Unaware Of The Danger

unaware of the dangerImagine what it would be like to be in mortal danger, yet to be totally unaware of it. Certainly, many on the verge of a fatal heart attack are like that along with scores of others who have other serious physical afflictions and are close to death, but not by observation.

Believe it or not, being oblivious to enormous spiritual dangers is even more pronounced than physical dangers, even though they are also much more severe. When we focus in upon spiritual perils, the magnitude of the danger exponentially increases because such will affect one eternally. That brings up man’s greatest need, the salvation of his soul, and the greatest danger in the universebeing thrown into the fiery furnace (Mt. 13:41,42).

Christians who are not avid sowers of God’s word, are apparently dulled to such desperate spiritual needs of the people around them. That statement isn’t just referring to the non-believer, but also to the lukewarm and fruitless, for their isn’t much difference! While it may be true that the lukewarm and fruitless may have salvation today, it is also true tomorrow they may not have it anymore! Jesus will vomit out the lukewarm from the body of Christ and the Father will sever the fruitless from Christ. It is fruit or fire! Hence, the spiritual needs are great, but those in such dire conditions are unaware of the danger. This is especially clear with the lukewarm:

So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (Rev 3:16,17)

They were so spiritually blind they wrongly thought they didn’t need a thing, while they had immense needs! Jesus saw them as wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked and about to be spit out of his mouth! If you are a real Christian, let your light shine around you, for there are various kinds of needs and most are salvation related. If the tables were turned, you would want someone to give you God’s truth to help your condition. Eternity hangs in the balance and Judgment Day is awaiting us all. Finally, are you aware of this responsibility and the possibility of spiritual death for the righteous? Remember Heb. 3:12-14:

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

Are you aware of the danger that people all around you are in?

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Love God

love GodOne of the signs of our perilous last days is religious people, with only a form of godliness, being lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God (2 Tim. 1:5). Just that truth alone about the seriousness of not loving God supremely is significant, but there are other Scriptures showing the same truth. For example, the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:29-31). Some commands are, therefore, greater than others and loving God is the greatest of all!

The Mark 12:29-31 command implies loving God must be related to eternal life since that is so important and we are also commanded to come to salvation — to enter through the narrow gate (Mt. 7:13), repent (Acts 17:30), etc. Loving God is directly related to having salvation and it is impossible to have salvation without loving God! Proof for this is revealed in various Scriptures, including one of the anathemas:

If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. (1 Cor 16:22)

To be anathema is to be doomed to hell. Hence, not loving Jesus is to be without salvation. Also, those who love God are known by God (1 Cor. 8:3) and to be known by God is to have salvation. Again, that is reserved for those who love God. Thirdly, Jesus said this:

If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23)

To love Jesus means the Father will love you and both the Father and Jesus will make their home with you. For our bodies now to be the house of God (temple of God) implies salvation now. After our death, to be at home with them is to be in God’s paradise kingdom. Both ways imply salvation. Also from John 14:23 it is clear that if we love Jesus we will OBEY him. That is what it means to love God, as shown here.

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, (1 John 5:3)

Loving God is a salvation issue and it is revealed by obeying God. Heb 5:9 says, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. That insight brings a fresh understanding to Acts 5:29. The Apostles wanted to have final salvation:

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!”

One final point, obedience to God is not related to a works salvation. Paul stressed obedience (1 Cor. 7:19; Gal. 6:8; etc.), but fought against a works salvation.

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Do Not Associate With

do not associate with the wickedFar from being an ecumenical, open-arms type with anyone who professes to have eternal life, the Apostle Paul revealed God’s strict call to holiness, essential to the Christian faith:

But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. (1 Cor 5:11)

It would be a sin for the Corinthian Christians to associate with any professing Christian who negated his own profession of faith by his unholy behavior. The unholy behavior mentioned is later repeated in 1 Cor.6: 9,10 and there we are also told not to be deceived— that such people will not inherit God’s kingdom!

Unholy behavior from a professing Christian is noteworthy! It not only reveals that such a person (a child of the devil) is not saved at the moment, it also means that real Christians must not associate with him for his sake! Not associating with a backslider, who lost his salvation, or a false convert will help bring about repentance and salvation. To continue to associate with an unholy person who professes salvation would nullify that advantage plus endanger the Christian body. To “look the other way” and consider the professing Christian saved is to say there are Christian fornicators, Christian greedy people, Christian idolaters, Christian slanderers, Christian drunks, Christian swindlers, which would spread more sin. Though the concept of Christian adulterers, Christian slanderers, Christian drunks is common in our apostate day through Calvinism, such is clearly foreign to the image of a Christian revealed in Scripture.

Finally, 1 Cor. 5:11 is a devastating view to the merciless smear campaign the grace changers have done to the Corinthians, by teaching they were carnal meaning they were sexually immoral, drunks, etc. Why? Because it is obvious that the Corinthians were not described in the 1 Cor. 5:11 list of people they were to not associate with! They could not have been committing the same sins others were committing whom they were told to stay away from. Some so-called holiness preachers of our day violate 1 Cor. 5:11 by co-laboring with slanderers, and such, as though it was nothing, and reveal their own immorality by doing so. Remember:

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)

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House Of God

house of GodOne of the major changes between the Old Testament and the New is that the house of God, as existed back then, is no longer the same. For that era it was a portable tent-like structure, in which God dwelt. David’s son, Solomon, was the first to build a structure called the temple of God. Solomon’s temple was built by skilled craftsmen using various valuable building materials, including tons of gold. It must have been one of the greatest man-made structures ever built.

When the Lord Jesus died on the cross for the sins of all of mankind (1 John 2:2), one of the things that occurred was the curtain in the temple was ripped from top to bottom (Mt. 27:51). The whole animal sacrificial system used back then with the blood of bulls and goats is now done away with since Jesus, the lamb of God, shed his blood once and for all time never to be repeated (Heb. 10:10-12; etc.). All of that also changed the house of God. The house of God is no longer a man made structure (Acts 17:24), but instead the physical bodies of the ones possessing eternal life. It is therefore a definite error to teach that a church building is the house of God or the temple of God. So, King David could write back then the following:

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (Psa 84:10)

However, under the New Covenant, for the new creations in Christ, this applies:

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (1 Cor. 3:16,17, NJKV)

That shows the seriousness of sin in the life of a believer. Far from what once saved always saved, which is another gospel, would have us believe about our future sins already being forgiven before we commit them, sin is still the issue. Regarding free will and human responsibilities under grace, the Christian must now hold on to various things, including courage and the hope of which we boast:

But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. (Heb 3:6)

Hold on and don’t defile God’s temple. Your salvation depends upon it. God bless you.

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Worries Of This Life

In the Parable Of The Sower the Lord Jesus mentioned besides others, a type of person who hears the word of God, but does NOT bring forth spiritual fruit. When that person hears the Word of God, the effect is likened unto seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. (Mat 13:7) The meaning is clearly revealed a few verses later:

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. (Mat 13:22)

Jesus taught the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke out the fruitfulness of God’s word in some people. In the paralleling passages from Mark and Luke, we read:

But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (Mark 4:19)

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. (Luke 8:14)

Hence, the spiritual thorns (worries of this life, deceitfulness of wealth, desires for other things and life’s pleasures) are all potentially disastrous to fruit bearing. They don’t have to be, but they certainly are in one out of four types of people who hear the Word of God. Other people are tested by God with those same thorns yet bring forth fruit anyway. Why? How can this be with some, but not all? Here’s how. The Christian life is a walk of faith. We must remain mindful of the big picture, which includes eternity beyond the grave. If we do that, the multiple problems and troubles of this life will become very small in contrast. Furthermore, there are many wasted hours spent doing things that don’t have to be done to such perfection. Examples are mowing the yard every week or washing the car as soon as a little dirt or dust gets on it. Even worse is wasting many hours each in front of the godless TV set, while getting spiritually polluted by that bad company (1 Cor 15:33). None of those things are conducive to fruit bearing.

Getting into debt to have a big house, new car, furniture and going on vacations you can’t afford are also major thorns for fruit bearing. Some people waste the fruit bearing potential of their wealth on themselves. They spend large amounts of money for things they don’t really need to have. Our free time and money are major areas through which we will be tested. They can be used to bring forth fruit, but often don’t because of the worries of this life, etc. All of this has salvation importance, especially when one realizes it is fruit or fire. The Heavenly Father will cut you off from the Vine (Christ) and you will be thrown into the fire, if you are fruitless (John 15:1-6). Watch out for spiritual distractions and keep focused. The Christian life is a life of self denial (Lk. 9:23), not self indulgence and you must bear good fruit to stay saved and retain eternal life! There is NO eternal security.

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Party’s Over

party's overIn Luke 16:19-31, the Lord Jesus taught about two actual people who had contrasting lives. They were a sickly unloved beggar named, Lazarus, and an unnamed rich man who feasted daily, dressed like a king and who lived in a house which had a gate by which to enter. Their earthly circumstances drastically changed when they died. For Lazarus, to die was gain as he was carried by God’s angels to Abraham’s side — a place of sweet comfort. The party was just beginning for him.

It was much different, though, for the unrighteous rich man. When he died the party was over! His wealth could not benefit him in the slightest at that point. He no longer did it his way with people waiting on him and catering to his every need. The only thing that mattered at that point was the spiritual and that was where he was sadly lacking! Consequently, as will be the case for all the wicked, he went to eternal fire to be tormented.

Other unrighteous people surely felt the same way upon their death as they left everything behind and suddenly experienced a fiery horror unknown to the people of this world. Just two more examples are Queen Jezebel and King Herod, who lived centuries apart. Each were ruling monarchs in their day with supreme power. If they wanted someone dead, that person would die because they ordered it. Injustice reigned as they lived in all the creature comforts their money could buy, but one day it ended for each. When they died, the party was over as is always the case for people like them. Their power and positions were no longer valid. They left all their money behind. They died in their sins and, like most, entered a living conscious nightmare for the damned. Besides crying out futilely for mercy from the torments of fire, all the lost souls since Adam’s creation could say with those three, the party’s over and now everything has changed.

What a contrast for the ones who have eternal life. Upon their death, the party is just beginning and will never end. What a major difference and it all depends on having a pure heart at the point of death. Such is only possible through Jesus Christ, the Lord. Reader, upon your death, will it be party’s over or party’s just beginning in God’s holy and loving presence in Paradise? Do you know him?

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Reap Eternal Life

reap eternal lifeIt is common knowledge that we all reap what we sow. Even a novice gardener knows that. A farmer especially knows if he sows corn in the field, he will reap corn and not wheat or barley. One’s harvest depends on what he plants. What about eternal life? Is it different for salvation? How do we harvest eternal life, if we have to harvest it at all? Is eternal life just given to us under grace with no bearing on how we live (sow)? To the shocking horror of many church people, eternal life is harvested only after one sows to please the HOLY Spirit. So, spiritually under GRACE, we reap (or harvest) what we spiritually sow, according to the Apostle Paul:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Gal 6:7-10)

If you could reap eternal life by sowing to please your flesh you would be mocking God, but he won’t be mocked! It won’t happen. You will reap fiery torment instead.

Gal. 6:7-10 should be known just as well as we know John 3:16, for it too applies to salvation. The problem of those verses being readily known is compounded by too few reading their Bibles plus all the false teachers who are presenting eternal life and grace in a totally different way, to the detriment of their listeners! For example, Charles Stanley, the chief once saved always saved teacher in our day, teaches that Gal 6:7-9 refers to rewards and confuses the issue by doing so! Folks, read Gal 6:8 for yourself out of your own Bible. It is not referring to anything other than reaping eternal life or the opposite, which is destruction (spiritual death and the lake of fire). Eternal life is salvation not rewards. Remember Gal 6:8 is a SALVATION passage, not a rewards passage, and your potential harvest of eternal life depends on how you sow now. All of that is part of Paul’s grace message, not legalism or a works salvation, just like this verse:

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Rom 6:22)

For much more information, go to Evangelical Outreach for the book, The Believer’s Conditional Security. God bless you.

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Another Gospel

another gospel false gospel will send you to hellAnother gospel is the same as a false gospel or a gospel different from the one and only real one. Another gospel can be a popular teaching or one which is little known, but regardless, it claims to be the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet is counterfeit and therefore dangerous to SOULS. Another gospel is presented, even to Christians, as the real plan of salvation found in the Bible, but is demonically misrepresenting the truth of God and eternal life. In Paul’s day, it misled true Christians in the region of Galatia away from God and back into spiritual death as the victims fell from grace (Gal. 5:2-4). Paul furiously fought another gospel:

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (Gal 1:6,7, KJV)

Paul defended the true gospel and warned against the false in the strongest terms:

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. 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 1:8-10)

The gospel message must be accurate to bring about new creations in Christ. If not, it will be just another powerless gospel devoid of transforming power. Hence, one can go to hell just for preaching a false gospel and Paul knew that applied to him! All of the false religions preach another gospel – from Catholicism to Jehovah’s Witnesses to Universalism, and the list goes on.

One false gospel out shines all the others though. It is once saved always saved. Again, once saved always saved is another gospel. It teaches the Christian has salvation in wickedness, minimizes and/or dismisses living holy in our day, misrepresents a conditional salvation and has spread like gangrene. Multitudes are in fiery torment at this moment because of this license for immorality. So, what is the gospel of Jesus Christ? Ponder especially 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Acts 20:21; 26:20; etc. It is a matter of eternal life or eternal death to know the truth from another gospel. God bless you.

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Eternal Salvation

eternal salvation obey JesusSalvation is referred to in various ways throughout Scripture. If one has salvation, he “knows” Jesus (1 John 2:3,4), has eternal life (1 John 5:12; etc.), has been justified by grace (Titus 3:7), etc. The list goes on and would state a saint also has eternal salvation:

And, once made perfect, he [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Heb 5:9)

Because of various prevalent heresies in our day, connected especially with the believer’s security, certain false teachers have wrongly equated the Biblical term of eternal salvation to the heresy of eternal security (salvation security in sin). Consequently, dangerous confusion often reigns around the term of eternal salvation. From Hebrews 5:9 it should be clear that the only ones who get eternal salvation are also the same ones who OBEY Jesus. That is the all-important key in understanding truth from error on this subject. It is also devastating for the once saved always saved proponents who think the opposite and would even say Paul was the worst of sinners and had salvation in his wickedness.

Truth about eternal salvation needs to be known, especially since it is related to salvation. Many other Scriptures are similar to Heb. 5:9 and all of them say the same. The only ones who have eternal salvation are the same ones who are obeying God. Here are several others:

He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” (Luke 8:21)

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Mat 7:21)

The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:4)

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person–such a man is an idolater–has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. (Eph 5:5,6)

In conclusion, we must Biblically define terms, especially if they are found in Scripture. If we do that, it is impossible to equate eternal salvation to eternal security. Do you know him?

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Unequally Yoked

unequally yokedThe command and safeguard to be separate from unbelievers and not be unequally yoked with them is vital. For a Christian to have close dealings with any unbeliever as in a business, marriage or even a friendship is to open himself up for spiritual death and hell, besides being irrational. It’s irrational, for there is no fellowship between the child of the devil and the child of God, NONE. One is darkness and likened to the temple of idols, and one is light and the temple of God. There is as much harmony between the two as there is between the Lord Jesus and Belial, another name for the devil (2 Cor. 6:14-16) !

A definite example of how a righteous man became unrighteous through being unequally yoked is Solomon. With him it was his pagan wives, which he held fast to in love. He became an idolater like them! NOTE: Solomon got contaminated and became like them instead of the reverse! This is important for those who are self-deceived and think for evangelism reasons they need to associate closely with some unbeliever. This is a powerful refutation to the so-called friendship evangelism of our dark hour.

I have observed that loneliness is one of the chief reasons why some jeopardize their eternal life. They risk eternal life for the sake of friends to pal around with or for a marriage. Hence, you must remain guarded, especially if you are a Christian single. With all of this in mind we read:

Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor 6:17,18)

If you are a real Christian, you are also the temple of God, but that can change! As the Spirit of God left King Saul (1 Sam. 16:14; 18:12), he can and will leave you too under certain conditions. So take that warning serious and this similar one:

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (1 Cor. 3:16,17, NKJV)

The holy God prepared the holy city (New Jerusalem) for holy people. If you die in an unholy condition, you will not enter Paradise (Mt. 5:8; Heb. 12:14; Rev. 21:27; etc.). Don’t be deceived by once saved always saved. To reap eternal life, you must sow to please the Spirit of God (Gal. 6:8). Are you doing such NOW?

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