GRACE OR WORKS?
THE OBEDIENCE OF MAN VS. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST
Many consider what a person believes in matters religious a very private and personal issue. Seldom, if ever, do such people willingly involve themselves in religious discussion for fear they may have their personal beliefs upset by some Scriptural truth they were not aware of, or would simply prefer to remain ignorant about. Sometimes the truth can be so inconvenient. Such wilfully Scripturally illiterate people, who prefer to remain uninformed concerning what the Word of God actually says, though convinced enough that there is a God, form their own beliefs which they draw from publications and preachers of their choice that offer a ragtag mixture of fact and fiction, of truths and lies. They are walking contradictions who, while claiming to believe in ‘God,’ stubbornly resist anything—including God’s very Word—that conflicts with their experience-based, personally customized and preferred ideology and theology, which are for the most part founded upon a convenient, non-intrusive set of beliefs. Whatever a person believes in this spiritually apathetic and indifferent-to-spiritual-truth day and age is, quite remarkably, not primarily viewed in terms of right or wrong, or truth or lie. What matters most is that a person genuinely, wholeheartedly and unwaveringly believes in something. For many, the spotlight is no longer cast on the veracity of what is believed, but solely trained on the fact that you believe it. Whether it is truth to them or a familial tradition, all is well as long as they are sincerely convinced of what they believe and are nice people. Correcting error in what a person believes is no longer considered proper, or loving, but instead disrespectful, unnecessary and downright rude. Many people are quite satisfied and draw comfort from how they and others see themselves, yet have no idea how God sees them. ‘Everything is so confusing you’ve got to believe something when it comes to religion, right?’ Wrong! Call me strange, but doesn’t it make far more logical sense to believe the truth, whatever that might be, and let the chips fall where they may? With an ever-increasing plethora of wide-ranging beliefs sincerely held by ‘good people,’ who is to say what is right and what is wrong? The prevailing mindset is, ‘Isn’t it enough that I believe something? Isn’t it enough that I lead a good, productive life always thinking of others before myself.’ The irony is that a large and confusing array of divergent beliefs, religions and gods, combined with a prideful, self-righteous approach to life, has actually diminished the importance of truth in the minds of many, and given way to the ‘inviolability’ of personal faith.
The now deceased Roman Catholic Pope, Francis, confidently asserted on September 13, 2024 at an interreligious meeting in Singapore, “All religions are a path to God.” The absurdity of such a statement is quite unfathomable. It’s like saying, no matter which football jersey someone wears or where one’s affiliations lie, everyone is playing for and following the same team. Nevertheless, many believe he is right. However, if all religions with all their contrasting, contradictory and mutually exclusive beliefs and teachings all lead to the same god, what real need is there for the truth of God and about God? What need is there for the Bible, the Word of God? What need is there for a Standard of Absolute Truth when whatever you believe will lead you to the one True God? Indeed, what need is there for a true and only God if belief in any and every doctrinally incompatible, irreconcilable and mutually antithetical religion will lead you to the same God’s Heaven regardless? This evil, worthless, truth-diminishing and empty papal claim asserts that whatever a man believes, be it truth, error, lie or otherwise, will nevertheless all lead him to the true and only God. That belief in error has as much power as believing the truth. No need to be led by God’s Holy Spirit of Truth, just follow what you believe the truth is. According to Francis, there is no need to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). Nor is it incumbent upon anyone to: “…shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness” (2 Tim. 2:16). No need to “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15), as the Lord Jesus warned. If all religions lead to the same god, why does Romanism eagerly and insistently engage in proselytisation? Moreover, why does Romanism pronounce a curse (anathema) upon any who believe in salvation by Grace alone without the addition of any works (see Council of Trent Sixth Session Concerning Justification Canon 9, 12 and 24)? Why bother teaching something when anything will do? Why bother teaching specifics when believing generalities will suffice. “The ministry of false teachers is mere babbling; a voice, and nothing else…a sound of words, but no solid matter in them; great swelling words of vanity, like large bubbles of water, look big, and make a great noise, but have nothing in them; contain nothing but vain, empty, idle, and trifling stuff; what is unprofitable and unedifying, yea, what is profane, contrary to the nature and perfections of God, and not agreeable to the doctrine which is according to godliness; and being palmed upon the Holy Scriptures, is a profanation of them. And all such wicked and empty prate, and babbling, is to be shunned, avoided, and discouraged, refused, and rejected; and, as much as can be, a stop should be put to it, both by ministers and hearers of the Word.” So much for all religions leading to the same true and only God. Man-made religions and the doctrines used to support them do in fact all lead to the same god, the god of this world, Satan, who “…hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:4). Satan, the doyen of deception, has blinded the minds of unbelievers, using religion to keep them from the Light of the Gospel of the One True Christ, Who is the image of the One True and only God.
Such an evil, reprehensible and irresponsible papal statement as “All religions are a path to God”—which does not in any way reflect the doctrines of the Word of the one True God, but rather contradict, therefore, opposes it—elevates man and what he sincerely believes above what the only True God has declared: “…I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me” (Isa. 46:9); “…beside Me there is no God…Is there a God beside Me? There is no God; I know not any” (Isa. 44:6,8). “All religions are a path to God” is simply another way of saying, ‘Broad is the way which leadeth unto life and many there be that find it.’ The exact opposite of what the Lord Jesus teaches: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt. 7:13,14). The following strong warning sounded in Proverbs 14:12 serves as a timely reminder to all those who assent to the papal declaration: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Another timely reminder of how convinced a man can be and yet still be in the throes of deception is that there are many who “…pray unto a god that cannot save” (Isa. 45:20 cf. Isa. 8:20; 1 Tim. 6:3,4). Clearly, different paths lead to different gods and different outcomes. “All religions are a path to God," is a most Satanic declaration, for it is a direct contradiction and denial of the following Scriptures: “Jesus saith unto him, I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6 cf. Jn. 10:1,7,9; 1 Cor. 1:4). Jesus said: “I am the Door: BY ME if any man enter in, he shall be saved…” (Jn. 10:9 cf. 1 Jn. 5:12). Speaking of Jesus, the apostle Peter proclaimed: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). Clearly, there is no other way to the True and only God, but by God the Son, Jesus Christ—Who He is and what He has done—as declared and identified in the only Gospel of Almighty God. Consequently, there are not many paths to God, for not all paths lead to God, but one. To flippantly declare that all disparate religions are a path to God is a denial of the True God and the only Way of Truth, for no man-made religion teaches the True God because they are all led by the spirit of error, and subsequently promote false gospels which contain everything that opposes that which reveals the True God: His Truth (see Isa. 43:10,11). The Scriptures do not say that merely knowing the name ‘Jesus’ is the right path to God, but rather knowing the Man behind the name: His Person and His Work. God declares: “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me…” (Jer. 9:24 cf. 1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17).
Knowing and believing Who Jesus is, what He has done and for whom He has done it with the Faith God gives His people by Grace alone reveals the truly saved man, who, in believing the truth about Jesus recognizes and promptly rejects all lies about Him which only reveal another jesus, a worthless impostor that cannot save. “Ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He: before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside Me there is no Saviour…I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me” (Isa. 43:10,11; 46:9). If there is only one God and there are none like Him, how can the many false doctrines of religions that are clearly at odds with each other—not to mention the Gospel of God—and only proffer, recognize and give credence to false gods, ever identify the True and only God and lead people only to Him? For instance, how can a religion which denies the Deity of Jesus Christ possibly lead one to the True God? How can incompatible doctrines possibly all be describing and leading one to the same unique God the Creator of Heaven and Earth? How can that which is diametrically opposite to the Gospel of Jesus Christ possibly be leading people to Him? It is just conceptually ridiculous. You simply cannot have irreconcilably different teachings all pointing to the same God. God is very specific: He is God, therefore there can be none other that is God. There is no other Saviour; therefore, no other way to be saved apart from God’s salvation Plan revealed in His only Gospel. Moreover, the fact that there are none like the True God reveals the salient fact that no false teaching can ever possibly be describing the True and only God.
Without truth there can be no True God. With truth there can only be one True God. The truth does not describe and define several gods, but only the True God: the One Who alone is God. Without God there can be no absolute truth. “To affirm the existence of truth is to presuppose the existence of God and the truth of what the Bible teaches about God, the world and humanity. On the other hand, to deny truth is to deny the possibility of saying anything is ‘true’. This also precludes anyone from saying that it is true that God does not exist. If there is no truth, then the fundamental proposition of atheism, ‘God does not exist,’ cannot be true…Absolute truth is just truth that is true universally and unchangingly…So then, truth exists, and absolute truth exists absolutely. There is no way around this.” Whatever conflicts with God’s truth, is clearly satanic. To those who would label the above statement as ‘too simplistic and dismissive’, I ask: what else would you call something that directly opposes the Word of God, and therefore God Himself? When it comes to God’s Word, anything that conflicts with it is not simply error, but anti-God (see Gal. 1:8,9). Doctrine is the undeniable forensic evidence that proves—absolutely and conclusively—not only whom a person believes in, but also whom they could not possibly be believing in. No one in their right mind would ever think that believing the true Gospel equates to believing in a false god; how, then, does biblical logic support the concept that believing a false gospel—comprised of, characterized and identified by demonstrably false doctrines—can ever be rationally interpreted as believing in the True God? Erroneous doctrine does not teach the True and only God but always an impostor.
In today’s day and age where knowledge abounds, and yet wisdom is at its most scarce, truth has been whittled down to something which is relative to the opinions of fallible men. In his deluded mind, modern man sees truth as something that grovels at his feet seeking validation. “If there is no such thing as truth, only what is truth for me, well, if there is no such thing as truth, there’s no such thing as lies, so lies can be accepted. Everything is personal, and feelings trump facts.” Truth is no longer seen as objective reality—except when it suits one’s purpose—but that which is dependent upon and seeks approval from, the subjective ruling of each individual. Truth is no longer what God says it is, but only what each person believes it to be. Likewise, God is not who He says He is, but only who each person believes Him to be. The True God is no longer identified by the ‘antiquated notion’ of truth, but only by the misinformed opinions of what men believe the truth to be. The ‘idea of God’ is now something which is confined within the personalized realm of man’s subjective imagination. God is now defined by who and what each individual believes Him to be, and not by Who and what God says of Himself. When you eliminate truth as the only correct solution to an equation, all that remains—the only option left to choose from—is a potpourri of error. “Without a foundation of truth, only falsehood remains.” However, since the true and only God is the God of Truth, it goes beyond the realm of rational thinking to disbelieve the fact that only the Truth can define Him. “Disbelief in the exclusive defining power of Truth regarding God is irrational, given God's nature as the God of Truth.” God is “…the God of Truth…” (Isa. 65:16); The Spirit of God is “…the Spirit of Truth…” (Jn. 16:13 cf. 1 Jn. 5:6); and Jesus Christ says of Himself “…I am…the Truth…” (Jn. 14:6), and to the Father, Christ says: “…Thy Word is Truth” (Jn. 17:17). This is the ultimate truth that man by nature cannot handle. If there is no absolute truth, then there can be no God of truth, no Spirit of truth and Jesus Christ is not the truth. When you deny these incontrovertible facts, ‘All religions are a path to God’ makes perfect sense. Facts are for those who invite truth to disturb their comfort zone. “Comfort zones are a barrier to reality.” Reality dictates that truth is not a matter of perspective, nor is its validity and veracity subject to views and opinions of what it might be. When it comes to the Word of God, it most assuredly is not subject to the views and opinions of unenlightened men who have no idea what it actually is, nor do they possess the slightest inclination of submitting themselves to its auspices.
To do away with absolute truth is to also dispel the notion of error. And so all we are left with is man’s untouchable opinions which many refer to as not right and not wrong, ‘It’s just my opinion’. Apparently, opinion transcends any structural need for truth and error. Such thinking opens the door to a variety of religions and ideologies such as: Buddhism, postmodernism, relativism, Taoism, Scepticism, and Gnosticism. The fact that there is only one God shows that only the truth—and nothing which conflicts with it in the slightest degree—can reveal Him. What each individual believes the truth to be has now become more accepted and esteemed than what the truth actually is. People pay more attention to the person who says, ‘This is what I believe the truth could be’ than the man who says: ‘This is what the truth is,'' and has the evidence to support his claim. People seem to give more credence and pay more attention to ever-changing opinions, new ideas and concepts rather than solid, unchangeable, verifiable Scriptural facts about God. It is a sad state of affairs when the subjective has overtaken what is objective. “Subjectivity is what relies on personal perception regardless of what is proven or objective. Subjectivity leads to inherent flaws such as logic gaps, personal biases, and perspective limits. Thus, it is intrinsically incompatible with an objective conclusion (largely because objectivity requires proof that a thesis and all its components can withstand rigorous and multi-pronged testing).” The absurdity of subjectivity when it comes to the matter of truth—particularly regarding Who God is and what He is like—is exposed when one attempts to adapt this line of thinking to mathematics or the universal laws of physics. Despite this, many insist there is no absolute truth, but only what a person believes the truth to be. This flawed resolution is founded upon the nonsensical logic that asks, ‘How can the beliefs of so many nice and sincere people, let alone whole cultural traditions all be wrong?’ as if nice, sincere people, including entire cultures, cannot simultaneously be wrong. Thus, the conclusion drawn is that there cannot be one God or, therefore, one truth; hence, the belief in many gods and what is personally true to you.
The most basic, fundamental problem with all this is that lost man invariably returns to what men say God is saying—and not to what God is actually saying. Left to his own devices, lost man is trapped within the sound of his own voice, confined to his own private echo chamber, a wilful prisoner of doubt and speculation, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7 cf. Lk. 6:39). For these people there is no absolute truth except for the irrational and preposterous declaration that there is no absolute truth. They carelessly use an absolute to prove there is no such thing as absoluteness! Simply because there are two people who have opposing beliefs concerning what the truth is does not rule out the possibility of there being absolute truth. Opinions do not change nor nullify fact. “The existence of conflicting beliefs never negates the possibility of an objective truth.” Instead, it just means that either one of these people knows the truth and the other does not, or they are both ignorant of what the truth is. The only impossibility is that they cannot both be right. When it comes right down to it, no one really believes there is no truth. Otherwise, no one would bother believing anything, much less with deep and unwavering certainty. “Those who might intellectually argue against absolute truth operate as if some things are true. Even if someone intellectually entertains the idea of no objective truth, their actions and the way they hold beliefs often betray an underlying assumption that some things are indeed true. Why argue so vehemently for a position if you don't believe it to be, in some sense, true? Why make decisions based on certain expectations if you don't believe those expectations have a basis in reality?” No one can present an argument against anything without basing it upon some absolute they are convinced is true. If it were possible for a man to believe nothing, he would only believe it because he believed it to be the truth. Believing there is no truth is merely a convenient, and now well-established, axiom that ‘frees’ a person from consequences and excuses one’s errors, illogicity and falsities. This “foundational axiom of a flawed ideology” is accepted without controversy or question. In other words, you no longer have to be right to be right; you just need to have a belief. Without realising it, proponents of such illogicity are placing anything and everything on a level playing field, since their claim that there is no absolute truth paves the way for everything being truth. “If there is no objective truth, all beliefs are stripped of their ‘fact-check’ requirement. This makes every opinion equal in authority. This result is: no single belief can be dismissed as ‘false’ (since falsehood requires a standard of truth), every belief must be accepted as ‘true’ for the person holding it. Everything being ‘truth’ is the inevitable consequence of removing the distinction between subjective opinion and objective fact. Placing anything and everything on a level playing field, effectively democratizing reality so that if nothing is absolute, then every individual claim must be granted the status of truth. Such is the landscape where, since there is no absolute truth to act as a filter, everything by default is elevated to the status of truth. The ‘level playing field’ isn't just a social mistake, but a deliberate strategy to make truth seem unattainable or exhausting."
Truth is not subject to a democratic vote concerning what it is, for truth is a single entity which relies on nothing but itself. It is independent, therefore, totally immune to man’s opinions of what it is, for it is not subject to change. The same is true about God: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8); “For I am the LORD, I change not…” (Mal. 3:6). “The logic follows that if God is the source of Truth, and God cannot change, then Truth itself cannot be altered by human consensus. The ‘no truth’ axiom provides a perceived liberation from accountability. If there's no objective truth, then: Consequences become less absolute or binding. Errors can be dismissed as merely different perspectives. Illogicity loses its objective standard for being flawed. Falsities become harder to definitively label as wrong.” To the minds of those who do not know the truth, or refuse to believe in objective truth, the truth is always controversial and, therefore, debatable. When truth is reduced to that which is debatable then there can be no absolute truth, only that which each individual is convinced of. “The act of defining truth as something inherently open to debate undermines the very concept of an objective, absolute truth. If truth is inherently debatable, it cannot be something fixed, universal, and independent of individual perspectives—which are the hallmarks of absolute truth. When absolute truth is discarded a subjective form of ‘truth’ arises that is solely determined by individual belief and conviction, regardless of any external standard or objective reality. If something is always up for debate, always subject to differing interpretations, it inherently lacks the fixed and unchanging quality associated with absoluteness. Defining truth as inherently debatable leads to a form of radical subjectivism, where individual conviction becomes the sole arbiter of what is ‘true’ for that person. This contrasts sharply with the concept of an absolute truth that exists independently of individual beliefs.”
Only those who do not know the truth continue to wonder, debate and argue over what it might be, foolishly entertaining the possibility that even long-considered falsities could be true. Man has, in essence, officially asserted himself above truth. Consequently, man has displaced God as the arbiter of truth. Man has placed himself above truth to the lofty position of overlord of truth. And, because of the disparity between what is believed to be truth and what is not, the truth has now been reduced to whatever you believe it to be rather than what you need to believe. Lies and falsities are no longer ridiculed, but gain legitimacy by being seriously considered while allotting truth to that which is something always susceptible to argument and opinion. Opinion is that which has now gained the label of absoluteness. This effectively reduces truth to whatever you believe it to be. “When argument and opinion are the primary determinants of truth, then reason, logic, and evidence become less influential. In such an environment, falsehoods gain traction by being presented persuasively or aligning with certain opinions, without facing rigorous scrutiny based on objective truth.” What one person believes the truth to be is just as valid as what the next person believes it to be. With regards to truth and error, how can an absolute truth—as opposed to a perceived truth—be wrong and an error be correct, and how can a combination of absolute truth and absolute error possibly become a truth. How can an absolute truth, when polluted by error, remain true? How can adding truth to error possibly make the error 100% true? Attempting to combine error with truth always results in an increase of error. “A single drop of poison in a glass of pure water makes the entire glass poisoned water, not mostly pure water. If you combine something that is universally and always true with something that is universally and always false, the resulting combination will inherently contain the falsehood. The presence of absolute error contaminates the absolute truth, preventing the combination from being absolutely true.” Eliminate truth and all that remains is conjecture and speculation and only that which each individual believes the truth to be instead of what it actually is. The result is people the world over jumping at shadows rather than being moved by the real thing; “it is a world lost in conjecture.”
Relativistic thinking does away with the necessity—indeed, the essentiality—of truth and replaces it with the individual’s empty, speculative theory or opinion of what it might be. Just like the madness that has enveloped school sports, where there are no winners and no losers, but each person receives a participation award, likewise, there is no objective truth—only what each individual subjectively believes it to be. Ironically, the subjective has now become the objective. “By claiming there is no objective truth, the relativist makes their own subjective view an objective rule that everyone else must follow.” In other words, you are correct whatever you believe; you will receive an award whether you win or lose and all religions are a path to the same God. The truth has always been an offense to those who do not believe it. Truth has now come under the tyrannical auspices of subjective opinion, and is no longer something which is free, objective, verifiable and undeniable fact. Like the toddler who refuses to entertain the fact that daddy simply cannot afford to buy the particular toy which the child has set his heart on, those who refuse the truth want only what they want to be truth and nothing less. Man has become so ‘wise’ and his heart so deceptive that he now denies the undeniable and affirms the impossible. He wants nothing less than to literally rewrite truth. “Desire has completely overtaken reason.” Often, should you attempt to explain the truth and why it is truth by providing concrete facts, you are rejected simply because the person you are talking to does not believe what you are saying is the truth. They hear, but they do not/will not listen. Their minds are sealed. They are right no matter what they believe, and you are wrong no matter what you say.
Doesn’t this all match perfectly with all the woke madness that has enveloped the world, where black is white and white is black, evil is good and good is evil, where minorities rule the majority and truth has been subjugated and overruled by opinion? It seems man has a problem with real objective truth because he cannot do anything about it. He has no power or control over it. Man’s sinful pride finds the truth objectionable and repugnant preferring his own perverted view of it no matter how ridiculous it is. It would appear that man has a more natural attraction toward the ambiguous than the unambiguous. Ambiguity always leaves room for personal opinion, and thus a sense of control over what is and is not truth. The depth of man’s sinfulness reveals a nature that prefers one’s own version of truth, and one’s own preferred self-constructed version of God, rather than the God of truth. One’s preferred version of truth is subject to one’s own will and no one else’s. “In a hypothetical world (of your own construction), you are always right.” Hence, the mindset is, as long as one has a heartfelt and genuine ‘faith’ then no matter what a person believes about whomever they believe God is, what He is like and what He has done, etc., that is all the ‘truth’ a person needs, after all, all religions lead to the same God. Thus, truth and error are immaterial as both produce the same result. “The actual content of a belief (whether true or false) becomes irrelevant because the ‘result’ (personal satisfaction or social acceptance) is the only goal.”
In this increasingly illogical world of irrational thinking, many people truly believe what matters most is not the belief itself—whether it is true or not—but the sincerity behind it that is of fundamental importance. It is humanism taken to the extreme. After all, what more can one do than be genuine and sincere in their convictions? The world has shifted from “…an objective standard of truth to a subjective standard of authenticity. In this view, a person’s goodness is tied to the passion and sincerity with which they hold their views, regardless of whether those views are grounded in reality. This approach makes it impossible to criticize a belief based on facts, as any challenge to the belief is perceived as an attack on the believer's sincere identity. It creates a hypothetical world where one can never be wrong, as long as one is truly convinced.” The issue is no longer whether or not what you believe is the truth, but how sincerely you believe what you hold to be true, and how truly authentic your faith is. Mankind has become so detached from and disinterested in actual, objective and absolute truth, the only thing that matters now is having a genuine and personally acceptable sincerity in what they believe. Life is too busy to make the time to learn what the truth about God and salvation is, so people are content in believing only that which they consider is expedient for them to believe. Believe it or not, truth is no longer something which has to be factual in this upturned world. “The definition of truth itself is being redefined in a way that detaches it from objective reality and verifiable facts.” Truth is so frowned upon by some, it is now considered a right-wing concept by left-wing radicals in the United States. Whatever a person believes becomes truth to them and woe be unto anyone who says they are wrong. Sincerity is not only rivalling truth in the minds of an increasing number of people, sincerity is in fact now basically all that matters particularly if you are a ‘good’ person. The prevailing attitude is ‘What does what I believe have to do with you?’ Lies are told to us every day notably by the media—be it mainstream or social—so most people just pick and choose what they want to believe and discard the rest. This is now the standard used in discerning truth. ‘If I accept it as true, then it is; and if I reject something as untrue, then it isn’t. Throughout the centuries Satan has tried to suppress the truth. He has spent time and effort in destroying Bibles. Upon seeing the futility of such an endeavour he adopted the attitude, ‘If you can’t beat them join them’. The world is now inundated with Bible versions, and overall, with more information than can possibly be deciphered, let alone remembered. Consequently wisdom has now been confused with the amount of knowledge one has and the ability to remember it. The result is, because there are so many opinions concerning just about everything, many people have become disengaged, consequently just switching off and choosing to focus their attention on the fun and many distractions which the world offers, rather than on true, verifiable facts they need to believe. The satanic goal is “…information overload leading to apathy towards truth.” His main tactic is confusion: to disparage the truth turning it into the enemy, and to elevate his old lies into new truth. “Information overload is a psychological phenomenon often called ‘Sensory or Cognitive Overload.’ When a mind is flooded with conflicting data, it eventually stops trying to discern what is true and instead settles for what is convenient or comfortable.”
Humanity today is so puffed up with knowledge and the conviction of being right, that it sees itself as no less than the sole arbiter of what truth is and what it is not. As if a ‘good’ sincere and well-intentioned person cannot be wrong. As if the consensus of a civilized ‘informed’ society could ever have anything wrong. This self-righteous arrogance often leads to the misbelief that our intentions and ‘indisputable innate goodness’ form a shield protecting us from error and blinding us to the possibility that what we are believing is wrong. Scripture points out the salient fact: “…fear the LORD, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth…” (Josh. 24:14). “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:24). God must be worshipped in the only way that is “suitable to His Nature, agreeable to His will” and in accordance with His Word. The Gospel of God must be believed “according to the Scriptures” (see 1 Cor. 15:3,4). God cannot and must not be worshipped according to the ways of paganism, speculation, opinion or any other heretical and man-made means (see Deut. 12:30,31). A sincerity that is not founded and grounded in truth, is no validation of what the truth is, nor is it the dictator of reality, but is merely confirmation of one’s delusional state. There simply cannot be belief in the true and only God without believing the truth concerning Who He is, what He has done and for whom He has done it. How can anyone believe in the true and only God if what they believe about Him is a corruption of the only truth that reveals Him? How can you be rich if all your money is counterfeit? How can you arrive at your destination if you do not follow the proper directions? Still, many argue ‘How can you judge what that person believes as wrong if that person believes it with all their heart and are as good as if not a better person than you!’ Again, humanism taken to the extreme. This is the kind of lunacy embraced by billions today. For many, sincerity in one’s beliefs carries more weight than being accurate in one’s beliefs. To sincerely believe an untruth is to be sincerely wrong. This has nothing to do with a person’s character, but everything to do with “…the objective relationship between the belief and reality as well as the validity of their information.” Apparently, sincerity is all the accuracy one needs. In a world gone mad, or should I say madder, sincerity has conveniently replaced the necessity for accuracy as genuine belief has replaced the essentiality of truth. Man has so plumbed the depths of foolishness that accurate conviction—regardless of the information it is based on—no longer requires the truth. For such ‘thinkers’, sincerity alone is the validation of truth. The Bible says God’s Word is truth (see Jn. 17:17), and that God is the God of Truth (see Isa. 65:16). Man’s response is ‘I will decide what the truth is and who the God of truth is.’ The utter insanity in all this becomes patently obvious when one person’s ‘truth’ conflicts sharply with another person’s ‘truth’. IT CAN’T ALL BE TRUTH! Therefore, sincerity alone is a quite unreliable and untenable way, to say the least, of judging what truth is. ‘It’s true because I believe it’, has replaced the more sober reasoning ‘I believe it because it is truth’. It is reverse thinking that brings with it nothing but confusion. In actual fact, it is satanic thinking, “For God is not the author of confusion…” (1 Cor. 14:33).
‘Whatever the truth is that is what I believe’, doesn't work in any area of life, let alone in the matter of salvation. Realistically, how can anyone’s intentions be toward anything of which they are ignorant? How can anyone possibly believe in something, or believe the truth about someone, if they have not heard what that truth is? This would be like describing someone you’ve never seen, or trying to convince someone that you were bitten by the shadow of a dog. Again, this highlights the complete inadequacy of any individual’s opinion or view as to Who God is and How God saves. Particularly, if one’s view and opinion is based upon misinformation or straight out lies. Hence, “...if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). If someone proceeds to inform me of their gospel which is not God’s Gospel how can I walk away thinking they have the true God? They have a false gospel but the true God? How can that possibly be when it is the gospel they believe which defines the one they believe in? One must hear the truth to know the truth to believe the truth. Elsewhere, the apostle Paul asks how shall any hear if they are not told: “...how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14). The apostle then reveals what is to be told, what is to be heard and what is to be believed: “...the Gospel of peace...” (see Rom. 10:14,15). “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel....So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:16,17). Proving absolutely that saving Faith only comes after hearing the Word/Gospel of God and never prior to hearing it, for the gift of Faith is sent to believe only His Gospel. The gift of Faith does not merely provide a person with the intention of believing the true God, as He is revealed in His Gospel, it is the means by which every child of God DOES believe it. Intention, alone, is only a desire which in principle wants “whatever the truth is’, but in fact has no way of knowing what it is and therefore cannot believe it. In what possible way does wholeheartedly believing something while simultaneously intending to believe the truth make any logical sense? People believe what they believe because they believe it to be truth. THAT is their intention and it is fully fulfilled and approved by their believing. “Many people argue that as long as their intent is to follow the truth, their specific beliefs don’t matter. If you don't know what the truth is, your ‘intention’ is just a hollow wish. Once a person chooses a belief, they convince themselves they have already found the truth. Therefore, their ‘intention’ to find truth is satisfied by their own opinion, creating a self-validating cycle that is immune to correction.” Without the gift of saving Faith all intention is useless, for, intention, without saving knowledge, has no ability to distinguish truth from error. Intention, alone, can only ever believe what it believes the truth to be. “Intention is a mirror, not a window. A window allows you to see the ‘self-contained entity’ of truth outside yourself. A mirror (intention alone) only shows you your own expectations and desires reflected back at you. If a person lacks an external, absolute standard their ‘intention to believe the truth’ will always settle on whatever they have already decided is true. They are not chasing truth; they are chasing the feeling of being right.” Such is the condition of all those currently in a lost state.
Many sincere people, even those who profess to be Christian that belong to denominations whose beliefs are at variance, believe there is nothing wrong with believing one thing about ‘God’ while what others believe, who also lay claim to being Christians, totally conflicts with it. My question is how can two people who believe diametrically opposing doctrines—which, in reality, cancel each other out—possibly be believing in the same God? So many place hope in the fact their intention was to believe in the true God, but this ‘intention’ is completely valueless in light of the erroneous doctrines they actually believe. They believe who they believe in is God, this, coupled with their intention to believe the truth, results in their conclusion that the one they believe in is the true God. Their intention is to believe in the god they believe to be the true God and nothing else. “Since they believe the one they believe in to be the true God, their intention is satisfied. The person is worshipping thewir own definition, not the self-contained truth. This exposes the mechanism of intellectual idolatry. By making ‘intention’ the standard of success, the individual creates a god in their own image—a god defined by their own erroneous doctrines—and then uses their sincerity to satisfy the requirement of faith.” What good does the intention to believe the truth concerning the answer to 2 + 2 do, when what you believe that answer to be is 5? “The intention does no practical good concerning the result. The intention to believe the truth about 2 + 2 is meaningless if the belief itself is incorrect. Believing the answer is 5 fundamentally contradicts the truth, rendering good intentions completely ineffective. The value of belief lies not in the desire to be right, but in the accuracy of the belief itself. A sincere intention to believe the truth does not automatically lead to holding a true belief. The intention itself has no power to change reality or correct a false belief. In the same way, wishing for a car to run doesn’t start the engine if you’re out of gas. The truth remains independent of your intention to believe it.” How can you intend to believe the truth—and claim refuge in that intention—when what you actually believe contradicts that intention and is nothing but a lie? “The desire to believe the truth is passive; it requires no effort. Actual belief, however, requires the active, often uncomfortable, process of seeking evidence, questioning assumptions, and checking logic. The phrase ‘my intention was to believe the truth,’ uses a virtuous wish to evade accountability for the resulting, incorrect belief.” Their only intention was to believe in the god they believed was the true God. How can anyone say their intention was to believe the truth when they don’t know what the truth is that they ‘intended’ to believe? Furthermore, how can anyone who believes error say their intention was to believe the truth that they did not believe was the truth? The consequences of not believing the truth are self-evident. “Claim of intent cannot override factual ignorance or active contradiction.”
How can anyone intend to visit the residence of a person they do not know—a person whose name and address they are both unaware of? The best they can do is decide on a house and hope that is the house which the person they are trying to locate lives. Ridiculous. In this scenario, the idea of ‘intention’ is beyond a joke; it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Attempting to support, or excuse, ignorance with intention is an exercise in utter futility. If you do not know the person, neither their name nor their address you will never arrive at their house UNLESS THE PERSON THEMSELVES REVEALS THE RELEVANT INFORMATION TO YOU! “Good intentions cannot justify or remedy a lack of knowledge. Trying to use a good motive (‘intention’) as a shield or substitute for a lack of knowledge (‘ignorance’) is pointless.” Now, people say their intention is to believe in the True and only God. Through their own admission, many say that though they may believe erroneously concerning God and His Gospel, their intention has always been to believe in the True God. In theory, intending to believe the true God may sound feasible; however, in practice, the reality is that there cannot be any genuine intention to actually believe in the true God—as defined and identified by Divine doctrine—when those doctrines are either not known or rejected in favour of the false doctrines one has embraced and the false god they have led you to. To say, 'My intention was to believe in the true God,' is to acknowledge the fact that one did not believe in the true God. ‘My intention was to believe the truth’ may sound acceptable enough to some, but what people fail to realise is that one’s intention to believe the truth is limited, capped by, and only as good as, what they actually believed the truth to be. “Intention to believe the truth is not a self-fulfilling prophecy. It doesn't magically steer you toward the correct answer. A heartfelt intention to believe the truth, when coupled with a false belief, produces a false result. In any practical domain—from building a bridge to administering medicine—the negative consequences of the false belief are identical to the consequences of a belief held with malicious or careless intent. For a belief to be useful or knowledgeable, the focus must shift from the internal emotional state (intention) to the external standard of validity (is it factually true?). Intention only matters if the belief itself is sound.”
It is of no beneficial value for anyone to have intended to have done something if they ultimately did not do it. Who exactly are these people who put so much stock in their intentions, who try to cover all bases by seemingly depending more upon what they intended to do or believe, rather than on what they actually have done or believed? Are they the ones who have never heard the Gospel of the True God, and, therefore, do not know, or believe in Him? If so, the question must be asked: “How can anyone intend to believe in whom they do not know—in whom they have never heard?” (see Rom. 10:14). How can you intend anything about a person you have never met and know nothing about? How can anyone set about to draw a detailed and accurate picture of someone whom they have never seen, of whom they have never even heard the faintest of descriptions? And, how can anyone’s intention to draw an accurate picture of someone they have never seen or heard of be labelled as anything more than sheer fantasy? Or are these ‘well-intentioned’ ones among those who have heard the Gospel of God and yet rejected it as the True God’s only Gospel? My question is this: How can such people, after hearing the true Gospel which tells of the True God, reject both it and Him, and then expect to convince the Lord Himself on Judgement Day that their intention all along was to believe in Him, the True God Whom for all their lives they had flat-out rejected as God? It would be like saying to God, ‘I know I did not believe in You, but regardless of my unbelief, would You save me based on my intentions anyway?’ Good luck with that.
Believing error—which can only be part of a false gospel that, in turn, can only ever define a false god—and then trying to exonerate oneself by claiming your intention all along was to believe the truth, cannot ever do away with the fact that what you did believe was wrong. Thinking, believing and being convinced that one has the true God is of absolutely no benefit when what is believed is not what the true God says of Himself. No one with the intention to believe what they do not know, actually believes it until they do. To intend to believe is NOT believing! Moreover, intention to believe the Truth is an actual admission of unbelief and disobedience, toward it. No one believes in what they have rejected, or in what they are ignorant of. When I believed wrongly about God, when I actually accepted a false god—evidenced by my believing a false gospel—I believed I was believing in the true God. My intention was fulfilled only in the sense that what I believed, I believed to be the truth about the true God. However, intention achieves nothing when what is actually believed is wrong. “Correct belief requires knowledge and acceptance of the truth, not merely a hopeful intention.” Just as error can never do away with fact, so too, intention can never cancel out the act. A person’s intention not to slap you cannot eliminate the fact that they did slap you. Such a person does not deserve a trophy for intending not to strike you, but only punishment for the fact that they did strike you. Intention, when it comes to believing the Truth, makes for a very poor counterbalance or substitute and is a false refuge for those who try to offset the act of having believed error. Intention can never outweigh reality. If your goal was always to believe in the True God, it is obviously not a realized goal if who you actually believed was a false god. Any way you look at it, intending to believe the Truth but actually believing in error equals failure to believe the Truth. To truly intend to believe the True God is to Who He is and be heading toward Him, not away from Him. Without saving Grace one cannot even be inclined to believe in the true Gospel of God, let alone have the intention of believing it. One’s intention to believe in the True and only God is rendered meaningless, null and void, made of no effect if one believes in any false doctrines about Him, for doctrines define and identify the one in whom you do believe. People believe what they believe because they believe it to be the truth. If your intention is to believe the truth, then what you believe is believed precisely because you believe it to be the truth. The issue of intention is thus fulfilled; it is encapsulated in what you actually believe.
People who lean upon intention as some sort of aid will discover on Judgement Day the utter uselessness of something that cannot offer any support at all. “Intention is superfluous because it is already built into the act of belief. When you believe something, you necessarily believe it because you perceive it to be true. Therefore, ‘intending’ to believe the truth adds nothing to the actual state of your belief; if your belief is factually wrong, the ‘good intention’ cannot transform that error into truth or shield you from the reality of being wrong. To believe X is to believe that ‘X is true.’ You cannot believe X while simultaneously ‘intending’ to believe its opposite. If you already believe the truth, the intention to do so is unnecessary. If you believe a lie, the intention to believe the truth is failed. In neither case does the ‘intention’ change the objective status of the belief. Intention is a psychological shadow that follows belief but has no power to validate it. One is judged by the content of their belief (the ‘what’), not the sincerity of their desire to be right (the ‘why’).” What a person intends to believe can never supersede what a person actually believes, for what a person actually believes is what they intentionally believe. You cannot simultaneously hold two separate intentions: to believe what you actually believe the truth to be, and to believe what the truth actually is. What a person believes is always what they intended to believe. You cannot separate intention from desire, for desire reveals intention. Intention, in turn, reveals conviction and motivation. One intends to believe something because one is convinced it is truth, thereby revealing the motivation behind that belief. A person believes something because they believe it to be truth. One's intentions, motivations, desires and convictions are all a part of what a person actually believes and why they believe it. When faced with a decision between the true and a fake one cannot choose one and say, ‘But if that's the fake then I also choose the other for my intention is to choose the true.' The intention behind what you believe outweighs the intention of not believing it if it is not truth. It’s what you act on that counts. “A sincere intention to avoid error is abstract and has no real-world consequences on its own. The belief you adopt (even if factually wrong but sincerely held) is what dictates your actions, decisions, and consequences. Therefore, the intention tied to the adopted belief is paramount because it is the engine of action. A person who sincerely believes a falsehood and acts on it will experience a negative result, and that result will be determined by their actual belief and action, not their passive desire to have avoided the error. In the end, the impact of a belief is measured not by how sincerely one intended to find the truth, but by the physical or practical steps taken based on the belief one actually adopted.” When it comes to God, one can only intend to believe in the image one has of Him in one’s mind. That image is either formed by false doctrine or by the doctrines of the true Gospel. Now, no one knowingly believes in a false god, but if you do not believe in the only Gospel of the True God, all you have left is a false god, no matter your intentions. Those who do not have time for doctrine say, ‘Well, whoever the True God is, that is the God I believe in’. They also say, ‘It’s the God of the Bible Whom I believe in, so no error in my beliefs can change that.’ That may sound all well and good to some, but to believe in the God of the Bible, one must actually believe what the Bible says about Him—Who He is and what He has done. How can one rightly believe what is written if one does not correctly interpret what is said? Listen to the language of God concerning belief and disbelief of what He has said in His Word: “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).
When those who err, due to their not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God (see Matt. 22:29), begin to define what they believe about God—Who He is and what He has done, etc.—it becomes quite apparent to the true Gospel believer that their definition of Him is not what the Scriptures say, thereby, revealing what they believe as wrong and the one they believe in as not the God of the Bible. Their claim to believe in the God of the Bible is denied by what they actually believe about Him: Who they say He is and what they claim He has done. If it’s not the Record God has given that they believe, then it is not the true God they believe in. If it is not the specific doctrines of the Record God has given of His Son that one believes, then it cannot possibly be the Lord Jesus—AS GOD HAS DESCRIBED HIM IN HIS RECORD—in whom they believe. How could it not be so, when their erroneous beliefs deny what God says of His Son, thereby calling the true God a liar? From the Mormon to the seventh-Day Adventist, from the JW to the Roman Catholic everyone says they believe in the God of the Bible—but Who is He? What do they actually believe about Him, etc.? A person’s intentions to believe in the God of the Bible are nullified by the false doctrines they hold concerning Him. To believe not God’s Record is to call Him a liar. The Jews intended to believe in the True God, but their zeal for Him was “...not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2), but was rooted in ignorance. These people were clearly not saved, for we read in the preceding verse that Paul actually prayed for their salvation. Intention must be coupled with the knowledge of the Truth of God, and about God, for without that knowledge there is no salvation. Error changes everything. Believe correctly, and you show evidence that you have the gift of Faith in you given by God. Believe erroneously, and you show no evidence at all that you have that Faith which comes from God, without which salvation is impossible. YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE GOD OF THE GOSPEL TO BELIEVE IN THE GOD OF THE BIBLE. Many who rely, unknowingly, on the lies about God contained in false gospels, also place their eternal security in their intentions to believe the true though they do not know it. Such people live in a fool’s paradise, for it is precisely what you believe that is the discriminating element which reveals the one you believe in. You cannot believe in one and theoretically in another as long as that other is truth. It is not enough to say, ‘Whatever the Truth is, whatever the true Gospel of God is and Whoever the true God is, that is what and who I believe’. “Belief is defined by its current object, not its desired goal. You cannot claim to believe in the truth ‘in theory’ while your ‘actual’ belief is rooted in error. To believe in a false gospel is to believe in a false god; a vague intention to be ‘right with the truth’ does not bridge the gap between a false confession and the true Record. In short: Identity is found in the doctrine held, not the sincerity of the seeker.” Believing the truth is compulsory to salvation. Without believing—without the gift of Faith given by Grace from above to believe God's Truth—a man cannot be saved. To be a Christian is to believe the true God of the true Gospel.
Salvation is purely a work of Grace. The gift of salvation is a work of God and not something which comes from within man. To believe in the True God is to have the true God reveal Himself to you. Any belief in error about God is proof the True God has not revealed Himself to you. “…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 cf. Matt. 16:17). The Father knows who the Son is; the Son knows who the Father is and so does the one He has been revealed to! Intention to believe the truth is something that belongs in the realm of a man's works. Intention to believe the truth comes from a man’s own faith. Actually believing the Truth of God, however, is something that can only come through the gift of Faith by the Grace of God. Believing the truth is literally a work of God. “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent” (Jn. 6:29). To rightly know is an act of revelation from God by Grace and is believed in through the gift of Faith. One cannot savingly believe the Gospel without the gift of Faith, which comes from God. The essentiality of, and need for, God-given Faith reveals that intention to believe in the True God is simply never good enough. Intention to believe that which is not known is something totally foreign to the Faith which comes from God. If you are locked in a dark room with no windows or any way for any light to penetrate, intending to see the light is superfluous. The Truth which God reveals to His people is understood, and believed in with the gift of Faith. True Christians are believers not merely intenders. TRUTH IS NOT MERELY A CONTENDER VYING FOR THE AFFECTIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN, BUT IS THE CHAMPION OF THEIR LIVES. The gift of Faith does not merely lead the elect to intend to believe the Truth, but is given to ensure that they know, understand and forever trust in the true Gospel of the true God. When light floods the room, you cannot help but see it. Intention can never make you see the Light; it is only when the Light is revealed to you, and you are given eyes to see it, that you see it. Therefore, ‘intending’ to believe the truth is not only an admission of not believing it, but also confirmation of not having the gift of Faith from God to believe it, nor the Grace that saves. Intention is the poor man's reality and a lost man’s empty hope. “All intention is vain because it cannot bridge the chasm between a false belief and the objective truth; one is not saved by the sincerity of their search, but by the specific content of the Truth revealed…if a person is in the dark, ‘intending’ to see does not create light. Therefore, the intention is vain (empty/useless) because it lacks the power to change the reality of the person’s condition…Judgment Day will not be an assessment of ‘how hard someone tried to be right,’ but whether they actually believed the Record God gave of His Son. This brings the focus back to the necessity of revelation rather than human willpower. Intention is redundant: You already believe what you think is true. Intention is impotent: It cannot turn a false god into the true God. ntention is deceptive: It provides a false sense of security while one remains in the ‘dark room’ of error.”
You may say your intention is to believe in the True God; you may also say you believe in the God of the Bible, but if what you believe does not identify, if it does not describe, the True God, then you simply do not have the True God of the Scriptures. You can’t possibly be believing in the true God, for you do not believe what He has said in His Holy Word. IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE HIS RECORD YOU ARE BELIEVING SOMEONE ELSE’S RECORD OF WHO GOD IS, WHAT HE HAS DONE AND FOR WHOM HE HAS DONE IT. All you have is a worthless intention because it has no cohesive Scriptural substance. Whatever a man believes, he believes it not accidentally but, because his intention is to believe it. Intention is fully realised in what a person believes. Intention is a one-sided coin. You cannot have an intention to believe one thing whilst simultaneously intending to believe another. “…belief is generally viewed as an ‘all-or-nothing’ state regarding a specific proposition. You cannot sincerely aim your heart or mind toward two contradictory ‘truths’ at the exact same moment without one of them being a falsehood or a hesitation. If you ‘intend’ to believe X, but also ‘intend’ to believe Y (where Y is the opposite of X), the two intentions cancel each other out, resulting in zero actual intention…if an intention is split or lacks a single scriptural foundation, it is not a ‘realized’ intention at all—it is effectively nothing.” The intention that actually gives birth to conviction is what you will be judged by. You cannot be going west if you are travelling in an easterly direction. A man’s ‘intention’ may be to believe the truth, but if what he actually believes is not the truth, then I am afraid he has no avenue of appeal. How can you have an intention to believe what you do not know? Moreover, how can you have an intention to believe what you do not believe because it runs counter to what you actually believe? “You cannot aim at an unknown object.” Moreover, you WILL NOT aim at an object you do not believe is the target. “If a man holds a false belief, that belief occupies the space where the truth should be. His ‘intention’ to believe the truth is blocked by the ‘substance’ of his current error.” What makes error so consequently significant is the fact that “Error is not merely the absence of truth, but a substance that physically (or metaphorically) occupies the space truth requires.” To believe is to have, and if you do not believe the truth, then you simply do not have it. If you do not abide in the Doctrines of Christ, then you have neither the Father nor the Son: “…He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (2 Jn. 9). Intention does not factor into this reality, for it is where you abide that matters. You cannot define the True God by believing lies about Him, nor by your intentions. “Error isn’t just a ‘mistake’, it is a heavy, existing thing that must be removed before anything else can take its place.” Not knowing what you intended to believe reveals an ignorance of what it is and obviously precludes you from believing it. Intending is not believing, for you cannot believe what you do not know, nor can you believe that which you believe is erroneous. Intending to one day believe that which one already knows simply does not make any sense at all. Error cannot be excused because of intention to believe the truth; otherwise we would have all gotten perfect marks at school. If intention counts for anything then no one needed to have bothered studying to get the answers right as long as they intended to get them right. No one, then, would need to know what the True Gospel of God is, but to only have the intention to believe whatever it is. Intention driven by ignorance of the truth, far from being a friend to man, is one of his worst enemies; for intention is the archnemesis of right knowledge and the friend of ignorance. How can a man rightly believe without accurate knowledge, and how can a man believe the revealed Truth of God without the gift of Faith?
You cannot define the True God by false doctrines, nor can you describe that which you do not know by that which you are ignorant of. THEREFORE, ONLY WHAT YOU BELIEVE CAN DEFINE WHO YOU BELIEVE IN. Your intentions can only come to light by what you believe, and not by something which you do not know or about which you cannot even articulate in your own mind. When preparing to enter a lottery, a person chooses a group of numbers they hope will prove to be the winning combination. When a different set of numbers is drawn, it is of absolutely no use for the man to complain, 'I know my numbers were not the winning ones, but my intention was to choose the winning ones'! The only way he can legitimately claim that his intention was to choose the winning numbers, is if he knew what those winning numbers would be before the draw took place. “This clearly illustrates the logical flaw in relying on intention when faced with the objective reality of error.” It is clear that, despite his intention to win, the man has no genuine claim to the prize, but only a theoretical one consisting of nothing more than wishful thinking—a claim which has no inherent legitimacy except in his own deluded mind. The only way anyone who believes not in the True God can legitimately claim that their intention was to believe in the True God is if they actually knew the True God. Those who say, ‘Whatever the truth is that is what I want to believe’, clearly do not know what the truth is which is why they do not believe it. How can you aim at a target which you cannot see? You couldn’t even aim in its general vicinity. How can you have a foot on two bases at the same time? “Inherent in every intention is the mechanics for its fulfilment...” Therefore, intention cannot exist without actual working parts—without substance. The Latin for intention is, intendo, meaning ‘I aim’. Can a person believe the true Gospel whilst having their trust aimed toward a false gospel? Can it be possible for a person who believes a false gospel to simultaneously aim their trust toward the True Gospel, which at best is something they do not know and at worst have rejected? Intention, in theory, is all well and good, but in practice intention is always either fulfilled or nullified by action or, as the case may be, inaction. Action always involves intention, but intention is not always acted upon. What you do or believe either confirms or invalidates your intention. How can what you do not know, or believe, ever be a part of that which forms your intention? The inescapable fact of the matter, which in the cold light of day is the ultimate downfall of the ignorant, is that their intentions were always to believe only that which they believed to be the truth. They did not actually believe the truth, for they did not know the truth; thus their claim of intending to believe the truth is rendered and revealed as a pointless and nonsensical argument. "...if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost" (2 Cor. 4:3). Lost despite all intentions. The intention to be saved has never saved anyone to whom the Gospel is hid.
How can anyone say the one they believe is the True God whilst, simultaneously, at best, casting doubt upon, and at worst, cancelling out, the god they believe as being the True God by saying if I am wrong then whoever the True God is that is the God I want to believe? How do you know you haven’t already heard of the True God via His true Gospel and rejected Him? How can you say you believe in the True God when the doctrines you believe about Him are not part of His Gospel and therefore do not define the True God? How can anyone intend to believe in the True God if they have rejected His Gospel? How can you want to believe something which you do not believe is the truth? The color-blind person’s intention to put on his blue jumper is of absolutely no help to him at all after he has put on his red jumper. Nor does his intention to wear his blue jumper make whatever jumper he ends up putting on, blue. Intending to believe in the True God without an acknowledgement of His Gospel as His Truth, is like intending to drive to Sydney with no knowledge of the way to get there and thus failing to travel on the only road that leads to it! How can anyone’s intention to travel on the right road to Sydney be of any help to them whilst they blissfully, yet ignorantly, travel down the wrong road believing it to be the right road? Do a person's intentions suddenly, magically, turn the wrong road into the right road? Does their intention to reach Sydney ensure that they will arrive there no matter the road they have chosen? As the saying goes, ‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions’. Therefore, what good are intentions without truth? What good is intention if it is not coupled with a factual knowledge of the truth? As for those who say they have not heard any gospel, I simply refer them to the following Scripture. Paul asks how in the world can any man believe on Him, the True God, if they have not heard of Him: “...how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:14). An obvious and contextual reference to the hearing of the Gospel (see Rom. 10:16,17). Paul shows that it is an utter impossibility for anyone to believe in the True God who has not heard of Him. If you do not know what to believe, how can you believe it? If you do not know what to believe, how can you have any intention of believing it? This clearly demonstrates the utter impossibility of anyone believing in the True God based on their ill-informed opinions of Him. Indeed, how can anyone even intend to believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? “How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed?...” (Rom. 10:14).
No one who knows what the truth is would ever say: ‘Whatever the truth is, that is what I believe.’ ‘Whatever the truth is, that is what I believe’ doesn’t work in any area of life, let alone in the matter of salvation. Realistically, how can anyone’s intentions be pointed toward anything of which they are ignorant? This “…dismantles the ‘blank check approach to truth—the idea that one can claim a virtue (believing the truth) without doing the work of identifying what that truth actually is.” ‘Whatever the truth is, that is what I believe,’ is a logical impossibility. “…intention is a vector—it requires both magnitude (will) and direction (the object). If the object is ‘ignorant’ (unknown), the vector has no direction. It is a stationary point, not a movement of the soul…belief is an active state of conviction. You cannot actively hold a conviction about a blank space…faith cannot be ‘generic.’ One cannot be saved by an unknown truth; one must believe in the substance of the Gospel…truth is specific, not categorical. ‘I love the truth’ is an empty sentiment. ‘I believe this specific scriptural fact’ is a realized intention… No one survives by saying, ‘I intend to take whichever medicine is the cure,’ without actually identifying and swallowing the right one.” How can anyone possibly believe in something, or believe the truth about someone, if they have not heard what that truth is? This would be like describing someone you’ve never seen, or trying to convince someone that you were bitten by the shadow of a dog. “Genuine belief requires knowledge; mere intention (especially ill-informed intention) is a logical absurdity.” This further highlights the complete inadequacy of any individual’s opinion or view as to Who God is and How God saves. Particularly, if one’s view and opinion is based upon misinformation or straight-out lies. Hence, “...if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). If someone proceeds to inform me of their gospel which is not God’s Gospel, how can I walk away thinking they have the True God? They have a false gospel, but the True God? How can that possibly be, when it is the gospel they believe which defines the one they believe in which certainly is not the True God? One must hear the truth to know the truth, to believe the truth. Paul the apostle asks, how shall any hear if they are not told: “...how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14). The apostle then reveals what is to be told, what is to be heard, and what is to be believed: “...the Gospel of peace...” (see Rom. 10:14,15). “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel....So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:16,17). How can you be in possession of the gift of Faith from God if you have not heard, and therefore, do not believe God’s Gospel? This proves absolutely that saving Faith only comes after hearing the Word/Gospel of God and never prior to hearing it, for the gift of Faith is sent to believe only His Gospel. The gift of Faith does not merely provide a person with the intention of believing the True God, as He is revealed in His Gospel; it is the means by which every child of God DOES believe in Him. Intention, alone, is only a desire which in principle wants ‘whatever the truth is’, but in fact has no way of knowing what it is and therefore cannot believe it. So many people claim to want the truth whilst simultaneously rejecting it by what they actually believe. “In logic, this is a breakdown of the Law of Identity. A person claims to be a ‘Truth Seeker’ (Identity A), but their actual beliefs categorize them as a ‘Truth Rejecter’ (Identity B). Because belief is a substance that occupies the mind, the existing false belief physically and logically prevents the ‘intended’ truth from taking root.” Intention without correct knowledge is always restricted by and confined to the acceptance and belief of lies as truth. Without the gift of saving Faith, all intention is useless; for intention, without saving knowledge, has no ability to distinguish truth from error. Intention alone can only ever believe what it believes the truth to be, but never what it actually is. Such is the condition of all those currently in a lost state. “Intention is not a neutral tool, but one that is captive to a person’s spiritual state.”
The True God cannot be identified by lies, and the true believer does not believe in those lies. Just as “…no lie is of the truth” (1 Jn. 2:21), so too, no lie is in the truth. No one who believes a lie believes the truth. The truth never lies. Conflicting doctrines are always mutually exclusive. “This means that two or more doctrines that conflict cannot both be true at the same time; if one is true, the other must be false.” When two people have conflicting beliefs concerning an objective truth (“something that exists independently of opinion or perception”), either one of the two is right in what they believe, or both are wrong. The truth can only be defended by truth just as the True God, the God of truth, can only be revealed by truth. There is only one Gospel which reveals the True and only God, and if you do not believe it you do not believe in Him. A man once told me of two “lovely little old ladies” he knew who were very religious and yet did not believe the Gospel. “You can't tell me they're not saved”, he argued. I replied: Yes I can! I cannot tell you that they will never be saved but I can tell you what the Scriptures say and that is that if they do not believe the Gospel, if they have not heard the Gospel then clearly the Gospel is hidden from them and they are currently in a lost state (see 2 Cor. 4:3). People are not interested in discovering the truth, but instead are more than happy to have their version of it supported and underwritten by their ‘good’ lifestyle. As if being good can ever make the error you believe of no consequence. ‘Big deal, some people believe this while others believe that,’ is the attitude. ‘Who cares. It’s not what you believe but whom you believe’. To say it doesn’t matter what you believe is to say it doesn’t matter who you believe in or pray to. If one belief is as valid as another, and must be equally respected, then what real value does any belief hold when it conflicts with other beliefs, let alone the truth?
The major obstacle that many people have conveniently overlooked in all this subjective approach to truth is the fact that surely what you believe defines and identifies the one you believe in. You cannot escape the consequences of what you believe. “If truth is entirely personal and based solely on individual interpretation, then what we believe becomes more about us than about the external reality or the entity we are directing our belief towards. Our biases, experiences, and desires can colour our understanding to such an extent that the original object of belief becomes obscured or even transformed. In a purely subjective framework, the characteristics and nature of ‘the one you believe in’ are essentially projected by the believer. This means different individuals, holding different subjective beliefs, could be believing in fundamentally different conceptions of the same thing (whether it’s a concept, a person, or even a ‘deity’). If everyone’s ‘truth’ is equally valid and entirely personal, it becomes incredibly difficult to have any meaningful shared understanding or dialogue about the object of belief. There’s no common ground or objective standard to refer to. When our beliefs solely define what we believe in, they create a belief system that primarily serves our own needs and desires, distancing us from an accurate or objective understanding.” There is no getting around this. You cannot define and identify one person or god by the characteristics of another. It’s not generalities, but the details that define and identify the one you believe in. You cannot separate what you believe from the one your beliefs identify. Opinions based on misinformation and disinformation can never align with the truth, neither in content nor in quality. If you don’t have the truth all you do have is a lie. Your sincerity and intention to believe the ‘true God’ cannot help you when the beliefs you hold dear define and identify a false god. WHAT GOOD CAN IT DO A PERSON WHOSE INTENTION IS TO BELIEVE THE ‘TRUE GOD,’ WHEN THE ONE THEY PRAY TO CANNOT SAVE? (see Isa. 45:20). The intention to believe the true God means nothing unless one actually knows Who the True God is. If you do not know who the true God is, then how can your sincerest intention be to believe in Him? “How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed…” (Rom. 10:14). You either believe the True God, or you do not. Life isn’t about fantasy; it’s about reality. Life isn’t about the intention; it’s about the act. “Good intentions alone produce no results. It’s the act—the effort, the decision, the execution—that changes a situation, achieves a goal, or expresses a belief. Action is the measure of commitment, rendering intentions meaningless…” Intention alone will never get you to your desired destination if you do not take the right road to it. Sincerity of belief can never outweigh belief of the truth. You cannot make up for the error of your beliefs by how sincerely you believe them. Those who believe erroneously may well be sincere, but they cannot change the fact that they are sincerely wrong. Needless to say, good intentions often lead to unintended, or unforeseen consequences.
Despite all the confusing and contradictory beliefs held by lost people concerning who God is—what He is like and what He has done—that abound in our day, most people subscribe to the extremely naïve opinion that, ‘despite our differences we are all one and worshipping the same God.’ That no matter our answer to this spiritual equation we are all correct. Broadly speaking, when a person refers to ‘God,’ people automatically assume they are referring to the ‘God’ they believe in. It is quite ironic that cults generally do not fit this description, for their beliefs are for the most part of a highly specific nature. For instance, a Mormon will not believe you believe in his god simply because you say you believe in God. It is Christendom that is the worst perpetrator of the one god fits all doctrine. The doctrines, the details of what a person believes, are seldom, if ever, examined. All that is required is that you have a sincere belief in ‘God’ and you are accepted, even celebrated, as a Christian. Whether it is generic Christendom or global ecumenism, it is strongly implied that all beliefs, no matter how diverse and contrasting, in some mystical, unknown way incomprehensible to the human mind, all lead to the same God. And, not only the same God, but the one True God, no less, Who, ironically, can only be defended, defined and identified by truth—by what God says of Himself, and not by what men say of Him. This is tantamount to saying you don’t need accurate directions—or any directions at all, for that matter—in order to reach a certain destination, as long as your intention to arrive there is genuine and sincere. You don’t have to study to be a doctor, a nurse, a mechanic or an electrician as long as your intention is to be one. The saying goes, ‘All roads lead to Rome’, so too, the flawed thinking is all beliefs lead to the same God. It’s as nonsensical as saying, no matter what you believe the true answer to a particular equation is, you are correct. How ludicrous does it sound to say 2 + 2 = 4, 5, 6, 18 or any other number is correct as long as you sincerely believe it is true. As one fictional character once stated “It’s not a lie if you believe it”. This makes as much sense as saying, ‘It’s not wrong if you believe it’s correct’. Man is not the determiner of truth—he either believes it or he does not believe it. “Truth is not a ‘clay’ that man molds with his intentions, but a ‘mountain’ that man either stands upon or falls from. If man thinks he is the ‘determiner,’ he has already succumbed to the ‘substance of error.’ Friends, the essence of a thing does not change depending on what you believe about it. “Subjective belief has no bearing on objective reality.” Subjective belief can never determine objective truth, it can only contradict it. Where there is diversity over an absolute truth there can only be disagreement, “An inherently unharmonious situation that fosters” disunion. Disagreement is not the bond of unity; nor is it ever the foundation upon which unity is built. “There are no wrong answers only different perspectives. With that being said, some perspectives are certainly better than others.” The only thing that could possibly make one perspective better than others is if the better perspective is founded on, and grounded in, truth. Just as counterfeits are exposed as valueless when compared with the genuine article, incorrect perspectives are all as worthless as each other when compared with the truth. Only truth has value. In a world without truth all perspectives are equally valid; however, in a world where there is objective truth, any perspective which conflicts with it is entirely invalid. Outside of truth, all that exists is erroneous opinions and delusional perspectives, and they are ALL wrong. “Truth is the ultimate currency of knowledge and understanding.” In today’s head-in-the-sand world there’s no problem as long as you believe something. This all-inclusive, complacent and irresponsible ‘no-one-is-wrong’ philosophy “ignores the consequences of error” and is completely bereft of any marbles it may once have had possession of. The mere act of believing is now considered more important than accurate belief. “If ‘no one is wrong,’ then truth ceases to exist. A world where everyone is right is a world where nothing is true.” It’s like saying we both know the same Jim because the two individuals we know have the same name even though my Jim is 6 feet tall, blonde and is an office worker living in New York City, while your Jim is 5 feet 8 with black hair and operates a forklift in Chicago. 15 people believe 15 different things about Jim, yet they all claim to know the same Jim. How insane is that! Moreover, every time these people hear the name Jim, they all believe the one being spoken of is the Jim they know before hearing any details about the Jim being spoken of! DETAILS DEFINE INDENTITY! If you believe in false doctrines you believe in a false god. The elephant in the room, which must not be ignored for it cannot be denied, is: how can varying, differing, conflicting and contradictory descriptions and details identify and lead to the same object, person or destination? How can one person who denies the Deity of Jesus Christ possibly be believing in the Gospel of the One Triune God? And how, for that matter, can such a person possibly enter that God’s Heaven? Evidently, different teachings lead to different gods. “Imagine a vast landscape where various roads represent different teachings of gospels. Each road has its own unique path, twists and turns, ultimately leading to distinct destinations.” Just as each road leads to a different destination, various doctrines and gospels lead to different gods, for those are the gods they are describing and therefore are identified with. Following the teachings of Buddha, for instance, will never lead you to the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, while believing the Gospel of Christ will not lead you to anyone but the True and only Living God. Your sincerity, genuineness of heart and a clean highly obedient moral lifestyle cannot change what you believe from a lie into truth. How can a kaleidoscope of descriptions identify the same person? How can a cacophony of sound identify one particular tune? A song is not a cacophony of sound, but rather a precise configuration with distinct notes, melody lines, lyrics and well structured chord patterns. It is these elements which give a song its uniqueness and its individual nuances and characteristics. So too, the Gospel of God is not some constantly changing indistinct sound, but a perfectly structured and constant Truth revealing Document. One song cannot be described by the lyrics and nuances of another nor is a particular song, especially its lyrics, whatever the listener believes it to be. A particular recording of a song does not change every time you hear it, but remains the same. So too, the Gospel of the True and Living God is a unique and distinct sound — The sound of Truth.
There are many disparate beliefs which people hold to as truth simply because they have done so for many years. The more time passes the ‘truer’ their beliefs become. With scant regard to what is believed, and in order not to offend, they simply focus on who they claim to believe in when talking about their faith. ‘I believe’ and not ‘the truth is’ is the rule such people follow. The thinking is, ‘It doesn’t matter that our beliefs differ, what’s important is we believe the same god’. Such beliefs beg the questions: How can two roads lead to the same destination when one road is the right road and the other is the wrong road? How can two things both be considered truth if they are contrasting? How can two guys be the same person even if their names are the same? How can it be that doctrines do not matter when they are the very implements that God uses to teach, identify and differentiate between the gods you are following and the True God Whom you are not following. How can two gospels teach the same God when one Gospel is God’s Gospel, and the other is not? False doctrines which can only identify false gods can never be used in defining the True God. For example, Jesus Christ cannot be described by the doctrines which identify Buddha. Likewise, the doctrines which clearly and specifically define Who Jesus Christ is by what He has done and for whom He has done it, do not point to any of the false gods of man’s imagination, but only to the True God. Importantly, some truths have been hijacked and applied to false gods. For instance, some false jesuses were also ‘born of a virgin’, ‘died on a cross’ and ‘rose the third day’. There are many truths which are attributed to false gods, just like a counterfeit bank note will have the hallmarks of the genuine. “Despite its similarities to the real thing, a counterfeit note ultimately lacks genuine value and can lead to negative consequences, so too can false beliefs, even those containing elements of truth, lead one astray. The ability to distinguish between the genuine and the counterfeit, whether in currency or in belief, is crucial.” Again, when God says: “…I am God, and there is none like Me” (Isa. 46:9), it means He can only be identified by truth and never by anything which conflicts with it. Add any error to the truth of who God is, what He has done and for whom He has done it, and you cannot be defining, therefore, identifying the True God. 7 can never be an accurate appraisal of 4 + 4, nor can 8½ be true. Believing a lie, even when it is joined with a truth, is believing an untruth. “…accepting a false statement, regardless of its association with a true statement, constitutes believing something which is not true.”
You cannot identify the True God by any error, by any false doctrine. “This emphasizes the importance of having a correct understanding of who God is, what He has done, and for whom He has done it. If there are errors or uncertainties in these areas, it hinders one’s ability to accurately define and identify the true God. This highlights the significance of accurately understanding God’s character, actions, and intentions in order to have a clear and correct perception of Him.” Such understanding comes not from human intellect, but only when God reveals His Gospel and gives you eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that understands leading to conversion (see Matt. 13:15). You will always be following a false god when you attempt to identify the True God merely based on your own subjective opinions and perspective, or those of others, rather than solely with God’s Word. People have automatically, unthinkingly placed their trust in the religious organization they are a part of, or in beliefs which have been handed down from generation to generation while ignoring or showing an utter disdain for undeniable Scriptural facts which conflict with what their bias tyrannically insists they believe. Many stubbornly hold to what they believe because much loved family members believe it, or because believing anything differently would cause division, or because trusted and revered religious leaders teach it, especially dead ones. Many prefer to automatically and habitually go with the flow and bow down to the dictates and teachings of large religious institutions, accepting what they are told simply because they are large religious institutions which have the appearance of authority, rather than question and investigate the truthfulness of what they are being spoon fed regardless of who is feeding them. “It’s mentally easier to accept an established narrative than to engage in the difficult, time-consuming process of independent investigation, critical thinking, and reconciling contradictions. Large institutions provide a sense of security. Following what millions of others believe is seen as reducing the risk of being wrong or ostracized. People often use the authority of a source (size, history, tradition, power) as a mental shortcut to judge the credibility of the information, rather than judging the evidence itself.”
Allow me to make one thing perfectly clear: the Machiavellian religious establishment of this world is no different from the political establishment—and the mainstream media which helps sell its lies—that claims to make our lives ‘better’. Both sides of this rusted old coin are as corrupt as each other. They are not to be trusted. The iron of men’s teachings must always be tested by the fire of God’s Word. “Just as fire refines and purifies metal, God’s Word has the ability to test and expose teachings, revealing what is true and valuable while discarding what is false or misleading. This principle encourages believers to engage deeply with Scripture, seeking discernment and wisdom in their understanding of faith and doctrine.” The world of man is not only secular, but also very religious. Both come from his sinful and undiscerning mind. Millions are in bondage to tradition rather than being freed by the truth. Or should I say, millions are in bondage to tradition because they have never been freed by the truth. There is no freedom in bondage, only in truth. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:32). The only thing that will free you from error is truth. The only thing error will ever prevent you from having, and keep you free of, is truth—and the freedom from error and susceptibility to deception that only truth can bring.
Multitudes have, and continue to confuse familiarity with truth. Two University researchers termed this “The illusion of explanatory depth”. They explained that many people mistake their familiarity with things for a belief that they have a detailed and accurate understanding of how they work. Most are seldom challenged about what they believe let alone asked to provide a detailed account as to why they believe it. And so, they continue on in their lives mistaking familiarity with accurate understanding. “Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true, but many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly, and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence.” Familiarity brings with it a certain feeling of security, but there is no security in the real world, the world of God’s reality, in believing something which is just plain wrong. Without realising it, people are self-deceived by their sincerity in the erroneous beliefs they draw comfort and assurance from. There are no two ways about it: inaccuracy is nothing but error, and erroneous doctrines that make up false gospels will never define and identify the True God. You will never arrive at your intended destination by following misleading directions. Tradition without truth always leads to chaos and bondage. “To be loyal to a religion without investigating its core doctrines and substance, is ignorance masquerading as faithfulness.” So many people today perfectly fit the following description: “It was not the truth they wanted, but an illusion they could bear to live with.” The ‘ostrich effect’ is avoiding uncomfortable information. “It is a cognitive bias that describes how people often avoid ‘negative’ information...” Instead of facing reality, accepting the truth, and adapting one’s life to it, man has a seemingly built-in aversion to truth, with many choosing to just bury their heads in the sand like ostriches. “To act without clear understanding; to form habits without investigation; to follow a path all one’s life without knowing where it really leads, SUCH IS THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MULTITUDE.” “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).
Error is not fact, but fiction, no matter how many truths are attached to it, or how many have invested their faith in it. “Error is wrong even if everyone believes it. Truth is right even if no one believes it.” Error does not evolve into truth the longer you believe it; it simply remains error, and its work of deception and corruption creates a constant ripple effect leading to greater error and deception. The evil of error only appears beautiful and appealing to those who do not know—and cannot see the beauty of—the truth. YOU SIMPLY CANNOT HAVE WISDOM WITHOUT TRUTH. There is clearly no wisdom involved in believing error. Anything which corrupts truth is not and cannot be truth. Error is not truth, it is a corruption of truth. “Corruption breeds destruction.” It is a cancer which can only be stopped by truth. There is no amount of careless emotion-driven conviction which can turn a lie into truth. Incorrect methods of calculation will never lead one to the truth, but only to that which has the appearance of truth. Many believe they are right, but have no idea why and no real defense or substantive evidence upon which they can draw to adequately support their unfounded claims. Mere familiarity, which often breeds illogical bias, is an obstacle that prevents a person from conducting an honest and thorough examination of what they have associated with truth and have, over time, become accustomed to. Thus, they are satisfied and content with the headlines, and seldom bother with the details. Familiarity with the Word of God, though it may provide one with an illusion of possessing an accurate understanding of it, is all too often accompanied by gross inaccuracies as well as fatal expository mistakes.
The wrong processes employed in the pursuit of truth frequently lead to the creation, interpretation and acceptance of falsehoods as truth and the traditions of men, whether religious and/or cultural, overruling the Word of God. Speaking to the religious leaders of the day, the Lord Jesus told them they made: “…the Word of God of none effect through your tradition…” (Mk. 7:13). The truth is often not that which lies in plain view, but, like silver, is something which demands diligent and vigorous searching and study. Few have the courage to honestly confront any nagging doubts—“those persistent, intrusive, and bothersome feelings of uncertainty, worry, or suspicion that remain in their mind even when they try to ignore or dismiss them.” Consequently, they avoid undertaking a proper Biblical examination of what lies behind their beliefs—the origin and implications of what they believe. So many resist an honest examination—comparing what they believe the truth to be with what the Word of God actually says it is—for fear of having to face the fact that for months, even years, they have been just plain wrong. Most folk go by their hearts when it comes to ‘God’. They see Bible study, and the need for Scriptural verification of doctrines presented to them as something which only prospective pastors and future professors of theology should concern themselves with, not the average person. After all, being a passenger is far easier than being the driver, however, while both arrive at the same place, at the same time, their final destination will not be the one they expected if their driver has taken the wrong road (see Matt. 15:14).
Various religions not only have their leaders such as so-called pastors and priests, they also have learned scholars. These individuals are not stupid people. They are often highly intelligent and studious people who have been taught a blend of wrong and true information that has been shaped to align with the specific tenets of their particular religion or denomination. The religious framework people inhabit “acts as a potent filter, significantly influencing the interpretation and acceptance of information.” This impact must not be overlooked or underestimated. Many such people come to realise along the way that what they are being taught in the seminaries and bible colleges is not what the Scriptures actually teach, and yet they remain ensconced within their particular institution because within it they are established, and cannot escape the lure of one day becoming well-respected leaders. “Like a gilded cage, seminaries and Bible colleges can hold those who recognize the inconsistencies between their teachings and Scripture. The promise of future prominence becomes the bars that keep them inside. A slow dawning of truth can occur within the walls of these institutions, revealing a disconnect between the curriculum and the Bible. Yet, the roots of establishment run deep, and the vision of future leadership acts as a powerful anchor, preventing departure.” Institutions such as these are often the breeding grounds, incubators and perpetuators of inaccuracies and truthless traditions, resulting in the constant, widespread propagation of error. There are even many atheists who have passed through seminaries and bible colleges who earn themselves a comfortable living staying within and promoting their particular denomination or religion. Not a few prospective religious leaders have answered final exam questions with the answers they know the institution expects, rather than what they know the Word of God says. Future ‘priests’ of Roman Catholicism undertake 6-8 years of study before being ordained. Yet, many of them have seen through the lies and hypocrisy of that institution but, having invested so many years in it, they are resigned to enjoying the perks and benefits of being a part of its leadership all the while knowing they are deceiving the masses.
Sadly, for many, what the truth is when it comes to God is not the issue at all, but rather the fact they have a belief and remain loyally and unflinchingly faithful to it—believing this steadfast faithfulness to in some way be of inestimable value in scoring points with whoever the true God may be—often despite verifiable Biblical evidence to the contrary, which in turn reveals what they believe to be completely false and the one they believe in as totally non-existent. Loyalty to error brings no reward, but an eternity of torment in Hell. As one woman, when presented with the truth, once told my mother: “I’m going to believe what my mother believed.” Now there’s someone with absolutely no regard for what the truth is, and no intention of believing it. Such people don’t want the truth, they just want what they believe the truth is. They want what they are comfortable with. They don’t want their lives upset by the truth, and, to their minds, cannot afford the upheaval it would cause should they accept the fact that for years they have been deceived. In short, they do not want to know that their ‘mother’ was wrong and what that would imply. Ignorance is not the problem. Wilful, stubborn and unyielding ignorance in the face of truth is a catastrophe. “…reality often brings with it uncomfortable emotions and challenging revelations. Many people find solace in the familiar patterns of their existence, preferring the ‘safety’ of ignorance over the potential upheaval that comes from confronting harsh realities. Acknowledging the truth may require them to re-evaluate deeply held beliefs, relationships, or life choices, which could lead to fear, anxiety, or even a sense of loss. In a world where uncertainty is ever-present, the desire to maintain a stable life can drive individuals to cling to comforting illusions rather than face the unsettling nature of reality.” It is natural, according to fallen man’s sinful nature to seek control even when it concerns what the truth is. “This desire for control often stems from a fear of uncertainty and the innate human need to impose order on the chaos of life, leading individuals to manipulate or distort truth to fit their own narratives.” People are strongly biased toward what they believe. Most only believe what they want to believe and, sadly, could not care less about what the truth actually is.
From the vast array of differing and opposing beliefs and religious systems that exist today we can safely assume that at least some people are correct in their religious beliefs concerning who the True God is and what He is like, whilst others are not. There can only be two groups of believers: those who believe the truth, and the alternate group made up of those who believe anything but the truth, and a sub-group consisting of those who believe a perverted blend of truth and lies. “Falsehood doesn't always present itself as a complete opposite of truth but can be cleverly and deviously intertwined with it.” Add anything to truth that is not truth, or take anything from truth and it immediately ceases to be truth (see Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18,19). A truth does not require any additional component—nothing to augment its inherent perfection—for a truth is complete. For example, add anything to or take away anything from 4 when it comes to what 2 + 2 is, and you no longer have truth. Only the truth of God, about God and which comes from God leads to the true and only God. False teachings do not lead one to the True God; they never have, for they never could, and so they never will. Jesus said: “…I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6). The only way to eternal life is the Way of Truth: Jesus Christ. Without the Truth you cannot know the only Way to Life. If you don’t have the true Jesus, you do not have the Father; therefore, your faith is not of Him, thus, it cannot be in His truth (see 2 Jn. 9 cf. Jn. 14:6; 1 Jn. 2:23). A most sobering fact is that true Christians have been chosen by God to savingly believe the Truth about God: “…God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and BELIEF OF THE TRUTH” (2 Thess. 2:13 cf. Jn. 17:17). This can only be done through the gift of Faith. Just as God has chosen His people unto salvation, He has sanctified them through His Truth to believe His Truth. You cannot be sanctified without the Word of God: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). The dividing line between saved and lost people is clear: the chosen are saved to believe the truth, and the lost are not (see 2 Thess. 2:12-14). Therefore, the saved are recognized by their belief of the truth, and the lost are recognized as those who do not believe the truth.
The apostle John writing to believers said: “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth” (1 Jn. 2:21 cf. 3:19; Jn. 8:32). The apostle Paul made it expressly clear that “…if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3 cf. Jn. 10:26,27). If one does not believe the truth how can they believe in the True God? How can any believe in the True God when they have embraced lies about Him that only identify impostors? How can one be led by the Holy Spirit of God if they do not believe the truth, and, therefore, in the True God? Jesus said: “…the Spirit of Truth…He shall testify of Me” (Jn. 15:26); “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth…” (Jn. 16:13); “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14); “…it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 Jn. 5:6). The sons of God are led by the Spirit of God to believe the truth of God and about God. If you do not believe the truth you do not believe in the true Jesus; therefore, you cannot come to the Father (see 2 Jn. 9). The Lord Jesus declares: “…I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh to the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6). Put simply, there are those who believe the truth, and there are those who believe error—fake truth; therefore, there are those who believe in the True God, and those who believe in false gods. What the former believe identifies the True God, and what the latter group believes identifies counterfeit gods. Believing Jesus is not God, for instance, will never lead you to the Jesus Who is God. If the jesus you believe is not God, you have a false jesus. The acid test is what you believe not how sincerely you believe it. This is not an attack upon you, the individual, but a wake-up call to honestly challenge and examine what you believe and have the courage to let the chips fall where they may.
What many fail to grasp, regarding the matter of Who the True God is, is the fact that this is not a subjective issue whatsoever—no mere inconsequential matter designated to the realm of personal opinion—but an objective reality that carries with it eternal consequences. Jesus said: “…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). God is Truth, God is: “…the God of Truth…” (Isa. 65:16 cf. Deut. 32:4; Psa. 31:5); Satan is the father of lies and “…there is no truth in him…he is a liar and the father of it” (Jn. 8:44). God is Truth and His Word—which He has placed above His name—is truth: “…Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name” (Psa. 138:2). Jesus said: “…I am…the Truth…” (Jn. 14:6); “…Thy Word is Truth” (Jn. 17:17 cf. Jn. 1:1). If there is a True and only God, then it must be that only the truth can reveal Him and lead a person to Him. God calls His sheep by His Truth: “My sheep hear My Voice, and I know them, and they follow Me…Every one that is of the Truth heareth My Voice” (Jn. 10:27 & Jn. 18:37). Christ is the Voice of Truth. It is truth alone, not truth mixed with lies that reveals the True and only God. God does not use the lies of false gospels mixed with the truths of His Gospel in calling His people, for they hear not the voice of strangers: “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (Jn. 10:5). Consequently, if you are not believing the truth you cannot possibly be believing in Him. God is Who He is—He is Who He says He is, not who you think He is, or would like Him to be. Gods that are fashioned in the minds of men are nothing but idols, supported only by lies and reinforced by a deceptive use of cherry-picked truths and the utilization of selected Scriptures whilst ignoring others. Beliefs need to be attuned to and aligned with objective reality if one is to have faith in the truth. Just like who you are, what you have done and what you are like is not a matter of some stranger’s subjective opinion, God is who He is, God has done what He has done and there is no one like Him. As each individual is unique, so too, God is unique, for He says: “…I am God, and there is none like Me” (Isa. 46:9). The fact that there is none like the God of truth proves that He can only be revealed by truth. The truth does not support and promote false gods, only the True God, for He and He alone is the God of Truth, and there is no lie in Him (see Jas. 1:17; Num. 23:19). False gods are never supported by truth, but only by a misrepresentation and misunderstanding of truth. Counterfeit gods are only supported and revealed by perverted truth. Distortion is the essential characteristic behind the intrinsically deceptive nature of the counterfeit.
The truth is not something you can invent, for the truth has always been. There is such a thing as newly discovered truth, but any claim to brand new truths is nothing but the propagation of old lies. Truth is something that does not evolve; it is only our understanding of it that either improves because of it or becomes a perversion of it. All true Christians are of the truth. Jesus said: “…Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice” (Jn. 18:37); “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn. 10:27). Only Christ’s sheep are of the truth, and thereby do they follow Him. Writing to Christians, John stated: “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth” (1 Jn. 2:21). The true Christian is not born from some corrupted seed, but only of the Seed which is incorruptible: the Gospel of God: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God…And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:23,25). “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth…” (Jas. 1:18). You cannot be born again without the truth. You cannot be born again except by the incorruptible (“the nature of the Gospel”) and uncorrupted (“the state of the message”) Gospel of Almighty God, for therein is God exclusively revealed. The True and only God is not some ambiguous indefinable Person, subject to the opinions and guesswork of men, for He is “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). This is also true of God’s Gospel. The Gospel of God is not ambiguous, indefinable, and therefore unidentifiable. On the contrary, that God has only one Gospel, one set of doctrines dealing with the salvation of His people, reveals the rock-solid fact that there are no variables involved, no changing, or changeable, elements at all in the Gospel of God. God’s Gospel is unique; it is specific, it is truth and it therefore must be believed. God does not change and His Gospel does not change. You either believe in Him or not; you either believe His Gospel or not. Only the true and eternal doctrines of the Gospel of Grace are indicative of Divine Authorship.
The Gospel is not subject to change, nor is it open to conjecture, or interpretation but remains constant, consistent, certain and unalterable in its proclamation of the Truth of God, for the Gospel is the very Word of God. You cannot get anything truer than truth. What you believe the Gospel of God is has eternal consequences. When it comes to what the Gospel of God is, generalities just won’t cut it. The Gospel of God is not something without specificity, especially in light of Scripture which tells the Christian to preach THE Gospel and to believe THE Gospel of God and no other—emphasizing that salvation is only associated with belief in the Gospel, just as damnation is with disbelief (see Mk. 16:15,16). THIS DIRECTIVE CLEARLY REVEALS THE FACT THAT GOD ONLY HAS ONE GOSPEL, AS WELL AS THE UNIQUENESS OF GOD’S GOSPEL AND ITS ETERNAL STATE OF UNCHANGEABILITY. The command to preach and believe God’s Gospel and no other is the surest evidence that God has only one Gospel and that this eternal Gospel is clearly distinguishable from all false gospels. It is 100% truth; therefore, no error can ever be part of its message. It is quite staggering to realise that when many ‘pastors’ expose false gospels, they are quite specific, yet they simultaneously insist that no one knows the Gospel of God! To believe the Gospel of God is to trust in the unambiguous and exceptionally distinct doctrines of His Salvation Plan, and no other. How can a man be saved if his trust is not in God’s Salvation Plan? If his trust is in some other plan revealed by the doctrines of some other gospel. Truth does not change because God does not change. Truth is immoveable, inarguable, unchangeable, and therefore unchallengeable. Truth is the undisputed, undefeated champion of reality.
To accurately define and identify the True God is not something that is variable, but unchangeable. God is unchanging, and His nature unwavering. God is not subject to change or any variation whatsoever. Like truth, God is constant. God does not change His mind, and therefore He does not change His Word. God says, “I am the Lord, I change not…” (Mal. 3:6 cf. Psa. 102:25-27; Jas. 1:17; Heb. 13:8). The Gospel of God is everlasting, therefore it cannot change (see Rev. 14:6). The True God is not a chameleon; He does not appear one way to some people and another way to others. God does not change His ways to comply with lost man’s opinions or their image of Him. God does not fit in or conform to natural man’s ideas or concepts of Him. Just as the truth is not something which is subject to man, but is untouched by the opinions of men, God cannot be manipulated into becoming what we desire Him to be. Like truth, God is not malleable. “This means that the truth cannot be shaped, changed, or manipulated to fit a desired narrative; it is a fixed concept that exists independently of individual perspectives or desires to alter it.” The only thing you can do with truth is believe it, or disbelieve it; ignore it or pervert it. “While people may argue against or deny the truth, the nature of the truth itself remains unchanged by those arguments. It does not require human consensus to be valid; it stands independently of opinion. Truth exists independently, challenging our perceptions and demanding that we align ourselves with its often uncomfortable reality.” Who God is, is not subject to modern conceptualisations of Him, nor to any single generation’s or culture’s beliefs, for “…Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end” (Psa. 102:27); “For I am the Lord, I change not…” (Mal. 3:6); “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). ”The essence of God’s identity is something that transcends temporal and cultural frameworks.” Opinion can never change truth, but we should always be open to truth changing our opinions; otherwise, all one is left with is an unfounded, illegitimate bias. When a person is not fully informed, their logic becomes illogical. When you can’t—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 properly understand and, therefore, cannot accurately comprehend. No one with a bias for error has any right to argue against truth.
God is only revealed by the truth, not by lies — anything which is not 100% truth. “…no lie is of the truth” (1 Jn. 2:21). Indeed, “Every liar is not of the truth”, and so cannot be representing truth, nor revealing the God of truth. Of enormous significance is the fact that God reveals Himself to whomsoever He wills, and He only does this via the instrumentality of truth, NOT LIES! Jesus said: “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and 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). Can anyone in their wildest imagination picture Christ Jesus revealing the Father through the lies of a false gospel? I mean, do people who claim they were saved prior to—in other words, without believing God’s Gospel—actually realise what their ridiculously unscriptural claim involves? It means they are saying they were saved believing the lies of a false gospel! That they were saved without the gift of Faith God gives His people by Grace to believe His Gospel. That they remarkably became born again through a corrupted seed! That they are not accursed for believing they were saved trusting in a false gospel, but rather blessed! Such outrageous, biblically-unsupportable claims assert that, by believing the lies of a false gospel, God has contradicted and opposed His proclamation in Galatians 1:8,9—that any who believe any other gospel but His own is accursed—and has instead blessed and saved them! If God saves those who believed false gospels, you would have to dispense with every Scripture that makes reference to the Gospel, the Truth, the gift of Faith, God being the only God—the God of Truth—and the vastly different consequences of believing the truth and believing a lie.
People say, ‘Well, I didn’t know the Gospel when I was saved.’ What? What kind of insane statement is that, when the Word of God clearly states 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, no man can be born again of corruptible seed, then clearly a man can only be born again by the incorruptible Gospel Seed of God. Apart from God’s Gospel, all other so-called gospels are accursed, and so are the people who believe them. The only way God saves, the only way a man is born again is by the Word of God: THE Gospel. This is not the exception, but the unchangeable and, therefore, eternal rule. “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth…” (Jas. 1:18). One is born again not without, but only with the Word of Truth. You cannot be begotten of God without the “…Word of the Truth of the Gospel” of God (Col. 1:5): “…for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15), not through that which is not the Gospel. Do not be deceived; there are absolutely no exceptions or exemptions to this rock solid Scriptural FACT! “Being born again…by the Word of God…And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 23,25). No one can be born again without the Gospel of God. No one can be born again believing only part of the Gospel—some of its doctrines—for this would entail either ignorance of the rest, or a belief in things which contradict what the other Gospel doctrines declare. From the Word comes the life; from the Gospel, which is preached to you, or sown in you, comes the life (see Jn. 6:63; Heb. 4:12). Therefore, a man is born again when he is born of the whole Gospel, the whole Seed of God, and not just part of it. Relevant to this is the fact that if one plants a whole apple seed, an apple tree will result. However, if any part of that apple seed is cut off, even if it receives the slightest nick, it is corrupted, and nothing will grow from that seed! Nothing in the physical world used symbolically in the Scriptures to represent a spiritual truth will conflict with its spiritual counterpart.
If a man could be saved by believing only part of the Gospel, there would be room for him to believe wrongly about the part he remains ignorant of or has rejected. This would reveal his gospel as nothing but a false gospel, for none can rightfully say that the Gospel of God, the only Gospel which saves, contains or even could contain any falsehood whatsoever. To claim that believing most of the Gospel is equal to believing the whole Gospel, is like saying a person who ate most of their meal ate all of it. Having a faith which believes in only a few salvation doctrines and not all, is to have a faith which is indistinguishable from the faith that is common to all men, by which God has never saved anyone. Imagine God saving a person by Grace through the gift of Faith that does not believe ALL the doctrines of the Gospel. Each Grace doctrine is part of that Gospel Seed, and not one of those doctrines stands alone as the Gospel of God and relegates the others to mere fruits. No one is born again who remains ignorant of any part of salvation. Ignorance cannot trust in that which it is not aware of or stubbornly refuses to believe. The Gospel is the Seed of God; therefore, the Gospel of the Grace of God is the Seed of God which gives birth to His eternal offspring. This is due, in part, to the fact that there must be no room, when it comes to the salvation of a man, for man to boast in any of his works as that which contributes to a man’s salvation. No one claiming to be saved by the Grace of God could possibly be ignorant of what the Gospel of that Grace teaches. They cannot, either knowingly or ignorantly, deny any of the Grace doctrines—all that it took for God to save His people by His Grace—or the rightful place each of these doctrines has in the Gospel, thereby changing what the Gospel is and what they must believe from the very outset of their Christian lives.
Paul the apostle stated: “…in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15). No one can be born again without the truth of God. There is no freedom without knowledge of the truth. There is no freedom from lies and false gospels without the knowledge of and full submission to the Gospel of Almighty God. You cannot know, and therefore, believe in the True God without the Word of God: WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT HIMSELF!! Knowledge of the True God does not come from feelings or experiences; it comes from His Word. So many professing Christians have replaced God’s Word with the mystical, believing it to be some spiritual communication from God. “The Word of God is the objective, specific, incorruptible truth which identifies the true God, while the mystical is always subjective, vague and truthless error, which leads to susceptibility to deception.” Such people reject the truth for what they are convinced the truth is. They turn their backs on the Word of God and walk away arm in arm with their experiences. No one is saved by believing a lie to be the power of God unto salvation. You are not saved by experiences or believing a false gospel, but only the true and only Gospel of God. The elect are born again through the incorruptible Seed of the Word of the Gospel of God, and never from a corruptible seed (see 1 Pet. 1:23,25). Those who believe one was or can be saved by believing a false gospel only prove their accursed state (see Gal. 1:8,9; 2 Cor. 4;3,4). You are not saved by loyally adhering to your own opinion, or stubbornly holding on to the tenets of a false gospel, but only if you believe the Gospel of God, denying all false gospels as having any power to save anyone. To embrace the concept of salvation by means of other gospels is to enter the dark blinding world of other gods. To truly believe the Gospel of God is to deny the methods of salvation contained in all other so-called gospels. Salvation is all about change: from darkness to Light, from false gods to the True and only Living God, and from all false gospels to the only Gospel God has ever Authored and saved anyone by (see Acts 14:15). “…if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3 cf. 1 Thess. 1:9). If you have never heard the Gospel, if you do not know the Gospel, if you do not believe the Gospel, you have always been and are currently in a completely lost and utterly hopeless state. “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 call on and believe in the True God if they have never heard His Gospel? If they have never heard His Gospel, they have never heard His Voice, or believed in Him! (see Jn. 5:37). Jesus said: “My sheep hear My Voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn. 10:27). How can anyone claim to believe in Him, the True and only God, if they have never heard, and therefore, do not believe the only Gospel which reveals Him; the only Gospel which is HIS power unto salvation (see Rom. 1:16). How can any follow Christ when they do not hear or recognize His Voice?
The lost, in Scripture, are identified as those who “…received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10 cf. 1 Tim. 2:4). Here we see the inextricable connection between truth and salvation, as well as lostness with lies. You are not in a saved state if your love is not for the actual truth of God and, by extension, the God of truth. God is Truth, so it stands to Biblical reason that if you do not love His Truth, you cannot love Him; if you do not know His truth, you cannot possibly know Him. If you do not have the God-given Faith to believe the Gospel of His truth, there is nothing to distinguish you from a lost person. You are not saved if you do not believe “…the Word of the Truth of the Gospel” (Col. 1:5). “Whosoever…abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God…” (2 Jn. 9). There is no salvation in sincerely believing a lie, no matter how truthful you believe it to be, how long you have believed it, how passionately you believe it, how many there are that believe it, or how religious you may be. There are eternal, inescapable and fixed consequences attached to what you believe. “The results of belief are not fluid or negotiable.” What you believe reveals the path you are on. “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jn. 3:18 cf. Mk. 16:15,16). And what is His name? JESUS! “…for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). You can be as religious as you can be, but if your faith is not in the True God and His Gospel, you are as lost as you can be. To believe in the name of Jesus is to believe in Who He is and what He has done, and you can only learn of Him through the Holy Spirit-taught doctrines of His Gospel. The Word of God clearly reveals the destiny of all those whose faith was not founded on truth: “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth…” (2 Thess. 2:12 cf. 2 Thess. 1:7-9). Here we see another inextricable connection made by the Word of God: damnation is undeniably connected to not believing the truth—His Gospel. Conversely, the born again Christian’s God-given Faith is in the True God “…because 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 cf. Acts 26:18). God does not called His chosen to believe His truth by means of a false gospel. Here we see conclusive evidence of the indispensability of truth in a man’s salvation. While the lost concentrate on works, the significance, essentiality and the eternal consequences of believing, and not believing, the truth pass them by without notice (see Matt. 7:21-23). The true Christian is chosen by God to believe the truth. If you want the truth, believe God’s Gospel. Without truth, you have not the True God, you are not saved.
There is only one true answer to any given equation, but there are an innumerable, unlimited amount of wrong answers—false truths—errors masquerading as truth. So many of these false truths look so true particularly when supported by irrational and incorrect methods of calculation. Those who claim to have arrived at truth, but who have used faulty methods, do not, in reality, have the truth, but a mere worthless counterfeit. One cannot arrive at the correct answer by using a faulty calculator, or by feeding it the wrong information. To illustrate this point, may I present the reader with the following analogy: The old Vaudeville comedians Abbott and Costello performed a comic routine that explains all this perfectly. Costello claimed that 13 multiplied by 7 equalled 28. Of this he was certain, sincerely and vehemently convinced. To prove his claim he proceeded to write the number 13 on a blackboard and directly under the 3 wrote the number 7. Then, he proceeded to multiply the 3 by 7 which equalled 21, and promptly wrote that number down. Subsequent to this Costello multiplied the 1 (from the number 13) by 7 which makes 7. He then wrote the number 7 directly under the 21. Adding the two numbers, 21 and 7, his solution was 7 x 13 = 28. Far from convinced, his partner, Abbott, in an attempt to prove him wrong, and arrive at the correct answer, told Costello to write down the number 13, seven times. After doing this Abbott began adding the column of threes together: “3,6,9,12,15,18,21,” after which Costello quickly joined in finishing off the count by adding the ones to the 21: “22,23,24,25,26,27,28”. Having proven his calculation correct, to his own satisfaction, Costello confidently walked away with not just one, but two ways he could prove that 7 multiplied by 13 equals 28. For Costello, these two corroborating witnesses assured him he was incontestably correct in his calculations. This is precisely the same way Satan confuses man, and leads him astray in matters spiritual. Change the proper method of arriving at truth, and you will always arrive at anything but the truth. PRECLUDE THE TRUTH, AND ERROR WILL OFTEN MAKE PERFECT SENSE. Nonsense makes perfect sense to those who have no sense of what the truth is.
Every wrong conclusion a man can reach is defendable by illogicity. “Illogical stupidity is when someone just doesn’t seem to comprehend rational and logical thought, and makes decisions that would baffle anyone with any sense. What makes illogicity unique is that the subject believes him/herself to be undertaking the correct action, making a decision based on fact and circumstance. The truth of the matter is, however, that they are performing the most illogical possible outcome that could be derived from any situation, and are blind and oblivious to this matter.” Those who are deceived do not know they are deceived. For all his sincerity, Costello’s method of calculation concerning 7 x 13 was just plain wrong, and as long as he continued with such a flawed method he would always be wrong, not only when it comes to 7 x 13, but when faced with any other mathematical problem. When your starting point is a false premise “every subsequent step moves you further from your destination unless a correction is made. If you are aiming for truth but start at falsehood, every logical step you take simply explores the implications of that falsehood, leading you deeper into error.” Costello will always believe he has arrived at the correct answer until he is taught, and accepts, how to calculate correctly. Only then will he be on the right road to the right answer. If the method is wrong the truth cannot be reached. A flawed method is a fraudulent method, for it is based on the wrong foundation, which can only produce the wrong teaching and will take you anywhere except to the truth. “Flawed teachings, especially those that become highly cited, perpetuate faulty methods, and conclusions, sending those who believe them in fruitless directions, and build layers of theory upon shaky conceptual foundations for assessing truth.” Everyone who holds to a false gospel, from the average person to the scholars of Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, or Arminianism have arrived at a version of truth, but not the truth, not God’s truth. They have arrived at what they call ‘truth,’ which makes perfect sense to them because of the false premise their flawed methods of deciphering truth are built upon, but which does not meet with God’s approval. “If the starting assumption is wrong, everything built on top of it inherits that error.” Their failed attempts at reaching the truth of God are made transparent by their wrong conclusions, which in turn reveal their phony doctrines. The teachings they follow are like incorrect directions to an intended destination. They may well arrive at a town by following a set of wrong directions, but it will not be the town where they would have arrived had they accepted the right directions.
Only those who know the truth know that others are deceived, for they not only know the truth, but also why it is truth, and why error has absolutely no similitude with truth, nor the same rewards. Those who hold to irrational, and illogical thoughts and beliefs do not realise their beliefs are, in light of Scripture, illogical and irrational, for they do not know the truth. Consequently they are utterly bereft of clear and accurate spiritual discernment (see 1 Cor. 2:14). There is nothing in their thinking which raises any alarm bells because according to their limited, restricted knowledge and awareness, all they hold to seems quite logical and rational, even Scriptural, to them. Nonsense makes perfect sense to those trapped in a world of fiction. “If a person accepts a fictional or false set of rules, then any conclusion derived from those rules will appear ‘logical’ to them… the trapped person cannot see the error because they are judging the logic from inside the system rather than from an objective, outside perspective.” Again, “Awareness is a fundamental aspect of reality”, however, when that awareness is restricted by a deficient knowledge, then all one is left with is unreality—an illusion of truth rather than the truth itself. Such people have miscalculated because they simply do not know how to calculate correctly. Such a person’s method of operation in reaching their particular conclusions is wrong to begin with, and so they never arrive at the reality of truth; they never see truth as truth, for they use a flawed method which leads them to accept lies as truth, thus they perceive darkness as light (see Matt. 6:23).
Believing error—believing in a false gospel—is not a mistake; it is sin. If this were not the case, those who believe in a false gospel would not be adjudged accursed (see Gal. 1:8,9), but they would be as blessed a people as those who believe the true Gospel, albeit in need of correction. The lost’s singular lack of right knowledge, awareness and belief of the truth comes from a carnal mind; which is simply not equipped to understand and accept the things of God (see 1 Cor. 2:14). The false premise of the leaders of all man-made religion is built, not upon the Word of God, but upon the sandy foundation of the carnal mind. This can only end in disaster for those leaders as well as those who follow them: “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matt. 15:14). “A flawed foundation means the entire structure of one’s ‘truth’ is destined to collapse.” It is like starting off one’s journey to the west by facing in an easterly direction. The ignorant interpret as plain and ‘obvious’ fact, what in reality are irrational, illogical and Scripturally unsupportable beliefs. Erroneous understanding will always and only support and perpetuate erroneous ideas, concepts and false gospels, but will never be supported by a right understanding of God’s Word. For those who function from within a world of error, 7 x 13 will always equal 28—or any other number barring the correct one—for in their accursed state, the lie (the illusion of truth) will always make more sense to them than actual truth. What natural man believes the truth to be, and what God says the truth is, reveals the eternal conflict which exists between them due to man’s being naturally at enmity against the True God, and the fact that “…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 (the things of God) are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14 cf. Jn. 14:17). The spiritually dead state of all men by nature is revealed in the fact that whilst in this state—man’s natural state—he cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. 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). 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.
Who God is, what God has done and what God is like is not determined by personal opinion, but is something which is verifiable and unchangeable fact. In order to be right you must be correct. In order to be saved you must believe the truth. Salvation is not by believing, but by the Grace of God. Believing is the evidence, the fruit, of salvation by Grace, not what initiates salvation. The key to understanding this is the unassailable fact that God the Saviour saves His people by His Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone to believe His Gospel—the Gospel of His Righteousness—and reject all others as having any power to save, for only God’s Gospel is His power unto salvation (see Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 1:16,17). Clearly, if one does not believe God’s Gospel, one does not have the gift of Faith which God gives to His people to believe the only Gospel which reveals Him and His Righteousness: God’s Gospel of salvation by Grace alone. If you believe you were saved, or that one can be saved whilst believing a false gospel, then how can you be evidencing the Faith that comes as a gift from God, given to EXCLUSIVELY believe HIS Gospel as His only power to save? Who ever received a gold star at school for a wrong answer? Who ever received a ‘well done’ for believing that which is simply not true? And yet people believe they were saved while believing in error—the presence of which always indicates, identifies and constitutes nothing more than a false gospel which simply cannot save!! I mean, some people literally say, ‘I was saved before I believed the Gospel’. That’s like saying one was saved before they were born again; before they believed in the True God! The utterly baseless claim to salvation made by such lost folk is revealed as totally nonsensical by the apostle Paul in his Letter to the saints at Ephesus: “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. 10:13-17). No one has ever trusted in Christ before they heard the Word of Truth, and no one was ever sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise before they believed in the Christ of God’s only Gospel. No one was ever right when they were wrong.
The genuine truth seeker is interested in fact not fantasy; in truth not opinion. Those who have no interest in truth only hear what they want to hear, and they avoid the rest with scant disregard. Facts cannot be changed by sheer weight of opinion, nor will the truth cease to be truth by your denial, or ignorance of it. When God says: “…I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, 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.46:9-11 cf. Dan. 4:35; Matt. 24:35), there is no argument or opinion that can stand against God’s very own description of Himself, His self-identification—Who He declares and reveals Himself to be. If you do not believe these things about God then the god you have is nothing but a worthless counterfeit—an idol of imagination. The True God is here defining, thereby, identifying Himself—Who He is—by telling you what He is like, and what He is like by what He does. In doing so, God has distinguished Himself from all others, He has set Himself apart from all others, and simultaneously ruled out Who He is not, by revealing Who He is; what He is not like, by declaring what He is like; and what He does not do, by detailing what He does do. God is the ONLY God; there is none like Him; the Sovereign God does whatsoever He pleases; whatever He speaks He makes happen and whatever His purpose is He will fulfil, for God is ALL-Mighty. “But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased” (Psa. 115:3); “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?” (Dan. 4:35). If any individual or organization teaches you that God is not absolutely Sovereign—all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient) and everywhere at once (omnipresent)—that He does not always do all His pleasure, etc., they are denying the True God and teaching you a god that exists only in the deceptively imaginative mind of man. False gods are nothing but a figment of man’s imagination. The spawn of superstition, fear and ignorance. No one knows the True God like the True God Himself. God distinguishes Himself from everyone else when He says, “There is none like Me,” therefore, He cannot be revealed, and in turn, He cannot possibly be truly believed in, through an avenue of lies about Him contained in false gospels. God does not give His saving Faith to His people so they will continue to believe in lies, false gospels and therefore false gods. You cannot be born again without being translated from the kingdom of lies to God’s Kingdom of Truth. God also says, “…Is there a God beside Me? yea, there is no God; I know not any” (Isa. 44:8). This shows, with abundant clarity, that only the truth reveals the True God, and that lies, false teachings—even when they are mixed with the truth—can only ever reveal distorted, patchwork or ‘Frankenstein’ gods.
This is not rocket science. If what you hold to are lies about the True God, then all you have is a false god. If you believe in a false gospel that has led you to embrace a false god you are giving him glory for what you believe he has done in your life. God blesses the wicked and the good (see Matt. 5:45), yet attributing the True God’s goodness to a false god is nothing but sheer blasphemy (see Isa. 42:8; 48:11). “…and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, and brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in Whose hand thy breath is, and Whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified” (Dan. 5:23). “This is a powerful biblical example of the sin of not glorifying God. King Belshazzar is condemned for failing to glorify the one true God Who gives him life and controls his destiny, while praising idols. This passage illustrates the severe consequences of this sin.” How can you have the truth when all you believe is false? How can you have the truth, when at the very least, any truths you do believe are all stained with lies? How can you have the truth when what you believe the truth to be is nothing but a lie? How can you have the True God when what you believe about Him describes and identifies a false god? How can you have the True God when what you believe about Him is an utter rejection of Him. How can you be saved when your faith articulates a false god? “If the object of your faith is not the true God, but a construct of misunderstanding or false teaching, then that faith is misdirected and therefore incapable of achieving its intended purpose – salvation.”
To those who claim to have been saved in ignorance of the truth, I pose the following questions: How wrong does one have to be to be lost? I once presented this question to a Presbyterian pastor, and a highly intellectual man who claimed to be a Christian. Neither man knew how to answer. The ‘pastor’ literally said he did not know, and the other gentleman laughed nervously. Another ‘pastor’ with whom I once corresponded, exclaimed that he did not know how much error God tolerates regarding His Gospel. All three men clearly demonstrated that none of them knew the True God or His Gospel. They could not judge by the Gospel because they did not know or believe the Gospel of God. The answer is: NO error, which is by its very nature contrary to and contributes 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. 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). The only thing which could possibly constitute “any other gospel” is heretical doctrine—anything which differs with God’s Gospel. God only reveals the truth to His people so they will no longer believe lies about Him. GOD REVEALS HIMSELF THROUGH HIS WORD AND BY GRACE ALONE GRANTS HIS PEOPLE THE FAITH TO BELIEVE IT. He grants them His gift of Faith to believe all the doctrines of His Gospel. According to the True God there is only one God and there is none like Him, and the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of truth, only points to the Saviour Who is the Truth. How can anyone be saved who believes the opposite of this—in a false gospel which they were led to by the spirit of error! The one True God reveals His one True and only Gospel and gifts His people one Faith by Grace alone to believe only it. All else is an utter fabrication, and all other gods are in reality none other than Satan in disguise. Such a succinct statement as “There is none like Me”, lends credence to the fact that God is a Trinity: one God three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that only the truth reveals the True God, which lies and inaccuracies can never do. The telling difference between the Trinity and counterfeits is that any ‘trinities’, or triads, of paganism were always referred to as three gods, not one God as three Persons. It is important to point out that: “THERE ARE NO TRINITIES IN PAGAN THEOLOGY. There are triads (groups of three gods) but no trinities (one God in three Persons). This alone reveals the truth of God’s saying “There is none like Me,” for the mind of man has never conceived a God Who is One God in three Persons. Having a faith steeped in lies, or even having one foot in the realm of truth and the other in lies, is having faith in a false god. Any truths mixed with the lies of a false gospel would contradict and nullify the lies and vice versa.
It is just as unreasonable to believe that everyone is correct in their contrasting religious beliefs as it is to believe that all are wrong. They can’t all be right because there are so many differences and contradictory doctrines, and they can’t all be wrong due to the simple fact that the truth is out there. If there is error, there must be truth, for how can there be error if there is no truth? Is it possible, however, to examine this situation more closely to see if we can gain a clearer picture as pertaining to what exactly the truth is, and what it is not? Who the True God is and how to identify the counterfeits? When it comes to contrasting and contradictory beliefs we may rightly presume that not all are right, but the question remains, ‘are all wrong?’ Does the fact that there is a seemingly endless array of views and opinions about God rule out the possibility that any of them are actually true? Evidently not. So, just exactly what is right and what is wrong; how many are right and how many are wrong? Who is the true God, and what are the lies that reveal false gods? What is the truth? How does one wade through all the vast amount of beliefs and faiths out there, not to mention the cavalcade of entities claiming to be the true God, and find assurance that one has arrived at the truth? How can we know? How can we be sure what the truth is and who truly is God? Well, believe it or not, one does not have to conduct an endless in-depth, painstaking, mind-numbing, tedious and life-long study of every religion and doctrine in existence, cross-referencing and comparing each teaching with all the others in order to separate fact from fiction.
God’s declarative and descriptive statement: “There is none like Me” (Isa. 46:9), reveals the fact that there is no god like the True God; there is no Saviour like the True Saviour and there is no spirit like the Holy Spirit Who is the Spirit of sanctifying Truth. All other gods are false gods; all other saviours are counterfeit saviours and all other spirits are spirits of error. This, in turn, must mean that the Gospel of God is demonstrably like no other gospel: God’s Salvation Plan must clearly be like no other, and the Faith God gives to His people is also like no other, for it only believes in God’s Gospel and counts all other faiths as dead. It does not believe there are many paths to Heaven, but only one. This tells us that as there is One God and there is none like Him, so, too, there is one Gospel and there are absolutely none that are like it. One God, one Gospel, one Way. So how does one discern the true from the false? What is it that groups all false gospels together leaving only God’s one true Gospel completely separate and utterly unique? What are we to look for that separates God’s unique Gospel from every other so-called gospel? The most concise and efficient aid, the short-cut if you will, to discovering the answer to the above questions is seeing if there is any commonality in people’s religious beliefs, in other words, is there a common thread that runs through every individual religion out there that links all religions together. Is there at least one unifying theme among the religions of the world and the gods they worship that can definitively be termed a telling factor? There most certainly is.
Guided by God’s own words, “…there is none like Me” (Isa. 46:9), we may rest assured that diametrically opposing teachings cannot be describing the same god, and certainly not the True God. Moreover, any teaching which is not what God has stated in His Word, no matter how minutely it strays from God’s Word, simply cannot be God’s Word. If there is none like God then only the truth can reveal Him. If the True God is revealed only by truth alone, then it stands to biblical reason that any untruths—consisting purely of error or truths mixed with error—are forever associated with false gods. God says, “…there is none like Me...” In the equation 1 + 1 = 2, there is no other number like 2 because it is the only true answer. “Truth is not a spectrum; it is a specific point.” Any other number apart from 2 in our equation is not merely ‘less true,’ it is entirely wrong. “If the destination is 2 and you arrive at any other number, you have not reached a ‘different version’ of the truth, you have simply remained in error.” Every other answer, including those which have the most infinitesimal fraction added to or taken from 2, is false. All false answers fall into one group. The numeral 2 in this equation is the only one that is in a group of its own; no other answer qualifies because there is no other answer like it. God is the only True God, for there is no other god like Him. Every other so-called god is a false god. Since God is the only True God, His Gospel must necessarily be the only true Gospel. “If the premise is true, then the conclusion has to be true; there’s no other logical possibility. This means that just as there is only one true God, there can only be one true Divine Message that accurately represents Him and His will. Any other ‘gospel’ (religious teaching, philosophy, or claim) is, by extension, false or incomplete.” All other so-called gospels are false gospels. Lies do not reveal the True God. Everything that conflicts with the truth cannot be revealing the True and only God of Truth. If a doctrine teaches, or if one believes anything which is not Scripturally accurate concerning Who God is and what God has done, then it is of a certainty that the True God is not being spoken of. “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). Preaching any other gospel is preaching any other god but the True and only God. The inherent danger of false gospels is they do not teach the True God; therefore, there can be no saving power in their message—NO MATTER WHO TEACHES THEM or how many believe them! Anything which differs from God’s Gospel is Satan’s gospel. Anything which is not God’s Gospel is Satan’s gospel. There is, because it is impossible for there to be, no middle ground. The Gospel/gospel you believe reveals whether you are saved or accursed. The fact that there is none like the distinctive, inimitable, True and only God, nor any gospel like His Gospel, reveals the reality that there is no other real God beside Him (see 1 Cor. 8:5,6). We quickly learn that anything which conflicts with God’s Word cannot possibly be defining, and therefore, identifying the True God.
Returning now to the telling factor that is indicative of all man-made religion which distinguishes and separates it from the only True God, His Gospel and the Faith He grants to all His children by Grace alone to believe it. The most common denominator, the one most significantly telling component that links and binds all religions together—whose gods and gospels are NOT like the True God and His Gospel—is the fact that of over 4,000 religions in the world all teach personal obedience as the indispensable ingredient, the critical element, the essential component necessary to achieve or at the very least maintain salvation, and that ensures one is on the right pathway to Heaven—despite the vast differences in what they believe and who they say God is. This is not some insignificant observation. Salvation in any way based or dependent on acts of obedience is a horrendous and totally misleading lie which instantly appeals only to natural man in his lost and innately sinful state, for it is ingrained in him that in order to make it to Heaven, he must (thereby implying he can) appease God by what he does—by personal obedience. After all, only you can make up for what you have done, right? Only your obedience can get you to Heaven, right? WRONG! All men—ignorant of, and therefore not submitted to, the Righteousness of Christ—naturally turn to a self-righteousness as the sure and only way to Heaven. This is a lost man’s thinking; this is the religion of the world. It operates under many names and guises, but all man-made religion is the religion of the lost, which keeps them all in an accursed state. Personal obedience as the way to Heaven is at the hub of the man-centred worldwide, Satanically-inspired and energized religious system.
But the outstanding question of our time is, if personal obedience is the road to Heaven, how would any of us know whether we had ever been obedient enough? What is the benchmark? What is the standard by which we can measure whether or not we are being obedient enough to be saved? What happens if our level of obedience drops below the ‘acceptable mark’? And who sets this benchmark, and where are the Scriptures that lend support to this mythical benchmark? What qualifies whichever religious leaders you follow to be the ones who dictate what a man needs to do—strongly implying that he must do—in order to attain Heaven? The fact that no one can answer these questions, or provide any concrete Scriptural support for any answer they may have, has subsequently given rise to what most people have come to accept in the matter of salvation: the idea that doing one’s best in life will be enough to get them into Heaven, no matter who God really is, or which doctrines they believe, for—the skewed reasoning is—who can do more than their best. Who can go beyond their sincerest most exhaustive efforts in doing good? Who can exceed their very best deeds? This is man’s conclusion, this is man’s religion: the religion of the hopeless; the religion of the lost; the religion of all those who do not know, and are, therefore, without the True and only God Who clothes His chosen with His Righteousness and Whose people want nothing to do with their own righteousness (see Phil. 3:9). False religious thinking and teachings born out of minds that are enmity against God forces God to accept people into Heaven based on their terms rather than Grace, Mercy and God’s own Righteousness. This dependence on doing one’s best becomes quite problematic to say the least in light of the following Scripture: “…verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Psa. 39:5). Jesus Christ is the only hope for right standing before the Holy God.
‘Doing your best’ is a stylized form of Satanist Aleister Crowley’s self-centred axiom: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” Doing your best is ultimately doing your own version of what is best. “‘Doing your best’ functions as a sliding scale because it is inherently subjective and fluctuates based on a person’s feelings, circumstances, and shifting self-interest. Unlike a fixed mathematical truth, this ‘best’ lacks a permanent standard, making it a moving target that changes whenever the carnal mind seeks to justify a new level of performance.” Therefore, there can be no one standard for Righteousness acceptable to God other than each individual doing the best they can. Those who say the Gospel is lost and that no one knows what it is, or that the answer lies somewhere between Arminianism and Calvinism, have nothing to resort to but to say that as long as a person does their best and believes their best, everything will be okay. The madness, not to mention the heresy, in such thinking is evidenced by the fact that the Scriptures clearly state a person at their best is nothing but vanity—completely profitless—and a person who does not believe the Gospel of God WILL be damned. A person doing their best and believing their best is a person who is a veritable law unto themselves. They live as morally as they can according to what they consider high moral living; furthermore, a person believing their best is merely a person who believes everything they believe because they believe it to be true. The Standard is now no longer the one which God has set—Perfect Obedience and belief of the Gospel—but that which each individual has set for themselves. “Aleister Crowley had a profound and foundational influence on the modern, secularized, and occult-inspired obsession with ‘following your own truth’ or ‘living your own truth. Crowley’s phrase ‘Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law’ laid the groundwork for 1960’s counterculture and the subsequent shift toward radical individualism and self-empowerment.” It ultimately does not matter what laws of God they fail to live up to, or how many doctrines they fail to believe, as long as they do the very best they possibly can and believe what they believe the truth to be. If you do not believe the truth, you believe a lie; if you do not believe the Gospel of God you believe a false gospel; and if you rely on doing your best—thinking this will grant you entrance into Heaven—you do away with the perfect Obedience of Christ, which established the only Righteousness by which a man will be justified in God’s eyes.
Contrary to how the carnal mind of man thinks, it is not man who sets the Standard for acceptance with God, but God Himself Who is the “Author and Finisher of the only Standard that exists: God’s own absolute and unchanging Righteousness.” Everyone has their own version of their best. Consequently, doing your best under the assumption that it will be enough to get you into Heaven is nothing more than living life your own way, and obeying as best you can, whatever that may mean. This approach entails varying personal levels of obedience; yet, adherers to such a flawed philosophy believe that these different interpretations and levels of best will nonetheless equally gain everyone entrance to Heaven and meet with God’s approval. That one man’s best is better or not as good as another man’s best does not change the fact in the religionist’s mind that both will receive the same prize. The reality is: We are not our own gods; we have not been given a license to set our own standards. The Standard is not you doing your best, but PERFECTION. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that the only righteousness that will justify a man before God is established solely by the perfect Obedience of the Saviour, Jesus Christ. The fact that this Righteousness was earned by Another and can only be imputed to a person, reveals the undeniable reality that man’s highest level of obedience is intrinsically, woefully and completely inadequate to meet the Standard God has set. Be it through high moral living and/or religious rituals and ceremonies, the maintaining of such traditions, these man-made religions, which all find their origin in the deceptive hearts and corrupted minds of men, instruct people to obey ‘God’, and if you do more good than bad in your life, then all will be well. How much good it will take to undo the bad is never identified. “The ancient Egyptians believed that upon death, a deity would weigh your heart to determine whether your good deeds outweighed your bad ones. Based on this judgment, you would then be sent to either their version of heaven or hell.” Nothing could be further from the truth!
The following incontestable truths straight from the Word of God will shatter this world-wide myth into oblivion. The Word of the True God says: “…every man AT HIS BEST state is altogether VANITY…every man is vanity…and all our righteousnesses are as FILTHY RAGS…” (Psa. 39:5,11; Isa. 64:6). Nothing you do can ever undo the bad you have done. The worst of which is to think that one can become justified before God by one’s own imperfect obedience. “The sin of trying to save oneself via imperfect obedience is actually greater than the bad deeds themselves, because it is an act of supreme pride against God’s provided Righteousness.” God says that a man at his best is entirely unprofitable. Moreover, all the righteousnesses, all the ‘good’ that a man believes he has done through his best efforts at obedience, which man hastily, desperately clothes himself with is in reality nothing more than filthy rags in the sight of God. A man’s ‘good deeds’ can never outweigh the bad, for he can do no good: “…there is none that doeth good, no, not one…For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Eccl. 7:20 & Rom. 3:12). These Scriptures cut right to the heart of the matter revealing a lost man’s vain hope of salvation when relying on his ‘good deeds,’ even his best efforts at personal obedience. Ask a thousand people how one gets to Heaven, and the majority, if not all, will reply, ‘Do your best that’s all we can do, that’s all we have’. That’s right, all man can do is obey as best he can. The problem with this mindset is the Word of God declares man even at his best is nothing but VANITY! Man is a sinner that can do no good as black can never be white (see Jer. 13:23). It profits a man absolutely nothing to be as obedient as he can be, moreover, even the slightest appeal to one’s efforts at obedience means, according to the Word of God, that Christ the Saviour will profit that man nothing (see Gal. 5:2). This is man on his own. This is a man without God.
A man who relies on his imperfect, sin-laden obedience to justify himself, or at least aid in his justification, is a man without Christ and His Perfect, sinless Righteousness. A man with his corrupted obedience that can only ever produce an unacceptable righteousness, can never be justified by the Holy God. God only justifies His people by HIS Righteousness and not their own. This uniquely acceptable Righteousness “…is of Me, saith the LORD” (Isa. 54:17), therefore, it cannot be of them. A man cannot be justified by his personal obedience, but only by the Obedience of Christ Jesus alone (see Rom. 5:19). Even if a man could offer to God a perfect obedience, today’s obedience can never expunge yesterday’s sins. It is only through and in conjunction with the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ that sin is forever wiped from a man’s account by its being imputed to Christ’s account. If you do not have one, you do not have the other. “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 cf. Rom. 5:21). More on this later. Man at his worst or at his best is equally a man without the true Christ, without the true God and, therefore, without any real hope in the world. Man, by nature, is hopelessly helpless. That which deceives him most is often what naturally and readily appeals. Likewise, that which is seemingly, at first, the most obviously true is oftentimes the most deceptive. The seemingly obvious is not always true, and for many, the truth is not always that which one is immediately drawn to, or what is readily apparent. In the absence of truth a lie often makes perfect sense.
“Awareness is a fundamental aspect of reality,” however, when that awareness amounts to nothing but a blurred vision, or is encumbered by a deficient knowledge, all one is left with is unreality—an illusion of truth, supported only by misinformation and disinformation, rather than the truth itself. Those who do not know the truth are singularly exposed and prone to a contagion of suggestions and deceptions. They are “…tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. 4:14). If you do not know the correct answer to an equation, or lack the mathematical knowledge of how to arrive at the correct answer, you are susceptible to accepting a lie that, for all intents and purposes, appears to the ignorant to be nothing but the truth. To compound things further, natural man is predisposed to error in matters spiritual. He has a natural proclivity for that which makes sense to his natural mind, but has no grasp of and no natural attraction toward the actual truth of God because he is without proper and correct spiritual discernment, for he is not born again. “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 (the things of the Spirit of God) are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14 cf. Jn. 3:3; 1 Cor.1:18). Natural man is attracted to “things that align with his instincts, desires, or existing way of thinking. He is drawn to things that are immediately attractive, easy to accept, or require little effort or critical thought and is most easily tricked by what he wants to believe or what feels comfortable and intuitive to him.” Man, by nature, cannot discern things spiritually because he is spiritually dead to the True God. Despite this, ignorance has never stopped the foolish from offering and adhering to their own opinions, misinterpreting carnal understanding as spiritual wisdom.
The goal of establishing one’s own righteousness is the foundation of the world’s evil religious system. It is the golden calf of the hopeless. Far from being a noble exercise, seeking acceptance with God by one’s own obedience is the very essence of anti-Christ teaching which has never led anyone to the True God. God points only to HIS Righteousness. Religion points to man’s righteousness. God points only to Christ’s Obedience. Religion points to man’s obedience. God shares the glory for salvation with NO ONE! God says a man is saved by the Obedience of One—His Son Jesus. Just as a man’s sins can only be washed away by the Blood of Christ, a man can only be justified by the Obedience of Christ. Religion says salvation is either based on a man’s own individual obedience, or at the very least, cannot be achieved or maintained without it. Religion does not teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Religion is man-centric not Christ-centric. That which does not come from the truth can never lead to it. You can only get the truth from the truth. The Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth Who guides His people into all truth (see Jn. 16:13), not to fiction nor to a morbid, unnatural, combination of truth and lies. Religious beliefs that stem from the mind of man always have man as his own saviour, or co-saviour. Such beliefs invariably have salvation an impossibility without a man’s participation. This line of thinking is natural to man; it is inherent in his sinful nature. The sinful nature of man has no natural means of facilitating belief in a salvation that is by Grace alone. He needs to be spiritually born again. “Because this nature is inherited, a person’s default tendency is to resist God’s way of salvation (grace alone) and to prefer a path that centers on self (works/obedience).” Mankind needs not a revelation from God to think this way, for it is sown into the very fabric of his being “(The essential, inherent structure or nature of humanity). The impulse toward self-reliance is an innate and universal (part of the sinful nature), not something that has to be learned or revealed through external teaching.” However, man does need a revelation from God to see and understand that salvation can only be attained through the Perfect Obedience of Jesus Christ, and no other. To think this way exhibits the true gift of repentance. In reference to salvation, Jesus said: “…With men this (salvation) is impossible; but (only) with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). Conversely, the religion of man blasphemously asserts that salvation is ultimately only possible by means of a man’s individual obedience, his input and contribution, and that with God alone salvation is impossible. Anti-Christ religion has man choosing ‘God’ rather than God Sovereignly choosing man. Anti-Christ religion says Christ is not enough; that God is not enough to save a man; indeed, that God cannot save anyone without their permission or contribution. Anti-Christ religion has man qualifying himself for Heaven by his own sin-soaked righteousness rather than solely by the Perfect Righteousness which comes by the Obedience of Christ, and no other’s.
The True God is the unchoosable God, for all are by nature spiritually blind. They do not know the True and only God, consequently it is not Him they seek (see Rom. 3:11). Search the Scriptures and see that the True God is always the Chooser, never the one chosen. According to the doctrines of the religions of the world, salvation starts with man doing, and not God ordaining (see Acts 13:48). ‘You must do this,’ or ‘You must do that before, or so that, God can then do His part.’ God’s hands are tied until a man chooses to untie them. This is a stark difference to the God of the Bible: “But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased” (Psa. 115:3); “Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places” (Psa. 115:6 cf. Job 23:13). “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). The True God is a far cry from the pitiful god of man’s religious imagery. Doctrines which heretically promote a man’s acts of obedience as essential to salvation always work on the Grace-denying principle of man doing first, rather than teaching salvation by Grace alone which, of course, always has God not only doing first, but doing everything. If it is by Grace, then it is ALL by Grace. Any teaching which has salvation dependent in any way to any degree on what a man does is a direct attack on the only True God Who only saves by Grace alone: what He does. If the key to salvation, according to man’s religious thinking, is man’s obedience, then it is man’s obedience that makes all the difference: the difference between saved and lost. yet Scripture says: “For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?...” (1 Cor. 4:7 cf. Rom. 11:33-35). If it is God Who makes one to differ from another, then it stands to biblical reason that salvation MUST BE ALL OF GOD, AND THEREFORE, ALL BY GRACE. Man must do in order to gain is the basic philosophy of all religion, underpinned by the lie that mankind, by nature, is not spiritually dead. This line of thinking is in actuality a rebellion against God and it stretches all the way back to Satan’s temptation of Eve in Genesis 3. As far as the majority is concerned, doing good—backed by a sincere morality—whatever that may entail—along with dedicated obedience, doing one’s best, is without doubt the key to salvation itself. Being ignorant of Christ’s Righteousness—of the need for and sufficiency of His Obedience alone—lost man sees his own obedience through rose-coloured glasses and as an imperative which salvation cannot do without.
Being as good as one can be is the one thing that groups all of man’s religions into one basket, and it all comes from one source: the sinful nature of man introduced to him by Satan who is the father of lies, in his lie to Eve that if she obeyed him, if she acted on his word, if she ate of the fruit in open defiance of what God had told Adam, she and her husband, rather than suffer any negative consequences, would actually become as gods. They would not need God, for they would become as gods themselves: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods…” (Gen. 3:4,5). Being as good as one can be, believing this is enough to carry a man into Heaven, circumnavigates the need for a Saviour. It does away with the absolute necessity of Christ’s Righteousness, and replaces it with the lie of the essentiality of a man’s obedience. It is like the convicted man making a ruling in his own case judging himself innocent based on his belief he has done more good than bad, and expecting to walk right past the judge who has just pronounced a custodial sentence on him. No matter all the discrepancies, the interweaving, connecting line is that all of the world’s religions agree that what a person does in their lives makes all the difference to where they will spend eternity regardless of what they believe, or who they believe in. In other words, works far outweigh the importance of doctrine and acts of obedience are far more important than faith in the Obedience of the Saviour. But if works of obedience are more important than doctrine, then they are more important than what God has said, more important than the truth of the Gospel. The truth comes from one source: God, while lies come from one source: Satan. Religionists’ claim is that sincere obedience to whatever and whoever one has chosen to be obedient and faithful to, is the anvil upon which is forged a righteousness acceptable to the Deity. The reason for this indisputable and undeniable connection among all religions is the fact they all find their origin in the mind of fallen man. The very concept is instinctual, inherent in every man’s sinful nature which is why it so readily appeals and is seemingly the only logical solution that will provide a one-way ticket to Heaven. Personal obedience as the way to Heaven is woven by sin into the very fabric of a lost man’s thinking. It is the forlorn hope of the accursed. From one end of the religious spectrum to the other, all agree that personal obedience, no matter one’s beliefs or who one is believing in, or claiming to believe in, is the universal passkey that salvation cannot do without. This mindset stems from the sinful nature inherent in every human being, no matter the culture, no matter the colour and no matter the gods they worship. No false god has ever opposed the necessity of a man’s obedience as an obligation in order for him to attain or maintain his salvation.
What man and all his religious ideologies have failed to address is the fact that if man is to in any way contribute to his salvation by means of his obedience, not only must his obedience be absolutely perfect, requiring him to be without sin and thus free from a sinful nature, but he must also contend with the reality of being under the curse of sin and the eternal consequences of it. The penalty must be paid, not only for sin, but also for the fact man is a sinner. How can a man come to the God he is by nature so vehemently opposed to? Simply doing good, “or performing moral duties” is no answer to addressing the problem of “past iniquities” and “accumulated guilt,” not to mention the fact that all are by nature condemned sinners: the sinnerhood of man. There is no use in diligently obeying the speed limit after one has broken the speed limit. No matter how many years have gone by without your exceeding the speed limit, this in no way mitigates your now having broken the speed limit and your outstanding obligation to pay the penalty. Past or future obedience can never undo or make up for disobedience, therefore, you must pay the penalty! Do the crime expect to do the time. Every law has an accompanying penalty, and the penalty for sin is death: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23). There is no third alternative: either you will pay for your sin, or it must be paid by Another. God is Love, certainly, but God is also Holy and a God of Justice and the God of vengeance. God declares: “To Me belongeth vengeance and recompence…” (Deut. 32:35 cf. Psa. 94:1; Nah. 1:2; Rom. 12:19). “…The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that WILL BY NO MEANS CLEAR THE GUILTY…” (Ex. 34:6,7 cf. Psa. 94:1; Rom. 12:19).
God says of Himself: “...there is no God else beside Me; a Just God and a Saviour...” (Isa. 45:21). In order for God to save a sinner (someone who has broken His law) without perverting His justice, His law must be obeyed perfectly and His justice, which demands full payment for sin, must be satisfied. This clearly cannot be done by the offender as he is a sinner by nature to begin with and so everything he does is saturated in sin. Even given all eternity, man could never come to the end of paying for his sin. That which is by nature sinful can never successfully pay the penalty for its sinfulness. “A flawed entity cannot offer a perfect, unblemished payment (atonement) to satisfy justice. It’s like trying to clean dirt with mud.” The only possible way to achieve salvation—for the penalty for sin to be fully paid and a perfect Righteousness established—for such a hopeless wretch is by means of a Substitute. Proof of this is seen in Christ Jesus coming to the earth to lay down His life as a Sacrifice for the sins of His people, and by His Obedience alone establishing the only Righteousness that will present them justified before the Holy God (see 2 Cor. 5:21). This is why Jesus is the Saviour, and that no man can save himself by anything he does, or does not do. God does not excuse sin. Your sins were either punished in Christ, or you will be punished eternally for them. God does not excuse sin based on any amount of obedience, tears, repentance or sorrow, etc. There is a price to pay and it must be paid. “…the wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23). All man-made religion does is fool its adherents into believing that a reformed life is not only essential but unquestionably sufficient to get you to Heaven. No matter how much you believe you are a different person now, and that you don’t do the things you used to do and frequent the places you used to spend time in, the fact remains you are a sinner and nothing you do can change the reality that you have broken God’s Law and there is an eternal price to pay. All man-made religion is anti-Christ. They all promote a man’s obedience rather than Christ’s Obedience alone. Where Christ’s Obedience is seemingly promoted, it is always in tandem with the obedience that is taught as necessary to ultimately make all the difference: a man’s personal obedience. JUST AS GRACE DOES NOT NEED WORKS TO EFFECT SALVATION, SO TOO, CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS NEEDS NO OTHER’S TO JUSTIFY. False religion is always identifiable by the emphasis it places upon man’s obedience. It is always over and above Christ’s Obedience, for it insists there can be no salvation without it.
Diametrically contrasting every man-made religion out there is one Faith, a belief system that flatly, categorically rejects all such thinking, including the combination of a man’s obedience coupled with the efforts of God as the way to Heaven. Just as the truth stands out among all lies, there is One Faith that overshadows and eclipses all man-made religions. The only faith out there that rejects the concept of obedience of the individual—in whole or in part—as the way to Heaven, is the one True Christian Faith. THE ONLY FAITH GIVEN BY THE ONLY TRUE GOD, WHO IS LIKE NO OTHER, BELIEVES THAT THE ENTIRETY OF SALVATION, FROM BEGINNING TO FINAL GLORY, IS PERFORMED, ACCOMPLISHED AND GIVEN TO ALL GOD’S PEOPLE BASED SOLELY ON THE GRACE OF GOD. “…Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith…” (Heb. 12:2), “And ye are complete in Him…” (Col. 2:10). The Faith God freely gives to His people is exclusively attracted to and therefore believes only in His Gospel, for it alone speaks the truth concerning man, salvation and the only Righteousness that has successfully achieved the Justification of all the elect. One of the clearest teachings that demonstrates the uniqueness of the True and only God is the fact that the only righteousness that saves, is not one’s own righteousness attained by one’s own obedience, but the Righteousness of Jesus Christ His Son which could only have been accomplished by HIS Obedience. True Christianity teaches the Gospel of salvation by Grace alone through Faith alone, not in self-righteousness, but in Another’s Righteousness: the Righteousness of the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. “…by the Obedience of ONE shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19 cf. Isa. 53:11). Notice, that it is not by the obedience of the many, not by each individual’s obedience that they will be made Righteous; nor is it by the Obedience of One supplemented by the obedience of the many, but ONLY BY THE OBEDIENECE OF ONE—JESUS CHRIST—shall the many be made Righteous. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO HEAVEN! Justification by Grace needs nothing less than and nothing more than the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. This reveals the sufficiency, efficiency and necessity of the Saviour and what He has done for His people.
No one else’s obedience but that of Christ’s will gain a person the ONLY Righteousness that is acceptable to God because no other’s obedience is perfect. No other’s obedience is THE SAVIOUR’S OBEDIENCE. Likewise, there is no sacrifice for sin that will abolish the penalty for sin that every sinner deserves except the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your death does not atone for your sin, just as your obedience can never gain you the Righteousness by which God justifies His people. The Lord Jesus UNDERWENT THE PENALTY FOR SIN DUE UNTO HIS PEOPLE, AND CHARGED THEM WITH HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. No other people have that Righteousness, for no other people have had their sins credited to the Saviour. “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). THERE IS NO SALVATION WITHOUT THE SACRIFICE OF THE SAVIOUR FOR HIS PEOPLE, THE IMPUTATION OF THEIR SINS TO HIM AND THE IMPUTATION OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THEM. There is no salvation without SUBSTITUTION. There is no salvation without the SAVIOUR. Salvation is by Grace alone through Faith alone WITHOUT any individual’s personal efforts at obedience: “…to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for Righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without works” (Rom. 4:5,6 cf. Rom. 3:20-22). “…The just shall live by Faith” (Rom. 1:17 cf. Hab. 2:4; Gal. 3:11). “By grace…through faith…not of works…” (Eph. 2:8,9). To “believe on Him” is to trust in HIS Righteousness and not seek to establish one of your own.
It is not the person that strives at, and trusts in, their own obedience in order to establish a righteousness of their own who will be saved (see Matt. 7:21-23), but the one whose trust is solely in Christ and His Obedience which has already established the only Righteousness—the perfect Righteousness—who will be saved. Saving Righteousness does not need your imperfect efforts at obedience. Why would perfection need anything, let alone that which can add nothing to it? “Perfection, by definition, cannot be improved upon. Therefore, human effort is not only unnecessary but logically impossible as a contribution.” As it is by Grace not works (otherwise grace would no longer be grace); so too, if it is by Christ’s Obedience, it cannot be by yours. Saving Righteousness is totally devoid of your efforts at obedience. Saving Righteousness does not require your obedience, for it has ALREADY been established exclusively by the Obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. What could any man possibly add to perfection? You cannot clean a wall with dirty rags; likewise, you cannot gain justification with God by the filthy rags of your own righteousnesses (see Isa. 64:6). Why would you seek to clean a wall that is already pristine? “Man’s works are defiled; Christ’s Righteousness is already perfect.” Your salvation does not require you, for “…Salvation is of the Lord” (Jon. 2:9). This is the heart and soul of the Gospel of the Grace of God: salvation comes only by the Righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord, God and Saviour of His people charged by Grace to His people and believed in with the gift of Faith given to them by God. Salvation does not come by the obedience of the many, but only by the Obedience of One, Jesus Christ, FOR the many. The clear display of Christ’s Obedience being sufficient to establish the Righteousness by which God will justify the many, exposes the needlessness of any man’s obedience to be added to it. “Christ's work is a finished, closed set that cannot admit external contributions…the truth of Christ's work acts as a light that reveals the inherent futility or redundancy of human effort.” It is Christ’s Obedience, and not their own that all the saved look to. Salvation is wholly reliant upon the Saviour, not the saved. The Christian plays no part in the abolishment of his sin, nor does his justification hinge in any way upon his obedience. This is not to say the saved are not to live obedient lives, or do not have to be obedient in their walk with God, it merely teaches that no part of a man’s salvation, his justification before the Holy God, is grounded on man’s obedience at all, but on Christ’s Obedience alone.
It is Christ’s Righteousness alone that justifies a man AND MAINTAINS his justified state before the Holy God. To obey is not wrong, nor is it an option for the believer. If you are a true Christian you should and will obey God. You will perform good works, “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). However, it is extremely unchristian, evil, blasphemous and profoundly heretical to believe that your obedience is necessary, or that it even be remotely considered a contributing factor to the only Righteousness that is acceptable to God in establishing Justifying Righteousness, when it is God Himself Who states that the Righteousness of His people is His very own Righteousness: “…their Righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord” (Isa. 54:17). “This verse emphasizes that the Righteousness of God’s people is not self-attained but is a gift that comes directly from Him. This concept is foundational to the Christian understanding of justification—that a person is made right with God not through their own works or efforts, but through God’s grace alone.” Indeed, salvation—the whole of salvation—is of the Lord. “Salvation is of the Lord…Salvation belongeth unto the Lord…” (Jon. 2:9 & Psa. 3:8). Salvation is His, and it is His to give to whomsoever He wills. “The idea that their salvation is of God is a direct and logical extension of this principle. The Bible consistently presents salvation as a work initiated, accomplished, and maintained by God (see Eph. 2:8,9). Righteousness is a necessary component of salvation. To be saved is to be justified, or declared Righteous, in the eyes of a Holy God. Since the Righteousness that saves is a gift from God, it follows that the salvation it brings is also a gift from God. The two are intertwined; you cannot have one without the other, and both are sourced in God. The Bible teaches that God’s work of salvation is accomplished through Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1 states, ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ' (Rom. 5:1 cf. 1 Cor. 1:4).” The Christian has peace with God because of Christ’s Obedience, not their own. “It is Jesus’ Righteousness that is credited to believers, and it is His sacrifice that secures their salvation. This further reinforces the Scripture that declares salvation is not a human accomplishment but a divine one. In summary, the Scriptural teaching that ‘their righteousness is of Me’ perfectly aligns with the broader biblical theme that salvation is entirely of God. Both Righteousness and salvation are gifts, freely given by God through the work of Jesus Christ, and are not based on any human merit.”
Salvation is not by God’s people at all, as the Righteousness that justifies them is not of themselves but of the Saviour. It is all of God. How can a man’s imperfect, sin-stained obedience possibly add anything or be in any respect complementary to Christ’s Obedience? When have you ever heard the concept of imperfection being necessary, or augmenting perfection in any way? Since when has the truth needed a lie to make it truer? Since when has perfection ever needed imperfection to make it more perfect, or complete? Ironically, attempting to establish a righteousness of one’s own is a most unrighteous endeavour. Obedience by sinners, in an attempt to establish an acceptable righteousness before God, is DISOBEDIENCE of the highest order. “This particular kind of ‘obedience’ is the most extreme or profound form of disobedience possible. It’s not just regular disobedience; it’s disobedience pushed to its absolute limit or most significant manifestation.” Any obedient act of a saved man is evidence of his salvation by Grace through Faith in the Obedience of Another, and so cannot be what his salvation is conditioned upon. A saved man’s obedience is evidence that he has been saved by the Righteousness of Christ established by the Obedience of Christ. The elect are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, not because of good works (see Eph. 2:10). The chosen of God are elect unto obedience, not because of their obedience (see 1 Pet. 1:2). A saved man is completely justified by Christ, and therefore not at all by his own efforts: “…a man is NOT justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ…” (Gal. 2:16). It’s all about the gift of Faith in CHRIST and HIS Obedience, not in you and your imperfect attempts at obedience; “…by the deeds of the law there shall NO flesh be justified in His sight…” (Rom. 3:20 cf. Rom. 9:15,16; Gal. 2:16).
“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). Again, notice that the Christian is not without good works, only that he is the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus unto good works not because of good works. The works of obedience God has ordained for His people to walk in are not the reason for, nor are they the cause of their salvation, but are merely the fruits of it. The fruits of Grace. A saved man does not choose to be God’s workmanship, he does not choose to be created in Christ Jesus, just as the clay has no say as to what the potter will make of it (see Isa. 64:8; Jer. 18:4,6; Rom. 9:21). How can that which is not yet created choose to be created? How can that which does not yet exist will itself into existence? A man is saved because of the will, purpose, grace and mercy of God. He is the workmanship of God according to the will and purpose of God created in Christ Jesus by the grace of God to perform good works to the glory of God. The saved are not saved because of anything they have done. Nor do they remain saved because of anything they do. The Christian is not a self-made man, but a GOD-made man. There is no such thing as a self-styled Christian, only a man dead in sins and lost in his own delusion. The good works which a Christian performs were ordained by God for them to perform. They are saved TO perform them. They are not saved because they perform them. Good works are performed not in order to save, but because one is saved. Good works are performed by the ALREADY saved, not by the potentially saveable depending on the quantity or quality of the good works they perform. The apple tree did not will itself to become an apple tree, it was created to be an apple tree in order to produce apples. The apples it produces do not determine what the tree will be; it is what the tree was made to be that will determine its fruit. Only the already saved perform those particular and predetermined works.
But why is true Christianity so distinct, so singularly and functionally unique, so diametrically different from all the religions of the world? It is so distinct, unique and so diametrically different because it worships the True and Living God Who is like no other. God declares: “I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, 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. 46:9-11 cf. Isa. 14:24,27). God is Almighty. Significantly, the apostle Paul said he DID NOT receive the Gospel he taught from man, BUT FROM GOD HIMSELF! The apostle states: “But I certify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me is NOT after (not according to) man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11,12). This means that God’s Gospel is vastly different from every man-made gospel, for ALL OTHER GOSPELS ARE OF MAN NOT GOD! The only Gospel which gives God ALL the glory for salvation was revealed to the apostle by God Himself. All other gospels, all other plans, schemes and invented roads to salvation all give some glory to man because of what he has done. It is of no small significance that the only Gospel which teaches the exclusivity of Christ’s Obedience as the only way to Heaven, simultaneously rejecting the obedience of man, is the only Gospel that DID NOT come from man, but was revealed by Almighty God Himself. Most revealing is the fact that GOD’s Gospel is the only Plan of salvation that is entirely founded upon the Grace of the Almighty Sovereign God. At the very heart of every man-made religion is the essentiality of a man’s obedience to get and/or remain saved; the only Gospel which was revealed to the apostle Paul BY GOD teaches that from beginning to final glory the obedience of Christ ALONE is that which makes His people Righteous via the means of imputation. It just makes so much biblical sense that if there is no God like the True God, His Gospel must be radically different—indeed, the polar opposite—from every man-made religious ideology and plan that is contingent on man’s obedience for salvation. We see then the uniqueness of God’s Gospel as antithetically different, and which stands fundamentally and eternally opposed to all the worldly religions that find their origin in the mind of sinful man. Salvation is by God FOR man, not by God AND man.
As there is none like the True God, so too, there is no other gospel like God’s Gospel. Two Scriptures which exemplify this perfectly are Isaiah 46:9 and Galatians 1:8: “…I am God, and there is none else; I am God and there is none like Me….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 it is with God, so it is with His Gospel. ‘This is My Gospel and there is none else; this is My Gospel and there is none like it. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other God unto you than He whom we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.’ The reason why the preaching and believing of any other gospel other than the one God revealed to the apostle Paul can do nothing for any man except to leave him in an accursed state, is because none of those gospels was given by God to Paul. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD AND HE HAS ONLY ONE GOSPEL. All other so-called gospels are perversions of the Gospel of Christ (see Gal. 1:6,7). The one and only way to salvation is encapsulated in God’s Gospel and no other. Identifying gospels that come from man is quite simple, for they all stress the importance of personal obedience as the way to salvation, or at the very least, place the emphasis on one’s own obedience as an essential contributing factor, while the only Gospel that comes from God Himself has the spotlight firmly fixed on the importance and incomparable value of Christ’s Obedience ALONE imputed to a man by the vehicle of Grace alone! To say that one’s own personal obedience must, at the very least, be added to Christ’s Obedience reveals a heart that does not believe Christ’s Obedience is enough to make His people Righteous (see Rom. 5:19). Subscribers to such thinking are NOT saved; they are NOT Christians, for they do NOT believe the Gospel of Christ. Christ’s Gospel speaks only of HIS Righteousness. To attempt to combine Christ’s Righteousness with a man’s obedience would be like hitching two horses to opposite ends of a wagon. It is a self-defeating proposition. If you believe that Christ’s Obedience alone is not enough, then you are saying that Christ Himself as Saviour is not enough, and that He actually died in vain (see Gal. 2:21). Such a belief refutes the reality that Christ is the Saviour by Who He is and what He has done. If this does not send a loud and clear message to you, then you simply do not want to see it, let alone believe it. Man’s religions teach the righteousness of men – God’s Gospel teaches the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone.
The gospels that conclude salvation is impossible without the contribution of man are of men—to which they are naturally drawn, for they readily appeal to his pride and innate desire to control his eternal destiny—all find their origin in the minds of men. The gospels of men predominantly teach there is only one righteousness that man cannot do without, one righteousness that can get a man to Heaven—or at least assist in acquiring and maintaining a state of salvation—and that is one’s own personal righteousness achieved by one’s own personal obedience. No matter if they teach a saviour’s deeds as critically important to one’s salvation, all religion which is natural to man has a man’s obedience at the forefront and as the indispensable, obligatory ingredient necessary, central to a man’s salvation, and/or the perpetuation of salvation. No false gospel is without the proclamation that YOU must do something in order to be saved and/or that YOU must do something to remain saved. Yes, Scripture teaches that a man must believe the Gospel to be saved, but rather than stipulating this as a condition that must be met before salvation can take place, it is a clear sign that without belief in God’s Gospel none will be saved. It is not suggesting that belief is a prerequisite so that salvation can then take place, but a declaration that without an exclusive belief in the Gospel of God as His only power to save, salvation is impossible. Believing is a gift given by God to His people by Grace: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works…” (Eph. 2:8,9). Believing is not a work of man’s, but a work of God: “…This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent” (Jn. 6:29).
Only the Gospel of God teaches that it is by Grace alone that a man is saved. All false gospels contain one common and inherent theme which majors on man’s obedience—claiming salvation cannot do without it as the other essential component necessary for salvation—thus attacking and diminishing the role of Grace (see Eph. 2:8,9; Rom. 11:6). The message of such gospels is: ‘You don’t just need a Saviour; you need to do something too so that what the Saviour has done can come to fruition.’ If what you believe has what you do as a prerequisite to your salvation, or as a condition for the maintaining of your mythical saved state, your faith is in your own righteousness, for it believes a false gospel of works revealing the fact that you are either ignorant of, or outright reject, God’s Gospel of Grace. Your faith is of you and in you, not God. It is not of God; therefore, it cannot be in the one True God. You are not saved by Grace, you have not been granted the gift of Faith from God at all if you claim your personal obedience forms even part of the ground of salvation (see Rom. 4:4,5,16). The Grace of God saves through the gift of Faith in the Righteousness of Christ alone, not through your vain efforts at obedience. Only the Faith that comes as a gift from God believes in salvation by Grace alone; the faith inherent in all men by nature does not believe in salvation by Grace alone because it has no ability to see past the lie that God’s Grace needs your works to make it effectual. The saved man, the man who has been given the gift of Faith to believe in salvation by Grace alone, has nothing to boast of except in His Saviour and what He alone has done. Everything that has to do with salvation is a gift from God given to all His people by Sovereign Grace alone. The lost professing Christian says, ‘Yes, but one must choose God’. That kind of thinking comes only from the mind, heart and soul of people who believe Satan rather than God in the matter of spiritual death. How can a spiritually dead-to-God man possibly choose the God Who declared spiritual death the result of man’s disobedience? A spiritually dead sinner who is now born again by the Grace of God shows conclusive and irrefutable evidence that God has chosen him. The solution to man’s dilemma is not ‘choose God,’ but to have been chosen by God before the foundation of the world and made alive from the dead by Grace, according to the will and purpose of God. Any time you hear anyone say or preach ‘Yes, we are saved by grace, BUT…’ you are about to hear a false gospel, one that does not teach salvation by Grace alone, through the gift of Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. GRACE NEEDS NO ADDENDUM. If there are two methods, there must be two saviours. All such gospels are a phony, accursed plan that has salvation contingent on what YOU MUST DO: not on Grace alone, not on what God alone has done, but on what you do too. Don’t forget, the state of the spiritually dead man is one which describes him, no matter what he does, as not righteous, doing no good, not understanding and, therefore, not even seeking the True God; he is without Christ, without God, and has no hope (see Rom. 3:10-12; Eph. 2:12). Nothing which the spiritually dead man does profits him in the least when it comes to making himself right with God, for there are none of them that can do any good.
Man, in his natural state, is without the true and only God. Just as no man can love God whom God did not love first (see 1 Jn. 4:19), so too, no man can ‘choose God’, for God has chosen His people before the foundation of the world (see Eph. 1:4). Many say they ‘found God’, but how can this be when Scripture clearly states “…there is none that seeketh after God” (Rom. 3:11). God is not lost; it is man who is lost, and, the last time I checked, it is the lost that are found. The Seeker is not found by the lost, nor is the Shepherd found by His sheep (see Ezek. 34:11,12; Jn. 10:11,14,16). The salvation of spiritually dead sinners by Grace alone necessitated God choosing His people, for they could never—and due to their sinful nature—would never have chosen Him. They do not choose Him, but are drawn to Him by Him—by the One Who chose them. Jesus said: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him…” (Jn. 6:44). The word draw here literally means “to drag off, and metaphorically, to draw by inward power, lead, impel.” Salvation is about God choosing man, it has never been a case of a man’s choosing God. The words choose, choosest, chooseth, choosing and chose appear only a total of 7 times in the entire New Testament, and in NO instance are any of these words used in reference to a man choosing God. This is a highly significant and quite astonishing fact, which doubtless will come as no small surprise to those who have been taught to believe in man’s alleged free-will decision for Christ. If men did have a free will to choose God, it would not be unreasonable to expect that at least one of these words in at least one of the almost 8,000 verses of the New Testament would make reference to a man's choosing God. BUT THERE ARE NONE! The Lord Jesus Christ never once told anyone to choose Him, for He did the choosing, and then told the chosen to follow Him. “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you…” (Jn. 15:16). That is Grace. Those who follow Him do so not because they chose, but because they have been chosen. The will to follow comes in the wake of the will of God to choose. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power…” (Psa. 110:3).
At no point in a Christian’s life does he choose to perform good works because he is good, but always because he has been chosen. The chosen are “…created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). As with the chosen, the good works they do were chosen for them to do before the foundation of the world. Only the chosen follow. Those who believe they must choose God, are led by a counterfeit—the spirit of error sent by the father of lies, Satan. The True God’s people do not choose Him; how couold they when they are clearly the chosen ones — Chosen of God, according to the will of God by Grace alone, to believe and follow Him. Even those who witnessed Jesus after He was resurrected were chosen by God, “Him God raised up the third day, and shewed Him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God…” (Acts 10:40,41). Even the angels of God were chosen by Him. 1 Timothy 5:21 speaks of the “…elect angels…” Throughout history, God’s people have never been known individually or collectively as the choosers, but always as the chosen. The chosen follow because they are chosen, elected, predestinated, to do so. The chosen believe because they have all been foreordained by God to believe: “…as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). It was never a case of ‘they choose to follow’, but they follow only because they were chosen. Their believing and following is an outworking of the Grace used in choosing them. Now it must be pointed out that these 5 words, choose, choosest, chooseth, choosing and chose, do appear a total of 87 times in the Old Testament, however, as with the New Testament, there is not a single instance where any of them speak of a man choosing God. Think of it. Not one verse, in over 23,000 verses of the Old Testament which speaks of a man choosing God! Equally significant is the indisputable fact that in contrast to the relatively few occurrences of the words choose, choosest, etc., in the New Testament, the single word chosen is used a total of 29 times in the New Testament. Again, not once is the word chosen used in reference to any man having chosen God. Ignore these truths at your peril.
The only passage in the Old Testament, where there is any reference made to man choosing God is found in Joshua 24:14-22. In this passage we see Joshua speaking to the chosen people of God, Israel, saying, “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the Flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the Flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:14,15). Joshua is commanding all the tribes of Israel (see v. 1) to fear the Lord and serve Him, and to put away false gods. But if they thought it was evil to serve the Lord, Joshua told them to choose among the false gods, (either those of their fathers or of the Amorites), as to which they would serve. The people answered, “...God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods...we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:16, 21), to which Joshua replied, “...Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve Him...” (Josh. 24:22).
It is imperative that we not lose sight of the fact that the people to whom Joshua was speaking were ALREADY the people of God. They were not choosing to become the children of God, for GOD HAD ALREADY CHOSEN THEM and brought them out of Egypt. They had said “God forbid that we should forsake the Lord”, the word forsake in this verse meaning to relinquish or leave. These people were the children of Jacob who are referred to in Scripture, not as those who have chosen God, but as those who have been chosen by God: “...ye children of Jacob, His CHOSEN ones” (1 Chron. 16:13 cf. Psa. 105:6). God’s people, both in the Old and New Testaments, are always referred to as His chosen, His chosen ones, My chosen or the Lord thy God hath chosen, etc., (see Deut. 14:2; Isa. 43:20, 44:1; Mk. 13:20; Jn. 15:19; Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 2:9). The tribes of Israel had sinned, strayed and been disobedient to God, and all Joshua was saying to them was either serve the false gods or the True God. What all these people had done, and all these verses are showing, is that they repented before their God. This whole passage is about repentance by a people who were already God’s people, and not at all about them choosing to become God’s people. All God’s people stray and disobey at times; however, all invariably repent and return to the Lord, not based on their free will choice of Him, but on their being HIS CHOSEN ONES by Grace alone (see Psa. 80:3,7,19). Not incidentally, repentance is not a choice, but a gift (see 2 Tim. 2:25). God will never leave or forsake His people, therefore, they will always remain with Him: “For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people” (1 Sam. 12:22). “...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee....I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me” (Heb. 13:5 & Jer. 32:40). The Scriptures say that God makes covenant with His chosen, not with those who ‘choose’ Him, “I have made a covenant with MY CHOSEN…” (Psa. 89:3). The Septuagint has it: “I have made a covenant with My chosen ones…” Christ’s people are not choosers of Him, but are His chosen ones, “…for He is Lord of lords and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and CHOSEN, and faithful” (Rev. 17:14). Christ’s people “…are a chosen generation…” (1 Pet. 2:9).
The Christian is not saved because he believes, but he believes because he is saved. You cannot believe before you are made alive. Your eyes do not open before you wake up, but only after you have awakened. If Christians were saved because they believed, then salvation would be actualized only after an action they had taken. This would immediately cancel out Grace as being the cause for their belief. Many insist their teaching is that a man’s act of believing which initiates salvation is only made possible by Grace, but the reality is there is no room for Grace in such a false teaching, for if it is “…by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace…” (Rom. 11:6). If it is by Grace, then is it no more of you. Grace does not work hand-in-hand with works. Grace comes because there is nothing you can do. Works cannot possibly factor into the reason for salvation, nor its preservation. The Christian is “…preserved in Jesus Christ…” and “…kept by the power of God…” (Jd. 1:1 &1 Pet. 1:5), not by their works. If it is by what God has done, then it cannot be by anything you do, otherwise, it is not by anything God has done. If salvation is because you have chosen God, then you do away with the Grace of God in the predestination of His people. Saving Grace does not, nor can it, work in conjunction with what a man does; salvation is by Grace, not by works. IF NOT BY WORKS, THEN IT MUST BE ALL BY GRACE. It is safe to say that any man who has died physically and was brought back to life by a doctor, or doctors, present with him. Dead bodies do not contribute to their being made alive. So too, spiritually dead creatures cannot contribute in the minutest way to being made alive; hence, the need for Grace. If man cannot do, then it is only God that can. Grace saves because Grace makes alive—man’s works are as dead as he is.
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 what law? Of works? Nay: but 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! 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). How can election and salvation be no more by Grace when the Word of God with abundant clarity declares “…by grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8). Likewise, how can election and salvation be of works when the Word of God with equal and abundant clarity states it is “Not of works…” (Eph. 2:9). Election, salvation and justification are all entirely due to the Grace of God, and, therefore, cannot be by any works of obedience performed by the individual. 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. Election, salvation and justification are either all by Grace or all by works; if by Grace then not of works at all, and if by works then not of Grace at all. It is all by what God alone does, not as a result of anything you have done (see Eph. 2:8,9). You cannot earn what is free, for that which is free cannot be gained by anything you do. That which is free is not earnable; it is only giveable. That which is free is unconditional. That which if free is not conditioned on anyone but the Giver. If a condition must first be met by the potential recipient, then the ‘prize’ is no longer free. Grace does not make you do something so that God can then save you, for GRACE ALONE MAKES SALVATION HAPPEN! The Grace of God is what brings salvation, it does not enable anyone to believe or ‘choose’ God so He can then save them. It is “…the Grace of God that bringeth salvation…” (Titus 2:11). It is by Grace—AND ONLY BY GRACE—that God’s people are saved. “FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED through faith…NOT OF WORKS…” (Eph. 2:8,9).
It is a blasphemy to even think that works play any part in what only Grace can do. Grace is an act of God. It is what God does that saves a man. Grace requires no assistance from you. Grace does not come to equip a man—to make him saveable—for its only function is to eternally save a man. God does not prompt a man by Grace to perform a work so that He can then save him by the free, unconditional gift of Grace. Since Grace is clearly something that is not deserved and, therefore, cannot be earned, God does not prompt a man by Grace to do something in order to attain what they do not, and can never, deserve. A free gift is not given so as to enable you to fulfil some prerequisite condition to earn it. If you must first do something, then what you receive because of your action can in no way rightly be termed a gift. False grace is that which comes to enable you to meet some condition before you can receive that which cannot be deserved. Saved by Grace means there can be absolutely NO PRE-EXISTING CONDITION that must be met before one is saved. Grace instantly rules out any notion of salvation being in any way dependent on what a man does. Salvation by Grace is not in accord with anything a man does or wills, for it is only set in motion and energized only by the Will of God. Grace does not wait upon an act from a spiritually dead man to then make him alive, but awaits only the Will of the Living God. The Will of the Living God is the trigger for Grace to save. THE UNMERITABLE DOES NOT ENABLE YOU TO DO SOMETHING THAT CAN ONLY BE ATTAINED BY THAT WHICH IS UNMERITABLE. Grace does not save you by works. Grace does not save because you chose God, for Grace is GOD CHOOSING YOU. What God does doesn’t save you by what you do, it saves you only by what He has done. Salvation is not prompted by what you do. What a man does is not what drops the flag so that a process of salvation can then begin. SALVATION WAITS ONLY UPON THE WILL AND GRACE OF THE SOVEREIGN GOD.
Even if salvation did come after an act performed by man, made possible only by the Grace of God, salvation would still ultimately be something that only your will and action could cause to be. In other words, God alone could not save you, but would require your assistance, your compliance, your agreement before He could do anything. This is a direct attack upon the Sovereignty of God Who “…hath done whatsoever He hath pleased” (Psa. 115:3), and Who “…doeth according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doeth Thou?” (Dan. 4:35 cf. Job 9:12). The first, last and only causation of salvation is Grace. The last act done immediately prior to salvation is what salvation is ultimately conditioned on. So whether it is a work done by you which you attribute to the Grace of God or not, salvation would still be conditioned on your act of obedience rather than God’s singular act of Grace. “…by grace ye are saved…” (Eph. 2:5) means salvation is only subsequent to and consequent upon the Grace of God. The Word of God does not say ‘by grace and…ye are saved’, but only “by GRACE ye are saved.” God’s elect are saved by Grace—nothing less, nothing more and nothing else. It is only the Grace of God, and not any works of man, that makes salvation happen! The fact that a man can only be saved by Grace alone demonstrates the utter impossibility of his being saved by anything he does. If it is by God, then it cannot be of you; if it is by Grace, then it cannot by works. As mercy is the only resort of the guilty, so too, grace is the only resource of the helpless. “Just as mercy answers to guilt, grace answers to helplessness or inability.”
The key verses to the above are, of course, Ephesians 2:8,9. Succinctly put, they say: “For by grace are ye saved…not of works, lest any man should boast.” The fact that there is no room for a man to boast in anything he has done to get saved or remain saved, whether Grace prompted him to do it or not, is the rock-solid, undeniable and irrefutable evidence needed to convince anyone that salvation is solely, wholly and completely reliant on the Grace of Almighty God. Salvation is purely an act of God, and its only catalyst is the Will and Grace of God. Salvation by Grace is something that happens to you; it is not caused by you, nor does it await any initiatory or permissive act from you. Salvation only responds to the will of God. Salvation does not respond to what a man does; it is not something which he can purchase, for it is uniquely obtainable and comes only by Grace. Salvation is by Grace alone, therefore, it cannot be by any works whatsoever. It is by Grace, not obedience; it is by mercy, not merit. Salvation is by Grace through the gift of Faith—NOT WORKS! Nor is salvation by works of obedience through faith. You cannot obey your way to Heaven, for the only road that leads to Heaven is paved by Grace, not human intention or effort. Human effort is a poor substitute for the necessity of Divine intervention—an utterly offensive and totally unnecessary addition to the sufficiency and efficiency of Grace. The Grace that saves is free of all human influence. Grace does not need you; you need Grace. Grace does not need, nor is it dependent on, your assistance or cooperation. Grace makes the entire concept of human effort redundant. Salvation by Grace is salvation by God. Salvation by Grace through Faith not works, is salvation by God not you! All of salvation is all of God and nothing of you. The Grace God saves His people by—through His gift of Faith—points them only to the Saviour WHO HAS DONE IT ALL! The salvation of God’s people is only possible because of the Saviour and what He has done for them, which all comes under the umbrella of Grace. No one is saved by Grace and works, or by Grace through works or by works through Grace. If you are saved by Grace, you are saved by what God ALONE has done. If you insist that you were saved after anything you did—whether prompted by Grace or your ‘free will’—you immediately disqualify yourself from any legitimate appeal to Grace having played ANY part in your alleged salvation, for “…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). If you insist that you have played even the smallest role in your ‘salvation,’ you have denied Grace (see Gal. 2:21).
Saving Grace does nothing else but save, and it requires no assistance from you to do it. Nothing else can save, but Grace alone. Nothing else can save, but unassisted, untethered Grace. GRACE CAN ONLY BE GRACE IF IT IS FREE OF ANY ALLEGED MERITORIOUS WORK PERFORMED BY ITS PASSIVE RECIPIENTS. Grace does not cause a work by man to be done so that it can then save. You cannot be deserving of that which is undeservable. Man has nothing to boast of in regards to his salvation, because there is nothing he has done or could do—whether by Grace or otherwise—to earn the salvation which only comes by what God alone has done. The Word of God has the spotlight firmly fixed on Grace. When you add the false teaching of a work or works being necessary before and so that a man can then be saved by Grace, at the bare minimum it transfers 50% of the focus onto what an individual must do. Inevitably, this focus is redirected 100% onto what you must do, because that is what this false teaching says salvation ultimately hinges on. The flawed emphasis of false gospels is always on the conditional, not the true unconditional nature of salvation. Only the teaching of salvation by Grace ALONE aligns perfectly with the Scriptural narrative: “…as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). Only the lie that salvation is conditioned on works aligns with the unscriptural narrative that those who believe were then ordained to eternal life. The Christian is not saved because he has chosen, but because he has been chosen. The Christian is not saved because he has done, but only because GOD has done. THAT is grace. “…ye are a chosen generation” (1 Pet. 2:9 cf. Rom. 9:15,16). The chooser is the active participant; the chosen are the passive recipients. The Christian is not saved because he has met some condition for salvation, but solely by the unconditional Grace of God. The Christian is not ordained to eternal life because he believes, but is first ordained to eternal life and then believes “…as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48 cf. Eph. 1:4-6).
Grace means it’s always God first, and always God only. Salvation by Grace is God doing first and only God being responsible for all of salvation from beginning to final glory. Grace means God initiating and God doing everything: from predestinating His chosen to be His eternal people only by and through what He does. “…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). It is not a work of man’s that instigates or perpetuates salvation by Grace, but THE WILL OF GOD ALONE manifested through Grace alone (see Jas. 1:18 cf. Rom. 9:15,16). An undeserved gift is never conditioned on, or preceded by a meritorious act. Grace chose God’s people before the foundation of the world not according to their works; therefore Grace alone makes a man accepted before God (see Eph. 1:6). It is manifestly evident that it is. and can only be, Grace alone that clothes the elect of God with the Righteousness of Christ, which was established by HIS Obedience, not theirs! It is God’s Righteousness which no man could possibly have had a hand in creating, or be responsible for clothing themselves in. How can you earn something that has already been earned for you? How can you achieve the humanly unachievable? A man’s works—his efforts at obedience—could never clothe Him with the very Righteousness of God required for his justification. Any claim that any part of salvation is in any way conditioned on a work of man’s is a false teaching, which effectively implies that a robe of one’s own righteousness created by one’s own obedience—rather than the Robe of the Righteousness of Christ fashioned by His Obedience alone and which only comes by Grace—is sufficient (see Gen. 3:7,21); or at the very least must be attached to Christ’s Robe. True Christians are clothed with the Robe of the Righteousness of Christ Jesus their Lord, God and Saviour, which was produced exclusively by the Obedience of Jesus. Theirs is not a robe of their own making nor a patchwork robe combining Christ’s Righteousness with their own; but a seamless Robe with which they are clothed solely because of the Grace of God. “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for HE HATH CLOTHED ME with the garments of salvation, HE HATH COVERED ME with the Robe of Righteousness…” (Isa. 61:10). The only robe a man, by works of obedience, can clothe himself with is a robe of rags (see Isa. 64:6). The responsibility is God’s, and the means of God’s people being clothed with His Righteousness is 100% GRACE. "‘He hath covered me with the Robe of Righteousness’ not with her own, that is a rag, and not a robe, and a filthy one too, (see Isa. 64:6) and no covering, and is indeed no righteousness, properly speaking; but the Righteousness of Christ, the best robe, the wedding garment, and change of raiment, which, like a robe, is upon believers, but not in them; in Christ, and imputed to them; it covers their persons and their nakedness, and all their sins, so as not to be seen with the eye of avenging justice: to clothe and cover with it is God’s act of imputation, and Christ’s application of it by His Spirit, (see Zech. 3:4), which, perceived by the believer, causes great joy; it being all of a piece, like Christ's seamless robe, and so pure and spotless, so perfect and complete, and so rich and glorious.”
Grace has abolished all the saved man’s sins. Salvation is a gift—what God has done—not the result of a work—what you have done. Salvation is therefore something which can only be given, not earned. Salvation is not conditioned on a man’s faith, for the only faith inherent in every man by nature does not, cannot and never has believed in the True God. Salvation is given not earned, therefore, salvation is not conditioned on a man’s work, which includes a man’s believing because to truly, savingly, believe the Gospel of God is to believe it with the gift of Faith that comes by Grace alone. To believe, one must be born again; and to be born again is a miraculous work of Grace. There is only one common Faith gifted to all God’s chosen, and it comes only by Grace (see Titus 1:4). Salvation is by Grace through the gift of Faith. The gifts of Grace and Faith work in harmony. They are by nature pure and free from any corrupting elements. “Adding any human effort or elements to Grace and Faith negates their natural purity and consequently their effectiveness.” Add anything to them and you take away from them. You no longer have harmony, but discord. “While harmony refers to a pleasing arrangement or balance of different elements, discord signifies a lack of agreement, unity, or balance, often resulting in conflict or dissonance.” The gift of Faith is given to believe one is saved by Grace, and if by Grace then nothing else (see Rom. 11:6 cf. Rom. 3:27,28; 4:4,5; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5). Saving Faith is given to a man by the only means it can be given: UNDESERVED, UNCONDITIONAL, AND THEREFORE, ENTIRELY UNMERITABLE GRACE. ‘I chose God’ is a boast—whether or not you believe salvation is by Grace—but the saved man has nothing to boast of, for he knows the Faith with which he believes is a gift given to him by God through Grace alone. There is no song sung in Heaven with the chorus ‘I chose God’, but all of God’s Heaven resounds with the joyous sound of His people singing: ‘He chose us’, which is nothing but a proclamation and celebration of His Grace. God’s people are a humble people. The Christian has nothing to sing about what he has done, for his song is forever filled with the words: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare WHAT HE HATH DONE for my soul” (Psa. 66:16). “…no flesh should glory in His Presence…of Him are ye in Christ Jesus…he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:29-31). Biblical reality dictates that a man is saved by Grace alone through the gift of Faith. A Christian is not saved by or through anything he has done—by nothing which originated in him. Saving Faith is not a work of man’s; it is not derived from within him, nor does it come because of anything he has done, but is a gift given to him by God because he has been predestinated by the Grace of God to believe in Him. No ‘free will’ of man can summon or manifest saving Faith or cause himself to be born again. Believing is not the perquisite to being born again, but the immediate result.
All of Salvation is based on Grace alone; therefore all of salvation is based on God alone: WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE ALONE HAS DONE. ‘Every individual can obey to the point they become accepted by God Himself’, is the baseless and blasphemous cry of man-made religion. No salvation plan devised by man-made religion is without the teaching that a man’s obedience is an essential ingredient that plays an indispensable, if not foundational role in his salvation. A salvation which cannot do without the efforts of man is the vain hope which every man-made religion spouts and every lost person embraces. This is the very hope which the Word of God labels VANITY! Accompanying the heretical teaching of man’s obedience playing an integral role in salvation, is the ever-present and lingering mystery as to whether or not a man has sufficiently obeyed. Such questions are the ligatures which bind the lost to the religious leaders they have chosen to follow and the institutions they have bowed their knee to. To ask such a question as ‘Have I obeyed enough?’ is to labour under the misapprehension that any man can truly obey at all. “…verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Psa. 39:5); “…by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:16). Superstition and mystery are the governing tools of the world religious system, and the lie that salvation is based at least in part on a man’s obedience is the prevarication that fuels the industry of and dependence on religion. The word religion comes from the Latin word religare meaning to tie up, or to bind. Religion binds you to a system of laws and duties which must be obeyed if you are to see Heaven, and if disobeyed, will condemn you to Hell.
The fundamental egregious fallacy in all man-made religion is the categorical denial of spiritual death. The first to do this was Satan in Genesis 3:4, revealing Satan as the father, the author, the inspiration behind all man’s religions. Remove the lie that man is not spiritually dead in Adam and all religion falls flat on its face, for if man is not dead in Adam, he cannot, therefore, ONLY be alive in Christ (see Eph. 2:1,5). The blasphemous, heretical denial of spiritual death is the foundation—the life-blood—of all false gospels, paving the way for the lie that we are all good enough to choose God, to work our own way, obey our own way into God’s good books, regardless of what we believe. Conversely, true Christianity, which has the Word of God: The Bible—as taught by God the Holy Spirit—as its sole and complete Authority, teaches that man is by nature spiritually dead to the True God; therefore, salvation is, and can only be by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Righteousness, or Obedience, of the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ ALONE as the ONLY way to salvation. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 cf. Jn. 20:31; Acts 4:10; Heb. 7:25). Even if a man could work his way to Heaven there is nothing for him to earn—therefore, nothing for him to do—for the essentials of salvation: Grace, Faith, Mercy, Righteousness, Sanctification, Repentance, Redemption from sin and Eternal Life are all Gifts given by God to all those He chose before the foundation of the world “To the praise of the glory of His Grace…” (Eph. 1:6). “…the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Gal. 6:23 cf. Jn. 17:2); “…they which receive abundance of Grace and of the gift of Righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17); “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8; cf. Acts 2:38; 10:45; Rom. 5:15-18; Eph. 4:7; 2 Tim. 2:25). The only way the Righteousness that justifies a man before God can be a gift is if it was established by someone other than yourself. Salvation is by Grace alone.
Scripture clearly and succinctly articulates: “…by the Obedience of ONE shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Righteousness comes only by the Obedience of One, and therefore, not by any man’s personal obedience at all. This lends further testimony to the fact that salvation is only by the unassisted and untethered Grace of God, and not by one’s own efforts. God making a spiritually dead man alive is the only logical equivalent to God saving a man by Grace alone that makes complete Biblical sense (see Eph. 2:1,4,5,8,9). The dead man can do nothing to make himself alive, likewise, a man by means of his dead works (see Heb. 6:1) can never save himself. The fact that God predestinated a people before the foundation of the world gives testament to the fact that no one could ever have done anything to ingratiate themselves with God or earn His Favour. A MAN CAN NEVER, BY WORKS, PRODUCE OR ATTRACT A SALVATION THAT COMES PURELY BY GRACE ALONE. “This effectively highlights the incompatibility of human effort (works) with the Sovereign nature of grace.” A man can never, by his miserable attempts at obedience produce what is necessary for his justification: God’s own Righteousness. A man can never produce that which can only be imputed to him by Grace. The Word of God makes it patently, irrefutably and unmistakably clear that the many—God’s chosen—becoming Righteous before the Holy God can only, is only and was only achieved by the Obedience of One, not the many. It is HIS Righteousness alone that justifies. Obviously, the Word of God teaches that no man by means of his own obedience could ever have been justified by God, which is why a Saviour—the Lord Jesus Christ—had to establish that Righteousness for any of God’s people to be saved. SALVATION IS ENTIRELY BY THE SAVIOUR; THEREFORE, NOT AT ALL BY THE SAVED!
Salvation is by God’s Grace, not man’s works. The Righteousness that places one in right standing before God is exclusively by the Obedience of the Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ. The ONLY righteousness that justifies a man before God is DIVINE Righteousness, therefore it can never be achieved by a man’s personal obedience. “…their Righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD” (Isa. 54:17 cf. Isa. 61:10; Zech. 3:4). Anyone attempting to produce such Righteousness by their own obedience is in clear and direct violation of the only means God has established for the justification of His people: HIMSELF. Clearly, no single individual can possibly establish that Righteousness by their own obedience, for it comes only by the Obedience of ONE: GOD THE SON. How can any be saved by means of their own personal obedience when the Word of God clearly states, “…There is NONE righteous, no, NOT ONE….there is NONE that doeth good, no, NOT ONE” (Rom. 3:10,12). In light of these Scriptures, is it any wonder that justification comes only by the Obedience of One, and therefore by Grace alone. This clearly excludes anyone from doing anything that could possibly prompt God to do something for them, let alone save them. If God did do something for anyone in answer to their having done anything first, it would clearly not be according to Grace, but obligation. No man can do good in the eyes of God; therefore, no one can become Righteous before Him by anything they do. How can the non-righteous perform anything that is righteous in order to become righteous! HOW CAN ANY MAN WHICH CAN DO NO GOOD BE SAVED BASED ON WHAT HE HAS DONE!
Observe the following passage from Scripture to remove any lingering doubt that salvation does not come because of a man’s personal obedience: “…by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight...But now the Righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the Righteousness of God which is BY FAITH of Jesus Christ (not by the works, efforts, actions of men) unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (the means of appeasing) through faith in His blood, to declare His Righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His Righteousness: that He might be Just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 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” (Rom. 3:20-28 cf. Gal. 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:50; 2 Cor. 5:21). In other words, a man is totally justified by the Grace-given gift of Faith without any works of his own. The only way a man can be justified in God’s eyes, and so that God can remain a Just God, and be the Justifier of His people is for Him to charge His elect with His Righteousness based on the Blood and Obedience of Christ Jesus His Son. Clearly, we see from the outset of this passage that all a man can do is attempt to perform the deeds of the law, but this will in no way profit any man, for ‘by the deeds of the law there shall NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED in His sight’. The only way boasting can possibly be excluded is if salvation is by Grace ALONE. To illustrate this point further, the only way boasting can possibly be excluded is if salvation is by GOD alone. If boasting is excluded, and that by the gift of Faith by means of Grace, then there is absolutely nothing a man can do or has done that has or will ever result in his salvation. End of argument. Works and Faith do not work together, so how can Grace—which only saves through the gift of Faith—possibly betray that fact and help save a man through what he does? Notice the connection between the Grace of God, the Righteousness of God, Faith in Christ and Justification. They are all gifts. They are bestowed, not earned. They are given not deserved. Notice also the connection between boasting and performing the deeds of the law—anything done by a man which God would be obligated to reward. Salvation is not at all by the deeds of the law, therefore, there is no man that can boast in anything he has done to attract or maintain salvation. It is all by Grace, for it is all by God. If you do not believe 100% in God’s Righteousness and not a fraction of a percentage point in your own obedience, you cannot possibly be in a justified state. No matter what a man does he will always fall short of the glory of God. Justification comes because of God’s Grace through God’s Righteousness, not your attempts at establishing your own righteousness. The Righteousness of God’s people is of God and completely due to God; therefore, it cannot emanate from themselves because of anything they have done (see Isa. 54:17).
Turning our attention now to the oft-quoted and misused words of James, “…faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:20), “…as works, without God-given faith, are dead works, so faith, without works, is a dead faith, and not like the lively hope and faith given by God to regenerated persons: and indeed, such who have no other faith than that which is natural to man are dead in trespasses and sins; not that works are the life of faith, or that the life of faith lies in, and flows from works; but good works are second acts, necessarily flowing from the life of faith; to which may be added, and by these faith appears to be living, lively and active, or such who perform them appear to be true and living believers.” In James 2:24, he says: “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” “Not as causes procuring his justification, but as effects declaring it; for the best works are imperfect, and cannot be a righteousness justifying in the sight of God, and are unprofitable in this respect; for when they are performed in the best manner, they are no other than what is a man’s duty to perform, and therefore cannot justify from sin he has committed: and besides, justification in this sense would frustrate the grace of God, make void the death of Christ, and encourage boasting in men. Good works do not go before justification as causes or conditions, but follow it as fruits and effects.”
The faith James was talking about was the faith of devils that tremble (see Jas. 2:19). Importantly, James makes reference to a “vain man,” in James 2:20, not to a saved man. No vain, profitless man believes in the Gospel of the Grace of God with the gift of Faith that God gives to His people. James’ “…allusion is to an empty vessel, which sounds more than one that is full. The carnal professor to whom he speaks is vain, because he is empty of true faith and good works, though full of noise and boasting.” James is apparently alluding to “…the Gnostics, who were swelled with a vain opinion of their knowledge…” “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him…” (Titus 1:16). James does not say, “…faith is dead without works, lest it should be thought that works were the cause of the life of faith; but faith without works is dead, implying that works are the effects and signs of the life of faith.” Every saved man is God’s “…workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). The saved man has never been in possession of a faith that is dead or can possibly become dead. He who does not have God-given Faith, has a life that is only filled with dead works (see Heb. 9:14). If you have not been given saving Faith, then your faith is that which is naturally inherent in every man and is as dead as he and his works are. Simply because a man has a belief, and devotes his life to doing good to others, does not mean he is a saved man. A dead faith is a faith which can only produce dead works. This can hardly be said to be the case with God-given Faith. The only dead faith which exists is the faith of demons, and the faith inherent in every man by nature. The only living Faith is that which God gives, by Grace alone, to all His people, causing them to immediately believe the Gospel and subsequently perform all the works that God ordained for them to walk in.
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 this teaching and the rest of God’s Word. You cannot escape the consequences of the false teaching that your salvation needs you and your works, because any time you insert works into the framework of salvation, you are blasphemously asserting 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; therefore, there can be no inconsistencies in what God has said. Everything must fit, comply with, support and reveal the truth that: “…by grace are ye saved…Not of works…” (Eph. 2:8,9). 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.
At any given time the unrighteous can never perform a righteous act so as to become righteous, for there are none that are righteous to begin with; because there are none that do good. Salvation cannot be by the individual efforts at obedience or the religious works of any unrighteous, spiritually dead man. “…if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily Righteousness should have been by the law” (Gal. 3:21 cf. Gal. 2:21). Clearly, there is no law given that any man can obey by which he can obtain or maintain eternal life. Saving, justifying, Righteousness does not come by obedience to a law, for there is no law given by God which can give life! “The law cannot give life, spiritual life to a dead sinner; God only can do this, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; so far is the law from giving it efficiently, that it is not so much as the means of it; it is not made use of this way; God makes use of the law to kill, but not to make alive; He makes use of the law to strike dead all a man’s hopes of happiness, by the deeds of it (see 2 Cor. 3:6); but it is the Gospel He uses to quicken and comfort; that is the Spirit that giveth life. The law requires as much of a dead sinner, as it did of Adam in innocence, but gives him no life, activity, and strength to perform; could it quicken him, and enable him to do all its demands perfectly, then there would be righteousness, and so justification by it, as by the promise; whence it appears that there is no contrariety in the law to the promises: the reason why there is no righteousness is, because it cannot give life, spiritual life and strength; and if so, then not eternal life; which is the free gift of God, and not the merit of men's works: this is directly contrary to a notion of the Jews, who cry up the law as a life giving law.” “…for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life” (2 Cor. 3:6).
So what is there that a man can obey to earn or maintain eternal life? THERE IS NO LAW THAT CAN GIVE LIFE! There is no life in the law, but only in the Grace of God. “…the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by Faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:24,25). The saved man is justified by the gift of Faith given by Grace to believe in Jesus Christ and what He has done—His finished work—and not because of any personal sacrifices or efforts at obedience. Obedience to the law is not the Saviour, for Christ alone is the Saviour. The law cannot give what only Christ can. “Christ only has perfectly kept the law and is the fulfilling end of it for Righteousness.” The Christian, to whom “Christ is the end of the law for Righteousness…” (Rom. 10:4), is not under the tutelage of the law, nor is he in bondage to it, for he is now made free in Christ. The Christian is one who no longer struggles vainly at obeying the law for his justification, for he knows and believes the law has been perfectly obeyed by the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as a Substitute for the chosen of God. “…by the Righteousness of One the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:18,19). The saved are now wholly and completely free from the condemnation and curse of the law, for they have been made free by their Substitute: the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14 cf. Gal. 5:1). Eternal life cannot be earned, for it is and can only come as a gift: “…the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23 cf. 1 Jn. 5:11). You cannot earn eternal life. No amount of obedience to the law will attain it or preserve it in your life. Obedience to the law of God can never give life, nor can it sustain it. That is not the purpose of the law. The law was used to show that man needed a Saviour, thus presenting undeniable proof that no man could ever obey the law so as to be justified by a Holy and Just God. Again: “…the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come. We are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:24,25). No man is justified by works, but by the gift of Faith in the Person and Work of Christ. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20); “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:11). “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (Jas. 2:10).
A man must be born again, have his sins imputed to the Saviour and washed away by the Blood of Christ, and have the perfect Righteousness of Jesus imputed to his account for there to be eternal life. Paul the apostle said: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if Righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21 cf. Gal. 5:2-5). If you are trying to establish a righteousness of your own by your obedience to the law, by your charitable works and lifestyle, you denounce Christ’s death as a vain thing. There was no need for Christ to come and make Sacrifice unto God for His people if salvation could be achieved by an individual’s obedience to the law of God. Even if a man could obey the law of God perfectly, this could never change the fact he is a sinner in desperate need of a Saviour to pay the price for his sins and sinfulness, to remove them altogether and replace sinful imperfection with perfect Righteousness. ETERNAL LIFE DOES NOT COME THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW, BUT IS A GIFT GIVEN ONLY BY THE GRACE OF GOD TO ALL HIS ELECT. Paul is saying in Galatians 2 that he does not repudiate the Grace of God, he does not reject the Grace of God in favour of personal obedience to the law as the way to Righteousness. On the contrary, by teaching Grace alone as the only legitimate, actual means by which Righteousness comes, Paul was, in fact, repudiating, he was rejecting personal obedience to the law as the means to Righteousness which is further emphasized in Philippians 3. Paul stated that he wanted to be found in Christ: “…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).
If Righteousness comes only by the Obedience of One, Jesus Christ, then it can come by NO other (see Rom. 5:19 cf. Isa. 53:10-12; Eph. 1:6). No other’s obedience, no other’s works can establish or maintain—or are necessary to establish and maintain—the only Righteousness that justifies. No other obedience is necessary, for there is no other obedience like Christ’s. There is no other God like Him; there is no other obedience like His. If Righteousness comes only by the Obedience of One, then salvation can only be attained and maintained by the Grace of God through the gift of Faith that exclusively believes in the Righteousness of Christ as the sole means to a man’s justification. Justifying Faith does not believe in any meritorious act of man preceding salvation or maintaining salvation, for justifying Faith is a creation of Grace that turns a man away from hope in his own obedience to that of Christ’s alone. “Faith is not a work the man performs to get grace, but as a result of grace that functions by looking away from oneself and only toward the Substitute,” as the only sufficient and efficient Saviour. If a man is not justified exclusively by the Obedience of Christ whereby He has single-handedly established justifying Righteousness for His people, then salvation is not at all by Grace through Faith in that Righteousness alone, but rather by works: the individual’s obedience through faith in himself. If God’s very own Righteousness was necessary in the salvation of His people, then clearly no man’s righteousness established by his own obedience was ever going to be enough. Salvation is by Grace alone through Faith alone in the Obedience of Christ Jesus the Lord; therefore it clearly and simply CANNOT come by one’s own personal obedience to the law.
The Saviour is and has provided the ONLY way for His people who are all helpless in themselves and hopeless without Him. No part of salvation is caused by a man’s obedience to the law, but by Grace ALONE through Faith ALONE in Christ’s Obedience ALONE. If saving, justifying Righteousness is established only by the Obedience of One, then it can only be imputed (charged) to the chosen people of God by the Grace of God; it simply cannot come by an individual’s efforts at obeying the Law of God. The need for Christ’s Sacrifice and His Righteousness is the loudest proclamation that a man’s obedience to the law would never be anything more than a vain thing. “…if Righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). The fact that Christ did not die in vain proves that the entire concept of attempting to establish Justifying Righteousness through a man’s obedience to the law is exposed as what is actually and verifiably dead in vain. The fact that Christ is not dead, but was resurrected and is now seated at the right hand of the Father is proof positive that the whole concept of Righteousness coming by the law is a vain endeavour, for it is DEAD (see Rom. 8:34; Heb. 1:3; 10:12; 1 Pet. 3:22). Justification is by the Righteousness of Another established exclusively through HIS Obedience; therefore, it can only be imputed to you by the Grace of God alone. The Righteousness of Jesus Christ and the Grace of God are unreachable by human effort, for they can only be bestowed. The Grace of God and the Righteousness of Christ are inseparable. They are so eternally linked that any separation would immediately undermine the significance, need and functionality of both. If Justifying Righteousness were possible by means of a man’s obedience to the law, not only would Christ’s death be in vain, but so too, the Grace of God would also be rendered utterly pointless, lacking “…purpose, significance, or usefulness.”
A man requiring the Righteousness of God to be in right standing with God is something which is quite unimaginable to a lost man’s thinking. The entire concept of requiring Righteousness that does not come from his own obedience is completely alien to the natural mind of a lost man. Such truth is only contained in and revealed by God’s Gospel: “…the Gospel of Christ…is the power of God unto salvation…For therein is the Righteousness of God revealed…” (Rom. 1:16,17 cf. Matt. 6:33). Everything makes sense if you want it to. Lost man cannot see the biblical truth that salvation is 100% by Grace, and justification is 100% based on Another’s Obedience. These truths will never make sense to the spiritually dead, for they have no way to rightly discern the truth of God. Any attempt to achieve or maintain salvation relying on one’s own obedience—in whole or in part—is a blasphemous invalidation, repudiation and complete refutation of Jesus Christ and His Righteousness. It is also a denial of spiritual death and, therefore, a total rejection of Grace as the only Way to Heaven. A salvation which requires the efforts of man to obtain it is unattainable and would be unsustainable due to the fact that man is a spiritually dead sinner. Man is by nature dead in Adam and so not alive at all; therefore, completely unable to meet the Standard God requires for justification. No man is alive in Adam; therefore he can only be made alive, be alive and remain alive in and by Christ. “And you hath He quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1 cf. Eph. 2:4,5). Any gospel that teaches a salvation requiring the efforts of man to obey the law of God is a declaration of the unacceptability of unconditional Grace and the perfect Obedience of the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is a refusal to accept the mechanics of God’s unique Plan of salvation. Such gospels, and those who teach and believe them, are accursed. False gospels, served up by the religions of the world, and which are nothing but junk food for the soul, promote the essentiality of a man’s personal obedience for justification, thereby calling Christ an incompetent Saviour unable to save by what He alone has done, for He needs the assistance of those He is trying to save to make what He has done effective. This is a direct attack upon the Saviour—of Who God is and how He saves—and works in tandem with the heretical teaching that salvation—the attaining and/or maintaining of it—is not by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone, but also requires a man’s works.
The blockbuster Scriptures that blow all this nonsense completely out of the water are, of course, Ephesians 2:8,9, where we learn: “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.” God “…has denied works any place in justification and salvation, in order to exclude all boasting in man; and has fixed it in a way of Grace, and has chosen and called poor sinful creatures to enjoy it, that whosoever glories, may glory in the Lord.” Clearly, if there is nothing for a man to boast of, then there is nothing he has done, or can do, that has in any way played a role in his getting saved or remaining saved, thus, “…by Grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2:5). If it is Grace whereby a man is saved, then NO WORKS ARE NECESSARY. The philosophy behind the utterly carnal mindset that argues personal obedience as an essential component in establishing a righteousness unto salvation/justification, is that with enough good works and highest personal level of obedience, one can also do away with the punishment due unto a sinner who ‘obeys enough’, which is an eternity of torment in Hell where “…the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” (Rev. 14:11). Conversely, Scripture makes it perfect clear “…without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). Paul makes it abundantly clear that “…if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace…” (Rom. 11:6 cf. Rom. 11:7). Obviously this Scripture completely rules out any thought that salvation is by a combination of Grace AND works, of God and you. If it is by Grace then it is by God, not you; and if it is by works then it is by you, not God. If it is by your obedience then you cannot lean on Christ; if it is by Christ’s Obedience then you will not look to your own. No one who believes they can obey their way to Heaven needs a Saviour to save them by His Obedience. Those who say they do need a Saviour to wash away their sins fail to realise that the only Saviour Who has washed away the sins of all His people is the One who justifies them by HIS Obedience, not theirs! Grace is a repudiation of works and works are an utter rejection of Grace. This is biblical reality.
The religions of the world ultimately focus on personal obedience, your own righteousness as a fundamental aspect in getting and/or remaining saved. This readily appeals to natural man and is part of the ‘pride of life’ mentioned in 1 Jn. 2:16. “The ‘pride of life’ refers to the arrogant, self-glorifying attitude that comes from focusing on one’s own possessions, achievements, and abilities. It is an internal state of mind that seeks to find value and worth in the self rather than in God. The carnal appeal of this pride is its promise of self-sufficiency (see Gen. 3:4,5).. Humans, in their fallen state, naturally crave control and credit. The lie that one’s own obedience is essential for salvation is a powerful manifestation of this pride. It suggests that a person can contribute to their own righteousness, earning a place with God through their own effort. This appeals to the natural man’s desire to be the author of his own destiny and to boast in his own accomplishments. However, as Romans 5:19 makes clear, Justifying Righteousness is not a product of human effort but a gift given by Grace through the Obedience of Another. The ‘pride of life’ is the very force that prevents a person from accepting this truth. It makes it impossible for a person to admit their helplessness and to rely completely on Christ’s work alone, rather than their own. Instead of seeking salvation as a free gift, the carnal mind attempts to ‘earn’ it, a task which is ultimately futile and reveals a heart that is not submitted to the God Who saves by Grace alone.” Religion’s blinding reign of error always places the onus on man and his actions which draws his attention away from God and His grace. A reliance upon personal obedience in the context of salvation/justification is not an accidental, inconsequential act, but is a work of the flesh—a shameful and direct satanic attack upon the Grace of God, as well as the Obedience of Christ alone in establishing the Righteousness required for justification. It is not simply an honest mistake, but reveals a sinful subscription to a false and accursed gospel, which exposes the accursed state of the man who believes in self-righteousness as essential to salvation. “Believing in a works-plus-grace system is not just a different perspective, but a rejection of the true Gospel entirely. Therefore, those who hold to a different gospel remain under the curse of the Law because they have not successfully fled to Christ for their total righteousness.” Striving to please God—to be accepted by Him via one’s own obedience—is indicative of the utter sinfulness of man in thinking he can do what only the Saviour has done for His people. Those who believe that personal obedience is essential for gaining/maintaining salvation, deny the fact that Justification is solely by the Grace of God through the Obedience of the Saviour alone. The question that such lost folk must address is, “What must I do which the Saviour has not done by His Obedience, and God does not do by His Grace alone?” True Christianity uniquely points to salvation by God’s Grace alone and to Justification by Christ’s Obedience alone.
If you are endeavouring to obey the law of God in an effort to get saved and/or ‘remain saved’, you are guilty of attempting to establish a righteousness of your own. You are not submitted to the Righteousness of Christ. Claiming to simultaneously have faith in the Righteousness of Christ whilst attempting to establish a righteousness of your own is akin to trying to change a flat tyre on a car whilst driving it. It simply can’t be done. To claim Christ’s Righteousness and your own is to appear before Him with only your own righteousness. Those who seek to be found only with Christ’s Righteousness will appear before Him with the only Righteousness that justifies. You will appear before God either with your righteousness alone, or the Righteousness of Christ alone. The only thing those who appear before the Lord with their own righteousness can expect to hear on that Day is the Lord saying to them: “…I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23 cf. Matt. 25:41). The only Righteousness that saves is the Righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed, or charged, to the individual occasioned by and according to the Grace of God, not because of the efforts of the individual. Grace is always first, it can never be initiated, or prompted by anything a man does, for then it would cease to be Grace. Grace cannot be earned, therefore Grace comes only because of God, not you. Grace gives what you do not deserve, therefore, it can never be attracted by anything you do or do not do. “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for Righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without works” (Rom. 4:5,6; Eph. 2:8,9). God does not impute Righteousness—His Righteousness—according to your works, but completely and only without them. His Righteousness is due to Christ’s Obedience, not yours. Notice that a man’s works, or efforts at obedience, do not count for Righteousness at all, but it is only the gift of Faith—the ONLY Faith that is WITHOUT, and does not rely on personal works—that justifies the ungodly.
“So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16). “While faith that justifies is always a faith that results in good works, the good works themselves are not the basis or condition of justification.” These verses also make perfectly clear the fact that believing is NOT a work of man’s, but is in fact a gift of God—a work of God in the believer—“…This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent” (Jn. 6:29 cf. Eph. 2:8,9). “Worketh not, but believeth” from Romans 4:5 is not a contradiction, but clearly highlights the fact that believing is—and can only be—a work of God in the believer. Saving Faith does not originate in the believer; it does not lay dormant within him until activated by his ‘desire for God’ or by the Grace of God, but is a gift given to them from without by the God of Grace. The Grace of God is certainly not that which incentivizes a man to perform works of obedience in order to procure or maintain salvation (see Gal. 5:7-9), for the Grace of God alone is that which eternally saves! The Grace of God does not share the glory for salvation with the works of a man. What does incentivize a man to perform ‘good’ works in order to get saved and/or remain saved is his sinful nature which is the very cause of his disobedience to, his unbelief of, the Gospel of God which reveals the only Righteousness that does save, the only Righteousness that does preserve a man in a saved state, the Righteousness which comes only by the Obedience of One: Jesus Christ. Nothing a man does is counted for Righteousness. How could there be, for all are dead in sins, there are none righteous, there are none that do good and all have become unprofitable (see Rom. 3:10-12)? The true Christian obeys not “…in order to obtain life and salvation; he does not seek for justification by his doings,” but he obeys because he has been given life and salvation, because he is ALREADY justified by God with the very Righteousness of God. The saved man is born again to obey, not because he has obeyed. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience…” (1 Pet. 1:2). A saved man is not elect because of his obedience, but unto obedience.
Saved people have been raised up by and rejoice in the Justifying Righteousness of God, while lost people wallow in the mud and mire of their own worthless righteousness. A man trying to establish a righteousness of his own that he thinks will justify him before the Holy God is like a man with muddied hands attempting to wipe away dirt from his clothes. Billions of people today carry on the anti-Christian tradition of believing they can live such obedient lives that will make them acceptable before the Holy God, and have the audacity to believe ‘God’ is helping them do it! The Biblical reality is that acceptability with God took the Death, Resurrection and Obedience of the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, by which He established the only Righteousness that God justifies His people with. THAT my friends is what it took to make the chosen of God look good before Him. Just as the sins of God’s people could never have been purged without the Blood of Christ, so too, the justification of the elect could never have taken place without the Righteousness of Christ. They could no more do away with their sins than they could establish a righteousness that would satisfy a Holy God. Only Christ’s sacrificial death; only Christ’s Righteousness. The Saviour was needed to do it all, for those that were to be saved could do nothing at all. The Righteousness that saves can only ever be imputed, therefore, it can never be earned (see 2 Cor. 5:21). And who would there be to reward a man with Justifying Righteousness for his efforts, given that only the Obedience of Christ the Saviour has established it and only the Grace of God can give it? This thereby reveals that Justifying Righteousness can only be imputed by Grace and never earned by works. The Righteousness that saves is charged, not procured, for the Righteousness that saves is the Righteousness of Another, not one’s own. The Righteousness that saves comes only because of Another’s obedience, not one’s own. “…seek ye first the Kingdom of God and HIS Righteousness…” (Matt. 6:33). “The Righteousness of God, which is revealed in the Gospel, and is what gives a right and title to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is not the righteousness of man, but of God; and is no other than the Righteousness of Christ; so called, because He is God Who has wrought it; it is what God approves of, accepts, and imputes, and which only can justify in His sight, and give an abundant entrance into His Kingdom and glory. Heaven is to be sought for in the first place, as the perfection of the saints’ happiness; and Christ's Righteousness is to be sought for, and laid hold on by (God-given) faith, as the way and means of enjoying that happiness; without which, there will be no entering into the Kingdom of Heaven.” Seek for His Righteousness not your own; be found with His Righteousness not your own: “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” (not works) (Phil. 3:9). And the faith that believes in that Righteousness comes only as a gift from God, totally and exclusively by and because of His Grace, and is therefore, not a work of man’s at all, but is entirely a work of God: it does not come from within a spiritually dead sinner, but only from without by the Living God after He first makes them spiritually alive. This all leaves a man with absolutely no room to boast in anything he believes he has done or achieved in the matter of getting saved and/or remaining saved, for it is all a gift.
Saving Righteousness is without works, meaning nothing can be done by man to obtain this Righteousness, add to this Righteousness, or maintain its justifying power. “A fundamental tenet of the Gospel is the absolute demarcation of responsibility for salvation: it is solely and entirely the business of God, initiated and completed through the work of Christ, to the exclusion of all human contribution.” Grace is without works, and the Faith which Grace saves through believes in the entirety of salvation being by Grace alone. No one can form a legitimate Scriptural argument against the fact that justifying Righteousness is established exclusively by the Obedience of One, so how can anyone assert that salvation is by anything other than the Grace of Almighty God? Man, by nature, is oblivious to the Righteousness of Christ, consequently, lost man always seeks to establish his own righteousness by personal obedience. This is the irrefutable sign of a lost man (see Rom.9:31-10:4). Conversely, the saved man—solely by the Grace of God—has completely abandoned any and all attempts at establishing a righteousness by means of his own obedience, for he is fully submitted by Grace to the Righteousness of God alone (see Phil. 3:3-10). A lost man, even if he does not deny the existence of Christ’s Righteousness, cannot relinquish the sense that salvation somehow cannot do without the addition of his own righteousness.
The Righteousness that saves does not include your obedience; it does not require your obedience at all, for it comes solely by the perfect, sinless Obedience of Jesus Christ. There is nothing which needs to be added because there is nothing that can be added to perfection. Saving Righteousness is God’s Righteousness, not yours. Any attempt to add your contribution, in whatever form it may take, completely nullifies and rejects God’s Plan for the salvation of His people: that their sins be washed away by the Blood of Christ and justifying Righteousness be established by the Obedience of Christ. Grace ALONE saves through the gift of Faith ALONE in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ ALONE. There is no room for man to boast about anything he has done concerning an ETERNAL salvation that comes only by Grace. Only false gospels leave room for a man to boast in what he has done to procure and/or secure salvation, and only lost people believe them. A man boasting in anything he has done clearly adds to what Christ has done intimating that all that Christ has done is simply not enough. This completely nullifies the Lord’s proclamation, “…It is finished…” (Jn. 19:30), amending it to: ‘I have done all I can do, and it can only be finished by an individual’s obedience.’ It is precisely the same situation as with those who say they believe in grace, but always add some work of personal obedience that ultimately secures one’s place in Heaven. ‘Yes, we are saved by grace, BUT…’ ‘Yes, it is Christ’s Righteousness that justifies, BUT…’ It’s the same old lie which allows man’s obedience to photobomb its way into the picture. The Jesus of the Bible, the only One God bears witness to in His Gospel, said at the cross: “…It is finished…” (Jn. 19:30), meaning the work of salvation was completed. Nothing needs be added—nothing should be taken away. If either of these is done, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not being preached. Adding to what Christ has done takes away from what Christ has done; it changes what He has done. It replaces the Gospel of Christ with an accursed gospel, which is not the Record that God has given of His Son.
The saved man is a mere recipient. He is not the one who provides a way for God to save him, FOR JESUS CHRIST IS THE WAY! The Righteousness that saves was only ever obtainable by the Perfect Man, by the Obedience of Christ the Saviour. As with Grace and works, Scripture also juxtaposes the Righteousness of Christ with a man’s righteousness. You cannot appeal to both. Having hope in a combination of both cannot save you. The Faith God gives His people believes in God, not you. The Faith God gives His people believes and trusts in God’s Righteousness, not yours. The Faith God gives His people believes in salvation by Grace alone, not works. Having a foot in both camps cannot save you. If you savingly believe in Christ’s Righteousness you look not to your own, and if you look to your own righteousness you cannot be looking to Christ’s Righteousness as the only Righteousness upon which salvation is based which shows you do not believe in Grace at all. To believe in Salvation and Justification by Grace alone is to reject the notion that a man must do his part; To believe that a man must perform some act of obedience before God gives the go-ahead for them to be saved is to completely reject Salvation and Justification as being entirely by the Saviour. You cannot have grace and works, you cannot have works and grace, but only ever Grace OR works (see Rom. 11:6). The Righteousness that saves is not an amalgam of your obedience and that of Jesus, but is solely achieved by the Divine Obedience Of Jesus Christ. If you have Divine Righteousness what need is there for your own righteousness? When you have Grace, what need is there for works? When you have a Saviour, what need is there for your efforts? The fact that only Divine Righteousness justifies self-evidently points to the utter ineffectualness of, and any need for, a man’s obedience in the context of acquiring or maintaining salvation.
Any appeal to, or reliance upon, your efforts at obedience to in any way instigate or preserve salvation is an immediate, direct and overt rejection of Christ’s Obedience as the sole means that has established the perfect Righteousness acceptable to God and justifies a man before Him. You cannot simultaneously look to Christ and yourself. If you are truly looking to Christ you are not looking at yourself, but if you look to yourself then your eyes are not focussed on Him at all, but a counterfeit. The Christian’s Faith is not what saves him, but rather the Object of that Faith—which is gifted to him by God by Grace alone—Jesus Christ the only one Whose Obedience established the only Righteousness which can and does justify a man before God. Just as eternal life is a gift, so too, the Christian’s Faith is not a work of his, but a gift given to him by God (see Eph. 2:8,9 & Rom. 6:23). God credits Christ’s Righteousness only to the ones He chose before the foundation of the world (see Eph. 1:4), and saves by His Grace alone. It must be pointed out that God’s people are not born with this Righteousness, it is charged to their account in time upon their being made alive in and by God. Thus “…to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him…his faith is counted for Righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). Clearly, we see that to him that does work and claim to believe in the true and only God, that man’s faith is not from God, therefore, IT IS NOT counted for Righteousness, for this man’s righteousness is not God’s Righteousness, but his own. Christ’s people are resting in Him, for they are “…complete in Him…” (Col. 2:10 cf. Matt. 11:30). Jesus says: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). Any faith in one’s own righteousness cannot be from God. If the faith you have trusts in your righteousness to any degree, it is your own faith and not that saving Faith which God gives to His elect. It is a faith that only confirms your accursed state. Man’s faith believes in a self-earned righteousness that can never justify a man before God; the gift of Faith given by God believes in the Grace-imputed Righteousness of Christ which alone justifies a man before God (see Rom. 5:17-19). Man does not need the gift of Faith to believe in himself, for he does this naturally. Man does need the gift of Faith to completely reject his own righteousness and believe exclusively in Christ and His Righteousness alone, which is why salvation and justification can only be by Grace alone (see Phil. 3:9). God saves His people by His Grace, and He gives them the Gift of Faith to believe exactly how He did it.
Salvation does not at all come by one’s efforts at obedience, by one’s striving to be the best one can be, but by Grace alone through the gift of Faith which trusts solely in the Obedience of the Saviour for one’s justification. There is literally no need for God’s people to attempt to establish a righteousness that will justify them before God, FOR THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE BY THE SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST FOR THEM. Only the Righteousness of God Himself can and does justify His people before Him. Those that are without hope cannot create hope for themselves. It must be given to them from without and that by Grace alone, for those without God are without any hope. They are stuck with themselves and the old lie that if they do their very best all will be well. Salvation is about faith in Christ, not faith in you. You cannot arrive at a state of salvation by who you are and what you do or don’t do. Your efforts can never save you, for salvation comes only as a free gift given by means of free Grace. The very fact that man needs a Saviour at all is the ultimate indicator that he can do nothing to save himself or at the very least make himself saveable. The fact that man needs a Saviour shows conclusively that any man’s efforts to achieve salvation based on his own actions are dead in the water. You cannot choose salvation, for that would be a work on your part. It would change salvation from a Sovereign gift of God to something you are rewarded with. Any element of salvation conditioned on what you do would simply do away with salvation wholly contingent on Grace alone. Salvation chooses you, and the only conduit is GRACE. “You are chosen for salvation, and grace is the only pathway.” “…God hath from the beginning CHOSEN YOU to salvation…” (2 Thess. 2:13). Works—your efforts at obedience as a means to get or remain ‘saved’—are a detour to Hell. The entire concept of Grace is God doing. Salvation is solely by what God has done, not by what you must do or refrain from doing. A saved man’s only hope is the Saviour. Salvation is Grace-based, not merit-based. Salvation is not condition-based; it is Grace-based. Salvation is solely Saviour-dependent. Thus, it can never be human merit that can gain a salvation which is purely contingent and dependent on God’s free and undeserved favour. Grace means salvation is conditioned on God, not on you. Salvation by Grace is based on the merits of the Saviour, and no other. Make no mistake, those who believe in THIS Gospel alone shall be saved, those who do not believe it stand in opposition to it and will be forever damned (see Mk. 16:15,16).
This all clearly shows that Heaven is not reachable by anything a man does by way of obedience, but ONLY by Christ and what He has done, BY HIS OBEDIENCE imputed, or charged, to the account of His people. Christ is the Bridge, He is the only Mediator between God and man, and He is the only way to the Father—not only because of Who He is, but also because of what only He could do and has done (see 1 Tim. 2:5). Salvation does not come by you doing, but by the gift of Faith in what God alone has done. “…thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21 cf. Isa. 53:8,11). As Grace leaves no room for works, likewise, the Saviour saving His people allows no room or need for their contribution. By Grace ye are saved, by Jesus ye are saved. The inescapable truth in all this is the fact that Christ is the Substitute for His people: He took their sins, and gives them His Righteousness. “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 cf. Rom. 4:6,8,22; Jas. 2:23). Saving Righteousness comes only through the One Who knew no sin. This clearly teaches that there was nothing God’s elect could do to extricate themselves from their sin and the penalty due unto it, and nothing they could do or abstain from doing, that would establish a righteousness acceptable to God—a Righteousness that could only have been achieved by the sinless Saviour.
“…Who then can be saved?...Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible…” (Matt. 19:25,26). Clearly, salvation is only possible with God and utterly impossible without Him. The Saviour was sent to save His people who could do nothing, nor contribute anything, to save themselves. Only sinlessness and perfect Obedience could ever have produced Justifying Righteousness. The Saviour was needed because those He came to save could do nothing to save themselves; they were not sinless, thus their obedience could never have been perfect. The sinful ones could only have been saved by the Sinless One. Those who know the Saviour and who are known by Him readily admit to this. Their boast is not in themselves, but wholly in Christ Jesus the God of their Salvation (see Rom. 3:26,27). Those who only claim to know Him, but are not known by Him, will continue their vain pursuit to establish a righteousness of their own based on their ‘good works’ (see Matt. 7:21-23). If you believe you can do something to save yourself, or that you must contribute something to ensure your salvation, then Jesus Christ, Who saves by His Righteousness alone, is not for you. If you believe you must add your own obedience to that of Christ’s for your justification, then you must also take upon yourself the responsibility of paying the penalty of your sin. If you believe Christ alone has fully paid the penalty for your sin, the only way that claim can be legitimized is to also believe that only Christ’s Righteousness—WITHOUT YOUR OBEDIENCE—justifies.
God’s elect were not chosen because God foresaw they would be obedient, for their salvation is based on Grace alone—the free favour of God—and not their works, foreseen or otherwise. God chose His people to receive and look exclusively to the only acceptable saving Righteousness gained only by Christ’s Obedience. A man whose trust is in another gospel, a false gospel which does not tell the truth of the true Christ, is as saved as the man who refused to look at the serpent on the pole was healed. Those who looked not upon the serpent on the pole were not healed, but died. So too, those who will not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in His Obedience alone and death as revealed in His Gospel, will not be saved (see Num. 21:8,9; Mk. 16:15,16; 1 Cor. 15:1-4). To say one was saved before exclusively believing in the Gospel of God, is to say that a man was healed before he beheld the serpent on the pole (see Jn. 3:14,15; Num. 21:8,9). A false gospel cannot produce a saved man, just as “…no lie is of the truth” (1 Jn. 2:21). “…what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?...” (2 Cor. 6:16). A sincere and genuine trust in a false refuge provides no protection whatsoever. Many have an enormous zeal for God, but zeal for God is pointless; it is utterly profitless, and completely futile if it is not according to the right, proper and accurate knowledge of God (see Rom. 10:1-4 & Matt. 7:21-23), for if you do not possess the right, proper and accurate knowledge of God—as revealed in His Gospel—then you have embraced an impostor—a false god. If the True God has revealed Himself to you, you will believe His Gospel and no other. If He has not revealed Himself to you, you will believe any gospel, but His. Zeal for ‘god’ without the right knowledge of God is a misdirected zeal highlighting faith in a false god. Looking to anything else other than the serpent on the pole healed no one at all. Likewise, believing anything else other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ saves no one at all.
If salvation does not come by the death, Resurrection and exclusive Obedience of the Saviour, then He can be no Saviour at all. Just as the sins of God’s people can only be washed away by the Blood of Christ, so too, the only Righteousness which is acceptable to God can only be gained by the Obedience of Christ. Either Christ is responsible for both, or He is no Saviour at all. You cannot have the imputation of one’s sins to Jesus, without having His Righteousness imputed to you. There is no salvation through any other sacrifice or any other righteousness. The following two verses of Scripture bear this out: “…the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7 cf. Acts 20:28; Heb. 9:12,14,22); “…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). No other’s righteousness is mentioned, other than the Righteousness of Christ for Justification, nor is there anything else needed to cleanse God’s people from their sin other than the Blood of Christ: “…by His own blood He entered in once into the Holy place, HAVING OBTAINED eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12). Everything necessary for the ETERNAL redemption of God’s people was obtained by the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Your obedience is not required, and your sacrifices are not needed. The result of Christ’s giving Himself is the sure redemption of all those He gave Himself for. “And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” “This Scripture specifies a definite outcome (‘shall save’) for a specific group (‘His people’). “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12 cf. Acts 20:27,28). “This indicates redemption is a finished work already ‘obtained,’ not a pending offer.” As no one by any action of their own can abolish their sins and the guilt that is associated with them, so too, there is no action anyone can perform to make or keep themselves justified in God’s sight. You cannot do away with the doctrine of the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ to His chosen as being the ground of their justification without also expelling from the pages of God’s Word the charging of His people’s sins to Him as the ground of their forgiveness (see 2 Cor. 5:21; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 5:19; Phil. 3:9). “The two aspects of salvation—forgiveness and justification—are inseparable and depend on the same Divine transaction on the cross.” Adding anything to either teaching is a complete rejection of Christ’s Sacrifice for His people and His Righteousness as the only Righteousness that justifies His people before God, and consequently a rejection of Christ as Saviour.
If you reject the imputation of Christ’s Righteousness to His people, then you also reject the imputation of their sins to Him. If you reject salvation by the imputation of Christ’s Righteousness you will die in your sins, for you reject the cross and remain a cursed sinner—spiritually dead in your sins and totally devoid of the only Righteousness that is acceptable to God. Not understanding the Gospel of God is not believing the Gospel of God, and not believing the Gospel of God is rejecting the doctrines which make up that Gospel—the doctrines which teach Who God is, what God has done and for whom He has done it. Seeing that by nature a man is “...without Christ…having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12 cf. Eph. 4:18), and that “…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), in addition to the undeniable reality that “…we are ALL as an unclean thing, and ALL our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” (Isa. 64:6), not forgetting that “…every man at his best state is altogether vanity…surely every man is vanity” (Psa. 39:5,11), the only real and tangible hope for man resides in the Saviour and what HE ALONE has done to save His people from their sins. “Such striking imagery highlights the utter defilement of humanity and the worthlessness of self-righteousness in God’s sight”
Scripture categorizes mankind into two groups: one group is referred to as the sheep, and the other as the goats (see Matt. 25:32-46). The goats are comprised of those who say there is no God who believe nothing, having no interest in spiritual matters; those who believe in false gods, and the false gospels which teach personal obedience, or a combination of personal obedience and grace, as the way to Heaven. The sheep are those who believe the only way to Heaven is exclusively by the Sovereign Grace of Almighty God Who delivers His Gift of Faith to His chosen ones to believe solely in the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ and HIS Righteousness alone as revealed in His one and only Gospel. It is the gift of Faith—the Faith that comes from God—which believes in Christ’s Obedience, not your own, that saves a man. Only one of these groups is going to Heaven, the other is not. “And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels” (Matt. 28:33,34,41).
God’s Gospel is where the only Righteousness that saves, the Righteousness of God, is revealed. NO other gospel reveals THAT Righteousness, a Righteousness which does not require anyone else’s obedience, or any other additive, no supplementation, no condition to be met, or catalyst of any kind from anyone, in order to activate it, or make it effective. “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…FOR therein is the Righteousness of God revealed…” (Rom. 1:16,17 cf. 1 Cor. 1:18). There is no power of God unto salvation without the unique and unalloyed Righteousness of God. The only Righteousness that justifies is found only in the unique Gospel of God and is “free from any human attachment or dependency.” Since the Righteousness of God—which exclusively justifies a man before Him—is revealed in no other gospel, it stands to Biblical reason that there is no possibility of salvation in believing any other gospel but God’s Gospel. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to save because it reveals the Righteousness of God as the only Righteousness that justifies. The Righteousness of God, not yours, is the key to salvation. Without, or outside, the Righteousness of God there is no righteousness that can save you, and, without belief in the Gospel of Christ which reveals the doctrine of the Righteousness of God there is nothing a man can believe that is the power of God unto salvation. The power of God unto salvation is the Gospel of Christ, for the Righteousness of Christ is exclusively revealed therein. Look at the language in these verses: Gospel of Christ…power of God unto salvation…believeth…Righteousness of God…” Here we see the inextricable, unbreakable link between the power of God to save, the Righteousness of God that justifies, contained exclusively in the Gospel of God, belief in the Gospel and salvation. The reason the Gospel of God is His power unto salvation, that by which God saves His elect (see Mk. 16:15,16), is because it is the only Gospel that contains and reveals the Righteousness of Jesus Christ as the foundation for the justification of all His people.
True Christians “…seek to be justified by Christ…” (Gal. 2:17). This is THE key to salvation, the only key that will open the Gates of Heaven for you (see Acts 4:10-12). The ‘safety deposit box’, if you will, which contains salvation is not a dual-control safety deposit box, it does not require two keys to open it, for it only has one keyhole and God alone has the only key that will fit it. The Righteousness of Christ gifted to God’s people by Grace alone is the only Key which was made to fit the keyhole to eternal salvation. False gospels teach there are two keys—God has done His part and now you must do yours—but the Gospel of Grace says it is only God Who has the power to act, therefore, there is only one key that can open the box of salvation and God is the One Who has it. Saving Grace does not need your help, for it is by Grace alone that a man is saved. One cannot overemphasize the fact that this is the only Gospel which stands in direct contrast to, not only a handful, but EVERY false gospel of every religion that is, ever has been and ever will be! Show me a man who believes not the Gospel of God, and I will show you a man whose trust lies in his own obedience. Show me a man who does not believe the Gospel of Christ’s Righteousness, and I will show you a man who is lost in his sins. Why is God’s Gospel so different? Why does the Gospel of God stand eternally opposed to every man-made religion that has ever been? Because THIS is the Gospel that came to the apostle Paul, not from other men, not from the corrupted, sin-soaked mind of any mere man, not even from the apostle’s own mind, BUT DIRECTLY FROM GOD HIMSELF!! This is the decisive and distinctive factor that identifies and distinguishes the ONLY Gospel that comes from God, from false gospels which emanate from the mind of man. Works-based gospels come from men—THE Gospel of salvation by Grace alone which causes a man to believe exclusively in the Justifying Righteousness of Jesus Christ comes only from God. Any gospel which differs from God’s Gospel is not God’s Gospel; it is an accursed gospel, and so is everyone who believes in it. God’s Gospel is the ONLY Gospel which points to God alone, His Grace alone, His gift of Faith alone and His Righteousness alone as the only way to salvation.
Paul the apostle makes it perfectly clear: “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). The only way the apostle could have made this unmistakably clear proclamation is due to the fact every other gospel differs from God’s Gospel BECAUSE NONE OF THEM COME FROM GOD!! Consequently, none of them have ANY power to save ANYONE. The dead giveaway that proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt is the tell-tale sign that betrays the falsity of all other gospels, for they all include the teaching that a man’s obedience is indispensable to forming the ground of his salvation, and/or plays an indispensable part in his ‘remaining saved’. God’s Gospel is the only Gospel that bases and conditions all of eternal salvation solely upon the Obedience of His Son. All the glory for all of salvation belongs solely to God, therefore, the Gospel of God will never point you to anyone or anything other than God and His Grace alone. All false gospels include many truths (in order to make their lies more palatable), BUT NONE OF THEM TEACH THIS TRUTH! All so-called gospels reject the teaching of salvation by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, insisting upon the lie that man’s obedience is something salvation cannot take place or endure without. Paul the apostle, without any hint of wavering and from which he did not vacillate for the remainder of his life, wrote declaring what he had been taught by God was the actual and only Gospel of God. As far as Paul was concerned, it was the only Gospel that people were to believe in order to be saved. Moreover, as far as God Himself is concerned, it is the only Gospel that people were to believe in order to be saved, seeing that God did not reveal any other gospel to Paul. To believe the doctrines of the Gospel is to trust in God and His unique Plan of salvation. Anything short of this Gospel or anything that exceeded its doctrinal stipulations—in other words, if any took away from God’s Gospel, or added anything to it—Paul unhesitatingly termed it another gospel (see 2 Cor. 11:4)—something that was different from what God’s Gospel declares and therefore something that did not have the power to save. Other gospels, and those that trust in them, are accursed. The only thing that can be taken from the Gospel is the Grace of God, and the only thing that can be added to the Gospel are the works of man. Minimizing the primary role of Grace as the sole means of salvation—“…by grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8)—takes away from God’s Sovereign role in salvation by emphasizing man’s obligation to obedience as that which salvation cannot do without, thereby shifting the focus away from God and invariably shining the light on what man must do instead of what Almighty God has done to save His people from their sins.
The only way to eradicate the power of God’s Gospel to save is to condition any part of salvation on a man’s obedience—on anything other than Grace alone. God’s exclusive power to save His people is His Grace, and not any of their works of obedience: “For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL OF CHRIST: for IT is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION…” (Rom. 1:16); the apostle Pauls’ ministry was to “…to testify the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD” (Acts 20:24). The entire Gospel IS the power of the Grace of God to save His people: “…by grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2:5). Salvation is either by Christ’s Righteousness or your own obedience — by Grace or by works. Again, we see in his Letter to the Galatians, Paul’s Holy Spirit-inspired ruling concerning those who brought a gospel different to that which the Holy Spirit had taught him. Were they who believed these other gospels as saved as Paul was, to whom had been given the Faith to believe God’s Gospel and thus reject all others? Would there be room, after the true Gospel had been revealed to Paul by Jesus Christ the Lord, for belief in any other gospel as acceptable in God’s eyes by which a person was to be saved? Let us see what Paul’s simple, straightforward and succinct answer to these questions is. 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. 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). Here we have a declaration that not only blows every gospel, other than the right and true Gospel of God, out of the water, but shatters them to smithereens!! Paul’s proclamation completely extinguishes any glimmer of hope that any gospel apart from God’s only Gospel has any power to save anyone.
The entire premise of Justification without exclusive belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is RIDICULOUS! “If you change the requirement for sole reliance—exclusive faith—in the Gospel of Christ, the entire structure of salvation collapses.” Paul’s declaration completely exposes the emptiness of any and every claim made by anyone that they were saved believing another gospel, for such a blasphemous claim goes completely against the Word of God in Galatians 1:8,9 thus rejecting the essentiality of faith in God’s Gospel alone as something that salvation simply cannot do without. Paul’s warning shows that all false gospels deny Grace, and the gift of Faith that is necessary for belief only in salvation by Grace alone. False gospels also deny the Righteousness of Jesus Christ as the only ground of salvation, for they always add the essentiality of a man’s obedience to ensure one’s salvation. In light of Paul’s words, it would not be presumptive, or highbrowed, to say that someone who believes that one can be in a saved, justified state before or without the revelation knowledge contained in God’s only Gospel, which reveals this single Message to be the ONLY power of God unto salvation, is a person who is in a state of accursedness. No one is in a justified, saved and redeemed state who believes in another gospel. This is not something new or that has recently been added to the Scriptures. This is not hyper teaching, this is God’s Word on the matter, and not a man’s mere opinion. The cry of Christ is “…preach THE Gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15). Why is the Gospel of God so vital, so important, so necessary to salvation? Because, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; BUT HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT SHALL BE DAMNED” (Mk. 16:16).
Observe, if you will, how utterly and completely convinced Paul was that what he had preached to the Galatians as the great power of God unto salvation—the Gospel—was as a matter of actual fact the only Gospel that God would ever sign, or put, His name to. Only faith in THIS Gospel was the evidence of one’s salvation: that one had been blessed of God by being granted the gift of Faith to believe in the Righteousness of Christ by Grace alone and, subsequently, to reject all others. Belief in any other gospel, 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, read on. Paul states: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9 cf. Matt. 16:6-12). “…errors and false teachers should be nipped in the bud, and stopped in their beginnings, how inconsiderable soever they and their tenets may be judged to be.” 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 regarding the doctrines of the Gospel of God is enough to brand that message a false gospel and anyone who believes it a false Christian. Anything that strays from what God has said IS NOT WHAT GOD HAS SAID. If it is not God’s Gospel. it is another gospel. “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, it is to replace God’s Word and trust in the word of another. Paul calls any other message which contradicts the Gospel of God, “another gospel: which is not another” (Gal. 1:6,7). “It is no Gospel, no joyful sound, no good news, and glad tidings; the gospels which attribute justification to the works of the law, or mixes grace and works in the business of salvation, which was the doctrine of these teachers, is no Gospel; not truly so, however it may be called; nor does it bring any solid peace and joy to distressed minds. There is but one pure Gospel of the grace of God, and Christ, and His apostles; there is not one and another; there is but one faith, one doctrine and scheme of faith; the Gospel is single and uniform, all of a piece, has no yea and nay, or contradiction in it; this trumpet gives no uncertain sound, nor any dreadful, but a joyful one.”
Not one of a tapestry of false gospels—which all pervert the Grace of God and bear the signature of men and the fingerprints of Satan—has ever been countersigned by God! The psalmist says of God: “…Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name” (Psa. 138:2). God has signed His Name to the Word of His Gospel and no other. The only people who sign off on false gospels are those who believe them, and the only one who countersigns them is Satan. So convinced was Paul the apostle that he was not in error over the Gospel—that he had not misinterpreted nor misrepresented this most vital of God’s revelations to him—that he went so far as to tell the Galatians in no uncertain terms that even if he or those who were with him were to return to Galatia at a later date or write to them claiming that what they had preached to them was not the Gospel of God, and then proceeded to inform the Galatians of a different gospel that Paul now believed was THE Gospel, they were to count even Paul and his associates as accursed men! Not just men in error, mind you; not men who merely required a little correction, a little more teaching, but who were nonetheless saved—NOT AS MEN OF GOD, but as MEN CURSED OF GOD! Doctrinal deviancy, when it comes to the Gospel of God, is not merely awarded accursedness, nor does it eventually result in it; rather, this sin of spiritual adultery is itself the prime evidence of accursedness. Any doctrinal deviancy from the Gospel of Christ is the immediate indicator of inherent accursedness. “This clearly reveals the direct and intrinsic relationship between deviancy from Scripture and accursedness.” Not only was Paul convinced he had been given the only God-Authored Gospel, but God was also convinced the apostle had not misinterpreted the Gospel He had relayed to him, or He would never have included Paul’s words in the Inspired Holy Scriptures.
According to the apostle, anyone preaching a different gospel to his was preaching a different gospel to God’s Gospel, and was the clearest and primary indication they were in a lost state. To preach and believe a false gospel, is to not preach and believe God’s Gospel. To preach and believe a false gospel is to not be saved. To believe a false gospel is to not trust in the true and only God. I have had people tell me—in glowing terms, no less—how they enjoy my writings and believe the Gospel I teach. However, they hasten to add that they also believe they were, and others can be, saved before belief in the Gospel: in other words, without belief in the Gospel of God. They never explained to me how this could be so; they simply chose to never contact me again. Would someone please explain to me where biblical logic fits with their illogical, spiritually insane conclusion that one can be saved prior to—therefore, without—faith in the only Gospel by which God saves. “Romans 1:16 defines the Gospel as the instrument of power: ‘For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…’ To be saved prior to belief is to claim the power was applied without the instrument. It suggests God bypasses His own ordained means, rendering the Gospel a secondary or optional accessory rather than a vital necessity. Justification is a legal verdict. In biblical logic, this verdict is never rendered in a vacuum of unbelief. Romans 5:1 states, ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ The ‘saved prior to faith’ position requires a person to be ‘justified in unbelief.’ This creates a legal absurdity where a person is counted righteous while they are still—by definition—rejecting or ignorant of the only Righteousness that justifies. Faith is not a vague feeling; it must have an object. Biblical logic dictates that the object of saving faith is the Saviour Jesus Christ and His finished work as revealed in the Gospel. ‘…how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard…?’ (Rom. 10:14). Their conclusion suggests a ‘contentless salvation.’ It implies a person can be reconciled to a God they do not know, through a Sacrifice they do not trust, based on a Righteousness they have not heard of.”
The gospel/Gospel a man believed was Paul’s primary indicator of whether or not a man was saved, just as it was with the Lord Jesus: “…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). Therefore, it is safe, right and proper to infer from Paul’s conclusion that no saved person would ever preach or believe a different gospel to the one preached by Paul, after all, it was God’s Gospel he was preaching; it was God’s doctrines he was teaching; it was God’s Salvation Plan he was proclaiming. There were many false teachers in Paul’s day, as there are today, some who even claimed to be Paul and who wrote fraudulent letters to try and promote their false teachings. Paul was not only saying not to believe anyone claiming to be him, or a letter claiming to be from him, that taught a different gospel; he was saying that even if he himself—Paul the apostle—were to one day actually stand there in the flesh, face to face with the Galatians, disowning the Gospel he had taught them and attempting to present them with one that differed in any way from it, they should not hesitate in counting even Paul an accursed man! Who Paul had been and what he had preached up until that point was not to be taken into consideration at all. If Paul came preaching a different gospel, the Galatians were to immediately reject him and his gospel as accursed! This should be a loud wake-up call and a stark reminder to those people who place their pastors above scrutiny and who count their teachings infallible. Who are influenced by reputations and the years of study and preaching any perceived ‘man of God’ is reverenced for. “Usually, we trust a message because of the sender. Paul reverses this. He states quite unequivocally that if the message is wrong, you must reject the sender, regardless of their credentials.” The Scriptures are clear: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is NO light in them…from such withdraw thyself” (Isa. 8:20 & 1 Tim. 6:5).
If this were not sufficient evidence for the Galatians concerning the veracity of the God-Authored Gospel Paul had given them—and that there is no other gospel that can save—Paul proceeded to unequivocally reinforce his warning, making it even more explicit and unambiguous, by informing the Galatians that even if ‘an angel from Heaven’ were to present them with a different gospel, they were to immediately and utterly reject him and his message and count him as accursed. This further “underscores the absolute authority Paul attributed to the Gospel” God had revealed to Him. Notice the apostle 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 per se they were to be primarily concerned with, but those wolves who came in sheep’s clothing. It is impossible to overstate the insidious danger of those who appear harmless, and by which they gain trust, yet introduce a gospel which is not God’s Gospel. Paul’s warning, which remains unchanged and just as valid and pertinent in our day, was that even if an angel—radiant and fresh from the Presence of God—were sent bringing another gospel: do not believe him. Upon closer inspection of verse 8 of Galatians 1 reveals more than what simply lies on the surface. 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 to speak God’s very words. 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 et al.). The very word angel means messenger. Angels are messengers of God sent to convey God’s Word. In light of this, the gravity of what Paul is actually saying here is quite revealing, even shocking.
Paul emphatically states that even if an angel sent by God relays a different gospel than the one Paul had preached to them, let that angel be accursed. But the apostle’s conviction ran even deeper. Paul was so absolutely certain that he had received his Gospel directly from God Himself—that he had heard, been graciously given the Faith to believe in, and subsequently preached God’s one and only Gospel to the Galatians—that the apostle was, in essence, concomitantly declaring: EVEN IF GOD HIMSELF, through an elect angel, brought to them a gospel which differed in any way from the one God had given to him and which he had preached to them, let even Him be accursed! This is not said lightly. In fact, as these Words of Paul are all Holy-Spirit-inspired, it is literally God Himself Who is saying that even if He were to bring a different gospel to the one He had already given Paul, He was to be considered accursed. Patently, it is not about who brings the message, but any discordance between it and God’s Gospel. It’s the difference that makes all the difference. The devil is indeed in the details, but he is also often found in the headlines. Different, accursed, gospels not only come with subtle changes, but also with major doctrinal discrepancies. Paul draws no boundaries regarding who might bring a gospel that differs from the one God had originally given him. By including even an angel sent from God, Paul indirectly intimates that if God Himself were to deliver a message contrary to the one already given, even He would be subject to the curse. While this is a Divine impossibility, Paul uses this extreme scenario to highlight a sobering truth: the Gospel he preached is the only true and everlasting Message God has, and it is as immutable as God’s own character. “Paul is essentially saying that the Gospel is a fixed reality—so fixed that not even its Source could change it without violating His own nature.” There is no clearer way God could have communicated, through Paul, the absolute certainty that what the Lord God had revealed to the apostle—which he had in turn preached to the Galatians—was the 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 simultaneously believing that any other gospel contained the power of God to save anyone. Indeed, it is also conclusive evidence made perfectly clear in the Word of God that this Gospel which God revealed to Paul would survive intact throughout time and eternity and be believed in by God’s chosen people. God would never change His Gospel for any reason or for anyone. God says “…I am the Lord, I change not…” (Mal. 3:6). God is “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8), and God’s Word remains unchanged yesterday, today and forever: “For ever, O LORD, Thy Word is settled in Heaven” (Psa. 119:89); “…the Word of our Lord shall stand for ever” (Isa. 40:8); “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35 cf. Jn. 10:35); “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of Heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth…” (Rev. 14:6).
God’s people, as we have learned, have all been chosen by God to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto He called them by His Gospel (see 2 Thess. 2:13,14). No one has ever or will ever be saved without being sanctified through the Spirit of God—just as no one has ever or will ever be saved by disbelieving the Word of the Truth of His only Gospel: “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…” (Eph. 1:12,13 cf. 2 Cor. 1:21,22). NO ONE HAS EVER TRUSTED IN THE TRUE JESUS BEFORE THEY HEARD AND BELIEVED HIS 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. 1:5). Man’s only hope is in the Gospel of God, for there is only accursedness outside the Gospel of God. Many years ago a Presbyterian ‘pastor’, angry at me for the Gospel I preach—especially the 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.
There is a common belief that all one has to do to communicate with ‘God’ is to raise one’s eyes to the sky and start talking. This mindset assumes that whoever the true God is, He will instantly hear you, regardless of the name you use to address Him or what little you actually know about Him. “This universalist approach to prayer, treats the Creator as a generic destination rather than a specific, revealed Person. It highlights the contradiction of seeking a relationship with a God of your own imagination—based on who you think He is and what you think He is like—while simultaneously ignoring or being ignorant of the identity He has provided for Himself.” This would be equivalent to a man walking up to a complete stranger and addressing him as some long-lost friend. “Just as the stranger would look on with confusion because there is no true relationship, the universalist addresses a god they do not know, expecting the intimacy of a Father without the foundation of His Truth.” This type of brain-dead thinking would suggest that calling out to God in your hour of need is equivalent to an equation which has no correct answer, and so, whatever answer you give is acceptable. “This strikes at the heart of modern ‘universalism’—the idea that God is a cosmic receptionist waiting to answer any call, regardless of the direction or the name used. It suggests that sincerity is a substitute for truth.” The Presbyterian ‘pastor’s’ claim to have been saved without the Gospel is based on nothing more than silly sentimentalism and the conviction THAT HIS ACTIONS—HIS sincere crying out to ‘God’—were what saved him. Piffle! A clear example of pride of life exposing his self-righteousness.
You cannot be in a saved state without, or before believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You cannot simultaneously be saved and accursed. You are either saved—evidenced by your believing the Gospel—or you are accursed—evidenced by your disbelief (whether due to ignorance or otherwise) of God’s Gospel. There is no disputing this, for the Scriptures are crystal clear on the matter, and there are no exceptions to the rule: Those who believe the Gospel will be saved; those who do not believe the Gospel will be damned. “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth…” (2 Thess. 2:12 cf. Mk. 16:15,16). Those who say they were saved before they heard God’s Gospel are saying they were saved without God’s Gospel, and are just as damned as those who believe not the truth because they clearly do not believe the truth either. Paul was, with Godly assurance, sure that the Gospel God had given him was His one and only complete Gospel. There are no doctrinal additions to be made, no alterations or corrections, no modifications whatsoever to suit coming generations or evolving cultures. Belief in the Gospel which is essential to salvation is tied to the gift of Faith God gives to His people to believe, trust in, Him and His salvation Plan, which is in turn tied to salvation by Grace alone and Justification by the Obedience of ONE. No faith to believe God’s Gospel means no salvation by Grace. The absence of Gospel-believing Faith invariably leads the faithless person believing in a salvation achieved, at least in part, through personal obedience. “If one doesn't have the faith given by God, the human mind naturally defaults to a work-for-reward system.” Paul showed that the Gospel which was revealed to him and which he in turn faithfully taught the Galatians is God’s only Gospel and would always be God's ONLY Gospel. Anyone—even if God Himself through means of one of His angels came bringing a gospel that differed in the slightest way to Paul’s Gospel—evidenced that they and their gospel were accursed! “Any deviation from Paul’s Gospel, regardless of the source, is unacceptable.” There is no stronger language than this that the apostle could have used to make his point any clearer.
And so we ask, how do you think Paul arrived at such a conclusion? What made the apostle so absolutely definite in his conviction that if a man taught or believed a gospel that differed from his, it would give him license to pronounce such a man—even an angel sent by God, yes, even God Himself—accursed? Do you think Paul reasoned this out with his mind after the Lord had delivered him His Gospel? Perhaps. Even if he did he would have been correct in his conclusions because what other gospel could possibly save apart from the only one the Lord had told him. God did not reveal any other plan of salvation to His apostle, no plan B, C or D at all, for God has no contingency plan, but only one guaranteed, infallible plan of salvation, and it is revealed in His one and only Gospel. There are no alternative plans for salvation that have ever saved anyone because none of them are God’s original and only Salvation Plan. No other gospel is based on God’s Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. God’s Gospel is not merely His ‘Plan A’ in the salvation of His people. To suggest this would be like saying Jesus Christ is God’s primary choice to save His people, but He has other alternative choices for those who reject Him. Ridiculous. God has only one Saviour and Jesus Christ is it—there is no other Saviour and there is no other gospel that reveals Him but the unique Gospel of Almighty God wherein the Justifying Righteousness of that Saviour is revealed.
Doesn’t it sound reasonable to conclude that the Lord Himself told Paul there was no other gospel that could save; that there is no other message that any man could come up with that would be God’s Message and therefore that was worthy of belief and that could save. After all, what Paul wrote on the matter was Holy Spirit-inspired—it was God’s Word he was writing. Now, I am not saying God did say this to Paul, or that He even had to say it, but just that it surely must be considered plausible if not probable. God may have said, ‘This is My ONLY Gospel’. Paul’s wording surely conveys that message loud and clear. One thing is certain, the Lord most assuredly inspired Paul by the Holy Spirit to write such things and made sure that no man tampered with or removed this from Paul’s Letter, which is Holy Scripture. What also makes sense is the fact that if there is no salvation in any other gospel, surely God would, has and does see to it that His Gospel would remain perfectly intact. Yes, there are many perversions of God’s Gospel, as there are an increasing number of perverted versions of the Bible, however, God’s Gospel as delivered to the apostle Paul would always remain as it was, for anything which differed from it proved the bearer or believer in it accursed. This is the only explanation that will accommodate the facts. MANY GOSPELS TEACH ‘GRACE’, BUT ONLY GOD’S GOSPEL TEACHES GRACE ALONE! A Grace so all-encompassing that no work of man’s is necessary, therefore, leaving no room for a man to boast in anything he has done. God not only wanted Paul and those in Galatia to know this, but as many as would read it, that as far as God was concerned there was only ONE Gospel—HIS GOSPEL: the Gospel of salvation by the Grace of God alone through the gift of Faith alone given by God to all His people so that they would all believe in Jesus Christ and His Righteousness plus nothing. God knows of no other god/God, no other Saviour and He knows of no other Gospel that has the power to save anyone.
Many professing Christians, even so-called pastors have the temerity to say that no one knows what the Gospel actually is, while others foolishly insist it has been lost to antiquity. One such ‘pastor’ once wrote to me saying, “To know what the Gospel is, that would be something”. I wonder what such men preach during their ‘Gospel service’ every Sunday? Such charlatans masquerading as men of God say the Gospel is lost, and then proceed to tell you what they believe it is! If no one knows what the Gospel of God is, what would be the point in speculating what it might be? If no one knows what the Gospel of God is, then none would be saved. Moreover, what in the world would be the point in God gifting Faith to His chosen when they clearly would not know what to believe with it! Why would He grant them the gift of Faith to believe mutually exclusive and contradictory gospels? They would all have the same Faith gifted to them by Grace, but despite its commonality would be directed to different doctrines belonging to different gospels and, therefore, different gods. Or has God stopped giving the gift of Faith to His people through which He saves them by Grace? What would they believe except gospels that would be partly truth and partly fiction which is no different to what lost people already believe with the faith that is inherent in every man. The purpose of God giving HIS Faith to HIS people is to ensure HIS people believe HIS Gospel , and no other. SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE CAN ONLY BE THROUGH THE GIFT OF FAITH, SPECIFICALLY GIVEN TO BELIEVE THE DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION! So much for those who foolishly contest that the Gospel of God is lost, or that it remains a mystery even to the people of God. If no one knows what the Gospel of God is—the doctrines which make up that Gospel—then God either has no Gospel, does not want even His own chosen people to know let alone believe His Gospel, or He was powerless to stop Satan from kidnapping His Gospel and hiding it from everyone including God’s very elect. RIDICULOUS!! If no one knows what the Gospel of God is, then what of the passage in Galatians 1 and the words of Jesus Who states, in Mark 16, that only those who believe the Gospel will be saved and those who believe not the Gospel of God will be damned? If there are those who do not believe the Gospel of God, there must of necessity be those who DO believe it. If there are those who will be damned because they do not believe the Gospel of God, then there must be those who will be saved because they DO believe it. And, according to 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, if there are those “…that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”, it logically follows that there must be those who DO obey His Mighty Gospel, for they have all been “…chosen…to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit AND BELIEF OF THE TRUTH: Whereunto He called you by our Gospel…” (2 Thess. 2:13,14).
When so-called pastors say no one knows what the Gospel of God is, are we to assume they also include Christians in that group? And when they say that the Gospel is lost, to whom, pray tell, is it lost? God’s people? Is God’s Gospel lost? Is it unknowable even to God’s chosen? Is the Gospel, therefore, hidden from God’s chosen as well as the lost? Are their eyes also blind to the true Gospel? Is the Gospel hid from them as well as from the lost? Are all, therefore, lost? How can any of this be, when Paul the apostle states quite clearly that those to whom the Gospel of God is hid are only those who are lost (2 Cor. 4:3). Are all Christians lost? Chosen to be saved, but lost regardless? Born again by the Spirit of God, and yet lost because no one knows what the Gospel is? This Scripture alone provides ample evidence of the fact that FOR THOSE WHOM GOD SAVES, THE GOSPEL OF GOD IS NOT HID, IT IS NOT UNKNOWABLE, IT IS NOT LOST! Those who are saved do not have blinded minds like those who are lost (see 2 Cor. 4:4). They were chosen to be saved through belief of the truth, not to remain in ignorance of it (see 2 Thess. 2:13,14). What the saved have is the gift of Faith, by which they see and believe God’s only Gospel. Those who say there is no Gospel, or that no one knows that the true Gospel is, must logically conclude that no one knows what the true Gospel isn’t. This implies virtually anything and everything anyone claiming to be a Christian believes must be considered to potentially be the truth. If no one knows what the Gospel of God is, who is to say what it is not? Therefore, seeing as none can ascertain with any certainty exactly what the true Gospel of God is, everyone who claims to be a Christian—regardless of what they believe—must be accepted as a Christian. “To say ‘X is not the Gospel,’ you must have at least a partial blueprint of what the Gospel is. If the core definition is unknowable, then you lose the right to exclude anything. If no one can define the truth, then two people holding diametrically opposed views must both be considered correct (or at least equally valid). This results in the term ‘Christian’ losing all specific meaning because it can mean everything and nothing simultaneously. Without an objective yardstick, truth is downgraded to sincerity. If the standard is gone, the only thing left to measure is the intensity of a person's feelings, which is a subjective—and therefore untouchable—metric. Essentially, if the centre doesn't hold, the perimeter disappears.”
If the Gospel of God is lost or unknowable, it opens a veritable pandora’s box of confusion, paving the way for the validation of every doctrinal inconsistency. Without a standard by which to measure, one is left only with untouchable personal beliefs that seem perfectly true to each individual. There is no order in such confusion; there is only delusion which can only lead to chaos. If a person does not believe, and therefore does not know, the Gospel of God, THAT is a person who is not born again: THAT is a person who is lost. If the Gospel of God is lost, why then did the apostle not simply say, ‘The Gospel of God is hid from everyone, and so everyone is lost’? Why specify that only those to whom the Gospel is hid are lost, if the Gospel itself is lost? If the Gospel is lost, then it is hidden from all and everyone is lost. The Gospel of God is only lost to those who do not know it as the power of God unto salvation. In saying those to whom the Gospel is hid are lost, Paul clearly implies that the Gospel is revealed to all those who are saved; that God’s saved people DO KNOW His Gospel, and, therefore, that God's Gospel IS NOT hidden from them. God’s Gospel is revealed to God’s people, it is known by God’s people and it is believed by God’s people. Obviously, then, the one to whom the Gospel of God is not hidden but revealed—who does know the Gospel of God and who does believe it—is saved. “If the Gospel becomes a lost variable, the entire structure of the faith collapses into a relativistic free-for-all. When a standard is removed, the shift follows a specific, chaotic progression. Instead of The Gospel is X, it becomes ‘My Gospel is X.’ Truth is no longer a destination everyone is trying to reach; it becomes a personal possession. If you cannot define the light, you cannot identify the shadow. Without a known Gospel, ‘heresy’ becomes a dead word, because you need a boundary to define what is outside of it. In a functional system, different beliefs might overlap, but they are all compared against a central core. If that core is removed, the circles drift apart until there is no common ground left to even have a conversation. If the Gospel is unknowable, then the term ‘Christian’ becomes a content-less label. It no longer describes what a person believes, only how they identify. If person A says ‘God is X’ and person B says ‘God is the opposite of X,’ and the truth is unknowable, a third party has no choice but to validate both as ‘Christian.’ This creates a Pandora’s Box where the belief system becomes a mirror of the individual's own preferences rather than a submission to an external reality.”
To those who say the Gospel is lost and, therefore, that no one knows what the Gospel of God is, I ask, ‘Do you believe God knows what His Gospel is?’ I would presume that most would answer in the affirmative. Then for what possible reason would Almighty God, Who Authored the Mighty Gospel which proclaims the Good News about the salvation of His people through His Son Jesus, have allowed His Gospel to become lost, or even worse, suppressed this Good News of salvation from the very people He has elected to believe it and be saved?!! “…God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through…belief of the truth: whereunto He called you by our Gospel…” (2 Thess. 2:13,14). It simply makes no sense at all. Much like an unfinished road which looks completed at first—when all you can see is a smooth blacktop—but when travelled on eventually breaks up into a rough track, many lies and false teachings sound good, even wise, at first, however, upon closer inspection and when tested by the Word of God, they are seen for what they really are. They all eventually leave their followers lost and abandoned on an ugly dirt track which leads to nowhere but a fiery Hell. Again, how can the Gospel of God be lost when we still have the Scriptures intact? How can anyone say that the true Gospel is lost when 99% of professing Christians believe the Bible is the complete, unadulterated and infallible Word of God which shall never pass away? What? God forgot to include in His Scriptures the very doctrines which deal with salvation—the most important teachings concerning Who God is and what He has done for the salvation of His people? Or have all the Scriptures which teach the Gospel of God been lost, leaving only those Scriptures that do not teach it? What, then, of the Scriptures throughout the entire Word of God which do teach the Gospel?
The confusion and the lies are in the hearts of the lost—the ones to whom the Gospel is hid, the ones who cannot discern the true Gospel of God. Of the woman who poured spikenard upon the head of the Lord Jesus, Christ said: “Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her” (Mk. 14:9). Those who claim the Gospel of God is lost would have us believe that though the Lord God went to great lengths to preserve what this woman did to Jesus, He has allowed His great Gospel—which details Who His Son is and what His Son has done for all His people—to be washed away by the waters of time. THIS IS NOTHING BUT A CONTEMPTIBLE AND SATANIC LIE!! AN OUTRAGEOUS AND OVERT ATTACK UPON GOD AND HIS VERY POWER TO SAVE! Always remember that only the person who insists that God’s Gospel is lost—or that no one knows what the true Gospel of God is—is the one that is lost. They are the ones who have not been given eyes to see and ears to hear. Spiritual things cannot be discerned by the wisdom of man, by those who do not possess the gift of Faith, but only by those who have been made alive unto God by God. No man who is not born again has any right, nor is he qualified at all, to comment on the matter of what the Gospel of God is. The only ones who have any right to comment on the Gospel are those to whom God has revealed Himself and who, therefore, know and believe Who the True God is and what His True, eternal and only Gospel is.
The apostle John states in 1 John 4 that Christians—ALL Christians—know the Truth. Paul the apostle wrote to, and of, his brethren at Philippi: “...in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the Word of Life...” (Phil. 2:15,16). Paul may be referring here to Christ as the Word of Life (see Jn. 1:1; 1 Jn. 1:1), or to the Gospel of Christ through which Christ, the Word, is preached and made known. Writing to fellow Christians, the apostle John says: “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth....Ye are of God little children....They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 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. 2:21; 4:4-6 cf. 3:1). Say something like this today and the world looks upon you as some unloving, judgemental religious extremist, whilst professing Christians run around like headless chickens shouting, “CULT! CULT!” The reality of the situation is this: when one knows the truth and knows that others also know the truth what else could the apostle John have possibly said? Those who hear the truth and believe the truth of God do not listen to those who don’t know it. Only those who believe only what they perceive the truth to be—but are in fact in error and so do not abide in the truth—are the ones who are truly trapped in a cultic mindset. God’s people are led by the Spirit of truth; those who are not God’s people are guided by the spirit of error. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14). Further on in his Letter, the apostle John explains: “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 Jn. 5:19). The person who makes such a sweeping statement is correct only if what they believe is indeed the truth. All John is saying here is that those who believe God’s truth are clearly of God, while those who do not believe—comprising every unbeliever in the world—lie in the wickedness of unbelief. Succinctly put, Christians know the truth, and the world of non-Christians does not. John notes in this verse that there is a marked difference—not to mention distinct consequences—between believing the Truth of God and holding to the untruths of the Devil. This is particularly evident in the phrase ‘lieth in wickedness’. It means to be under the power or influence of the Devil, who, as the god of this world, has blinded the minds of all those who do not believe the Gospel of God; all those who are of the world; all those who say no one knows what the Gospel of God is: all those who are lost (see 2 Cor. 4:3,4). “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…” (Rev. 12:9).
If you do not believe the Gospel of God, you are of the world and serve the god of this world; you are deceived, lost and lie blinded in wickedness. If you do believe the Gospel, you are of God and are saved. Those who are of God love His Truth, for they are filled with the Spirit of Truth, believe the Gospel of God and have been granted eternal life. Conversely, those who are of the world—who are deceived by Satan and lie in wickedness and believe not the Gospel of God—are filed with the spirit of error and appointed to damnation (see 1 Thess. 5:9,10). He that knoweth God is not of the world, just as Jesus is not of the world. Christ said of His disciples: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:16). Those who are of God are not of the world, meaning they no longer live as the world does, nor do they share in or partake of the world’s conversations—in particular, the world’s undiscerning and ignorance-based religious beliefs. Those who are of God believe His truth, and those who are of the world have not the truth of God. Christ said: “O Righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me” (Jn. 17:25). The world remains blind to the true God and His Gospel; however, the true followers of the true Jesus have not only been given eyes to see and ears to hear, but also the true Faith to believe Him as He is revealed in His one and only Gospel. Those who are of God lie in the loving arms of Truth, while those who are of the world lie in the false, carnal and temporal ‘security’ of wickedness.
The warped mindset of those who are of the world—when broken down and revealed for what it is—concludes that because there are so many differing and opposing beliefs, there cannot be an absolute truth regarding the Gospel, or at least that no one has yet found it. Modern pluralism has weighed itself down by “the idea that diversity of opinion somehow negates the existence of absolute truth.” Subscribers to such a self-evident and self-defeating argument have apparently transcended truth, and entered a world where truth is not absolute, but malleable—solely subject to what each individual person believes it to be. “The world treats truth like clay to be shaped by the individual rather than a rock upon which the individual must stand”—or be crushed by (see Matt. 21:42-44). Such ludicrous pontification is exposed as utterly fraudulent by the following analogy: if a room full of five-year-old children provides a range of different answers to a complex equation, does that mean that there is no absolute, true answer to the equation? Or does it simply reveal the fact that none of them know it? They all miserably fail to realise that truth can never be separated from its absoluteness, and the fact that only truth dictates what it is and what a man is commanded to believe. For such ‘thinkers,’ the fact that even ‘great scholarly minds’ cannot come to an agreement as to what the true Gospel of God is, bolsters their argument and is proof positive to them that though such a truth may or may not exist, no man can ever truly know it.
In other words, because there is no overwhelming consensus as to what the Gospel of God is among professing Christians, these people have settled on the Satanic lie that either the Gospel of God is lost or we are all, somehow, missing an unknown element of it. Therefore, according to this Scripturally irrational thought process, it must follow that even God’s people do not possess the Truth of the Gospel. If that were so, no one could speak with any authority as to what the Gospel of God is or is not, nor, subsequently could they have any assurance that they are saved. The greatest Good News that has ever been concerning mankind is lost or is unrecognizable. If this is true, then God has failed to protect and ensure the Gospel’s survival and reception and thus left even His own people with no hope of salvation. The best anyone can have is only portions of the Gospel but even those are not agreed upon, and yet all are considered Christians. Again, they do not judge a man a Christian by what he believes but in the fact he 'believes' at all. It never occurs to any of these people that perhaps some have found it, that some do have the Truth and that the others are not just plain wrong, but accursed, despite their morally irreproachable lives! That, just like the Word of God says, real Christians have the real Truth of God, while all others are in the deathly grip of error. If real Christians did not have the truth, Christian and non-Christian alike would be stumbling about in spiritual darkness. There would be nothing to distinguish them—in the context of truth and error, nor in believing the true God versus disbelieving Him, nor in being blessed versus accursed. In such a vacuum, Truth would simply be relegated to a matter of opinion carrying virtually no negative consequences. The apostle John wholeheartedly believed that Christians have the very Truth of God and did not hesitate to write to his fellow believers, “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it...” (1 Jn. 2:21). The controversy does not lie with those who believe the truth, but squarely with those who do not. It is not the truth-believer that is the problem, but the one who does not possess the truth and yet remains convinced that he does. The divisions and controversies do not come from those who teach right doctrine—those who believe the Gospel of God—but from those who teach contrary to right doctrine: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE which ye have learned; AND AVOID THEM” (Rom. 16:17 cf. Rom. 16:18).
Perhaps these others have overlooked the Truth. Perhaps this, to their minds unidentifiable, Gospel of God has actually passed their way but has been misconstrued as just another of man’s many opinions of what it is. Perhaps they have in fact encountered the Truth in their travels through life, but resisted and rejected it as the Truth of God. Many believe what they perceive to be the Gospel—or at least as much of it they think can be known—but never insist that it is the Gospel to others fearing they might offend those who do not share their private convictions. PERHAPS THE PROBLEM IS NOT THAT THERE IS NO TRUE GOSPEL, BUT THE FACT THAT PEOPLE SIMPLY DO NOT RECOGNIZE IT AS THE VERY GOSPEL OF GOD! That the true Gospel of God is hidden from the majority. I wonder how many have had or do have the courage to factor that into the equation (see 2 Corinthians 4:3,4). No doubt those to whom the Kingdom of God remained a mystery concluded that there is no way of knowing what it is, etc. But those to whom it was revealed had no problem knowing what the Kingdom of God was because God had revealed it to them. “...it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matt. 13:11 cf. Col. 1:26). Anyone and everyone who appeared on the scene claiming to be the Messiah come from God, including Jesus, was rejected by the Pharisees and Sadducees and in so doing they overlooked the very Chief Cornerstone. They did not recognize the true Christ and thought Him merely another blasphemer. It should come as no surprise that true Christians never argue over what the Gospel of God is, for they have all been given eyes to see, ears to hear and the same Faith from the same God to believe the same Gospel! The eruption and subsequent lava-like flow of false views and opinions, which have played no small part in the formation of false gospels, has come about by men who do not know what the Gospel of God is since they are without truth or the Faith from God to believe it. How, then, do those to whom the Gospel of God is hid measure what Truth is? What is their benchmark? How do they discern true doctrine from false doctrine, and why are they so convinced that when they actually hear the Truth, it could not possibly be the Truth? An additional conundrum such people face is this: seeing they say no one knows what the Truth is, how can they then be sure what error is? If there is no light, there can be no shadows. “The skeptic claims we are in total darkness (that no one can know the Truth). They then point at the believer and say, ‘That is a shadow’ (Error/Cult/Extremist). If there is no light (Truth), the skeptic cannot see well enough to define a shadow (Error). By labeling the Gospel believer as wrong, they are inadvertently admitting that a Truth exists—they just refuse to submit to it, or admit it is truth.”
If no one knows what the Gospel of God is, then there can be none that believe it and so all would be damned. To say no one knows the Gospel is a fallacy. It is one of the most irresponsible statements anyone claiming to be a Christian—let alone a purported teacher of God’s Word—could possibly make. The reality is all God’s people know and believe what God’s great Gospel of Grace is; conversely, those who are not of His sheep will die in their sins being unbelievers (see Jn. 10:26,27). Just as God is not aware of any other God, He is likewise not aware of any other Gospel that can save. Therefore, no man could possibly devise one or correctly speculate as to what the true Gospel could be! This premise alone highlights the fact that salvation is not by works at all seeing that every gospel that originates from the mind of man, by contrast, necessarily holds personal obedience as its central tenet. Salvation is not conditioned on what a man does, but on God’s Grace alone. Grace alone is the deciding and determining factor. The cause is Grace alone; the effect can be nothing but salvation. This is why salvation is by Grace alone which only God’s Gospel teaches. There is no better authority on the matter than God. Remember, Paul, in Galatians 1is writing not his own words, but words inspired by God the Holy Spirit Himself. EVERYTHING PAUL SAID WAS BACKED 100% BY GOD BECAUSE IT WAS HIS WORD TO BEGIN WITH!! IT WAS GOD’S THOUGHTS THAT PAUL RECORDED IN HIS LETTER TO THE GALATIANS. It was in fact God Who was saying, ‘Anyone who preaches or believes any other gospel than My Gospel is an accursed person.’ Only true Christians believe God’s Gospel. Only non-Christians believe other gospels, or that God’s Gospel is lost. Only the lost believe God’s Gospel is lost, for “…if our Gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). Those who do not believe the Gospel of God, those who do not recognize it as God’s Gospel, and those who claim no one knows what the Gospel of God is, all fall into the category of the lost. Those who say no one knows what the Gospel is imply that it is hidden from one and all. However, the Word of God declares the Gospel is only hidden to the lost. Consequently, either all are lost, or the lost are only those who do not know what the Gospel is because the fact it is the Gospel of God is a truth that is hidden from them. Therefore, to say no one knows what the Gospel of God is becomes a self-condemning statement. Obviously, the Gospel of God is not hidden to those who see and believe it; to whom God Himself has revealed it. Only true Christians, born by the Word of God, believe God’s Gospel. Accursed people only believe accursed gospels. They are not born again. They are not born of the Gospel (see 1 Pet. 1:23,25). How could they be when they openly admit that they do not know what the Gospel of God actually is? How perfectly this matches with the Words of God the Son: “And He said unto them, 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 cf. 2 Cor. 4:3,4; 2 Thess. 1:7,8). What Paul wrote was and is GOD’S Word on the matter, that is why it is part of the Holy Scriptures.
Can you even begin to fathom the enormous amount and diversity of opposition Paul was confronted with from the unregenerate religious leaders of his day in their response to his words in Galatians 1 and which he preached across the land? And how the bulk of resistance Paul met with came not from the irreligious, not from the secular world, but from the religious community at large and perhaps the worst of it from false brethren (see 2 Cor. 11:26). Just like today’s Gospel preachers, Paul was accused of being extremist, elitist, a cult leader and an intellectual who conditioned salvation upon some secret knowledge (see Acts 24:5). Some view his teachings as having Gnostic-like elements. Some “…scholars have argued that Paul’s teachings were heavily influenced by Gnostic ideas and that he was, in fact, a proto-Gnostic.” “The apostle Paul was not a Gnostic because his emphasis on the physical, historical reality of Christ’s death and resurrection directly contradicts Gnostic dualism, and he rejected the Gnostic idea of secret knowledge. Instead of promoting secret knowledge, Paul focussed on the public and universal nature of faith, which he preached to the community through direct revelation from God. Key differences include his belief that Jesus came ‘in the flesh,’ his affirmation of the resurrection as a historical event, and his focus on faith in this specific event for salvation, which is the opposite of the Gnostic rejection of the material world” (see 1 Tim. 6:20). Many would have viewed Paul as an arrogant, unloving man who cruelly and dispassionately ruled out the possibility of a man being saved, who denied a man his ‘hope of salvation’, of being a true child of God, simply by the fact he believed incorrectly concerning a doctrine or two; that he was lost because his knowledge of the truth was not on a par with Paul’s.
In all likelihood, Paul would have been accused of being one who dared to ‘play God’ by judging those he did not even know, whom he had not even met, as lost because they did not believe what Paul believed despite a man’s adherence to God’s law and sincere devotion and faithfulness in worship, etc. Perhaps their opposition was worded, as one man has supposed, as follows: “Dear Paul...we find your language to be somewhat intemperate. In your letter, after a brief greeting to the Galatians, you immediately attack your opponents by claiming they want to ‘pervert the Gospel of Christ’ (see Gal. 1:7). You then say that such men should be regarded as ‘accursed’; and in another place, you make reference to ‘false brethren’ (see Gal. 2:4). Wouldn’t it be more charitable to give them the benefit of the doubt—at least until the General Assembly has investigated and adjudicated the matter? To make the situation worse, you later say, ‘I would they were even cut off which trouble you’ (Gal. 5:12). Is such a statement really fitting for a Christian minister? The remark seems quite harsh and unloving....Besides, Paul, we need to maintain unity among those who profess a belief in Christ. The Judaizers at least stand with us as we confront the surrounding paganism and humanism...” (K.R.) Isn’t this the kind of language and attitude that is popular today? That mealy-mouthed, soft, politically, or should I say, religiously correct ‘We don’t want to offend anyone so don’t tread on anyone’s toes’ kind of fear-filled attitude? The type of all-inclusive, non-judgemental attitude prevalent among the lifeless ‘churches’ today, whose focus is on “high attendance and financial stability,” that keeps the people coming through the doors every Sunday—that in fact attracted them there in the first place—and the offering plates full? “In theological and sociological terms, this approach is often referred to as Church Marketing or adopting a Consumer-Driven Model. The ‘church’ adapts its message and experience to satisfy the perceived ‘needs’ and preferences of its target audience, treating the attendee less like a disciple and more like a customer.” People who attend such assemblies do not want the truth, but only “comfortable or affirming doctrine; what is pleasing, agreeable, or flattering that will satisfy their itching ears (see 2 Tim. 4:3). The ‘teachers’ who “mirror the desires of the attendees” and eagerly seek to satisfy the lusts of such people likewise do not want truth-seekers, but only those who will unquestioningly believe what they teach. It is quite amazing how the so-called leaders of our day maintain a non-judgmental attitude toward those who believe another gospel, and yet do not hesitate for a moment in expressing negatively judgmental viewpoints aimed only at those who stand firm in their belief of God’s Gospel. Such ‘leaders’ are NOT Christians. They are not God’s people, for they do not promote God’s Gospel and negatively judge those who do, while defending those who don’t, thus following the worldly trend of calling good evil, and evil good (see Isa. 5:20). Paul would not have blinked an eye or thought twice about what he had said, in the face of such ignorant criticism. Paul was not moved by what men said about him; his only concern was what God had declared to him (see Gal. 1:6-10; 1 Cor. 4:3).
Paul was a “minister of God” and a steward “of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1) and foremost in his mind was the fact that “...it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2), faithful to the specific doctrines of God’s unique Gospel. “Paul was not insensible to the good opinion of men. He did not despise their favor, or court their contempt. But this was not the principal thing which he regarded; and we have here a noble elevation of purpose and of aim, which shows how direct was his design to serve and please the Master Who had appointed him to his office.” “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). The apostle Paul knew what he believed, and he knew Whom he believed; he knew that he’d been given the only Gospel of salvation God had ever ordained. The only way Paul, or anyone could be faithful to God was to believe and preach the Gospel accurately. If God’s people were not accurate in their belief of the Gospel it would mean they would believe erroneously concerning Who God is, what God has done and for whom He has done it (see 2 Tim. 2:15). In other words, they would be believing in another god of another gospel; they would be accursed. It is a given that all false gospels portray different and false gods. “Since each false gospel proposes a different set of terms, it inherently presents a divine being with a different will, character, and power than the true God. Therefore, each false gospel portrays a different god.”
If God’s people were not accurate in their belief of the Gospel it would mean the true Church of God would no longer be called, “...the pillar and ground of the Truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), if it taught the Gospel of God inaccurately and therefore erroneously, if it was a haven for error instead of truth. As the people of God have not been called unto uncleanness but holiness, so too, the elect man is called unto the Gospel, to believe God's Truth and no longer resist it (see 1 Thess. 4:7). Why else would God have gifted His chosen with Faith by Grace? To believe lies about the True God is to believe in another god of another gospel. If God has assured the accuracy of the preaching of His Gospel then, He must, with equal certainty, also have ensured the accurate believing of it. This He has done in the granting of the gift of Faith to all His people so that they all believe in and relay His one and only Gospel. For, if even one child of God did not believe the Gospel accurately how could he then teach it with accuracy to the next person. God maintains the wholeness of His Gospel by overseeing that it is preached with accuracy by His people, and believed with equal accuracy wholly by Grace through His gift of Faith, thereby, assuring that the preaching of it remains constantly and consistently without error. The argument that no one knows what the true Gospel is—often based on the ‘Chinese whispers’ theory—is shot down in flames by the fact that God’s Gospel is everlasting and that God’s Word does not pass away, coupled with the fact that God’s elect are chosen unto salvation through belief of the truth and given the gift of Faith with which to believe it. What would have been the point in ensuring His Gospel is everlasting, if God did not ensure with equal certainty the accurate belief and preaching of it by His people? Notice, in the following verse of Scripture, how Paul was entrusted with God’s Gospel: “According to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (1 Tim. 1:11 cf. Gal. 2:7; 1 Cor. 9:17; 1 Thess. 2:4; 2 Tim. 1:14; 2:2); Paul’s admonishment to Titus is clear: “…in doctrine showing uncorruptness…” (Titus 2:7). “…it should be delivered out pure and incorrupt, free from error and heresy, and every mixture and invention of man’s…” This shows that the preaching of God’s glorious Gospel would be with accuracy, for without accuracy it would not be God's Gospel that was being preached and subsequently believed.
The Gospel Paul preached was no private theory of his, nor was it his interpretation of what God had revealed to him. Paul did not tweak the Gospel to make it more palatable, knowing that preaching it in its raw form would be met with constant opposition and be considered controversial. Paul preached it exactly as he was taught it by God. The Gospel Paul preached was the very Truth of God; it was the very mystery of God now revealed to him, which Paul described as “...the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (1 Tim. 1:11 cf. Eph. 3:8; Titus 1:3). The ministry that Paul received was “...to testify the Gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). The Gospel of God was to be believed and taught as purely as when God gave it to Paul, for to believe and teach anything more or less than what God had revealed would amount to nothing less than believing and trusting in another gospel. There would have been no point in God revealing His Gospel to Paul and warning that anyone who brought with them a different gospel would reveal their accursedness, if God did not also ensure that Paul—and every true believer after him—would believe and preach it just as accurately. I defy any so-called pastor to provide me with even one verse of Scripture that shows the Gospel would one day become lost or unknowable—making the Church of God no longer the pillar of truth, but a harbinger of confusion and, therefore, no different to the religious, yet nevertheless, lost world! God has ensured His people would preach and believe His Gospel accurately by making His chosen spiritually alive to Him and granting them the gift of Faith to believe and teach the specific doctrines of His Gospel with accuracy. There is no other way to believe God’s Gospel; there is no other way to be saved than to believe it with exactness. If God did not ensure His people believed His Gospel accurately—for none could be saved by believing it any other way, seeing that believing it inaccurately would constitute believing another gospel—then they could never have believed and taught His Gospel at all. Any change in the Gospel doctrines would have rendered it another gospel, a different gospel, an accursed message and the preachers and believers of it as accursed people. Paul stressed “…in doctrine shewing uncorruptness…” (Titus 2:7). “These verses reflect God’s reliability and the certainty that what He has spoken will come to pass, demonstrating His ability to ensure belief in HIS Words.” THAT IS WHAT SALVATION IS ALL ABOUT: BELIEVING GOD’S WORDS. If it’s not God’s Words you believe, then it cannot possibly be God’s Gospel you are believing in; consequently it is not the God of the Bible you are trusting in. True Christians do not believe in a variety of gospels, for they have all been given one common Faith to believe in one God-Authored Gospel: the only one God had ever revealed to Paul which every true Christian ever since has believed as the only power of God unto salvation. The Gospel of God “…should be delivered out pure and incorrupt, free from error and heresy, and every mixture and invention of man’s…”, otherwise it could not possibly be God’s Gospel. The confusion and uncertainty as to what exactly God’s Gospel is does not exist among Christians, but dwells only in the minds of the lost.
The gravity of heresy—any deviation from God’s Word, any alteration, and therefore, rejection of it—is clearly taught in Holy Scripture. The list of what are called the works of the flesh which appears in chapter 5 verse 20 of Paul’s Letter to the churches of Galatia, shows clearly that heresies are something which are a work of the flesh. A product of man. Something which “...lusteth against the Spirit...” (Gal. 5:17). A work of the flesh is something which is always at enmity with the Truth of the Spirit of God. This list, which the apostle included in his Letter to the Galatians regarding the works of the flesh, includes the sins of “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred...” (Gal. 5:20). Those who commit such things “...shall not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21 cf. Titus 3:10,11). Those who commit heresy will not inherit the Kingdom of God. To commit heresy is to engage in and express “A SELF-WILLED OPINION WHICH IS SUBSTITUTED IN PLACE OF SUBMISSION TO THE TRUTH.” “Such erroneous opinions are frequently the outcome of personal preference or the prospect of advantage, see 2 Peter 2:1, where the word ‘destruction’ signifies leading to ruin.” The word ‘heresies’ also means, ‘bad principles and tenets, relating to doctrine, which are subversive of the fundamentals of the Gospel and the Christian Faith; and are the produce of a man’s own invention, and the matter of his choice, without any foundation in the Word of God; and these are works of the flesh, for they spring from a corrupt and carnal mind, and are propagated with carnal views, as popular applause, worldly advantage, and indulging the lusts of the flesh.’”
Underpinning the Faith of every true Christian is the Rock—the True Christ of the Gospel of God: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). Those who hold to false gospels are like those who have built their house upon sand, for their natural faith cannot support the weight of their vain hopes. “A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself" (Titus 3:10,11 cf. 2 Tim. 4:3,4). The Christian is one who has been made subject to the Gospel of God by the Grace of God through the gift of Faith. By this means the now saved man is submitted unto the obedience of God’s Gospel only and is forever freed from any self-willed opinion spawned by his natural faith which seeks to lust against the Spirit and His Truth and usurp the place of the gift of Faith which comes from God. When a person professes to be a Christian, they are professing “...SUBJECTION unto the Gospel of Christ...” (2 Cor. 9:13). But there can never be subjection unto the Gospel of Christ as long as one’s love is for another christ of a gospel which is not God’s. There is absolutely nothing whatsoever in the Scriptures that would lead a man to rightly consider himself saved based on his view of what the Gospel is. Quite the contrary. A man's view comes from his faith, and what stems from a man’s natural faith is called heresy in the Scriptures, and the man who holds such views a heretic who, clearly, will not inherit the Kingdom of God, for he is subverted, or perverted, and thus condemned of himself. Those who hold to the tenets of false gospels believe they do have a strong Scriptural foundation, but in reality no false teaching, no matter how sincerely believed, or however many believe it, has any foundation in Truth, for it is a perversion of Truth. Their confusion lies in an utterly flawed understanding of what the Scriptures are truly saying, for they do not have the gift of Faith with which to believe them (see 1 Cor. 2:14).
The Gospel Paul believed was what God had declared it to be, and not merely the result of the apostle’s own inward reasoning used in its construction. One can rest assured that Paul did not misinterpret what God had told him, for when God spoke He guaranteed that what was said was understood as accurately as it was conveyed—perfectly! (see Matt. 24:35; Jn. 12:49; 2 Pet. 1:20,21). God says: “So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa. 55:11). God’s Word has never ceased to accomplish that which He pleases. Paul was a saved-by-Grace man who was given the gift of Faith to believe no gospel other than the one God had revealed to him. If this were not so, what exactly would have been the point of God revealing His Gospel to Paul, knowing that the doctrines outlined in that Gospel which God had detailed would be misinterpreted and passed on erroneously? No part of the Gospel as the Lord had revealed it to the apostle was lost or misinterpreted by Paul. It remained perfectly intact, as it is to this very day, in the minds and hearts of every truly born-again person; for they are all born of the Seed of the Word of God—products of the Gospel (see 1 Pet. 1:23,25). After all, the Gift of Faith is specifically given by Grace to God’s people to only believe God’s Gospel. There is no other way to know and believe in the True God and His only way of salvation than by God revealing His Gospel to His chosen and granting them the gift of Faith by Grace to believe in the doctrines of His Gospel.
The lost—who do not know the Gospel of God, for they are blind to it—claim it is forever lost, and thus forever confined to the realm of speculation and debate. BUT WHERE IS THEIR EVIDENCE! If their claim is true, how is it that throughout the world man has been able to keep many ancient religious parchments, teachings and traditions intact and yet the Sovereign and Almighty God has allegedly been unable to protect His own most precious doctrines that deal with man and salvation and the revelation of His Son Jesus as Lord, God and Saviour of His people? Incredibly, the voracious lie of God’s Gospel being lost is often championed by those who claim to be the leaders of Christianity here on earth! The problem is that when people claim no one knows what the Gospel of God is, they are simultaneously declaring that there is no one who knows what the Gospel of God is not. You cannot make a an accurate judgement unless you have a standard, or rule, by which to judge. “Opinions can only be seriously considered where no objective standard for judgment exists. Conversely, if a standard is in place, opinions that do not comply with it are rendered utterly worthless.” Without a standard, something to go by or measure with, the whole matter becomes a debatable and unresolved issue. This plays right into the hands of the institutions of the world’s organized religious system that are viewed by none but the lost as God’s supreme and infallible representatives on earth. If no one knows what the Gospel of God is and no one knows what the Gospel of God is not, how can anyone rightly declare any gospel to be true or false? How, then, can anyone rightly consider themselves saved?
Satan, the meddlesome conductor of chaos and chief enemy of the Gospel, is clearly the orchestrator behind all this confusion. If one believes that no one knows what the Gospel of God is, and, therefore, that no one knows what the Gospel of God is not, how can they be so sure they have never heard it? How can they be certain that what they have just labelled ‘your opinion’ was not in fact the very Gospel of God? What those who say no one knows what the Gospel of God is are really saying is that the Gospel of God is unknowable. Again, if no one can know what the Gospel of God is, how then, can anyone say with absolute certainty what the Gospel of God is not? If the Gospel of God is lost, how can anyone say with any Scriptural certainty that what they believe is the Truth of God? Why do they believe one thing to be true and other things to be false? Simply because they believe it to be truth. But what is their standard? If the truth cannot be known, what are they judging by? Some claim to know for certain that at least one or two doctrines of the Gospel are known. But if they were, the other doctrines of the Gospel would become self-evident, for they are eternally linked, flowing into and out of one another. God is Three Persons, but One God; so too, the Gospel is several doctrines, but One Gospel. The confusion lies in the minds of the lost who have no other explanation regarding the vast differences in doctrinal viewpoints among ‘Christians,’ other than God has, for some unknown reason, hidden His Gospel even from all His people. The perfectly ridiculous assertion that even true Christians do not know what the Gospel of God is, is thoroughly refuted by the following Scripture: “Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints” (Col. 1:26ff). People and their claims of being Christian have been placed so far above the Word of God that what the Gospel of God actually is pales into insignificance when compared to a person’s sincere belief in what they think it is.
For those who cannot see the true Gospel and who therefore argue about it ad nauseam, the Scriptures have this to say: “But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). Get it? This means that only those who do not know the Gospel of God will forever debate what it is. True Christians agree regarding what the Gospel of God is, for they have all been given the same Faith by the same God to only believe His Gospel. One Christian and one non-Christian will never walk in agreement, for one has been given saving Faith and the other has only inherent, or natural faith. Those who say, ‘No one knows what the Gospel of God is’, reveal more about themselves than what they might imagine. Scripture says that if the Gospel is hid, meaning if the Gospel is ‘veiled’ so as to ‘hinder the knowledge of it’, it is hidden or unknown, and, therefore unrecognizable, only to those who are lost. It does not mean the Gospel is forever hidden to everyone including the saved. This Scripture reveals considerably more than is generally believed, for if the Gospel of God is hidden from the lost, guess who it is not hidden from? THE SAVED!! So, those who claim that no one knows what the Gospel of God is show that they are among the lost, for no child of God in the Scriptures subscribes to such thinking, nor has any saved man of God ever done so. Those who are blind to the truth either believe there is no truth or believe in something else as truth. What else could the lost to whom the Gospel of God is hidden say, other than ‘No one knows what the Gospel of God is’, for who else but the lost who do not believe the Gospel, have minds that are blinded by Satan? (see 2 Cor. 4:3-6). God has in no uncertain terms proclaimed what His Gospel is. It is not up for debate, nor is it subject to what a man believes it to be or thinks it should be. God is Light and with Him there is no shadow of turning: “…the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17). The truth of God does not fluctuate, it does not bow its knee to what man would have it be. THE GOSPEL OF GOD IS NOT HIDDEN FROM THOSE WHO ARE SAVED, BUT ONLY FROM THOSE WHO ARE LOST. If you do not know and believe the Gospel of God, you are currently in a lost state.
Why do the Scriptures so often warn of counterfeits if, as some allege, the true Gospel cannot be known? Just as in the field of finance, stamp collecting, coin collecting and art, etc., warnings of counterfeits are the strongest evidence of the existence of the genuine. The true Gospel remains unblemished by the hand of man when it is revealed to each and every one of the elect of God, by God. The true Gospel is also unblemished in its reception by the elect, for they receive it with the Faith which comes from God by Grace to believe it. This safeguards and perpetuates the preaching of God’s Gospel and the receiving of it entirely without error. Many so called scholars and pastors scoff at this, but there is no way of escaping the fact that if the gospel you believe contains error of any kind, then obviously you believe in an erroneous gospel and, therefore, a false god. How would these men argue against the apostle Paul that a man who believed a different gospel to the one he taught was not accursed simply because he had a few things, or even one doctrine, wrong? To know the True God is to know His Word: what He says about Himself. If what you believe isn’t what God says of Himself then, it is not the True God in Whom you have placed your trust. The only alternative to this is that despite God saving a person and granting them the gift of Faith to believe His Gospel, they still get it wrong. This is one of the reasons so many people believe no one quite knows exactly what the Gospel of God is. In other words, no matter what God does He just cannot get His people to believe His Gospel even with the Faith He provides for them to believe it. So perfectly ridiculous! Why else would God have deemed the gift of Faith necessary for His people to be saved by Grace through, IF NOT TO ENSURE THEY ALL BELIEVE HIS GOSPEL AND NO OTHER? You see, the Faith which God gives His chosen people is the telling factor that reveals God’s Gospel is still intact and that all His people still believe that one power of God to save His people from their sins. NO man without the gift of Faith from God can savingly believe the Gospel of God. Thus, God’s granting the gift of Faith is proof positive that His Gospel is as clear as it was when He revealed it to the apostle Paul, and that all His people know and believe it and continue to preach that same Gospel. If no one knows what the Gospel of God is, then why does God bother to save His people by Grace through granting them all the only Faith that will believe It?
The true Gospel, without which no man can be saved (see Mk. 16:15,16), still reaches the ears, hearts and minds of all those whom God has chosen to believe it, to place their trust exclusively in His Great Salvation Plan. Without Grace, and without the gift of Faith in God’s Gospel, there can be no conversion (see Jn. 12:40). Without Grace, there is no basis for salvation; without the gift of Faith, there is no believing in the exclusivity of Christ’s Obedience as that which alone justifies His people. False prophets who promote false christs surely do not bring with them the true Gospel. The very existence of false gospels proves conclusively that there is a true Gospel, the Gospel of God, AND that all God’s chosen have been chosen to believe that Gospel and no other. If there is a fake, there must be a fact. If there are false Christs, as Jesus warned of (see Matt. 24:24), then the sobering reality is that there must also be false Christians. THE FACT THAT THERE IS A TRUE GOD IRREFUTABLY DEMONSTRATES THAT THERE MUST BE A TRUE GOSPEL BY WHICH GOD SAVES HIS PEOPLE. The True God has His True Gospel, so it stands to reason that anything which is not His Gospel is a fake, which is why anyone who believes anything that is not the True God’s Gospel is accursed. Lost humanity has its many versions of what the Gospel of God is, but the Gospel of God Itself remains pure and untouched by the sinfulness and fanciful opinions of men. “Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which He hath made crooked?” (Eccl. 7:13). Nor can God’s Gospel be prevented from reaching the ears and minds of God’s elect. Jesus said: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (Jn. 6:37). How can anyone come to Jesus without belief in the only Gospel that reveals Him! You cannot bypass the Gospel, for in doing so you would bypass God and the truth about Him and how He saves.
No one in the history of mankind has ever been saved by the God of the Gospel without knowing, understanding and believing the Gospel of God. How can you know the True Gospel’s God if you do not know the True God’s Gospel! It is not possible that the elect of God can be deceived to the point where they move away from the true Gospel of God (see Matt. 24:24) and believe in another, for the Faith they are given believes only it and simultaneously gives them the discernment to recognize and reject every false gospel. Just as there are many false gods— perversions of the True God—so too, there are many false gospels that are perversions of the One pristine Gospel of God. The fact that there are many false gods in this world can in no way be used as evidence against the existence of the True God. Nor, likewise, does the existence of innumerable perversions of the Gospel and the many and wide-ranging beliefs of what the Gospel is by those claiming to be Christian, deny the subsistence of the True. The confusion that lies in the minds of the lost is no evidence that ‘no one knows what the true Gospel is’. It simply means: “…if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). If God’s Gospel is hidden from some, how can that possibly mean that it is hidden from all? How can the fact that the Gospel of God is hidden from some possibly preclude everyone from knowing exactly what it is? Clearly, the Gospel of God is not hidden from the saved: “Being born again…by the Word of God…And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:23,25); “I have not written to you because ye know not the truth, BUT BECAUSE YE KNOW IT…” (1 Jn. 2:21); “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth…” (Jas. 1:18). NO ONE CAN BE BORN AGAIN WIHTOUT THE TRUE GOSPEL OF GOD. No true Gospel = no true Christian. Christ warned of false doctrine (see Matt. 24:11), thus proving the existence of true doctrine, for how can there be false doctrine, and why warn of false doctrine, if there is no true doctrine? And how can false doctrine be identified if true doctrine is not known? Why are so-called ‘pastors’ warning of false gospels when they claim no one knows the true Gospel? How do they know that what they have just labelled as a false gospel is not, in fact, the true Gospel of God? And, for that matter, on what basis are they so thoroughly convinced that the true Gospel of God cannot be known? CLEARLY, IF NO ONE KNOWS THE TRUE GOSPEL THEN EVERYONE IS BELIEVING A FALSE GOSPEL! How can anyone be saved without the truth? If there was no true doctrine there would only be false doctrine, and therefore, only false christians believing in false gods. Doctrine is either true or false, it is never neutral. IT ALWAYS MATTERS WHAT YOU BELIEVE. As with a reflection cast by a funhouse mirror, a fake is not something that is self-existent, for it is an imitation of something else, a warped and distorted image of the genuine and therefore not something it purports to be.
So, we see from this that the Gospel of God is not something which could possibly have been left to the imagination and private interpretation of His people, for imagination and private interpretation are the components that constitute false gospels and are not a true and accurate reflection of what the Word of God actually says (see 2 Pet. 1:20). Again, the Gospel of God is not lost; otherwise, why would God grant the gift of Faith to His people, and why would they require the gift of Faith, the sole purpose of which is to ensure that they believe only in God’s Gospel? If believing is so important, then it must also be that what is believed in is just as important. To believe the Gospel is to know the True God and trust only in His Plan of salvation and no other. The irrevocability of the Gospel of God could never have been entrusted to the fragility and instability of sinful man and his ever-changing ideas, opinions and feelings. Ensuring that God’s Gospel stays intact and complete would never have been left to the ineptness of man, for then it would surely have passed away or at the very least, undergone many changes. The fact that the Gospel of God is eternal is another sure, and most undeniable evidence that God protects it and ensures it reaches each and every one of His elect unbroken, complete and at the appointed time. As with all of Scripture, the fact that the Gospel remains intact and 100% God's Truth, is proof in and of itself—particularly in light of the innumerable attacks it has undergone—that God Almighty is the One Who has protected it and assured its survival throughout the generations of His people. Why has God protected His Gospel? Why has God kept it intact? Because the Gospel is what MUST be believed! The Gospel is not something that was to be left for saved men to argue over, for they all believe what it is with the same Faith given to them by the God of the Gospel (see 2 Pet. 1:1. Titus 1:4). It is only lost men that argue and debate over what the Gospel actually is and forever wonder what it might be. What a man thinks the Gospel of God is, is debatable. What God says His Gospel is, is inarguable. God’s Word says “…the Scripture cannot be broken” (Jn. 10:35), meaning “...to be made null and void; whatever it says is true, there is no contradicting it, or objecting to it: '...let God be true, but every man a liar...' (Rom. 3:4); it is a Jewish way of speaking, much used in the Talmud; when one doctor has produced an argument, or instance, in any point of debate, another says, (Krpyml akya), ‘it may be broken’; or objected to, in such and such a manner, and be refuted: but the Scripture cannot be broken, that is not to be objected to, there can be no confutation of that.”
The Gospel of God cannot be justly objected to, for it is God's Gospel; it cannot be broken (cf. Rom. 9:18-20). The Gospel of God cannot be made null and void; it cannot disappear or pass away, for it is the uniquely eternal Gospel of God. No one but the foolish and ignorant would dare object to God’s Gospel, knowingly or unknowingly. If saying there is no God is confined to the hearts of the foolish (see Psa. 14:1), then to say there is no Gospel is just as foolish. Believing what the Gospel actually is, and not what it is purported to be, is salvation. What the Gospel of God is, is not a matter of opinion; it’s not like choosing who you think is the best artist, actor, film, song or musical album of all time. What the Gospel of God is, is nothing other than what God says it is. It is a matter of what God’s Word says; therefore, it behoves everyone to find out what God’s Word says on the matter of what His Gospel is because, my friend, that is all that matters. It’s all about what God’s Word says it is not what you believe it to be. If it is not God’s specific Gospel—identified only by its particular doctrines—then it simply has no power to save; instead it identifies you as an accursed person. What the Gospel of God is, is not a matter for legitimate debate, for God’s Gospel is what God says it is and not something that has been reduced by time and truthless tradition to what a man believes it to be. Now, there are certainly many so-called gospels, but only one True Gospel, as there are many that are called gods, but only One True God (see Gal. 1:6,7; 1 Cor. 8:5,6). There is only one Gospel to which God puts His name to. This is made perfectly clear by Paul the apostle in Galatians 1. God does not go guarantor on any false gospel. “In biblical terms, a guarantor (or surety) is one who promises to fulfil an obligation or debt if the original party fails. Christ is the Guarantor of the true Gospel. The New Testament uses the concept of a ‘guarantee’ for God’s true covenant. Hebrews 7:22 says, ‘By so much was Jesus made a Surety of a better testament.’ God, through Christ and the Holy Spirit (which acts as a ‘deposit or ‘guarantee’ in 2 Cor. 1:22 and Eph. 1:14), guarantees the promises of salvation. A false gospel is, by definition, a message that deviates from God’s truth and, therefore, cannot be guaranteed by Him. Scripture attributes false teachings and deception to false prophets (see Matt. 7:15) and even Satan, who disguises himself as an angel of light (see 2 Cor. 11:14). God does not guarantee, endorse, or empower the work of His adversary. Because the True Gospel is a promise backed by the authority and life of Christ (the Guarantor), any message that contradicts it is a false claim that God has explicitly and absolutely rejected (accursed), and therefore, He will never put His Divine guarantee upon it.” Consequently, we can decidedly preach and believe in Who the True God is, what the True God has done and for whom He has done it. The true Christian can definitively and unequivocally know, believe in, trust and teach the Good News, the Gospel of God, as the only Power of God unto salvation. If it were otherwise, why would Christ Jesus Himself have commanded His people to preach His Gospel to every creature if none of them knew what it was? God’s Gospel is preserved by the power of God, and all His people believe it by the power of God, for they are all given the gift of Faith with which to believe it. God has appointed some of His elect to be teachers, not of false gospels but of God’s Gospel and no other (see 1 Cor. 12:28). If no one knows what the true Gospel of God is, what on earth would those whom God has appointed as teachers be teaching? If God’s elect did not believe and teach God’s Gospel they would be no different from those the apostle Paul describes as, “...unruly and vain talkers and deceivers...” (see Titus 1:9,10 cf. Gal. 1:8,9).
Why do ‘Christian churches’ refer to some of their services as a ‘Gospel service’ when many of them claim that no one knows what the Gospel of God is? Do all the doctrinal disparities between the billions who call themselves Christian preclude any of them from actually having the True Gospel? Does the fact that ignorance of the truth exists mean that the truth does not? Does the fact that many people on this earth are physically blind mean that no one on the planet can see? “Lack of sight in some does not negate the existence of sight in any.” The concept of an aeroplane is totally irrational to the mind of some lost tribesmen, but this can, in no way, do away with the fact that planes do exist and indeed fly. Those who do not have understanding, who do not comprehend because of a lack of knowledge, do not realise that their ‘logic’ is without the vital element of fact-based, accurate, comprehension. The ‘logic’ of the ignorant is, and can only ever be, nothing but erroneous. Must all who lay claim to the name Christian agree perfectly with one another for God’s Gospel to still be in existence? If so, this would mean that error in what a person believes would virtually be non-existent as long as they claimed to be Christian. Seeing as there are so many widely varied beliefs among those who label themselves Christian, it is clear that not all of them have the truth. Does disagreement over what the Gospel is mean there is no true Gospel and no way of ever knowing what it is? It would appear that many have subscribed to the lie that no one knows what the Gospel of God is, for the sake of some unworkable and illogical unity—which has no basis in reality—among those who disagree over what it might be. According to these people unity does not require agreement. How can there be unity in what is believed without a shared belief? “A shared belief, or faith, is a prerequisite for unity in belief.” “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).
The only unity that exists among lost religious people is a unity of error. Is one’s own personal interpretation of the Truth, rather than the Truth itself, all that anyone has been left with by the God of Truth Who has only ever saved His people through belief in His Gospel? How can any of this be, seeing that, as with God, the Truth of God is Eternal and, therefore, Invincible? The only one who could bring an end to the Gospel, so that it would never be known again with any Scriptural certainty, is God. But then, why would God bring an end to something which He Himself has called ‘everlasting’ (see Rev. 14:6 cf. Psa. 119:89; Matt. 24:35)? Why would God cause His Gospel—through which He has borne record of His Son, the Saviour Jesus Christ, and which is His only Power unto salvation—to be lost, thereby allowing confusion to reign even among His own people who, ironically, have been given the same Faith to believe the same Gospel? Why would God have silenced, brought an end to, that most glorious Good News which reveals the essential knowledge of Who He is and what He has done to save His people from their sins? Why would God have made His Gospel—which is the very power of God unto salvation—unknowable, when it is His Gospel that reveals the Righteousness of His Son? (see Rom. 1:16,17). How could the knowledge of everything God has done to save His elect now be lost forever? Friends, God’s Gospel is as clear, perfect and in the hearts of all His people today as it was from the beginning: “The Words of the Lord are pure Words…Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psa. 12:6,7); “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our Lord shall not pass away” (Isa. 40:8); Jesus said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35 cf. Lk. 21:33); “…the Scripture cannot be broken” (Jn. 10:35). “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, WHICH LIVETH AND ABIDETH FOR EVER…But 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 the apostle Paul had been wrong—if his Gospel was not the only Gospel of God—his words would never have been recorded as part of Holy Scripture. At the very least, they would have been qualified. But there were no caveats attached to Paul’s Gospel, no need for corrections to be made or limitations to what he claimed it was. As far as Paul was concerned, what had been revealed to him by God was the Gospel and it would never change one iota. The bottom line to all this is that any change to the Gospel God has revealed to Paul would never have come from God or the apostle, for any alteration would have immediately disqualified it from being the God-declared Gospel and exposed it as an accursed gospel. Consequently, all who believed and taught an inaccurate, and therefore corrupted gospel, would rightly be pronounced as accursed (see Gal. 1:8,9). The same stands true for all time. Sincerity does not change or mitigate the consequences of error. If a person does not believe THAT Gospel—God’s Gospel—they cannot possibly be in a saved state, for their faith is in a corrupted gospel—thereby revealing an accursed state—and therefore, in a god of their own or some other man’s imagination. Picture also the religious leaders of Paul’s day who vehemently opposed him, pointing to the fact that none of the great leaders of the Pharisees believed what Paul believed, counting that as ‘evidence’ that what Paul was teaching could not possibly be true. Such a fleshly attitude is also displayed in the Gospels, for the religiously hypocritical Pharisees of Jesus’ day were likewise guilty of using this same lame and feeble, Biblically untenable ‘defense’ to ‘prove’ Jesus was not the Messiah: “Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?” (Jn. 7:47,48). Of course, this is no argument at all, but a desperate attempt by such religious leaders to hold onto their ‘authority’ as they lord it over the people. They did not immediately refer to Scripture, but only to their ‘illustrious’ religious leaders.
Religious traditionalists who prefer to fervently hold onto the truthless traditions and reputations of men rather than to God’s Word in order to prove their teachings right always refer their opponents to the testament of the history of their denomination or organization, and their confessions of faith, their creeds and precepts, where it cannot be found that any of their forebears taught or believed the kind of things Paul and his successors were saying. Teaching ‘God’s Word does not say’ because your religious denomination does not teach it, is nothing but circular reasoning. “Circular reasoning is a logical fallacy in which the conclusion of an argument is used as a premise to support itself, essentially going in a circle. In other words, the argument assumes what it is trying to prove, which leads to reasoning that does not provide any actual evidence or justification for the claim being made. Circular reasoning undermines the strength of arguments because it fails to provide independent support for the conclusions drawn.” The same attitude is most prevalent today in those who oppose our Gospel and, in particular, the ramifications that come with it: ‘Which of the great reformers of the past said, and which of the great theologians, teachers and biblical scholars of today say, what you are saying?’ Such statements provide absolutely no proof whatsoever that those who subscribe to them are bearers of the true Gospel but are actually a confession—an admission—that their particular group does not, and never has, preached THE Gospel. Moreover, such statements reveal the allegiance of those who make them as followers of men who have been transformed into modern-day idols—whose ‘infallibility’ exceeds that of the Bible—rather than followers of the true and only God.
Beware of those who go outside the Scriptures to prove their point about the Scriptures. Beware of those who defend their denomination’s traditional interpretation of God’s Word by citing the words of revered religious leaders, rather than teaching the truth by the Word of God. Any teaching that is perceived to be new or that has not been part of a religious institution’s teaching manual is labelled as false and as that which causes division. So many believe this, especially when it comes from long established religious institutions—as if no such group could have things so wrong for so long. “An old error is more popular than a new truth!” Another favourite saying of many is, “If it’s new, it’s not true, and if it’s true, it’s not new.” Now, the Gospel is not a new truth, but it is ‘new’ to those who hear it for the first time. Surprisingly, many so-called pastors today are not interested in truth; they are not interested in what the Scriptures say, but only in what ‘great teachers of the past’ say the Scriptures are saying, or in what their particular denomination or board members dictate. Many of these hirelings actually know what they are teaching is wrong, but they toe the company line regardless in order to not lose their position or draw any negative attention from the higher-ups or offend any of their flock. These agents of error promote not the Scriptures, but what their particular denomination’s ‘great men’ of the past and present teach the Scriptures are saying. The whole system is no different from any pagan priesthood that lords it over the people and holds them in the grip of fear. Like any good company man, hirelings—whose interests lie in their positions rather than the people that follow them—are, at all costs and at all times, to defend and protect the company, or denomination if you prefer, of which they are paid representatives. The company must be protected at all times and at whatever cost. Livelihoods take precedence over the Living Word. The unquestioning, blind subservience to such men by religious yet unsaved people rather than searching the Scriptures and believing the Truth of God, is utterly detestable. These truthless traditionalists need to leave their traditions behind and come to the Truth! THEY NEED TO ABANDON THEIR VENERATION OF MEN’S WORDS AND TITLES AND START PAYING HOMAGE TO GOD’S WORD. Interestingly, it is not the Scriptures to which these modern-day Pharisees immediately point as not teaching the things that oppose what they say, but the traditions of the institution and their past ‘great teachers’ that are immediately called in as support. Imagine what these institutions would say if one taught independently of them and something they did not promote, who sought refuge in and support from tradition and like-minded men rather than going immediately to the Scriptures for support! They would all immediately point the finger and hypocritically cry out, ‘CULT!’
Paul the apostle was not an unloving, arrogant or uncaring elitist, and neither are today’s Gospel preachers who preach the same Gospel Paul preached and who insist, as vehemently as he did (and with as much right and authority as he did), that any who bring or believe any other gospel are among the accursed. Paul preached the true Gospel, the only one given to him by his Lord and which He called “my Gospel” (Rom. 2:16). Therefore, it made perfect sense—perfect biblical sense—that the Holy Spirit would inspire Paul to disseminate his warning through the written Word: that any who believed not that Gospel were lost. Of course they are lost, for we are speaking of God’s Gospel of Salvation—the only Gospel which God has underwritten—not some debatable theological viewpoint! Speaking through Paul, God was not only saying, ‘This is My Gospel,’ but also, ‘THIS IS THE ONLY GOSPEL THAT SAVES!’ Those who fail to believe this fail to believe God by not trusting in the only Plan of salvation that actually works—the only salvation plan that is guaranteed by God Himself! If God’s Gospel was not perfectly intact today as it was when God revealed it to Paul, then all we would have is an array of gospels which at worst contained only the teachings of men, and at best a mixture of God’s Word and man’s opinions. Either way, no such gospel could rightfully be labelled the Gospel of God, therefore, those who believe such gospels could never legitimately be considered the people of God, for all would be accursed. Belief in such false and misleading gospels could never and has never saved anyone. I will say to everyone reading this book as Paul the apostle wrote unto the churches of Galatia: “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).
Let’s say that a master builder has provided you with plans for a building in which you and your family are to live. The plans are quite particular and explained in great detail revealing the importance of the house being built to exact specifications with the proper material to ensure your family’s safety. Now, would you not pay strict attention to every detail, to every word of that plan, to ensure a well-built house that would safely provide shelter and protection for years to come, only as long as it was built according to the specified plan? Of course you would, for any deviation from that plan would place you and your family’s lives in jeopardy. As with the Ark which God commanded Noah to build, the only successful plan of salvation must be according to God’s Directives, His Word (see Gen. 6:14-16). The Gospel of God is God’s only Plan for the salvation of His people because it is His Perfect Plan. Everything in God’s Gospel must be believed, and everything that contradicts it must and will be refused by all God’s elect. God’s people only believe God’s Perfect Salvation Plan, for God gives His gift of Faith to His people by His Grace to believe and trust only in His Plan, His Gospel, unto their salvation: “…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 cf. Jn. 17:17,19). The elect were chosen to believe the truth. The elect were chosen to believe the Gospel of God; they do not reject it, nor do they consider themselves or anyone else saved prior to believing it, for they have been chosen unto salvation ONLY through belief of the truth.
The jailer in Acts 16 asked: “…Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the Word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house” (Acts 16:30-32). The jailer’s family would also be saved, for they, too, would hear and believe the Word of the Lord. And what is this Word of the Lord? Back up a few verses to Acts 16:10, and we see that what Paul and those with him were called to preach is clearly stated: “…the Lord had called us for to preach the Gospel unto them.” And what is the Gospel all about? The damsel possessed with a spirit of divination cried out saying, “…These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” If you do not know the Gospel of God, you do not know the way of salvation. This Word of the Lord, in verse 32, spoken in response to the jailer's question, ‘What must I do to be saved?,’ is none other than the Gospel of the Lord, for where else would the Truth of Who Jesus Christ is, what He has done and for whom He has done it, reside than in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Evidence for the phrase, “Word of the Lord,” meaning the Gospel of the Lord, is plentiful and, when comparing Scripture with Scripture, inarguable: “...the Word of the Gospel...” (Acts 15:7). “And they, when they had testified and preached the Word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Gospel...” (Acts 8:25). “In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation...” (Eph. 1:13). “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. 1:5). “But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:25). “But they have not all obeyed the Gospel....So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:16,17). The apostle Paul also interchanges ‘the preaching of the Gospel’ with ‘the preaching of the cross of Christ’. These are both one and the same thing: the Power of God that saves His people: “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel; not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:17,18 cf. Rom. 1:16,17; 2 Cor. 6:7). The apostle also states, a few verses on, “...we preach Christ crucified....unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24 cf. 2 Cor. 10:14). The words ‘Grace’ and ‘Gospel’ are used interchangeably in Galatians 1:6: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.” The Grace of Christ IS the Gospel of God: “…and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24). The preaching of Christ crucified and the preaching of the Cross is the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, which is the Power of God unto Salvation. The Gospel of Christ is God’s Instrument through which He delivers the Truth about Jesus, which is essential to a saving knowledge of Him. Since nothing else is mentioned in Scripture as the power of God unto salvation, we conclude that God saves in no other way than through Faith in the Gospel of His Dear Son.
Why would God have bothered to provide His Gospel—His only power unto salvation—AND define it as that which must be believed in, if belief in any gospel, (a perverted gospel something which runs counter to the Word of God) could save just as well? Today, so many who claim to be Christians place the fact they ‘believe’ above what they actually believe. They are not so much interested in truth, but in their conviction that what they believe is the truth. “This clearly draws a distinction between seeking objective reality (truth) and holding a strong personal belief about reality (conviction).Their primary focus is the certainty of their own belief system, rather than the search for truth outside that system.” Their interests lie not in Divine Doctrine, but in the fact they have a faith. Why would God have bothered to sound a clear warning that any who believed the doctrines of a gospel plan of salvation that was not HIS one and only Gospel were accursed if the emphasis was not on what was believed, or if His Gospel would one day be lost to antiquity? How would any of His people be saved believing a gospel which was not God’s Gospel? And why would Jesus have stated quite clearly and emphatically that only those who believed HIS Gospel would be saved, and just as clearly and emphatically declare those who did not believe His Gospel would indeed be damned? (see Mk. 16:15,16). What would be the point in sounding a warning if there is no danger?
Respect of persons or titles, traditions or the prevailing narrative of the mainstream religious establishment just did not figure in Paul’s or Jesus’ reasoning at all. What was important was ONLY what God had said. The Gospel of salvation was, and still is, a black and white issue with no gray areas. “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 RECORDbelieveth not THE RECORD THAT GOD GAVE OF HIS SON. And this is the Record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 Jn. 5:10-12 cf. Jn. 3:18; 2 Jn. 9). Again, all black and white with no gray areas. Be not deceived. There are no loopholes; there is no room for excuses or extenuating circumstances. The Standard is set and the line is clearly and indelibly drawn. HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD BY BELIEVING IN SOMEONE WHO IS NOT THE SON OF GOD? No matter how hard you try, you can never believe the truth by believing a lie. How can you believe the truth by believing a lie? When is the line drawn between a truth and a lie? It is drawn when the truth ends and a lie begins. “This line is defined by The Law of Non-Contradiction: Something cannot be both ‘A’ and ‘not A’ at the same time and in the same sense. The line is drawn at three specific points: Departure from Reality: The moment a statement no longer corresponds to objective facts. Addition of Self: the line is drawn when God's standard (Perfection) is replaced by a human standard (Doing your best). The truth ends where human ‘interpretation’ begins to override the divine decree. The Motive of Deception: Even if a statement is 99% factual, the ‘lie’ begins the moment the 1% of falsehood is used to steer someone away from the total reality. Doing your best feels like a truth because effort is good, but it becomes a lie the moment it is used as a substitute for the Perfect Obedience required for justification.”
Can you see that to rightly believe in the true and only God one MUST believe the Record, or Gospel, that God has given of His Son? Scripture states: “…HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT GOD…BELIEVETH NOT THE RECORD THAT GOD GAVE…” Reversing this declaration makes the point even clearer: HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT THE RECORD THAT GOD GAVE BELIEVETH NOT GOD. “To reject the specific testimony or record of a person is, by extension, to reject the character and personhood of the witness themselves.” If you don’t believe the truth, you don’t believe God. If you don’t believe the truth you have rejected the True God and embraced a counterfeit. 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. “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 in the world can a man be saved who by not believing God’s Gospel—HIS Record of HIS Son—calls God a liar! You either believe God’s Record of His Son, or you do not. You either have eternal life, or you do not. You either have the Father and the Son, or you do not. Clearly, the Record that God has given of His Son is of inestimable importance, for not believing it is not having life (eternal life/salvation). How in the world can a man be saved who, by not believing God’s Gospel—GOD’S Record of HIS Son—calls God a liar! If you do not believe the Record that GOD has given of His Son, you do not have eternal life. Only if you believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ do you have eternal life abiding in you.
Contrary to ancient Chinese yin-yang philosophy, there is no white in black, and there is no black in white, no good in bad and no bad in good. There is no lie in truth. God’s Truth, God’s Gospel, is pure and all that matters. Can you see how simple and basic Paul and John’s reasoning is, and how perfectly it matches the logic behind the only proper conclusion that can be reached—that when a man answers 4 + 4 with the number 9, 10, 6, or any number other than the right number, he is a man who is in error, a man who does not have and therefore does not believe the only correct answer, a man who does not believe the truth, and is therefore not to be grouped with those who do. The aforementioned Yin Yang is the symbol used to demonstrate the merging of good and evil, right and wrong, etc. “Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. There is really no good or bad according to the Taoist/yin-yang view, only what appears to be good or bad. There is no life and death because ‘Life and death are one, right and wrong are the same,’ (from the Chuang Tzu as quoted in World Religions, Geoffrey Parrinder, p. 333).” Can you see how the view that one person's opinion is as good as another's, coupled with the claim that no one knows what the Gospel of God actually is, is, at the very least, leading people to adopt a Yin Yang view of things. Many fail to realise that what leads you to something also emanates from that something. According to the Taoist you cannot say anyone is right nor can you tell anyone they’re wrong. “This is the logical consequence of extreme relativism: if all distinctions collapse, judgment becomes impossible.” Everyone has elements of truth and error in what they believe about God, etc., and so the whole is greater than the assembled parts. This leaves no room for proper criticism of a person’s beliefs because it is believed right and wrong, truth and falsehood, are one and the same. To believe that holding to the truth has positive consequences, but that believing error has no negative consequences is to abandon logic entirely. “If truth has a specific value, its absence must have a specific cost.” All this, in turn, leads to an apathetic approach to truth, and a deadly gamble with the reality of life and consequences. This illogical, humanity-mocking and utterly absurd reasoning, which concludes that right and wrong are the same, fails to take into account the objective fact that right and wrong—when in the context of truth and error and not merely subjective thought—are totally and eternally mutually exclusive. There is no truth in error, nor is there any error in truth. A statement which contains truth and error can never be referred to as true; the error nullifies the truth. Only a statement which contains 100% truth may rightly be referred to as true. Even the Taoist would reject a statement concerning the Yin and Yang as true if it contained any error. But then, the Taoist cannot even call what he believes true, but only that it appears to be true, for right and wrong are one and the same thing to him. The shadow of truth is not error, nor is the shadow of error truth. They have nothing in common and are as far removed as the east is from the west, and as distinguishable, to the discerning eye, as darkness from light (see 2 Cor. 6:14,15).
The Word of God says: “...no lie is of the truth” (1 Jn. 2:21). I have heard people say of the conflicted Calvinist and Arminian views that each group is partially true, that each group is right concerning parts of what the Gospel of God is, and that we can equally learn from both. That neither group is right or wrong, but that the answer lies somewhere in the middle, though no one has ever specified what that answer is. This type of thinking strongly resembles the Taoist view, which says, “...opposites are not really opposite; they just appear that way to us because we perceive through a dualistic conditioning and cannot see how opposites are really part of the whole. Opposites actually contain the essence of each other, and eventually merge with each other. Referring to the Tao, Wen-Tzu states that 'The Way has no front or back, no left or right: all things are mysteriously the same, with no right and no wrong', (Wen-Tzu, Further Teachings of Lao-Tzu [Boston: Shambhala, 1992], 109).” This type of sophistical thinking equates the false gods of man’s imagination with the only True and Living God. In its efforts to become wise, the world has only succeeded in revealing its madness. Wrong is right and right is wrong. No sense makes sense, etc. There is no black or white, only gray. This satanically inspired thinking continues to permeate its way into modern thought. It makes absolutely no sense in light of Scripture and is designed in order to promote confusion and open wide the door for the legitimization of any and every belief and opinion, and, therefore, everyone. This inclusive mindset is steeped in humanism, and is diametrically opposed to the Word of God, as it “prioritizes human thought above Divine Revelation,” thereby placing human beliefs above the Lord God and what He says. Many would have us believe that it’s not true because it’s true, but because a man believes it. Error has been decriminalized, if you will, and set on an equal footing with truth. As a consequence, every opinion MUST now be respected or you risk being branded a bigot. To confuse is one of Satan's most oft-used weapons. Making lies sound plausible and logical to intelligent, and even intellectual people, is one of the Devil's greatest and most readily received means of deception for the purpose of replacing God’s Truth with Satan's lies. Ignorance never has a larger audience than when it is expressed through the minds of the intellectual elite, who, though perceived to be wise, remain as deceived as the majority.
In order to demonstrate the critically important issue of just how many gospels there are which save and can be safely believed in, Paul emphasized his statement in Galatians 1:8 by declaring in the following verse 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 the personality or status of the one preaching! Merely because a familiar and trusted preacher is speaking should never be the signal for us to abandon critical, Bible-based thinking. 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, how many books he had written, how popular he was, how financially rich he was due to his ‘preaching the word,’ or how many people and noted scholars were convinced he was an authentic religious leader sent from God. No matter the clothes he wore or how he looked, 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 TAUGHT, THEY ARE TO CONSIDER SUCH MEN NOT AS MEN OF GOD, BUT AS MEN ACCURSED OF GOD!! THIS is Righteous judgement.
Many people are moved and impressed by the decades of years a man has spent studying and preaching the Bible, of his abundant knowledge, and seemingly endless ability to quote Scripture verses—or even whole passages—verbatim. This often forms the foundation of the automatic credibility given to those who come preaching in Christ’s name. They truly place their trust in the person and the denomination they represent instead of critically listening to what is actually being said—rather than just hearing and believing in lockstep. Again, the apostle Paul stressed that it simply does not matter who comes preaching a different gospel; regardless of their identity or reputation, these factors should never be considered when assessing the message. Being drawn by personality is an extremely unreliable way to determine whether a preacher is speaking the truth or spouting lies. Deception is not merely momentary; it can persist for decades or even a whole lifetime. The only sure way to correctly assess the truth is by the truth itself. Any other criteria will inevitably lead to destruction. Initially, some people are taken aback by the Gospel I preach—even deeply impacted. Yet, after consulting with their pastors or peers, they are reassured that I am wrong and their existing beliefs are correct. Consequently, I never hear from them ever again. They think, ‘How can a single person without accreditation from an official denomination be right, while my pastor—who has attended Bible college and studied and preached for years—is wrong? How can the mainstream be wrong and an independent be right?’ Who a preacher, pastor or teacher is and how many titles follow their name, must never be allowed to enter into the equation. Christianity is not one giant club filled with people who have diametrically opposing views as to what the Gospel of God is. The Church of Jesus Christ is the pillar or truth and the only bearer of God’s one and only Gospel; and no one who is part of it believes any other. If they did, they would be accursed and not part of the Church of Christ. The only way one can be in the Church of Christ is by Grace alone, through the gift of Faith alone, in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. God only places His Gospel believing people in it; they are His people for they have all been given the same Faith which is why they all believe the same exact Gospel (see 2 Pet. 1:1). Believing a different gospel—no matter how many truths it contains—is to be in an accursed state. IT’S ALL ABOUT WHAT IS PREACHED; AND IF IT IS NOT THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE THROUGH THE GIFT OF FAITH ALONE IN THE OBEDIENCE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST ALONE, LET THEM BE ACCURSED!
“God is not only an avenger of all immoralities committed against His Righteous law, but of all false doctrine and false worship, and of everything that is contrary to the Gospel…” It did not matter, it made no difference, how close their gospels came to the true Gospel. It did not sway Paul in the least how many truths their gospels contained, or how many good and wonderful works they claimed to have done in the name of Jesus, how much they prophesied, not even if they had cast out devils in Christ’s name (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 and only Gospel possibly be identified and correctly relayed to others if it were not with accuracy and precision—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; that they were not representing God; nor was their message representative of, nor could it be remotely called, the great Gospel of God. This red flag ruled out any possibility whatsoever that any other gospel could ever save, or that this Gospel of Paul’s would ever disappear or undergo any change or modification, for it was authored by God, and thus, eternal. Paul was saying THIS IS IT! This is God’s Gospel; this is what God says His only Gospel is and it will always remain God’s Gospel! It will never be different, it will never change, and so it will always be recognized by God’s chosen people by the distinctive doctrines it contains. 18 = 3 + 6 + 7 + 2. Change, by adding anything to or taking anything from this equation and you no longer have the truth, let alone the same equation. God’s people would never change God’s Gospel, misinterpret it or misrepresent it—they would only believe it and preach it. “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). YES, WHEN GOD CONSTRUCTED HIS GOSPEL, HE INDEED BROKE THE MOLD!!
There is no other gospel like God’s Gospel just as there is no other god like the true and only God. God says “…there is none like Me” (Isa. 46:9). There is no other gospel like God’s Gospel because there is no other god like the True God. God’s Gospel is the only Gospel that is Divinely Authored. There is no other gospel like God’s Gospel, for all other gospels ARE NOT God’s Gospel. There is no other gospel like the true God’s Gospel because all other gospels differ from, and are therefore opposed to it. And what makes them so different? Obedience that leads to salvation. This raises the critical question of just whose obedience specifically results in justification and salvation. The gospels authored by men are all the same in that they all pronounce a man’s obedience as the indispensable means—the essential conduit, the bridge that must be crossed—to salvation, whereas God’s only Gospel declares salvation ONLY by the Obedience of Jesus Christ the Saviour, for His Obedience alone is what makes a man Righteous before God. This doctrine is made all the more crucial in that it is inextricably linked to Christ’s atonement for the sins of His people—the ones to whom He imputes His Righteousness (see 2 Cor. 5:21). The saved man’s Righteousness is of God—indeed, it is God’s Righteousness alone that justifies a man. Thus it stands to reason—Biblical reason—that the only obedience that can and has attained that Righteousness is the Obedience of Jesus Christ. “…their Righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord” (Isa. 54:17 cf. Zech. 3:4), not of them. It is God’s Righteousness, not their own. It is given to them, for it could never be of them. Therefore, salvation and justification can only be by Christ’s Obedience, not a man’s efforts at obedience. God’s Righteousness comes by Christ’s Obedience, not a man’s personal attempts at obedience. The saved are not justified by obeying through works, but by Grace through the gift of Faith to believe in the One Who HAS Obeyed perfectly: Jesus Christ. “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:11 cf. Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:38). The Righteousness that saves the many is not of the many, but exclusively of God. “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4).
It is not their righteousness, for it is only the Righteousness of God that saves. A man’s personal righteousness has never saved anyone, for salvation requires the very Righteousness of God. Salvation is by the Righteousness of God imputed, legally charged to the many: “…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19 cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). It is only by Christ’s Obedience that any are presented Righteous before the Holy God. Every other gospel is man-centred, for they all have man’s righteousness as the key to salvation and not the exclusive and unique Righteousness of Jesus Christ which is taught in the only Gospel the True God has ever revealed to His people. If you must obey in order to make yourself justified before God, then Christ’s Obedience is not enough. If you must obey, in order to at least assist in establishing justifying Righteousness, then you must have more than the Righteousness of God to save you. Such teaching is, in both instances, Christ-denying and God-denying, for it prevents Them from saving you without your input. This all supplies us with profound evidence of man’s spiritual death. The spiritually dead do not know the True God, therefore, they are ignorant of and do not believe in His Righteousness alone as that which justifies a man before God. This is one of the reasons they do not believe in salvation by Grace alone. Their spiritual death and subsequent ignorance and unbelief are demonstrated by the utterly futile efforts of each generation’s attempts at establishing their own righteousness. God says of His people “…their Righteousness is of Me…” (Isa. 54:17). If your righteousness is of you, you are not of God. Obviously, those who say that Righteousness is of themselves are not God’s people. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF SAVED MEN IS NOT OF THEMSELVES, BUT OF GOD! The righteousness of lost men is their own and is supported only by their feeble, failed and utterly unacceptable attempts at obedience to God’s law. Saving Righteousness does not, indeed cannot come from the obedience of God’s elect because its only source is the Saviour Himself, for the only means to this Righteousness is the Saviour’s Obedience. Salvation does not come by a man’s righteousness, but only by the very Righteousness of God Himself. Eternal Justification can only come via perfect Obedience.
All false gospels will, to varying degrees, condition the obtaining and/or the maintaining of salvation upon a man’s obedience: his attempts at establishing a righteousness of his own. The insurmountable problem with a man’s obedience as an aid to or the very means of his justification is that it introduces man’s righteousness which naturally conflicts with and supplants Christ’s Righteousness. God did not say, ‘their Righteousness is of Me and them,’ but: “…their Righteousness is of Me…” (Isa. 54:17); nor does the apostle say, ‘by the obedience of One and the many shall the many be justified,’ but: “…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). The apostle Paul stated that he wanted nothing to do with his own righteousness, but only to be found with the Righteousness of 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. 3:9). THE CLEAREST EVIDENCE THAT SALVATION AND JUSTIFICATION ARE BY GRACE ALONE, IS THE FACT THAT THEY WERE—AND ARE—ACHIEVABLE ONLY BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS CHRIST! That Righteousness, established only by the Obedience of Jesus Christ, is imputed to His people, not earned by His people. This is the Gospel of the Grace of God. “Justifying Righteousness is a finished (and complete) product before the believer ever enters the picture.” The apostle sought not to establish a righteousness by his obedience, but to have faith solely in that of Christ’s which only HE established and could establish by His Obedience. Paul prayed for the salvation of those who were ignorant of justification by the Righteousness of Christ alone, who went about trying to establish a righteousness of their own (see Rom. 10:1-4). Justification is either by a man’s obedience or by the Obedience of Christ. You cannot have both, for the one cancels out the other as is the case with Grace and works. Many preachers who have a foot in both camps—Grace and works, man’s obedience coupled with Christ’s Obedience—appear to preach grace, but it is NOT God’s Grace, for this fake grace can ultimately accomplish nothing if man does not ‘do his part’. Lost man’s corrupted version of grace still requires a man’s input for it to be successful. It erects a brick wall which this counterfeit grace cannot penetrate unless a man tears it down by means of his obedience. “The corrupted version of grace is the active architect of the problem—it creates the very barrier it then claims man must remove.” “It is a paradox, since it is defined by the very human effort it claims to exclude. The grace envisioned by lost man is self-defeating, as it relies on human input for its success, thereby nullifying the concept of unmerited favor.” God’s Gospel is the ONLY Gospel which states that a man’s righteousness will gain him ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! God’s Gospel of salvation by Grace alone states of man: “…we are ALL as an unclean thing, and ALL our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” (Isa. 64:6 cf. Job 15:15,16; 25:5,6). Every man’s attempts at obedience are seen as nothing more than filthy rags by the Almighty and Holy God. Lost people, dead in their sins, cannot stand such teaching, because they are naturally at enmity against the truth, which is one reason none of them believe God’s Gospel of salvation by Grace alone; for it means that justifying Righteousness can only come by One: Jesus Christ the Saviour. An unclean thing can only ever produce unrighteousness. “How then can a man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in His sight. How much less man, that is a worm?...” (Job 25:4-6).
Remarkably, that which man naturally pins his hope on—his own obedience—is what the Word of God declares as equal to, and comparable with a worthless pile of filthy rags. A man’s righteousness established by his personal obedience is utterly worthless before the Holy God. It is an affront. A man’s obedience in the context of attaining or maintaining salvation provides no advantage to him. The Word of God states that Justifying Righteousness is achievable only by the obedience of ONE—Jesus Christ—and that Righteousness is the only thing which, when imputed to a man, justifies him before the Holy God. No man stands justified in the sight of God without the imputed Righteousness of God. A charged, or credited, Righteousness, not an earned righteousness, is the only Righteousness that saves. It is Who the Saviour is and what the Saviour has done for His people that will save them from their sins. That is Grace. Due to the fact that there is only one Saviour, and salvation is by Grace alone through Faith alone in Him, it stands to Biblical reason that a man is saved ONLY by that Saviour and what He alone has done. God says of His people: “…their Righteousness is of Me…” (Isa. 54:17). Not incidentally, this doctrine in and of itself, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is no mere created being, He is not like other men, for HE IS GOD THE CREATOR (see Jn. 1) and there is none like Him! How else could the Obedience of Jesus be the only obedience acceptable to a Righteous and Holy God, if Jesus is not the sinless God Himself, particularly in light of the fact that God says of His people “…their Righteousness is of ME…” (Isa. 54:17). When coupled with the equally declarative statement: “…by the Obedience of ONE shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19), the singularity of Christ’s Obedience (in that no other’s is necessary) becomes overwhelmingly evident; there can be no other Scripturally accurate conclusion drawn. The Righteousness of Jesus Christ IS the Righteousness of God, for HE IS GOD. There is no other god but God. “…the Righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe…” (Rom. 3:22); the gift of faith “…is a means of apprehending and receiving Righteousness; it views the excellency of Christ’s Righteousness; it owns the sufficiency of it; the soul by it renounces its own righteousness, submits to Christ’s, rejoices in it, and gives Him the glory of it: now this is by grace through the gift of faith.” “…Christ is the end of the law for Righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4 cf. Matt. 5:20; Acts 13:39; 2 Pet. 1:1). If you do not believe that Christ’s Righteousness alone justifies a man before God, you have no Biblical right to claim your sins have been washed away by His Blood. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made (to cause to be) the Righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). “…Jesus has completed the work and that we (all believers), through faith in Him, have become something in God; and not just something, but the Righteousness that God’s Law requires.”
The false claim that Jesus Christ is merely a god, a lesser god, simply makes no Biblical sense at all especially in light of the fact that there is no other God but the one and only true God. Jesus Christ IS “…God…manifest in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16; cf. Jn. 14:9; Col. 2:9). There are no Deities outside of the one True Deity, be they major, minor, metaphorical, or otherwise. “…there is none other God but one” (1 Cor. 8:4 cf. Deut. 4:39; Mk. 12:29). God Almighty declares: “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside Me, there is no Saviour” (Isa. 43:11 cf. Hos. 13:4). “…there is no God else beside Me; a Just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me” (Isa. 45:21 cf. Isa. 49:26; 60:16; Lk 1:47; 2:11; Jn. 4:42; Acts 13:23; Phil. 3:20; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; 2 Tim. 1:10; Titus 1:3,4; 2:10; 3;4,6; 2 Pet. 1:1,11; 2:20; 3:18; 1 Jn. 4:14; Jd. 1:25). “…Is there a God beside Me? yea, there is no God; I know not any” (Isa. 44:8). “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of THE GREAT GOD AND OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST” (Titus 2:13). “But after that the kindness and love of GOD OUR SAVIOUR toward man appeared….Which He shed on us abundantly through JESUS CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR” (Titus 3:4,6). If there is no God beside God and He is the only Saviour, and Jesus Christ is referred to as both God and Saviour, then the only conclusion that can be drawn from the Word of God is that Jesus Christ is God and not merely another God/god, for there is no other God but One: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In light of these unchallengeable, inarguable and Scripturally unassailable facts, Jesus can be none other than Almighty GOD. “Revelation 15:3 says this, equating the Father and the Son: ‘And they sing the song of Moses the servant of GOD, and the song of THE LAMB, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints’. Here we see ‘God’ and ‘Lamb’ are the same; this is repeated in Rev. 21:22.” God is called King of kings and Lord of lords: “Which in His times He shall shew, Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15; cf. Deut. 10:17; Psa. 136:2,3). Jesus the Lamb of God is called King of kings and Lord of lords: “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Rev. 17:14); “And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in Righteousness He doth Judge and make war…And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:11,16). “The titles ‘God of gods’ and ‘Lord of lords’ in the Old Testament (see Deut. 10:17 & Psa. 136:2,3), as well as ‘King of kings’ and ‘Lord of lords’ in the New Testament, reflect a rich theological continuity and development that highlights the unique Sovereignty and Authority of God and Jesus Christ...In summary, the titles ‘God of gods’ and ‘Lord of lords’ in the Old Testament and ‘King of kings’ and ‘Lord of lords’ in the New Testament reflect a coherent biblical theology that attests to God’s ultimate Authority, the fulfilment of Scripture in Jesus Christ, and the deepening understanding of God's relationship with humanity through both covenant and kingship.”
“Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Rev. 1:7). Who is this One who comes with clouds, Who was pierced? “And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward Heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? this same JESUS, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven” (Acts 1:9-11; cf. 1 Thess. 4:17). Jesus Christ declares: “I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING, saith the Lord, WHICH IS, AND WHICH WAS, AND WHICH IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY” (Rev. 1:8); Look at what God, the ONLY God, says in Isaiah: “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts; I AM THE FIRST, AND I AM THE LAST; AND BESIDE ME THERE IS NO GOD” (Isa. 44:6; cf. Isa. 48:12). Jesus Christ says: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Rev. 22:13). This signifies Jesus’ eternal nature. God says: “…before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me” (Isa. 43:10). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (Jn. 1:1,3). Jesus Christ did not come before God, nor did He come after God: FOR FROM THE BEGINNING JESUS CHRIST WAS WITH GOD, FOR JESUS CHRIST WAS AND IS GOD! This sounds the death knell loud and clear against the false teaching that Jesus is a lesser god and that He is a created being. “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHICH WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME” (Rev. 4:8). Now look at Revelation 11:16,17: “And the four and twenty elders, which sat before GOD on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped GOD, Saying, We give Thee thanks, O LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHICH ART, AND WAST, AND ART TO COME; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.” Scripture says God is the Saviour. Scripture says Jesus Christ is the Saviour; Scripture says the One Who is the Alpha and Omega is the One Who is and was and is to come is the Lord God Almighty. Clearly, Jesus is the Lord God Almighty. If you do not confess, in agreement with the apostle Thomas concerning the Lord God Jesus Christ “…My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:28; cf. Lk. 8:39), you’re no Christian. “This declaration is one of the clearest and most direct acknowledgments of Jesus’ Divinity in the New Testament. The use of ‘Lord’ (Greek: Kyrios) and ‘God’ (Greek: Theos) reflects a profound recognition of Jesus’ Divine nature. In the Jewish context, calling someone ‘Lord’ could imply authority, but pairing it with ‘God’ elevates the statement to a confession of Jesus as Divine. This echoes the prologue of John’s Gospel, where Jesus is described as ‘…the Word was with God, and the Word was God’ (Jn. 1:1). Thomas’ confession fulfills the purpose of John’s Gospel, which is to lead readers to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (see Jn. 20:31). This moment also connects to Old Testament prophecies and types, such as the acknowledgment of God’s Sovereignty and the Messianic expectations found in passages like Isaiah 9:6, where the Messiah is called ‘Mighty God.’ Thomas’ exclamation is a pivotal moment of faith that underscores the identity of Jesus as both Lord and God, affirming the core Christian belief in the Trinity.”
There are some, particularly the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses, who say, “Jesus is not the Almighty God, but a ‘lesser’ kind of God. He is the ‘mighty God’ as is referenced in Isaiah 9:6): ‘For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace’.” Incidentally, this verse immediately quashes the JW lie that Jesus is a created being, for He is referred to as “everlasting”, meaning He has always been and always will be. “…they say that Jesus is the mighty god but not the Almighty God. The immediate and glaring problem with this explanation is the irrefutable fact that YHWH is also called the Mighty, or Mighty God, in OVER 200 SEPARATE VERSES! Some of which are: Jeremiah 32:18 ‘…the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is His name’; Isaiah 10:21: ‘The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the Mighty God’ (see also Gen. 49:24,25; Deut. 7:21; Psa. 50:1; 132:2; 132:5; Isa. 10:21; Hab. 1:12). Despite much study and debate, it is still not universally agreed upon how the Hebrew name for God YHWH was pronounced. Some prefer ‘Yahweh’ (YAH-way); others prefer ‘Yehowah’, ‘Yahuweh’, or ‘Yahawah’; still others argue (unreasonably) for ‘Jehovah’. The vast majority of Jewish and Christian biblical scholars and linguists do not believe ‘Jehovah’ to be the proper pronunciation of YHWH. Again, there was no true J sound in ancient Hebrew. Even the Hebrew letter vav, which is transliterated as the W in YHWH is said to have originally had a pronunciation closer to W than the V of Jehovah. Jehovah is essentially a Germanic pronunciation of the Latinized transliteration of the Hebrew YHWH. It is the letters, YHWH, of the Tetragrammaton (Hebrew name of God transliterated in four letters), Latinized into JHVH, with vowels inserted. ‘Yahweh’ or ‘Yehowah’ is far more likely to be the correct pronunciation.”
Prior to Isaiah 9 we see the term mighty used of God, and in the very next chapter in Isaiah we see just how often the word mighty is used in reference to the Almighty God. God is called “the mighty one of Israel” (Isa. 1:24; 30:29); “The mighty one of Jacob” (Isa. 49:26; 60:16). “the mighty God” (Isa. 10:21 & Isa. 9:6). God is referred to as Almighty only 4 times in the 17 Books of the prophets of the Old Testament (Isaiah 1; Ezekiel 2; Joel 1), while mighty is used of God 16 times (Isaiah 7; Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 2; Daniel 2; Habakuk 1; Zephaniah 1). The phrase mighty God is used 9 times throughout the Old Testament, while Almighty God is used only 3 times in the entire Old Testament. God Almighty is used 11 times. There are many other verses present throughout the Scriptures which use the word ‘mighty’ in reference to God including: Ex. 32:11; Deut. 3:24; 4:34; 5:15; 7:19,23; 9:26; 10:17; 11:2; Josh. 4:24; Neh. 9:32; Job 36:5; Psa. 24:8; 50:1; 132:2; Ezek. 20:33; Dan. 9:15; Zeph. 3:17; Lk. 1:49; 19:37; Lk. 24:19; Rom. 15:19; 2 Cor. 10:4; 1 Pet. 5:6. Isaiah 9:6 “…is clearly a prophecy of the Messiah, fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Yet it applies the titles ‘mighty God’ and ‘everlasting Father’ to Jesus although the titles are elsewhere used only of God.” “In all three verses—Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 10:21; Jeremiah 32:18—the Hebrew word for ‘mighty’ (gibbor-Masterful) is used. Both the Son of God and God are called the Mighty God.” “Is there a distinction between Mighty and Almighty God? Only in the fact that they are not the same word. Mighty is from the Hebrew gibbowr, while Almighty is from the word shadday. They are two unrelated Hebrew words, both used to describe the nature of YHWH. However, the Bible makes no distinction in the use of the words when it comes to the Father and the Son. The Father is both ‘Mighty’ and ‘Almighty’. The Son is both ‘Mighty’ and ‘Almighty’.” So we see that the title ‘Almighty’ is one which is not restricted to the Father, nor is the title ‘Mighty’ exclusive to the Son. Moreover, those who attempt to dismiss the fact that Jesus is God, and try to convince their hearers that He is only a mighty god—wrongly inferring that He is a lesser god—rather than the Almighty God, are forever silenced by the Lord Jesus’ own words found in Revelation 1:7,8: "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, THE ALMIGHTY." For those wondering, the original Greek also has the word ‘Almighty’ in this verse from Revelation.
“Now, if God-only is referred to as ‘Almighty’ and Christ ‘only’ as ‘mighty’, making Him less than God, then it stands to reason, a logical deduction, that God cannot be called ‘mighty’, for it would make Him, too, less than God! Yet, throughout Scripture, we find God referred to as both ‘mighty’ and ‘almighty’. The first instance of ‘mighty’ in connection with God, is Genesis 49:24, which speaks of the ‘mighty God of Jacob’. In Deuteronomy 7:21, we find ‘for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God...’ In Psalm 50:1, Asaph speaks of ‘The mighty God, even the LORD…’, which again throws a mighty spanner in the JW works! In that text ‘God’ is ‘Elohiym, and LORD is YHWH! It is so easy at times to destroy a cultish teaching! But, are the words ‘mighty’ and ‘Almighty’ different? Yes, when applied to God, they are different words, but they share the same meanings. In the Genesis text above, ‘mighty’ is ‘abiyr, an old poetic word for God; it also means strong–BUT IS ONLY USED TO DESCRIBE GOD! So, this very first usage completely obliterates the JW idea that Christ is not God, because the same word is applied in Scripture to both Father and Son. Another word for ‘mighty’, gadowl, means great… and, again, refers to God Himself. The word in Psalm 50 is ‘el’, an old basic word used to describe any god, but in the text, to God as YHWH, the One True God. In Isaiah 9:6 and 10:21, the word used is gibbowr, but is used as an adjective, so is not particularly useful for our short study. It means strong or mighty. In Habakkuk 1:12, tsuwr is used to refer to God as the Rock… the same Rock describing Christ, when Jesus told Peter that He alone, Christ, is the Rock on which the Church would be built (see Matt. 16:18). Rock=Christ=God! In Genesis 17:1 we have the amazing, holy command to Abram: ‘I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect’. In this text ‘God’ is ‘el’ and ‘Almighty’ is Shadday, meaning most powerful, Shaddai…God. The same word is used in Ezekiel 10:5. In Revelation 19:5, the word is pantokratōr. It means God, Ruler of all; He who controls everything.
“The word kratos refers to might, great power. Revelation 15:3 says this, equating the Father and the Son: ‘And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints’. Here we see ‘God’ and ‘Lamb’ are the same; this is repeated in 21:22. (‘and’, kai, is a conjunction, so ‘and’ can easily mean ‘also’, eg. God=Lamb). Christ is in this song addressed as a Divine Person, as Lord of all, God over all, blessed for ever, the Almighty God, as His works declare Him to be; His works of creation, providence, and redemption, which are all great and marvellous, particularly the accomplishment of the glorious things spoken of His church, and the destruction of His enemies, which are here designed. So, very clearly, both God and Christ are equal, as is Their power; both share the epithet ‘Almighty’ and ‘mighty’. If ‘mighty’ is supposed to denote a lesser or non-God, then JWs have a very big problem getting over these objections. In 2 Corinthians 6:15: ‘what concord hath Christ with Belial?’ The text continues, by equating Christ with God, Who walks amongst His people (as Christ did): ‘And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people’ (2 Cor. 6:16). Then, that same God will be a Father to us: ‘Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty’ (2 Cor. 6:17,18). In this text, ‘Lord’ is kyrios, which means God, the Messiah! And ‘Almighty’ is…pantokrator…which means God, Ruler of all; He who controls everything. We can easily conclude, then, that ‘mighty’ and ‘Almighty’ refer to both Father and Son equally. This is because they ARE equal. The argument about the words themselves is very silly and immature, showing a deliberate act of doctrinal sabotage on the part of cults, by abusing the texts and the meanings of words. Because it is such an absurdity, in reality, it deserves to be treated with contempt.”
Most are convinced that having a sincere zeal for ‘God’ and loyally adhering to one’s beliefs concerning Him overrides any doctrinal error, and is proof enough that a man is on one of the ‘many’ right roads to Heaven. Man has established a veritable plethora of educational institutions designed to teach the truth concerning what must be specifically believed if one is to be successful in whatever career or path one chooses to follow in life. But, apparently, it is a free-for-all when it comes to God, Heaven and eternal life. ‘Believe what you like, for all is open to your interpretation. Just be a good person; be nice and all will be well, for your niceness will validate your beliefs’. There is no exam one must pass and no fixed standard for one and all; simply consider yourself a Christian, and—hey presto—you are. Every major religion out there teaches that what they teach must be believed, whilst simultaneously encouraging an ecumenical, multi-faith attitude toward those who believe differently! A sort of ‘strength in diversity’ situation. “You got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative.” No one is to be corrected in their beliefs, but only encouraged in their walk. This is the satanic version of what it means to love; a love which simply does not care. This attitude was championed by Mother Teresa who, after visiting the poor and the sick, sent them back to whatever god they believed in. In her biography, Mother Teresa: Her People and Her Work, she said: “If in coming face to face with God we accept Him in our lives, then we...become a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Catholic, a better whatever we are...What God is in your mind you must accept.” In other words, it is not what God says of Himself, but what and how we think Him to be, that is important. Alcoholics Anonymous and other such groups, also talk about God “as you conceive Him to be.” “The Third Step of the 12 steps, which involved making a decision to turn one’s will and life over to God, explicitly uses the phrase ‘as we understood Him.’” Having an answer does not automatically mean one has the right answer. Believing in a god does not automatically mean one has the True God. Those who refuse to accept absolute truth see even reality as subjective.
Faith in what you believe to be right and true is NOT the Standard; it’s what God says is true that is the only Standard by which we can accurately measure what we believe to be correct. How can subjective opinion based upon feelings and experiences possibly be the Standard when that standard leads to different gods and mutually exclusive beliefs? Such a standard leads only to confusion and anything but the truth. The Word of God—the Bible—is called the Canon of Scripture. “The term ‘canon’ derives from the Greek word ‘kanon,’ which means ‘rule’ or ‘measuring stick’ indicating a standard of authenticity.” The carpenter may have an idea of the length of three inches, but it is the ruling standard of measurement that alone reveals the exact length 3 inches is. Likewise, a person may have their own private, personal opinions of who God is, what He is like, how He saves and whom He saves, BUT IT IS THE STANDARD OF MEASUREMENT—THE WORD OF God ALONE—that reveals precisely Who the true and only God is, what He is like, how He saves and whom He saves. Guesswork, which is what all opinion boils down to, can never be an accurate appraisal of what the Word of God actually states. Guesswork, whether it is educated or not, can never dictate to, or hold any authority over the correct and only standard of measurement. According to the Word of God, having a zeal of God without the right knowledge of the Gospel of God is the zeal of a lost person (see Rom. 10:1-4). If zeal for God must be according to the right knowledge of God, then that knowledge must still be present in our day and age, and it is only present in the Gospel of God. Believing the truth is of infinite importance, for if you do not hold to the truth, YOU HAVE NOT GOD (see 2 Jn. 9). The fact that the Word of God constantly and consistently warns of false doctrines and false gospels is in itself substantive proof of the reality of the existence of true doctrine and God’s true and only Gospel. This underscores the fundamental significance of doctrine. Clearly, what a person believes is of vital importance, for it reveals an exuberance that is either authored by God and is, therefore, in accord with the right knowledge of the doctrines contained in the Gospel of God, or it is not authored by God, and so cannot be in accord with the right knowledge of the doctrines of the Gospel of God. This latter exuberance stands ignorant of the truth of God—the measuring stick—and thus rejects it. How foolish would a tradesman be to reject the right and only standard of measurement for what he reckons three inches to be? The doctrines you believe show whether the True God has revealed His Gospel to you, or if you have placed your faith in one of the many powerless gospels of the counterfeit gods of men. Relying upon your sincerity, enthusiasm, feelings, past or present experiences, circumstances and zeal to be your canon—your gauge of the truthfulness of what you believe—is evidence that you are blind to the truth of God. Truth matters! Truth is of the essence. “Truth is the bedrock everything else sits on.” Truth takes precedence over everything! What God says matters! “…Thy Word is Truth” (Jn. 17:17), thus what God says is truth. Therefore, anything and any belief that conflicts with the Word of God is sheer vanity. It will not profit you at all, for it is not truth but a lie. Believing the truth that is the Gospel of God is of primary importance, for no one can be saved without it.
Why is it so dangerous to believe error? Because it changes one’s perception of reality creating a ripple effect “that distorts judgment, leads to misguided actions, and perpetuates misunderstandings, ultimately affecting not only the individual but also those around them. When people accept erroneous beliefs, they make decisions based on false information, contributing to a cycle of misinformation. This ripple effect hinders progress, fosters division, and creates an environment where truth becomes increasingly difficult to discern.” The repercussions are perpetual: “1. Misinformation Creates Unintended Consequences: When individuals hold onto incorrect beliefs, they set off a chain reaction of misunderstandings that can influence others, creating a widespread impact rooted in misinformation. 2. Echoes of Misbelief: Holding onto a false belief doesn’t just affect the individual; it sends out echoes, impacting friends, family, and even communities as these errors multiply and spread. 3. The Domino Effect of False Beliefs: Embracing an erroneous belief can initiate a domino effect, where one person’s misconception leads to confusion and misdirection for many others, resulting in broader societal ramifications. 4. The Web of Illusion: A single incorrect belief can weave a web of illusion, ensnaring others in distortions of reality, ultimately leading to a situation where misjudgments proliferate like a ripple across a pond. 5. Cascading Misunderstandings: Believing in something incorrect sets off a cascade of misunderstandings that not only affects personal relationships but can also alter group dynamics and societal norms over time. 6. The Snowball Effect of Misbelief: What starts as a small belief in error can snowball into a larger issue, influencing the actions and perceptions of others, and thereby perpetuating a cycle of falsehood. 7. The Chain Reaction of Error: An individual’s acceptance of a false idea can catalyze a chain reaction, leading to a community where misconceptions thrive and sound judgment is undermined. 8. A Tumbling Effect of False Convictions: When someone holds a misguided belief, it can create a tumbling effect that rolls through social circles, allowing inaccuracies to proliferate unchecked. 9. The Ripple Effect of Deception: Believing in a deceptive narrative not only clouds one’s own judgment but sends ripples through acquaintances and communities, leading to misconceptions that can take root and flourish. 10. Feedback Loop of Misbelief: When erroneous beliefs take hold, they can create a feedback loop in which misinformation reinforces itself, causing broader societal implications and perpetuating cycles of misunderstanding."
Having faith in that which is not real, not truth, not what God has said, can never profit any man in any way. As one man has so wisely stated: “If error is harmless, then truth is useless.” But error is not harmless; it has immediate, far-reaching and unavoidable long-term consequences. Belief in erroneous doctrines can only ever lead one to false gods, and is the evidence that one is being led by the spirit of error. One of the principal reasons for this is that error and truth are inextricably connected with polar-opposite ends: damnation and salvation. The truth will never lead you to damnation, and error will never lead you to salvation. If, as some say, one can be saved believing a false gospel—something that is NOT the Good News of God—then it must also be that one can remain lost even if one believes the true Gospel. “If the ‘truth’ doesn't matter (since a false message saves), then believing the actual truth is no guarantee either, which contradicts the biblical promise of salvation through faith in the true Gospel (e.g., Jn. 3:16; Rom. 10:9). The two ideas—a false gospel saving and the true Gospel failing to save—are mutually exclusive and equally contradictory to the New Testament's teaching on salvation. The New Testament asserts that the true Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16).” “…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). To believe not the Gospel of salvation by Grace alone is to not have the True God, or His Truth. When you are bowed to God’s truth, you will stand for nothing else. Nothing can ever be on a par with truth. Believing a lie will not reap you the benefits of saving Faith in the truth of God. “Content of belief matters.”
Again, believing the truth is not about how smart you are, but a matter of whether Almighty God has revealed Himself to you by giving you the Faith by Grace to believe His Gospel—the only Record that HE has given of His Son. To not believe the truth is to be led by the spirit of error to believe that other ‘gospels’ also have the power to save. An individual who believes false doctrines concerning the Gospel is never referred to as a “weaker man” in Scripture, as one has so foolishly claimed, but only as a lost and accursed man (see 2 Cor. 4:3; Gal. 1:8,9). Others have falsely interpreted the phrase “babes in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1) to mean Christians can be saved not knowing very much at all. What such people fail to realise is that if one is a babe in Christ, one is nonetheless a Christian, which means they have been “born again…by the Word of God…And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:23,25). In light of 2 John 9, where it is stated that if one does not abide in the doctrine of Christ one does not have God—and therefore is not a Christian—being a babe in Christ could not be a proper definition of someone who is ignorant of the doctrine of Christ, namely, Who Christ is, what Christ has done and for whom He has done it. He could not possibly be ignorant of the Gospel, for he has been born of the Gospel! (see 1 Pet. 1:23-25). Remember, a babe in Christ is just as much a creature born again, born of God’s Seed, the Gospel, as one who is mature in Christ. The phrase “babes in Christ” does not imply ignorance of the Gospel; rather it is confirmation of belief of the Gospel by such babes. There is nothing admirable, no redeeming value, in a man who has embraced a lie, for in so doing he has rejected the truth either by ignorance or indifference. There are those who attempt to straddle the fine line between truth and error by saying they believe the truth differently to others. We may well ask of those who ‘see’ or ‘believe the truth differently’: differently from what exactly? Differently to what God says it is! Others opine, ‘Well, not everybody thinks that way’. What on earth is that supposed to mean, let alone prove? Does the fact that not everyone believes a thing to be true somehow automatically cancel out any possibility of it being true, or at the very least legitimately cast doubt on its veracity? Since when was the matter of truth ever properly settled by sheer weight of opinion? Where does this kind of thinking come from? It is evidently nonsensical, finding its roots in the logic of madness. What the truth is, is not a matter of—nor is it ever subject to—democratic selection, but what God says it is. To conclude that, simply because there are so many different religions and so many different beliefs held about God, there cannot, therefore, be such a thing as absolute truth—that God Himself cannot be defined and therefore identified is the reasoning of ignorance and the logic of apathy. If there is no absolute truth about the true and only God, then there is no God, but a pantheon of gods that all find their origin in the fantasy world of man’s imagination, speculation and conjecture which have only ever produced fictitious gods and empty hopes.
Is the truth of God not what He declares it to be, but rather something which is merely subject to the ever-changing whims and fanciful opinions of each individual? Has man risen to the point that he has become judge and jury concerning what the truth is and what it is not? Does what a man believes dictate what God should declare the truth to be? “Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him?...” (Job 40:2); “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him?...” (1 Cor. 2:16 cf. Isa. 40:13). Is subjective, personal opinion the only thing we can rely on to define God, or is it what God says of Himself: Who He is and how He saves? Is personal opinion of what the truth is to be valued higher or at least be considered equal to what God says it is? Evidently not. The wise man conforms himself to truth, while the foolish lie dormant in their own ideas of what truth is. You cannot form God into what you believe or want Him to be. The clay does not form the Potter. The clay does not decide who the Potter will be or what He will be like. You either believe in the True God—How He is, Who He is and what He has done—or you develop a faith that believes in anyone but the True and Only God. Truth will always remain debatable to those who do not see it, and especially to those who see it but do not recognize it for what it is, and therefore, refuse to believe it. A popular phrase among many is, ‘I see the truth differently’. ONE WHO ‘SEES THE TRUTH DIFFERENTLY’ IS ONE WHO DOES NOT SEE GOD’S TRUTH AT ALL, but only a perversion, a blurred and distorted image of it. One who ‘sees the truth differently’ can never be in agreement with the one who has been given eyes to see the truth according to the Scriptures’ presentation of it. One who ‘sees the truth differently’ can never be in agreement with the God of truth. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).
How can any be saved whilst holding opinions which constitute nothing less than error, which in turn amounts to nothing but a belief in a false gospel? I mean, if the gospel you believe is not what God says His Gospel is, then how can you be walking in agreement with the God of the Gospel and what He says about His Son: Who He is, what He has done and who He came to save? How can you be walking in agreement with the True God Whose Gospel you reject by believing false doctrines? HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE IN THE TRUE JESUS WHEN THE ‘GOSPEL’ YOU BELIEVE DOES NOT IDENTIFY HIM! How can you have the Testimony of Jesus and believe in the Record that God has given of Him in His Gospel when the gospel you believe is not HIS Gospel! (see 1 Jn. 5:10,11; Rev. 12:11). When the Ethiopian eunuch said, “…I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37), which Jesus do you think he was talking about? He was referring to the Jesus Whom Philip had just preached to him (see Acts 8:35). “The eunuch’s confession was a direct response to the specific identity and work of Christ explained by Philip. Biblical faith is not a generic feeling but is rooted in the specific person and work of Christ (His deity, His substitutionary death, and His resurrection).” Simply saying, ‘I believe in jesus’ without knowing who He is what He has done and for whom He has done it will profit you absolutely nothing. You must believe in the one and only Jesus of Whom God bears record of in His one and only Gospel. The religious have a zeal for ‘God,’ but it is not a zeal which is accompanied by the right knowledge of God, as revealed by God to all His people in His Gospel, and therefore they cannot be in accord with the Word of God. The true believer in God’s Gospel believes it BECAUSE HE IS BORN OF IT! The born again man is born of the Seed of the Gospel of God, and no other. “Being born again…by the Word of God….And this is the Word which by the Gospel is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:23,25); “…in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15 cf. Psa. 119:50); “…I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you…by which also ye are saved…” (1 Cor. 15:1,2); “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth…” (Jas. 1:18). A man can only and is only born again by the Gospel Seed of God, and NEVER through the corrupted seeds of false gospels. How can a carrot seed produce a tomato? How can the seed of a false gospel produce a true Christian? To say one can be or was saved when one believed a false gospel is to place error (a lie)—something that God has not said—on an equal footing with truth, which is a patently absurd notion.
The faith of zealously religious yet knowledgeless people, whose beliefs can only lie in false gospels, cannot be from God, is not directed to the True God, and so, its object cannot be the True God. The faith of those whose zeal is without the acknowledgement of the truth of God (see 2 Tim. 2:25,26), and, therefore, without recognition of the True God is the faith of lost people. Such a faith is not the Faith which is given by God to believe in Him. Such a faith is carnal, fleshly and inherent in the sinful nature of man which never seeks for the True God (see Rom. 3:10-12). According to their own lusts, the lost not only heap to themselves teachers who teach unsound doctrine (see 2 Tim. 4:3), but also salivate over the false gods whom those teachers promote. Just as fiction can never be fact, gods of the imagination can never save. Right knowledge of God believes the TRUTH of God, i.e., the Gospel of God. Without revelation from God, there can be no right knowledge of God (see Gal. 1:11,12). All those whom God reveals Himself to and saves by Grace, love and believe the Truth about Him and His Son as revealed in His one and only Gospel. It is God’s Record of His Son to which they bear testament (see 1 Jn. 5:10-12 cf. Rev. 12:17). God does not leave His people in ignorance. They do not remain in darkness: “For God, Who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6 cf. Jn. 14:9; Acts 26:18; Eph. 5:8; Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9). “The Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ…” is no less than “…the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ…” (2 Cor. 4:4). Zeal for the True God, which comes only from God, is ALWAYS according to the right knowledge of God and comes from a revelation of the doctrines of the Gospel of God. A man’s natural zeal is unconformable to the truth of God. “For to be carnally minded is death…the carnal mind is enmity against God…they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:6-8). “…Ye must be born again” (Jn. 3:7).
The spiritually dead nullify the Word of God by their traditions (see Mk. 7:13). The spiritually dead reject the Word of God, for they are either ignorant of or outright deny the right knowledge of God as the Truth of God. The apostle Paul speaks of himself as being “… a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:1,2 cf. 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Titus 1:4; 2:7). The Faith that God gives to His elect always and only acknowledges God’s Gospel of truth. The one Faith that is common to all true believers (see Titus 1:4), which God gives to His elect children, always acknowledges His truth. This confirms the fact they have—BY GRACE, THROUGH THE GIFT OF FAITH—embraced a right knowledge of God, and therefore the true and only God, for they abide in the doctrines of HIS Gospel and no other: “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 cf. Jn. 5:38; 15:6). No one who does not abide in the doctrine of Christ can possibly have the Father or the Son. You had better be sure of what you believe and why you believe it, for if what you believe does not match Scripture, you are none of His. If doctrine does not matter, then the Word of God does not matter. If the Word of God does not matter, then God does not matter, and if God does not matter then nothing matters except man and what he believes. This mindset, which deifies man, does away with truth and replaces it only with what a man believes it to be.
The Gospel details Who THE Lord Jesus is, what THE Lord Jesus has done and for whom HE has done it. God’s Gospel teaches the one, true and only Jesus Who is rightly identified as God’s only Begotten Son (see 1 Jn. 4:9), and all God’s chosen have been given the same Gift of Faith purely by Grace to believe in the same Lord. And, if it is the same Lord, THEN IT MUST ALSO BE THE SAME TRUTH THEY BELIEVE ABOUT HIM. The apostle Paul refers to Jesus as “...OUR Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 6:24 cf. 1 Cor. 5:4; Phil. 4:23; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:3). He speaks also of “...the SAME Lord...” in 2 Corinthians 8:19. Seeing that true Christians believe the same Lord, how can diametrically opposing doctrines be in agreement as to Who that Lord is? The True Jesus is only rightly identified, and distinguished from all the charlatans described in false gospels, exclusively by the doctrines of God’s Gospel. Anything that contradicts what God’s Gospel teaches is a different gospel promoting a different jesus. FALSE GOSPELS AND THE TRUE GOSPEL OF GOD CANNOT CONCEIVABLY BE DESCRIBING THE SAME LORD! False gospels are not believed in by any of God’s people with the Faith God has gifted them. All true believers believe—with the one Grace-given Faith that is common to all of them—in the One true Christ Who has saved all of them from their sins, INCLUDING the sin of unbelief which also entails the sin of believing a false gospel! Often when the sin of unbelief is present, so too, is belief in a false gospel; when the sin of unbelief is not present there can only be belief in the true God’s Gospel. “Unbelief is not merely a vacuum of belief, but an active belief in something false.” The sin of unbelief is not only about not believing God’s Gospel, but believing false gospels which all include lies regarding the True God thus presenting only false gods. All the saved believe the same Lord with the one Faith that is common to all of them, because its Source is the One, True and Almighty God. The apostle Peter wrote his second Letter to “…them that have obtained like precious faith with us…” (2 Pet. 1:1). The word, ‘like’, in this verse is translated as equal. The Faith God’s chosen received was equally precious as that which Peter and others had received because it was the same Faith given by the same God, to believe the same Gospel: the one and only Gospel of God. The word ‘obtained’ in 2 Peter 1:1, means: “to obtain by lot, to obtain, his lot was, literally, ‘he received by lot’, i.e., by Divine appointment (cf. 1 Thess. 5:9,10), Acts 1:17 of the portion ‘allotted’ by the Lord to His apostles in their ministry. In 2 Peter 1:1 that have obtained (a like precious faith), i.e., by its being ‘allotted’ to them, not by acquiring it for themselves, but by Divine grace ('an act independent of human control'" or influence, "'as in the casting of ‘lots’).” This allotted Faith is not inherent in any man, no one is born with it. This Faith can only be given to those whom God has chosen by Grace—His unearnable favour—to receive it.
Saved by Grace goes beyond being saved by nothing you did; it is being saved by nothing you could ever do. The very fact that Grace and Mercy are necessary at all for salvation, exposes the lie that there is something a man can, and therefore, must do to gain or maintain a saved state. Grace is only necessary when nothing can be done; Mercy is the last resort when only punishment is deserved. The granting of the gift of Faith by the Grace of God to His people reveals the unquestionable necessity of it to their believing the Gospel unto salvation, and their complete and eternal rejection and repentance of ever believing false gospels. How can this allotted Gift in any way keep the recipient tolerant of, or allow for, any continuing belief, or approval, of any other gospel? It would be like God taking up residence in a regenerated person, but allowing a demon to remain in that person. No one is saved by Grace without the Gift of Faith by which they believe in the true and only God as He has defined Himself in His Gospel and no other. The One Faith given by the One God is to ensure one people—His people—will believe in the One Gospel, the only true Gospel: God’s Gospel. They will not be known by their belief in a plethora of error-ridden gospels; not in what His people believe God’s Gospel of salvation to be, but the one, real, actual and only Gospel that can rightly be called God’s Gospel: the only one GOD believes it to be. God’s people are not recognized by their disagreement over God’s Gospel, but in their unifying agreement regarding all its doctrines. God does not have, God has not authored, several Gospels, but one, and that one is the only Gospel His people have been given the Faith to believe. The sufficiency of this one and only Gospel is transparently obvious for it is filled with the doctrines of Grace—all that was done by God—to save His people from their sins. TO BE SAVED BY GRACE IS TO BE SAVED BY THAT WHICH IS WHOLLY “INDEPENDENT OF ALL HUMAN CONTROL,” EFFORT OR INFLUENCE.
Just as there was no need for more than one True God, one True Spirit and one True Saviour, so too, there is only one True Gospel and one True Faith given by God to believe it. How many true answers can possibly exist for one equation? Your gospel cannot be true if it differs from the Gospel of God, therefore, how can a false gospel ever be determined as God’s power unto salvation? How can there possibly be more than one true Gospel? How can there possibly be more than one True God? God’s people believe God’s One Gospel with the One Faith He gives to all His people. “...that ye stand fast in ONE spirit, with ONE mind striving together for THE Faith of THE Gospel” (Phil. 1:27). To paraphrase: “…that ye stand fast in ONE spirit, with ONE mind striving together with ONE faith in ONE Gospel.” The Gospel is specific; it is an exact thing. It is not in the least ambiguous, but precise and definite. How could it not be, when Scripture makes clear that the Gospel must be believed if one is to be saved? The truth is never ambiguous; it is only the blind who believe it is. “The problem isn’t a lack of clarity in the object (truth), but a lack of faculty in the observer.” Why would God have left any part of the Gospel open to the speculative imaginings of men—none of which would be true? How can one believe that which cannot be known? How can one believe what is indefinable? How can anyone have any legitimate confidence that the gospel they believe is the truth, if what is true has not been defined and revealed by God? Christians are One people with One Faith in One Gospel. “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained LIKE PRECIOUS FAITH with us through the Righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1). “It is like precious faith in all; and has the same Author and object, Jesus Christ, and springs from the same cause, the free grace of God, and has equally in all everlasting salvation connected with it, and consequent upon it: and there is but one doctrine of faith; the Gospel is so called, because it consists of things to be believed.” Paul wrote the following: “To Titus, mine own son after the common Faith...” (Titus 1:4). The apostle’s use of the word common when referring to Faith, means, "'...belonging to several,’ said of things had in common, (Acts 2:44; 4:32; of faith, Titus 1:4; of salvation, Jude 1:3; “ordinary, belonging to the generality, as distinct from what is peculiar to the few. It stands in contrast to idios, ‘one’s own’; properly, uniquely one’s own, peculiar to the individual.” Interestingly, the word idios is where we get our word idiot. So in other words, the Faith that God gives to His people is a common Faith belonging to them all. Those who have not received the gift of Faith from God—those who, with their own faith, believe in their own or someone else’s private interpretation of the Gospel, or beliefs peculiar to a few rather than those held by all God’s people—are literally, idiots. This is not some infantile exercise in name-calling, but the outcome of the Scriptural study of words and their meanings.
The doctrines of the Gospel must be believed so that the True God is believed in and His unique Salvation Plan trusted. If the True God must be believed in, then all the doctrines of His Gospel must be believed in. How can you have the True God if you believe in a false gospel—an erroneous record of who He is—and how can you have the true Gospel if you believe in a false god? If one does not know and believe in the truth of God, how can one be said to believe in the one True God? How can one rightly be said to be a Christian? Good deeds cannot prove it (see Matt. 7:21-23), nor can a turning away from a sinful life be offered as proof that one has the True God, for many who do not even believe in the existence of God have resolved to lead better lives and perform wonderfully good, generous and charitable deeds. ONLY in believing the true Gospel of God does anyone have the prime and essential evidence that one is saved. How can one be saved when one is believing in another gospel that contains a different plan of salvation than God’s Plan? False gospels have not, do not and cannot lead anyone to the True God, for they do not come from Him, they do not represent Him and they are certainly not authored by Him. False gospels do not consist of things that are to be believed, but of things that are to be utterly shunned. False teachers, preachers and pastors are to be avoided because of the false doctrines that identify the false gods they promote: “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. Gal. 1:8,9). Such are men-pleasers and not the servants of Christ (see Gal. 1:10).
The Lord Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the Door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber” (Jn. 10:1). The True Jesus, of Whom God bears record in His Gospel, is the ONLY Door to salvation. “A shepherd has to be constantly vigilant to keep the safety of his sheep. In biblical times they would lay themselves down in front of the only way in or out of the sheep pen to guard the flock. Jesus begins His discourse by saying in John 10:1: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber’. They must come through the shepherd who guards the doorway to enter the pen. The wilderness tabernacle had all the tribes of Israel camped around it (see Num. 1:1; 1 Chron. 21:29; 2 Chron. 1:3; Acts 7:44). When it was erected it had only one way in – through the Tribe of Judah, JESUS IS OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH! In Matthew 1:1–6 and Luke 3:31–34 of the New Testament, Jesus is described as a member of the tribe of Judah by lineage. Revelation 5:5 also mentions an apocalyptic vision of the Lion of the tribe of Judah: ‘And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof’. This too is what Jesus meant by being the door. When a common Israelite approached the tabernacle in the wilderness he found that a wall of white linen around the entire tabernacle area formed a barrier against him all the way around for 300 cubits (450 feet) except one stretch of 20 cubits (30 feet) that was different. It was known as The Entrance Gate. It was not formed of white linen but was multi-colored in woven white, blue, purple and red and the curtains hung on four strong pillars. The entrance gate clearly marked out the one way by which a sinner could gain access to the court of God’s house. This 30 foot gate was the entrance. Once an Israelite entered the gate into the outer court with his sacrifice he was standing on ‘holy ground’. The entrance gate was 20 cubits (30 feet). It was a curtain or screen made of richly woven material: Ex. 27:16: ‘And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four’. There were no cherubim represented on this outdoor screen. Cherubim were only seen within the Holy Place. This screen with its blend of white, blue, purple and scarlet was identical to that hanging at the entrance to the tabernacle building. But it was very different from the white linen fence, which went around the entire courtyard.
“Think of the beauty that would meet the eye of the Israelite as he approached the gate of the Tabernacle. The bright rays of the sun would be shining upon the four colors of the gate. This was the one and only way by which men and women could draw near to God. It was the single entrance to the entire tabernacle. There was no other way in. Whether he is a priest going to carry out his duties or a repentant sinner seeking forgiveness, a man had to enter by that one way. No one could enter by any other way except this gate. Any Israelite approaching the Tabernacle leading his sacrifice and desiring atonement knew that there was no way to reach the bronze altar but through the gate that faced east. ‘And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah’ (Num. 2:3). The Gate was always open, never barred, with no one to forbid a person who wanted to worship God. Jesus revealed Himself as the only entrance to God: ‘Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me’ (Jn. 14:6). The eastern gate pointed to Him. Every other possible way has been barred by the Righteousness of God but because of the blood of Christ the chosen of God have a way of approach. The tribe of Judah camped outside the eastern gate, the kingly tribe, and the tribe that means praise. Jesus sits as King with everything under Him. He is Malach Yahweh (The Lord our King). The worship of countless hosts will be unto Him for eternity. The beautiful gate reveals how beautiful Jesus is to behold. He is the altogether lovely One. In Him there are no flaws. He is perfect in character. If we could see His face we would see a look of love that would give us strength forever. Thus in answer to our question, we see that Jesus is saying He Himself, and no other, is the means by which the sheep may enter into the promised fullness of life: ‘I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep’ (Jn. 10:9-11,14,15).”
Salvation by Grace through God-given Faith frees a man from the heresy of believing in false, accursed gospels that insist salvation cannot do without human effort. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (Jn. 8:36 cf. Jn. 14:6). Of no small significance is the fact that the phrase ‘set free’ is not only never mentioned in Scripture in reference to a saved man—it is not found in any context in the entire Bible. Christ has legally made His people free; they have not merely been set free. ‘The word ‘make’ means to construct or create.” The Christian is made a new creature in Christ: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…” (Eph. 2:10); “…if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature…” (2 Cor. 5:17 cf. Gal. 6:15); “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…” (Gal. 5:1). Not incidentally the NIV perversion, as well as many others, has replaced “make you free” with sets you free (see Jn. 8:32,36; Gal. 5:1; Rom. 6:18,22). "'Set free’ suggests an event or a change in status. It describes a prisoner being released from a cell; the shackles are removed, and the person is now at liberty. ’Make free’ suggests a change in nature. It implies a transformation of the person so that they are no longer a slave by character or condition. The Significance is that a person can be ‘set free’ but still have the nature of a slave (or be recaptured). However, being ‘made free’ (from the Greek (ἐλευθερώσει) implies an ontological change—a permanent state of freedom granted by the Son that is inherent to the believer’s new identity.” “…if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature…” (2 Cor. 5:17).
Once saved, none of God’s people believe in false gospels, for they have all been taught of God, they have all been taught the true Gospel and given the Faith that ensures they believe it and reject all others. Jesus said: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him....They shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me” (Jn. 6:44,45). You cannot come to the true Jesus if your learning comes from false gospels. Paul refers to true believers as those who “...have heard Him and been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:21 cf. Rom. 10:14). Clearly, no one who has not heard and learned of the Father and been taught the Gospel by Him, comes unto His true Son. Only those who have had the Gospel revealed to them by the Father, and been granted the Faith by Grace to believe it, have the Son. Christ says: “...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). This stunning verse of Scripture reveals the irresistible truth that no man by nature knows who the Father is, nor does any man have an intrinsic knowledge—an intuitive awareness—of who the Son is. The apostle Paul writes: “…there is none that seeketh after God” (Rom. 3:11). Jesus says: “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). There is no knowing the Son; there is no knowing the Father and there is no whomsoever without the Grace of God and the gift of Faith that believes in His Son. To not believe the true Gospel is to not have been taught by the True God; to not believe the True God is to not know Him or His Gospel. If the Gospel is lost, then no one has any right to say they have the True God.
The true believer of God’s Gospel is not, by the gift of Faith, provided with some notional and speculative knowledge of the Person and Work of Christ, but a very particular and precise knowledge of Him, the true and definitive knowledge of Him contained only in God’s Gospel, for what other kind of knowledge of God and His Gospel could/would God grant to His people—what else would He teach them—but that alone which is the true saving knowledge of Him as revealed in His Gospel. “According as His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3). If no one without the gift of Faith believes the Gospel of God; what else could God’s chosen believe with the gift of Faith given by the Grace of God but the true and only Gospel of God. “The effect (belief in the Gospel) is necessarily linked to the cause (the gift of faith/grace), revealing that belief in the truth of the Gospel is the only possible outcome for those who receive this specific gift from God.” It’s the same principle as: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me…” (Jn. 6:37 cf. Jn. 10:16). All that the Father gives to Jesus will hear His Voice and believe the truth: “…Every one that is of the truth heareth My Voice” (Jn. 18:37 cf. Jn. 10:5,27). “This demonstrates the principle of divine causation and certainty: those chosen by the Father will come to Christ, just as those given the gift of faith will believe the true Gospel. They are ‘of the truth’ and therefore ‘hear My Voice.’ The gift of faith is both sufficient and exclusive for believing the Gospel. If the gift of faith is the only means by which anyone can believe the Gospel of God, and God gives this gift to His chosen, then what else could His chosen possibly believe but the Gospel of God?”
Simply because you believe something arbitrarily to be true does not make it true. You cannot change the inherent state of untruth and make it true. You may act as if it’s true, you may live your life as if it’s true, but nothing you believe, do or say can actually make it true if it is not truth to begin with. Believing a false gospel does not make the god of that gospel the true and only God, nor does it mean that the believer is a Christian. Only believers in the true Gospel are saved. All believers in false gospels are accursed. Make sure your focus is on the doctrines of the Gospel/gospel you believe in, for they will—without fail—always define and identify the god/God you believe in. “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). So many people are trapped inside a bubble of their own making, refusing to be made free by having that bubble burst by the needle of truth. As much as sinful man would love to think so, he cannot change reality, nor can he create reality. Man is by nature a control freak who has fashioned gods for himself that ultimately give people the sense of the controlling vote, if you will, concerning their eternal futures. Man may be able to take various substances that alter reality in his mind, but he can never actually change reality. He can never make any of his gods the one True God. A man can be so deceived by his own heart into believing black is white and white is black, but the fact remains that black has never been anything other than black, and white has never been anything other than white. A man may be able to convince himself of a self-conceived, fabricated, or drug-induced reality, but he has only succeeded in deceiving himself. The fool toys with reality while the wise man confronts it. Try and console the deluded man who believed he could fly only to plummet to his death. Try and console the man burning in Hell for all eternity that the gospel he believed in was true. Any attempt to alter reality is simply a case of self-delusion coupled with a distinct inability or an utter refusal to accept reality as it is which can only be detrimental to one’s life. Delusion and illusion are not reality. Delusion is “a false belief or judgement about external reality” and illusion is “an instance of a wrong or misinterpreted perception of a sensory experience.” You cannot change fact, and you cannot change what is true. Why would anyone want to? Why would anyone want to modify truth unless they refused to believe it? Why would anyone not want to believe the truth? Why would anyone not want to be corrected by truth? To believe the truth favours you, it is not against you. One may be convinced something is true, but is it true in the mind of the God of all Truth? You may be convinced something is true, but if it isn’t true, then it just isn’t true. No amount of conviction is going to make 3 the correct answer to 4 + 1, for 5 is the only answer that belongs because 5 is the only truth when it comes to what 4 + 1 amounts to. No degree of conviction can ever change a sow’s ear into a silk purse. Reality—the sanity of unfiltered logic, “pure reasoning without bias or subjective interpretation,” dictates that our lives, our beliefs must change according to truth, for the truth never changes. That is progress. God is not going to change Who He is and what He has done to save His people from their sins because you happen to ‘see Him in a different light’ or because His truth makes no sense to you. The truth is not conformable, and neither is the True God. “Both truth and God are constants that others must conform to, not the reverse.”
Truth is reality and reality is truth; neither one can be deceived, tricked or manipulated by your will or your beliefs. You cannot deceive truth, only yourself. Truth is reality, and we must all comply with it. A life not aligned with truth must and will suffer the inevitable and unavoidable consequences. When it comes to Who God is, what God has done and for whom He has done it, the consequences of not believing the Word of the Truth of His Gospel are eternal, dire and perpetual. The truth is not a shape-shifting organism that systematically arranges itself to meet with your approval. The truth is not a soldier in your army awaiting your next command. The truth is an independent entity, not subject to the will of man, for it only serves Almighty God. God is “…the God of Truth…” (Isa. 65:16; cf. Jn. 14:6). God never changes — The Word of God never changes — Truth never changes. The truth never bows down to the will of any man. Arguing that you sincerely believe it should be a 65-zone when signs clearly state it’s a 30-zone will not stop you getting a ticket. The wise and clearly practical course to take is to change your perception and get it in line with the real world of reality, or you will have to deal with the consequences. You cannot drive at a speed you believe should be allowed on a given street and expect no consequences because of your sincere faith in what you believe. What kind of a fool would keep living under the illusion that stubbornly insists it should be a 65-zone, when sign after sign and speeding ticket after speeding ticket testify not to what you think it should be, but to the reality of what it actually is. Turn to the Word of God and you will find that it always says the same thing. The truth never changes because it never needs to change. Perfection needs no change. How could the truth possibly improve upon itself? The truth cannot get any truer. How could you amend the truth, and what could you possibly add to truth to make it any truer? If the truth did change, it would mean that it needed to change, thereby, suggesting imperfection and the need to comply with something truer than itself. The truth has never changed, does not change and never will change. A zeal for ‘God’ alone is not, nor ever has been, the evidence that you have the True God, for the person who believes contrary to what you believe believes it with just as much fervour as you do. Interpreting your feelings, sincerity, experiences, circumstances and zeal as the undeniable signs that you have the True God is a nonsense, it is simply not the way to gauge the truth, for others who believe differently to you have just as much zeal, just as many feelings and experiences and just as high a degree of sincerity, etc., that what they believe about who they believe in as the True God, is the truth. Fiction can never change fact. The reality is that people the world over have, and continue to have the same experiences, and yet, have been led to different gods. Not your opinions, experiences, feelings, circumstances, sincerity or zeal, but only the Word of God—revealed by God—reveals the True and only God and leads solely to Him.
Not having the right knowledge of the Gospel of God revealed by the God of the Gospel and believed in with the Faith God grants to all His people by Grace alone, is to be ignorant of the True and only God, and the Righteousness of God, which is the only Righteousness by which God justifies His elect. If one does not exclusively believe the Gospel of Christ, then one is ignorant of God’s Righteousness; therefore, one cannot possibly be in a saved state, for the Gospel of Christ is the very POWER OF GOD unto salvation, “FOR therein is the Righteousness of God revealed…” (Rom. 1:17). Ignorance of the Righteousness of God is ignorance of the Gospel of God is ignorance of the True and only God. If one is ignorant of God’s Righteousness as the only way to Heaven, then one will invariably go about trying to establish THEIR OWN righteousness in a vain and blasphemous attempt to get to Heaven. Such are the actions of the lost. Without the Faith God gives to all His people, the focus will always be on you and your attempted efforts at obedience, rather than on God, His Grace and the perfect Obedience of Jesus Christ the Saviour. Attempting to establish one’s own righteousness is the flimsy, sand-filled foundation upon which all religion is built. This trait is common to man. It is everywhere and intrinsically in everyone, and like physical death, highlights the curse of sin upon all mankind. It is what every man instinctively thinks, it is what every man instinctively does, it is what every man is instinctively drawn to and it is what every man is instinctively and instantly convinced of, for man by nature is without God, and so the only righteousness in existence that any man by nature is aware of—in other words the only conceptually possible way to Heaven in his mind, to his blinkered, sin-restricted, way of thinking—is via his own righteousness, achieved by his own personal faithfulness and obedience to whichever god he believes in. For many, it’s not so much the god you believe in, but how you live your life. This reveals the sobering fact that all of man-made religion, far from being the bearer of truth, is literally saturated in ignorance of the truth, God’s Truth. You will never get to Heaven by what you do, or by believing a false set of doctrines that you are convinced is the truth. If you do not believe God’s Word, you do not have the Holy Spirit teaching you; therefore, you do not have the Truth of God nor the God of Truth, for the Two are as one. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14), therefore, if you do not believe His Gospel of truth you cannot be a son of God. “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already…” (Jn. 3:18). The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth “…He will guide you into all truth” (Jn. 16:13), “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 Truth of God you have not the God of Truth, you are not a Christian.
Do not fool yourself: ignorance of the truth, even while maintaining an obedient, self-denying lifestyle coupled with a sincere belief in lies, is no gateway to Heaven—no matter who you are or how ‘close to the truth’ you may be. If it is not the Gospel you believe, then your faith is in another gospel revealing you to be an accursed creature (see Gal. 1:8,9). “…all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). As the old saying goes “close is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades” and a man who is not born again will always miss the mark. Not believing the Gospel of God is the sure sign of a lost person (2 Cor. 4:3,4). If you do not believe the Gospel, the True God is not who you believe in. Your faith is your own and your trust is in yourself—your own obedience—rather than exclusively in the Obedience, and, therefore, Righteousness of Christ. Listen to the Holy Spirit-inspired words of Paul the apostle: “But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by FAITH, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, THAT THEY MIGHT BE SAVED. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 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. For Christ is the end of the law for Righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 9:31-10:4 cf. 1 Cor. 1:23,24; Gal. 5:5). There it is in a nutshell. You can never attain to the law of Righteousness by the works of the law. In other words, salvation does not come by your personal obedience, but by faith in Another’s Obedience: Jesus Christ the Righteous One Who is the end of the law for Righteousness. Israel sought Righteousness “NOT BY FAITH,” for they sought it by WORKS. To seek Righteousness by Faith in the Obedience of Christ is to not seek it by any of one’s own works of obedience at all. Salvation does not come by a combination of Faith in Christ’s Righteousness and your own works of obedience “…for by the works of the law shall no man be justified” (Gal. 2:16); “I do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if Righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21); “…if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing” (Gal. 5:2). If you make any effort that you believe will help you get saved or remain saved, do not expect anything from the Lord except to hear the dreaded words: “…I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23). Works of obedience, when performed in an effort to become saved or remain saved, are nothing but works of iniquity. “The phrase ‘end of the law for righteousness’ (v. 4) means that Christ is the goal, termination, or fulfillment of the law for the purpose of achieving Righteousness. By believing in Christ, a person receives the Righteousness that the law demanded but could not provide through human effort. This Imputed Righteousness is Christ's Obedience and fulfillment of the law, not the individual’s.”
This conclusion highlights the inescapable fact that salvation is completely by God’s Grace and not your works, by Christ’s Obedience not your own, for salvation is by His Righteousness, not yours! Religious zeal without right knowledge, far from being a guarantee of salvation, is actually that which keeps a person blinded to the Truth. The right zeal for the True God will always be in accord with the right knowledge of God evidenced by complete acknowledgement and submission to the Righteousness of God as revealed in His Gospel. Religious zeal without the right knowledge of God—without belief in His only Gospel—is never directed at the True God Who saves His people only by His Righteousness. Man does not come to God, but God comes to His chosen, revealing Himself by Grace and granting them the gift of Faith to believe ONLY His Gospel, wherein only His Righteousness is revealed as that which justifies. Salvation by Grace alone is not you coming to the Truth, but the Truth coming to you! If you do not believe in the Righteousness of Christ imputed, nothing will help you. No matter what you claim to believe, nothing will be of any benefit to you, for all is vanity outside the right knowledge of God contained in His Holy and unique Gospel. If you do not believe in the Righteousness of Christ, you are a believer in your own inadequate righteousness, established by your own feeble attempts at obedience, and Christ will profit you nothing. The Righteousness of Christ is God’s only Way of Salvation; anything and everything else is man’s way, which leads only to damnation and an eternity of torment in Hell. The true believer is at rest from his works in Christ (see Matt. 11:28). “Spiritual rest here, peace of conscience, ease of mind, tranquillity of soul, through an application of pardoning grace, a view of free justification by the Righteousness of Christ, and full atonement of sin by His Sacrifice; and eternal rest hereafter…” If you go about trying to establish a righteousness of your own, you cannot be submitted to the Righteousness of God. Likewise, if you are submitted to the Righteousness of God, you will no longer attempt to establish a righteousness of your own, for the Faith you have is not your own; it is the gift of God that believes only in God and the Righteousness which was only, and could only have been achieved and established by the Obedience of One: Jesus Christ the Righteous.
We see in the passage from Romans chapters 9 and 10, how clearly the works of man and the gift of Faith are sharply contrasted: that living a life of obedience to the law is NOT the way to Heaven, for it can never establish the Justifying Righteousness that only Grace brings. Of course, a man must be obedient, but his obedience is not what his salvation depends on, for it is 100% conditioned and reliant upon Christ’s Obedience. God does what a man’s ‘good’ never could. It is only the gift of Faith, delivered by Grace, in Jesus Christ—all He is and all He has done—that is the only way which shows one is truly submitted to the Righteousness of God. Simply because you have a zeal for ‘God’ does not mean you are saved, because if it is only zeal that you possess, you can be assured you do not have the True God. If it is zeal which is in accord with the incorrect knowledge of God, then you are not saved. This is not to say that salvation involves some intellectual exercise, as if only smart people will be saved. A cursory look at the most intellectual and intelligent among the lost would readily show that intellect could not be the path that leads a person to the True God. Salvation does not come by intellectual rectitude, but by Divine Revelation. It is all about whether God has revealed Himself to you through the only Gospel by which His people hear His truth and are saved. Israel had an unequalled zeal of God, and yet the apostle prayed for their salvation! The reason for this is that Israel, like all lost people, sought salvation via their own obedience because they were lost and ignorant of—and therefore not submitted to—the Righteousness of God. Jesus Christ was not their Saviour, He was their stumbling stone. He was not their Rock, He was their rock of offense (see 1 Pet. 2:8 cf. Isa. 8:14). If you are not submitted to the Righteousness of God, your faith is not in Him—you do not know Him. If you are living your life trying to establish a righteousness of your own believing that your obedience in some way to some degree plays an indispensable and integral role in your salvation, you have not submitted yourself to the Righteousness of God, you are not seeking Righteousness by Faith alone in His Righteousness alone, and are, therefore, currently in a lost state. ‘I didn’t know,’ will not help you. ‘I didn’t know’ shows God has not saved you. “A plea of ignorance is confirmation of a lack of knowledge or awareness regarding a specific fact or situation.” In the matter of the Gospel, it reveals an accursed state. Not knowing or not believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ reveals the absence of God’s Grace upon a person, hence the belief in their own obedience as playing an integral part in salvation. That is the accursed state every man is born into.
Ignorance of the True God and His only Gospel is incontrovertible evidence that God has not revealed Himself to that person, thus they remain God-less. Ignorance is not innocence. Even according to the laws of society, “…being unaware of a law does not excuse a person from liability for breaking it.” Ignorance of the Gospel of God is ignorance of the True God. Ignorance is not an excuse, but that which reveals a lost soul. If you insist that your personal obedience plays any role in salvation, Jesus Christ is not your Saviour; He is your stumbling stone. Jesus Christ is not your Rock, He is your rock of offence. It is not faith in your obedience, but Grace-delivered Faith in Christ’s Obedience ALONE by which a man is saved, for this is the only Faith that the Grace of God brings to His elect. To truly repent is to turn from thinking that anything you do can in any way form, or is necessary in forming even part of the ground of salvation, looking only to Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life, for nobody can come to the Father but by Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness. To truly believe in Jesus Christ the Lord, God and Saviour of His people, is to believe the only Gospel that reveals Who He is and what He has done for those people. The Person and Work of Christ are indivisible. If you claim to believe in the Person of Christ but do not believe what He has actually done to save His people from their sins, you do not have the true Christ. In other words, if your trust is placed in a false gospel rather than the true Gospel, your faith is not from God; thus, it cannot be directed toward God’s unique Plan of salvation and cannot truly be fixed upon Him. How can you rightly claim to know the Lord Jesus when what you believe about Him is not according to the right knowledge of Him—when the gospel you believe does not specifically identify Him and distinguish Him from all false Christs by what He has done? How can God have called you out of darkness into His marvellous Light when you do not believe Him? How can you be saved? How, indeed, can you be born again when what you believe about God diametrically opposes what God says of Himself!
A man who claims to be a Christian, but does not have the right knowledge of God revealed to him by God, is like an onion claiming to be an apple. If you claim to believe in the Person of Christ, but your faith is not firmly in HIS Righteousness alone—and therefore not your own as the ground of your justification before God—then the ‘Christ’ you have is an imposter, and you are currently in a lost state. True saving Faith given by God to all His people immediately DISPENSES with the idea of one’s own obedience playing ANY role in one’s salvation, and looks only to Christ and His Obedience. If your seeking salvation involves your obedience being the capstone in attaining the only Righteousness acceptable with God, your faith is in yourself and not in Him. According to this belief, your ‘salvation’ awaits your obedience before it can become operational in your life. A SALVATION BY GRACE CAN ONLY DEPEND UPON GOD. Nothing can activate or direct the Grace of God but the will of God. If the salvation you believe in awaits anything you do before it can save you, you are not a believer in the Grace of God. The Faith God gives by Grace to all His people seeks Him, looks to Him, and believes in HIS Righteousness alone. The faith inherent in every man by nature, even when draped in religiosity, DOES NOT SEEK THE TRUE GOD; THEREFORE, IS NEVER EXCLUSIVELY IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS SON! The faith which Israel possessed was not saving faith, but the natural faith with which every man believes in his own righteousness as critical to his salvation. The Gift of Faith in God from God DOES NOT cause a person to look to themselves, or to God and themselves, but away from themselves and ONLY TO God ALONE. The Gift of Faith from God does not keep His people in darkness.
Notice the apostle Paul states quite unequivocally and emphatically that Israel, going about to establish their own righteousness, was LOST and NOT saved, for despite their zeal of God they were ignorant of the Righteousness of God, for they did not have the Faith of God; they did not believe the Gospel of God, but rather “…another gospel: Which is not another…” (Gal. 1:6,7), as evidenced by their going about trying to establish a righteousness of their own rather than submitting themselves to the Righteousness of God. Other gospels only “…pervert the Gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:7). Nothing has changed; all such people are currently lost. How could it not be so? Paul could not have known every single person he was referring to in his summary statements that testified to Israel’s lostness (see Rom. 10:1) and the accursedness of every person who did not believe God’s Gospel (see Gal. 1:8,9); so his declarations could not have been based upon their moral character or conduct—or lack thereof—but solely upon what they believed and what they were, in turn, ignorant of. Their ignorance of the Righteousness of God was conclusive evidence that God had not revealed Himself to them, and therefore, had not saved them. They believed in their own righteousness—the telling sign of inherent accursedness—and were ignorant of God’s Righteousness. Their ignorance of God’s Righteousness was evidenced by faith in their own righteousness—in their assumed ability to obey to the point that God would justify them. They were not submitted to God’s Righteousness, but were exclusively submitted to the concept of establishing a righteousness of their own. You cannot be submitted to one righteousness and simultaneously possess the other. Their hope was in believing in their own obedience revealing their God-less existence. At any given moment, you are either seeking to be justified by your own obedience, by a combination of your obedience and Christ’s, or that of Jesus Christ alone. None but the latter is evidence of salvation. If you are dependant in any way or to any degree on your own obedience you have no biblical right to lay claim on Christ’s Obedience, or in salvation by Grace alone. God shares His glory with no man which is why salvation is by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in what GOD alone has done, and not through man’s inherent faith in anything man has done. No saved man has any right to glory in God’s Presence, for it is of God alone that His people are in Christ Jesus (see (1 Cor. 1: 29,30). The saved man’s Righteousness is not his own, but comes solely from God by Grace through the gift of Faith.
The only obedience the true Christian has that his salvation cannot do without is the Obedience of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which alone established the only Righteousness that justifies a man before God. Their obedience and submission do not gain them their salvation, nor does it in any way maintain their salvation, but are purely the evidence of it. God saves His people by a Gift, not by their efforts to obey. God justifies the ungodly, not the 'godly': “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his Faith is counted for Righteousness” (Rom. 4:5 cf. Lk. 5:32; Rom. 5:6; Eph. 2:1). “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?” (1 Pet. 4:17 cf. 2 Cor. 10:5; 1 Tim. 3:15). This Scripture shows that all who are within the House of God—the Church of God—are believers in no other gospel but God’s Gospel. All those who are outside the Church of God are not believers; they are not saved, for they all disobey—that is, they do not believe—the Gospel of God. To those who do not have Grace-given obedience to the Gospel of God, the Word of God says: “…the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that KNOW NOT GOD, and that OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:7-9). Obedience to God’s Gospel does not get a person saved, but is rather the evidence that one is saved by Grace alone through Faith alone in the Righteousness of God alone. Any reliance on your efforts at obedience to get you saved and/or keep you saved is disobedience toward the Gospel of Christ and totally disqualifies you from professing any legitimate allegiance to the true Christ and His Righteousness.
Chasing Justifying Righteousness by your own obedience is an immediate rejection of the uniqueness and essentiality of Christ’s Obedience alone to establish that Righteousness, and the need for the gift of the only Faith that believes it. Chasing Righteousness by your obedience is running further and further away from Christ and the Righteousness only He could have established—and indeed has established—by His Obedience alone. If you believe that your righteousness, your obedience, is going to be enough for God to welcome you into Heaven, you are currently delusional and in a lost state. If it must be by your obedience, then you must obey perfectly, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (Jas. 2:10 cf. Gal. 2:16,21). If your obedience isn’t perfect. Then you are not perfect, and, therefore, unacceptable in God’s sight. It takes perfect Righteousness to be right with God, and that can only come by the Obedience of Jesus Christ imputed to you. Anything else is a false gospel. “But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not…” (2 Cor. 4:3,4). Believers in perverted gospels which promote the obedience of man as a means to salvation do not have the True God, Who states that it is not by a man’s obedience AT ALL, but by Christ’s Obedience ALONE that justifies a man before Him (see Rom. 5:19). The best that believers in false gospels have is nothing but a blinded mind, and a righteousness that is nothing but vanity (see Psa. 39:5,11). GOD SAVES ONLY BY CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS, NOT YOURS. The Righteousness by which God justifies His people is of Him, not them. The result of Israel’s knowledgeless zeal is that they did not look to Christ and trust in His Righteousness alone, which, in turn revealed a faith that was not the gift of Faith God gives to all His people by His Grace alone. To all such people, Christ Jesus the Lord is not the Saviour, but a stumbling stone Whose own glorious Righteousness they reject in favour of their own pitiful righteousness achieved by their flawed, sin-filled attempts at personal obedience. They are no different from those who follow false gods, for they follow a counterfeit ‘Christ’. Salvation based entirely or in part, on personal obedience is a hollow foundation—a slippery slope that fast-tracks a person straight to the eternal confines of Hell.
A person trying to reach Heaven through their own obedience, is like a man with no arms and no legs attempting to climb up a greased pole. How can a spiritually dead man’s obedience get him anywhere? What can the unrighteous do to earn Righteousness? Israel and others who are ignorant of God’s Righteousness as revealed in His only Gospel always and—without fail—set about establishing their own righteousness. Consequently, all who are in the process of seeking to establish that personal righteousness have faith in, they are relying upon, themselves and not God’s Messiah. Such people do, in their ignorance, reject the Righteousness of God alone as the only Righteousness that saves. How can anyone be a proponent of Christ’s Righteousness—established only by His Obedience—while simultaneously striving to establish a righteousness of their own? God says of His people: “…their Righteousness is of Me…” (Isa. 54:17), and all God’s people know it! In seeking to establish a righteousness of their own, a lost person is claiming that Justifying Righteousness cannot be achieved or attained without their own personal obedience. In other words, their claim is, ‘God cannot save me without my input.’ This is anti-Grace and anti-Christ teaching. A saved person knows the Righteousness he has is given to him of God by Grace alone. Just as salvation is by Grace alone, not works, so too salvation comes by the Righteousness of Christ, not by your obedience. Salvation is not by works because it is by Grace alone, just as Justifying Righteousness is not achieved by many—not by individuals—but by the Saviour’s Obedience alone. The good works which God has ordained all His people to walk in do not contribute to their salvation, nor is it what their salvation is based on or hinges upon, for God’s people are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus “unto good works”. They are not saved because of good works, for it is salvation that produces those good works (see Eph. 2:10). Good works come AFTER a man is saved, not before. Good works do not, in any way, contribute to a man’s salvation or maintain his saved state; rather, they are produced by the same Grace that saved him in the first place. Good works are gifts ordained of God for His people to perform because He created them in Christ Jesus for this purpose (see Eph. 2:8-10). Good works are not what salvation by Grace depends upon, but rather what salvation by Grace produces. They are not what salvation depends upon, for salvation is by Grace alone, not works. The True God only clothes His people with His Righteousness. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; FOR HE hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, HE hath covered me with the Robe of Righteousness…” (Isa. 61:10 cf. Gen. 3:21; Zech. 3:4; Matt. 22:11-13). God’s people are not clothed with a robe of righteousness, THEY ARE CLOTHED WITH GOD’S VERY OWN ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
God’s people do not have on the undergarments of their own righteousness and the garments of salvation, but are exclusively apparelled with the Robe of the Righteousness of God. The saved are clothed by God; they do not clothe themselves. Their obedience does not, indeed cannot, produce the Robe of Justifying Righteousness which only Christ’s Obedience can and has done so for all His people. The saved are clothed by the Grace of God—they do not clothe themselves with their works. God does not save His people based on anything they have done—upon anything He has ordained for them to do—otherwise salvation would not be by Grace alone, and they would not need His Robe of Righteousness, for they would have one of their own making. God ordained His people to eternal life by His Grace alone, and they then believe (see Acts 13:48). This believing is not a work of theirs; it is not their response to God’s Grace, for it is a gift that comes because of Grace-given Faith. Faith is not our gift to God, but His gift given to His people by Grace alone. “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 apostle here is not referring to Grace as not being of ourselves, for any simpleton knows that Grace is that which is undeserved and therefore cannot be earned. The apostle is specifying that the Faith through which Grace saves that is not of ourselves; it is not a work of ours but a gift from God, otherwise, we would have something to boast about. Grace and Faith leave NO room for any to boast of what they have done. “Salvation is through faith, not as a cause or condition for salvation, or as what adds anything to the blessing itself…this faith is not the produce of man’s free will and power, but it is the free gift of God (cf. Jn. 6:65).”
God does not leave His people clothed with the rags of THEIR OWN righteousnesses; He clothes them all with HIS VERY OWN Righteousness! He does not leave their fig leaves on, but clothes them only with His Robe of Righteousness (cf. Gen. 3:21). God’s people are not to clothe themselves, for they are all clothed by God. When “…HE hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, HE hath covered me with the Robe of Righteousness…” (Isa. 61:10), what need is there for me to clothe myself? This is the only Righteousness required for one to stand fully and eternally justified before Almighty God. The Righteousness of God cannot be earned by man; it can only be given to man—charged or imputed to him—solely and entirely by Grace. If you are not fitted with the Robe of Righteousness tailored by God, then all you have is the off-the-rack righteousness which other lost people have clothed themselves with. As we have seen, man’s righteousness is compared in Scripture to filthy rags. The prophet Isaiah states: “…we are ALL as an unclean thing, and ALL our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” (Isa. 64:6). Notice, it does not say some of our righteousnesses, but ALL of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Not one of any man’s most righteous of deeds—those which are considered his best efforts at obedience—is seen as anything but filthy rags in the sight of God. Is it any wonder, then, that “…every man at his best state is altogether vanity…surely every man is vanity” (Psa. 39:5,11). Yes, even at his very best—doing his religious best motivated by his most devout, sincerest and religious intentions and driven by his intense zeal—man, with all his efforts at obedience, his righteousness, his good deeds, his good intentions, is nothing but a false refuge. “…Cursed be the man that trusteth in man…” (Jer. 17:5 cf. Hab. 2:4; Lk. 18:9; Jn. 5:45). Why? Because “…There is none Righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). “The Jews also trusted in Moses, in the law of Moses, and in their having, hearing, and obeying it; which pronounces every man cursed that does not perfectly perform it (see Gal. 3:10): they trusted in themselves, and in their own righteousness; despised others, and rejected Christ and His Righteousness; and brought an anathema upon them,(see Jn. 5:45; Lk. 18:9) and all such that trust in their own hearts, and in their own works, trust in man, in the creature, in creature acts, and involve themselves in the curse here denounced.”
A lost man who knows not God as Sovereign Saviour always looks to himself for hope. The saved man has abandoned himself and looks ONLY to Christ. Whether it be due to an experience, certain feelings or an unbridled allegiance to what he believes, nothing will save a man, but the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. Salvation is having both eyes on God. Salvation is looking away from yourself and only to God for the Righteousness that saves. The Christian man’s Righteousness is of God, therefore, a truly saved man looks only to God: salvation is by Grace alone through the gift of Faith. Notice that a man’s evil deeds are not here described by Isaiah as filthy rags, but a man’s very righteousnesses, his good deeds! This is why they hated Jesus, for He said: “The world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil” (Jn. 7:7). “This underscores the absolute Holiness of God and the utter insufficiency of human achievement in the face of God’s Perfect Standard.” The very best that mankind can do amounts to nothing but a pile of filthy rags in the sight of the Holy God, and leaves them all as an unclean thing. “…There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3: 10). Only spiritually dead men seek refuge in the very best they have been and done.
Remember, if you plan to go to God with your best efforts at obedience, then you must also bring with you your worst efforts. Doing your best in no way cancels out the worst that you have been or done, nor can it change the fact that you are a sinner in need of the Saviour. You cannot go to God with your cherry-picked best efforts at obedience and expect Him to take away all your sins, excusing them based on the perceived, self-proclaimed and self-adjudicated ‘good’ you have done. The sins of God’s people are all imputed to the account of the Saviour while His perfect Righteousness is charged to their account. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot expect one without the other. The ‘good’ you think you have done can never establish the Righteousness required to justify you before God. The good you think you have done will only condemn you (see Matt. 7:21-23). Your sins are not forgiven if your hope for salvation—Justification before God—is in any way reliant upon your obedience. Seeking to establish your own righteousness is a rejection of God’s Righteousness, and, therefore, evidences disbelief of the Gospel of God. No act of ‘obedience’ can possibly cover the sin of unrepented unbelief. If you do not have Christ’s Righteousness, you are still in your sins. And if you are still in your sins you are, to some degree, going about trying to establish a righteousness of your own. Even claiming to believe you are saved by Grace, yet insisting that you had to choose God before He could save you, is an affirmation that salvation could not have been possible without your contribution—without your act of personal obedience, thus shifting the means of salvation from Grace to works, from what God has done to what you had to do. Attributing your ‘choice’ to the Grace of God still has salvation awaiting your decision, and reduces saving Grace to enabling grace. Salvation is not some synergistic exercise, but is monergistic: “God works alone to effect salvation, which asserts that if God's grace is truly necessary and sufficient, it must secure the result, otherwise, the credit for the successful ‘choice’ ultimately goes to the person, not the Grace of God.” How can any spiritually dead creature possibly make a choice for God? The saved man is made alive by the Grace of God, he is made a new creature by God. No human choice could ever make that happen. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Gal. 6:15). No man is born again by that which he does externally, but only by that which God does internally—within him—by Grace. Seeing there is none righteous, coupled with the fact that there are none that do good (see Rom. 3:10,12), it becomes patently obvious that a man contributing anything to salvation—especially anything which entails meeting a condition—is an utter impossibility. This highlights the Words of the Lord Jesus when He was asked who can be saved, He replied: “…With men this is impossible…” (Matt. 19:26), proving absolutely that no man has any earning power with God, emphasizing and reinforcing the concept of salvation by Grace alone and not by any works at all—not even the works God ordained His people to perform.
Salvation by Grace alone through Faith without works rules out even the remotest possibility of it being conditioned on any works of obedience on the part of man. Grace is the face of salvation; it is the principal identifying and defining characteristic, or element, of true salvation according to the Word of God. Grace is the free favour of God—it cannot be earned, only given. No one is saved by Grace through works, but only by the Grace of God through the gift of Faith, ruling out any works of any kind playing any role in salvation. Works include anything which you believe you had to perform before salvation—whether it be independent of God or only possible with God’s assistance—could take place, or in order for salvation to be maintained. If you believe anything you have done preceded and served as the catalyst for your salvation, you are a rejecter of Grace and not a believer in it. Grace does not require works, for it saves only through the gift of Faith. The presence of Grace is the absence of works. The presence of Grace leaves absolutely no room for works. Salvation by Grace alone is God’s statement to man that there is absolutely no work of man’s which could possibly do anything to save him (see Rom. 11:6). Saving Faith is not a work of man’s, but a gift from God: “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). Salvation by Grace conditioned on any works is not just implausible—IT IS IMPOSSIBLE! It is as incongruous a statement as one could make regarding the Scriptural means to salvation. Salvation by Grace conditioned on anything simply makes no sense, biblically of otherwise. Salvation by Grace conditioned on anything makes salvation a reward, not a gift. Any way you look at it, if salvation depends on anything you must do—whether it is said to be by the assistance of Grace or not—then salvation depends on your work of obedience and not solely the Grace of God. Moreover, it makes what you must do of ultimate importance (what the whole of salvation hinges on), for if you do not do it, then Grace alone cannot save you. So, in contrast to Scripture, it is of him that willeth, it is of him that runneth, and not of God that shows mercy (see Rom. 9:15,16).
The fact that a saved person believes the Gospel is because the Grace-given Faith with which they believe is a direct gift from God. Therefore, IT IS NOT A WORK OF THEIRS; consequently, they have NOTHING TO BOAST OF. SALVATION IS ENTIRELY BY GRACE ALONE—FROM BEGINNING TO FINAL GLORY. Insisting that your believing is due to your free will choice rather than entirely due to God’s Grace ALONE is a boast on your part, whether you see it or do not intend it to be that way. It is what the Word of God proclaims. Whether you believe Grace played any part in it or not, anything which you believe you must do before God can save you—or so that God can save you—or that you must do to remain ‘saved’, is a boast, for your belief ultimately makes salvation contingent on what you must do. Grace does not make you do something; Grace does not compel action so that it can then save you, for IT IS GRACE ALONE THAT SAVES! It is what God does that saves you, not what He does to get you to do something to save yourself. Grace does not save you after it has enabled you to perform a work of obedience, FOR SALVATION IS BY GRACE, NOT WORKS! It cannot be by Grace and works, therefore, it must only be by Grace NOT works: “And if by grace, then it is 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). By Grace and works makes no sense; for if it is by one, then it not only is not by the other, it cannot possibly be by the other. You cannot simultaneously have a blizzard and a heat wave; so too, the concept of election, salvation and justification by grace and works is an utter impossibility. If it is by Grace, it is by Grace alone; if it is not by works, it is not by works at all. Salvation is by Grace through Faith, not by Grace through works. Salvation, from its inception to final glory, is not by what you do but solely by what Grace does. Interestingly, those who believe in free will being responsible for their believing, never believe in the God of the Gospel of salvation by Grace ALONE through the gift of Faith ALONE in the Righteousness of Christ ALONE. Free will is inextricably linked to man’s natural, inherent faith—a faith that clings to self-righteousness and consequently can never truly embrace, nor savingly believe in, the Biblical doctrine of salvation by Grace alone through the gift of Faith, which is exclusively in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone.
Just as the Righteousness of Christ is the only Righteousness acceptable in God’s sight, so too, only the Blood of Christ can wash away your sins. No saved person would ever believe they were, in any way responsible for the washing away of their own sins, so what makes anyone think they are saved who does not fully depend upon—and look solely to—the Obedience of Christ as that which alone makes a man Righteous before God? If it took the Sacrificial death of Christ to wash away the sins of His people, then you can be sure it took the Obedience of Christ to establish the only Righteousness that justifies His people before God. If you are not fully submitted to the Righteousness of Christ, then your sins have not been washed away. And if your sins have not been washed away by His Blood, then you do not have the Righteousness of Christ. To truly believe that Christ’s Blood has washed away your sins is to believe that Christ’s Obedience alone makes you Righteous before God. Just as you cannot have a coin if it does not have two sides, so too, you cannot be a truly saved believer if you do not abide in these two fundamental Gospel doctrines. The reality of man’s situation is that, by nature, he cannot face the awesomeness—the overwhelming “…state of things as they actually exist…”—that he is a completely hopeless creature when it comes to doing anything to gain, or even maintain, salvation. Man quite literally has no control over his eternal future. He is like a paper bag blown about by the wind. A man is saved by Grace alone, and he remains saved only by Grace. How can anyone choose God when the Word of God clearly states: “…there is none that seeketh after God” (Rom. 3:11). How can you choose that which you do not even seek? The religious are seeking something—someone—but it is NOT the True and only God!
The Christian is sanctified and preserved by God’s Grace alone, in and by Christ—not through maintaining a certain level of obedience which is never quantified by those who promote obedience as a way to Heaven. God’s people are “…sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ…” (Jd. 1:1 cf. 2 Tim. 4:18). “For the Lord loveth judgement, and forsaketh not His saints; they are PRESERVED FOREVER…” (Psa. 37:28). Clearly, eternal preservation is not based on a man’s works, but on the Grace of God. There is no Biblical concept such as temporal salvation, nor a salvation conditioned on a man’s works, for salvation is based—made and kept operative—solely on and by Grace. It is Grace alone that gives salvation its eternality. “And being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation...” (Heb. 5:9 cf. Heb. 12:2). “By Grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2:5) means by Grace you are ETERNALLY saved. “…the salvation Christ is the Author of is ‘eternal’; it was resolved upon from eternity, and contrived in it; it was secured in the everlasting covenant, in which not only a Saviour was provided, but blessings both of grace and glory: and it is to eternity; and stands distinguished from a temporal salvation, and is opposed to eternal damnation; it is the salvation of the soul, which is immortal; and it takes in both grace and glory, which are of a durable nature; and the continuance of it is owing to the abiding and lasting virtue of Christ's Person, Blood, and Righteousness: and Christ is the Cause or Author of this salvation, by His Obedience and Sufferings; by Obeying the precept, and bearing the penalty of the law; by the price of His Blood, and by the power of His Arm; by His death and by His life; by His Sacrifice on the cross, and by His Intercession in Heaven; by bestowing grace here, and glory hereafter: this shows that salvation is done, and that Christ is the sole Author of it, and that all the glory of it should be given to Him; and those to whom He is the Author of salvation, are such as hearken to the voice of His Gospel, and obey Him in His ordinances.”
A salvation conditioned on a man’s obedience can only be a temporal one which can be lost at any moment; a salvation exclusively conditioned on the Obedience of the Saviour is an eternal one which can never be lost. Salvation is deliverance. The word saved means to be rescued, or freed from a place of danger, and brought to a place of safety. It also means to be preserved, to be kept. Salvation is God by Grace alone—by His free and unmerited favour—eternally saving, or rescuing, a sinner from the eternal punishment rightly due unto his sin, and transferring him to a state of eternal safety and security: from the kingdom of darkness to God’s Kingdom of Light. What purpose would it have served if God had only provided His people with a temporal salvation whose longevity was conditioned not on the Saviour but on each person’s imperfect and unacceptable obedience? The fact that Christ is the Author of ETERNAL salvation proves conclusively that the whole of salvation is based upon Grace and not on works at all. It is readily apparent that those who believe one can lose their salvation have salvation dependent upon what they do and NOT AT ALL on what their saviour has done. Their saviour is not the author of eternal salvation, but of a temporal salvation that is subject to a man’s actions and, therefore, is at best only impermanent. Grace has nothing to do with such a ‘salvation.’ Their belief is that one is saved not entirely on what their saviour has done, but their eternal future hinges on what they do. Their saviour depends on what they do to save them. Their saviour ‘saves’ by their works, not by his grace. They have no certain salvation because their saviour has done nothing to secure it. Their saviour is a writer of fiction and is not the Author of eternal salvation based on Grace alone, of which the true Saviour, Jesus Christ, is the Author. Christians are “…kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation…” (1 Pet. 1:5). Paul expresses it this way: “For by grace are ye saved through faith…” (Eph. 2:8). The salvation of a Christian is neither brought about nor maintained by their obedience, but solely by the power/grace of God alone through the gift of Faith—without any works (see Rom. 4:6).
“There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” (Prov. 30:12 cf. Job 14:4; Jer. 2:22). “No man is pure by nature, or through anything done by them; but by the grace of God, and through the blood and righteousness of Christ.” No matter how good a man may think he is, he is not washed from his filthiness, nor can he ever rid himself of his filthiness by his vain attempts at obedience. Scripture adds: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). Mankind is unclean in the sight of the Holy God, accursed from conception; accursed throughout life and accursed forever in the bowels of Hell if they have not a Saviour Who died for their sins and imputed His Righteousness to them. This “…uncleanness is extended to every particular act of theirs, even to their prayers and praises. True of the best doings of the unregenerate (see Phil. 3:6-8; Titus 1:15; Heb. 11:6).” Everything a man does is stained with sin. Everything a man does carries with it the stench of sin. Sin is engraved in every man’s heart and etched into the very fabric of all human action. A man trying to become Righteous before God is like a man trying to paint a wall white using black paint. Man is a sinner who cannot but sin. “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Eccl. 7:20 cf. Jer. 13:23; Rom 3:10,11; 1 Jn. 1:8). “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). This means every man misses the mark—the Standard of Obedience which God requires—every time, in everything he does, thinks and says. This is why no man’s obedience could ever obtain the Righteousness that is necessary to be accepted into Heaven. “…Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:10,11 cf. Deut. 27:26; Jas. 2:10). The utter impossibility of a man making his way to Heaven by means of his own obedience is laid bare for all to see in such Scripture. A man who believes he can gain Heaven by his personal obedience is left to his own devices regarding the abolishment of and forgiveness for his sins. Such a man hasn’t a leg to stand on. To paraphrase the above verses from Galatians 3: No man can be justified by his obedience to the law of God, for the justified can only be justified by the gift of Faith given to them by the Grace of God alone (see Eph. 2:8,9). “Can the Ethiopean change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23). A man trying to establish a righteousness of his own miserably fails to accomplish what only Jesus Christ has already done. “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). No further sacrifice is required; no other’s obedience is necessary. “…the whole Righteousness of the law was fulfilled, an holy nature assumed, perfect obedience yielded to it, and the penalty of death endured; hence a perfect Righteousness was finished agreeably to the law, which was magnified and made honourable by it, and redemption from its curse and condemnation secured…”
Christ said: “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 5:20). “Where is it to come from, then? Hear what YHWH, by His prophet Isaiah, says. The prophet was directed to set it down, that everything pertaining to the creature should wear out as a garment, and that the moth should eat up all creature excellencies; but, says God, ‘…My salvation shall be for ever, and My Righteousness shall not be abolished’ (Isa. 51:6). That is an everlasting Righteousness. Paul perfectly understood it, and blessedly appropriated it, when he said, ‘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 of God by faith’ (Phil. 3:9). Observe, He would not put a little of His own and then bring in the Righteousness of Christ as a makeweight, but he would be stripped of everything that the creature could claim, and have nothing but the Righteousness of God put upon Him.” A makeweight is “something put on a scale to make up the required weight; an unimportant person or thing that is only added or included in order to complete something.” Christ’s Righteousness does not require the righteousness of His people to make it whole. Christ’s Righteousness is missing nothing His people need to make them justified. No man, by his own personal obedience, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven. No man who is not clothed with the wedding garment—the Robe of God’s Righteousness—is accepted. “In ancient Near Eastern customs, a king would often provide the proper attire for his guests. Entering in one’s own clothes was an insult, representing an attempt to be accepted on one’s own terms. This mirrors the Old Testament imagery: ‘…He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness…’ (Isa. 61:10). The man without the garment represents those who try to enter the presence of God based on their own works or ‘filthy rags’ (Isa. 64:6) rather than the Obedience of Jesus Christ.” It is only the man clothed by the King of kings with the Imputed Righteousness of Christ that is permitted entrance into Heaven. A man clothed in his own righteousness is rejected and cast “…into outer darkness; (where) there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 22:13). No man who includes his own personal obedience as part of the Righteousness that justifies shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven. To be saved, a man must be born again exclusively by Grace through Faith in the Righteousness of God. It is through Christ’s Obedience—and His alone—the Obedience of the Man Who was not a sinner, Who always hit the mark, Who never sinned and Who never fell short of the glory of God—Whose Righteousness is charged to His people by which they shall enter the Kingdom of God’s Heaven with boldness (see Heb. 4:16), for THEIR Righteousness is of HIM. No matter how vigorously you polish a rotten apple, its rottenness will always remain and will only get worse, for corruption never sleeps. There is nothing the apple can do to rid itself of its own rottenness. It may look fine on the outside, it may even still emit a pleasant odour, but it is what’s inside that reveals its true condition. Likewise, man can perform many kind and helpful deeds—such as supplying food for his fellow man or providing medical attention to someone who has been injured—but none of these acts affect, change or improve upon man’s inherent sinful nature. Combining every so-called ‘righteous’ act of every sinful man who has ever lived would not be enough to outweigh a single sin of even one man—let alone remove his sin nature or serve as the basis for the salvation of even one individual.
“…There is none righteous, no, not one” for “…we are ALL as an unclean thing, and ALL our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” (Rom. 3:10 & Isa. 64:6). That is reality. This is God’s perspective on man. Now tell me, in light of these Scriptures, how in the world can any man think that he will be accepted and justified by God based on his personal obedience? No matter how much good you believe you have done, no matter how generous you are with your time, money and selfless acts of kindness, etc., the judgement of these Scriptures and others like them will always remain the same and their tone unchanged. The harsh reality is that the very righteous acts—the best things a man believes he has done on this earth during his lifetime—those very things which so many billions of people look to for that comforting assurance and inner peace and upon which they vainly hope will outweigh the bad they have done, and which they are convinced will recommend them to God, are compared by Almighty God to used menstrual cloths! The righteousnesses, or ‘good works’, of man are compared in Isaiah 64:6 with “...menstrual cloths associated with one of the most extreme forms of ceremonial uncleanness under the law of Moses (see Lev. 15:19-33; 20:18). They are of such a nature as to be treated with the greatest discretion by the genteel, disposed of immediately, never reused. These ‘filthy rags’ are in our text joined with ‘an unclean thing’, the leper afflicted with another of the most extreme forms of ceremonial uncleanness (see Lev. 13:45ff).” In other words, a man approaching God with his own ‘good works’—with all his best, noblest and most sincere efforts at obedience to God’s Holy Law, and heartfelt attempts at reconciliation with the Most Holy One—rather than relying solely on the Righteousness of the one Mediator between the Father and man—Christ Jesus the Lord—is tantamount to approaching God as a man infected with leprosy, who is clothed in used menstrual cloths! AND THIS IS MAN AT HIS BEST STATE!! Imagine arriving at a wedding feast dressed in such appalling apparel. Sadly, this is how lost religious and non-religious people alike will appear before the Holy God on Judgement Day. Rather than recommend them to God, these ‘good deeds’ will only condemn them. Millions upon millions of devoted church-going folk who never even heard the Gospel of salvation—let alone believed it—will all be cast unceremoniously into the Lake of Fire, for although they believed they knew God, HE NEVER KNEW THEM! (see Matt. 7:21-23 cf. Lk. 18:11-14; Jn. 10:14; 1 Cor. 8:3; 2 Cor. 10:17,18). The final words of the Lord Jesus to them will thunderously echo in their minds and souls for all eternity: “…I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23).
If you do not have the Robe of the Righteousness of Christ, all you possess are the filthy rags of your own righteousnesses. If you have not been given saving Faith by Grace to believe the Gospel of God, your faith is in a gospel which has been concocted by your fellow man, and you are currently lost. Conversely, the saved—those who obey the Gospel of God and abide in the doctrine of Christ purely by Grace alone—will all stand justified before God, wearing the Robe of God’s own Righteousness, which God Himself has clothed them with. You see, Scripture teaches that by nature man is without God and without hope, which reveals the impossibility of anyone seeking after the True God (see Eph. 2:12 & Rom. 3:11), much less recognizing Him as the True God and coming to Him. As a consequence, all by nature seek after a false god. They are pre-programmed by their sin nature, that influences and controls their thinking, to believe in the false gods of false gospels. This includes the false father, the false son and the false holy spirit. Many have the names right, and yet there is no one behind them except Satan himself, the great pretender. The masks are different, but the one behind them is always the same. The absolute horror of man’s sinful nature is that the choices available to him are distinctly limited. He has only two options: the first is to continue living a materialistic, hedonistic and secular lifestyle; the second is to adopt a religious lifestyle and follow one of the thousands of false gods available to him. Contrary to popular teaching, man by nature does not understand the True God, and, therefore, does not seek Him or desire Him. Man cannot choose the True God. All a man left to himself can do is flounder in a cesspool of sin, grabbing hold of false gods that provide no real, tangible hope. Man, by nature, is led by the spirit of error, not the Spirit of truth. If you do not have the truth, how can you possibly be following the True God? If you do not obey the doctrines of the Gospel of God, how can it be the God of the Gospel Whom you are following and seeking after. Saul, who later became the apostle Paul, was not seeking after the True God prior to his salvation. In fact, he revelled in persecuting those who followed Jesus Christ (see Acts 22:4; 22:19,20; 26:11; Gal. 1:13; 1 Cor. 15:9). God had to reveal Himself to Paul so that he would be set on the right path, so that Paul would know, follow and seek after the true and only God and seek only for HIS Righteous not his own (see Phil. 3 & Gal. 1).
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23). In other words, the Ethiopian can never change his skin; the leopard will never be free of its spots and sinful man can never do good. Man will never be free of his sin and sinfulness, so is it any wonder he can never produce a righteousness acceptable to God by anything he does, for everything he does is unrighteous in the eyes of the Lord? The very essence of man’s dilemma is: you cannot change what you are by what you do. “No amount of outward doing can fix the inward being.” Activity can never change identity. Cleaning the outside of the cup can never affect the inside (see Matt. 23:25). Jeremiah 13:23 signifies “…that they were naturally sinners, as blackness is natural to the Ethiopian, and spots to the leopard; and were from their birth and infancy such, and had been so long habituated to sin, by custom founded upon nature, that there was no hope of them; they were obstinate in sin, bent upon it, and incorrigible in it…The metaphors used in this text fitly express the state and condition of men by nature; they are like the Ethiopian or blackamoor; very black, both with original and actual sin; very guilty, and very uncomely; and their blackness is natural to them; they have it from their parents, and by birth; it is with them from their infancy, and youth upwards; and impossible to be removed; it cannot be washed off by ceremonial ablutions, moral duties, evangelical ordinances, or outward humiliations; yea, it is impossible to be removed but by the grace of God and blood of Christ.”
You see, lost man is under the strong delusion that he can not only impress God through his actions, but that he can also make up for his many sins on the altar of personal sacrifice and obedience. This false hope—this mythical anti-Christian belief—is shattered into a million pieces when one realises that not only does man need the Perfect Righteousness of Christ charged to his account to be justified before God, but he also requires his sins to be atoned for and charged to Christ’s account. The Righteousness man requires must not merely be equal to that of God’s, IT MUST ACTUALLY BE THE VERY RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD! There is no other way a man can be justified before God. This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that no man, by anything he does, or refrains from doing, can produce this Righteousness; therefore, it is Another’s Righteousness—specifically, the Righteousness of Christ achieved solely by the Obedience of Christ—that must be imputed/charged to him by the Grace of God alone. There is no other way a man can possibly be in right standing with God unless he has the very Righteousness of God. And the only way any man can have that Righteousness of God is if God has chosen to charge him with it. God’s Holiness and Justice demand it—for without the Blood and Righteousness of Christ the Saviour, no man can possibly have the Righteousness God requires, nor have his sins abolished. This is why Jesus is THE Saviour by Who He is and by what He has done. All His people, formerly dead in trespasses and sins, are made alive by Him (see Eph. 2:1; Jn. 6:63). Their sins are imputed to Him and His Righteousness credited to them (see 2 Cor. 5:21).
The Saviour saves His people, for they can do nothing to save themselves. In other words, they can do nothing to earn or contribute anything that would result in, or help ensure, their salvation, for they are all spiritually dead and require the miracle of spiritual life through being born again by the Gospel of the Grace of God. There can be no other plan for the salvation of spiritually dead people than the miracle of being born again exclusively by the Grace of God through the gift of Faith in God’s unique salvation Plan. This can only happen by the Will and Mercy of the Almighty Sovereign God Who saves whom He wills by His Goodness, not theirs (see Ex. 33:19; 34:6,7; Rom. 9:15,16). God declares: “…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); And God further affirms: “…I will make all My Goodness pass before thee…and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” (Ex. 33:19). These Scriptures clearly demonstrate that salvation is not at all based on the goodness of man—who he is, or what he has done or must do—for it is all according to Who God is and what God has done—His Sovereignty, His Goodness and His mercy. It is all and has always been about the mercy of God, not the merits of man. “It’s all about God’s mercy, devoid of any human merit.” Mercy is always and only for the guilty and therefore the unworthy. Salvation is by the Saviour, not the sinner. Salvation is by the Grace of God alone; therefore, it cannot at all be by the efforts of man. It is not accurate to say that a man is doomed only if God does not act, for all mankind is a cursed race to begin with because of sin—they are already doomed—with most being—appointed to Wrath (see 1 Thess. 5:9 cf. Jn. 3:18)—and upon which God exacts the penalty of eternal torment. The reality is that a man cannot be saved unless God has mercifully chosen him—from before the foundation of the world (see Eph. 1:4)— to “obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9).
Nothing a man does can alter his spiritual state. Left to himself, there is nothing a man thinks, or does that can steer him off the highway to Hell, along which he is currently hurtling. Without God, all a man has is himself, the false gods of his imagination and a myriad of delusional ways and methods of salvation that lead to nowhere but Hell. When you don’t know what the right road is you will always be travelling the wrong road, therefore, you will never arrive at the destination you believed you were heading toward, much like relying on a malfunctioning GPS. Man is locked on a course that leads to eternal destruction and his only hope is the Mercy of God in Jesus Christ the Saviour. Just as a leopard has spots, man cannot change the fact that he is a spiritual leper, clothed in the filthy rags of his own righteousnesses—rags that are eternally fused to him. Think of it, man sees his good works as a hopeful sign that God will accept him into His Presence, but the Biblical reality is that in clothing himself with these ‘good works’, with which he presents himself to God believing and hoping they will recommend him to God, man has in reality clothed himself in nothing but used menstrual cloths! This is the picture, the disgusting, putrid picture that God sees of man, AT HIS MOST MORALLY RELIGIOUS BEST, no less, coming to Him clothed with his own raggedy, sin-riddled righteousness, rather than with the Grace-given Pure White Robe of the Righteousness of Christ Jesus the Lord. Despite religion’s false and empty assurances, God does not see a man’s ‘good works’ as admirable attempts to reconcile with Him. Man’s best is no better than his worst. God does not smile sympathetically at man’s feeble, sin-ridden, efforts at obedience. All God sees is a hopeless sinner, hopelessly, blasphemously, trying to get to Heaven via his own righteousness—or dung, as the apostle Paul labelled it—rather than with the Righteousness of God, which God Himself has provided for His chosen exclusively through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Bypassing the Righteousness of Christ with one’s own obedience is a recipe for eternal disaster. Jesus Christ is the only Way; all other ways lead to an eternal Hell. The righteousness of man can never make him pure in the sight of God, nor can it even begin to address the stupendous and overwhelming fact that man is dead in sins (see Eph. 2:1,5).
The stumbling stone and rock of offence spoken of by Paul in Romans 10 and by Peter in 1 Peter 2—something that Israel and the world’s religions take offence to, that every man by nature takes offence to and stumbles over—is Jesus Christ as the only Saviour, and His Righteousness as the only means to salvation: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18 cf. Gal. 5:11; 1 Pet. 1:5). The preaching of the cross of Christ is not His dying for every individual ever born; it is His dying for the elect of God—laying down His life for His sheep—that is considered foolishness to all them that perish. But for the elect, Christ’s dying exclusively for those whom the Father has given Him (see Jn. 17:2 ff.; cf. Acts 2:39)—which both the secular and religious worlds consider foolishness—is the very power of God. Man in his sinfulness always believes he can extricate himself from any situation. Many television shows and movies have exacerbated this line of thinking—to look within and not without—for solutions, that man will eventually figure it out. That which the religions of the world—or rather, the world’s religious system—regards as foolishness is, in fact, the very power of God unto salvation. This underscores how spiritually dead everyone is by nature. The Word of God states “…the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1Jn. 5:19), and that Satan “…deceiveth the whole world…” (Rev. 12:9). The very thing that makes a man Righteous before God—the Righteousness of Christ—is what the world mocks and laughs at. Conversely, the very thing that the world believes will make a man Righteous—the personal obedience of the individual—is what God mocks and laughs at. Remember what Paul said about the Gospel of Jesus: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…For therein is the Righteousness of God revealed…” (Rom. 1:16,17). Look at the language of God: preaching of the cross…saved…power of God…Gospel of Christ…power of God…salvation…Righteousness of God”. The Gospel of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ is the very power of God unto salvation because it—and it alone—reveals the glorious Righteousness of God. Heaven is only for those whom God has clothed with His Righteousness. Hell, on the other hand, is for those who have clothed themselves with their own righteousness or attempted to clothe themselves with Christ’s Righteousness and their own.
If you do not know the Gospel of God, you cannot be submitted to the Righteousness of God, for the Righteousness of God is exclusively revealed in His Gospel. Those who have been given eyes to see rest in God’s Righteousness. Those who remain spiritually blind seek to establish a righteousness of their own. If you are going about trying to establish your own righteousness, you do not believe in the true and only God. You are under a curse, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Gal. 3:10 cf. Deut. 27:26). Unless it is obeyed perfectly, the law of God pronounces a curse upon those who seek salvation by their imperfect obedience to it. “The curse is pronounced because it requires perfect and complete obedience to all of the law, at all times, which is an impossible standard for humans to meet.” This is why God’s people need a Saviour: a sinless Man Who always obeyed all the law of God perfectly. The law of God “…requires perfect obedience, an observance of all things contained in it, which can never be performed by fallen man…the law requires constant perfect obedience; not only that a man should do all things commanded in it, but that he should continue to do them from his infancy, to the day of his death; and in failure hereof, it pronounces every man cursed, without any respect to persons, or any regard to pleas, taken from the infirmity of human nature, the sincerity of the heart, or repentance for transgressions.” There exists no hope in you, but only in Christ. You are a sinner—He is the Saviour. There is no hope in what you do, but only in what Christ has done for His people. If you are attempting to obey the law of God to either get saved and/or remain ‘saved’: YOU ARE CURRENTLY LOST! Cursed men only believe in cursed gospels. Ignorance of the Gospel of God provides no basis for a legitimate claim of innocence; in fact, such ignorance is the primary and conclusive evidence of guilt and accursedness. “But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). Ignorance is accursedness. The lost are not innocent; they are accursed (see Gal. 1:8,9). Those to whom the Gospel is hid are not saved regardless; they are lost. Nothing you are doing or what you are experiencing, not your praying, not your lifestyle, not your warm fuzzy ‘spiritual’ feelings, nor your sincerity of faith nor however long you have believed whatever it is you believe can change the fact that if you are not trusting solely in the Righteousness of God, if you are not born again by the Word of God, the Gospel of God, and if you do not subscribe to the Biblical teaching that salvation from beginning to end is only by the Grace of God alone, then you are going about trying to establish your own righteousness. In doing so you are trusting and hoping that your own righteousness will be enough for God to accept you into Heaven. THAT is a trust which is not born of the gift of the Faith given by God to His people; it does not originate from God, but is part and parcel of your fallen, sinful nature. Don’t trust it—turn from it.
The reality is that, at the very least, those who base any part of salvation upon their own obedience are attempting to supplement the Righteousness of Christ with their own righteousness, thereby, revealing an inherent mistrust of Christ and His Righteousness alone to save and sustain them, thereby, demonstrating disbelief in the Gospel of Christ. This is not the evidence that you are saved by Grace through Faith in Him, but of an evil, home-grown and blasphemous faith that trusts in your own works—revealing your lost state. This is the natural, self-reliant faith that man, left to his own devices, has always and will always embrace. The reality is you are trusting in yourself and not in God alone. “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man….Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is” (Jer. 17:5,7). IF YOU ARE NOT TRUSTING IN GOD ALONE, YOU ARE NOT TRUSTING IN HIM AT ALL! You have fallen for an impostor! Left to his own devices, lost man will never fully uncouple himself from his own righteousness and cling only to the Righteousness of Christ. The presence of the gift of Faith from God means the total and complete absence of any self-reliance. “This emphasizes the absolute nature of trusting in God. Any reliance on oneself, one’s own abilities, or any other intermediary, is fundamentally incompatible with true faith in God. A person not wholly dependent on God’s Grace is not truly following the true God at all, but is instead deceived by a false belief system.” If you are trusting in yourself to any degree you cannot be trusting solely in the True and only God. Your reliance is not on His Grace alone, if it is on any of your works at all. Works, a man’s efforts at obedience, always supersede Grace in the mind of the lost. The lost clearly do not have the gift of Faith, for their trust is not exclusively in Him. “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord” (Jer. 17:5). No one is ever saved by works; not by Grace and works, by God and themselves, but by God and Grace alone (see Rom. 11). This is the primary distinction that separates the saved from the lost, for salvation only comes by Grace alone through the gift of Faith which looks only to HIM. The gift of Faith is given so that God’s chosen will totally and completely abandon themselves and look only to God. “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. 3:9), not works. Christ is the Saviour, and He saves only by what He has done. Salvation does not wait upon man to perform any act in order to make it functional. Salvation is a Sovereign act of God that makes the dead alive to Him purely by God’s predetermined will, love, purpose, mercy and grace. God is not a respecter of persons, therefore He does not save based on who you are or what you have done, but only by Who His Son is and by what HE has done.
The key to the only Righteousness that Justifies is the gift of Faith, given by the Will of God through Grace alone. Grace, Faith and the Righteousness of God are all inextricably linked—so much so that a rejection of one is a rejection of all.
Rejecting salvation by Grace alone, reveals you do not have the gift of Faith that God gives His people to believe in the Obedience of His Son alone for their justification.
Rejecting the need for the gift of Faith is a rejection of the doctrine of salvation by Grace alone and Justification by the Obedience of Jesus Christ alone.
Rejection of the doctrine of Justification purely by the Obedience of Jesus Christ, is a rejection of salvation by Sovereign Grace alone through the gift of the only Faith that will embrace and believe it.
If you believe that what you do makes the difference between Heaven and Hell, you stand ignorant of the only Righteousness—the only One’s Obedience that can and does bring one safely into the loving arms of the Lord God. You are not a believer in Biblical Grace if you are opposed to Christ’s Obedience as the only Obedience that justifies a man before God. If you believe that what you do works in tandem with the Righteousness of God, to save you and keep you saved, you stand ignorant of the True God Who saves only by His Grace through His gift of Faith to believe in HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ALONE! If you believe that anything you do is necessary to ‘start the ball rolling,’ as it were, concerning salvation, you are not a believer in the God Who saves according to His will and by His Grace ALONE. If you believe that you have to choose Him, then you do not know the only God Who chose His people before the foundation of the world—predestinating them “…according to the good pleasure of HIS WILL, to the praise of the glory of HIS GRACE…” (Eph. 1:5,6). Salvation is entirely of God, and there is no salvation plan that includes anything anyone else has done or must do that has any power to save. God saves single-handedly, according to the doctrines of His Gospel, and no other, which explain exactly how He does it. The Righteousness of God is exclusively revealed in the Gospel of God, making it God’s ONLY power unto salvation (see Rom. 1:16,17). Taking anything away from God’s Gospel, or adding anything to His Gospel, results in a false gospel that has no power at all to save anyone. You cannot pervert the Gospel of God without attacking Grace—reducing its role—by adding works. “God’s Gospel is complete; any change to it nullifies its saving power.” Adding anything to or taking anything from God’s Gospel destroys Grace. “Salvation is of the Lord…Salvation belongeth unto the Lord…” (Jon. 2:9 & Psa. 3:8). “…Salvation is of the Lord…by grace…through faith…not of yourselves” because “…IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD” (Jon. 2:9 & Eph. 2:8 cf. Jn. 1:13). The salvation of God’s people is of the Lord, just as God says: “…their Righteousness is of Me…” (Isa. 54:17). Seeing that the Righteousness required is God’s own Righteousness, it is God’s to give, for no man can possibly earn it or be deserving of it. THE ONLY MEANS TO GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS GOD’S GRACE. Adding anything to Grace removes the power to save from Grace because it automatically reduces the role of Grace. If you deny God’s complete Sovereignty in salvation—if you do not believe in the God Who first ordains His chosen ones to eternal life so that they will believe (see Acts 13:48)—you do not believe the Gospel of God, for you have not submitted yourself to His Righteousness alone which is imputed because of His Grace alone and not your works at all.
The Word of God makes it perfectly clear that if your zeal for God is not according to the right knowledge of God revealed by God in His Gospel to all His people, you are currently in a lost state (see Rom. 9:31-10:4). In other words, if you do not know the Gospel of God, you cannot know the God of the Gospel, and you are not saved. You cannot possibly have the gift of Faith if you do not believe in the True God and His Plan of salvation by His Grace alone. The Word of the Lord says: “…the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thess. 1:7-9). If you do not have the gift of Faith, you do not know the True God, nor do you obey the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you do not obey the Gospel of the Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not know the True and only God, and you will be punished with everlasting destruction. You cannot possibly be trusting and believing in the True God if you do not believe that His Righteousness alone is the only Righteousness that can justify you before Him. If you are trying to get to Heaven by what you do, you are currently ignorant of the only Righteousness that saves—the only Righteousness that can get you to Heaven: the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, therefore, you have no faith in His Gospel. God’s people get to Heaven by what HE ALONE has done. That is Grace. If you believe that your righteousness—established by your own obedience—must be joined with Christ’s Righteousness in order for you to be successfully saved, you do not have the Righteousness of Christ, but only your own, for if the faith with which you believe were the gift God gives to all His chosen, you would not be seeking to affix your obedience to that of Christ’s to assure yourself of salvation. Moreover, if your entire trust was exclusively in God, you would only believe that “…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). None shall be made Righteous by a cooperative obedience. Salvation is not a collaboration or a joint venture between man and God, but an individual act brought about entirely by the Grace of God acting independently of human will or effort. How can one have salvation by Grace—the free, unearned and therefore undeserved favour of God—if salvation is in any way conditioned on what you do? “…if by grace, then is it no more of works…” (Rom. 11:6). Election and Salvation are not the result of works, but come solely out of Grace. Nor is salvation attained by the Obedience of Christ and then secured by one’s own obedience: “Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3). So many people have been deluded into thinking that ‘saved by grace’ means salvation begins by grace, but is then conditioned on and continued only by a person’s efforts at obedience. The fact of the matter is that ‘saved by grace’ means you are saved and preserved entirely and eternally by Grace ALONE. Salvation for intrinsically spiritually dead sinners could not exist without Grace and so by virtue of necessity it must be Grace alone that establishes salvation and is eternally secured thereby. “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith…” (Heb. 12:2 cf. 1 Cor. 1:8; Heb. 5:9; 1 Jn. 5:11,13,20). Salvation is not by Grace and works—by God and you—but by God through Grace alone.
You cannot separate God’s salvation of His people from its being an eternal salvation. Jesus Christ is “…the Author of ETERNAL salvation…” (Heb. 5:9 cf. 2 Thess. 1:7-9), and it is GRACE ALONE that gives salvation its eternality. Yet, people have got it stuck in their brains that saved is a one-off event: that it somehow applies only to the beginning of one’s salvation and is thereafter a conditional state contingent on the sinner (works) and not on God alone (Grace). They fail to realise that the salvation God grants to His people by Grace is ETERNAL—just as their redemption is eternal: “…by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained ETERNAL redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12). The only way a Christian can confidently believe and proclaim their salvation is eternal is because it is 100% conditioned on the EVERLASTING Grace of God. Those who believe that one can lose their salvation clearly do not believe in the Grace of God Who is the Author of eternal salvation, Whose people “…are kept by the power of God through Faith unto salvation…” (1 Pet. 1:5), “…and preserved in Jesus Christ” (Jd. 1:1 cf. Psa. 37:28). It is the Grace of God that gives salvation its eternality. “The salvation Christ is the Author of is ‘eternal’; it was resolved upon from eternity, and contrived in it; it was secured in the everlasting covenant, in which not only a Saviour was provided, but blessings both of grace and glory: and it is to eternity; and stands distinguished from a temporal salvation” (or a salvation conditioned on the saved person, on works, for how then could it be stated that their salvation is eternal when at any time they could lose it), “and is opposed to eternal damnation; it is the salvation of the soul, which is immortal; and it takes in both grace and glory, which are of a durable nature; and the continuance of it is owing to the abiding and lasting virtue of Christ’s Person, Blood, and Righteousness: and Christ is the Cause or Author of this salvation, by His obedience and sufferings; by obeying the precept, and bearing the penalty of the law; by the price of His blood, and by the power of His arm; by His death and by His life; by His sacrifice on the cross, and by His intercession in Heaven; by bestowing grace here, and glory hereafter: this shows that salvation is done, and that Christ is the sole Author of it, and that all the glory of it should be given to Him; and those to whom He is the Author of salvation, are such as hearken to the voice of His Gospel, and obey Him in His ordinances…all those whom Christ saves, He brings them to an obedience to Himself; for His obedience for them does not exempt them from obedience to Him, though their obedience is no cause of their salvation” (not of its inception or eternality).
Salvation, from beginning to end is all because of Him: “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith….And ye are COMPLETE IN HIM…” (Heb. 12:2 & Col. 2:10 cf. 1 Cor. 15:22). If you are complete, you need nothing else. If you are complete in Him, you need no one else—not even yourself—to make or keep yourself complete. There is no need to ‘hedge your bets,’ as it were, by seeking to establish and having faith in your own righteousness in case Christ’s Obedience is not enough to save you; for it is HIS OBEDIENCE ALONE that makes His people eternally Righteous. If you insist that your obedience must be added, that it is essential to complete your completeness, then clearly you believe that no one is complete in the Saviour alone; that He is not the Author and Finisher of faith, but merely the Author. The gift of Faith which God gives to His people by Grace alone causes them to step out onto the bridge to Heaven that is underpinned only by the Righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to them. “This is no blind leap of faith, but a trust in God’s revealed Character and promises.” What is a blind and deadly leap of faith is stepping out onto a bridge that is wholly, or in part, supported by the flimsy non-load-bearing carnal obedience of a spiritually dead sinner. “Our own efforts do not construct or support the path to salvation; rather, it is solely Christ’s work that provides the means and security for His people to ‘cross over’ into salvation through the Faith gifted by God.” Thinking that salvation cannot be accomplished without your obedience involves a vain attempt to establish your own righteousness; therefore, it is an outright rejection of the Obedience of Christ Jesus as the only Obedience that could—and has—established the only Righteousness that Justifies all of God’s people. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His Righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His Righteousness: that He might be Just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-26ff cf. Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21). If it is not His Righteousness alone by which you claim to be justified, then the True God is not your Justifier, but your Judge. The only way God could remain Just and be the Justifier of His people is ONLY through the Blood and Righteousness of His Son, Jesus. Seeing that none can be justified by the works of the law (see Gal. 2:16), the only way God can be Just in Justifying a sinner is through the perfect Obedience of His Son, Jesus—imputing His Righteousness to His people and their sins to Him. Only in this way can both the law and God’s Holy Justice be satisfied.
If you do not have total and complete confidence in Christ Jesus and HIS Righteousness alone to save you, you are currently a lost person. “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing” (Gal. 5:2). “Paul speaks of circumcision, not as when it was an ordinance of God, but as it was now abolished by Christ; …but as done in order to salvation, or as necessary unto it; which was the doctrine the false apostles taught and these Galatians were ready to give into: now circumcision submitted to on this consideration, and with this view rendered Christ unprofitable, made His death to be in vain, His sacrifice of no effect, and His Righteousness useless: besides, Christ is a whole Saviour, or none at all; to join anything with Him and His Righteousness, in the business of justification and salvation, is interpreted by Him as a contempt and neglect of Him, as laying Him aside, and to such persons He is of no profit; and if He is not, what they have, and whatsoever they do, will be of no advantage; wealth and riches, yea, the whole world could it be gained, their works and righteousness, whatever show they make before men, God has declared shall not profit them; and trusting to these renders Christ unprofitable to them.” It makes perfect biblical sense that just as the works of men nullify the need for the Saviour, so too, faith in the Saviour as complete Saviour renders the works of men completely unnecessary (see Gal. 2:21). “You cannot mix systems. It is either 100% Christ or 100% your own effort. If we could save ourselves, the Cross becomes an unnecessary tragedy. If Christ is a complete Savior, nothing can be added to His work.” To all who believe that their obedience is a requirement for the gaining and/or maintaining of salvation: the faith you have is your own faith, and not the gift of Faith which God freely gives to all His people according to His Grace alone—evidenced by their believing only in, and having complete satisfaction with and confidence in, the Righteousness of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, established wholly by His Obedience. You cannot appear before God with Christ’s Obedience and your own, for any reliance on your own obedience and “…Christ shall profit you nothing” (Gal. 5:2). If your own righteousness is involved, the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ will not stand with you. So then, with whose obedience would you rather appear on Judgement Day? That which comes from your own feeble, imperfect attempts at obedience—or the Pure and Perfect Obedience of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ charged to your account? If it is with your obedience, you must also bring with you all your sins; for if your faith is not solely in the Obedience of Christ, you have no redemption—you are not washed from your sins in His own blood (see Rev. 1:5). If you say it takes your righteousness, then Christ has not taken your sins. If you believe it takes your obedience to, at the very least, remain justified, then Christ shall profit you absolutely nothing. What madness is this that says it takes your obedience while claiming Christ’s Righteousness has been imputed to you? It is the madness caused by spiritual death and blindness, which ultimately believes in self. Only Faith in Christ’s Obedience alone evidences your sins have truly been abolished.
If you believe that your obedience, combined with Christ’s, will get you to Heaven, you reveal that your faith is in a perverted blend of your works, coupled with a distorted and grotesque view of God’s Grace—your faith is in a false gospel, and you are worshipping a false god. It would be a case of believing you are saved by grace through faith in what your ‘saviour’ has done—and, just as importantly, and necessarily, in what you have done. The eternal paradox between election and salvation by Grace alone versus salvation by free will and works, or salvation by grace and works is clearly exemplified in the apostle Paul’s words in Romans 11:6: “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.” The only grace spoken of here is God’s Sovereign Grace: the unique Grace that requires no works. The Word of God cannot possibly have made it any clearer: “if by Grace, then is it NO MORE of works.” When you are talking about election, salvation or justification the only means is Grace alone and NOT works at all. Anyone still willing to argue this major theological point is clearly as spiritually blind as they can be. Paul goes on to show the eternal distinction between Grace and works—that they cannot work together—by saying if it is by works “then is it NO MORE Grace.” It is one or the other, evidencing the fact it can never be by both. “Paul isn't just presenting two options; he is presenting two mutually exclusive systems that cannot occupy the same space.” If works were to be added to this Grace, then it would simply cease to be Grace. You would no longer have God’s Grace if you conditioned any part of salvation on works. The only type of grace that works will work with—that needs works to make it effective in its ability to save—is the false grace that comes from the minds of lost men. This grace that is not God’s Grace, but legalism. “According to Paul, when someone works to obtain a reward, the grace they receive isn’t actually grace at all—it is a legal obligation. ‘Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt' (Rom. 4:4). It is a contractual exchange: you provide the effort, and God provides the payment. This is the opposite of the free gift described in Romans 6:23. In Galatians 1, Paul addresses those who tried to mix the Grace of Christ with the works of the Law (specifically circumcision). He doesn’t call this a modified grace; he calls it a perversion. Paul argues that if you add works to grace as a requirement for justification, you have fallen away from grace and Christ becomes of no advantage to you (see Gal. 5:2-4). When man’s effort is the vehicle for divine favor, the Bible labels the resulting standing as Self-Righteousness (idios dikaiosynē).” The works which God has “before ordained that we should walk in them” are merely the fruit of saving Grace. They are not the cause nor the means of attracting Grace or earning it in any way.
If election/salvation were both by grace and works, then both words would literally lose their meaning; Christ would be of no effect unto you, and neither would your works (see Gal. 5:2-4; Gal. 3:10; Heb. 9:14). “If Grace (unmerited favor) is contingent upon Works (merit), it ceases to be unmerited. Conversely, if Works are required but Grace covers the shortfall, then the Works aren't actually fulfilling the Law's requirement of perfection. Both definitions collapse. Paul’s argument in Galatians 5:4 is that you cannot hold onto Christ with one hand and the Law with the other. To reach for the Law is to let go of Christ.” If it is by works, then what need is there for Grace? Likewise, if it is by Grace, then why would your works be necessary at all ? Clearly, works and grace are mutually exclusive systems of justification. To believe in one is to wholly disbelieve in the other. Only Sovereign Grace does what works can never do. If this were not the case, then grace would become a wage and works would become a debt (see Rom. 4:4). “If the two systems were to overlap: Grace ceases to be a gift (it is earned). Works cease to be an expression of love (they are a legal requirement). The Cross ceases to be sufficient (it becomes a partial payment that requires a human ‘top-off’).” Thus, the words of the Lord Jesus: “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30), would need to be changed to, ‘It is not finished. I have done My part; all that is now required is for man to play his part.’ This is precisely the false gospel most professing Christians believe and the false Christ they follow. If it is by works, then it is not finished. If it is not finished, then it is not by Grace. If it is finished, then it is by Grace alone. Jesus said: “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). “If the work required for salvation was completed by Christ on the cross, then any contribution from man is not only unnecessary but impossible.” Any addition to Christ's work effectively denies its sufficiency, which aligns with the warnings in Galatians 1:6–9 regarding another gospel.” The debate between Grace and works as the means to salvation is not a discussion held within the walls of true Christianity, but only outside those walls. Within Christianity—where all God’s chosen reside—there is no debate or theological disagreement concerning Grace and works. The true Church of the Living God is the pillar and ground of the truth (see 1 Tim. 3:15), not of truth and error. Election by works is clearly denounced as a lie in the Scriptures. It is not by free will, but only by that which is will free. How can a spiritually dead person have free will? So too, salvation is not based or conditioned on anything a man does. It is not by free will, because it is clearly by Grace alone through the gift of Faith—FREE OF WORKS—making it completely will and works free. “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. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:15,16).
“Upon election, being called ‘the election of grace’ (Rom. 11:5), the apostle forms an argument, showing the contrariety and inconsistency of grace, and works, in that affair; proving, that it must be by the one or the other: and if by the one, then not by the other; and that these two cannot be mixed and blended together in this matter. If election is ‘by grace’, as it certainly is; for no other reason can be given why God has chose one, and not another, but His own Sovereign pleasure, or that free favour and unmerited love, with which He loves one and not another; and not because they are better, or had done or would do better things than others; ‘then is it no more’, or not at all, for it never was ‘of works’, was not influenced by them, does not arise from them, for it passed before ever any were done; and those that are done aright spring from it, and therefore could never be the rule and measure, causes, motives, and conditions of it; ‘grace is not grace, unless it is altogether freed’; it will lose its nature, and ought to change its name, and be no more called or reckoned grace, but a due debt; and a choice of persons to salvation should be thought, not to be what God is free to make or not, but what He is obliged to, as a reward of debt to men's works: but if it be of works, then is it no more grace; if election springs from, and depends upon the works of men, let no man ascribe it to the grace of God; for there is nothing of grace in it, if this be the case: otherwise work is no more work; that will free gift: but these things are contrary to one another; and so unalienable and unalterable in their natures, that the one cannot pass into the other, or the one be joined with the other, in this or any other part of man’s salvation; for what is here said of election, holds true of justification, pardon of sin, and the whole of salvation. The Ethiopic version applies it to justification.”
Grace alone – Faith alone – the Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. That is the Message of the Gospel of Grace alone. Election, salvation, justification are all by God because of His will and based on what He has done for His people and not because of anything they have done for Him. Belief in anything more than this reveals a sinful, fleshly, monstrously insatiable carnal faith that requires more than God alone to save you. That kind of faith is inherent in the sinful nature of man; it does NOT come from God. The only Righteousness which justifies is Christ’s Righteousness, and it can only come by Grace alone because it was produced only by Christ’s Obedience. The fact that justification—based entirely on the Obedience of Christ—can only be given by Grace is the inescapable truth that shatters the lie that works are in any way necessary. What can you add—nay, what is there to add—to a payment fully made? What can you possibly do to make a fully satisfied creditor even more satisfied? How could something earned by Another be something you have to work for? “You don’t. You cannot, and you should not try. If the righteousness is a gift resulting from Christ’s obedience, it is logically impossible for the recipient to work for it after the fact.” Why would you have to work to establish an inferior righteousness, when the Lord God Himself by Grace alone grants His own perfect, unblemished Righteousness to all His people? How could something that was only ever achievable by Another be something you could ever hope to attain by what you do? Why would you try to touch the clouds when God gifts His people Heaven itself? Why would you want to even try to attain the humanly unattainable, when Almighty God has already given by Grace that which is wholly unattainable by works? How could something earned by Another and given to you be that which you deserve? How could something which took Almighty God to achieve require the works of a spiritually dead man to make it complete?
The whole purpose of election, salvation and justification is to make a dead man alive in Christ. So pray tell me: what would that previously dead man need to do to make himself more alive when it is God Himself Who has made him eternally alive unto Him? Any requirement for works on man’s part to acquire justifying Righteousness would literally cancel out the need for Grace and the perfect Righteousness of God Himself. However, the fact that a man is saved by Grace alone through the gift of Faith in Christ’s Obedience—and not your own—clearly demonstrates that it is indeed the Grace of God that cancels out, nullifies, ANY need for ANY works. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his Faith is counted for Righteousness” (Rom. 4:4,5 cf. Rom. 11:6). A man’s works will and can NEVER be counted for Righteousness. Grace saves those who have done nothing, because they could never have done anything to save themselves. The necessity of Grace and Mercy evidences the complete lack of any ability or capability in any man to do anything to make himself alive in Christ. “Man’s problem is inherent, not incidental; it is a matter of an incorrigible nature, not merely of behaviour, thus requiring the Divine miracle of regeneration rather than human effort. An incorrigible nature cannot produce a righteous work that God can accept (see Rom. 3:10-12). Therefore, Righteousness must be imputed from the outside—it must be the Righteousness of Christ.” Again, if it is by the Righteousness of Christ, it is solely by the Obedience of Christ and therefore must be by Grace alone. Grace provides that which works could never achieve. Grace is God choosing. Grace is God doing. Grace is God saving. Grace is life-giving.
Believing in works as a necessary prerequisite or essential requirement (or at the least a contributing factor or fundamental component) in salvation is not believing in the Grace of God or the God of Grace. Believing in works is having faith in your own obedience. Conversely, Scripture says that the only obedience that establishes the only righteousness acceptable to God, and that justifies a man before Him, is the perfect Obedience of Christ. Thus, salvation is by Grace through the gift of Faith and not by works at all. Believing in works is believing in you, not God. Seeing that Grace and works cannot be joined or merged together, it stands to biblical reason (see Rom. 11:6) that salvation is either all by Grace or all by works, thus it can never be by Grace and works. Believing in works in the context of gaining and/or maintaining salvation is a total and complete rejection of Grace. Looking to what you must do can in no way be legitimately interpreted as having faith in what God has done. SALVATION BY GRACE IS BELIEVING IN GOD WHO JUSTIFIES THE UNGODLY BY WHAT HE ALONE HAS DONE, AND BY NOTHING WHICH THEY HAVE DONE OR MUST DO! If salvation is in any way attainable by your obedience, then salvation cannot be by Grace AT ALL, it cannot be by a Gift; but only as a reward for your efforts at obedience. If salvation is attainable by your obedience, there would be no need for Grace nor the Obedience of the Saviour: “…if Righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). “…if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you NOTHING” (Gal. 5:2). If salvation were not by Grace alone, then there would be absolutely no need to be born again. If salvation were, at least in part, by works, then man would not be dead in Adam and there would be no need for him to be made alive in Christ (see 1 Cor. 15:22). But why would salvation require your obedience when God says only, “…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Why would a person need to be born again—spiritually reborn—if he were not spiritually dead? Why would a person need to be made alive if they were not dead? Man is not sick in sins; his condition is not temporary, nor is it something—given time and ‘treatment’—he will eventually recover from. Man’s need to be made alive is the surest of all signs that he is currently dead. No sick person needs to be made alive, just as no dead person can improve upon his state of death. No dead person has the luxurious option of making a choice. If man is not spiritually dead, then there is no need for him to be made alive in Christ, for he is already alive in himself (in Adam). If there is no need to be made alive then there is no need to be born again. If man is not dead by nature to the True God, then he is self-contained in that he is able to choose or reject God at will.
NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN MADE RIGHTEOUS BY THEIR OWN OBEDIENCE! No man has ever been made Righteous by what he has done, but only by what the Saviour has done that has been credited to him. You cannot be made Righteous by combining what you have done and what the Saviour has done, for looking to anything that you have done results in the Saviour profiting you absolutely NOTHING! He who is saved by Grace alone believes the man who WORKETH NOT is justified by Christ and His Obedience—His Righteousness freely charged to his account. “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without works” (Rom. 4:6). “Have I then no work to work in this great matter of my pardon? None! What work can you work? What work of yours can buy Divine forgiveness—or make you fit for the Divine favour? What work has God bidden you work in order to obtain salvation? None. His Word is very plain and easy to be understood, ‘But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his Faith is counted for Righteousness’ (Rom. 4:5). There is but one work by which a man can be saved. That work is not yours—but the work of the Son of God. That work is finished.” The Saviour says: “…It is finished…” (Jn. 19:30).
“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 saved are saved purely by Grace and nothing else, solely through the gift of Faith and nothing else. These are things that do not emanate from the saved, for they are gifts. They are not the product of a man’s obedience and so none have anything to boast of. Righteousness cannot be produced by the unrighteous; therefore, salvation must, and can only, be by Grace alone. Grace does not give you the power to do anything which makes it possible for God to save you, for no man can be saved based on the impossible combination of Grace and works, but only by Grace alone. True Grace—God’s Grace—does not need your works to save you. Salvation is not a symbiotic situation. Salvation is not about “mutual dependence and contribution to achieve a joint goal.” It’s not about God doing His part and man doing his part, for man has no part to play because he is quite dead in Adam and must be made spiritually alive in and by Christ, which he clearly has no hand in. “God is the sole initiator, provider and completer of the saving act (the sacrifice of Christ).” The saved are saved by the free Favour of God through the gift of Faith given by God. The saved are not saved based on who they are or on anything which they have done. This Gift that God’s people are saved through is clearly NOT of themselves. Saving Faith does not originate within them, nor is it summoned by their ‘free will’. So where does this Faith come from? It is a Gift. A man is only saved by Grace through the Gift of Faith that comes from God. It simply makes no sense to say one is saved by the Grace of God through their own work of faith. “This is because grace is a gift from God, and a work is something that is earned. The two are mutually exclusive; you can’t earn a gift.” No one is saved through the impure faith that is inherent in every man by nature, for that carnal faith invariably insists on the necessity of a man’s efforts at obedience in order to earn his justification and/or to maintain his ‘saved’ state. If you believe, or find yourself favouring the lie, that your obedience plays some part in getting saved or maintaining your ‘salvation,’ you are not born of the Spirit of God. The saved are saved by Grace alone, through the gift of Faith alone, in the Righteousness of Christ alone—and not by any personal acts of obedience. Salvation is by God’s Grace, not your works; salvation is through the gift of Supernatural Faith, not your natural, inherent faith; salvation is by Christ’s Obedience, not yours.
Those saved by Grace have absolutely nothing to boast of in their salvation, and they know it. They cannot and do not boast in their salvation being attained or maintained by anything which they have done, nor can they boast in their believing as if it was something they generated by their free will, as if they produced this Faith which is foreign to every man’s sinful nature. The saved have nothing to boast of in their salvation, so it stands to Biblical reason that there is nothing they could do or did do to get themselves saved. All bases are covered by Grace, Faith and the Obedience of Christ. There is no room for ourselves in a salvation that is by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Obedience of Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is a Grace issue. It is a Gift. It is not something you can earn; nothing you can do to gain or maintain it. Grace is not merely unmerited favour, Grace is UNMERRITABLE FAVOUR! Grace is far more than just unearned favour; Grace is favour that CANNOT be earned! Grace is the free and active intervention of God in a spiritually dead sinner’s life. Without it, everyone would remain spiritually dead. Only the Grace of God provides that which the efforts of men could never earn. Salvation is entirely by Grace because it is entirely by God. By Grace are ye saved through the gift of Faith. Saving Faith is not of you, nor is saving Grace because of you. Now, do you see room in any of these statements or Scripture verses for a man and what he must do before God can save him, before unmerited favour can save? No, of course not. What could a man do to earn that which comes not by merit but by mercy? What can a man do that Jesus Christ has not already done? Jesus said: “NO MAN CAN come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him…” (Jn. 6:44); Jesus also said: “…NO MAN CAN come unto Me, except it were GIVEN unto him of My Father” (Jn. 6:65). The Words of Jesus here clearly express the fact salvation is not of works at all, but only by the Grace of God alone. The Holy Spirit’s emphasis is clearly focussed on the fact that it is not man who comes to Jesus, but the Father Who draws the man to Him; it is not man who comes to Jesus by his own power or free will, for this must be given to a man by God—THAT IS GRACE! “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power…” (Psa. 110:3). “…for faith in Christ is the gift of God, and coming to Him, is owing to efficacious Grace…” If it is not given to a man, if the Father does not draw the man based on the will, mercy and compassion of God, and NOT the will or efforts of man, NONE CAN COME TO HIM! Man can only draw false gods to him, never the True and only God, “…there is none that seeketh after God” (Rom. 3:11). No man can possibly come to the Lord Jesus unless it is given to him of the Father to do so. It is not by your choice, but by His choosing; it is not a result of what proceeds from you, for it is something given to you. It is not man who initiates anything in salvation, HE IS NOT THE GIVER, he is merely the passive recipient. God is the Initiator, and His people only follow Him because they are drawn to Him by Him. Jesus is “…the Author and Finisher of our Faith…” (Heb. 12:1).
The saved are undeserving beneficiaries; they are beneficiaries because God has chosen them, not because they have chosen Him. No one chooses to be a beneficiary of a will; it is only the Benefactor who can and does do the choosing. Salvation is by free Grace, not by free will. The saved are unmerited recipients who have nothing to boast of in anything they have done, for they have done nothing. They are saved by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN SAVED ANY OTHER WAY. They could not have been saved by their inherent faith, for the only connection a man’s natural faith has is to works, never to true Grace—God’s Grace—which always stands alone. When was salvation decided upon, and by whom? The saved are the ones God has predestinated before the foundation of the world to be saved, to be His people. Were the saved predestinated after they did something? Were they saved because it was foreseen that they would react positively to the Grace of God? No! Their ‘positive reaction’ to Grace comes from the very Grace that saves them. Those who believe salvation is based on the good that God foresaw would be done by those He ultimately chose have absolutely no idea whatsoever as to what the word Grace means. Grace categorically rules out works of any kind by anyone as being the basis or grounds for its gifting. The motivation and catalyst for Grace come from the Giver, not the recipient. IT COMES FROM HIS LOVE FOR THEM; NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR LOVE FOR HIM. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). The only qualifying factor to be visited with the Grace of God is God’s love for His chosen. Grace cannot be earned. Grace cannot be lured or influenced by that which it could never be lured or influenced by. Unrighteousness can never attract Grace; Grace only follows where the Love of God leads. This absolutely rules out even the remotest hint of character, conduct, or any redeeming feature in the recipient to whom Grace is given as God’s motive for granting it. SALVATION IS BY FREE FAVOUR THROUGH A GIFT, NOT BY MERIT OR THROUGH ANYTHING INHERENT IN ANY MAN. It comes gratuitously not meritoriously.
Grace means salvation is based on nothing you have done, nothing you do and nothing you refrain from doing. It is not based on anything foreseen you would do, because there is nothing that can be done. The fundamental problem with people who say ‘you must do’ is that they do not believe in salvation by Grace alone. They read Ephesians 2:8,9, and after reading “not of works,” undeterred, they nevertheless immediately begin to argue the fact by insisting that you must do something—that you have a responsibility that must be fulfilled, for salvation cannot do without your action. They make it a point to say that Grace cannot save you unless you do this or that. Grace is God doing; works is you doing. Salvation comes only by God doing. No one is saved by anything they do. This is the very essence of what saved by Grace is: not you, but God alone. There is nothing you can do that can be rewarded by that which is totally free! Grace cannot come as a reward, but only as a gift. It cannot be given based on you, but only based on Him. Works is man dictating to God how He should save; Grace is God declaring to man how He does save. Salvation is of God, it is of the Lord alone, not by you at all. Grace is of God and from God, and it is His choice to give it to whomsoever He has chosen. The fact that salvation necessitates Grace and Mercy should be a red flag to everyone who believes salvation requires their input. “…by Grace are ye saved…not of works…” (Eph. 2:8,9); "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…” (Titus 3:5). “Grace is getting what you do not deserve and mercy is not getting what you do deserve.” Saving Faith does not originate within man; it is a gift from without. Therefore, there is nothing for a man to boast of in his salvation, because his salvation is by Grace alone through the gift of Faith, and nothing else. Now, the Word of God says that God has predestinated His people. When did He do this? After they did anything, or after they complied with a specific command? No! God predestinated His chosen before the foundation of the world, not just before they existed, not only before He made the world, but before He even made the foundation of the world. Predestination is pre-everything. “Predestination is primordial or antecedent to all things.” The salvation of God’s elect was an eternal decree; therefore, no part of it could ever have been conditioned on them. “When something is an eternal decree, it means it was decided and set in place by God before time began. It is not a reaction to anything that happens in the human world. It’s a fundamental part of God’s plan, which is unchanging and absolute. Since this decree is eternal, it cannot be dependent on any human action, decision, or condition. If a person’s salvation were to depend on their own will, their actions, or their faith, it would not be a true decree. Instead, it would be a conditional offer. The foreknowledge of God does not predict what people will do; rather, it’s the foundation of what will be. Because salvation originates in this eternal decree, it is a certainty, not a possibility that a person might or might not accept.” Can you see a place anywhere in the above Scriptures where there is room to include something man had to do before God could save him? Of course not. All this was settled long before God even laid the foundation of the world. God saves His people, not by a favour which is merely unmerited, but by a favour which is wholly unmeritable!
Salvation is not a debt paid, but can only come as a free gift given to all God’s chosen people. IT COMES NOT BECAUSE OF THEM, BUT SOLELY BECAUSE OF HIM! God is not obligated to save any based on their actions. “Salvation is an act of Sovereign Prerogative—a choice made entirely within God’s own will, free from external necessity.” God’s love does not come in response to anyone’s love for Him, for the only reason anyone truly loves the True God is due to the fact that God loved them first. ALL WHOM GOD LOVES WILL LOVE HIM: “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me…” (Jn. 6:37). All that the Father loves will come to the Lord Jesus. It’s the One Who possesses the gift that is the reason behind its being granted and the blessing it conveys. It is the Giver Who does the choosing. The apostle Paul states: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if Righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). In other words if saving Righteousness comes by a man’s obedience to the law, then Christ died in vain. This means that if any part of salvation, justification and election requires a prerequisite act on man’s part before and so that it can be fully performed, then Grace is nullified. There was no need for Christ to come and establish perfect Righteousness if man by his flawed, imperfect obedience could attain to that perfect Righteousness himself. Christ’s Righteousness would not be necessary if a man could be saved by his own obedience; likewise, Grace would not be necessary if that Righteousness could be achieved by works (see Rom. 11:6). The original Greek for the word frustrate, has ‘unplacing’ grace, or ‘repudiating’ grace. This highlights the fact that Righteousness clearly DOES NOT come by a man’s imperfect obedience to the law at all, but only by Christ Jesus the Lord. “And BY HIM all that believe are justified from all things, from which YE COULD NOT be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). You cannot look to works and Grace, for the one nullifies the other. GRACE ONLY PROMOTES WHAT THE SAVIOUR HAS DONE; IT DOES NOT OUTLINE WHAT WE MUST DO. Only the false gospels of men emphasize what a man must do instead of the glorious Biblical Truth that CHRIST ALONE HAS DONE IT ALL! It is salvation by Grace alone through what the Saviour has done that indeed repudiates the entire concept of Justifying Righteousness by obedience to the Law: “For Christ is the end of the law for Righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4 cf. Matt. 5:17; Rom. 3:24,25). If you believe that your obedience contributes in any way, to any degree, concerning any part of your salvation, you have disqualified yourself from making any legitimate appeal to Grace as being the sole means to salvation. If you look to any of your works—anything that you have done—you cannot appeal to God’s Grace at all, for by believing in the necessity of your obedience as an indispensable component of your ‘salvation,’ you have negated and eradicated the value of Christ’s Obedience. You have effectively rejected His Grace, you have rejected the True God and everything He has accomplished in the salvation of His people.
“…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). If it is by God, then it is no longer by you. If it is by Grace, it is not by works. If it is by His Righteousness, then it is not by your obedience! If it is not by your righteousness, then your obedience plays no part in getting you saved or keeping you saved. If salvation is by Grace and works, then God’s Righteousness would require your righteousness to make it complete. God will not, does not and never has shared His glory with any man: “I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images” (Isa. 42:8 cf. 1 Cor. 1:28-31). “…that is, to another god, to a strange god, to an idol; as that has not the nature, it ought not to have the name of deity, nor divine worship given to it: this the Lord will not admit of, but will punish those, be they Heathens, or are called Christians, that give the glory to idols that is due unto His name. This is not to be understood to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, Who are with the Father the one YHWH, and share in the same glory; the Son is the Brightness of His Father's glory, and the Spirit is the Spirit of glory, (see Heb. 1:3; 1 Pet. 4:14) nor will He suffer the glory of the justification, salvation, and conversion of men, to be given to their works, will, and power, which is entirely due to His own Grace, to the Blood and Righteousness of His Son, and to the energy of the Divine Spirit.” Make no mistake: believing in a god that saves you after you have chosen him and keeps you saved based on your obedience is nothing short of believing in an idol—a graven image that lies in the hearts and is nourished by the vain imagination of lost men. Believing in works, one’s own efforts at obedience—in the context of getting saved and/or remaining ‘saved’—is to believe in the vain idol of works and a refutation of Grace alone as the sole means to a man’s salvation. “…if by Grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace…” (Rom. 11:6). IF IT IS NOT BY GRACE ALONE, IT’S NOT BY GRACE AT ALL. It is an absolute rejection of Who God is and of the only Gospel that reveals Him. Works, in the context of obtaining and/or maintaining salvation, are a denial of Grace. Looking to your obedience is a denial of Christ’s Righteousness and reduces Christ’s death to a vain thing. Those who believe that a man can only be saved by the death of the Saviour, but cannot be saved without their own personal participation—their obedience to help support the structure, as it were—have a carnal faith which is built on nothing less than Jesus’ Blood AND THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS! Those who look to their obedience have placed their ultimate hope of salvation in themselves and have bowed the knee to a false god.
Your efforts at obedience—when accompanied by the blasphemous expectation that they will in some way help to ensure your salvation—do not complement God’s Grace at all, but are a repudiation of Grace, a rejection of Grace, a cancellation of Grace, a shaking of the fist at Grace, for they are the very antithesis of salvation by Grace alone and a rebuttal of Christ’s Obedience that alone makes God’s people Justified before Him. Any reliance upon your obedience for salvation is an attack against, and an absolute rejection of God and His only Plan of salvation for His people as exclusively revealed in His Gospel. God alone is the Saviour. A rejection of salvation by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone hurls the accusation of: ‘liar’ at God and His Record of Who His Son is, how He saves and whom He saves. “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. And this is the Record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 Jn. 5: 10-12 cf. 2 Jn. 9). God’s people have no problem with God’s Gospel, it is only those that are not His sheep who find it outrageous and controversial. “…ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins…But ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep…” (Jn. 8:24 & Jn. 10:26). It is comprehensively because of Who God is and by what God alone has done that produces and maintains the salvation of His people. Look to anything or anyone else to any degree, and you do not have the God of the Bible. You are not merely wrong, you are accursed. No man is his own Saviour. The reality is that if the faith you have is not completely and exclusively in God alone—Who He is and what He has done by Grace alone, (exclusively for His chosen people)—it is not the gift of Faith from God and you remain hopelessly dead in your sins. This is why Paul declared: “…if it be of works, then is it no more grace…” (Rom. 11:6 cf. Gal. 1:8,9). If you believe that any part of salvation is because of you, then you cannot Biblically claim to believe any of it is of God. It is either by Grace or works; it is either by God or you. If it is by Grace then not of you; if it is by God then not of you.
If what you believe is that salvation is at least partially based on personal obedience and not on Grace alone, you are not saved. The Gospel is not what you are supposed to believe in order to get saved, salvation does not come because you believe It, for the Gospel of God is precisely what you will believe once the Lord God has given you the Gift of Faith, through which He has saved you by Grace alone. What I am describing for you is what the Gift of Faith, which God gives to all His people, actually believes. “Grace is not grace unless it is altogether freed.” If God is to receive all the glory for salvation, then all of salvation must be of Him: ergo every part of it must all be by Grace. If all the glory for salvation belongs to God alone, then none of it belongs to the individual because of who they are or because of anything they have done. Salvation is not of works; therefore no saved man has anything to boast of (see Eph. 2:8,9). If it is not of works, then it must all be by Grace. IF GOD IS TO RECEIVE ALL THE GLORY FOR SALVATION, THERE MUST BE NO ROOM FOR A MAN TO BOAST IN ANYTHING HE HAS DONE—NO ROOM FOR WORKS AT ALL. The only thing that leaves no room for a man to boast that anything he has done has resulted in or secured his salvation is the GRACE of God in gifting the FAITH of God to believe in the fact that Justifying Righteousness is only of God, which leaves no room for any boasting by man. “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay: but by the law of faith” (Rom. 3:27). If election and/or salvation are in any way dependent on you and what you do, then you have rejected the only True God Who saves by unmerited Grace alone. You have rejected the God Who saves His people by the imputed Righteousness of His Son, not by each individual’s earned righteousness. No sinner can ever earn justifying Righteousness, for it is a Righteousness that can only be established by Perfect Obedience; therefore, it can only be imputed by Grace alone. Believers in a works-based system of salvation and not in Grace alone have rejected the Sovereign God Who chose His people before the foundation of the world (see Eph. 1:4), before they had done any good or evil “(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)—and He calleth by Grace alone.
Salvation is not of man that doeth, but of GOD, by Grace alone. If salvation is not by works, then it must, by necessity, BE ENTIRELY BY GRACE ALONE! If salvation is not by works at all, then it must be that all of salvation is entirely by Grace alone. If you believe that salvation, election or justification are at least partially based on what you do, you have rejected the True and only God Who predestinated His people not to the praise and glory of their works, but exclusively “To the praise of the glory of His GRACE…” (Eph. 1:6). Heaven is not a meritocracy: “…access or reward is not based on one’s personal achievements or good deeds in life, but rather on God’s grace and mercy” (see Rom. 11:35,36).
Grace and works can never be merged or joined, for to believe in one—to have faith in one—is an automatic and complete repudiation, rejection and abandonment of the other. Any fence-sitting in the matter is an abandonment of both. Any attempt to merge the two is a denial of the need for either. If it is by Grace, then it cannot be of works. Likewise, if it is by works, then it cannot be by Grace. Therefore, salvation is either a free, totally Grace-based Gift, or it comes only by what you have done to earn it as a reward. If the latter is true, where does Grace fit in? It simply doesn’t. If the former is true—if salvation is by Grace alone—where do works fit in? They simply don’t. There is no such thing as a free wage or an earned gift. You cannot simultaneously earn a wage and have it gifted to you. Likewise, you cannot have something gifted to you, if you have earned it. “If the money is given as a wage, its only motive is payment for work; if it’s given as a gift, its only motive is complete benevolence, ruling out payment. Payment for merit vs. unmerited generosity) is what creates the absolute division between the two concepts.” There is no place for saving Grace in a works-based salvation, and there is no place for works in a salvation that is, from beginning to final glory, by Grace alone. Those who insist that the works they do are only made possible by the enabling Grace of God can never fit such a concept within the declarative logic of Romans 11:6: “…if by Grace, then is it no more of works…But if it be of works, then is it no more Grace…” Clearly, the apostle Paul taught that it could only be by one or the other; thus it could never be by a combination of the two. Grace and works can form no partnership. If they could, then so too could fire and water, heat and cold, wet and dry. “Grace and works are not just different—they are fundamentally self-cancelling when brought together.” The one does not enhance the other, but quite literally eliminates the other. The cause and the reason for salvation is Almighty God, therefore, there is no place for man in attaining or maintaining salvation by anything he does. The fact that salvation is by Grace alone reveals the stark reality that salvation HAD TO BE by Grace alone—that salvation could come by no other means. This points to the inescapable truth that man is a spiritually dead creature, completely unaware of his condition and the fact he can do nothing to free himself from this dead state; hence, the perpetual belief that he can. “It is the very nature of spiritual death that prevents a person from recognizing they are dead. Because a dead man cannot perceive his own pulse, he imagines he is walking toward God, when in reality, he must be born-again by Grace before he can even take a single step toward Him.” No one realises they were dead until after they have been made alive. “Everyone thinks they are saved, before they are saved, until they are saved.” Salvation is, therefore, clearly nothing a man can earn or contribute to, but is a free gift which is conditioned solely on God and His Grace. A gift can never be earned, likewise, something worked for and earned is something you are rewarded with and can never be correctly termed a gift. Salvation is either a debt paid, or a gift given: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of Grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4); “…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). If by reward, then is it no more of a gift; but if it is by a gift, then is it no more by reward. Clearly, if you believe your obedience is a contributing factor in salvation, Grace is totally excluded from being the reason—in whole or in part—for your ‘reward’. Grace and works are arch nemeses. You are not saved believing in both. If you claim to believe in salvation by Grace alone, then you will not believe it is by any works at all. Likewise, if you believe that salvation is dependent on what you do—even if it is just a single act of obedience, such as choosing to ‘accept Christ’, etc.—you cannot Biblically claim to believe in salvation by Grace alone. For Grace to truly be Grace, it must stand alone and free of anything you have done.
According to the apostle’s reasoning in Romans 11, to believe that salvation is conditioned on both Grace and works is a nonsense—a complete and utter heresy. It is an absurdity to think that two mutually exclusive concepts which are intrinsically and diametrically opposed can actually work hand in hand. There is no degree in astrophysics needed to understand and readily see the fact that if it is by A, then it is by A alone; and so it not only is not by B—IT CANNOT BE BY B AT ALL. Likewise, if it is by B, then it is by B alone; and so not only is it not by A—IT CANNOT BE BY A AT ALL. If it is by Grace, then it is by Grace alone; and so it not only is not by works—IT CANNOT BE BY WORKS AT ALL. Likewise, if it is by works, then it is by works alone; and so not only is it not by Grace—IT CANNOT BE BY GRACE AT ALL. You cannot appeal to or claim you have the saving Grace of God if you insist your obedience is a necessary requirement in establishing and/or maintaining a saving Righteousness. Your obedience in this context is in direct opposition to the biblical teaching that Righteousness is “…by the Obedience of One…” (Rom. 5:19). How can a saved man believe in works—his efforts at obedience to establish an acceptable Righteousness with God, when the Word of God says that it is only “…by the Obedience of ONE shall many be made Righteous” (Rom. 5:19). How can a saved man believe in works—his efforts at obedience to establish an acceptable Righteousness with God—when God says of His people: “…their Righteousness is of ME…” (Isa. 54:17). This Righteousness does not simply come from God—it is God’s very own Righteousness! The Righteousness that saves can only come as a gift; it can only be imputed because it is the Righteousness of Another; therefore, at no stage is it something you can, or need to, earn by your obedience. It is only by the Righteousness of Another because it could only have been established by the Obedience of Another. It is only by the Righteousness of Another because it is by Grace alone.
You cannot earn that which is part of God’s very nature. The Righteousness is God’s; the Obedience is Christ’s = salvation by Grace alone. If you claim your efforts at obedience are necessary to salvation, then you have rejected the Grace of God and the Righteousness of God, for you are seeking to establish a righteousness of your own: “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” (Rom. 10:3). Any pursuit of works as the means. or partial means, to salvation is a vain and blasphemous endeavour. It is not true Christianity, but a Christ-less religion which makes salvation something which you can achieve and not that which only God gives. IF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT JUSTIFIES A MAN BEFORE GOD IS OF GOD, THEN SALVATION IS CLEARLY BY GRACE ALONE AND NOT BY ANY WORKS AT ALL. The highly significant conclusion to all this is that if salvation is actually by works—your efforts at obedience—then it cannot be by Grace, and, as a consequence, justifying Righteousness cannot be God’s Righteousness. In declaring the Righteousness of His people HIS Righteousness, God is saying that the reason—the sole reason I hasten to add—that a man is in right standing with God is wholly because of the Grace of God, and not by ANYTHING the man has done. Otherwise, right standing with God would totally be conditioned on works, and not on Grace at all. Justification is by Christ’s Obedience, not yours. God does not merely give His people a righteousness; HE GIVES THEM HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. It is HIS Righteousness because it was established by God the Son’s Obedience! How could a man ever earn God’s own Righteousness? No one is saved believing the absurd, oxymoronic claim that salvation is by grace through works. That would be like saying, ‘I earned something that was given to me for free, or ‘I was given a gift which I worked hard for.’ A wage is not, nor can it ever be rightly considered a gift, and a gift is not, nor can it ever rightly be termed a wage. You are either saved by Grace alone through the gift of Faith in the Obedience of the Saviour, or lost in works.
It’s either ALL by grace or ALL by works. Looking to your obedience in any way to any degree is a complete rejection of the Obedience of Christ and the Righteousness of God. “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if Righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21 cf. Rom. 10:1-4). Looking to your own obedience is to frustrate the Grace of God; it is simply looking to yourself for salvation. Seeing that Righteousness does not come by the law—not by what we do—it must be that Righteousness comes only by Christ, and if only by Christ, salvation must be by Grace alone. If Righteousness came by the law, then Christ died in vain and Grace would be completely unnecessary. Believing you can attain and/or maintain Justifying Righteousness by your efforts at obeying God’s Law is a declaration that Christ’s death for His people was a waste of time. The word frustrate in Galatians 2 means: “To do away with; to set aside, to disesteem, to neutralize, violate or disregard; to thwart the efficacy of; to nullify, to make void, to render null, to reject, to refuse, to slight; to cast off, despise, disannul, to bring to nought, to displace, to abrogate, abolish, get rid of, and, to act towards anything as though it were annulled, to deprive a law of its force by opinions or acts contrary to it.” To believe that any part of salvation is conditioned on personal obedience is to deprive the Lord Jesus Christ of the glory for what He has done to save His people from their sins. To believe you have done something, met any condition prior to salvation or so that God could then save you, is to completely do away with Grace. YOU CAN NEVER EARN THAT WHICH ONLY COMES FREE OF CHARGE.
Works are contrary to Grace and Grace is diametrically opposed to works. The one cancels out the other, a fact highlighted by the apostle Paul when he wrote, “…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). When you add a lie to a truth, it does not remain the truth, not even a half-truth, but it is transformed into a whole lie. So too, when you add works to Grace, you are not augmenting or complementing Grace; you are completely nullifying Grace. You are stating by your actions that Grace is not enough. If you paint a white wall black, it does not become a black-and-white wall, but a purely black wall. Works are a rebellion against Grace, just as natural, fallen man is in rebellion against God. Seeking works as a means to salvation, only highlights the wretched, hopeless state all men are in by nature. Man is not a neutral creature, but on the contrary is one who is dead to God, and is by nature enmity against Him. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:6,7). Man’s spiritual deadness and corruption reveal his eternal enmity against the true and only God. Believing in salvation by Grace alone—which gives God all the glory for salvation—does not come from that enmity. It is the idea that a man must do, that a man must obey for the purposes of gaining and/or maintaining salvation, that comes straight from the heart of the evil enmity which lies in man’s sinful nature. There can be no enmity against God without a man’s being spiritually dead in sins. The apostle Paul does not say that the carnal mind, man’s natural way of thinking, “…is an enemy, but in the abstract, it is enmity, which heightens and intends the sense: an enemy may be reconciled, as Esau was to Jacob; but enmity cannot be reconciled; as black may be made white, but blackness cannot." “…the carnal mind is enmity against God…” (Rom. 8:7). “The Greek word translated ‘enmity’ is ‘echthra’. It means ‘hostility’. It is translated incorrectly in the NASV and NIV as ‘is hostile’. No, ‘echthra’ is not ‘is hostile’, but rather, ‘hostility’ or ‘enmity’, ‘enemy’, ‘hatred’. The mind of fallen man is not merely hostile to God; it is hostility itself! The carnal mind is hostility against God!” It is irredeemable (see Rom. 8:6,9-11). “The expression here is as forcible as possible. As truly as ‘God is Love’, so truly, essentially, and unalterably is the ‘mind of the flesh’, the liking and disliking of unregenerate man, ‘enmity’, ‘hatred’, ‘personal hostility’, towards the true God and His real claims. Enmity is the opposite of Agape, love. Without regenerating grace, without the power and Spirit of God, unless it is written upon the heart by the finger of God; for carnal men are dead in sin, and so without strength to obey the law; and besides, the carnal mind, and the law of God, are directly contrary one to another. Where is man’s power and free will? no wonder the carnal mind does not bow to the Gospel of Christ, when it is not, and cannot be subject to the law of God. Hence we see the necessity of Almighty power, and efficacious grace in conversion…the Father’s grace in election, the Son’s in redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s in regeneration”
The original Greek speaks of, ‘The disposition of the flesh’ being at enmity against God. Man is naturally disposed “to exercise sinful affections”. “…the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Eccl. 8:11). “…the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart…” (Eccl. 9:3). “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23 cf. Jer. 17:9). Man, by nature, is a disciple of evil. The spiritually infertile, eternally hostile carnal mind of man, which is enmity against God, is a place “Where Biblical logic is the enemy and God’s truth is a menace.” “Romans 8:6,7 teaches that the will follows, or obeys the dominant interest of the mind. If it is the flesh, then death follows; if it is the Spirit, then life and peace follow.” Man is naturally enmity against, he hates the True God, and has nothing but hostility toward Him, so how can any man ever seek and desire the True God whilst in such a state? How can the dead in Adam follow the True God? Lost man, by nature, is exclusively drawn to false gods. How can a man choose God when all men, by nature, have carnal minds that are nothing but enmity against the True God, exposing them as children of His Wrath? Is it any wonder, in light of such Scriptural clarity, the Lord Jesus declared: “No man can come unto Me…” (Jn. 6:44). These are words which speak volumes as to man’s spiritually dead state.
The carnal mind, unlike the regenerated mind is enmity against God: ENMITY AGAINST WHO THE TRUE GOD IS, ENMITY AGAINST HOW THE TRUE GOD SAVES AND ENMITY AGAINST THE FACT THAT THE TRUE GOD ONLY SAVES HIS CHOSEN ONES. The carnal mind can accept many truths about God, but is forever opposed to the Truth of God and therefore the True God Himself. Certain truths about God have been hijacked and applied to the false gods that the carnal mind desires in order to legitimize the worship of them. The dead, carnal mind of man is enmity against the Sovereign God Who saves only by Grace, and is only alive to any god who is not completely Sovereign, and who does not save entirely by Grace. The carnal mind of man is constantly at loggerheads with truth. The mind of lost men, especially lost religious men, is nothing but hostility itself toward the True God; whereas, the regenerated mind has nothing but love and praise for the Sovereign God of truth Who does whatsoever He wills, and Who saves whomsoever He wills by His Grace alone. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh CANNOT please God” (Rom. 8:6-8 cf. 1 Cor. 2:14). Anything and everything done by man prior to salvation cannot please God, so how in the world could God ever save anyone based on their deeds—on what does not please Him? How can the unrighteous do anything that is righteous in order to become Righteous? “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing…” (Jn. 6:63). “…an unregenerate man is nothing else but flesh, and has nothing but flesh, or corrupt nature in him; and who does not know, that no good thing dwells in such persons?” “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh…” (Rom. 8:5). Paul the apostle said: “…I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” (Rom. 7:18 cf. Jn. 2:24,25). By flesh is meant the corrupt nature, the intrinsic sin nature of all men. Such men can obviously do nothing to please God, for their thoughts and ways are only in accord with their sinful nature, and not with the Spirit of truth.
“…to be carnally minded is death…” (Rom. 8:6). To be in such an unregenerate state is to be carnally, or fleshly minded, which is nothing less than the evidence of death. “…the carnal mind is enmity against God…” (Rom. 8:7). Notice the carn mind is not against religion, nor against one’s own concept of ‘God,’ but only against the true God. Nothing that proceeds from the carnal mind is anything less than hostility itself against the only true God, therefore, nothing a man does who is not born again can ever please God. Consequently, this shows beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is nothing a man can do that can ever get him saved, or make up for his sin or find favour with God. There is nothing a man can do that can win him salvation or gain God’s favour. Any favour a man ever finds with God can only come from within God—it can only ever be free and never earned, for “…they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50). Prior to salvation, nothing at all can be done by any man that can please God in any way. In light of this it is patently obvious that salvation comes before, and, therefore, not because of, any good deed, any work done by man. This is called salvation by Grace, and it is self-evident that salvation is exclusively by Grace. What can a spiritually dead man, operating under a carnal mind who walks after the flesh, who can do no good, who is not righteous, who does not seek the only True God and is enmity against God possibly do to please God and gain favour with Him? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The lie of religion that says a man must do, implying that a man can do, that a man should do something to find favour with God is nothing but a prevarication that comes from the very bowels of Satan himself. Those that remain unregenerate—who have not been made alive by the Spirit of God—remain in the flesh, which can profit them absolutely nothing. What man does cannot profit him; only the Holy Spirit regenerating a man, making him alive by Grace alone, will profit a man (see Jn. 6:63 cf. Jn. 3:3-6).
Man’s natural, sinful and lost condition is so anti-God, so filled with a detestation of and animosity toward the true God, that in His summary of such a deplorable creature, the Lord Jesus concluded: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him…” and, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing…” and, “…Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father” (Jn. 6:44,63,65). “…Except a man be born again; he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3); the apostle Peter states: “Being born again…by the Word of God…which by the Gospel is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:23,25); “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50 cf. Jn. 3:6; 1 Pet. 1:23). It does not take an act of obedience, but the miracle of Grace to save a man. The people of God are described by the apostle Paul, as “…the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3 cf. Phil. 3:9). There is nothing— ABSOLUTELY NOTHING—that a man can do that can get him to God, for it is God Who must come to the man, and that, friends, is Grace ALONE. Not the warped idea of Grace that exists only in the minds of the lost, who believe that grace merely brings with it an offer of salvation; not the grace that needs the cooperation of a man’s works, but God’s Grace which alone makes salvation happen according to the will of God. Like oil and water, Grace and works simply will not mix because they are not attracted to each other. “Oil and water do not mix because water is a polar molecule (has positive/negative ends) that bonds strongly with itself, while oil is non-polar (no charge) and cannot form such bonds. Because of this, water molecules repel the oil, and the oil stays separated, often floating on top because it is less dense.” Since salvation is by Grace alone, any attempt to add what a man has done to Grace—any doctrine that teaches salvation is conditioned or partially contingent on what a man does— immediately changes the means to salvation from the Grace of God to the feeble, unacceptable works of man. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9). Any addition of works immediately repels, dissipates and dispels Grace. Grace and works are mutually repulsive. Grace is attracted only to Grace, and works to works. Salvation is attracted, it is drawn to a man, only through the free Will and Sovereign Grace of God. The damned are intuitively attracted to either works, or an equally toxic and grotesque combination of works and grace, as the means to salvation. Even a cursory look at man’s religions will testify to that. Interestingly, when the two are combined, the focus is invariably and primarily always on works. ‘Yes, it’s by Grace, but you must’ simply makes no rational, logical, Biblical sense. ‘Yes, salvation is free, but you have to do this first’ is equally nonsensical. If it’s by God, then it is not by you at all. If salvation is not by Grace alone, then it is not God’s Grace that is being taught at all.
The reason why Grace and works are immiscible, why they will not mix together, is because the force of attraction between the 'molecules', if you will, of Grace, and between the 'molecules' of a man's works is greater than the force of attraction between the two elements, which is zero. In other words, Grace sticks to itself and works stick to themselves and, as with east and west, never the twain shall/can meet. Works are you, Grace is God. Grace is God doing, works are you doing and if salvation comes in any way by your doing, then clearly you have reason to boast in your ‘salvation’. If salvation is by God doing, then you have no room to boast, nor do you have anything to boast of. God is the Saviour so it stands to biblical reason that saved by Grace means saved by God ALONE, and saved by God ALONE means saved by Grace ALONE: “…Salvation is of the Lord….Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: Thy blessing is upon Thy people….by grace ye are saved” (Jon. 2:9; Psa. 3:8; Eph. 2:5). Election and salvation by the gift of Grace—the free favour of God—show that neither is conditioned upon or dependent on works: not on your decision, not on your believing, nor on your obedience or abstinence, but on God by Grace alone. Salvation and Justification are subject only to God’s choice, not yours. Salvation and Justification are by Grace alone through God granting the gift of Faith to His people to believe in the Obedience of Christ and no other’s. The kicker is the fact that everything a man has done prior to salvation is referred to in Scripture as “DEAD works” (Heb. 9:14 cf. Heb. 6:1; Rom 3:10-12), and “DUNG” (Phil. 3:8).
A most revealing exercise is to replace the words ‘grace’ and ‘works’ in Ephesians 2:8,9 with the words ‘God’ and ‘man’: “For by God are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of man, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). Grace and works are not equal means to salvation, nor are they co-contributors or partners. Salvation by Grace means it is all exclusively by what God has done, by HIS work, by HIS will and no one else’s. If a man is made Righteous solely by the Obedience of the Saviour, then salvation must all be by Grace alone. Man is not saved by anything he does, not by what he has chosen, but only by what God has done for those He has chosen. We have shown clearly from the Scriptures that there is nothing a man can do to please the True God, Whom he cannot, by nature, know, seek or even desire. Therefore, salvation simply cannot come by anything other than what God and His Grace alone can do. Salvation comes from God, and it is only by means of what He has done—which the Word of God calls GRACE—through the gift of Faith which trusts completely in Him, that a man is saved and remains saved. Believing that works of obedience are a condition for salvation, but that one can only perform them by Grace—in other words, ‘by works are ye saved through grace’—is like trying to connect two magnets of the same polarity. All that will happen is the closer the magnet of works comes to the magnet of grace, the further away grace will be pushed until it falls completely off the table. Grace and works can never work together, for they can never be joined, just like our magnets: they can never become as one; they can never become two parts of the same unit. God saving by enabling one to do that which then triggers salvation, is saying that God’s Grace alone does not save, that it in fact cannot save unless a man ‘plays his part’. This implies that God’s hands are tied unless and until a man unties them by setting the wheels of salvation in motion by some act of obedience. “This paints a picture of a paralysed deity who is dependent on a spiritually dead creature to act first.” This is known as ‘prevenient grace,’ which requires a man’s cooperation before it can allegedly save. If Grace needed something other than the will of God to save, it would not be saving Grace. If salvation by Grace is only possible after a condition is met which only your personal obedience can fulfil, then the entire concept of salvation by Grace through the gift of Faith in the Blood and Righteousness of the Saviour collapses. Grace is the free favour of God. Grace is undeserved; therefore, it can only be according to the Will of God, not yours. You cannot choose the gift-giver to give you a gift. It is the gift-giver who does all the choosing. There is nothing you can do to deserve that which is free. Any time you add a work to Grace, you are saying what God has done is not enough, and that part of the glory for salvation belongs to you. The faith that insists on this is not the gift God gives to His people.
No work on man's part could ever Scripturally align with salvation by Grace, for it would always detract from the work that saving Grace does. “‘Prevenient Grace’ is a term that was used in the Remonstrance, a seventeenth-century document formulated by Jacobus Arminius and others, to protest the Calvinistic soteriology of the Reformers. The term itself simply means ‘grace that comes before’; but the Remonstrance cast it in terms of the grace of God given to all mankind without exception, which enables all men to respond to God’s invitation and believe in the Gospel. Whether or not anyone in particular does believe in the Gospel, then, is conditioned upon whether the individual chooses to improve upon the grace which has been given indiscriminately to all. Prevenient grace, therefore, is not irresistible for the elect; it is merely persuasive and enabling, but may freely be accepted or rejected by the arbitrary choice of its subjects. However, the doctrine of prevenient grace, as it is explained in Arminian theology, finds no support from Scripture. It is true, of course, that the regenerating grace of God must come before faith, and so in that sense it is prevenient; however, this Biblical prevenient grace goes far beyond the Arminian conception; when God grants His quickening grace to unbelievers, it does not merely give them the option to be alive – it makes them alive (see Eph. 2:1-5; Ezek. 37:3-6,11-14; Jn. 1:11-13; 3:3-8; 5:21; Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 Jn. 5:1); it does not merely grant them the ability to come – it irresistibly draws them all without exception (see Jn. 6:37-40,45; Psa. 65:4; Rom. 9:15); it does not merely make them able to choose good if they improve upon it – it causes them to walk in God’s statutes (see Deut. 30:6; Ezek. 11:19,20; 36:26,27; Jer. 31:33; 32:40). Against the Arminian doctrine of prevenient grace, the Bible teaches that there are only two classes of people: those whom the Father has chosen and given to the Son, all of whom without exception will come to Him (see Jn. 6:37-40,45); and those whom the Father has not given to the Son, who are not of His sheep, and who therefore cannot believe (see Jn. 6:65; 10:26; 12:37-41). There is no room for a third class of people who have been given God’s drawing grace but who do not improve upon it. Furthermore, the doctrine of prevenient grace is specifically argued against by the apostle in 1 Cor. 4:7, which asks rhetorically, ‘Who maketh thee to differ?’ Prevenient grace says that we make ourselves to differ from our unsaved neighbors, by choosing to improve upon the grace that God gave to us all without exception; hence, it is in manifest contradiction to this passage.” “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?...Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?” (1 Cor. 4:7 & Rom. 11:35).
If salvation could be attained by works, then there would be no need for Grace. Likewise, if salvation is by Grace, it would rule out any need for works. Grace, being undeserved favour, means there is nothing you can do that is deserving of it, and there is nothing you need to do, for Grace does it all. Man does not comply with Grace, for it is Grace that makes a spiritually dead man alive. Lazarus did not comply with Jesus’ ‘request’ to come forth. He was commanded to come forth, and so could do nothing but come forth, not in response to the command, but as a direct result of the command. It was Jesus’ will that made Lazarus come forth. “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 exit from the tomb was initiated by the will of God and accomplished by the will of God.
If any part of salvation is deserved because of something you have done, it would immediately rule out the possibility that it could come completely by a free favour—by that which could never be attained by what you do. Either salvation comes by Grace alone or by works alone; it can never come by a combination of both. Grace and works indeed make for the strangest bedfellows, for they are never in agreement. There can never be a union between Grace and works, for they represent two fundamentally different and antithetical concepts. One comes from God, the other from the sinful nature of mankind. Attempting to wed Grace and works would not merely constitute an invalid marriage, but a marriage that can simply never be. It would be like a living person marrying a dead one. How can salvation, which is totally unmerited, simultaneously be that which must be earned? If you must do something before you can be saved, then salvation is by a man’s earning power, and not by Grace alone. It would be you who makes yourself to differ from the lost, and not God alone. The reality is that the Grace of God needs no assistance from you to save you or keep you saved. The very fact that Grace is necessary at all is the dead giveaway that imperfect works of obedience from spiritually dead creatures can never save anyone. The same is true in regards to Mercy. No one who can do something that can attract God’s favour requires God’s Mercy. Both Grace and Mercy are for the hopeless and the guilty. Grace is not a request nor is it an offer; it is a command and salvation ALWAYS follows. Grace must work alone for it to be Grace. If it is free it is not earned, and if it is earned it cannot be free. Earned means something was done. Free means nothing was done, and in the case of salvation, nothing could ever have been done. Grace works alone only in a salvation that is totally “without works” (see Rom. 4:1-6). The moment you attempt to attach conditions that you must meet before Grace can become operative in your life, you immediately do away with any need for it. The madness of the utter illogicity of, ‘I must do something before that which cannot be earned is freely given to me’, is plain for all to see. “…by grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8), means it is Grace that does the saving. Grace does not merely make salvation possible, IT MAKES SALVATION HAPPEN! “And 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). You can’t have both.
Works dissipate grace, and grace completely banishes the need for any works. They are like the solvent and the solute. “This highlights the fact that true salvation, which is entirely by grace, cannot coexist with the notion that it can be earned or augmented by human effort (works). Grace, like a pure solvent, should remain untainted, to preserve its essence. Grace cannot be mixed with works; if it is diluted by human effort, it ceases to be Grace” Grace is complete; it is something God has done, so to add anything to it would be completely unnecessary as trying to add a fifth wheel to a car, or an extra page to an already completed and published book. The Christian is “…complete in Him…” (Col. 2:10), alone because he is complete by Grace alone. A man who was dead in sins, who has been made alive by the Spirit of God, who has had his sins washed away and abolished by the Blood of Christ, who has had the very Righteousness of God imputed to him, stands Righteous before the Holy God through no means of his own, but solely, wholly and entirely by the Grace of God. The Righteousness that justifies a man is a gift; therefore, it is and can only be conditioned on Grace ALONE. Lost folk who believe that they must perform some work, or works, of obedience to ensure their salvation stand ignorant of the Obedience of Christ and the Righteousness He has established for the justification of all His people. “…they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of Righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17 cf. Rom. 5:19; Phil. 3:9). Those who reign in life do so only by Jesus Christ through the gift of Righteousness given to them by Grace alone. The saved man believes all this—not through his inherent faith—but through the Gift of Faith that can only come by Grace alone from God. Grace accepts no assistance and is in itself a monument of refutation of the very need for any assistance whatsoever—of even the possibility that anything could assist it—and stands as a literal and eternal confutation of works, for salvation by Grace can only come by that which is undeserved. “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved…” (Acts 15:11). The very notion of ‘grace and’ is pure evil. Salvation is by Grace alone, not by works at all. For the many who have trouble understanding that salvation by Grace can include no works of man in order to perform its work of salvation, perhaps the word Mercy will help dispel any notion of any need for the efforts of man to gain or maintain salvation: “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16 cf. Titus 3:5). Neither election, salvation nor justification require, or are the result of, a man’s will or efforts, but purely by the Mercy of God. Salvation by Grace alone is a declaration that shows it could never come because of works; because of anything done by the one to whom it is given. Salvation by Grace alone is a testament to the Righteousness of Christ, not the obedience of man.
The Grace of the True God needs no assistance from man to save anyone. No catalytic act by man is required to bring on salvation, to trigger Grace, to bring it into effect, for it is the Will and Grace of Almighty God that makes salvation happen. Salvation does not need to be, nor can it be, seeded by the ‘good works or will of man,’ but only rains upon a person by the Will and Grace of God. It is all by Grace, and therefore, no part of it can be by works. Works are not required when Grace is given. If Grace is needed, then nothing else will suffice. GRACE ALONE IS THE ANSWER, NOT MERELY PART OF THE SOLUTION. Grace is, and can only be, freely given; therefore, it can never be that which is earnable. Free and undeserved Grace can never be contingent upon any preceding action or condition, for Grace is exclusively according to the will of God and is thereby eternally determined and connected to His purpose. GOD’S GRACE IS NOT CONDITIONED ON YOUR WORKS. Its motivation and inspiration are eternal and, therefore, come solely from God. God's Grace is necessary because no man has any works that can justify him before the Holy God. “Grace is not a response to a stimulus (works), but a Sovereign act.” God’s elect are predestinated by Grace, saved by Grace, kept by Grace (see Eph. 1:4-6; Eph. 2:8,9; 1 Pet. 1:5). Salvation is by Mercy, not merit; salvation is by Grace, not goodness. The fact that one can only be saved by Grace reveals the awesome truth that all of salvation is by Grace ALONE, that it could only ever have been by Grace ALONE, which in turn reveals that salvation is something that cannot be earned, and, therefore, what can never be deserved. Salvation is not according to works, but to Grace alone. If salvation cannot be earned—if it can never be because of anything you do—what other source could it possibly have than the Grace of God alone? If salvation cannot be earned, it must be by God alone and not by the individual or anything that proceeds from the individual. This is not rocket science. The minute you add anything to Grace, you destroy Grace. You do away with the very need for Grace. “Grace is something that is chemically pure. Any foreign object (human effort) doesn’t just dilute the subject; it changes the subject into something else entirely (Legalism)." Saved by Grace is a declarative statement that no one can be saved by anything else. “Saved by grace isn’t just a suggestion or a hope, but an objective fact that defines the boundaries of the subject. Grace is not merely part of the territory, it is the territory. If you are in a territory, every step you take is supported by that land. This means that from the first moment of salvation to the final keeping of the soul, the believer never leaves the domain of grace. You aren't supplementing the land with your own dirt; you are simply existing within the boundaries God has already established.” If salvation is by works, or if you believe salvation is by Grace conditioned on something you must do, then it cannot be, and you are not saved, by Grace. Works—any works—immediately dispel the entire Scriptural concept of and need for salvation by Grace alone, which in turn clearly highlights the fact that salvation can only be by Grace alone, or by works alone (see Rom. 11:6). Combining the two is heretical. Moreover, to say salvation is by any other means than by Grace alone is an abomination, for it obligates God to share His glory for salvation with man. “The exclusive nature of God’s glory fundamentally proves that salvation is a sovereign gift of Grace, not an effect of human effort. Were salvation contingent on any obedient act, prayer, or merit of man, then man would rightfully claim a share of the glory for his own redemption. However, the Lord clearly declares, ‘I am the LORD: that is My name: and My glory I will not give to another…’ (Isa. 42:8). Therefore, to secure the entirety of the glory for Himself, God must save solely by His unmerited Grace through Christ, thereby eliminating all boasting and making salvation a perfect display of His will and power alone.”
Grace stands alone, or it does not stand at all. Picture Grace as an object perfectly balanced on a pinhead. Add anything to it and it immediately comes crashing to the ground. “This illustrates the unconditional and exclusive nature of Grace. Adding any human work or condition to it—even the smallest thing—immediately destroys the perfect, unearned balance provided by God’s unilateral action. This underscores the point that in salvation, there is no mixing of human effort and Divine favour; it is either entirely Grace or entirely works.” The Scriptures do not say: ‘For by works are ye saved through inherent faith that is of yourselves not a gift from God: Not of Grace lest God should boast.’ The Word of God clearly states: “And 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). Works, as a necessary element to salvation—getting saved and/or remaining saved—is an utter rebuttal of the very need for Grace, and consequently reveals the hopeless, unbelieving state of spiritually dead sinners. Anything that opposes Grace is anti-God and pro-man. Grace and works are thoroughly incompatible when it comes to salvation, for they share no common ground. To believe in the validity of a man’s personal obedience to gain him the Righteousness necessary to save him is to discount the very need for Grace in the salvation of a man. Indeed, it is to discount the Person and Work of Jesus Christ the Lord, Who saves His people only by His Obedience, which makes them stand Justified in the Presence of God. Once you add something you must do before you can be saved, or something you must do to remain saved, you simply do away with Grace and declare Christ’s obedience and death to have been in vain, unnecessary. Those who say that they are saved by grace, but remain saved by their works, or a combination of grace and works, indeed make the outrageous claim that they are made perfect by the flesh (see Gal. 3:3). The moment you add anything to anything you immediately change it. “…the act of adding something to a system, object, or concept alters its state or characteristics in some way. This can be interpreted in various contexts, such as physically, mathematically, or conceptually…In summary, adding anything to anything emphasizes that addition is not a neutral action—it inherently modifies whatever is being added to, resulting in a new state that is different from the original.” How perfectly this explanation logically fits Paul’s argument: “…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). Salvation by Grace is non-negotiable. “…by Grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2:5), therefore, none can be saved by any works at all. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9).
If justifying Righteousness comes by Christ’s Obedience alone (see Rom. 5:19), then salvation can be by no other means than Grace alone. If it is by nothing you have done, but only by that which He has done—if Righteousness comes only by HIS Obedience—then Grace is the obvious and only means anyone can be saved by. The Righteousness that saves is credited to all God’s chosen; it is not chosen by them nor is it earned by them. How can the Righteousness earned by Another “be something that one has worked for?” Why would you even entertain the concept of working to attain that which has already been attained by the only One Who could attain it? How can you earn that which can only be given based on nothing you have done? You cannot earn what Christ alone has earned; thus it can only be given to you as a gift. If Christ has earned it for you, you can only be given it by Grace. If Christ did not have to earn the Righteousness for His people, then not only would it mean they could have earned it, but that they also could have blotted out their own sins. Imputation is a two-way street. If Christ’s Righteousness is not necessary for the justification of His people, then neither is His Sacrifice necessary for washing away the sins of His people. Just as no man can do anything to eradicate his sins—or forgive his own sins on behalf of God—much less change or alter the unalterable fact that he is a sinner, so too, no man can perfectly obey the law of God and present himself faultless before Him (see Jd. 1:24). As you cannot forgive your own sin, you cannot earn Another’s Righteousness. Salvation is clearly by no one else’s obedience but Christ’s; therefore, salvation cannot possibly hinge upon anything a man must do; hence, “…by grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8). The Righteousness of Christ does not come because of anything a man does; it comes only because of what Christ has done. Only the Righteousness of Christ saves His people from their sins because He is the One Who has abolished them by nailing them to His cross (see Col. 2:14 cf. Heb. 9:26). Grace invalidates any need for any works whatsoever in the context of gaining or maintaining salvation. The same is the case with mercy. Scripture says that a man is saved by the mercy of God, not by the works of man: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…” (Titus 3:5). Mercy is only necessary in the absence of meritability. “Mercy, by its very definition, is extended to those who do not deserve a positive outcome…Therefore, mercy is only needed when merit is absent.” The clarity with which the Scriptures speak in showing salvation is by Grace and Mercy and not by any deeds of man, attests to the inescapable and irrefutable conclusion that any who believe that salvation cannot be gained or maintained without personal obedience are spiritually dead.
If it is not by our righteousness, then it must only be by His Righteousness, which could only ever be imputed by Grace alone. Salvation is by nothing done by us, but is all of God, all by what HE ALONE has done by Grace. The juxtaposition is clear for all to see. The fact that humankind must have mercy to be saved reveals the undeniable: man is intrinsically irredeemable by anything he does. “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8 cf. Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:10-12, 20; 9:16; Eph. 2:8,9; Titus 3:5). God saves His people by what He does, not by what they do. What can a man do to save himself, or make himself saveable? Jesus says: “…With men it is IMPOSSIBLE, BUT NOT WITH GOD…” (Mk. 10:27). “For by Grace are ye saved…Not of works…” (Eph. 2:8,9). Ye are NOT saved by works at all, but ONLY by Grace. Mercy is the last resort of a guilty man who knows he can do nothing to extricate himself from any situation. Mercy is the only hope for the guilty. When mercy is required, there can be no possible reward for anything done, for the need for mercy is a proclamation that nothing can be done! To claim that any part of salvation is reliant upon what you do, yet cry out for mercy, is perfectly ridiculous. The call for, and the acceptance of, the necessity for mercy is an admission that one cannot do what mercy alone can. This notwithstanding, lost man is so steeped in sin and sinfulness that if he does ask for mercy, he cannot but think his asking is a meritorious act that will in some way be rewarded. This directly conflicts with the Scripture: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…” (Titus 3:5). As with Grace, Mercy does not come because of us, but because of Him. Because no man can possibly be saved by what he does, whether before, or after, he is saved; thus, all require the Mercy of God. If anything a man did were a valid path to salvation, or were the cause of his remaining saved, then mercy would not be required. If mercy came because of our asking. it would be in response to a work of righteousness, i.e., our asking. Mercy comes by nothing that the saved man has done. Righteousness comes by mercy, not merit. Salvation is not by any work of righteousness that we have done, but purely by mercy: that which God has done. Salvation is “Not by works of righteousness which we have done…” for “…all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…” (Titus 3:5 & Isa. 64:6). That a man’s asking for mercy is initiated by his love for God runs contrary to the truth that any man’s love for the True and only God is always and only “…because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19), not everyone without exception, but only His people. Moreover, by nature, a man never asks the True God for mercy, for he does not know Him, and his carnal mind is enmity against Him (see Lk. 18:10-14). As with grace, mercy does not come as a reward, or after any alleged condition has been fulfilled by a man, for such a concept runs contrary to the very need for mercy. Mercy is a gift that comes only according to the will of the One Who provides it, and God provides it not in conjunction with anything that must be done, or after anything has been done by anyone else, but only by Himself alone, by His predetermined will. Mercy does not come because of merit, but only in the complete absence of merit.
Those who believe they must do before receiving Grace literally have no idea what the Grace of God is. They have been presented with a false grace that requires a man’s cooperation, without which it can do nothing. True Grace is by free favour, it cannot be earned, only Sovereignly given. True Grace is given to all God’s people chosen by Him before the foundation of the world. The Grace of the True God is not for people who ‘choose god,’ but for those whom God has chosen. Grace is completely unmerited; therefore, it can only ever be granted. Sinful man could and would never choose salvation by Grace alone, as evidenced by the blindness of all lost people to the Gospel of Grace and their inherent faith in their ability to be saved by their obedience. Salvation is free because of Grace, not earned because of works. No one can perform a deserving act that will prompt the Grace of God to save them, because the sole impetus for Grace is the will, love and mercy of God, whereby He chose His people before the foundation of the world to the glory of His Grace (see Eph. 1:4-6). If the impetus for Grace was anything done by the individual, it would be a reward, and salvation would be an obligation on God’s part, and not a gift according to His free will. “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16). Grace is a gift, and a gift BY DEFINITION is that which cannot be earned, and what the giver is under no obligation to provide, except in accordance with his will and purpose. To merit grace is such an oxymoronic and nonsensical concept. To merit grace is like saying that which you have worked for is a gift and not a wage. A gift is what you get before/without you having done a single thing to earn it. If a person has been given something because they have performed any act, or work, then that something is not a gift, but a wage. If a ‘gift’ is given to you because of who you are, it isn’t really a gift, but something you have been rewarded with based on your relationship to the gift-giver. “When a gift is contingent on who you are—such as your achievements, status, or relationship to the giver—it suggests that the motivation behind the gift is tied to your identity rather than purely an act of generosity. For example, if someone gives you a gift because you are their friend, or they believe you deserve it for your accomplishments, then the act is influenced by your relationship to them. When a ‘gift’ is given based on your relationship or identity, it can be seen more as a reward or recognition rather than a pure gift. If the giving is tied to who you are or your relationship with the giver, it shifts the act from being purely generous to being more transactional or based on merit.” No matter how much it may be considered a gift, it is nothing but a wage if it is in any way based on who you are or what you have done. Something earned is not because of Grace, but because of works. Something truly given is not because of works, but because of Grace. Something earned is not a gift. Likewise, a gift is something given, it is not something that can be earned. A wage is not something given, but something that must be earned. Spiritual blindness is readily apparent in those who say you must do before, or so that, you can be saved by Grace. The spiritually blind immediately agree that something worked for is a wage and not a gift; however, the blindness factor is evidenced in that they cannot see that a free gift is something that requires absolutely no prerequisite act. A true gift is not a reciprocal act, but an act that is free and independent of anything and everything outside the giver. The gift of Life to the spiritually dead can hardly be considered a reward. If salvation were by any works, then it would be something given because of a man’s love for God and not by God loving the man first, which in itself proves salvation is by Grace alone. God loves His chosen people because of His will and purpose not as a result of anything they are or have done. Yes, God chose His people because He chose to love them, but His love for them is not based on anything outside of Him. “God’s love for His people is not simply a feeling, but a deliberate and purposeful expression of His Character and Plan.”
The Word of God says that it is by Grace ye are saved, and so, it cannot logically be of works. It cannot be because of who you are or what you have done. Since the Word of God says there is nothing else by which one is saved apart from Grace, how does anyone fall for the lie that works are also necessary? Incorporated into the fact one is only saved by Grace is the gift of Faith given to believe the Gospel of salvation, which stands on the ground of Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness. Only the spiritually dead could ever fall for the lie that salvation is by grace and anything else. Salvation is by Grace, and if by Grace, then by Grace alone. Salvation is by Grace, therefore, it can only be because of Who God is and by what God alone has done. Try adding anything to Grace, and you are immediately conflicted. Grace is a gift, not a reward; therefore, Grace always comes before any work is done, just as a true gift is always given before anything meritorious is done to deserve it. Grace always comes first. Moreover, in the matter of election/salvation/justification, Grace comes not only before any work is done, but due to the fact that NO WORK COULD EVER BE DONE to merit either one. A person may be your friend and may benefit you in many ways. If this is what lies behind your decision to do something for them or provide them with some service or item, it is not a gift you have given them but a show of appreciation of who they are or for what they have done. The saved person has done nothing to earn his salvation, nor was their election based on who he was, or anything foreseen he would do. This is why ALL of salvation is to the glory of God ALONE. Grace has done it all = God gets all the glory for salvation. To say God gets all the glory for election, and justification but not salvation is a self-defeating statement. “You cannot mathematically or logically give all the glory to God if the final outcome depends on a human variable.” Salvation, and everything that was necessary to accomplish it, comes as a 100% gift to all those whom God chose, just as their being elected unto salvation was totally based on the will, purpose and grace of God. “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16). No human variable could ever be a part of something which is wholly of Mercy or Grace. “Adding a human variable doesn’t help Grace; it destroys it. If mercy is shown based on a person’s willing or running, it ceases to be mercy and becomes recognition. For mercy to be wholly mercy, it must originate entirely within the Giver, independent of any quality in the receiver.” The fact that it is of Divine mercy, and not by human will or effort, means not only must mercy be independent of any quality in the receiver, but reveals the unavoidable truth that it is entirely because of the absence of any quality in the receiver. “If the willing and running are excluded, then all the glory for the result must also be excluded from the human and reserved entirely for God.”
If it is a 100% gift, there can be no percentage of works involved; therefore, it is 100% by Grace. This is logically reinforced by the fact that ALL the glory for salvation belongs solely to God. God’s people have been chosen unto salvation before the foundation of the world. That is Grace alone. The person to whom the gift is given may well do good and kind things in return, BUT NO ENSUING SHOW OF APPRECIATION HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH EARNING THE GIFT THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN. The “…good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10), only follow the act of salvation by Grace alone; they are never part of the cause of, or reason for, salvation or its perpetuity. The chosen of God are not saved because they have obeyed, but they obey because they are saved. The love-motivated acts of election, salvation and justification all precede any act of obedience on the part of the saved (see Rom. 9:11). The saved obey because God loved them first. There is nothing to work for to be saved or in order to maintain one’s salvation, once a person is saved by Grace alone. It has all been done; it is all finished. Salvation is a gift, it comes only because of God, not because of you! Grace is a gift, it comes only because of God, not because of you! Faith is a gift, it comes only because of God, not because of you! Righteousness is a gift, it comes only because of God, not because of you! Get it? Yes, these gifts are given to God’s people, because He chose them to be His people, but the fact they were chosen to be God’s people is entirely the result of His choosing them based on His Grace and free will to love them and save them. God’s choosing them had nothing to do with them other than the fact He loved them and saves them according to His will and purpose (see Eph. 1:4,5; Deut. 7:7,8; Jer. 31:3). Because God’s love for His people is everlasting—without beginning or end—it is dimensionless. “As love is dimensionless, you cannot have more or less of it. It is not a commodity that God distributes in portions based on human variables. It is a constant, infinite whole.” God loving His chosen with an everlasting love is part of Who He is. “It is an intrinsic part of His eternal nature” (see Jer. 31:3; 1 Jn. 4:8). God chose His people to be saved because He loves them with a love eternal. “If love is intrinsic (part of God’s nature), then it cannot be contingent (dependent on you).” Election and salvation are gifts by Grace alone; therefore, they are entirely because of the gift-Giver and Who He is, not because of the recipients and who they are.
“God gives the gift of grace unto salvation to His chosen people. Scripture consistently portrays God as the Initiator of salvation. He doesn’t wait for people to become worthy or to choose Him first; rather, He Sovereignly sets His love and favour upon certain individuals. This choosing, or election, is presented as being entirely God’s decision, rooted in His own good pleasure and will as seen in Ephesians 1 and Romans 9. However, this choice is not because of any pre-existing relationship or inherent quality in those chosen. The verses we examined emphasize that God's choice is ‘not of works’ (Rom. 9:11) and ‘not according to our works’ (2 Tim. 1:9). This means God didn't look down the corridors of time and choose people because He saw they would eventually believe or do good things. His choice precedes any action or characteristic of the individual. So, how can grace be seen as a gift if it’s given to those He has chosen? The key is understanding the nature of God’s choice and the nature of grace: God’s Choice is Sovereign and Unconditional: His choosing is not based on anything in the person but solely on His own will and purpose. There’s no prerequisite that humans (can) fulfil to be chosen. Grace is Undeserved Favor: Grace, by definition, is unmerited favour. It’s something His chosen don’t earn, deserve, or can work for. If God were giving salvation based on something He foresaw His chosen would do or become, it wouldn’t be pure grace; it would be a reward, at least in part. Therefore, God’s choice precedes the giving of grace. He doesn’t choose us because of a relationship we had or would have independently of His action. Instead, He chooses us in order that He might bestow His grace upon us and bring us into a relationship with Him through salvation. Think of it this way: God, according to His Sovereign will and good pleasure, chooses certain individuals (election). This choice is not based on anything in them. God then extends His grace to these chosen individuals. This grace is the unmerited favor that brings about their salvation – it includes the drawing of the Holy Spirit, the gift of faith, forgiveness of sins, and the imputation of Christ's Righteousness. Through this grace, they enter into a relationship with God. The relationship is a result of God’s prior choice and the application of His grace, not the cause of His choice. In essence, God’s choice is the foundation upon which the gift of grace is bestowed. The fact that He chose His people, despite their utterly lost and helpless state (as highlighted in Ephesians 2:5,12), underscores the radical and freely given nature of His grace. It’s a gift because His chosen did nothing to earn or deserve either the choice or the subsequent grace that leads to salvation and a relationship with Him. The relationship is a consequence of His gracious initiative, not a condition for it.”
Those who claim that God saves His people by Grace because He chose them, fail to realise that God’s choosing His people before the foundation of the world was in itself purely an act of Grace according to the good pleasure of God’s Sovereign will: “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, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:4-6). God does not save His people because He chose them—He chose them to be saved: “…God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation…” (2 Thess. 2:13). “The choice is the cause that determines the effect.” Choice is a one-sided concept. If you are chosen, you cannot say that you were the chooser. The one chosen is never the one who chose. God chose His people; therefore, not one of them choose Him. Nothing predates God’s choosing except God’s love. The question of who chose whom was settled before the foundation of the world: “…He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (Eph. 1:4). “This predates human existence, human action, and human will. Therefore, the effect (your salvation) cannot be the cause of the choice, because the choice existed before you did. Because the choice occurs in Eternity Past, it is logically impossible for a Temporal (time-bound) human decision to be the cause.” Election, justification and salvation were and are never based on who God’s people were and are, but solely contingent upon Who God is. It is not because of them; it is because of Him. And because it is all of Him, they are now who they are all because of Grace and nothing else. IT IS ALL BY THE FREE AND UNDESERVED FAVOUR OF THE ALMIGHTY AND SOVEREIGN GOD.
Nothing in eternal salvation is because of anything other than Grace. THERE IS NOTHING THAT COULD MAKE SALVATION ETERNAL APART FROM THE GRACE WHICH COMES FROM GOD’S EVERLASTING LOVE. God’s Love and Grace are umbilically connected and the result is eternal salvation. When you have a Love that is everlasting and a Salvation that is eternal, the Grace that saves is undefeatable. You cannot have an everlasting Love producing a Grace that is subject to anything outside of that Love. Likewise, you cannot have an eternal salvation if Grace were not also everlasting. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38,39). “If nothing can separate God’s chosen from Love, and Salvation is a product of that Love through Grace, then Grace is insulated from all external interference.” It is God’s everlasting Love that feeds His Grace which makes salvation eternal (see Rom. 5:20,21; Eph. 2:4,5). The very nature of salvation can be no less than eternal when viewed in the light which God’s everlasting Love and Grace provide. The Christian is “…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). “Without the love, the grace would have no impetus; without the grace, the love would have no mechanism for redemption.” “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3). Jesus said: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him…” (Jn. 6:44). No man can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him with His everlasting love. ‘Everlasting’ means it has always been and always will be. God’s lovingkindness is continuous and perpetual; it has no beginning and no end. It is an expression of His inviolable, unbreakable and irresistible eternal commitment to His chosen people. They are chosen from everlasting and will be His to everlasting (see Psa. 103:17). Since God’s love is everlasting, it must be unchangeable and irresistible; therefore, nothing can affect it in any positive or negative sense. Nothing can influence it, and it cannot be earned; therefore, God’s love cannot be chosen—it can only be passively received because of Grace, not actively chosen by human will. “The everlasting nature of God’s love ensures that the drawing is effective and the salvation is eternal (see Jn. 6:37).” You cannot separate God’s Love from God’s Grace, for both are inexorably, uniquely and eternally attached to God’s Will. They are two sides of the same coin, and so you cannot have one without the other. Importantly, their origin is God’s will, not man’s will. God loves the ones He saves by Grace, and He only saves by Grace alone those whom He loves. “Grace cannot be properly viewed as a temporary response to human behaviour, but must be viewed as an extension of God’s unchanging and eternal nature.” The fact that Grace is an extension of God’s eternal, therefore, unchanging nature (see Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8), rather than a response to human behaviour, “removes the possibility of human merit playing any role in salvation. If grace were a response, it would be contingent on the person; because it is an extension of God’s nature, it is contingent only on Him.” In light of these enormously powerful and distinct Scriptures, the utterly flawed concept of a man choosing God is completely obliterated. “Because the love is everlasting, the drawing (grace) is effective, and the salvation is truly eternal. Without an eternal source, there can be no eternal security.” The source is never internal, but ETERNAL. “…Salvation is of the LORD…Salvation belongeth unto the LORD…” (Jon. 2:9 & Psa. 3:8). The eternality of salvation is assured because God’s everlasting Love and Grace have provided a Saviour Who has eternally redeemed His people from their sins and sinfulness (see Heb. 9:11,12). Needless to say, eternal salvation is immutable. Those who know not the True Grace and the everlasting love of the True God know nothing of eternal salvation; and so, they are imprisoned by the bars of fear that have them trapped in a mindset that is convinced salvation can be lost unless an unknown and unspecified level of obedience is consistently maintained.
What is also inexorable and, therefore, undeniable is the enormously significant and irrefutable connection between God’s giving and God’s loving. Neither is sporadic or universal; but concentrated and laser-focused on God’s chosen people. 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). 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). Exactly who these people are is explained in the following verse: “For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare Thy name unto My brethren, in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto Thee. And again, I will put my trust in Him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given Me” (Heb. 2:11-13). For any to be Christ’s brethren, they must first be His Father’s children. “Christ’s ‘brethren’ are identified by their shared relationship with God the Father. One becomes a brother to Christ by being born of or adopted by the Father (see Eph.1:4,5).” “Jesus saith unto her...go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (Jn. 20:17). “Christ explicitly links their status as ‘brethren’ to the fact that His Father is also their Father.” Key to this is the fact that Christ did not pray for all without exception, He prayed not for the world, He prayed for none that were not His Father’s children given to Him, but for those whom the Father had chosen out of the world adopting them as His children. Christ prayed for them because they were His Father’s children, the brethren of His Son. “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them” (Jn. 17:9,10). These are the people whom Christ laid down His life for: the brethren, the beloved children of God. “Wherefore, in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest, in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17; cf. Heb. 2:16). Which people? The whole world? All without exception? No, but for His people, His sheep, His brethren whom He was made like unto.
“If salvation is born of an Eternal source (God’s Love) and delivered through an Extension of Nature (Grace), it cannot be altered by Temporal actions (human behavior) see Heb. 6:17,18.” The Grace of God was not and is not at all based on anything to do with His people—not who they were or who they were going to be. God never changes. Look at why He chose Israel: “…the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself…The LORD did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you…” (Deut. 7:6-8). Love charged by God’s Will is the reason behind God’s setting His love upon His people. “God does not find a reason to love His people in His people, but rather finds the reason in Himself and His own Sovereign will. If something in God’s people caused God to love them, then their will would be the master of His. Instead, Scripture points to God’s will as the engine that drives His love.” God loves His people because He loves His people, and they love Him only because He specifically loved them first. Love for the True God comes only from His chosen, which comes exclusively by and because of God’s loving them first (see 1 Jn. 4:19). Human love for the True God is not a spark found within God’s people, but is a reflection of the source of origin: God’s loving His people first. “Order of Salvation (often called the Ordo Salutis): God’s Eternal Will (The Origin) God’s Sovereign Love/Grace (The Action) The Drawing of the Chosen (The Effect) The Chosen’s Love for God (The Result).
True Christians are not God’s people because they were special people, or were foreseen they would be special people, but entirely due to the fact God, BY GRACE, made them His special people. There are no special people by nature, for all are dead in sins. God chose to love His chosen based on Who He is, not because of who they were or would be. THAT IS GRACE. It was nothing about them, but everything about God. God chose them because He loved them, not because they chose to love Him. God “…hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world…Having predestinated us…according to the good pleasure of HIS will, To the praise of the glory of His GRACE…” (Eph. 1:4-6 cf. Matt. 25:34; 1 Jn. 4:19). They were chosen to the praise of the glory of His GRACE; they were predestinated to the praise of the glory of His GRACE, according to the good pleasure of HIS FREE WILL. God did not choose His people and then saved them because they were His people, but because He loved them. “The motivation is God’s love, not His people’s status.” Salvation is the kernel of the choosing. God chose them by Grace conditioned on the good pleasure of His will, motivated by His love; therefore, their salvation was also wholly conditioned on His Grace. They were chosen to be saved. “God’s choice is rooted in His own affection, not in any inherent qualities or perceived specialness of the chosen.” God saves His people because of Who He is, not because of who they were or what they did, but because of Who God is and what He has done. It is never ‘God chose me because I…’ but always and only ‘God chose me because HE…” Salvation by Grace alone leaves no room for a man to boast in anything he has done; the only biblical conclusion that can be drawn is even if man had the capacity to have done something so that God could save him, nothing could have been done because there was nothing to do. Grace has done it all.
God gives to His people exclusively because of His love for them, not because of their love for Him, for “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). If this were not so, then salvation would not be by Grace at all. If God’s love for His people was preceded by their love for Him, or by anything they did, where is Grace? How can Grace ever be a compatriot of works? The saved man’s love for God comes from and exists because of God’s love for him. The lost have completely reversed this process and claim that their love for God is what prompted God to save them. God says “…by Grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8). The lost disagree by insisting that by Grace you cannot be saved unless you perform some act of obedience that then gives Grace the green light to save you. This is not merely error; it is Satanic at its core. The love God’s people have for Him is only because of God’s love based on His Grace alone for them. God loves His people because of Who He is, not because of who they are. Salvation is by Grace alone; therefore, all the glory for it belongs to God alone. Man has nothing he can boast of that he has done to cause God to love him or save him or keep him saved. God’s people are a chosen generation, which means they are not a generation of choosers, but a generation of passive receivers solely because of Grace. “To suggest even a hint of cooperation is to deny the very nature of the gift.” Grace rules out the remotest possibility that they are in any way active receivers; “for if the hand that receives must first be moved by the recipient, then the cause of salvation no longer rests in the Sovereign, but in the creature.” God’s people are who they are because of God’s unmerited, unearnable favour. Salvation is completely by Grace, and if by Grace—the free favour of God—then it cannot be by any meritorious act. Grace, by its very nature, is not able to be earned or deserved. If nothing can be done to draw God’s Grace, then nothing can be done to earn salvation, for salvation is by Grace alone. Grace cannot be won by an act, for it is a free gift. For Grace to truly be Grace it must come solely from and because of God’s love for His chosen ones, and not their love for Him. “God's love precedes and causes human response, which is essential to the definition of free grace.” As God’s people are ordained to good works, so too, they are ordained to love Him because of His love for them (see Eph. 2:10). "This verse immediately follows the grace/gift verses (see Eph. 2:8,9): ‘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). This explicitly states believers are ordained to good works as the result of salvation, not the cause. The ordination to love Him is the necessary result of the love described in 1 John 4:19. If God initiates the love, the ordained response of the believer is to return that love, expressed in obedience and good works (see Jn. 14:15).”
Seeing that “by grace are ye saved”, no part of election or salvation can possibly be because of anything a person is or has done. “For by grace are ye saved” simply means you are saved by nothing you have done. It is impossible to earn, or deserve, God’s Grace; therefore, anything God’s people have been given is because of Him not them, because of His Free Favour not their status or efforts. God’s will, love and grace—which are all to His Glory—are His sole motivation, not the ones He wills to love and be gracious toward. Their love for Him is because of His love by Grace for them. God did not choose them and then decide how He would bless them. Everything God would ever do for His chosen was wrapped up in His election and predestination of them, both of which only happened because of God’s Free and Sovereign will. Everything comes because of the Chooser, and not the ones chosen. That is Grace. “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. In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:5-7). What the saved person has been given is wholly of God and not at all based on who the person is or on anything that they have done. Grace, faith, election and salvation are not reciprocal acts, but unilateral acts based on the Giver. Everything God does and has given to His elect comes in a package labelled BY GRACE; it comes because of God’s will, not because of their will, it comes because of what God has done not because of what they have done, for prior to salvation all were hopelessly, helplessly and contemptibly dead in their trespasses and sins, children of Wrath and worthy of nothing but eternal torment (see Eph. 2:1-9). God’s people love Him ONLY “…because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19).
To say salvation comes by Grace through works is like trying to pay for something that is absolutely free of charge. The person giving it cannot accept your offer of payment, as it would be wholly illegitimate. To insist upon works of obedience being essential to attaining or maintaining salvation is likened to paying a debt that no longer exists. The price has already been paid in full by Jesus Christ for all His chosen people. Christ said on the cross “It is finished”, this phrase is tetelestai in Greek which means paid in full. “In the perfect tense, it signifies a completed action with lasting results. ‘It has been finished and stands finished.’” The only price tag on salvation is the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus Christ, a transaction made possible solely by the Grace of God. Attempting to earn a gift is nonsensical and an insult to the Giver. Trying to earn that which is free “undermines the very essence of grace,” turning an act of love “into a transactional exchange.” “Salvation is entirely the result of God’s grace-based initiative and mercy rather than human effort or merit.” If it is by Grace, it cannot be by gumption. “…if something is obtained through grace (i.e., without effort or merit), then it cannot be achieved through gumption (which relies on personal initiative and hard work). Essentially, it highlights the idea that the two concepts are mutually exclusive—if something is attributed to grace, then it cannot be seen as the result of one’s own efforts.” “…the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). If it is by mercy it cannot be by merit. Mercy is not merely for those who have done nothing but for those who can do nothing to obtain what only mercy can provide. If man could do something to gain or even maintain salvation, neither grace nor mercy would be required. If Righteousness must be imputed, charged to you, then it clearly is something that cannot be earned by you. Justifying Righteousness has been achieved by the Obedience of Jesus Christ and is credited to the account of each and every one for whom He died. Trying to reach God by your obedience is like trying to climb a staircase made of air. It is a blasphemous attempt to do what only the Saviour Jesus Christ has done for His people, which they could never do for themselves. That is why they needed a Saviour; that is why they need Grace. The perfect Righteousness that saves is not achievable by a man’s imperfect—and therefore unacceptable and non-existent—obedience. The currency of man’s obedience is a counterfeit of the only genuine and acceptable currency: the Obedience of Jesus Christ. This is why only God’s Righteousness is saving Righteousness, and it can only come by Grace alone.
Grace saves only according to what God has done, and not at all by what a man believes he himself has done. Grace is a gift. Salvation is initiated and constant only if it is preceded by the Sovereign will and grace of God; it is therefore, not subsequent to the will or work of man. Only in this way is salvation eternal, for if it were dependent upon any other means, it would be subject to change (see Jn. 1:13; 10:28,29; Rom. 9:16; Eph. 1:4,5; 2:8,9; Phil. 1:6; Titus 3:5). Salvation by Grace is by the will and purpose of God to His glory, not by the will and works of a man which would give man a reason to boast. GRACE SAVES ONLY ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD, NOT THE WORKS OF MAN. GRACE ONLY SAVES WHEN IT IS ALONE. An accompanied grace—a grace that is reliant upon anything else and, therefore, not entirely dependent upon itself to save—is no grace at all. The counterfeit grace of an impostor god has never saved anyone. True Grace saves alone. God is the Saviour and no one else, and Grace is the means to God and nothing else. Salvation will not be led off into the sunset by a man and his works, for salvation is married to the Obedience of Christ which alone makes a man Righteous before God. Paul the apostle writing to Timothy, declared: “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God; Who 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, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Tim. 1:8-10 cf. Eph. 1:4; Titus 3:5). True Christians are saved according to the Grace of God, and not by any of their works, and they all know it. Saved by Grace alone through the God-given gift of Faith, not of themselves, NOT by works. Of enormous significance is the fact that salvation by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone is the ONLY teaching that leaves a man with absolutely no room to boast: “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). A man is saved without anything he has done or hasn’t done, can do or can’t do, must do or mustn’t do, will do or won’t do. SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE IS A GLORIFICATION AND CELEBRATION OF THE ONLY TRUE GOD! Adding anything to Grace is a direct attack on Grace which immediately takes away all the glory for salvation from God.
If God is the only Saviour then Grace alone is the only means by which He saves. God saves by what He does. That is Grace. God saving His people by His Grace is God saving His people by nothing they have done. Salvation is by God’s favour, not His obligation: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of Grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4 cf. Rom. 11:6). Only to him that worketh not is the reward rightly reckoned of Grace not of debt (see Rom. 4:5 cf. Rom. 6:23). The Lord states: “…I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no Saviour” (Isa. 43:11); and by what method does He save? “…by grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2:5). There is no other Saviour but God and there is no other way He saves His people other than by His Grace alone. One Saviour — One Way. In fact, look at Ephesians 2:5 in its totality, and you will see that God is the only Saviour and His Grace is the only way of salvation: “But God Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).” Clearly, those that are saved by Grace were, prior to that salvation, DEAD IN SINS! “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). SALVATION BY GRACE IS BEING MADE ALIVE IN AND BY HIM. The dead do nothing; they must be made alive. To be saved by Grace is to be made alive. Nothing can make a man alive except Grace, and nothing keeps a man alive except eternal Grace (see Isa. 54:8; Rom. 5:21; 2 Thess. 2:16; 2 Tim. 1:9). The dead can contribute nothing to being made alive, and after they are made alive there is nothing to contribute. There was nothing redeemable about them. There is nothing alive in those that are dead. There is no spark of life in a body and spirit drenched in death (see Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13). Being made alive with Christ is something which is exclusively attributable to Grace. “Only God’s action—grace—could save the dead.” Salvation by Grace alone, by definition, is those dead in sins being made alive in and by Christ. What else could possibly save a man dead in sins than Grace alone? No one disputes the fact that only the power of God could have raised Lazarus from the dead, so how can anyone conclude that to be made spiritually alive is something a spiritually dead man can actively take part in?
Ephesians 2:5 not only identifies how a man is saved, but clearly elucidates why Grace alone is and can only be the single and exclusive means to salvation: because all mankind, prior to salvation, are dead in sins and must be made spiritually alive by God. This requires a Sovereign act of God, for no man can make himself alive. “Because the dead cannot act, the action must be Sovereign. This means the act is initiated entirely by the will of the one performing it (God), because it cannot be prompted or enabled by the subject (Man).” A man who is dead in sins can only be Sovereignly made alive by Christ. That is Grace. Where is the logic behind the concept that God saves people by Grace after they have met some prerequisite? What is this intrinsic, humanly miraculous power that enables them to do anything whilst dead? How can the dead do? Doesn’t ‘doing’ suggest life? But how can the dead be alive? And if they are alive, why would they need to be made alive? Does not the need to be made alive suggest a prior state of death? Of course it does. It not only suggests death prior to life; it absolutely and categorically DECLARES it! If dead does not mean dead, as many are so falsely taught, then alive cannot mean alive. Being made alive is being saved only by Grace. Being saved by Grace alone is to be made alive. If you believe you have contributed to your salvation—that your being saved could not have occurred without your active participation—then you deny your were dead and, therefore, cannot claim to have been made alive. If you have met a condition, or conditions, then clearly you have saved yourself. You do not require Grace; you do not need Grace to be made alive, for your meeting a condition denies the very need for Grace to make you alive because, by meeting a condition, you declare you were alive and not dead. You do not need God’s love, His mercy or His Son—you just need you! You have met a criterion and, therefore, have merited salvation. This runs counter to the entire concept of salvation by Grace alone—of being made alive by the Sovereign Will of God—for the very meaning of Grace is being given that which you do not, and never can, deserve.
Grace is “…something positive being freely given, where the recipient has not earned it or has no inherent right to it, therefore, any prerequisites negate the necessity of grace.” “The Bible consistently presents salvation as a gift of God’s unearned favor (grace), received through the gift of faith, not as a reward for human effort or a response to a pre-enabled human act. The concept of ‘grace to enable prerequisites’ subtly introduces human merit or a necessary ‘first step’ initiated by the person, which contradicts salvation being entirely ‘not of yourselves’ and ‘not of works, lest any man should boast’ (Eph. 2:8,9). It shifts the foundation from God’s complete and free initiative to a condition dependent on human activation, even if enabled by grace. Biblical grace is the active means of salvation, not a preparatory empowerment for human action to then earn or trigger salvation.” To follow a different plan of salvation than that which states salvation is by Grace alone—that the dead in Adam need to be made alive in and by Christ—is to follow a different god. It is the literal manifestation of spiritual accursedness. “A different gospel (as warned against in Galatians 1:6-9) is actually not only a different theology (a different view of God’s nature),” it presents a totally different god. “Any god who requires a prerequisite from a dead man is a god made in the image of human logic, not the God of the Bible. If the death inherited from Adam is total, then the life given in Christ must be a total, sovereign gift.”
If you believe you have met a condition or conditions for salvation, your claim, at the very least, is that you are a co-saviour with Jesus, for you would have done your part and He would have done His. If you have met some condition, any condition, then you have earned the prize. If you have earned salvation, then it cannot be because of Grace, but of debt. If you have earned salvation, then you were not dead but alive.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE THE LIE THAT MAN IS MERELY ‘SIN-SICK,’—AND NOT SPIRITUALLY DEAD IN SINS—ARE NOT BELIEVERS IN GOD’S PROMISE TO ADAM THAT IF 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'.
SALVATION BY GRACE, BY DEFINITION, IS CONDITIONLESS! If you believe that God has given you the grace to meet a condition for salvation, then you are a co-Saviour with Him. God is, therefore, not Sovereign at all but dependent upon you. Christ is not your sole Redeemer He is not your only Saviour, for you are as important as He is in your fictional cooperative redemption and salvation. In fact, more so, for salvation would ultimately be contingent upon your act of obedience and not on God’s Sovereign Grace alone. Error does not merely take from truth—IT REPLACES TRUTH! “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9). As God is the only Redeemer and Saviour, then it must be that He redeems and saves His people only by what He has done. That is Grace. If God alone is the Saviour, then He must save by Himself because of Who He is and through what He alone has done. That is Grace. This is made abundantly clear throughout the Scriptures, for a man is justified before God BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD—THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE SAVIOUR!! Salvation is not, and cannot be, because of what you must do, but only because of what He has done. Righteousness only comes by the Obedience of the Saviour as salvation only comes by the Grace of God. To be saved by Grace is to be saved by the Righteousness of God, the only Saviour: “…by grace are ye saved…by the Obedience of One shall many be made Righteousness…I, am the LORD, and beside Me there is no Saviour” (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 5:19; Isa. 43:11). No one can be saved outside of what the Saviour has done. That is salvation by Grace. Besides God there is no other Saviour; besides Grace there is no other means to salvation, and besides Christ’s Obedience there is no other means to justifying Righteousness. If the Gospel of God leaves absolutely no room for a man to boast about anything he has done to achieve or contribute to his saved state and remain secure in that condition (this includes man’s choosing God or maintaining salvation by his own personal obedience), then ALL the glory for salvation MUST belong solely to God. Therefore, all of salvation must be entirely by Grace ALONE. If God is the only Saviour then His Righteousness alone is what He saves by. This Righteousness has already been established by the Obedience of the Saviour; therefore, it can only be given to God’s people by Grace alone. If we are to look to Him, then we are not to look to ourselves. If you are truly looking to God, then your eyes cannot be on yourself, and if you are looking to yourself, you are not looking to the True God alone for your salvation.
“…if Righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21). What Paul is saying in this verse is that if right standing with God comes by what a man does—if any act of obedience on the part of man must precede salvation or be performed in order to keep oneself saved—then the Grace of God is done away with; it is set aside; Grace is disesteemed and neutralized. Moreover, Christ’s death and His efforts have all been in vain and cannot, therefore, be appealed to. As works cancel out the need for Grace, anyone who believes they must perform some act of obedience or compliance, before God can save them does away with the need for a Saviour, for they have replaced Him and what He has done with themselves and what they must do. They replace the Saviour with self. This is the entire gist of “…by grace ye are saved…Not of works…” (Eph. 2:5,9), because salvation is ALL by what GOD has done, and NOT AT ALL by anything you have done. Not your ‘choice’, not your ‘obedience’, not your ‘faithfulness’: NOT YOUR ANYTHING! Clearly, the Word of God states that If one is made Righteous by personal obedience, then Christ is dead in vain, and so neither Christ nor His Righteousness can be appealed to at all. You cannot separate the pursuit of salvation through the means of personal obedience from attempting to establish a righteousness of your own, which is no less than a rejection of the Righteousness of the Saviour Jesus Christ established exclusively by His Obedience as that which alone justifies a person before God (see Rom. 9:31-10:4). Those who believe they must (thereby implying they can) and need to establish a righteousness of their own oppose the need for the Righteousness of Another. You cannot get anything more anti-Christ than this. A man who is saved by Grace alone believes he is saved by Grace alone; he has let go of himself and completely abandoned the notion that he must seek to establish a righteousness of his own—thereby making personal obedience the Saviour—for he has been given the gift of Faith that trusts only in the Saviour and HIS Righteousness! The cry of the Christian is 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), not by works.
God does not save His people, nor does He maintain their salvation by anything they do or will do, nor by anything He has enabled them to do, but solely by what HE ALONE HAS DONE. That is Grace. The saved are all “…complete in HIM…” (Col. 2:10), because of Who He is and by what He alone has done. He is “…the Author and Finisher of our Faith…” (Heb. 12:2); “…being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation…” (Heb. 5:9). All God’s chosen are “… kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation…” (1 Pet. 1:5). This Faith is not what they do, it does not come from within but is given to them from without. It is not natural to man; it is supernatural, from God. Saving Faith is not a saved man’s contribution that ensures they are and remain saved, for this Faith is that which they have been given by Grace alone according to the will and purpose of God. Christians are not sustained by the power of their works, not by their sincerest attempts at obedience, but solely by the Power/Grace of God through the gift of Faith in the Perfect Obedience of their Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Their believing is a gift, and all because of Him. Salvation is initiated by Grace alone and it is sustained by Grace alone. God’s people have “…believed through grace” (Acts 18:27 cf. 1 Cor. 7:25), not via their free will decision. “But we believe that through the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved…” (Acts 15:11). Jesus “…was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who BY HIM do believe in God…” (1 Pet. 1:20,21 cf. Rev. 13:8). “OF HIS OWN WILL begat He us with the Word of Truth…” (Jas. 1:18). “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. Phil. 1:29). “…believing on Him 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…” “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. For we are HIS WORKMANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10). There is no such thing as a self-made Christian. There is nothing for a man to boast of in salvation; there is nothing man has done or can do that can contribute to his salvation, for it is all by the gifts of Grace and Faith. The most dangerous thing a person can do in their lifetime is to turn their back on the Truth of God, and that is exactly what a man does when he looks to his own obedience as forming any part of the ground of salvation or the maintaining of it.
The following sample of eye-opening Scriptures reveals man’s true state before the Holy God and the utter impossibility of any man, by nature, knowing the True God, let alone seeking and doing anything to come to Him: “As it is written, 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. Psa. 14:2,3; 53:2,3; Jn. 14:17). That just says it all. This is the true congenital spiritual condition inherent in every person born into this world. How can that which is unrighteous produce that which is righteous? How can the unrighteous manufacture Righteousness? “the idea that a man can manufacture righteousness is an ontological impossibility for three reasons:1. The Lack of Raw Materials: A manufacturer requires raw materials to create a product. According to verse 12, man has become unprofitable and there is none that doeth good. If there is no good within the internal nature of man, there is nothing from which righteousness can be fabricated. 2. The Dead End of the Internal Source: If there is none that seeketh after God (vs. 11), then any righteousness man tries to produce is actually an act of self-preservation or pride, rather than a reflection of God’s nature. This is why Isaiah 64:6 describes our manufactured righteousness as filthy rags. 3. The Requirement of Perfection: To be unassailable, righteousness must be perfect. A flawed being cannot produce an unflawed result. Therefore, any righteousness that is manufactured by the unrighteous is inherently corrupted. Since man cannot manufacture righteousness, God must bestow it. This is the Righteousness of God. Righteousness comes through the obedience of one (Christ), not the manufacturing efforts of the many. In the light of Romans 3, the only way for the unrighteous to possess righteousness is to be made righteous by the external and eternal work of the Saviour.”
How can an acceptable, nay, perfect Righteousness be established by one who is not righteous to begin with and who can do no good? “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one” (Job 14:4). “Behold, He putteth no trust in His saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in His sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?” (Job. 15:15,16). This is the reality of man’s inherent and inherited nature, and there is not a thing he can do about it (see Rom. 3:10-12; 5:12). How can anyone understand if they have not been gifted the spiritual cognition to do so? “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 (the things of the Spirit of God) are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14 cf. Jn. 3:3; 1 Cor.1:18). The spiritually dead cannot spiritually discern the things of the Spirit of God. This, notwithstanding, does not stop multitudes who are steeped in ignorance from claiming to be Christian. “If the source of salvation is eternal (God) and the recipient is naturally dead, then a claim to Christianity that relies on internal discernment is a logical fallacy.” How can any who do not know the True God possibly seek after Him? “…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. Jn. 8:19; 2 Jn. 9). The True God can only be revealed, never found. How can any become profitable that are unprofitable in everything they do? And how can any do good when there are none that can do good? The only solution to man’s unprofitability is the imputed Righteousness of Jesus Christ. None by nature seek after the True God; therefore, all—by that very sinful, inherited nature—go about seeking false gods, convinced they are the true God. All the while, trying to establish a righteousness of their own, revealing their appalling, unsaved, accursed state and their ignorance of the Righteousness of Christ and the Grace of the True and only Living God Who imputes it to all His people made alive in and by Him. Every person who has ever left this earth believing that their obedience was necessary to enter Heaven has entered into eternity not knowing the true Jesus, and He not knowing them (see Matt. 7:21-23; Jn. 10:14; 1 Cor. 8:3). To trust in the true Jesus is to trust in His Righteousness alone and to count one’s own righteousness as nothing but dung (see Phil. 3:8,9). To trust in the true Jesus is to trust in His Gospel alone and count all other so-called gospels as accursed—and, therefore, as instruments of unrighteousness unable to save anyone. If you do not know of His Righteousness you cannot be trusting in the Jesus of the Bible. You cannot separate the Person from His Work. If you are believing in a false gospel, you cannot be trusting in the true Jesus. If you do not trust in Christ’s Righteousness ALONE, you are not a believer in the Jesus of the Bible. If it is by Grace then not by works — If it is by Christ’s Righteousness then it is most assuredly not by yours.
“…verily every man AT HIS BEST state is altogether vanity….surely every man IS vanity” (Psa. 39:5,11 cf. Eccl. 1:2). What can a vain, unprofitable creature performing vain, unprofitable deeds possibly accomplish? How can you profit from the unprofitable? How can corruption produce incorruption? “…they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8); “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing…” (Jn. 6:63). “In the Bible, ‘the flesh’ often represents human effort, limited perspective, or our fallen nature. Jesus is making a sharp contrast: The Flesh: Human reason and physical effort cannot save you or give you eternal life. Relying on what you can see, touch, or do yourself ‘profiteth nothing’ in the Kingdom of God. The Spirit: True life (eternal life) is a supernatural gift from the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit can ‘quicken’ (give life to) a person's soul.” All these verses forever shatter the myth that a man doing anything—even his best—will be accepted by God into Heaven. Man at his best is vanity personified—totally profitless. Every man knows, and needs not be told, that at his worst, no man can enter into Heaven, but the Word of God makes the astounding proclamation that EVEN “AT HIS BEST” every man is wholly and entirely unprofitable and unacceptable, for every man is a sinner, and therefore, always misses the mark: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). “Close enough” can never, under any circumstances, be good enough. “A miss is as good as a mile.” “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Eccl. 7:20). “…the Scripture hath concluded all under sin…” (Gal. 3:22). “…by man came death…in Adam all die…” (1 Cor. 15:21,22). Jesus said: “The world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil” (Jn. 7:7). Christ was not referring here to evil works per se, but those works which the world considered good works. “Jesus wasn't condemning inherently or categorically evil actions here (like murder or theft). Instead, He was pointing out the evil nature even of actions that people considered to be good (e.g., self-righteous acts done to earn salvation, which are evil in God’s eyes because they deny His grace). Christ’s criticism wasn’t directed at evil works in their usual, obvious sense, but rather at works that might appear good on the surface but are fundamentally flawed in their motivation or origin.” Works negate Grace. “Human effort can neither elicit nor procure God’s Favour. Works void Grace; they cannot attract or earn the Grace of God,” which is solely motivated by the will and purpose of God. No man at his best is righteous, understands, knows or seeks after the True God; therefore, all his attempts at obedience are not even being directed to the True God, which compounds the utter vanity of his actions. No man at his best can make himself or will himself to become spiritually alive, a new creature, for Christians “…are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…” (Eph. 2:10). No man, by nature, realises he needs a miracle—to be born again—rather than simply adhering to a reformed lifestyle and what he hopes will be an acceptable level of obedience.
All mankind is conceived into a crisis of sin. Moral reformation is not the solution to man’s appalling and debilitating dilemma. A reformed life is not the answer; it never has been, and it never will be. A reformed life is a false cure; it does not even come close to the answer, but only serves to keep a man blind to his real need—transformation, redemption, regeneration, justification, the Imputed Righteousness of the Saviour and the pure, unadulterated Grace of the Almighty, Sovereign God. No personal reformation leading to a life of obedience to God’s Law can ever reach the Standard which God has set for salvation: sinless perfection from conception to death. If this were not the case, then why is Christ’s Obedience the only one that makes a man Righteous? There is no salvation in sinful imperfection. A man must be MADE a NEW creature IN CHRIST, not become a better one. A man must have His sins fully paid for and dispensed with by the Blood of Christ, not ‘outweighed’ by a diligently obedient lifestyle. A man must have a perfect Righteousness. Reformation is not the answer, for the key to salvation is IMPUTATION! Reformation is not the answer, but revivification: a restoration of spiritual life. Salvation does not come after or because of any spiritually dead man’s reformative lifestyle, but only through regeneration by Grace alone. According to the Word of God, man is a hopeless sinner in need of salvation—not reformation, not a revival, or adoption of a societally acceptable collection of values, but salvation. Man does not require a reset. He does not need to start again; he needs to be born again. The reason why no amount of good deeds can ever save a man, is due to the fact that man’s ‘goodness’ is nothing but vanity. It is never the answer, for, to begin with, man can never do away with his sinfulness, his sin nature. How can uncorruptness ever come from that which is corrupt? Everything man does carries with it the unshakeable reek and indelible stain of sin, for he is in a terminal state of complete corruption. “The ‘disease’ of sin is fatal and irreversible by human means.” Man is a corrupted and accursed creature in desperate need of being born again of the incorruptible Seed, which is the Gospel of God. Salvation is not about reformation, but rather revelation and regeneration. Jesus said: “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him…” (Jn. 6:44 cf. Jn. 6:65). There is no other way. Jesus’ disciples asked Him: “…Who then can be saved?" (Matt. 19:25), to which Jesus replied: “…With men this is impossible…” (Matt. 19:26). A man being justified by his own personal obedience is a concept that is not merely implausible, but utterly impossible. Without Christ, there is no hope. There is nothing to hope for in what man can do, only in Christ Jesus and what He has done; for He is the only Saviour. Outside of Christ, there is only empty hope drowning in vanity.
Why is it so? Why is man so hopeless and helpless? Why are there none who are righteous in God’s eyes? Why are there none that understand? Why are there none, by nature, who seek after the True and Living God? If you are without the True and only God, you cannot seek Him, for you do not know Him. Why have all gone out of the way, and why are there none that do good? Why is every man at his best nothing but vanity, unprofitable? Why is man compared to an unclean thing and all his righteousnesses as filthy rags? Why can no man come to Jesus except the Father intervenes, draws him? (see Jn. 6:44,65). Why does no man, and why can no man, know the Father except the Son reveals Him (see Matt. 11:27)? And why is salvation impossible with men? The answer to all these questions is simple: spiritual death! “…by man came death…” (1 Cor. 15:21) “…in Adam all die…” (1 Cor. 15:22 cf. Gen. 2:16,17), and only “…in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22 cf. 1 Jn. 5:12). The only way to be spiritually alive to the True God is to be made spiritually alive by the Grace of the True God—to be born again by Him. The reality of man’s deplorable condition is: every man by nature is “…dead in sins…” (Eph. 2:5); he is spiritually dead and burdened with an unpayable debt. When it comes to the Kingdom of God, “the price of entry is far beyond any human currency.” Trying to earn your passage into Heaven based on anything you do, “is like trying to buy a house with monopoly money. The ‘currency’ of moral reformation might look like money to a man, but it has no value in the ‘market’ of Heaven.” One cannot be born again, made alive in Christ, without first being dead in sins. Whoever heard of someone being made alive who was already alive, albeit who was merely sick or impaired? “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1).
All God’s chosen people were dead in trespasses and sins before they were supernaturally made alive in Him. They do not, because they literally cannot, deny the fact that they were spiritually dead, for to do so would be to deny their need of being made alive in and by Christ. The dead are completely incapable of any actions; they have no capacity to act and possess absolutely no free will of their own, hence their utterly hopeless state. “…the term ‘quickened’ refers to the act of being made alive…In this context, ‘quickened’ signifies the spiritual awakening or regeneration of individuals who were spiritually dead due to sin. The verse emphasizes God’s grace and power in bringing His people from a state of spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ.” “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12 cf. Rom. 6:23). The apostle Paul describes man in his natural fallen state as being “...without Christ…having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). Is it any wonder that man at his best is utterly unprofitable? If you are without Christ, you are without God, you are without any hope. So, what you do and what you abstain from doing, carries absolutely no weight in the matter of your being born again by the Grace of God. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the Wrath of God abideth on him” (Jn. 3:36 cf. 2 Jn. 9). Even if the phrase spiritual death was taken out of the equation, man remains WITHOUT Christ, HAVING NO HOPE being WITHOUT God in the world. Whatever you want to call it, an abject and inexhaustible HOPELESSNESS is the natural state of the dead. The hopeless are utterly helpless. Man is hopeless without God; man is hopeless because he is without God. A man without God is a man completely on his own, who, even at his best—most obedient, most sincere state—is altogether profitless and contemptible. A reformed lifestyle can never be the cause, or evidence, of spiritual life. Only “…in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). The only way to be in Christ is to be spiritually born again by the Gospel of Christ (see 1 Pet. 1:23,25).
God warned Adam, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But 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. 2:16,17). Adam did eat of that tree, and he immediately suffered spiritual death. This is seen clearly in Adam and his wife Eve hiding themselves from God when He called Adam after the eating of the fruit: “And they Heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Gen. 3:8,9). Notice they did not seek Him, but God sought them. THAT is Grace! (see also Jn. 15:16). There was no free will to run to God, only the now natural, sinful instinct to hide from Him—which mankind has continued to do under the veil of religion and secularism. Man, by nature, wants ‘God,’ but only under his terms, not ‘God’s.’ “To say one is ‘seeking God’ is often just a sophisticated way of hiding from the true God.” Adam and Eve were not seeking God but attempted to conceal themselves from Him as God was coming toward them. Adam and Eve did not know; they were not aware of their need of the Righteousness of God. So, as with the equally sinfully ignorant today, they immediately resorted to the only thing their now sinful minds believed could possibly help them in their dire situation—they tried to establish a righteousness of their own. Rather than seek God for forgiveness, etc., they attempted to cover their sin, to hide themselves and their sin, to make up for their sin by their works. “…they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Gen. 3:7). “...the broad leaves hanging down served for aprons; but these, whatever covering they may be thought to have been to their bodies, which yet seem to be but a slender one, they could be none to their souls, or be of any service to hide their sin and shame from the all seeing eye of God; and of as little use are the poor and mean services of men, or their best works of righteousness, to shelter them from the Wrath of God, and the vengeance of Divine justice.” Adam and Eve sewing fig leaves together is the perfect example of man attempting to get right with God by being active whilst ignorant of the fact that none can become right with God without His Righteousness imputed to them. Grace does away with the fig leaves and only clothes God’s people with the Righteousness of Christ (see Gen. 3:21). It is only the man whom God has clothed with His Robe of Righteousness—and not the man who has clothed himself with his own righteousness—who stands justified before God. Only God, by Grace, can make a man Righteous before Him. Those who seek justification, forgiveness and acceptance with their gods by what they do never seek the True God Who saves by His Grace alone through the Faith He gives His people to believe in HIS Righteousness—WHAT HE ALONE HAS DONE to save His people from their sins.
Even if a sinner could come to God asking for forgiveness, he would be immediately destroyed, for it is only God by Grace Who can take the initiative, making a man accepted in Christ by His own Righteousness. A spiritually dead man taking the initiative makes no Scriptural nor logical sense. Only in Christ is a man seen as Righteous before God and able to approach Him without any fear. “This illustrates a profound theological concept regarding humanity’s inherent inability to seek the true God on their own and highlights the Sovereignty of God’s grace in the process of salvation. It emphasizes that, in the absence of Divine intervention, a sinful individual cannot approach God without immediately facing the consequences of their unrighteousness. The idea that if a sinner could come to God asking for forgiveness, he would be immediately destroyed underscores the Holiness of God and the stark contrast between His perfect nature and the fallen state of humanity. In other words, without God’s grace actively working within a person, even the sincere act of asking for forgiveness would be insufficient and disastrous.” Coming to God without the only “…Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5), would be met with the Wrath of God and immediate destruction, for all a man would have is his sin and his filthy-rag-like righteousnesses, both of which only serve to testify to his distinct lack of any redeeming quality and any right to be anywhere near the Holy God. “Grace is God taking the initiative making a man accepted in Christ further asserts that acceptance before God is not a human accomplishment” (nor does the initiative for acceptance rest with man), "but is entirely dependent on God’s will and the Redemptive work of Christ. This highlights the centrality salvation by grace through the gift of faith in Christ has as the sole means of reconciliation with God, illustrating that salvation is a Divine gift rather than a result of any human effort. The core tenet of true Christianity, is that salvation is wholly contingent upon God's grace, emphasizing the need for reliance on Him, rather than any self-driven attempts to attain forgiveness or righteousness. This understanding fosters a deep sense of humility and gratitude within believers, as it acknowledges that their standing before God is not based on their merits, but is a gracious gift granted by a loving and just God.”
Unsurprisingly, what God said would happen to man in the day he ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden DID ACTUALLY HAPPEN! “…by man came death…” (1 Cor. 15:21). Not sickness, not some surmountable impediment or handicap, but life-ending death. As promised by God, the consequence of the Fall was fully realized. Upon disobeying God, man suffered immediate, irreversible, spiritual death: an eternally irretrievable and irreconcilable separation from God. Utterly cut off from the Lord of the universe, so much so that he would no longer even desire Him, much less know Him and seek Him. In light of this clear teaching of Scripture, the irony and presumptuousness of a spiritually dead man claiming to be seeking the True God is not lost. It is tantamount to a blind man searching for a blue marble among a million marbles. The connection Adam once had with God has been eternally broken by Adam’s sin of disobedience. “…in Adam all die…” (1 Cor. 15:22). Spiritual death is being dead to the Living God. Not dead to religion or the belief in the existence of a ‘higher power,’ but dead to the one and only Living and True God. Not dead to truths, but dead to THE Truth. Man is not dead to false gods, but in his spiritually dead state is very much alive, open to and receptive of the idols—and the doctrines which lead to them—spawned by his own fleshly desires. Man is, however, dead to the True and only God. In his spiritually dead state, man is magnetically drawn toward false gospels and the false gods of those gospels, all of which are powerless to save. False gods are fictional characters that come from the minds of men—desperate men, who, not knowing the True God, are subject to the superstitious nonsense by which they have invented gods of their own, even worshiping gods in animal form and mere men such as Buddha, Krishna and Laozi (Lao Tzu) the founder of Taoism, labelling them deities (see Rom. 1:21-23 cf. 1 Cor. 8:4; 10:20).
We are all the seed of Adam and have, therefore, inherited his sinful nature by which all men are, in their natural state, spiritually dead to, and enmity against, the True and Living God. TO DENY THIS IS TO DENY EVERYTHING! The denial of spiritual death is the launch pad for every false gospel. The reason for this is because every false gospel claims man is at least alive enough to be able to come to God via his own free will and works. To deny spiritual death is to deny salvation by Grace alone through Faith alone in the Obedience and Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. To deny spiritual death is to deny the Biblical truth that to be spiritually alive, one must be in Christ, by God’s Grace alone. To deny spiritual death is to openly deny the necessity of Grace—the need to be born again, to be made alive in Christ. To deny spiritual death is to call God a liar Who declared: “…thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17). To deny spiritual death is to stand in agreement with Satan and his lie to Eve: “…ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). Physical death is the evidence and direct result of spiritual death, of the utter corruption of man, and a man’s seeking to establish a righteousness of his own via his personal obedience is the fruit—the evidence of the curse of spiritual death and the profound and unmistakable presence of the absence of the knowledge of the True God and the Gospel of His Son’s Righteousness.
Spiritual death is being dead to God and alive to sin. Spiritual death is being dead to the truth of God and being alive to the dictates of the wide-ranging spectrum of sin. Spiritual death is the foundation, the root, of self-righteousness. “Spiritual death is the driving force behind self-righteousness—it’s what compels the action. The root of self-righteousness lies in spiritual death, as it compels individuals to seek their own justification rather than relying on Christ’s Imputed Righteousness alone.” Spiritual death inevitably and invariably leads a person to seek salvation based at least in part on their personal obedience—a salvation based on, and which demands some degree of self-righteousness rather than being solely grounded in the imputed Righteousness of Jesus Christ. “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:10,11 cf. Gal. 2:16). “Paul argues that attempting to be right with God through obedience (Law) actually places a person under Divine judgment. The source of this deception is Satan who traps people in a system they can never satisfy.” That system is man-made religion which insists on salvation being impossible without a man’s obedience. This is the exact opposite of what true Christianity teaches which is that salvation is impossible with man: “…Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:25,26); “No man can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him…” (Jn. 6:44); “…no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of My Father” (Jn. 6:65).
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…” (Rev. 12:9 cf. Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:13-15). Satan is the great propagandist, the bearer and promulgator of fake news and the twister of truth that only serves to reinforce the self-deception man is under via his spiritually dead state. “The false gospels of works is the primary tool of that deception.” Far from being a noble endeavour, seeking justification by one’s own obedience is the prime evidence that one is under a curse. It is the ultimate in satanic practices. The just shall not live by works, but by Faith alone: “…The just shall live by Faith” (Rom. 1:17), for “…by Grace (they) are saved” (Eph. 2:5). “And by Him (Jesus) all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). Self-righteousness is self-reliance. Satan placed himself before God (see Isa. 14:13,14), and everyone who seeks justification, even in part, based on their own righteousness—their own obedience to God’s law—is doing precisely the same thing. Justification before God is found only in Jesus Christ, not in yourself. “…as many as seek for justification by the works of the law, and trust in their own righteousness for acceptance with God, these are so far from being blessed or justified hereby, that they are under the curse….nor is it practicable for fallen man to fulfil the law of works, and if he fails but in one point, he is guilty of all, and is so pronounced by the law ‘For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all’ (Jas. 2:10); and he stands before God convicted, his mouth stopped, and he condemned and cursed by that very law he seeks for righteousness by the deeds of…” Man attempting to obey the law to the point of perfection—for that is obviously what the law demands (see Jas. 2:10)—makes as much sense as black paint trying to make itself white. “The nature of the thing itself cannot produce its opposite” (see Jer. 13:23).
The following provides further incontrovertible evidence that the only obedience/Righteousness that does justify a man before the God of Holiness and Justice is that of the Lord Jesus Christ coupled with no other’s: “…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). In other words, it is by the Obedience of Jesus Christ, not the obedience of the saved, that a man stands Righteous before God. It is by Grace through Faith, NOT works. It is by FAITH IN CHRIST, not by faith in you. It is by trusting His Righteousness alone, not your obedience at all. the God-given gift of Faith in Christ places one’s complete trust in Him and what He has done, and has absolutely no trust in you or in anything that you have done. Note the clear contradistinction, in Galatians 2, between faith in Christ as opposed to justification by works (personal obedience). The two can never be joined, they cannot be merged, there can never be any compromise. No one was ever or will ever be justified before God by what they do. The apostle Paul wanted to be found in Christ “…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). It is not difficult to see the sharp contrast, the clear and distinct line that separates a man’s obedience (attempting to perform the works of the law) and being justified by the faith of Christ, or, faith in Christ and His Righteousness alone. People simply do not realize that the obedience one is attempting to perform in order to ‘get right with God’ must be perfect! The fact that no man’s obedience is ever perfect is clearly established in the following Scripture: “…every man at his best state is altogether vanity…surely every man is vanity” (Psa. 39:5,11).
It is no Biblical, saving faith in Christ if it is not in His Righteousness alone. If your faith is not in Christ’s Righteousness alone, it is not in Him at all, for it is not the gift God gives to all His people. Attempting to join your obedience with that of Christ’s, far from being some noble act, cancels out any legitimate appeal to the Righteousness of the Saviour, just as attempting to annex your works of obedience to God’s Grace is a repudiation of Grace and the God Who only saves by it. Combining your obedience with that of Christ makes you as reliant upon yourself as you claim to be on Him; it makes you a co-saviour. God has no co-pilot. No one claiming to be a Christian believes in an assistant saviour to Jesus or in any supplementary act that must be added to what the Saviour has done, yet that is precisely what those who believe that their obedience is a necessary contingency to the Obedience of Christ in obtaining salvation are doing. True Christians are, and believe they are “…COMPLETE in Him…” (Col. 2:10). “If we are ‘complete’ in Him, any supplement is effectively a denial of that completeness. Satan’s goal is to make the believer feel incomplete in Christ so they look to themselves.” If you still insist that your works are essential in getting saved and/or maintaining salvation, then you will not be justified. Clearly, no one will be justified based on their attempted obedience to the law of God, for an imperfect obedience is no obedience at all, and is most assuredly not a path to Justifying Righteousness. “This reflects the ‘Law of Negation’. In a legal or Divine sense, if a standard is 100%, then 99% is not mostly right; it is completely wrong” (see Jas. 2:10). Justification does not require your best efforts; its demands stretch far beyond anything sinful humanity can offer: JUSTIFICATION DEMANDS PERFECTION! This is why the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Saviour, not you. Justification comes only by the gift of Grace, which provides the gift of the only Faith that believes in Jesus Christ and His Righteousness alone. Nothing you do—no amount of perceived obedience to His Law—can justify you. The Holy God does not/cannot justify you based on what you do, for “…every man AT HIS BEST state is altogether VANITY…and all our righteousnesses are as FILTHY RAGS…” (Psa. 39:5; Isa. 64:6). The problem is not only that you sin, but that you are a cursed, unholy, sinner spiritually dead who needs to be made alive again—born again by the Grace of God through Faith in the Gospel of God wherein the Righteousness of Jesus Christ is revealed. Hope does not come from within, but from without. The Living Hope does not emanate from you, but from God alone (see 1 Pet. 1:3-5).
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for Righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness WITHOUT works” (Rom. 4:5,6). The truly blessed man is he who knows that no work of his can gain him any favour with God, and that it is only by Faith in God and HIS Righteousness alone that a man stands justified before Him. The Righteousness by which a man is justified before God is imputed; thus, it is utterly devoid of any attempts at personal obedience. This Righteousness is God’s; therefore, it can only be imputed to a man, for it comes solely by the Obedience of the Saviour. “The Righteousness that justifies is utterly devoid of human effort. Because this Righteousness belongs to God alone, it can only be imputed to man—the fruit of the Saviour’s perfect Obedience. Righteousness is credited to the believer’s account. It is an external (alien) Righteousness that belongs to Christ.” “This righteousness cannot be the righteousness of the law, or man’s obedience to it; for that is a righteousness with works, is a man’s own, and not imputed; and indeed is not a righteousness in the sight of God: nor does man’s blessedness lie in, or come by it; no man is, or can be instilled by it, nor saved by it, or attain to heaven and eternal happiness by the means of it; but the righteousness here spoken of is the Righteousness of Christ, called the Righteousness of God; and is better than that of angels or men; is complete and perfect; by which the law is honoured, and justice is satisfied. This is freely bestowed, and graciously imputed by God. Just in the same way His Righteousness becomes ours, as Adam’s sin did, which is by imputation; or in the same way that our sins became Christ’s, His Righteousness becomes ours (see 2 Cor. 5:21 cf. Rom. 5:21); and as we have no righteousness of our own when God justifies us, this must be done by the Righteousness of Another; and that can be done no other way by the Righteousness of Another, than by imputing it to us: and which is done ‘without works’; not without the works of Christ, of which this Righteousness consists; but without the works of the creature, or any consideration of them, which are utterly excluded from justification; for if these came into account, it would not be of grace, and boasting would not be removed. Now such who have this Righteousness thus imputed to them, are happy persons; they are justified from all sin, and freed from all condemnation; their persons and services are acceptable to God; it will be always well with them; they are heirs of glory, and shall enjoy it.”
There is no room—nor any requirement for—your imperfect obedience in the Justifying Righteousness that was achieved and established by the Perfect Obedience of Jesus Christ alone. Justification is completely repulsed by a man’s attempts to attain it; it recoils at the vanity of man’s sincerest attempts at attracting it, at the filthy rags of a man’s righteousnesses, for it can only accept the perfect Obedience of the Saviour Jesus Christ Who alone has established the perfect Righteousness that the salvation of a man cannot do without. Salvation is a gift. The Righteousness that saves does not include anything you have done, and you do not have that Righteousness if your hope for salvation is based in whole or in part on anything you have done. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom. 4:8), for that man’s sin has been imputed to Christ’s account, and His Righteousness charged to the account of the blessed man: “…David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness WITHOUT works” (Rom. 4:5,6 cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). Eternal life is a gift, and Justifying Righteousness can only be imputed, not earned; therefore, salvation is by Grace alone. The only man to whom God will not impute sin is the man He has imputed Christ’s Righteousness to. If you have faith in your righteousness established by your own obedience—rather than, as well as, and/or instead of, or in place of, Christ’s Righteousness, then your sins remain charged to you. If you have faith in the Righteousness of Christ alone—thus utterly rejecting your own obedience/righteousness as forming any part of the ground or means to your justification—this is evidence that your sins have been charged to Him. If you have faith in your righteousness, you have not the Faith which God gifts to all His people and which only looks to HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS as that which alone justifies. It is God that justifies the ungodly by Grace alone, for the ungodly can never justify themselves by works. It is God that saves His people by Grace alone, for they could never save themselves by works at all. Saving Righteousness is given to the chosen of God not because of their works, but entirely WITHOUT their works! That is Grace. The Righteousness that saves and justifies is WITHOUT YOUR OBEDIENCE; IT DOES NOT REQUIRE OR AWAIT YOUR OBEDIENCE, FOR IT COMES ONLY BY THE OBEDIENCE OF ONE! (see Rom. 5:19). The obedience of man is a vain thing when it comes to his justification before God.
“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). Christ died as a Sacrifice to God for the sins of His people, and as a Substitute for the Righteous salvation of His chosen ones. Writing to the saints at Ephesus, the apostle Paul stated that Christ Jesus “…hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God…” (Eph. 5:2). He took their sins and gave them His Righteousness: “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). You can only have the saving Righteousness of God if your sins have been charged to His Son. Likewise, you can only have had your sins charged to God’s Son, if you evidence the gift of Faith which believes solely in His Righteousness ALONE charged to you as the ground of your salvation. “…to be made the Righteousness of God, is to be made Righteous in the sight of God, by the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ. Just as Christ is made sin, or a sin offering (see Rom. 8:3)…so they are made Righteousness, or Righteous persons, through the imputation of His Righteousness to them; AND IN NO OTHER WAY CAN THE ONE BE MADE SIN, OR THE OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS.” As Christ was sinless yet charged with His people’s sins, likewise, the Christian is not Righteous because of any perceived good works. Christ, the sinless One, was charged with the sins of God’s chosen, just as they—the sinful ones—are credited with His Righteousness. Just as there was no inherent sin in Christ, likewise, there is no inherent Righteousness in His people. Sin was imputed to Christ Who did not commit it; Righteousness is imputed to His people who did not earn it. So many professing Christians claim that their sins have been charged to Christ—that He has taken away their sins—and yet they attempt to establish a justifying righteousness by their own obedience. How can this be an expression of faith in His Righteousness alone as that which justifies? This is as foolish and heretical as believing Christ has charged you with His Righteousness, but insisting that you must wash away your sins! To all such people, 2 Corinthians 5:21 simply does not apply (see also Isa. 53:6; 61:10; Rom. 5:18,19; 10:3; Col. 2:14). “There exists a massive ‘theological cognitive dissonance’ in the modern ‘church’: the idea that one can accept Christ’s sacrifice for the negative (the removal of sin) while rejecting His performance for the positive (the provision of righteousness). If you trust Christ for the removal of debt, you must also trust Him for the deposit of wealth. To claim Christ's death is sufficient to pay for sin, but His life is insufficient to provide Righteousness, is to divide His work. It effectively says, ‘Jesus got me out of Hell, but I have to get myself into Heaven’."
Those who cultivate and maintain hope in their ‘good’ works of obedience for righteousness unto salvation fail to realise the evil of those works; for they are all imperfect because of the intrinsic sinful nature of man, and, therefore, totally unacceptable. Worst of all, these ‘good works’ blasphemously supplant the glorious Righteousness of Christ, which has been—and could only have been—established by HIS Obedience. You cannot pick and choose what you have done and present those ‘good’ things to God and leave the bad things behind. Even if a man’s good deeds could establish the Righteousness needed to pass into Heaven, how does a man abolish his own sins, and also eliminate the fact he is a sinner? If you’re going to establish a righteousness of your own, you must also eliminate your sins and inherent sinfulness. Scripture makes it perfectly clear that, “…without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22), and without the Obedience of Christ there is no justification (see Rom. 5:19). “…there was no typical remission without the shedding of blood; and there can be no real remission but by, the blood of Christ; no instance can be given of pardon without it; if it could have been otherwise, the blood of Christ had not been shed; for so it would seem to be shed in vain, and His satisfaction to be unnecessary; nor is it agreeable to the justice of God to forgive sin without satisfaction; nor is it consistent with His veracity, and faithfulness to His Word.” “…by His own blood He entered in once into the Holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12 cf. Heb. 9:14). “…feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own Blood” (Acts 20:28); “…the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7). Now, if the death of Christ—signified by the shedding of His blood—was indispensably essential to obtaining the sure redemption of His people, then, seeing that Christ alone is the Saviour, it must also be that Justifying Righteousness is established solely by the equally fundamental Obedience of Christ, without any supplementation from one’s own obedience to make it complete and, therefore, effective. Christ needed absolutely no assistance from His people to redeem them from their sins; why, then, would He require even the smallest amount of obedience from His people to assist in establishing a Justifying Righteousness that could only ever have been achieved by HIS Obedience alone? You either go to God with His Son’s Righteousness charged to you and your sins charged to Him, or you go to Him with everything you have ever done, ‘good’ and bad, for if you have not His Righteousness you must bear the weight of having failed to establish a righteousness acceptable to God, and the eternal consequences of having died in your sins. Just as Christ’s death—and no other’s—was essential to the redemption of His people, so too, Christ’s Righteousness—and no other’s—is indispensable for their Justification.
Jesus said: “…ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). If you do not believe in the Person and Work of the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, make no mistake: you will die in your sins. Without faith in the imputation of Christ’s Righteousness, your sins remain charged to you. Imputation is the key: the means of Christ being made to be sin and His people the very Righteousness of God. “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). The sinless One was made to be sin—or a sin-offering—Who had no sin, for His people who had no Righteousness. There could never have been salvation for anyone were it not for Imputation. No one who believes they are Righteous because of their own obedience has been imputed with the Righteousness of Christ; therefore, their sins remain charged to them. If you reject the offering of Christ to the Father for His people, your sins remain charged to you. Likewise, if your faith is in your obedience—even to the smallest degree—you reject the Righteousness of Christ as that which alone justifies. “To rely on personal obedience is, by definition, to fall from grace in a judicial sense—meaning you have exited the system of grace and entered the system of the Law, where you are then ‘debtor to do the whole law’ (Gal. 5:3).” It is not righteousness worked for, but Faith in the Righteousness of Another freely imputed, or charged to you, by Another, that reveals the blessing of God’s Grace upon you. “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without works” (Rom. 4:6). If it is without works, then Election, Justification and Salvation can only be by Grace alone. There is—because there can be—no other viable alternative (see Rom. 11:6). It is all by the Saviour, or it must be all by you. If the only way a man’s sin can be properly and judicially dealt with by God is for it to be charged to the Saviour, then it stands to Biblical reason that the only way for a sinner to be justified before God is if that sinner has been charged with the Righteousness of the Saviour. All God’s chosen know that their sins and sinfulness could not have been effectively washed away but by the Blood of the Saviour, just as they all know and believe that the only way they stand justified in the sight of God is by the very Righteousness of God and not their own (see Rev. 1:5; Rom. 3:22; Phil. 3:9). No sin can be dealt with by the sinner, just as no Righteousness can be earned by the sinner. It is ALL by imputation (see Rom. 4:4-8).
Salvation is no partnered endeavour; it is solely the work of the Saviour from beginning to end. No man can be a functional participant—an active contributor—in his salvation, for all men are dead in sins; therefore, they are dead to the True and only God and know not God. They cannot be saved by works, but only by Grace. There is nothing a man can contribute to get saved, and there is nothing a man can do to stay saved. It is all based on and because of GRACE ALONE! The saved cannot be participants in the Righteousness of Another, but are only recipients of saving Righteousness established by the Obedience of Another, charged to their account and made so by the Grace of God alone. “…by grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8) makes a man a gratuitous recipient, not a reward-earning participant. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4). The clearest evidence of a lost person—apart from an overt unbeliever—is one who works for his salvation. Such a person is NOT saved by Grace, and so is not saved at all. No man can actively engage in successfully attracting that which is based on the mercy of Another. No man can attract that which is wholly undeserved. Salvation is not God reaching out to a man drowning in an ocean of sin, and the man willingly reaching out to God clutching His hand, making the rescue possible so that he may then be pulled to safety. Grace does not wait upon anything a man must do before it can proceed; Grace comes at the command of and in accordance with the will of God. Grace is not an offer; it is a specific action determined solely by the will of God and directed exclusively toward His chosen people. GRACE SAVES THE DEAD AND MAKES THEM ALIVE!! What could Lazarus have done to make Christ’s command for him to come forth effective? Absolutely nothing! So too, the sinner can do nothing to make himself alive; and once alive, there is nothing for him to do. Grace does not take second place to anything done by any dead-to-God man. Grace does not wait in line, nor does it linger in the wings before it can act, for it is put into operation by the executive order of God. Nothing precedes Grace, but the will of God. Nothing can obstruct, delay or prevent its approach to the man it was sent to save. It is not by man’s will and works, but solely by God’s Will and Grace. Salvation is not a team effort; it is not a synergistic collaboration between God and man, but purely the result of the Grace of God at the behest of His Sovereign Will. Salvation is God reaching down to the ocean bed and pulling up a dead man and making him alive again. Believe in the Saviour Jesus Christ for the only Righteousness that will justify you before the Holy and Just God. Reject ALL your efforts at obedience, counting them all as dead works and dung (see Heb. 6:1; 9:14; Phil. 3:8)—repent and look away from them and trust only in HIM, Who has not only charged His people with His Righteousness, but also has had their sins and sinfulness charged to Him.
A saved man is not justified by what he does, but only by Jesus Christ and what He has done for him. The one who does not try to get to Heaven by his own obedience, but by Grace alone, trusting solely in Jesus Christ and HIS Obedience, will be justified; for this reveals the Faith he has as that which God gifts to all His people by His Grace alone—the Faith that believes and trusts only in the Saviour and His Obedience. The man who is truly blessed of God trusts only in Him and is charged with the Righteousness of Christ, and therefore does not ever go about trying to establish a righteousness of his own. The saved man’s zeal for God is not ignorant of God’s Righteousness; therefore, he does not go about trying to establish a righteousness of his own because, by the Grace of God, he has wholly submitted himself to the Righteousness of God alone (see Rom. 10:1-4). AT NO POINT IN A SAVED MAN’S LIFE DOES HE BELIEVE THAT HE WAS EVER SAVED WHILST BELIEVING THAT HIS SALVATION WAS INITIATED OR SUSTAINED BY ANYTHING HE HAD DONE, FOR HE BELIEVES IN SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE. Salvation is not attainable by anything a man does, nor is it sustainable by anything a man does. The saved man is obedient to God, but he does not look to that obedience as that which will save him, help save him, or keep him saved, for the Faith given to him by God trusts only in Him—the Author, Giver and Sustainer of Eternal Life. “And being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation…” (Heb. 5:9); “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith…” (Heb. 12:2). If it is not all by Him, it is not Grace. “Christ Jesus is the Author or efficient cause of our faith; all men are by nature without it; it is not in the power of man to believe of himself; it is a work of omnipotence; it is an instance of the exceeding greatness of the power of God; and it is the operation of Christ, by His Spirit; and the increase of it is from Him, and He is the finisher of it; He gives Himself, and the blessings of His grace, to His people, to maintain and strengthen it; He prays for it, that it fail not; He carries on the work of faith, and will perform it with power; and brings to, and gives that which is the end of it, eternal life, or the salvation of the soul.” The saved do not initiate saving faith, for they are not the authors of it; Christ is. Nor do they maintain their faith; Christ does. SAVED BY GRACE ALONE — BELIEVE BY GRACE ALONE — KEPT BY GRACE ALONE. The salvation of God’s people is eternal, for they are preserved entirely by God’s Grace from beginning to final glory. God’s people are all saved by Him, believe by Him and are kept by Him. Saving Faith takes your eyes off yourself, making you look only to Him.
How is a man saved?
“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). Notice that there is nothing else the Word of God includes by which a man is saved other than Grace. IT IS SALVATION BY GRACE + NOTHING! Only lost, blind and accursed sinners think and believe contrary to this. It is completely by undeserved, unearned—and therefore unmeritable—favour that a man is saved. If there is one thing that mankind has yet to comprehend, it is the fact that man is inherently a sinner with the blackest of hearts. We can all be thankful that we only see the exterior of people, for if we saw the naked heart of sinful man, including our own, we would be paralysed with horror. “The full depth of human sinfulness is so profound that, without the veil of the flesh or the comfort of grace, the sight would be overwhelming (see Rom. 7:24,25)." Mankind is not basically good—a delusion which many desperately cling to—but a veritable pestilence on earth. Just how evil, hopeless, helpless and spiritually dead is mankind? It took God Himself to come to the earth as a Man, to sacrifice His life to wash away His chosen’s sins and establish for each and every one of them the only Righteousness that would justify them before a Holy God. How evil is man and his sin? Those who are not chosen unto salvation by God’s Grace are chosen to experience His Wrath in Hell for all eternity. Nothing a man does is worthy or deserving of merit. All are hopeless without God; hopeless without His Grace. Grace ALONE is that which saves. The reason being is that if anything were to be added to Grace, it would no longer be Grace alone that saves. Anything added to Grace would automatically nullify Grace. Anything added to Grace would be anti-Grace. There is nothing you can add to Grace that can possibly complement Grace. Doing so would be like trying to enhance perfection. “…by grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2:5), reveals that God saves His people by His Gift alone, and not by any of their works at all. You cannot add something of yours to a gift someone else has given you, nor can you do anything to earn the gift. What need is there for any augmentation or supplementation when God’s Word states categorically that salvation is solely by the Grace of God? Indeed, ALL OF SALVATION IS 100% THE SOVEREIGN PREROGATIVE OF GRACE! It is only the unrenewed mind of unsaved people that is trapped in a world where there can be no salvation without a person’s input. They may say salvation is by grace; they may even believe they believe it is by grace, but the grace they refer to is not God’s Grace, for this ‘grace’ can do nothing without a person’s active participation through works of obedience. A ‘grace’ that cannot save without works is no Grace at all.
The salvation of sinners heralds the Grace of God leaving absolutely no room for any sinner to boast about anything he has done. “…by Grace are ye saved through Faith…lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). The saved man boasts in nothing that he has done, for he knows he has done nothing and, therefore, has nothing to boast of. The faith with which the saved man believes in salvation by Grace alone is a GIFT! It is not of the man but “OF GOD”. Faith is not ‘our gift to God’ as one has so foolishly stated, but is God’s gift to His people: it is “…not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Saving faith is not an effort on man’s part, nor is it something which originates within him and activated by his free will, but something which is bestowed by Another solely according to the will of the Bestower and has nothing to do with the will or efforts of the spiritually dead recipient. Free Grace can only come by the free will of the One Who gives it. This reveals the Biblical truth that there is nothing a man can do to will the Grace of God into his life or earn it in any way. How can you make someone give you a gift? If you could coerce someone to give you a gift, it would not be a gift, but a reward for your efforts (see Jn. 1:13; Rom. 4:4; 9:15-18). You cannot force God to act Sovereignly (see Job. 41:11; Isa. 46:10; Dan. 4:35). “God’s actions are determined by His own internal counsel and pleasure, not by external pressure from His creatures.” The Grace of God is completely outside the realm of man; therefore, the Will of God that initiates Grace cannot be prompted or influenced by man. Grace cannot be influenced by anything outside the will of Almighty God. If anything done by man could influence God, then salvation would not be by a Gift, but a reward. “This…underscores the biblical fact that human effort or merit does not contribute to salvation in the slightest degree; rather, it is entirely dependent on God’s grace and His Sovereign will…the recipient of salvation cannot claim credit for their faith, as it is a Divine gift…” “…This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent…Who by Him do believe in God…” (Jn. 6:29 & Jas. 1:18).
No matter how ‘good’ a man may think he is, no matter how many ‘good works’ a man may believe he has done, a man’s ‘goodness’ can never transcend his need to be saved by Grace alone. Nothing a man does, believes he has done, or can potentially do, can ever override the fact that salvation comes only by the Grace of God and is given to whomsoever He has chosen before the foundation of the world to receive it. Salvation is a gift. There is no part of it that must be earned, for there is no part of it that can be earned or maintained by any act of man (see Eph. 2:8,9; Gal. 3:3). “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11:29). “The gift, once given, is not dependent on subsequent human acts to remain valid.” The saved man’s boast is in GOD ALONE, for He has done all that was required to save His people from their sins by GRACE ALONE. GOD IS THEIR SAVIOUR! The principle of salvation by Grace alone is not, ‘Thank you God that I have done because of you’, but ‘Thank you God that YOU have done it all.’ The fundamental truth of salvation, and the meaning of Grace, is summed up perfectly in this next verse: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what HE HATH DONE for my soul” (Psa. 66:16). Man can do nothing for himself that will profit him in any way. It must all be done for him by God the Saviour. What is my testimony? God has saved me, a rotten, no-good, hopeless sinner deserving of nothing but the eternal Wrath of God, by His Grace ALONE through the gift of Faith ALONE in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is not by my works, but only by His Grace; salvation is not by my inherent faith, but only by His Gift of Faith; Salvation is not by my righteousness, but only by Christ’s Righteousness charged, credited, imputed to my account. Salvation by Grace is what God has done for a man, not what He has enabled a man to do for himself. Salvation is solely by what God does, not by anything you do. Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, and therefore, not by any personal efforts of obedience at all. It is not by your obedience because it is by His Grace. Grace and Faith are both of God. Grace saves based on Christ’s Obedience, not yours. Grace does not require your works to save you; it produces good works in you because it has saved you. Those good works do not get you saved or keep you saved; they are merely produced in you because you are saved (see Eph. 2:8-10). They cannot produce salvation, for they are products of salvation. They do not come before salvation, but only after and because of salvation. Grace is the instrument by which God saves His people; it is not some enabling tool that equips them with the desire, means and ability to get themselves saved or contribute in any way to their salvation. Salvation by Grace alone does not require anything from the ones it saves because Grace simply does it all. Grace is God’s proclamation that man can do nothing. Grace does what no man could ever do. That is why election, salvation, and justification are all by Grace alone.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3 ). Until a man is given spiritual life by God through Grace alone, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. When Jesus stated that a man must be born again if he is to enter the Kingdom of God, He was addressing the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who thought that Jesus was referring to a man being born again physically, and commented: “…How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn. 3:4-6). The apostle Paul wrote: “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50 cf. Jn. 3:6); the Lord Jesus declares: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth (‘giveth life, make alive, to restore to life’); the flesh profiteth nothing…” (Jn. 6:63). To be born again is to be made alive, not well, by God according to His will. How can a man be made alive according to his ‘free will’ when he is dead? How can a man have any free will in matters spiritual when he is spiritually dead and therefore does not have any innate ability to understand the things of God? (see 1 Cor. 2:14). Man does not need to be born again physically, for he is already physically alive. Restarting one’s physical life would not do a single thing to alleviate man of his sinful human nature, nor would it make him a new creature in Christ. The Lord Jesus was speaking about being born again spiritually, of being made spiritually alive again by God. Clearly, needing to be made spiritually alive—born again—evidences the fact that man by nature is currently spiritually dead, and it completely negates any and all arguments that he isn’t. Why would you require a thing if you already had it? Why would you need life if you already possessed it? WHY WOULD YOU NEED TO BE MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST IF YOU ARE ALREADY ALIVE IN ADAM? “…in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22 cf. Gen. 2:16,17; Eph. 2:1,5). A born-again man is a man who was spiritually dead but who has now been restored to spiritual life by the Grace of God according to His free will. “And you hath HE quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). This is a miracle of God! Far from salvation being something within the reach of dead man’s alleged free will, it requires a miracle of God to bring spiritual life to a man, and it is all done by Grace alone. Once you are made spiritually alive, you are eternally alive to the True God, for your sins—PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE—have been washed away, abolished, and you are eternally justified, having God’s own eternal Righteousness imputed to you. “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...” (Rom. 8:33-35). The saved are eternally and immutably bound to God because of His love for them, not their love for Him (see 1 Jn. 4:19). God alone is the One that makes His people alive again to Him by Grace alone. IT IS HIS WILL, IT IS HIS CHOICE, IT IS HIS WORK AND IT IS EVERLASTING.
The need to be born again, made alive by God, is a teaching that no one can biblically deny, and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that prior to this, man is in a hopeless, helpless, extreme state of utter spiritual death. That a man must be made spiritually alive is a doctrinal fact that does not merely imply that man is dead; IT THUNDEROUSLY PROCLAIMS THAT MAN IS DEAD! A man must be made alive from the dead if he is to enter the Kingdom of God. If, therefore, a man must be made alive, he must first be dead. Indeed, any man who has been made spiritually alive again by the Hand of God, was previously spiritually dead and readily admits this. No man is physically created spiritually alive, and so must be made spiritually alive after he has been physically born. If salvation is being made spiritually alive by God, then what, pray tell, condition can any man be in prior to salvation if it is not spiritually dead? If spiritual life is needed, then clearly man in his natural condition is without spiritual life. What can the opposite of life—existence without life—possibly be other than death, a state of non-life? What can life, being alive, be juxtaposed with apart from death? What other polar opposite to life can there be but death? If one is to be made spiritually alive by God, one must, prior to this, be spiritually dead. If you claim not to be spiritually dead—if you do not subscribe to God’s promise to Adam that “…thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17)—then you are clearly an advocate of Satan’s lie to Eve: “…Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). Man is not sick in Adam, but is DEAD: “…in Adam all die…” Man is not made well in Christ, but “in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22 cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). You can never legitimately claim to have been made spiritually alive, to have been born again, if you do not believe you were spiritually dead. There is no logical or rational argument to support the biblically unfounded claim that those who have been made alive were alive to begin with. If you have been made alive you were dead. If you are dead you need to be made alive. “And you hath He quickened (regenerated, made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1); “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by Grace ye are saved;)” (Eph. 2:4,5). Rehabilitation is not the way to eternal life, but only by Grace-fuelled regeneration can a man enter Heaven. If you claim to have been made spiritually alive in Christ, you WILL NOT deny that you were—to begin with—spiritually dead in Adam and in your own sins and trespasses. Those who say they never were spiritually dead invariably rely in some way, to some degree, on what they have done or do to get saved or ‘remain’ saved. Such people deny the very need to be born again.
As all by nature are spiritually dead—having inherited this condition from the federal head and covenantal representative of mankind, Adam (see Rom. 5:12-21), and evidencing this state through personal sins, trespasses and physical death—everything necessarily and logically depends upon the will and grace of God to save—make alive— whomsoever He has chosen. It’s not by what you do at all (for what can a dead man do), but solely by what God does: God is the Saviour. How can a saved person have saved himself or contributed anything to his salvation, when God alone is the Saviour! “…beside Me there is no Saviour” (Isa. 43:11 cf. Acts 4:12). God does not save those who were saveable; He saves those who were dead! “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Eph. 2:4,5). What else could have saved the dead but Grace alone? “A dead person cannot contribute to their own resurrection, making grace the only logical means of rescue.” There is nothing anyone can do—including yourself—that can save you, except the one and only Saviour: the Lord God Jesus Christ. Before one is made alive in Christ by the Grace of God, one is dead in Adam. You cannot choose to be made alive. The dead cannot choose. A dead man cannot choose to be made alive. This is done solely by the Grace of God, according to His will for whomsoever HE chooses. God alone is the Saviour means His people are saved by what God alone has done. What kind of nonsense is it which says, ‘God is the only Saviour, but He needs your cooperation to save you’? If something needed to be done by anyone else, God would not be the Saviour, but only a co-Saviour, an assistant saviour. Salvation would not be by Grace alone, but by Grace and…; not by God alone, but by God and… Since the absurdity of such a proposition is supremely obvious, running contrary to Scripture—what God says of Himself—there is no Saviour but God. This means no one can do anything to save themselves or maintain their saved state. “…beside Me there is no Saviour…” (Isa. 43:11) not only means God is the only One that saves, but there is nothing anyone else can do that can possibly assist in their salvation. The requirement to be made alive confirms the fact man is dead. God alone is the One Who saves His people from their sins (see Matt. 1:21). They are not accepted by Him because of anything they have done or because of anything He has enabled them to do, for He alone is the One Who has made them accepted by Grace (see Eph. 1:6), through the gift of Faith in Jesus Christ and His Righteousness imputed to them and their sins being imputed to Him. It is not by Righteousness earned, but Righteousness imputed; not by your obedience, but only by His Obedience. They are saved not because of who they are or by what they have done, but solely and completely because of Who God is and only by what God as the only Saviour has done. Saved by Grace, not works — saved by God, not yourselves. How can a dead man make himself alive? How can a dead man shatter the unbreakable shackles of spiritual death? How can a man do anything to bring about his salvation when he is spiritually dead in his sins and does not even know, let alone seek the True God?
God is the 100% Saviour of His people. They were dead, and it is He Who makes them alive. PERIOD! God saves; He does not enable anyone to save themselves or to participate in their salvation at all. The only way they could participate is if they were alive, but being alive is the sign someone has been saved by Grace alone: “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Eph. 2:4,5). The only way to be made spiritually alive is by Grace alone. When salvation is by Grace, there is no need for works of any kind. “For by Grace are ye saved…And if by Grace, then is it no more of works…” (Eph. 2:8 & Rom. 11:6). If this were not so, salvation would not/could not be by an unmerited favour, nor could justification be solely by the Obedience of the Saviour. How can the dead participate in anything? How can the dead do anything to come alive? The brainwashed do not know they are brainwashed; the deceived do not realise they are deceived and the spiritually dead do not believe they are spiritually dead UNTIL THEY ARE MADE ALIVE BY GRACE. The saved man is made alive from the dead by Grace alone. Of course it is by Grace alone, for the dead are dead! Just like Nicodemus in John 3, they do not even know they are dead and in need of being born again—made a new creature in Christ Jesus—something which can only be done by the will, grace, mercy, purpose and power of Almighty God at His discretion. God saving by His Grace is God saving by what He alone does. God saving by His Grace is God saving by what man cannot do. God does not enable anyone by Grace to meet any criteria to save themselves, or so God can then save them according to their successfully meeting a particular condition or conditions. Yes, salvation is by Grace through Faith, but that Faith is a gift from God, not a work of man’s. If Faith were a work of man’s it would nullify the very need for Grace. If man had the capacity to believe in the True God—the free will to choose to believe—of what need would there be for Grace? If man were free to believe, he would not need Grace! If man had an inherent free will to believe, he would not need the GIFT of Faith in order to believe in the one True God. If all man needed was for God to activate what was already within him, then at best man would be saved by some assistance from God through the faith that WAS always inherent in him, rather than it being a gift given by the means of Grace alone. However, the Scriptures are perfectly clear: “…by grace are ye saved through faith; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD” (Eph. 2:8). Salvation is by Grace through nothing that is within, or natural to, man. Salvation by Grace alone is a supernatural act of God. “This supernatural act of God—a Divine palingenesia (regeneration) is where the Holy Spirit imparts new life to those who were spiritually dead. This ‘washing of regeneration’ (Titus 3:5) is not a repair of the old nature, but the creation of a new one, accomplished entirely by the will and power of Almighty God.” We know “…and that not of yourselves…” (Eph. 2:8) is not referring to Grace here, for Grace is undeserved favour; therefore, it must be Faith, through which Grace saves, that is specifically pointed out as being not of ourselves—not of human origin. No man, by free will, has ever believed in the one True God; for by that free will, his only recourse is a faith that is blind to the True God. Grace saves only through the GIFT of Faith.
Saving Faith is according to the free will of God to give it, not according to the free will of man to receive it. ONLY GRACE MAKES THIS HAPPEN. Natural man believes free will is his saviour—that hope lies within him; yet in truth, the free will of man is trapped. It is encased within his sinful, spiritually dead nature that cannot be broken through from the inside. The reality is that no man, left to his own devices, can, or ever will, come to the True God (see Jn. 6:37,44,65). Jesus’ words to those who believed they were Christians, but in reality were not, show conclusively that no one knows the True God unless God knows them: “Many will say unto 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. 7:22,23). Those whose trust is in their works, yet believe they have been saved by grace, will always defer to their works as grounds for justification. The free will these people possessed convinced them that they did believe in Jesus, that they were serving the True God; however, the fact that Jesus did not know them shows that their ‘Christianity’ was nothing but an illusion, evidenced by their appeal to their works rather than solely to the Grace of God. They did not mention His Grace—only their works. Such was the case with the Pharisee In Luke 18 who said: “…God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess” (Lk. 18:11,12). All the publican prayed was: “…God be merciful to me a sinner” (Lk. 18:13). The Lord Jesus judged this man, the publican, as justified: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Lk. 18:14). An appeal to works—to what you have done—is to glorify and exalt oneself before God. No such appeal can justify a man before God. Exalting oneself through an appeal to works can never justify a man before God. A total and complete reliance upon God—His Mercy and His Grace—is the evidence that a man is blessed of God and justified before Him (see also Prov. 14:12). The false Christians of Matthew 7 and the Pharisee in Luke 18 were never born again, never born of the Spirit, and never saved by Grace through the GIFT of Faith. This in turn reveals the undeniable fact that the only faith they had was their own—the only faith that free will can ever provide a man with: the faith of the flesh!
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…” (Rev. 12:9 cf. Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:13-15). Satan is the great propagandist, the bearer and promulgator of fake news and the twister of truth that only serves to reinforce the self-deception man is under via his spiritually dead state. “The false gospels of works is the primary tool of that deception.” Far from being a noble endeavour, seeking justification by one’s own obedience is the prime evidence that one is under a curse. It is the ultimate in satanic practices. The just shall not live by works, but by Faith alone: “…The just shall live by Faith” (Rom. 1:17), for “…by Grace (they) are saved” (Eph. 2:5). “And by Him (Jesus) all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). Self-righteousness is self-reliance. Satan placed himself before God (see Isa. 14:13,14), and everyone who seeks justification, even in part, based on their own righteousness—their own obedience to God’s law—is doing precisely the same thing. Justification before God is found only in Jesus Christ, not in yourself. “…as many as seek for justification by the works of the law, and trust in their own righteousness for acceptance with God, these are so far from being blessed or justified hereby, that they are under the curse….nor is it practicable for fallen man to fulfil the law of works, and if he fails but in one point, he is guilty of all, and is so pronounced by the law ‘For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all’ (Jas. 2:10); and he stands before God convicted, his mouth stopped, and he condemned and cursed by that very law he seeks for righteousness by the deeds of…” Man attempting to obey the law to the point of perfection—for that is obviously what the law demands (see Jas. 2:10)—makes as much sense as black paint trying to make itself white. “The nature of the thing itself cannot produce its opposite” (see Jer. 13:23).
The following provides further incontrovertible evidence that the only obedience/Righteousness that does justify a man before the God of Holiness and Justice is that of the Lord Jesus Christ coupled with no other’s: “…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). In other words, it is by the Obedience of Jesus Christ, not the obedience of the saved, that a man stands Righteous before God. It is by Grace through Faith, NOT works. It is by FAITH IN CHRIST, not by faith in you. It is by trusting His Righteousness alone, not your obedience at all. the God-given gift of Faith in Christ places one’s complete trust in Him and what He has done, and has absolutely no trust in you or in anything that you have done. Note the clear contradistinction, in Galatians 2, between faith in Christ as opposed to justification by works (personal obedience). The two can never be joined, they cannot be merged, there can never be any compromise. No one was ever or will ever be justified before God by what they do. The apostle Paul wanted to be found in Christ “…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). It is not difficult to see the sharp contrast, the clear and distinct line that separates a man’s obedience (attempting to perform the works of the law) and being justified by the faith of Christ, or, faith in Christ and His Righteousness alone. People simply do not realize that the obedience one is attempting to perform in order to ‘get right with God’ must be perfect! The fact that no man’s obedience is ever perfect is clearly established in the following Scripture: “…every man at his best state is altogether vanity…surely every man is vanity” (Psa. 39:5,11).
It is no Biblical, saving faith in Christ if it is not in His Righteousness alone. If your faith is not in Christ’s Righteousness alone, it is not in Him at all, for it is not the gift God gives to all His people. Attempting to join your obedience with that of Christ’s, far from being some noble act, cancels out any legitimate appeal to the Righteousness of the Saviour, just as attempting to annex your works of obedience to God’s Grace is a repudiation of Grace and the God Who only saves by it. Combining your obedience with that of Christ makes you as reliant upon yourself as you claim to be on Him; it makes you a co-saviour. God has no co-pilot. No one claiming to be a Christian believes in an assistant saviour to Jesus or in any supplementary act that must be added to what the Saviour has done, yet that is precisely what those who believe that their obedience is a necessary contingency to the Obedience of Christ in obtaining salvation are doing. True Christians are, and believe they are “…COMPLETE in Him…” (Col. 2:10). “If we are ‘complete’ in Him, any supplement is effectively a denial of that completeness. Satan’s goal is to make the believer feel incomplete in Christ so they look to themselves.” If you still insist that your works are essential in getting saved and/or maintaining salvation, then you will not be justified. Clearly, no one will be justified based on their attempted obedience to the law of God, for an imperfect obedience is no obedience at all, and is most assuredly not a path to Justifying Righteousness. “This reflects the ‘Law of Negation’. In a legal or Divine sense, if a standard is 100%, then 99% is not mostly right; it is completely wrong” (see Jas. 2:10). Justification does not require your best efforts; its demands stretch far beyond anything sinful humanity can offer: JUSTIFICATION DEMANDS PERFECTION! This is why the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Saviour, not you. Justification comes only by the gift of Grace, which provides the gift of the only Faith that believes in Jesus Christ and His Righteousness alone. Nothing you do—no amount of perceived obedience to His Law—can justify you. The Holy God does not/cannot justify you based on what you do, for “…every man AT HIS BEST state is altogether VANITY…and all our righteousnesses are as FILTHY RAGS…” (Psa. 39:5; Isa. 64:6). The problem is not only that you sin, but that you are a cursed, unholy, sinner spiritually dead who needs to be made alive again—born again by the Grace of God through Faith in the Gospel of God wherein the Righteousness of Jesus Christ is revealed. Hope does not come from within, but from without. The Living Hope does not emanate from you, but from God alone (see 1 Pet. 1:3-5).
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for Righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness WITHOUT works” (Rom. 4:5,6). The truly blessed man is he who knows that no work of his can gain him any favour with God, and that it is only by Faith in God and HIS Righteousness alone that a man stands justified before Him. The Righteousness by which a man is justified before God is imputed; thus, it is utterly devoid of any attempts at personal obedience. This Righteousness is God’s; therefore, it can only be imputed to a man, for it comes solely by the Obedience of the Saviour. “The Righteousness that justifies is utterly devoid of human effort. Because this Righteousness belongs to God alone, it can only be imputed to man—the fruit of the Saviour’s perfect Obedience. Righteousness is credited to the believer’s account. It is an external (alien) Righteousness that belongs to Christ.” “This righteousness cannot be the righteousness of the law, or man’s obedience to it; for that is a righteousness with works, is a man’s own, and not imputed; and indeed is not a righteousness in the sight of God: nor does man’s blessedness lie in, or come by it; no man is, or can be instilled by it, nor saved by it, or attain to heaven and eternal happiness by the means of it; but the righteousness here spoken of is the Righteousness of Christ, called the Righteousness of God; and is better than that of angels or men; is complete and perfect; by which the law is honoured, and justice is satisfied. This is freely bestowed, and graciously imputed by God. Just in the same way His Righteousness becomes ours, as Adam’s sin did, which is by imputation; or in the same way that our sins became Christ’s, His Righteousness becomes ours (see 2 Cor. 5:21 cf. Rom. 5:21); and as we have no righteousness of our own when God justifies us, this must be done by the Righteousness of Another; and that can be done no other way by the Righteousness of Another, than by imputing it to us: and which is done ‘without works’; not without the works of Christ, of which this Righteousness consists; but without the works of the creature, or any consideration of them, which are utterly excluded from justification; for if these came into account, it would not be of grace, and boasting would not be removed. Now such who have this Righteousness thus imputed to them, are happy persons; they are justified from all sin, and freed from all condemnation; their persons and services are acceptable to God; it will be always well with them; they are heirs of glory, and shall enjoy it.”
There is no room—nor any requirement for—your imperfect obedience in the Justifying Righteousness that was achieved and established by the Perfect Obedience of Jesus Christ alone. Justification is completely repulsed by a man’s attempts to attain it; it recoils at the vanity of man’s sincerest attempts at attracting it, at the filthy rags of a man’s righteousnesses, for it can only accept the perfect Obedience of the Saviour Jesus Christ Who alone has established the perfect Righteousness that the salvation of a man cannot do without. Salvation is a gift. The Righteousness that saves does not include anything you have done, and you do not have that Righteousness if your hope for salvation is based in whole or in part on anything you have done. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Rom. 4:8), for that man’s sin has been imputed to Christ’s account, and His Righteousness charged to the account of the blessed man: “…David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness WITHOUT works” (Rom. 4:5,6 cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). Eternal life is a gift, and Justifying Righteousness can only be imputed, not earned; therefore, salvation is by Grace alone. The only man to whom God will not impute sin is the man He has imputed Christ’s Righteousness to. If you have faith in your righteousness established by your own obedience—rather than, as well as, and/or instead of, or in place of, Christ’s Righteousness, then your sins remain charged to you. If you have faith in the Righteousness of Christ alone—thus utterly rejecting your own obedience/righteousness as forming any part of the ground or means to your justification—this is evidence that your sins have been charged to Him. If you have faith in your righteousness, you have not the Faith which God gifts to all His people and which only looks to HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS as that which alone justifies. It is God that justifies the ungodly by Grace alone, for the ungodly can never justify themselves by works. It is God that saves His people by Grace alone, for they could never save themselves by works at all. Saving Righteousness is given to the chosen of God not because of their works, but entirely WITHOUT their works! That is Grace. The Righteousness that saves and justifies is WITHOUT YOUR OBEDIENCE; IT DOES NOT REQUIRE OR AWAIT YOUR OBEDIENCE, FOR IT COMES ONLY BY THE OBEDIENCE OF ONE! (see Rom. 5:19). The obedience of man is a vain thing when it comes to his justification before God.
“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). Christ died as a Sacrifice to God for the sins of His people, and as a Substitute for the Righteous salvation of His chosen ones. Writing to the saints at Ephesus, the apostle Paul stated that Christ Jesus “…hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God…” (Eph. 5:2). He took their sins and gave them His Righteousness: “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). You can only have the saving Righteousness of God if your sins have been charged to His Son. Likewise, you can only have had your sins charged to God’s Son, if you evidence the gift of Faith which believes solely in His Righteousness ALONE charged to you as the ground of your salvation. “…to be made the Righteousness of God, is to be made Righteous in the sight of God, by the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ. Just as Christ is made sin, or a sin offering (see Rom. 8:3)…so they are made Righteousness, or Righteous persons, through the imputation of His Righteousness to them; AND IN NO OTHER WAY CAN THE ONE BE MADE SIN, OR THE OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS.” As Christ was sinless yet charged with His people’s sins, likewise, the Christian is not Righteous because of any perceived good works. Christ, the sinless One, was charged with the sins of God’s chosen, just as they—the sinful ones—are credited with His Righteousness. Just as there was no inherent sin in Christ, likewise, there is no inherent Righteousness in His people. Sin was imputed to Christ Who did not commit it; Righteousness is imputed to His people who did not earn it. So many professing Christians claim that their sins have been charged to Christ—that He has taken away their sins—and yet they attempt to establish a justifying righteousness by their own obedience. How can this be an expression of faith in His Righteousness alone as that which justifies? This is as foolish and heretical as believing Christ has charged you with His Righteousness, but insisting that you must wash away your sins! To all such people, 2 Corinthians 5:21 simply does not apply (see also Isa. 53:6; 61:10; Rom. 5:18,19; 10:3; Col. 2:14). “There exists a massive ‘theological cognitive dissonance’ in the modern ‘church’: the idea that one can accept Christ’s sacrifice for the negative (the removal of sin) while rejecting His performance for the positive (the provision of righteousness). If you trust Christ for the removal of debt, you must also trust Him for the deposit of wealth. To claim Christ's death is sufficient to pay for sin, but His life is insufficient to provide Righteousness, is to divide His work. It effectively says, ‘Jesus got me out of Hell, but I have to get myself into Heaven’."
Those who cultivate and maintain hope in their ‘good’ works of obedience for righteousness unto salvation fail to realise the evil of those works; for they are all imperfect because of the intrinsic sinful nature of man, and, therefore, totally unacceptable. Worst of all, these ‘good works’ blasphemously supplant the glorious Righteousness of Christ, which has been—and could only have been—established by HIS Obedience. You cannot pick and choose what you have done and present those ‘good’ things to God and leave the bad things behind. Even if a man’s good deeds could establish the Righteousness needed to pass into Heaven, how does a man abolish his own sins, and also eliminate the fact he is a sinner? If you’re going to establish a righteousness of your own, you must also eliminate your sins and inherent sinfulness. Scripture makes it perfectly clear that, “…without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22 cf. Rom. 3:25), and without the Obedience of Christ there is no justification (see Rom. 5:19). “…there was no typical remission without the shedding of blood; and there can be no real remission but by, the blood of Christ; no instance can be given of pardon without it; if it could have been otherwise, the blood of Christ had not been shed; for so it would seem to be shed in vain, and His satisfaction to be unnecessary; nor is it agreeable to the justice of God to forgive sin without satisfaction; nor is it consistent with His veracity, and faithfulness to His Word.” “…by His own blood He entered in once into the Holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12 cf. Heb. 9:14). “…feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own Blood” (Acts 20:28); “…the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7). Now, if the death of Christ—signified by the shedding of His blood—was indispensably essential to obtaining the sure redemption of His people, then, seeing that Christ alone is the Saviour, it must also be that Justifying Righteousness is established solely by the equally fundamental Obedience of Christ, without any supplementation from one’s own obedience to make it complete and, therefore, effective. Christ needed absolutely no assistance from His people to redeem them from their sins; why, then, would He require even the smallest amount of obedience from His people to assist in establishing a Justifying Righteousness that could only ever have been achieved by HIS Obedience alone? You either go to God with His Son’s Righteousness charged to you and your sins charged to Him, or you go to Him with everything you have ever done, ‘good’ and bad, for if you have not His Righteousness you must bear the weight of having failed to establish a righteousness acceptable to God, and the eternal consequences of having died in your sins. Just as Christ’s death—and no other’s—was essential to the redemption of His people, so too, Christ’s Righteousness—and no other’s—is indispensable for their Justification.
Jesus said: “…ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). If you do not believe in the Person and Work of the Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, make no mistake: you will die in your sins. Without faith in the imputation of Christ’s Righteousness, your sins remain charged to you. Imputation is the key: the means of Christ being made to be sin and His people the very Righteousness of God. “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). The sinless One was made to be sin—or a sin-offering—Who had no sin, for His people who had no Righteousness. There could never have been salvation for anyone were it not for Imputation. No one who believes they are Righteous because of their own obedience has been imputed with the Righteousness of Christ; therefore, their sins remain charged to them. If you reject the offering of Christ to the Father for His people, your sins remain charged to you. Likewise, if your faith is in your obedience—even to the smallest degree—you reject the Righteousness of Christ as that which alone justifies. “To rely on personal obedience is, by definition, to fall from grace in a judicial sense—meaning you have exited the system of grace and entered the system of the Law, where you are then ‘debtor to do the whole law’ (Gal. 5:3).” It is not righteousness worked for, but Faith in the Righteousness of Another freely imputed, or charged to you, by Another, that reveals the blessing of God’s Grace upon you. “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth Righteousness without works” (Rom. 4:6). If it is without works, then Election, Justification and Salvation can only be by Grace alone. There is—because there can be—no other viable alternative (see Rom. 11:6). It is all by the Saviour, or it must be all by you. If the only way a man’s sin can be properly and judicially dealt with by God is for it to be charged to the Saviour, then it stands to Biblical reason that the only way for a sinner to be justified before God is if that sinner has been charged with the Righteousness of the Saviour. All God’s chosen know that their sins and sinfulness could not have been effectively washed away but by the Blood of the Saviour, just as they all know and believe that the only way they stand justified in the sight of God is by the very Righteousness of God and not their own (see Rev. 1:5; Rom. 3:22; Phil. 3:9). No sin can be dealt with by the sinner, just as no Righteousness can be earned by the sinner. It is ALL by imputation (see Rom. 4:4-8).
Salvation is no partnered endeavour; it is solely the work of the Saviour from beginning to end. No man can be a functional participant—an active contributor—in his salvation, for all men are dead in sins; therefore, they are dead to the True and only God and know not God. They cannot be saved by works, but only by Grace. There is nothing a man can contribute to get saved, and there is nothing a man can do to stay saved. It is all based on and because of GRACE ALONE! The saved cannot be participants in the Righteousness of Another, but are only recipients of saving Righteousness established by the Obedience of Another, charged to their account and made so by the Grace of God alone. “…by grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8) makes a man a gratuitous recipient, not a reward-earning participant. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4). The clearest evidence of a lost person—apart from an overt unbeliever—is one who works for his salvation. Such a person is NOT saved by Grace, and so is not saved at all. No man can actively engage in successfully attracting that which is based on the mercy of Another. No man can attract that which is wholly undeserved. Salvation is not God reaching out to a man drowning in an ocean of sin, and the man willingly reaching out to God clutching His hand, making the rescue possible so that he may then be pulled to safety. Grace does not wait upon anything a man must do before it can proceed; Grace comes at the command of and in accordance with the will of God. Grace is not an offer; it is a specific action determined solely by the will of God and directed exclusively toward His chosen people. GRACE SAVES THE DEAD AND MAKES THEM ALIVE!! What could Lazarus have done to make Christ’s command for him to come forth effective? Absolutely nothing! So too, the sinner can do nothing to make himself alive; and once alive, there is nothing for him to do. Grace does not take second place to anything done by any dead-to-God man. Grace does not wait in line, nor does it linger in the wings before it can act, for it is put into operation by the executive order of God. Nothing precedes Grace, but the will of God. Nothing can obstruct, delay or prevent its approach to the man it was sent to save. It is not by man’s will and works, but solely by God’s Will and Grace. Salvation is not a team effort; it is not a synergistic collaboration between God and man, but purely the result of the Grace of God at the behest of His Sovereign Will. Salvation is God reaching down to the ocean bed and pulling up a dead man and making him alive again. Believe in the Saviour Jesus Christ for the only Righteousness that will justify you before the Holy and Just God. Reject ALL your efforts at obedience, counting them all as dead works and dung (see Heb. 6:1; 9:14; Phil. 3:8)—repent and look away from them and trust only in HIM, Who has not only charged His people with His Righteousness, but also has had their sins and sinfulness charged to Him.
A saved man is not justified by what he does, but only by Jesus Christ and what He has done for him. The one who does not try to get to Heaven by his own obedience, but by Grace alone, trusting solely in Jesus Christ and HIS Obedience, will be justified; for this reveals the Faith he has as that which God gifts to all His people by His Grace alone—the Faith that believes and trusts only in the Saviour and His Obedience. The man who is truly blessed of God trusts only in Him and is charged with the Righteousness of Christ, and therefore does not ever go about trying to establish a righteousness of his own. The saved man’s zeal for God is not ignorant of God’s Righteousness; therefore, he does not go about trying to establish a righteousness of his own because, by the Grace of God, he has wholly submitted himself to the Righteousness of God alone (see Rom. 10:1-4). AT NO POINT IN A SAVED MAN’S LIFE DOES HE BELIEVE THAT HE WAS EVER SAVED WHILST BELIEVING THAT HIS SALVATION WAS INITIATED OR SUSTAINED BY ANYTHING HE HAD DONE, FOR HE BELIEVES IN SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE. Salvation is not attainable by anything a man does, nor is it sustainable by anything a man does. The saved man is obedient to God, but he does not look to that obedience as that which will save him, help save him, or keep him saved, for the Faith given to him by God trusts only in Him—the Author, Giver and Sustainer of Eternal Life. “And being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation…” (Heb. 5:9); “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith…” (Heb. 12:2). If it is not all by Him, it is not Grace. “Christ Jesus is the Author or efficient cause of our faith; all men are by nature without it; it is not in the power of man to believe of himself; it is a work of omnipotence; it is an instance of the exceeding greatness of the power of God; and it is the operation of Christ, by His Spirit; and the increase of it is from Him, and He is the finisher of it; He gives Himself, and the blessings of His grace, to His people, to maintain and strengthen it; He prays for it, that it fail not; He carries on the work of faith, and will perform it with power; and brings to, and gives that which is the end of it, eternal life, or the salvation of the soul.” The saved do not initiate saving faith, for they are not the authors of it; Christ is. Nor do they maintain their faith; Christ does. SAVED BY GRACE ALONE — BELIEVE BY GRACE ALONE — KEPT BY GRACE ALONE. The salvation of God’s people is eternal, for they are preserved entirely by God’s Grace from beginning to final glory. God’s people are all saved by Him, believe by Him and are kept by Him. Saving Faith takes your eyes off yourself, making you look only to Him.
How is a man saved?
“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). Notice that there is nothing else the Word of God includes by which a man is saved other than Grace. IT IS SALVATION BY GRACE + NOTHING! Only lost, blind and accursed sinners think and believe contrary to this. It is completely by undeserved, unearned—and therefore unmeritable—favour that a man is saved. If there is one thing that mankind has yet to comprehend, it is the fact that man is inherently a sinner with the blackest of hearts. We can all be thankful that we only see the exterior of people, for if we saw the naked heart of sinful man, including our own, we would be paralysed with horror. “The full depth of human sinfulness is so profound that, without the veil of the flesh or the comfort of grace, the sight would be overwhelming (see Rom. 7:24,25)." Mankind is not basically good—a delusion which many desperately cling to—but a veritable pestilence on earth. Just how evil, hopeless, helpless and spiritually dead is mankind? It took God Himself to come to the earth as a Man, to sacrifice His life to wash away His chosen’s sins and establish for each and every one of them the only Righteousness that would justify them before a Holy God. How evil is man and his sin? Those who are not chosen unto salvation by God’s Grace are chosen to experience His Wrath in Hell for all eternity. Nothing a man does is worthy or deserving of merit. All are hopeless without God; hopeless without His Grace. Grace ALONE is that which saves. The reason being is that if anything were to be added to Grace, it would no longer be Grace alone that saves. Anything added to Grace would automatically nullify Grace. Anything added to Grace would be anti-Grace. There is nothing you can add to Grace that can possibly complement Grace. “…by grace ye are saved” (Eph. 2:5), reveals that God saves His people by His Gift alone, and not by any of their works at all. You cannot add something of yours to a gift someone else has given you, nor can you do anything to earn the gift. What need is there for any augmentation or supplementation when God’s Word states categorically that salvation is solely by the Grace of God? Indeed, ALL OF SALVATION IS 100% THE SOVEREIGN PREROGATIVE OF GRACE! It is only the unrenewed mind of unsaved people that is trapped in a world where there can be no salvation without a person’s input. They may say salvation is by grace; they may even believe they believe it is by grace, but the grace they refer to is not God’s Grace, for this ‘grace’ can do nothing without a person’s active participation through works of obedience. A ‘grace’ that cannot save without works is no Grace at all.
The salvation of sinners heralds the Grace of God leaving absolutely no room for any sinner to boast about anything he has done. “…by Grace are ye saved through Faith…lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9). The saved man boasts in nothing that he has done, for he knows he has done nothing and, therefore, has nothing to boast of. The faith with which the saved man believes in salvation by Grace alone is a GIFT! It is not of the man but “OF GOD”. Faith is not ‘our gift to God’ as one has so foolishly stated, but is God’s gift to His people: it is “…not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Saving faith is not an effort on man’s part, nor is it something which originates within him and activated by his free will, but something which is bestowed by Another solely according to the will of the Bestower and has nothing to do with the will or efforts of the spiritually dead recipient. Free Grace can only come by the free will of the One Who gives it. This reveals the Biblical truth that there is nothing a man can do to will the Grace of God into his life or earn it in any way. How can you make someone give you a gift? If you could coerce someone to give you a gift, it would not be a gift, but a reward for your efforts (see Jn. 1:13; Rom. 4:4; 9:15-18). You cannot force God to act Sovereignly (see Job. 41:11; Isa. 46:10; Dan. 4:35). “God’s actions are determined by His own internal counsel and pleasure, not by external pressure from His creatures.” The Grace of God is completely outside the realm of man; therefore, the Will of God that initiates Grace cannot be prompted or influenced by man. Grace cannot be influenced by anything outside the will of Almighty God. If anything done by man could influence God, then salvation would not be by a Gift, but a reward. “This…underscores the biblical fact that human effort or merit does not contribute to salvation in the slightest degree; rather, it is entirely dependent on God’s grace and His Sovereign will…the recipient of salvation cannot claim credit for their faith, as it is a Divine gift…” “…This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent…Who by Him do believe in God…” (Jn. 6:29 & Jas. 1:18).
No matter how ‘good’ a man may think he is, no matter how many ‘good works’ a man may believe he has done, a man’s ‘goodness’ can never transcend his need to be saved by Grace alone. Nothing a man does, believes he has done, or can potentially do, can ever override the fact that salvation comes only by the Grace of God and is given to whomsoever He has chosen before the foundation of the world to receive it. Salvation is a gift. There is no part of it that must be earned, for there is no part of it that can be earned or maintained by any act of man (see Eph. 2:8,9; Gal. 3:3). “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11:29). “The gift, once given, is not dependent on subsequent human acts to remain valid.” The saved man’s boast is in GOD ALONE, for He has done all that was required to save His people from their sins by GRACE ALONE. GOD IS THEIR SAVIOUR! The principle of salvation by Grace alone is not, ‘Thank you God that I have done because of you’, but ‘Thank you God that YOU have done it all.’ The fundamental truth of salvation, and the meaning of Grace, is summed up perfectly in this next verse: “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what HE HATH DONE for my soul” (Psa. 66:16). Man can do nothing for himself that will profit him in any way. It must all be done for him by God the Saviour. What is my testimony? God has saved me, a rotten, no-good, hopeless sinner deserving of nothing but the eternal Wrath of God, by His Grace ALONE through the gift of Faith ALONE in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is not by my works, but only by His Grace; salvation is not by my inherent faith, but only by His Gift of Faith; Salvation is not by my righteousness, but only by Christ’s Righteousness charged, credited, imputed to my account. Salvation by Grace is what God has done for a man, not what He has enabled a man to do for himself. Salvation is solely by what God does, not by anything you do. Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone, and therefore, not by any personal efforts of obedience at all. It is not by your obedience because it is by His Grace. Grace and Faith are both of God. Grace saves based on Christ’s Obedience, not yours. Grace does not require your works to save you; it produces good works in you because it has saved you. Those good works do not get you saved or keep you saved; they are merely produced in you because you are saved (see Eph. 2:8-10). They cannot produce salvation, for they are products of salvation. They do not come before salvation, but only after and because of salvation. Grace is the instrument by which God saves His people; it is not some enabling tool that equips them with the desire, means and ability to get themselves saved or contribute in any way to their salvation. Salvation by Grace alone does not require anything from the ones it saves because Grace simply does it all. Grace is God’s proclamation that man can do nothing. Grace does what no man could ever do. That is why election, salvation, and justification are all by Grace alone.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3 ). Until a man is given spiritual life by God through Grace alone, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. When Jesus stated that a man must be born again if he is to enter the Kingdom of God, He was addressing the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who thought that Jesus was referring to a man being born again physically, and commented: “…How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Jn. 3:4-6). The apostle Paul wrote: “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50 cf. Jn. 3:6); the Lord Jesus declares: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth (‘giveth life, make alive, to restore to life’); the flesh profiteth nothing…” (Jn. 6:63). To be born again is to be made alive, not well, by God according to His will. How can a man be made alive according to his ‘free will’ when he is dead? How can a man have any free will in matters spiritual when he is spiritually dead and therefore does not have any innate ability to understand the things of God? (see 1 Cor. 2:14). Man does not need to be born again physically, for he is already physically alive. Restarting one’s physical life would not do a single thing to alleviate man of his sinful human nature, nor would it make him a new creature in Christ. The Lord Jesus was speaking about being born again spiritually, of being made spiritually alive again by God. Clearly, needing to be made spiritually alive—born again—evidences the fact that man by nature is currently spiritually dead, and it completely negates any and all arguments that he isn’t. Why would you require a thing if you already had it? Why would you need life if you already possessed it? WHY WOULD YOU NEED TO BE MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST IF YOU ARE ALREADY ALIVE IN ADAM? “…in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22 cf. Gen. 2:16,17; Eph. 2:1,5). A born-again man is a man who was spiritually dead but who has now been restored to spiritual life by the Grace of God according to His free will. “And you hath HE quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). This is a miracle of God! Far from salvation being something within the reach of dead man’s alleged free will, it requires a miracle of God to bring spiritual life to a man, and it is all done by Grace alone. Once you are made spiritually alive, you are eternally alive to the True God, for your sins—PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE—have been washed away, abolished, and you are eternally justified, having God’s own eternal Righteousness imputed to you. “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...” (Rom. 8:33-35). The saved are eternally and immutably bound to God because of His love for them, not their love for Him (see 1 Jn. 4:19). God alone is the One that makes His people alive again to Him by Grace alone. IT IS HIS WILL, IT IS HIS CHOICE, IT IS HIS WORK AND IT IS EVERLASTING.
The need to be born again, made alive by God, is a teaching that no one can biblically deny, and it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that prior to this, man is in a hopeless, helpless, extreme state of utter spiritual death. That a man must be made spiritually alive is a doctrinal fact that does not merely imply that man is dead; IT THUNDEROUSLY PROCLAIMS THAT MAN IS DEAD! A man must be made alive from the dead if he is to enter the Kingdom of God. If, therefore, a man must be made alive, he must first be dead. Indeed, any man who has been made spiritually alive again by the Hand of God, was previously spiritually dead and readily admits this. No man is physically created spiritually alive, and so must be made spiritually alive after he has been physically born. If salvation is being made spiritually alive by God, then what, pray tell, condition can any man be in prior to salvation if it is not spiritually dead? If spiritual life is needed, then clearly man in his natural condition is without spiritual life. What can the opposite of life—existence without life—possibly be other than death, a state of non-life? What can life, being alive, be juxtaposed with apart from death? What other polar opposite to life can there be but death? If one is to be made spiritually alive by God, one must, prior to this, be spiritually dead. If you claim not to be spiritually dead—if you do not subscribe to God’s promise to Adam that “…thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17)—then you are clearly an advocate of Satan’s lie to Eve: “…Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). Man is not sick in Adam, but is DEAD: “…in Adam all die…” Man is not made well in Christ, but “in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22 cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). You can never legitimately claim to have been made spiritually alive, to have been born again, if you do not believe you were spiritually dead. There is no logical or rational argument to support the biblically unfounded claim that those who have been made alive were alive to begin with. If you have been made alive you were dead. If you are dead you need to be made alive. “And you hath He quickened (regenerated, made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1); “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by Grace ye are saved;)” (Eph. 2:4,5). Rehabilitation is not the way to eternal life, but only by Grace-fuelled regeneration can a man enter Heaven. If you claim to have been made spiritually alive in Christ, you WILL NOT deny that you were—to begin with—spiritually dead in Adam and in your own sins and trespasses. Those who say they never were spiritually dead invariably rely in some way, to some degree, on what they have done or do to get saved or ‘remain’ saved. Such people deny the very need to be born again.
As all by nature are spiritually dead—having inherited this condition from the federal head and covenantal representative of mankind, Adam (see Rom. 5:12-21), and evidencing this state through personal sins, trespasses and physical death—everything necessarily and logically depends upon the will and grace of God to save—make alive— whomsoever He has chosen. It’s not by what you do at all (for what can a dead man do), but solely by what God does: God is the Saviour. How can a saved person have saved himself or contributed anything to his salvation, when God alone is the Saviour! “…beside Me there is no Saviour” (Isa. 43:11 cf. Acts 4:12). God does not save those who were saveable; He saves those who were dead! “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Eph. 2:4,5). What else could have saved the dead but Grace alone? “A dead person cannot contribute to their own resurrection, making grace the only logical means of rescue.” There is nothing anyone can do—including yourself—that can save you, except the one and only Saviour: the Lord God Jesus Christ. Before one is made alive in Christ by the Grace of God, one is dead in Adam. You cannot choose to be made alive. The dead cannot choose. A dead man cannot choose to be made alive. This is done solely by the Grace of God, according to His will for whomsoever HE chooses. God alone is the Saviour means His people are saved by what God alone has done. What kind of nonsense is it which says, ‘God is the only Saviour, but He needs your cooperation to save you’? If something needed to be done by anyone else, God would not be the Saviour, but only a co-Saviour, an assistant saviour. Salvation would not be by Grace alone, but by Grace and…; not by God alone, but by God and… Since the absurdity of such a proposition is supremely obvious, running contrary to Scripture—what God says of Himself—there is no Saviour but God. This means no one can do anything to save themselves or maintain their saved state. “…beside Me there is no Saviour…” (Isa. 43:11) not only means God is the only One that saves, but there is nothing anyone else can do that can possibly assist in their salvation. The requirement to be made alive confirms the fact man is dead. God alone is the One Who saves His people from their sins (see Matt. 1:21). They are not accepted by Him because of anything they have done or because of anything He has enabled them to do, for He alone is the One Who has made them accepted by Grace (see Eph. 1:6), through the gift of Faith in Jesus Christ and His Righteousness imputed to them and their sins being imputed to Him. It is not by Righteousness earned, but Righteousness imputed; not by your obedience, but only by His Obedience. They are saved not because of who they are or by what they have done, but solely and completely because of Who God is and only by what God as the only Saviour has done. Saved by Grace, not works — saved by God, not yourselves. How can a dead man make himself alive? How can a dead man shatter the unbreakable shackles of spiritual death? How can a man do anything to bring about his salvation when he is spiritually dead in his sins and does not even know, let alone seek the True God?
God is the 100% Saviour of His people. They were dead, and it is He Who makes them alive. PERIOD! God saves; He does not enable anyone to save themselves or to participate in their salvation at all. The only way they could participate is if they were alive, but being alive is the sign someone has been saved by Grace alone: “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Eph. 2:4,5). The only way to be made spiritually alive is by Grace alone. When salvation is by Grace, there is no need for works of any kind. “For by Grace are ye saved…And if by Grace, then is it no more of works…” (Eph. 2:8 & Rom. 11:6). If this were not so, salvation would not/could not be by an unmerited favour, nor could justification be solely by the Obedience of the Saviour. How can the dead participate in anything? How can the dead do anything to come alive? The brainwashed do not know they are brainwashed; the deceived do not realise they are deceived and the spiritually dead do not believe they are spiritually dead UNTIL THEY ARE MADE ALIVE BY GRACE. The saved man is made alive from the dead by Grace alone. Of course it is by Grace alone, for the dead are dead! Just like Nicodemus in John 3, they do not even know they are dead and in need of being born again—made a new creature in Christ Jesus—something which can only be done by the will, grace, mercy, purpose and power of Almighty God at His discretion. God saving by His Grace is God saving by what He alone does. God saving by His Grace is God saving by what man cannot do. God does not enable anyone by Grace to meet any criteria to save themselves, or so God can then save them according to their successfully meeting a particular condition or conditions. Yes, salvation is by Grace through Faith, but that Faith is a gift from God, not a work of man’s. If Faith were a work of man’s it would nullify the very need for Grace. If man had the capacity to believe in the True God—the free will to choose to believe—of what need would there be for Grace? If man were free to believe, he would not need Grace! If man had an inherent free will to believe, he would not need the GIFT of Faith in order to believe in the one True God. If all man needed was for God to activate what was already within him, then at best man would be saved by some assistance from God through the faith that was always inherent in him, rather than it being a gift given by the means of Grace alone. However, the Scriptures are perfectly clear: “…by grace are ye saved through faith; AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD” (Eph. 2:8). Salvation is by Grace through nothing that is within, or natural to, man. Salvation by Grace alone is a supernatural act of God. “This supernatural act of God—a Divine palingenesia (regeneration) is where the Holy Spirit imparts new life to those who were spiritually dead. This ‘washing of regeneration’ (Titus 3:5) is not a repair of the old nature, but the creation of a new one, accomplished entirely by the will and power of Almighty God.” We know “…and that not of yourselves…” (Eph. 2:8) is not referring to Grace here, for Grace is undeserved favour; therefore, it must be Faith, through which Grace saves, that is specifically pointed out as being not of ourselves—not of human origin. No man, by free will, has ever believed in the one True God; for by that free will, his only recourse is a faith that is blind to the True God. Grace saves only through the GIFT of Faith.
Saving Faith is according to the free will of God to give it, not according to the free will of man to receive it. ONLY GRACE MAKES THIS HAPPEN. Natural man believes free will is his saviour—that hope lies within him; yet in truth, the free will of man is trapped. It is encased within his sinful, spiritually dead nature that cannot be broken through from the inside. The reality is that no man, left to his own devices, can, or ever will, come to the True God (see Jn. 6:37,44,65). Jesus’ words to those who believed they were Christians, but in reality were not, show conclusively that no one knows the True God unless God knows them: “Many will say unto 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. 7:22,23). Those whose trust is in their works, yet believe they have been saved by grace, will always defer to their works as grounds for justification. The free will these people possessed convinced them that they did believe in Jesus, that they were serving the True God; however, the fact that Jesus did not know them shows that their ‘Christianity’ was nothing but an illusion, evidenced by their appeal to their works rather than solely to the Grace of God. They did not mention His Grace—only their works. Such was the case with the Pharisee In Luke 18 who said: “…God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess” (Lk. 18:11,12). All the publican prayed was: “…God be merciful to me a sinner” (Lk. 18:13). The Lord Jesus judged this man, the publican, as justified: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Lk. 18:14). An appeal to works—to what you have done—is to glorify and exalt oneself before God. No such appeal can justify a man before God. Exalting oneself through an appeal to works can never justify a man before God. A total and complete reliance upon God—His Mercy and His Grace—is the evidence that a man is blessed of God and justified before Him (see also Prov. 14:12). The false Christians of Matthew 7 and the Pharisee in Luke 18 were never born again, never born of the Spirit, and never saved by Grace through the GIFT of Faith. This in turn reveals the undeniable fact that the only faith they had was their own—the only faith that free will can ever provide a man with: the faith of the flesh!
Under the motivation of God’s Love, Grace made the decision before the foundation of the world (see Eph. 1:4). The gifts of Grace and Faith are inseparably and eternally linked; you cannot have one without the other. If salvation is by Grace alone, then it can only be through the gift of Faith, and if it is through the gift of Faith, it can only be by Grace alone. IT IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH WITHOUT WORKS. The fact that Grace is present at all shows its absolute necessity and reveals the inescapable truth that nothing within the scope of man’s ability could ever gain him salvation. Everything that has to do with salvation is a gift by Grace alone. Grace quashes the need for a man’s prerequisite compliance. In fact, Grace eliminates the entire concept of man needing to comply, thereby revealing the impossibility that any man could ever comply with any prerequisite before or so that salvation can take place. “…if by grace, then is it no more of works…” (Rom. 11:6 cf. Rom. 9:32). This reveals no man, by nature, has any free will to invite Grace or permit Grace to save him. A lost man will always believe he can perform a work of obedience that can at the very least assist Grace in gaining and/or maintaining his salvation, whereas the saved man knows his salvation is all of Grace. It is by Grace AND NOTHING ELSE whereby a man is saved. It is “…the grace of God that bringeth salvation…” (Titus 2:11). “…by the grace of God is intended the doctrine of grace, the Gospel of the grace of God; called so, because it is a declaration of the grace of God, and of salvation by it.” Everything—including God’s Mercy—comes under the auspices of Grace; it is included in the package marked: GRACE. As the Scripture commands: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain Mercy…” (Heb. 4:16). The desire for God to be merciful comes from the Grace of God. “Grace is the primary governor of the believer’s reality. The verse does not say ‘The Throne of Mercy and Grace’ as equals. It names the Throne itself ‘The Throne of Grace.’ Therefore, anything dispensed from that throne—be it mercy, peace, or help—is a subset of the Grace that defines the Throne. In this context, Mercy is the medicine for our misery (sin/weakness), while Grace is the status of the Throne itself… without the ‘Throne of Grace’ being established first by God’s decree, the obtaining of mercy would be impossible. We do not find a Throne of Mercy independent of Grace; rather, we find Mercy because the Throne itself is defined by Grace."
God is the Saviour and Grace is His only M.O.—His method of operation—in saving His people from their sins. That salvation requires God’s Sovereign intervention—which is the sole means by which Grace enters a person’s life—proves conclusively that man, left to himself, can do absolutely nothing to obligate God to save him. To do anything before—or so that—God can then save you is to change eternal life from a gift into an obligation which God is forced to fulfil (see Eph. 2:8,9; Rom. 4:4,5; 6:23). “To obligate God would be to make Him a debtor to man—a premise that contradicts and violates the very nature and Scriptural definition of grace (see Rom. 4 & 11). If you work for it, God becomes a debtor who owes you a paycheck, rather than a Saviour who gives a gift. Salvation by grace is an act from outside the human system. It isn’t a response to man; it is an intervention by God into the human condition.” Grace is according to the free will of God, and it never returns to Him empty-handed, but always with the soul it was sent to save (see Isa. 53:11; 55:11; Matt. 1:21; Jn. 6:37). Everything that saves and justifies a man before God comes from Grace. God is the Saviour, there is no other Saviour; nor is there any co-Saviour. If there is no co-Saviour, then there is nothing and no one needed apart from God and His Grace alone. God is the only Saviour and Grace is the only means to salvation. God does not need you—Grace does not need your works and Justifying Righteousness does not require your obedience. How can a thing be dependent on that which it produces? “This highlights a fundamental principle of cause and effect: a cause must precede and enable its effect. If something were dependent on what it produces, it would imply a circular or self-contradictory relationship where the effect somehow brings its own cause into existence, which is illogical.” If God is the only Saviour, then salvation can only come because of Who He is and by what He alone has done—Grace alone. God is the Saviour and His people are the ones He has saved only by what He has done: “…by grace ye are saved…” (Eph. 2:5). The prime evidence of a saved man is that he believes he has been made spiritually alive by the only God Who saves by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. What you do can never make you spiritually alive, for this is entirely a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit based on the grace, mercy, love, will and purpose of God.
The True God says: “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” and the apostle Paul’s conclusion is: “So then it is NOT OF HIM that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but OF GOD that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:15,16 cf. Ex. 33:19). Salvation and Election are not based on or dependent upon a man’s will, nor his efforts, but on God and His mercy. Now, where can a man’s will or works be reconciled with these Scriptures? How do you find room for a man’s free will or for his good deeds to play a role in earning him a place in Heaven—or even assist in maintaining him upon the path to Heaven in light of this Divine declaration? And how would any such contribution find space in the boundary statement: “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9)? The declaration “…by Grace are ye saved…” (Eph. 2:8), stands as a Divine no-trespassing sign against the encroachment of human merit. There is no place for man—his will or his efforts—in the process of salvation, apart from being an undeserving recipient! “God bestows His grace and mercy in time, on such persons He has willed and determined from all eternity to bestow it; this, is clear from hence, for since all this is dependent on His will, it must be as this was His will from eternity, seeing no new will can possibly arise in God, God wills nothing in time, but what He willed before time; that this grace and mercy are shown only to some persons, and that the only reason of this is His Sovereign will and pleasure, and not the works and merits of men; wherefore since this grace and mercy rise out of God’s own free good will and pleasure, and are by no means the creature's due, it most clearly follows, that God in determining to bestow His grace and mercy, and in the actual doing of it, whilst He determines to deny it, and does deny it to others, cannot possibly be chargeable with any unrighteousness. This is not a consequence drawn by an adversary, showing that if this be the case, it signifies nothing for men to will or do, they may even sit still and do nothing, but depend on the mercy of God; but this is a conclusion of the apostle’s from the above cited testimony, inferring from thence, that election, which is what he is discoursing of, is ‘not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth’: that is, is not owing to the will or works of men, to the desires, inclinations, and affections of their minds, or to the actions of their lives; these are not the motives, conditions, or causes of this act: ‘but of God that sheweth mercy’; in a free Sovereign way and manner, which He is not obliged to by anything the creature wills or works; He is at full liberty, notwithstanding whatever they will or do, to give His grace and mercy, when, where, and to whom He pleases; and therefore to give it to some, and deny it to others, can never be accounted an act of injustice, since He is not bound to give it to any…as election, which is the leading step to salvation, is not owing at all to the will of men, but to the good pleasure and will of God; and not at all to the works of men, that being done before them, and they being the fruits and effects of that, but to the free love, grace, and good will of God; so salvation in all its parts and branches, as redemption, justification, regeneration, calling, and conversion, faith, repentance, hope, love and eternal life, is not to be ascribed at all to the will of men, nor at all to the works of men, but entirely and alone to the love, grace, and mercy of God through Christ.”
Neither the mercy nor the compassion of God is prompted by any man’s will or efforts at obedience, but ONLY BY THE WILL OF GOD AND THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST! Having faith in what you do reveals a hatred for the God of mercy and an utter disdain for the Righteousness of Christ. Salvation is by mercy, not merit. Righteousness is by the Obedience of One, not the many. God is not a respecter of persons (see Acts 10:34). He does not save anyone due to who they are or because of what they have done, for everyone is vanity and all their righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Salvation is by Grace alone according to the will and purpose of God. Salvation is not by your will, nor by your efforts at obedience, but by the will, grace and mercy of Almighty God. Salvation comes not because of who you are or in accord with what you have done, but only because of Who God is and only by what He has done. Salvation follows God, not you. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 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). How much clearer could God have phrased it? IT IS BY GRACE, NOT WORKS; IT IS BY MERCY, NOT MERIT; IT IS BY GOD, NOT YOU. Salvation does not, due to the fact it cannot, come because of your works of righteousness, but only by the mercy of God, “Who 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. 1:1-4).
Man, by nature, simply cannot abide the True God Who is Sovereign over all His creation. The saved are not saved and called because of anything they have done, but wholly because of the purpose of God and the grace of God. Man must be made a new creature in Christ — the old creature can do nothing and the new creature does not need to do anything, for all has been done for him: his sins have been washed away by the Blood of Christ; his justification before God established by the Obedience of Christ and his salvation brought to him by the Grace of God. A man is not saved, nor can he ever be saved, based on anything he has done, for salvation is according to the mercy of God through Jesus Christ the Saviour. Salvation comes because of God’s will, not yours. “I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no Saviour” (Isa. 43:11 cf. Hos. 13:4; Acts 4:10-12). If there is no other Saviour, then there is no other way to salvation but by what the Saviour alone has done. How could this not be so? If there is no Saviour but One, and He ONLY saves by Grace, then there is nothing anyone else can do that can save, or needs to do to assist Grace in saving them. If there is only one Saviour, and no other way to salvation but through what the Saviour has done, then salvation can be by nothing less or more than Grace alone. There are not two Saviours. Both the Father and the Son are referred to as Saviour, not one of two Saviours (see Lk. 1:47; 2:11; Jn. 4:42; 1 Tim. 2:3; 2 Tim. 1:10; 2 Pet. 1;11; 1 Jn. 4:14; Jd. 1:25). They are not co-Saviours, for there is only one Saviour, for the Father and the Son are One: God (see Jn. 10:30). Salvation is not via a collaboration, a joint effort between God and man, but by God alone: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If it is by Grace alone, then it must be by God alone and what God alone has done.
How is a man born again? How is a man made spiritually alive by God? the Scriptures are clear: “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, BY THE WORD OF GOD, which liveth and abideth for ever….And this is the Word which BY THE GOSPEL is preached unto you” (1 Pet. 1:23,25 cf. 1 Cor. 1:21). Succinctly put, a man is made spiritually alive by “Being born again…by the Word of God…the Gospel…”, or “Being born again…by…the Gospel.” It is the Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who has “…brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10). If you have not heard the Gospel of God; if you do not believe the Gospel of God, God has not saved (see Rom. 10:10:13-16; Mk. 16:15,16; 2 Cor. 4:3,4). No man can possibly be born again without the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the Faith which God gifts to all His people is given to believe THAT very Gospel, “…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). If you have not heard the Word of God you cannot possibly have the Faith that comes by hearing it. “The Christian Faith is not blind nor blameless;” it is a gift given by God to His people that believes His revelation of Himself in His Gospel. “While humans must hear, the Word of God itself originates with God, emphasizing His initiative in revealing Himself for salvation.” If you have not that Faith in God’s Gospel, you are none of His, for your faith cannot be of Him; therefore, it cannot truly be in Him. The Gospel is the Seed from which every born again Christian originates. It is the Seed of God’s Gospel from which the Christian sprouts—a spiritual germination, if you will. No Christian was ever born again by a false gospel, a corrupted seed. False gospels are only attractive to accursed people; they are the only gospels accursed people find appealing and true. The apostle Paul states: “…in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through THE Gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15), not through a gospel or any gospel or what you sincerely believed was the Gospel. Every Christian is begotten through One Gospel: God’s Own Gospel. No one is saved without the Gospel of Jesus Christ; therefore, no one is saved before they hear, understand and believe the Gospel of God with the gift of Faith that only believes His Gospel. No plant can precede the seed which alone produces it.
There can be no such thing as a Christian, no new creature in Christ, without the Seed of the Gospel, just as there can be no plant without the seed from which it originates. And, like a plant that only produces seeds for its own kind, so too, the true Christian carries the true Gospel seed that can only produce more Christians. James said: “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth…” (Jas. 1:18 cf. Jn. 1:13; 2 Thess. 2:13); “…of Him are ye in Christ Jesus…” (1 Cor. 1:30). Without God’s will, without His Word of Truth—the Gospel—no man can be born again. This Word of Truth is referred to by the apostle Paul in Acts as “…the Word of His Grace…” (Acts 14:3), which, several verses later, he calls “…the Gospel” (Acts 14:7 cf. Acts 14:21). You cannot be begotten of God without the Word of God: the Gospel of God. The Gospel of God is the instrumentality by which God saves His people by Grace through Faith in His very Word. Without the Gospel of God and the gift of Faith given by God to believe it, Grace simply cannot perform its work of salvation. “The gift of Faith is specifically given for the purpose of assenting to and trusting in the Message of the Gospel. Saving Faith is not a natural human ability but a supernatural gift from God, given specifically to embrace the truth of the Gospel. Grace does not operate in a vacuum; it operates through the channel of Faith. Salvation is entirely God’s work, from His initiative in Grace and the Gospel, to His gift of Faith to the sinner, ensuring that no human can boast in their own ability.” If you don’t know the Gospel of the True God, you don’t know Him. It is solely by God’s will that a man is born again. Just as no man can choose to be conceived or physically born, so too, no man can choose, no man can be a willing participant in his spiritual conception, or will himself to be spiritually born again.
A man’s being made alive to God is God’s choice, and He made His choice before the foundation of the world (see Eph. 1:4-7). Salvation is prompted by God’s love, not man’s. Salvation is by Grace alone—a work of God, not a work of man. Salvation is only by that which no man can boast of. God does not save His people by Grace through what they have done, but by Grace through the gift of Faith in what HE has done. Grace does not enable you, it saves you. Salvation comes after Grace, not after anything you have done. Grace does not make you choose Him, for Grace is the evidence that HE HAS CHOSEN YOU: “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you…” (Jn. 15:16). That is Grace. Salvation is at the behest of God, not the request of man. “Salvation isn’t something humans can ask for to trigger a response; rather, it is something God ordains by His own authority.” God having chosen His people before the foundation of the world is the very essence of Grace “…demonstrating that His love and salvation are not a response to our merit, but the pure outflow of His Sovereign will. It proves that salvation originates entirely from God’s Divine initiative, not from any human effort or decision. It also underscores that our salvation is a pure, unearned gift, wholly dependent on His benevolent selection which is the source, not the result, of our faith.” The saved believe because they have “…believed through grace” (Acts 18:27). How vital is it to believe the Gospel of Righteousness? It could not be a more serious issue, for it is a life-and-death issue. It is an ETERNITY issue. “And He (Jesus) said unto them, 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; cf. 2 Cor. 4:3,4). Again, look at the language of God: “…the Gospel…believeth…saved…believeth not…damned.” “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). Where will you spend eternity?
Believing a gospel which demands a man’s righteousness to help form, or stabilise the ground, or be the foundation—or any part thereof—of his salvation, is believing in a FALSE gospel which cannot save. Anytime you have a gospel which makes salvation conditional on what a man does, you have a gospel that cannot save. Believing such a gospel with all your heart, and living your life as obediently as you can, does nothing but reveal and confirm your accursed state. The faith which is natural to man believes any gospel that is not God’s Gospel. The Faith which God gives as a gift to all His people believes only the Gospel of God’s Righteousness. The man who is saved by Grace alone through the gift of Faith alone in the Righteousness of Christ alone, only believes the True God’s Gospel wherein such truth is contained. No one is saved before or without faith in 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), “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. 2 Cor. 1:21,22). One cannot bear fruit unto God, unless one has heard, knows and believes the Gospel of God: “For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the Word of the Truth of the Gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, SINCE THE DAY ye heard of it, and KNEW THE GRACE OF GOD IN TRUTH” (Col. 1:5,6). You cannot know the Grace of God in truth before you hear and believe God’s Gospel of truth. No one was ever saved, or ever will be saved, BEFORE they hear the Gospel, but only AFTER they hear it. You cannot be trusting in the true Christ if you do not exclusively believe in the only Gospel which testifies of Him as the only and complete Saviour. You cannot believe in the true Christ unless you believe God’s Testimony of Him: “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 cf. Gal. 1:8,9; 2 Jn. 9). So much for those who claim one can be saved while one’s faith is in another gospel, as doing so calls God a liar by believing a record that is not the Record GOD has given of HIS Son. “If God has spoken a specific truth about His Son, to believe a conflicting version,”—that which God has not said—“is by definition, to reject God’s veracity. If Statement A (God’s Testimony) is truth, then Statement B (a conflicting version) must be false. To choose Statement B is to inherently claim that the source of Statement A is untruthful.” No one ever trusted in the true Saviour before they heard and believed the only Gospel that reveals Him. No true Christian will ever tell you any different. You cannot be sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise before you have been gifted the Faith by Grace to believe His Gospel.
HOW CAN ANYONE BE SAVED BY NOT BELIEVING THE TRUE GOD OF THE ONLY GOSPEL WHICH REVEALS HIM? The Christian is “…complete in Him…” (Col. 2:10), and only in Him. Outside of the true Christ, you are not merely incomplete but DEAD in sins—DEAD in Adam (see 1 Cor. 15:22; Eph. 2:1,5; Col. 2:13). Outside of the true Christ there is only death (see 1 Cor. 15:22). Outside of the true Christ, there is no Grace (see 2 Tim. 2:1). Outside of Christ, there is no righteousness that will justify a man; for there is no obedience but that of Christ that could have established the perfect Righteousness necessary for a man’s justification. Man, by nature, is without Christ, without God, and therefore, has no hope (see Eph. 2:12). The One to be trusted and believed in is only found in God’s unique and only Gospel. “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). No other gospel reveals THAT Righteousness, for no other gospel is God’s Gospel. No other God but God; no other Saviour but God; no other gospel but God’s Gospel. How can there be salvation outside the Gospel of salvation? How can there be salvation without God? How can there be salvation without Christ? How can there be salvation without His Gospel? Once a man is eternally saved, he is instantly made aware of the fact that he was never saved prior to believing the Gospel of salvation by Grace alone through the gift of Faith in Christ and His Righteousness alone. If this were not the case, then a man would still believe he was saved before he heard and believed God’s one and only Gospel by which He saves His people. This would mean he would believe he was saved when he believed a false gospel, as well as now claiming to believe God’s Gospel. The fact a truly saved man knows he was never saved prior to believing the true God’s only Gospel is something which does not slowly dawn on the man over time, for he is made instantly aware he was never saved the moment he is made spiritually alive by the Grace of God through the Seed of the Gospel. When you awake you know you have been asleep. When you are made born again—alive in Christ—you know you were dead. At no stage in the life of a saved, born-again, Gospel-believing Christian does he believe he was ever saved prior to God saving him by means of Grace alone through Faith alone in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. Believing you were saved whilst believing in a false gospel—an accursed gospel—is the faith of a lost and accursed man (see Gal. 1:8,9). How can a man be truly saved by believing the Gospel when he claims to have been saved before hearing it? How can a man be saved who believes he was saved without believing the Gospel of God? In other words, how can he be saved without the Gift of Faith, through which God saves His people by Grace. It makes no biblical sense. To believe the Gospel implies, with Scriptural clarity, that prior to, or in the absence of, such belief no one is saved. The Faith God gives His people NEVER believes one was saved before belief of the Gospel! How can a man be saved prior to believing the Gospel of God? How can a man be awake when he is asleep? How can a man who is dead be alive? How can a man who is blind, simultaneously see? How can a man preach the only Gospel of God when he believes he was saved before believing it? How can any plant come before its seed?
Believing another gospel saved you prior to believing the Gospel of God is not believing Him. PRIOR TO BEING GIVEN THE GIFT OF FAITH BY GRACE TO BELIEVE GOD’S GOSPEL, ONE COULD ONLY HAVE BELIEVED IN A FALSE GOSPEL; therefore, a false god, THEREBY, REVEALING ONE’S ACCURSED STATE! (see Gal. 1:8,9). By Grace alone, the saved man is made to realise that all he believed in prior to salvation, including all his efforts at establishing a righteousness of his own, was dung and rejects it, forever realising that he was never saved whilst believing the lies of the false gospels he once trusted in. The True God is not found in false gospels, therefore, one cannot be saved believing in any of them. What constitutes a false gospel? Any gospel which does not have the spotlight firmly fixed on salvation wholly by Grace through the gift of Faith that believes exclusively in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ as that which alone justifies a man before God. No matter how many truths such gospels may contain, it is the erroneous doctrines—principally, those that reduce, thereby negating the role of Grace and the Obedience of Christ which alone justifies—that make them all, as a whole, toxic. No gospel that contains a mixture of truth and lies identifies the true and only God and what He has done for His people. If you believe you were saved before ‘believing’ the Gospel, your claim immediately disqualifies you from any legitimate connection to believing God’s Gospel, for in saying you were saved prior to believing it, you actually do away with the need for it, as well as the Grace of God which provides the gift of Faith to believe it. You are saying that you were saved before the Light of the Gospel—while you were still in darkness—thus denying the fact that: “...if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:3,4 cf. Acts 26:28; Col. 1:13). Such lost folk know nothing of the God, “…Who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts (the hearts of every true Gospel believer), to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). No one is in a saved state while blind to the Gospel of God.
If you believe you were saved before the Light of God’s Gospel shone upon you, your unfounded assertion—made without any Biblical foundation—is that you were saved by believing something that was not the Gospel of God. Saved while still in darkness. Saved without the Light. Saved by not believing what God has said. Saved while not believing God’s Record of His Son—thereby, saved by calling God a liar (see Rom. 10:17; 2 Cor. 4:4-6; 1 Jn. 5:10). Saved without the gift of Faith necessary to believe the Gospel of God, thereby, saved without the Grace of God that gifts that Faith. You are literally saying you were saved without God; without believing in the True God’s only way of salvation revealed exclusively in His Gospel. Moreover, you are saying that you were saved without believing in the True and only God, that you were saved in ignorance of the truth, believing in a false god that cannot save, rather than acknowledgement of and submission to the True God and His Gospel, which only the gift of Faith provides. In direct opposition to the Word of God, you are saying that you trusted in Christ BEFORE you heard the Word of Truth, and that you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise BEFORE you believed in Jesus Christ which is nothing short of a defilement of the Word of God: “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). NO ONE WAS EVER SAVED BEFORE THEY HEARD THE Gospel of salvation, AND NO ONE WAS EVER SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE BEFORE THEY BELIEVED THE ONLY GOSPEL OF GOD. Believe the Gospel, and you are saved. Anything and everything you were and believed in prior to being given the gift of Faith by Grace to believe God’s Gospel, was dung. “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jn. 3:18). To believe on Him, to believe in the True and only God, is to believe the Gospel Record not man’s record. Before the Gospel, and without the Gospel, there is nothing but condemnation. “Condemnation is the default state of humanity.”
The apostle Paul had more to boast of in regard to who he was and what he had done before he was saved than anyone, but look at what the apostle said upon becoming born again: “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. 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. 3:3-9 cf. Isa. 54:17; Rom. 1:16,17). “Paul lists his credentials—his heritage, his zeal, and his ‘blameless’ keeping of the law—and explicitly states, 'I count all things but loss' (v. 8). He didn’t just add Jesus to his resume; HE THREW THE RESUME AWAY. Sadly, lost, professing Christians believe the things they have done and how different they are from what they used to be will merit them Heaven, or at least play an essential and integral part in their salvation (see Matt. 7:21-23). They believe Grace cannot save without works. True Christians are those who “…rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3), because all their confidence is in HIM! They boast of nothing as of themselves, but only of God Who has saved them by Grace alone (see 1 Cor. 1:31; Gal. 6:14). They know their works are merely the fruit of salvation and not the root cause of it. Having no confidence in the flesh equates with having no confidence at all in any other gospel but God’s Gospel, for every other gospel insists on the essentiality of a man’s works—thereby condoning and promoting confidence in the flesh—while God’s Gospel (the only Gospel which leaves no room for a man to boast in anything he has done) is the only Gospel—the only GOOD NEWS—which states that all of salvation is all by Grace thus promoting confidence only in Him. Notice how the apostle did not cling to ANY of his righteousnesses, nor to anything he was prior to becoming born again. “Paul did not just reject his sins; he rejected his righteousnesses.” Paul did not look upon or draw any comfort from who he was and what he did prior to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, but rejected everything, including his own righteousness established by his deeds of obedience, looking upon it all as nothing but excrement, solely embracing the Righteousness which is of God by the Gift of Faith. The word dung means: “any refuse, as the excrement of animals, offscourings, rubbish, dregs, of things worthless and detestable.” That is all a man has and is before he is saved by Grace alone to believe God’s Gospel through the gift of Faith, and reject all others.
The bottom line is that prior to belief in the Gospel of God all a person has is a vain, profitless sin-scarred righteousness of their own—which Scripture describes as filthy rags and dung (see Isa. 64:6; Phil. 3:8). Therefore, none prior to being given the gift of Faith to believe in God’s Gospel of the Righteousness of Christ alone can possibly be in a saved state, for their trust is in their flesh despite all their claims to the contrary. Like the apostle, every Christian has absolutely no confidence in the flesh, no reliance on what he does, ever has done or can potentially do to save him or keep himself saved. Again, they have no confidence in the flesh because all their confidence is in God, and if all their confidence is in God to save them and keep them saved, we rightfully conclude that the true Christian’s confidence is in the Grace of God alone for salvation from beginning to final glory. Notice also how the apostle did not count himself saved because of anything he had done prior to having the Gospel of Christ revealed to him. Quite the opposite, he now saw that he was a lost man even with all his religiosity, zeal, prestige and respect prior to hearing and believing the Gospel of God, rejecting everything he was and did prior to knowing Jesus Christ His Lord: the Jesus of God’s Gospel. No man is saved prior to faith in the Gospel, for no other gospel is the power of God unto salvation, because none of them reveal the Righteousness of Christ as the only Righteousness which justifies. Paul went to Heaven not with the righteousness which came from his own obedience, but only with the Righteousness of Christ which came from HIS Obedience. If the supreme religiosity of Paul and his righteousness did not save him, how can any man believe his own personal righteousness can save him? It is only GOD’S Righteousness that saves, not your own. It is only GOD’S Righteousness that saves and the only way a person can be charged with it is by Grace alone in accordance with the will and purpose of Almighty God.
It does not matter if the person, or organization, you listen to and are a part of is known and respected the world over. It does not matter how rich they are or how long they have been preaching what they are preaching, or how many books they have written, or who and how many agree with what they are teaching. The focus of attention should not be upon the messenger, BUT ALWAYS ON THE MESSAGE! Do not be swayed by the speaker you are listening to or the author you are reading based on how convinced they seem that what they are teaching is the truth, but always concentrate on what they are actually saying and study the Scriptures to see if it is what God says His truth is. You are under no obligation to believe any spirit until you have properly tested them by the Word of God (see 1 Jn. 4:1). THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IS THE TRUTH. If it is not the Gospel of Almighty God that they preach, then they and their message are accursed! If they have changed the lyrics, it isn’t the same song; if they have changed the doctrines, it isn’t the Jesus of God’s Gospel they are preaching. It does not matter who is doing the preaching, but what is being preached. Do not be intimidated or let your guard down for a second simply because of reputation and the reverence certain people are held in by the masses: “Beloved, 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 cf. Acts 17:11). The apostle Paul has made it abundantly clear that we are not to allow ourselves to blindly accept the preaching of anyone simply because they come in Christ’s name. Even if it is an angel sent by God, if what they preach is not the Gospel of God let him be accursed: “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 cf. 2 Cor. 11:4). No matter how close any other gospel may come to God’s Gospel, it is an abomination, for it is not the Gospel of God and, therefore, it cannot save. False gospels are nothing but lies spoken by liars in God’s name (see Jer. 14:14; Jn. 8:43,44). False gospels do not bring God any glory; rather, they rob Him of His glory in the Sovereign salvation of His people. All other gospels are slanderous, promoting other gods, and all those who preach them and all those that believe in them are accursed. “…if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matt. 15:14). True Christians believe the only Gospel which is not of man, the only Gospel that does not promote the righteousness of man as a necessary element that salvation cannot do without. True Christians believe the only Gospel which bases no part of salvation on man; the only Gospel which leaves no room for a man to boast; the only Gospel which gives God all the glory; the only Gospel God revealed to the apostle Paul: “For therein is the Righteousness of God revealed…” (Rom. 1:17). The seed of the Gospel is the seed of realisation: a realisation of Who the True God is and Who He is not; a realisation of whom Jesus Christ died for and for whom He did not lay down His life. It is a realisation of what Jesus has done for His people and what He has not done for those who are not His people. If you do not believe the Gospel of God, you do not believe Him; you do not know Him, and you, therefore, cannot possibly have His Righteousness and be saved by Him.
If you preach and/or believe a false gospel which tells you that your obedience is to some degree necessary to either get you saved or keep you saved, you have accepted and are currently being deceived by a false gospel. You do not have the True God Who saves by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ALONE. God says of His people: “…there Righteousness is of Me…” (Isa. 54:17 cf. Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21). Importantly, if you claim to now believe the Gospel and yet remain unmoved in your belief that you were saved prior to believing it, you remain a lost person. Are you saying God saved you through another gospel? That God begets His people not only through the Word of His Gospel, but also those gospels which lie about Him and promote different ways to salvation, thereby opposing God and His unique and only Gospel? Before salvation there is only your righteousness, accursedness, vanity and the filthy rags of your righteousnesses. Once a man is saved, he instantly knows and believes that a man is saved only by the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. Let the following words echo in your souls: “But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor. 4:3-5). There are basically only two gospels in this world: The Gospel of God, which teaches justification by Christ’s Righteousness alone, established only by His Obedience, and the gospels of men, which all falsely claim salvation cannot do without man’s righteousness established by personal obedience. Which do you believe?
Repent—believe the Gospel of the Righteousness of Jesus Christ—and reject everything that conflicts with it, which is every religion, for they all teach the lie that your obedience is an intrinsic, elemental ingredient in your salvation.
Know Who the True Jesus is, what He has done and for whom He has done it. Believe God’s Record of His Son as revealed exclusively in His Gospel.
“Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” (2 Tim. 2:7).
Trust only in the Righteousness of Christ Jesus the Lord.