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Does God pick and chose who to save???
Followers of Calvin and others believe that God's Grace is an Irresistable force; even ignoring and bypassing a mans own will and leaving him without a choice or say in the matter of his own salvation or loss, claiming that such Scriptures are proof that God alone picks out and choses who He wants to save and who He wants to destroy, whether anyone likes it or not!
(Not only does such a belief make God a puppetmaster, but makes a convenient way they have invented in order to bypass all of a mans responsibility for helping God to "Work Out our own salvation" and take away our accountabily before God!)
They claim that His "foreknowledge" deals with Him personally covering the entire salvation process from one end to the other, saving some and destroying others at His pleasure.
However, "foreknowledge" simply means that God "Knew in Advance" all who would come to be saved and all who wouldn't, based upon ones "faith".
It doesn't mean that God "manipulates" because He foreknew and wants to make sure, but that He is "All Knowing" and therefore... "Knows All Beforehand in Advance" without having to "manipulate anything".
For instance, He knew before He made the world that Adam would fall!
Does anyone reading this Dare say that "God" was personally responsible for Adam's fall???
God knew, and that's where and why Christ comes in!
So the belief that men are really nothing more than pawns and zombies in the hand of God; having no will or choice of their own, is both heresy against the word as well as blasphemy against the Love Of God!
Christ died for All Men, not just a certain few! He is the Last Adam - a sinless one!
John 3:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Scriptures as these put away for all time that God is out picking and choosing who He wants to save whether or not men like it. "God's free gift of Grace is for All Men (Whosoever), but only those who appropriate it through faith (the kind that calls for a once-for-all decision on our part) will be saved!
There were two "peoples or nations" in Isaac's wife when she gave birth. The reason why God loved Jacob was because He chose him and his heirs "as His covenant nation" over Esau (the illegitamite first born heir of Isaac, physically proving to be the stronger (i.e. self-willed) of the two.
Christ came and made a "New" Covenant in His blood with all of us "individually"... a covenant we All can be a part of, through faith.
God also "Hates" every false way (Ps.119.104), the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Rev.2), etc. as well as all unrighteousness.
God's Love seen in Christ puts an end to all claims that He personally goes out of His way to keep faith or anything else away from those who call upon His name.
Only when our will lines up with God's will (Believe on and hear My Son!), only then we can be said to have faith.* * *
The Johannine Comma - 1 John 5:7ffTodays modern Bible versions are based primarily on Westcott and Hort's heavy Greek application, usage and love of their corrupted Alexandrian and Vaticannus manuscripts have ommitted several important scriptures. 1 John 5:7-8 being but just one of them.
For instance, the NIV Study Bible claims that 1 John 5:7 is not found in any Greek manuscript or New Testament translation prior to the 16th century. It is because of this 'ommission'; the argument goes, that 1 John 5:7ff must therefore be, 'spurious'.
It just isn't true!
That very text is found in 8 extant Greek manuscripts, 5 of them dated BEFORE the 16th century. (I refer to Greek miniscules 88, 221, 429, 629, 636).
There is also a good deal of support for 1 John 5:7 from the Latin translations. If you check you will find that there are at least 8000 extant Latin manuscripts, with MANY of them containing 1 John 5:7ff!
The really old and important manuscripts to note here are the Old Latin ones, which the early church fathers such as Tertullian (AD 155-220) and Cyprian (AD 200-258 ) used.
Out of the few remaining Old Latin manuscripts containing 1 John 5, at least 4 of them contain the Johannine Comma.
These are early Latin versions all derived from the Greek New Testament, and there is no reason to believe that 1 John 5:7 does not carry with it very early Greek credentials.
Also, Jerome’s Latin Vulgate (AD 340-420), which also contains the Johannine Comma, is believed to be translated from an untampered Greek text he had in his possession, one where he regarded the Johannine Comma to be a genuine part of First John. Because in his Prologue to the Canonical Epistles he wrote: "Irresponsible translators left out this testimony in the Greek codices".
My point is to help prove the existance of Johannine Comma, and that contrary to what the NIV or other modern versions say, it, and its teaching that God is one in existing as a triunity far pre-dates the 16th century, and is the word of God!!!* * *
How to rightly use the word of God to spot false doctrine!
Three Basics ways to "TEST THE SPIRITS" of all of the error that has infiltrated into the church today...
First - Never trust any man where your eternal soul is concerned! "You" are the one responsible for what happens to you by what you hear and take in! So "YOU make sure" that your doctrine is straight from God's mouth and not from men!
Second - Learn how to listen to CLEAR and SOLID Scriptures (those that speak for themselves), and base your doctrine ONLY on those, and not on men and their learned theories.
Third - Be a Berean! Weigh everything you hear with the word of God in order that "YOU make sure" where it's coming from. Use only the Solid Scale of "His Clear word" to Weigh the Truth by, and not because "men" have said them. "You want to Hear Only What God said, period... and not according to what men say that God said!"
"Let HIS CLEAR AND SIMPLE WORD; and not the teachings of men, form His doctrines for you! (John 7:17)"
This is the way "To Hear Only God and Oppose ALL False Teachings".
(and remember, it doesn't matter what any of us call ourselves; or how long any of us claim to have been a Christian, or what religious degrees we may have, or what seminaries we may have graduated from, or what books we may have have authored, or what experiences with the Lord we may have had, etc., etc.....)
For comparison, Let me give you a "few" CLEAR scriptures on what "GOD SAYS".
(and remember there is never any lying, or turning or changing of His mind. God will stand by His word in what He says, to the very end. If "HE" says it you better be cashing in on it! - Num.23:19; James 1:17; Heb.13:8)...
Here's what GOD says to that....
1 Tim 2:
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have ALL men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
John 3:
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
1 Tim 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Conclusion?.... God wishes no harm to come to any man and wishes for ALL men to be saved! (That's EXACTLY why He sent His Son to save all of us sinners in the first place: IT IS FINISHED! He leaves it up to us whether we want His salvation or not.)
So saying that God will decide whom to save and whom to destroy as He pleases is a lie, one we call "False Doctrine".
Here's what GOD says to that....
Acts 15:
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Mark 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Col 2:
16Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Gal 2:16 Knowing that 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.
Rom 4:
13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Conclusion?.... Believing that we need to ADD something to our faith, or that we lack something (Grace, Love, Truth, etc.) is what makes that faith void, and therefore is a lie, one we call "False Doctrine"! We are not to worship the shadow of what was once was for the Jew through the keeping of the law, but keep the present reality of Jesus Christ alive and kicking in our hearts through faith!
Here's what GOD says to that....
1 Tim 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
I Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Conclusion?.... Believing that Jesus wasn't himself God manifest in the flesh (man and God) is to deny Him His rightful Diety, and therefore is a lie, one we call "False Doctrine" - one that is also answerable to 1 John 4:2-3.
Concerning those who teach that Jesus Christ will return and rapture us to heaven with Him BEFORE the tribulation....
Here's what GOD says to that:
Matt 24:25 "Behold, I have told you before."
Matt 24:
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Acts 1:
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 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.
Rev 1:7 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.
1Thes 4:
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Rev 14:
14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
Dan 7:
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
2 Tim 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Rev 6:
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Matt 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Isa 34:
4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
II Th 2:
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Conclusion?.... Believing that Jesus will return BEFORE the tribulation (or any other time other than the time He says) is to throw out every CLEAR scriptural prophecy that clearly tells us that He will not. Again we are dealing here with another lie, again one we call "False Doctrine" -
and those who are busy teaching it are, IMO, going to have to be answerable to another word of His. The warning given in Rev.22:18-19 alone is cause enough for each and every one of us to "Make Sure" that some day we're NOT going to find out too late that "we" are the very ones who were fast at work adding to or subtracting from the clear prophecy of the Lord's return!
2 Tim 4:
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
I'd like to conclude with these four very appropriate scriptures...
Matt 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
John 12:
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Prov 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
John 14:23 ....If a man love me, he will keep my words:... (the emphasis is on the word "MY")* * *
Testimony of Jesus
Rev 1:8 "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."
*IF* you Truly Love Me KEEP My words!
(In other words: "IF you really are Mine then you will and you shall Keep My words. PERIOD.")
*IF* you don't love Me, you won't! (simple.)
And just How does a Christian *KEEP* His word?....
*** By Keeping the testimony of Him who was:
"Jesus was the Almighty (who always was) becoming manifest in the flesh (becoming born a man as well) who came down from heaven, shed His blood and died on the cross in order to save us from our sins, totally without our help - It Is Finished."
(Those who have and keep this witness of Jesus being The Only Way to God there is have been justified by their faith in Him alone Who is: 'The Way'!)
*** AND By Keeping the testimony of Him who is:
"Jesus rose from the dead becoming our righteousness (for all who believe), and the Almighty (who always is) ascended back into heaven nail holes and all, and is seated at the right hand of power in order to save us to God."
(Those who have and keep this witness of Jesus being The Only Truth of God there is are being Sanctified to the truth, to Him who is: 'The Truth'!)
*** AND By Keeping the testimony of Him who is coming again:
"Jesus is going to return coming back down from heaven as the Almighty (who is coming again), and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Heb 9:28
(Those who have and keep this witness of Jesus being The Only Life in God there is will be glorified with The Life Everlasting upon His return by Him who is: 'The Resurrection and the Life'!)
"Jesus, (the Word) became man/flesh, came and died for our sins - The Almighty!
Jesus, who was both God and man, rose again and ascended back to heaven becoming our righteousness - The Almighty!
Jesus, as God's "New" Man will return in glory to finish the work He began - The Almighty!"
*THESE* are the Blessed words, the word of His testimony, that we are commanded to KEEP! The very words of God's own Testimony of His only begotten and beloved Son, Jesus Christ!!!
Alleluiah and Amen! Come Lord Jesus!!!
God bless them who KEEP His words!
Isa 8:20 "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."* * *
The "Yeast" of the Pharisees
Matt 16:
What the Pharisees did was to STRANGLE THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW - by placing the importance of observing the law in the Letter of it, along with their man-made ordinances and feast days they ended up making them higher than mercy, compassion and truth, among other things.
This is what many of today's Messianic believers do also; daring to tell "Christian Gentiles" that having and abiding in Jesus is NOT enough, all the while insisting that we join them in observing and keeping most of the O.T. law!
They place the law and obedience to the law on equal footing with the Grace of God!
They say if you are saved then you MUST observe/obey the OT laws given to the O.T. Jews to keep, in order to rest assured that you are OK.
However, this is what the "Judaizers" used to do! This is their "Leaven"! You can Hear it in their words as they try to spread the O.T. law like soured butter mixed with your precious faith!
I've watched some of their followers go down the tubes until all they can do is condemn the rest of us for not joining them.
They have absolutely no qualms about "condemning" Gentile Christians who refuse to get caught up and trapped like them in observing the Mosaic laws, traditions and feast days.
"If you don't", they say, "then you are an apostate!!!"
6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
12 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.
They; like the Pharisees before them, have made a law out of the law!
Mark well this danger to your faith! And make no mistake! All it takes from us is a little forced obedience to this teaching to ruin and rob you and I and cut ourselves off from God's grace! If we began in the Spirit then let us end the way we began!!
IF you have died with Christ, then the law is finished with you! FINISHED!!!
What the Pharisees and the Messianic Jews of today do not understand is that the law was but a schoolteacher that brought you personally to Christ!
The Law stopped working it's sentance of death in you once you came to Christ and His life in you took over! The death sentance was for the Old man who was UNDER THE LAW - the life sentance is for the New man who is now UNDER GRACE! Do you understand?
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1
That's all the law ever was: Simply an instrument that proved us guilty of death because of our breaking it before God. Without the law we wouldn't have know what sin was!
So, thank God for the law! It is holy, just and true! God, in His wisdom, knew it would do it's job... and the Holy Spirit would use it to prove ALL men guilty before God and convince ALL men coming to Christ of their sinfulness, of their lack of righteousness and of the coming judgement.
Now that we know (through the law) what sin is (having since died and become buried with Christ and received the Spirit) we no longer need the law of Moses or any law to tell us that!
For the law of God - who is a Spirit - is written in our hearts!!
A born again Christian is free, yes, but that in no way eliminates his or her responsibility for being truthful and compassionate, and in no way does he or she need to observe OUTWARD THINGS like the Messianics do, as if they are necessary (because they are not!!).
Rather we are to behold and observe Him (not His O.T. Laws - but "HIM") who made us One with Him in communion and faith, and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth through fellowship and with intimacy.
We are not here to know about the law! We are here to grow in the knowledge of Christ, and seek to be filled by the grace and truth that came by Him! We live by a "Spiritual Law" - one that cannot be put into words - the law of Love, Grace and Truth!
I repeat, (if we have received the Spirit) no one has to tell us anything, really! "No one!" Especially as to our observing the law! "We Know what the law is!"
That's something that neither the Pharisees nor today's Messianic Jews seem to know: "LOVE, JUSTICE, TRUTH AND MERCY" -- HERE ARE YOUR HOLY AND SPIRITUAL LAWS! Obey them - observe them - teach them - do them - and live!
We are not OT Jews required to observe the Mosaic law or any ordinance or tradition in order to prove our love to God... all we need to do is keep (obey) "His" N.T. words... Mark 12:30-31.
Do we; born again Christians, lack something that they have? What they have and what they offer is the Letter of the Law! They can have their death! We'll keep our Life!
Upon ones coming to be a NEW Creation in Christ (one where the OLD has passed away making way for the NEW!) - such a person no longer deals with the LETTER of the Law (as the Messianic's do and teach) but is one who is dealt with and deals directly with the Spirit of the living God, therefore with the "Spirit" of the law!
What the Messianic's cannot comprehend is that we don't destroy the Law, NAY, rather we establish it.... but not outwardly, physically, according to the Letter like them, but we establish it inwardly, in our hearts, and walk in that way, according to the Spirit.
And for this they condemn us and call us lawless and that we are of the antichrist's children, and expect us to play dead when they do, saying that we "Christians" are apostates who disobyed God by not keeping His law as they, the NT Messianics, do...
Yet the Scriptures continually cry out against them:
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. Rom.7:6
Unbeknowest to the lawbinders, we do serve and obey God in Newness of Spirit, and not (like them) in the oldness of the letter....
Rom 8:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
We, the church, have been warned in advance to beware of the doctrines of modern day pharisees who say they are Jews (i.e. todays "Christians")... and are not,... Rev.2:9; 3:9.
Beware Of Trampling Christ Underfoot
Only those who have been sanctified through the blood of the Covenant can do despite to it. Only those who have a knowledge of the Son of God can "trample Him under foot."
So, "If we sin wilfully AFTER that we have received the knowledge of the Truth", there remaineth no longer a share for us in the sacrifice of Christ. (verse 26)
#1. So... How does one go about "Trodding Under Foot" the Son of God"?
#2. How does one go about "Counting The Blood Of The Covenenant To Be An Unholy Thing"?
#3. How does one go about "Doing Despite Unto The Spirit Of Grace"?
First it should be clearly understood that we all from time to time have taken and twisted some of the truth to suit our beliefs and our docrines, and by so doing we come under Hebrews 10:29.
HOWEVER - most all of us do it "Ignorantly" - Unwilfully" - "Unknowingly" - "Unintentionally", and it is this kind of "sin" that can and will be forgiven!
But once the knowledge of the truth comes (verse 26), then all the excuses to remain in our false beliefs and doctrines - "sins" - that touch upon and take away from the glory of Christ, touch upon His blood, and touch upon the Spirit of Grace are over!
#1. happens any time one of us tries to take away any of the glory that belongs only to Christ.
In doing so they are robbing Him what's due Him and giving it to another: the flesh, the world or the Devil!
A good example would be someone who claimed to be saved and yet continued to practice greivious sin. To trod underfoot all that God has done for us is to spit on Him and treat Him and what He has done as of no account, thereby treating Him as disgaceful.
#2. happens any time one of us counts the blood of the covenant that Jesus shed to be an unholy/worthless thing.
An example: Whenever someone says, "I am saved by His blood", yet continues in, adds to, or returns to the beggardly elements to help save, hope to save or to keep him saved is Counting The Blood of The Covenenant To Be An Unholy Thing".
Another good example: Whenever we are confronted by suffering and/or death because of our faith, and we instead chose mortal life by denying Him, then such a person considers the blood that He shed to save them eternally to be an unholy thing. Pure and simple!
#3. happens any time one of us dishonors/insults the Spirit of Grace.
To dishonor the Spirit who brought us the Grace of God is to insult Him by not honoring the revelation of Jesus Christ in glory that He brought and that we are each expected to work out as well as work out of!!!
Jesus said..."If a man love me, he will keep my words." Pure and simple!
Heb 10:
28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
For Expose's on "False Teachers" and "Heretical Doctrines"; and why many of them are such, go to:
expose's
For an excellent article on what the current Catholic catechism teaches
and how far away it is from Scripture, check this out:
The New Catholic Catechism
NO OTHER FOUNDATION!
Hello friend! You know, even if I should live to be 100, I cannot stress or overemphasize enough the importance that our hearing and having the one true Gospel plays in our salvation.
Please allow me to show you (using God's own word) the difference between "The Genuine Article" and "The Counterfeit"....
But first: If you are like I once was concerning your own spirituality then chances are that you have a (gullible) tendency to believe and do what anyone; including your church or some "qualified" religious leader tells you is the Gospel Truth, without at least even bothering to check it out first with what God had already said in the Bible. In fact, I'll bet you hardly ever read the Bible! (Am I right?)
And, if you are like I once was then you just blindly follow the crowd, figuring that: "Hey, if it takes four or more years to earn a seminary degree in order to become a qualified religious leader approved of men; and if this many people go through the motions each week to practice it, then it must be allright for me to go along and practice it too"! (Am I wrong?)
On those notes some serious questions come to mind...
Ask yourself -- "Would you be so terribly gullible as to simply dump the life of your dearest loved one into to the hands of some quack to care for without at least doing a little research on the guy and his practice first?"
Of course not!
Ask yourself -- "Would you knowingly choose to give away all you own to an organization of ill repute without at least bothering to do a little checking on them first?"
Of course not!
Ask yourself -- "Would you be willing to invest your life's savings in some stock that you knew was going to bankrupt you in a week without at least doing a little research by looking into the long range forcast first?"
Of course not! You wouldn't be so... "Gullible"!
Then what; in heaven's name, would ever cause you or I to blindly and gullibly trust the safe-keeping of our most precious possession: our very own soul, over to any man or religion to run it for us without our at least first comparing the Bill Of Sale they're handing us with what God already said to MAKE SURE that they jibe?? Do you see what I am saying?
All I'm saying, and all I want you to realize, is that just because someone or some religion says it's so, doesn't make it so. It doesn't matter if that person or religion "claims" that it is the way to heaven. We have "God's Word" to tell us that! Therefore... "ONLY what God says makes it so!"
Understand that I am not out to attack everyone and every religion as being "bad" or "false", but I sure am out to make you aware of the dangers out there of not heeding what God already said and said clearly, and of something needful.
That needful something to have and to know is how absolutely imperative it is to make sure that you are standing ONLY upon the SOLID ground of God's word if you intend to go to heaven. Heaven is paved with God's words! His Word is its foundation!
For instance, what if God were to say: "Don't make an image (Exodus 20:4) of anything in heaven; including me -- neither bow down down to it (Exodus 20:5)."
Well that is exactly what "God" (not what man) did say!
Are you taking Him seriously?? Or are you bowing down to and praying to images made to try and resemble God, saints and/or angels?? If so then this is the result of your taking what some "religion" does and doing what "they" say and do (no matter who "they" are, or what "they" claim, or what "they" do) seriously.
Do you see the importance of what I am saying??
What you are doing may be pleasing to the masses, but it may well be an Insult to God. If God says "NO", He means "NO"! There is no way around this.
It is written: "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 16:25
So... If you are depending (i.e. 'trusting') in any way, shape or form upon your trying to obey what your priest, pastor or religion says in order to get to heaven, and/or in your trying to keep the law of Moses in order to save you, help save you or help keep you saved in any way, then you had best brush up on exactly 'Why' Jesus demands that we all must first be born-again (see John 3), and then compare this to what it is that you are doing and why.
Why do I say this?
Because by building, bowing before and praying to "statues/images" of any kind (which is what the pagans did) only goes to show in your heart of hearts that you are honoring these "dead inanimate objects" and have confidence in these "things" to protect and watch over you and to hear you in time of need! In this way "The One And Only Living God" is left out of the picture and relagated to the sidelines, replaced by idols that can neither, see, walk or talk.
(For example, look at the vast amount of idols that the RC church lights candles to and has made images of in order to bow before, worship, pray to and set their hopes on, and you can't help but to know exactly what I mean.)
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me", Isaiah 46:9
Did you ever hear what God says about these idols???---
"To whom will ye liken me to, and make me equal with, and compare me, that we may be alike?
Such as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god; they fall down, yea, they worship it.
They bear it upon the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands there, and it shall not be moved from it's place: yea, though one may cry unto it, yet it can not speak nor answer nor save him out of his trouble." Isaiah 46:5-7
In the end all of these "things" we have surrounding us will not help save us but insure our destruction instead. It all so obviously goes to prove that we lack faith alone in Christ alone!!!
Did you ever realize that the way to be saved is not by being "good", but by admitting just the opposite??? Jesus came to seek and to save the lost sinner, not the righteous (i.e. "good")!
You see, in God's eyes, "there is none good but one, that is, God alone" (Matthew 19:17)
We must see and admit that we are sinners through and through first then we can turn away from our idols of unbelief, along with our prayers to and trust in them, and reach out and depend upon Christ alone to save us, apart from trusting in ourselves or in our imperfect keeping of the law to do so.
It can't be both "you and/or your idols and/or your trying to keep the law + Christ and His Grace alone"! It's either, or - 100%. There is no mix and match! There is only belief (followed by the proper action of repentance = turning away from sin and turning to God) or Unbelief (followed by the improper action of us continuing to try and work out our own sins through membership in some religious organization, our own "goodnesses" and/or our "trying" to keep the law.).
Understand that the law/commandments and/or the keeping of them will save no one! It was never meant to. In fact, it was given to have just the opposite effect, to make us more aware of our sins and sinfulness, and that we (of ourselves) can do nothing to change or better our sinful condition. The harder we try and keep the law; the way God gave it to be kept, the more we learn that we cannot! Why??? "Because it must be kept ...'Perfectly' at all times! That is how God made it."
Therefore whenever we break the law; instead of us getting sympathy through it by our trying hard to be good afterwards or make up for it with some good deed, the law instead will curse and condemn us everytime. There is no mercy in the law! It condems everyone who does not keep what is written in the book of law and all who breaks even the least commandment... (the way that God intended for them to be kept): "perfectly".
We are commanded to keep the commands of God, YES, but NOT as the means to our salvation! They can only be kept through a new and spiritual birth, not through our keeping of the dead letter of the law. But now is the time of pleasing God by receiving His Grace freely. It is not a time of thinking you're pleasing God by keeping the law. Today God is only pleased through faith in His Son, apart from the works of the law!
God's Saving Grace comes only by 'faith' in Christ, not by keeping the law. It is a FREE gift -- Freely given (without charge) to those who hear, believe, trust and come to Christ alone to save them -- Freely given to those with nothing held in reserve for doing thus trusting in other things/works: (in order to save or help God save themselves, and that is precisely why they do them)...
...like going to or joining a church, keeping church dogma, doing penance or an act of contrition for your own sins, getting water baptized, belief in purgatory for sin purging, confessions, wearing of scapulars, saying the rosary, giving to the poor, tithing, repetitious prayers or prayers to statues or dead saints, indulgences, novenas, etc.
None of this saves. "Jesus alone saves!" Doing these "things" will save nobody. If you believe and hold to these things to save or help save you, you're going to be in for one huge shock! Only having and holding Jesus in Spirit and in Truth is necessary to ones salvation. You must be born again!
God doesn't say: Believe on Me "PLUS" do some or all of the above.
Instead He says: "Whosoever believeth in me should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:15
To KNOW God is to BELIEVE, and visa versa... and to KNOW Him is to LOVE Him thus DO all that "He" says!
If just one lesson needs to be learned here it is this: "Salvation is a FREE Gift from God that cannot be earned, won or bargained for!!!" And anyone trying to earn it will only incur God's wrath in the end for their Unbelief!
This means that "IF" anyone is also depending; "in any way", upon any of these man-made "righteous works and efforts" of theirs to save them, or help save them, then they are doomed. Why? Because they haven't come and given Him full recognition for finishing the job. They're still striving to help save themselves out of fear not to!
In their Unbelief they seek to add to; thus end up taking away from, His Finished work! They blindly believe that He left some of the work of saving them behind for them to earn and achieve. I pray that you do not believe and obey this lie?
Jesus (God in the flesh!) came to pay for our sins... ALL of them... ALL of them but one: the sin of... "UNBELIEF"! He is the only one who can save you or I - and He will save us when and if we (under the conviction of the Holy Spirit) see ourselves as the lost sinners we really are, repent of our sin and come to Him with all our heart and give Him alone the full thanks and recognition that He alone has earned and deserves. This ability to Hear the word, turn away from our sin and turn to God, thus receiving it as The Gospel Truth is called... "Faith"!
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
In other words the kind of "Faith" needed to save us is a "Hearing with Faith" that begins the moment one hears (i.e. "Understands") what they are hearing concerning what God has to say, what must be done about it, and what Christ came to do!
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. Ephesians 2:8, 9.
"IT (the work of salvation) IS FINISHED!" John 19:30
There remains only One "WORK" which must be done...
Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye BELIEVE ON HIM whom he hath sent. John 6:28, 29
Therefore, what saves a man is faith alone (plus nothing) in Jesus Christ. PERIOD.
What makes a man righteous is faith alone (plus nothing) in Jesus Christ. PERIOD.
And the kind of faith I speak of is the kind that HEARS the Truth, UNDERSTANDS the Truth, LOVES the Truth and does it!
Finally... "ADDING" something/anything that "WE" may do ( * see above) to our faith in order to save, or help save, or to help keep us saved, only goes to prove that we are not really believing in nor trusting upon Christ or through His singular finished work upon the cross and in His resurrection, ALONE.
Instead what this shows is how much we depend on ourselves doing certain "OTHER" things to save or help God save us as well!! (otherwise "WE" wouldn't be depending upon and/or putting trust and hope in ourselves nor in our doing these "OTHER" things we do to save or help save us at all!)
What we ALL need to understand and recognize is that Christ came to die for "Sinners" in order to bring us to God. He came to die for YOU and I! According to the Scriptures there is nothing of worth in any of us worth dying for. Zip! In turn God proved that how much He loves Us by sending His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who became sin (who became one of us) and came and paid a price for our sins that none of us could!
God (in His love for us) sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, who came and (in His Love) freely laid down His life and paid that price that only He could pay to save and redeem us who believe. He did not come in order to lay down His life for the righteous person (because there is none righteous, no not one), but for the lost sinner - for all of us who understand just WHO it was He died for: He died for - "ME" personally. It's over and done with!
What's left is for you (along with each and every one of us) is to seek catching but a single, swift glimpse of the "Living God", (through a faith/vision that is alive and real) and at the same instant (in glimpsing Him) you will quickly realize your own individual depravity and your ugly, inward sin-sickened self before Him (see Isaiah 6:5; Luke 5:8).
I can and do most solemly assure you that anyone catching even a teeny glimpse of Him high and lifted up in glory as He now is and has His being, that this "Vision of Him" will cause the person to totally abhor themselves and FLY to Him, lock, stock and barrel.
Before our regeneration we are nothing more than sinners through and through, because of SIN! It is because of OUR association with sin that we are what we are - SINNERS - and there is no way out for us, no way for us to "Clean up our act" before God, except through His death on the cross and our being crucified (put to death) with Him! Firstly, "Christ" needed to be crucified for us sinners, in order that, secondly, we (who believe) could all be "Put To Death WITH Christ". This is so that we can end all this charade and pretense and vanity we're living in, call a spade a spade, and call us what we really are: "Incurable Sinners" who need saving "NOW"!
It is upon this GLIMPSE of God whereby we will have no choice but to consider our old (Adamic/Sinful) nature/life to be what IT REALLY IS (as seen through God's eyes): "Complete Dung"! It is then that we will turn towards a Savior, totally trusting in Christ to be that Very One! We ourselves then become crucified with Him in order to become born again - only this time being born of above - of the Spirit - of God our new Father.
It will then be because of that GLIMPSE we've had of Him whereby we shall receive a NEW nature - the same One (The Spirit of Christ) that was in Him when He walked the earth, and by Him learn what really pleases God and how to really obey Him by walking after a New Master, after the Risen Christ, rather than being forced to have to always obey the sinful lusts and longings of the Old master, the now crucified self!
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Galatians 6:14-15
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4
So... what "Real Faith" does is to come and lay hold of Jesus! It is because of this "laying hold of Him by faith" (therefore 'Working the work of God') that the person becomes empowered with a New Life enabling them to: "Keep His Word". They don't do this in order to save themselves, but because they know Him and Love Him now and have been given this absolute living assurance and confirmation by no less than God Himself (alive and at work in them through His empowering them with a new life).
They have truly been saved without a doubt and know it, and have found eternal rest for their souls in Him (John 14:27). For them and them alone it (the work of Saving them) is truly FINISHED... and they KNOW this!!! Do "you" know this "absolute, unwavering, assurance of the faith" as well?? If not are you ready?
This BLESSED ASSURANCE occurs simply because the person has heard and believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and through it has received Him, the Son of the living God. Therefore it becomes Absolutely Imperative that a person Hears, Understands and thus Believes the Gospel of Jesus Christ and puts it into practice... not by their own power but by the power of the Holy Spirit who brings them to New Life IN Christ!
If you don't carry that Rock-Solid, God-Given, absolute assurance of faith in you, (and please don't try and kid yourself, because either you KNOW Him very personally as The Way, The Life and The Truth and obey Him or you don't - read 1 Corinthians 2:9-16) then it's time that you seriously consider what is being said and act accordingly!
We all need to Know God personally! If you have heard that Jesus went to the cross to lay down His precious life for sinners as ourselves - for YOU personally - then believe this Wonderful News with your whole heart, fly to Him and begin to praise and thank Him for what He has done, but especially for who He is.
Invite Him to come into your heart calling upon Him - The Living Word of God - as both Lord and Savior of your life... and you shall be SAVED... and KNOW most assuredly that you are!
once more: "And this is life eternal, that they might KNOW thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." John 17:3
