do not give the body life; the life in the body produces the works." "The faith that has no accompanying works is dead—it is not of God—for it belongs to spiritually dead people. Importantly, works without true Living Faith—the only faith that comes as a gift from God—are also dead works, as those lost professing christians in Matthew 7 discovered much to their profound dismay and everlasting shame. “Outside of Christ, even the most impressive religious deeds are structurally dead because they do not spring from a living root (see Heb. 9:14 cf. Matt. 7:18).” A dead faith—which can only mimic intellectual belief (see Jas. 2:19 cf. Titus 1:16)—that is not the gift God gives to His people does indeed produce works, but they are only dead works. “A dead faith is not an empty or inactive vacuum; it is highly capable of generating extensive religious activity, but because its source is unregenerate, its products are entirely dead.” Far from advocating a works-based salvation, James 2 is referring to people such as were mentioned in Titus 1: “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). “This reprobate state means their actions cannot be accepted by God (see Rom. 8:8).” Moreover, James agreed with the apostle Paul when he said: “…Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for Righteousness…” (Jas. 2:23 cf. Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3). Abraham’s believing was not a work of his, but a gift, a blessing, from God: “which shows both that Abraham was justified BEFORE HE WROUGHT THIS WORK (see Jas. 2:21), and therefore that could not be the cause or matter of his justification, but only an effect and evidence of it; and that his justification was by faith, or that object which his faith regarded, and had to do with, was his justifying Righteousness.” “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10), and not that our works are in some way in league with God-given Faith in our obtaining and/or remaining saved. God and grace are what saves, not you and your works, not grace and your works. God-ordained works are an evidence not the cause of a man’s salvation. Of what use is it to put the cart before the horse? Doing so only reveals the madness of placing works before salvation. “True works can only be produced after salvation has occurred (see Eph. 2:10), because a man must first be made righteous before he can do righteousness. 1 John 3:7 states: ‘...he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.’ To put works before salvation is a biological and spiritual impossibility. Demanding good works before the new birth is a complete structural impossibility.” God-ordained works do not in any way conflict with saving grace, for they are the product of grace. God-ordained works spring from salvation, they are not the cause or source of it—only grace is. The Christian is ‘…created in Christ Jesus UNTO good works…’ not because of good works. Being made alive in Christ is not the outcome of good works being performed, for they cannot be performed without or before one is created anew in Christ (see Matt. 7:18; Eph. 2:4,5,10). If it’s by God’s grace, then it cannot be by man’s works—any works—therefore, salvation is not, because it cannot, be of works at all.
“You must realise that as faith—through which a man is saved by grace—without works is dead, SO TOO, works without saving faith given by grace are just as dead (see Heb. 6:1). Just ask the people in Matthew 7:21-23 of what worth their works were in light of the fact they had no saving faith. “...they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8; cf. Jn. 3:3,5,6). “Religious activity generated by the flesh is entirely useless for salvation. Without the spiritual birth, a person remains in the flesh, rendering all their works legally dead before a holy God.” Grace does not save through works of any kind, but only through the gift of Faith. The Scriptures says: “…by grace are ye saved through faith…it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9), and not by grace are ye saved through works; it is not a gift of God: it is of works so that man can boast. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4). If you believe what you have done has caused God to save you, you have no legitimate claim to have been saved by grace. You are saying that your works have placed a constraint upon God to save you and that He was indebted to save you because of what you have done, and not by Grace because of what He has done. Works without Faith are dead, for without Faith by the Grace of God to believe exclusively in the Gospel of HIS Righteousness, no amount of works will be of any benefit as, again, the people in Matthew 7:21-23 ultimately discovered (see cf. Jn. 10:14; 1 Cor. 8:3). If James were teaching that a man is not saved by the gift of Faith alone, but also by his works of obedience, then there would clearly be a contradiction, a disagreement between his teaching and the rest of God’s Word. The ensuing and endless argument would be who the Holy Spirit had inspired: Paul or James (see 2 Tim. 3:16). “James summarizes his own true intent in James 2:18: ‘shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.’ He is not teaching how to obtain salvation, but how to demonstrate it. To interpret him any other way fractures the perfect, locked consistency of God's Word.” You cannot separate the false teaching that your salvation needs you and your works from a total rejection of Christ’s finished Work and the sin of human pride (boasting), because any time you insert works into the framework of salvation, you are blasphemously asserting the need for the heretical teaching that salvation cannot do without YOUR righteousness, achieved by YOUR obedience. Such a doctrine is a clear and overt attack upon the Obedience of Christ—which alone has established the only Righteousness that justifies a man before God—thus demonstrating that salvation can be by nothing less, and nothing more than Grace ALONE.
“There is no schism in God or His Word—no duplicity at all, no shadow of turning (see Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:17). Therefore, there can be no inconsistencies in what God has said, and consequently, there can be no contradiction in what the Holy Spirit inspired both Paul and James to write. To properly understand what James wrote, you must start not at James, but with the salient fact that there is not—for there can never be—any contradiction in the Word of God. Any seeming confusion lies in the mind of the reader, not in what the Author has written. Everything must and does fit, comply with, support and reveal the truth that: “…by grace are ye saved…Not of works…” (Eph. 2:8,9). “The word not here (ouros in the original Greek) is an absolute negative.” If salvation could not do without a man’s works, his efforts at obedience, then why would God have inspired the apostle to literally say one is NOT saved by works? It is not of works that a man is saved, but purely, wholly, by Grace. If it is not by human effort, then it can only be by God’s Grace. The Bible has one Author—GOD—therefore, any perceived contradictions cannot possibly exist in His writings, but only in the carnal minds of those who do not know Him AT ALL. I have noticed over the years that no one who zealously quotes James 2:17,24 ever couples these Scriptures with Ephesians 2:8,9. Salvation by grace alone through the gift of Faith alone, not works, is the only doctrine which proves and supports the fact that salvation is by Grace through the gift of Faith in the imputed and Divine Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, and not via the works of obedience of any mere sinner. One could simply not adhere to such a declaration if one believes works play an essential, indispensable role in a man’s salvation. ‘Wow, man this is amazing. It’s as clear as day for me now. How have I never seen this?’ “It’s called spiritual blindness, my friend, which is the immediate result of spiritual death which came about through Adam’s disobedience to God’s Word. The blind can still feel, they can still smell and hear, but they cannot see. The only perspective they have is not based on sight. The blind cannot see. All they can do is smell or feel the object before them. But, smell and touch are not always reliable indicators of what that something is. Only the person who possesses the sense of sight is able to rightly judge what he has been presented with. Sadly, most people are convinced they are saved because they believe a handful of fundamental Christian teachings, surround themselves with like-minded, but equally deceived, people, follow blind leaders and have feelings which they interpret as spiritual experiences, and not because of the Grace of God granting the gift of Faith to believe solely in His Gospel which contains the only doctrines that collectively are the very power of God unto the salvation of His people.
“Works—what you must do—is the principal universal bonding agent that binds all of religion together, the fact that they all teach you must, thereby implying you can do something to either get saved or stay saved, enforces their belief and continued promotion of Satan’s lie in Genesis 3:4 that man would not spiritually die and therefore is not spiritually dead. The lie that man is not completely spiritually lifeless, spiritually dead by nature, finds its root in no other teaching than the satanic “...Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4 cf. Gen. 2:17; Eph. 2:1). You see, what makes this teaching of works as a necessary part of getting and/or keeping a man saved so evil, so demonstrably and diametrically opposed to the Word of God, is it directly conflicts with the Obedience of Christ, which alone makes His people Righteous in the sight of God by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone. Works of obedience for the purposes of attaining and/or maintaining salvation are a direct attack upon the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ—upon HIS Obedience which alone established the Righteousness His people needed to stand justified before Almighty God. False gospels which teach the efforts of man as an indispensable ingredient to his gaining and maintaining salvation, is a veritable frontal assault on the very power of God to save: “For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL OF CHRIST: for IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION…FOR THEREIN IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD REVEALED….For the PREACHING OF THE CROSS is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved IT is THE POWER OF GOD….by the OBEDIENCE OF ONE shall many be MADE RIGHTEOUS” (Rom. 1:16,17; 1 Cor. 1:18; Phil. 3:8,9; Rom. 5:19; 10:1-4). IT IS THE GOSPEL OF GRACE THAT IS GOD’S VERY POWER TO SAVE. Salvation by grace teaches the Righteousness of God, while the ludicrous and entirely unbiblical concepts of salvation by works, or by grace in conjunction with works, invariably advocate the righteousness of men. “Any system combining grace with human effort changes the ultimate source of that righteousness from the Divine to the human. Any theological system that includes human effort as a condition for salvation, without exception, relies on human performance. This outcome is an inescapable logical consequence of the premise. Making works a condition for grace transforms salvation from a divine rescue of the dead into a cooperative effort with the helpless—a concept that Scripture flatly shuts down.”
“Those who say you cannot be saved or remain saved without your own efforts at obedience, deny the efficacy and sufficiency of Christ’s Obedience ALONE as that which makes and keeps the many Righteous. And, in turn, it also clashes with the only doctrine that gives God ALL the glory for salvation, the doctrine which teaches ALL of salvation is by Grace ALONE. Those who subscribe to the fake gospel of works of obedience being necessary to attaining and/or maintaining one’s salvation are also in the grip of the lie that one can lose one’s salvation. Theologically, of course they believe that salvation can be lost, for the foundation of their ‘salvation’ is their own obedience, aimed at establishing a righteousness of their own. The biblically irrefutable proof that salvation is by grace alone is seen in the fact that justifying Righteousness is imputed, not earned. It is imputed (charged) because it cannot be earned (see Eph. 2:8,9; Rom. 5:18,19; 2 Cor. 5:21). As the sins of Christ’s people have all been eternally and irreversibly washed away by His own Blood, likewise the eternally perfect Righteousness of Christ Himself has been imputed, or charged, to the account of those whose sins have been washed away by Christ’s Sacrifice. Salvation is eternal. “For by one offering He hath perfected FOREVER them that are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14 cf. Rom. 4:6; Heb. 5:8,9). It took the perfect Righteousness of the sinless Saviour to justify His people, not the filthy-rag righteousness of sinners. It is the Obedience of One by which the many will be justified, not the individual obedience of the many (see Rom. 5:18,19). God saves His people by His grace and not by any of their works. How can God possibly save His people from their sins based on any of their works when He clearly declares: “…their Righteousness is of Me…” (Isa. 54:17 cf. Isa. 64:6). The true God “…hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, NOT ACCORDING TO OUR WORKS, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9 cf. Eph. 1:4-7). Grace is God saving His people by the Righteousness of His Son charged by grace to them, and not because of anything done by them. God saves His people by a credited Righteousness, not an earned righteousness. Credited or imputed Righteousness is Grace; earned righteousness is works (see Rom. 4:4-6). Where there are works, there is boasting; where there is grace ALONE, there is, and can be, no boasting. If it is only by imputed Righteousness, then it cannot be by any inherent, self-cultivated righteousness. “These two types of righteousness are mutually exclusive as a basis for salvation. If one is the cause, the other cannot be.” “…if by grace, then is it no more of works…But if it be of works, then is it no more grace…” (Rom. 11:6 cf. Rom. 3:28; 4:4,5; Gal. 2:21; 5:4; Titus 3:5). In no way, shape or form can salvation be by grace and works. How can you find room in the Scriptural truth, “…by the Obedience of ONE…” (Rom. 5:19), for your personal obedience as essential to—or even as an adjunct to— justification? The Righteousness that saves could only, can only and was only achieved by the Obedience of ONE, therefore, salvation is by grace alone, not works at all (see Eph. 2:8,9). Salvation is by Christ’s Obedience, not yours. Salvation is by Divine Righteousness, not human righteousness. “...their Righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD” (Isa. 54:17).”
‘So how does a man become a new creature in Christ?’ “PURELY BY GOD’S WORKMANSHIP! “For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO (not because of) good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10 cf. 1 Cor. 3:9). The true Christian is a God-made man, not a self-made man. It’s by God + no one; it’s by God’s Grace + nothing; it’s by Christ’s Righteousness + no one else’s. In other words, it’s by God not you; it’s by Grace not your works; it’s by Christ’s Righteousness without yours. It is God alone Who makes His people accepted, and not they themselves: “…HE hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6). God does not do this through their works, but by Grace alone through the gift of Faith. It is all of HIS doing, not ours. That is Grace. Grace stands alone, or it does not stand at all. If it is Christ’s Righteousness alone, then it must be by God’s Grace alone. If it is by Grace alone then it cannot be by what you have done. The very fact that “…He hath made Him to be sin for us…that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21), allows no room for personal works, but only God-given Grace. This Scripture not only shows that God’s chosen needed a substitutionary sacrifice for their sins, but just as clearly that they required an alien righteousness: the Righteousness of God evidently revealing their own righteousness as wholly inadequate (see Rom. 3:19,20 cf. Phil. 3:9). “An alien righteousness denotes a righteousness that belongs inherently to another—namely, Christ—it originates and exists entirely outside the human realm. Alien accurately signifies that the righteousness is foreign to human nature and external to the sinner's own works.” Just as no man can wash away his own sins, likewise, no man can establish a righteousness that will justify him before God. “Christ took His people’s sins—which He did not commit—so that they could receive His Righteousness which they did not earn. You cannot add human works to a Righteousness that is already divine and flawless.” Why would you want to? Why would you need to? (see Gal. 2:21). Likewise, you cannot, for there is no need to add, anything to Grace which has done it all. If Christ has washed away your sins, there is no requirement for you to establish your own righteousness. If Christ has imputed His Righteousness to you, there is no need for you to try and eliminate your sins. The abolishment of your sins guarantees the imputation of His Righteousness to you; so too, the imputation of His Righteousness assures the saved sinner that their sins have been imputed to, and therefore washed away by, Him (see Rom. 4:6; 2 Cor. 5:19-21). If Christ has not taken your sins, He has not given you His Righteousness; If Christ has not given you His Righteousness, you can be assured He has not taken your sins. If your faith is not wholly reliant on, trusting and grounded in the Righteousness of Christ for your Justification, you are none of His.
“True Christianity states that all of salvation from beginning to final glory is by Sovereign Grace ALONE. If it took Grace at all, then Grace has done it all (see Rom. 11:6). “Even a fraction of human effort invalidates the entire concept of grace. If salvation requires divine favor (grace) to any degree, it must require it to the absolute degree. If God's unmerited favor is the starting point, it must also be the finishing point.” God is "…the Author and Finisher…" (Heb. 12:2). Christ is “…the Captain of their salvation…” (Heb. 2:10) (those for whom He died). “The word ‘Captain’ used in the original Greek is Archēgos—the exact same word translated as ‘Author’ in Hebrews 12:2. It means a pioneer, a chief leader, a prince…” Unlike a human captain who only leads the way, Christ Jesus, the God-Man IS the WAY (Jn. 14:6). “The Lord Jesus does not merely point to a map of salvation or clear a trail of works for us to follow; His own Person, His own Obedience, and His own finished work constitute the entire pathway to the Father.” Jesus said: “...no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6 cf. Heb. 7:25). Salvation is only by God’s Choice and God’s Way. So in short, works-based religion is all predicated upon the foundational lie of Satan that man would not die should he eat of the forbidden fruit (see Gen. 3:4), for in teaching that a man’s works are essential to getting or remaining saved it claims man is not spiritually dead. IT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE THE LIE THAT MAN IS NOT SPIRITUALLY DEAD IN SINS ARE NOT BELIEVERS IN GOD'S PROMISE TO ADAM—THAT IN THE DAY HE ATE OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL HE WOULD SURELY DIE—BUT ARE ADHERENTS AND PERPETUATORS OF SATAN'S LIE TO EVE, THAT SHE WOULD NOT SURELY DIE, FOR THEY SAY 'WE ARE NOT SURELY DEAD'. As a direct consequence, such people do not believe in salvation by grace alone, but by works, or an unbiblical and satanic combination of grace and works.”
‘So you’re saying that prior to believing the truth, the Gospel, I was never saved?’ “Friend, it’s not me saying it, but God Himself in His Word that I have made abundantly clear to you. How could you or anyone have been saved by believing a lie, a false gospel? Jesus said that it is only those who BELIEVE THE Gospel, God’s Gospel that will be saved. Those who do not, who believe another gospel WILL be damned (see Mk. 16). Having any faith in any gospel other than exclusively in God’s Gospel qualifies you as a non-Gospel believer, and you will be damned. How can believing a false gospel be the evidence that God has made you spiritually alive—born again by His Gospel? (see 1 Pet. 1:23,25). Those who preach false gospels are accursed and the gospels they preach are accursed, so how can anyone who believes a false gospel be blessed?” ‘Obviously they can’t.’ “Of course they can’t. False gospels do not tell of the true God. They do not teach the only Way of salvation, but only illegitimate ways (see Jn. 10:1,7). They do not teach Grace alone through Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. How could you or anyone have been saved before hearing the Gospel of God let alone believing it. “How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard?...” (Rom. 10:14). How can anyone be born again of corruptible seed and not exclusively by the Word of God? (see 1 Pet. 1:23,25). How can you be calling on the true God when your faith is not of Him, and, therefore, cannot be in Him, but in a false god of a false gospel? IF YOU ARE LISTENING TO A FALSE GOSPEL, YOU ARE NOT HEARING OF THE TRUE GOD!! HOW CAN YOU CALL ON THE TRUE GOD IN WHOM YOU DO NOT BELIEVE WITHOUT HEARING HIS GOSPEL? If your faith is in a false god taught to you via a false gospel, how can it possibly be the true God you are calling on? So how could you possibly be believing in Him! How could you or anyone have ever been saved by believing doctrines that make up a false gospel which identifies a false god and teaches a false way to salvation?
“Look at the following Scriptures: “That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. In Whom ye also trusted, AFTER that ye heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in Whom also AFTER that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:12,13 cf. Rom. 10:17; Col. 1:5,6; 1 Pet. 1:23,25). No one’s trust can possibly be in the true God BEFORE they hear the Word of the Truth of His Gospel. How could you have trusted in Christ PRIOR TO hearing the Word of Truth—His Gospel, the only Gospel that speaks of Him? How can you possibly believe in the true Christ after hearing the word of error? There is no genuine trusting in the true and only Saviour, Jesus Christ, BEFORE one has heard the Word of Truth the Gospel of salvation: HIS GOSPEL. How can anyone have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise BEFORE they believed the Gospel of salvation? There is no possible way one can savingly trust in Christ before having heard and believed the Gospel of Christ which is “…the Record (Testimony) that God gave of His Son” (1 Jn. 5:10 cf. Rev. 19:10). HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE THE TRUTH BEFORE YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS? How can you trust in the true God BEFORE He reveals Himself to you via His Gospel? If you do not know the truth, you are open to anything masquerading as truth. Didn’t Jesus say only those who believe the Gospel will be saved?” ‘Yes, He did in Mark 16.’ “Clearly, then, those who do not believe the Gospel of God are not saved, but damned, which is what He also said: “...he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16:16 cf. 2 Thess. 1:7-9). Consequently, those prior to believing the Gospel were not saved either. How can a person be saved without believing the Gospel of God, yet they can be saved before believing the Gospel of God? It simply makes no biblical or logical sense. How can you be saved before the Faith of God is given by Grace to believe His one and only Gospel as His only power unto salvation? How can you be saved while still believing in a false god of a false gospel, or insisting that others are or were saved believing a false gospel. Such people remain in utter darkness.
“People say, ‘Well I didn’t know the Gospel when I was saved.’ “What? The Word of God says that a man is born again ONLY BY the Word of God: “BEING BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, BY THE WORD OF GOD, which liveth and abideth forever…the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which BY THE GOSPEL is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:23,25). If you are not believing in the incorruptible Word of the Gospel of God, you have never been born again. THERE IS NO BEING BORN AGAIN WITHOUT THE GOSPEL OF ALMIGHTY GOD. A man can no more be saved by believing a false gospel as he can grow a carrot by planting a watermelon seed. You cannot be born again by anything which is inherent in man and natural to him including false doctrines which emanate from him. You can only be “…born again…by the Gospel…”; “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God…That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn. 3:3,6).
“You cannot trust in the truth before you believe it, and you cannot believe the truth before you know what it is (see Eph. 2:12,13 & Rom. 10:13-17). You cannot trust in the true God before you believe His Gospel, and you cannot believe His Gospel before knowing Him: Who He is, what He has done and for whom He has done it. Again, salvation isn’t about how intelligent you are, it’s about revelation. It’s about the true God revealing Himself—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—to you in His Gospel. “…no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27 cf. Matt. 16:17). This is never done without the Gospel of God because it cannot be done without the Gospel of God. “…In Christ I have begotten you through the Gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15 cf. 2 Tim. 1:9,10). God gives HIS people HIS Faith by HIS Grace to believe HIS truth. If Jesus has not revealed the Father to you, evidenced by belief in His Gospel alone, how can you possibly be saved? If God has not given you HIS Faith to believe HIS Gospel about His Son how can you possibly be saved? If God has not given you HIS Righteousness, how can you possibly be justified? The inseparable ‘four horsemen’ of justification are: SALVATION, GRACE, FAITH, GOSPEL. The absence of one is the absence of all. If you are not saved you do not have Grace or God-given Faith to believe in God’s Gospel; if you do not have Grace you are not saved, for you have not God-given Faith to believe His Gospel; if you do not have the gift of Faith you cannot be saved by Grace, for you do not believe God’s Gospel; if you do not believe the Gospel of God you have not the gift of Faith therefore you cannot be saved by Grace. Salvation is about being born again. Being made spiritually alive by God’s grace to see and believe in the one true and Holy God. God gives His chosen the same common faith by grace to believe what He reveals, i.e. the Gospel. The Gospel explains the truth about man’s spiritual state—dead in sins—and describes and identifies Who Christ is, what Christ has done and for whom He has done it. Only the Gospel of God exposes the vanity of your righteousness while revealing the only Righteousness by which a man is saved: the Righteousness of Jesus Christ.”
‘I can’t deny anything you’re saying, yet I’m still having a hard time coming to terms with your claim that I have never been saved.’ “That is the hardest thing, I have found, that people struggle with. For many, it’s not so much the doctrines of the Gospel, but the reality of the consequences of not believing them. What about all those years of Bible reading, church going, praying and answers to prayer, they say.” ‘Yes, that’ right, I’ve had so many wonderful answers to prayer and have become a different person to what I used to be before I believed I became a Christian.’ “My friend, to judge by feelings and experiences is to judge amiss." “Faith and truth are anchored in the objective word of God rather than subjective internal feelings or experiences (see Prov. 14:12; 28:26; Jer. 17:9; 2 Cor. 5:7). Evaluating one's spiritual standing or truth based purely on feelings (the heart or what seemeth right) is warned against in Scripture.” People in every religion, cult and sect have had the exact same experiences you have, and say the same things word for word. They have had life-changing experiences too; they have become better people, and some even look different to how they looked before they became religious, and they all claim to have had answers to prayer. So, either they and their myriad of false and contradictory gospels are somehow all correct and the Gospel of salvation by grace alone, which I’m telling you, is the only one that is wrong, or this Gospel is the truth of God—and anything (feelings, convictions, experiences, etc.) and anyone that goes against it or contradicts it, as the apostle Paul taught, in the smallest degree is in error and accursed. That is how serious the issue of the Gospel is. If your gospel is false, then you are in error and will be damned; if it is not God’s Gospel you are accursed. All experiences only serve to confirm you in your deception if what you believe is not the Gospel of God. If your gospel is false then no amount of experiences or feelings is ever going to validate your beliefs or change the fact you are accursed. Jesus said: “He that believeth (the Gospel)…shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16:16 cf. Gal. 1:8,9; 2 Thess. 2:11,12). “When a person rejects the objective truth of the Gospel, their subjective experiences and feelings become the tools that anchor them deeper into their error, rendering those experiences completely invalid as a proof of truth. Paul explicitly states that sincerity, angelic experiences, or intense feelings cannot validate a false gospel. There is no middle ground in Christ's theology: it is either belief unto salvation or unbelief unto condemnation…what one believes is a matter of eternal life or death. Sincerity of feeling is no substitute for objective, biblical truth.”
“It’s funny how cults and sects etc., teach the dire consequences of not believing what they teach, and yet ecumenically-minded organized mainstream religion—that which is roundly accepted as being the official voice of Christianity—does not expound on the inescapable and awful consequences of not believing the Gospel, but in fact welcomes everyone claiming to be Christian despite what they actually believe! (see Matt. 7:13,14; Rom. 16:17; 2 Tim. 4:3; 2 Jn. 1:10,11). The reality of feelings and experiences does not automatically disqualify them from being deceptive. The deception is revealed in people’s believing in the false gods of false gospels, and turning to their own works of obedience as that which salvation cannot do without. Personal obedience as the way to salvation is the same common undercurrent flowing through every religion that sweeps away and drowns its followers in an ocean of lies contained in false gospels. Belief in false gospels is commonly accompanied and supported by wonderful experiences and joyful emotions, BUT NEVER BY THE WORD OF GOD! You see, you will always miss the truth if you govern what you believe, or seek to validate what you believe by your convictions, feelings or experiences and/or those of others (see Col. 2:8). Truth cannot be verified by anything outside of itself. The truth of God can only be expressed via doctrine. The Word of God is truth: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). “...it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 Jn. 5:6). Jesus said: “...I am...the truth…” (Jn. 14:6). If you do not have the Word, the Spirit or the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ you will neither be able to handle the truth nor believe it. Jesus said: “Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear My Word...And because I tell you the truth, ye believe Me not” (Jn. 8:43,45). “...they had no spiritual discerning and understanding of the doctrine of Christ, which showed them to be carnal, and natural men, and not regenerate ones, and the children of God; so they had an aversion to it, and could not bear to hear it (see 1 Cor. 2;14).” As an aside, the longer one procrastinates over a chore, the harder that chore seems to become. Likewise, the longer one spends time on an issue without accepting the truth, the more complex that issue seems to be. If all you do is constantly listen to debates, going back and forth from argument to argument, then the more obvious it becomes that you do not know the truth, you do not want the truth, or perhaps you simply do not want to receive the truth as truth. “When someone avoids an unwanted truth, they must continually construct rationalizations, excuses, or alternative explanations to maintain their position. This mental gymnastics naturally makes the core issue appear far more complex than it actually is.” They are among those described by the Word of God as: “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). “Such are they who accumulate information (‘ever learning’) but remain fundamentally stuck because they resist the ultimate destination (‘never able to come to the knowledge of the truth’). The context of 2 Timothy 3 describes people whose minds are corrupted and who ‘resist the truth.’ Their continuous ‘learning’ is actually a form of intellectual procrastination—generating endless complexity to avoid submission to the plain truth.” Scripture says: “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn. 9). You can throw all the feelings and experiences you have at that verse and oppose it, but it will always declare the same thing: If you do not believe in the Gospel of Christ—to the exclusion of all others—you have not God. “To reject the Gospel of God is to be completely severed from a relationship with God. Human opinion or emotion has zero power to alter, dilute, or break the authority of God's written word.” According to God’s Word, no matter your experiences, feelings and heartfelt convictions, you have not the Father or the Son if you do not abide in the Doctrine of Christ (see Matt. 7:21-23). Paul said the exact same thing when he pronounced anyone who brought with them a false gospel as accursed. ‘Yes I can see that.’ “If the Gospel must be believed, then there cannot possibly be any salvation before it or without it, no matter the degree of feelings and experiences that have accompanied your belief of any other ‘gospel'.
“Man is naturally dead to the True God and needs to be born again of God. There is no natural, favourable reception of the things of God, for by nature man is enmity against God—dead to Him, and dead to His truth. God must first open the eyes of the blind, and soften their hardened hearts, so that they will see with their eyes and understand with their hearts “…and be converted…” (see Jn. 12:38-40). What is it that they must see, hear and understand so that a legitimate conversion can take place? The Word of God: “…he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word and understandeth it…” (Matt. 13:23). The one who is saved believes. It is God Who must make alive those who are dead in sins and unbelief in order that they be saved. A man must be born again, a miraculous spiritual re-birth must take place for man to be alive to God and see His glorious Kingdom. One must be made spiritually alive by God to know the truth of the True God that alone makes a man free.
“Many years ago a Presbyterian ‘pastor’—the same one in fact who answered I don’t know after I’d asked him how wrong does a person have to be to be lost—expressed anger at me for the Gospel I preach—especially the catastrophic ramifications of claiming to have been saved without it—argued, Are you saying that when I was a 12-year-old on my bed crying out to God to save me, that I was not saved?' This is nothing more than sheer religious, superstitious nonsense. What did he actually believe when he ‘cried out to God’? In light of his protestation, it obviously wasn’t the Gospel. So, to which god was he crying out? It could not have been the God of the Gospel, for he was literally admitting that he did not know the Gospel of the True God. His claim to have been saved without the Gospel is based on nothing more than silly sentiment and the conviction THAT HIS ACTIONS—his sincere crying out to ‘God’—were what saved him. Nonsense! A clear example of pride of life exposing his self-righteousness. Remember the Scripture: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer. 17:5,9). “In the face of such inward corruption, only the tangible reality of Truth remains a reliable anchor. Since the heart is a liar, we must look away from ourselves to the immutability of God’s Word.” We are not our own gods. We have not been given a license to set our own standards.
“Never forget the apostle Paul who turned his back on all he was, all his experiences, and any accompanying feelings which they generated, etc., “…If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 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” (Phil. 3:4-9 cf. Matt. 5:20; Rom. 9:31-10:4). Imagine the experiences, feelings, prayer life etc., which Paul had before He was saved. He even felt justified and good while persecuting the people of God—OF PERSECUTING Christ Himself! (see Acts 22:8). The apostle states of Christians: “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and have NO CONFIDENCE in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3 cf. Rom. 8:8). Once saved, Paul was not ruled by who he was and what he had done, but only by the Word of God. He did not look to his own righteousness, but only to the Righteousness which is of God by the gift of Faith.”
‘Wow, that did it. ‘I’ve got tears, man. I can see it. I CAN SEE IT! I’ve never been saved because all I have ever believed in is false gospels that taught me false gods and a salvation not based 100% on Grace. I’ve relied on my obedience to help make me acceptable to God Who is the only one Who can make a person justified, and He does it by His Righteousness not theirs! The true God is not in false gospels. All my feelings and experiences were the deceptive tools of the flesh and Satan that only served to confirm me in my error and accursed state. I can see now I was never saved while believing a false gospel that revealed a counterfeit god. Praise God I repent, and I believe the Gospel of God that tells me I am saved by grace alone through the gift of faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. It’s not by my efforts at all, but His grace alone; it’s not by my obedience at all, but the Obedience of One and therefore by Christ’s Righteousness alone that I am now saved. “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare WHAT HE HATH DONE FOR MY SOUL” (Psa. 66:16). ’ “PRAISE GOD.”