Romans 10:3-4, “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." —2nd Thessalonians 1:8
Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life
without ever being born-again. What a profoundly simple, but accurate,
statement!!! Religion is a satanic substitute for religion. Most unsaved
people view any type of fundamentalist religion as a cult, because the
secular newsmedia (hussies and presstitutes) have abandoned God, morals
and decency in their own personal life and family; so instead of helping
the church reach the needy and hurting, the newsmedia hurts the churches
who fight to preserve Biblical family values. Thank God for New
Testament Churches!!!
Most People Miss the Simplicity That is
in Jesus Christ
It is so simple to be saved. Jesus' disciples asked Him an amazing question that Christian believers still often struggle with and ask today, two millenniums later...
Luke 13:23-24, “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”
The answer is “NO,” there are not many people saved! Why is that? With all the churches across the world, how can this be? How could most of the people in the world—many of whom are good, kind, decent, friendly, devoutly religious, people—Go to Hell in their sins!!! How could they all go to Hell when they die; while many murderers, abortionists, rapists, adulterers, witches, politicians, homosexuals and terrorists get to go to Heaven?
The answer is that we don't go to Heaven because of our goodness, but because of God's goodness. Most religious people errantly think that they are pleasing God by doing wonderful works in Jesus' name, preaching in Jesus' name, giving in Jesus' name, and abstaining from sin in Jesus' name; yet the wrath of God abideth upon them because they are going about to establish their own righteousness instead of God's righteousness. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
“It is hard for people to understand that the do-gooder is just as much in rebellion against God as the criminal in the jail and that he is bound as securely by the rules of his group and the patterns they set. He is bound to a life-style that goes down the middle of the road.” —Pastor McGee, J. Vernon
Christians Are Washed in the Blood
I've heard many ministers wrestle the following passage of Scripture, in an attempt to say that willful sinners won't go to Heaven, but that's not what God is saying. Notice the important phrase in 1st Corinthians 6:11... “BUT YE ARE WASHED!” Notice that the Holy Bible says, “BUT YE ARE JUSTIFIED!” My friend, when you receive Christ as your personal Savior, believing the Gospel (good news) that Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried and bodily resurrected three days later, you are washed in the blood, you are saved, eternally secure in the Father's hands. ...
1st Corinthians 6:9-11, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
The answer is in Jesus Christ—for He paid a
massive debt of sin that He did not owe, because we all owed a boatload
of sins that we could not pay. Jesus paid it all!!! Nothing to Him I
owe! Eternal life is a free gift, paid for by the Lord's precious liquid
blood, sprinkled on the mercy seat up in Heaven in the presence of the
Father!!! (Hebrews 9:12; 24; 12:24).
Beware of Lordship Salvation—a False Plan of Salvation
There is a heresy that has become epidemic in today's churches, popularized by heretics Dr. John MacArthur and Evangelist Billy Graham. With few exceptions, America's churches are apostate!!! The average pastor is a sissy-britches coward, who dare not preach against women wearing pants or mention eternal punishment in Hell, fire and damnation!
If you ever hear a preacher say that you must stop living in sin to be saved, get out of that church quickly, because it is corrupted. First, there's no such thing as a Christian who forsakes all sin. We all sin, every day. It's impossible to live above sin. You may manage to live above reproach, but no one can live above sin. Anyone who tells you that Christians can attain sinlessness is a big liar. In fact, the Holy Bible says they are also calling God a liar (1st John 1:8-10). There will never be a time in any Christian's life when they can claim to have reached perfection. That's why you should never point fingers or condemn others when they sin. You're a big sinner too!
By “the strait gate” in Luke 13:24-23, Jesus
simply meant that adding or subtracting anything from the plain and
simple Gospel (good news) of the Lord Jesus Christ is a false plan of
salvation. In John 14:6 Jesus plainly asserted, “Jesus saith
unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.” Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven!!!
There is a Path to Heaven That Leads to Hell
I once heard the
missionary Paris Reidhead (1919-1992) foolishly say in a sermon
titled, “Ten Shekels And
A Shirt,” that people who only get saved due to fear of going to
Hell are false converts. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Wanting to escape the fires of Hell is a very good reason to seek
salvation. Dr. Jack Hyles testified in a sermon that at age 11 he was
saved because he didn't want to go to Hell. That is why I got saved too,
at age 13. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting saved to
escape God's wrath in the Lake of Fire.
Mr. Reidhead is very wrong, and I fear, burning in Hell himself this very moment. Clearly, from his own foolish statements, it is obvious that Mr. Reidhead added works to faith, thinking that turning away from sins is required to be saved. Mr. Reidhead made this absolutely horrible statement (and theologically errant as well) concerning salvation and the Christian life...
“It's not what you're going to get out of God, but what He's going to get out of you!”
SOURCE: Missionary Paris Reidhead, from the sermon, “TEN SHEKELS AND A SHIRT.”
WRONG! To understand Paris Reidhead's broken mind, I recommend that you read the following full quote and then I'll refute his errors with the inspired Word of God (I only and always use the trustworthy, inspired, preserved, King James Bible) . ..
Here is Paris Reidhead's satanic false plan of salvation . . .
Dear friends there's only one reason, one reason, for a sinner to repent—and that's because Jesus Christ deserves the worship, and the adoration, and the love, and the obedience of his heart—not because he'll go to Heaven. If the only reason you repented dear friend was to keep out of Hell, all you are is just a Levite serving for ten shekels and a shirt. That's all! You're trying to serve God because He'll do you good. But a repentant heart is a heart that has seen something of the enormity of the crime of playing God and denying the just and righteous God the worship and the obedience that He deserves.
Why should a sinner repent? Because God deserves the obedience and love that he has refused to give Him, not so that he'll go to Heaven. [If] The only reason he repents is so that he'll go to Heaven, it's nothing but trying to make a deal or bargain with God. Why should a sinner give up all his sins? Why should he be challenged to do it? Why should he make restitution when he's coming to Christ? Because God deserves the obedience that He demands!
I have talked with people who have no assurance of sins forgiven. They want to feel saved before they're willing to commit themselves to Christ; but I believe that the only ones whom God actually witnesses (by His Spirit) that they're born-again are the people (whether they say it or not) that come to Jesus Christ and say something like this—“Lord Jesus I'm going to obey you, and love you, and serve you, and do what you want me to do—as long as I live, even if I go to Hell at the end of the road—simply because you are worthy to be loved and served and I'm not trying to make a deal with You!”
SOURCE: Dr. Paris Reidhead, from the sermon, “TEN SHEKELS AND A SHIRT.”
Paris Reidhead butchers the Word of God
recklessly—totally missing the boat concerning the gift of God in
salvation, totally bypassing God's imputed righteousness to every
believer, totally confusing discipleship with sonship concerning the
child of God, and grossly ignoring the biggest reason of all why men
should repent, which is, because WE ARE SINNERS UNDER THE CURSE OF GOD'S
LAW. Wow, what an indictment against Mr. Reidhead. Please understand
that I mean no ill-intent nor unkindness to the loved ones of Mr.
Reidhead. But as an old preacher often said, “If you're right, you're
right and stand up for it; but if you're wrong, you're wrong, and own up
to it as a man.” If the shoe fits, wear it!!!
A Rebuttal of Paris Reidhead's Preceding Heretical Teachings
First of all, let me say that I've never met Mr. Reidhead. He passed away in 1992, a year before I graduated from Bible College. I do respect my elders, even if we disagree on some theological points, et cetera.
HONORING OUR ELDERLY—I love older people. They know so much. I love talking with elderly folks who desire to share their stories about The Greet Depression, World Wars, economics, politics, religion, tough times, literally anything they want to talk about. You name it. You should try it sometime. Go visit a local nursing home and talk to the head person in charge first, and ask kindly for their permission to perhaps play your guitar for 30 minutes to an hour. I used to play my steel guitar at the nursing home often, giving out Gospels of John and talking with people. It is tragic that today's youth haven't been taught to respect, talk to and learn from the elderly. You can define a culture by the way they treat their elderly, especially the elderly who are homeless on the street. It's sad to see an old man with a booze problem, who instead of becoming wise has spent his life as a fool. Booze will turn wise men into fools overnight!!! Wise men don't drink booze of any sort, not at any time, not on any occasion, nor at any place! Amen!!!
According to Mr. Reidhead, only repentance
which sees God as a holy God and compels a person to turn from their sin
and follow after holiness is acceptable to God. That is a total
misrepresentation of the plan of salvation. THE TRUTH is that eternal
life is a “free gift” (Romans 5:15, 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9) to anyone who
wants it. You don't have to pursue holiness to obtain it, for that would
be human effort and self-righteousness.
Reidhead has it all BACKWARDS. He says that the reason for which a man should repent is to give God what's due him, that is, love, obedience, worship and serving Him. That sounds cute theologically, but it's totally lacking sound doctrine Biblically. Folks, God's Law in the Old Testament condemns all mankind for their sins. That's the divine purpose of the Law of Moses (as written by the finger of God on the two stones). God didn't give the Hebrews the Ten Commandment to live by them; but rather, so that when they utterly failed to keep them and fell flat on their faces, the Hebrews would realize how woefully sinful they were, and totally incapable of saving themselves.
Mr. Reidhead criticized the man who came to Christ only so that he could escape the fires of Hell. Is that a bad thing? I certainly don't want to go to Hell forever. That's a very good reason to repent (change your mind) and believe the Gospel to be saved.
Reidhead accuses the man of trying to bargain or make deals with God. That's simply ridiculous and lame theology, and a strange doctrine as well I might add. Why is a sincere man accused of making a deal with God for simply coming to Christ by faith to avoid burning in Hell forever and ever? Fear of God is a good thing my friend; a very good thing! Proverb 16:6, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” If we had a lot more Spirit-filled preachers in our pulpits today warning people that Hell has fire, the alters at invitation time would filled up!!! Go visit the average church today and no one hits the alter. Many churches have stopped giving invitation calls altogether because it has become awkward and has been empty for so long that it is now an embarrassment. FIRE THE PREACHER!!! You get you a Billy Sunday type preacher in there!!!
In salvation, we as sinful men don't barter, wheel-and-deal, come to an agreement, nor make a deal with God. The deal was already made before God created the first human being, Adam, in the Garden of Eden. Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.”
With this background INFORMATION in mind, now Galatians 3:24-26 will make sense to you, “Wherefore 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. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” So the Law shows us our hopeless sinful condition, but then points us to the blessed Savior, Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God. Thus, the reason WHY men need to repent is because they need to cease from their DEAD WORKS (self-righteous works, as Hebrews 6:1 teaches), and then trust upon the Gospel (good news) that Christ DIED on the cross for our sins, was BURIED and bodily RESURRECTED three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-6).
Salvation has absolutely NOTHING to do with us pampering God, making Him feel loved, nor obeying Him from now on. These are commitments which can only come from a life of consecration to the things of God. And this type of dedication comes after years of growing in the grace of the Lord, beginning with the milk of the Word. Mama!! 1st Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” It would be just as ridiculous to expect a new believer in the Lord to understand theology, ecclesiastical separation, Dispensationalism, the Bible issue debate, and contending for the faith as it would be to expect a baby to accurately shoot a gun at a target. New converts absolutely must be mentored, and that's a big purpose of my online ministry, to provide educational resources and then they can learn at their own pace at home.
Eternal life is a free gift, which simply needs to be taken to receive. Salvation is a TAKE proposition, not a GIVE proposition. To be saved, God doesn't ask a man for anything. A gift means that the provider wants to give YOU something. God's gift of eternal life is received merely by believing that Jesus is the Christ, making His death on the cross, burial and His resurrection your hope for Heaven. If you've received the Gospel as full-payment for your sins, then you are saved eternally, immediately, securely and irrevocably. Salvation CANNOT be lost by bad works, just like it wasn't obtained by good works,. God does the saving, ALL OF IT!!! Our part is simply to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31).
A changed life is the FRUIT of genuine repentance, and not a part of the ROOT of saving-faith; but you cannot and should not mandate those changes for salvation, because men cannot see into other men's hearts. 1st Samuel 16:7b, “for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” This is why James spoke of being justified by works in the sight of men (James 2:18-22); whereas Paul spoke of being justified in the eyes of God (Romans 4:5-6).
Please don't confuse sonship with discipleship and fellowship. God put Hebrews 12:6-8 in the Bible for those of His children who choose to live in sin. God chastises and scourges His children, if they are indeed His children!!! God doesn't discipline the Devil's children (John 8:44).
Romans 10:3-4 plainly teaches that we are saved by God's righteousness through faith in Christ Jesus, and not by our own self righteous works. Again, please consider the precious and plain teachings of Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
The rich man in Luke 16:19-31 died in his sins without Christ. During his earthly life, the rich man had no interest in the things of God. He lived in splendor in a mansion and enjoyed all the delicacies of life, eating heartily and making merry in his heart daily; but now he is burning in Hell, being tormented in flames...
Luke 16:22b-24, “the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”
I was saddened to think about all the billions of people who are going to burn in Hell for all eternity. Do you realize that after a trillion years, it won't even be the beginning of one's punishment if they die in their sins without Jesus Christ. Many people, even preachers, have difficulty grasping the reality of eternal punishment; however, we are not as holy as God, so we cannot understand such things as God does. If the Holy Bible says it, that settles it, whether we believe it or not.
Revelation 20:10-15, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Missing out on eternal life in Heaven is going to be a horrifying reality for most people. Luke 13:28, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” Fortunately, you don't have to miss out, but you've got to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior to be saved. Only you can make that choice. Only God can save you. Christ has already paid for your sins with His precious blood. Forgiveness of sins and eternal life are free gifts, that you can have simply by BELIEVING the “Good News” (i.e., “the Gospel”) of Christ's DEATH on the cross for your sins, His BURIAL, and His bodily RESURRECTION three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). If that is your only hope for Heaven my friend, you are saved!
The holy Bible mentions Hell more than Heaven. Please don't go there...
Mark 9:44-48, “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
And again the Scriptures warn all men...
Revelation 14:9-13, “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”
The low-life newsmedia nowadays criticize dress code standards for short hairs on boys to long dresses for girls. Such rules are considered cultish, oppressive and even a form of child abusive by immoral, rebellious, Christ-hating, kooks, quacks and queers with the government power to hurt harmless Christian families. Matthew 18:6, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” God is going to need a lot of millstones and chains!!! (Romans 12:19; Matthew 7:1-2, 12:36).
Matthew 12:34-37, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
Jesus exclaimed in John 3:5-7 that no man can enter into the Kingdom of God unless he is first born-again. YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN!!! It's all so simple and completely free through faith in Jesus Christ—the sinless Lamb of God, slain upon Calvary's cross, for your sins and mine.
Sadly, our nation's sickly churches are filled these days with congregation members who are just going through the motions—singing, tithing, praising, worshipping, praying, fellowshipping, some even fast, et cetera—and yet are not taught the necessity, importance, meaning, nor most of all... how to be born-again. A child could teach it. Getting born-again is so easy that a cave man could do it (remember those car insurance commercials?) Getting born-again is so easy that a child could do it. If you realize that you are a woeful sinner in God's eyes, for breaking His holy Commandments; and you believe (rely upon) that Jesus is the Christ Who died on the cross for your sins, was buried and then resurrected three days later, you are saved my amigo!
