ANY OTHER GOSPEL
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." ~~~ Romans 10:9-10
"But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD." ~~~ Romans 6:22-23
I sat and thought for a while on how to convey this difficult message. Having no desire to burn, but salt burns on an open cut (Matt. 5:13). And while I do not wish to offend, the light generally offends he who has sat in darkness (Matt. 5:16, IThess. 5:5-8).
Salvation is most assuredly a free gift, and the scriptures leave no room for doubting that beloved truth (Tit. 3:5). However, the way in which we recieve this "free gift" has been twisted from its original truth.
Let us visualise for a moment a childs playland, which we shall refer to as "kidland". Acres and Acres of roller coaster rides, free toys, candy, and all that a child could want for a day. Lets suppose that this one day pass to "kidland" is $500. One day, a Father tells his son; "Tomorow we shall spend the whole day at "kidland", under the condition that you behave yourself all day today." One could not say that this child must earn his day at "kidland", as one day of tolerable behavior is not worth $500. But it can be said that the child must show his obedience as a demonstration of his respect in order to recieve such a gift.
On that note, I must emphatically state that the "Romans Road" is paved by the devil; and her "ABC's of Salvation" are the road signs leading the church straight to hell. This may sound offensive, but I would rather that we be shocked into heaven, than comfortably escorted into hell.
Within the infamous Romans 6:23 passage we agree to snatch this verse out of its intended context, subtracting the condition upon which this FREE GIFT is recieved. 6:22 already stated that we are "made free from sin" and are "become servants of God" bearing fruit (John 15:6) "unto holiness"(see Heb. 12:14), with ther end of the verse concluding that the "end" of holiness is "everlasting life". This is not to subtract from the fact that justification is free; for, as with the "parable" of kidland, we could do absolutely nothing to earn such a wonderous gift. And yet the condition given by our Father in heaven is that we should "come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will recieve you." (IICor. 6:17)
If you tell a young child; "do your homework, and you can have ice cream". Does this not imply to the child that if he or she does not do homework, that he or she will not recieve ice cream? The LORD God said "touch not the unclean thing, and I will recieve you". The same God that said "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8).
Even within the equally infamous Romans 10:9-10, we see that salvation is gained via the heart (our mind, will, & emotions) believing "unto righteousness". Just as we are warned that "without [holiness] no man shall see the Lord" (Heb.12:14). For one to claim that a verbal confession is the only requirement is to lead multitudes into hell crying "Lord, Lord" the whole way (Matt.7:21). Even the devils "believe"(James2:19), AND have verbally confessed Christ as Lord (Matt. 8:29, Mark 5:7). The defining characteristic of "saving faith" is that it is with the heart that we believe "unto righteousness". The Heart is the mind, the will, and the emotions of a man. For one to believe on Christ with his heart, he submits his will to the will of God, and lives through Christ (IJohn 4:9). Yes, faith indeed. "I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). This requires becoming more than a mere "Christian"; a word appearing a mere three times in the entire scripture. It requires "discipleship". To follow Christ with his HEART. His mind, will, and emotions.
"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple". ~~~ Luke 14:27
Read Also: ITim. 6:17-19, Jam. 2:14-26, John 15:1-8, ICor. 9:27, Eph. 5:5, I John 2:17...
"But now being made free from sin, and become servants of God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD." ~~~ Romans 6:22-23
I sat and thought for a while on how to convey this difficult message. Having no desire to burn, but salt burns on an open cut (Matt. 5:13). And while I do not wish to offend, the light generally offends he who has sat in darkness (Matt. 5:16, IThess. 5:5-8).
Salvation is most assuredly a free gift, and the scriptures leave no room for doubting that beloved truth (Tit. 3:5). However, the way in which we recieve this "free gift" has been twisted from its original truth.
Let us visualise for a moment a childs playland, which we shall refer to as "kidland". Acres and Acres of roller coaster rides, free toys, candy, and all that a child could want for a day. Lets suppose that this one day pass to "kidland" is $500. One day, a Father tells his son; "Tomorow we shall spend the whole day at "kidland", under the condition that you behave yourself all day today." One could not say that this child must earn his day at "kidland", as one day of tolerable behavior is not worth $500. But it can be said that the child must show his obedience as a demonstration of his respect in order to recieve such a gift.
On that note, I must emphatically state that the "Romans Road" is paved by the devil; and her "ABC's of Salvation" are the road signs leading the church straight to hell. This may sound offensive, but I would rather that we be shocked into heaven, than comfortably escorted into hell.
Within the infamous Romans 6:23 passage we agree to snatch this verse out of its intended context, subtracting the condition upon which this FREE GIFT is recieved. 6:22 already stated that we are "made free from sin" and are "become servants of God" bearing fruit (John 15:6) "unto holiness"(see Heb. 12:14), with ther end of the verse concluding that the "end" of holiness is "everlasting life". This is not to subtract from the fact that justification is free; for, as with the "parable" of kidland, we could do absolutely nothing to earn such a wonderous gift. And yet the condition given by our Father in heaven is that we should "come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will recieve you." (IICor. 6:17)
If you tell a young child; "do your homework, and you can have ice cream". Does this not imply to the child that if he or she does not do homework, that he or she will not recieve ice cream? The LORD God said "touch not the unclean thing, and I will recieve you". The same God that said "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8).
Even within the equally infamous Romans 10:9-10, we see that salvation is gained via the heart (our mind, will, & emotions) believing "unto righteousness". Just as we are warned that "without [holiness] no man shall see the Lord" (Heb.12:14). For one to claim that a verbal confession is the only requirement is to lead multitudes into hell crying "Lord, Lord" the whole way (Matt.7:21). Even the devils "believe"(James2:19), AND have verbally confessed Christ as Lord (Matt. 8:29, Mark 5:7). The defining characteristic of "saving faith" is that it is with the heart that we believe "unto righteousness". The Heart is the mind, the will, and the emotions of a man. For one to believe on Christ with his heart, he submits his will to the will of God, and lives through Christ (IJohn 4:9). Yes, faith indeed. "I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). This requires becoming more than a mere "Christian"; a word appearing a mere three times in the entire scripture. It requires "discipleship". To follow Christ with his HEART. His mind, will, and emotions.
"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple". ~~~ Luke 14:27
Read Also: ITim. 6:17-19, Jam. 2:14-26, John 15:1-8, ICor. 9:27, Eph. 5:5, I John 2:17...