The New IFB Camp Has It Wrong, Norm Diamante Has It Right

Romans 4:1-5, “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

There's a faithful preacher on YouTube named Onorato “Norm” Diamante. I love Norm's preaching! He understands the free grace Gospel, rightly dividing the Holy Scriptures. Here is one of Norm's videos, in which he correctly explains that we are saved at the moment of faith, and NOT when we call, pray or ask God to give us eternal life. Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” According to the preceding Bible verse, calling upon the name of the Lord is a result of first BELIEVING (faith). Brother Norm is correct, that anyone who teaches you cannot be saved unless you call, ask or pray in addition to faith is preaching another gospel. ...

Not Saved UNTIL We Call? Romans 10

Bravo Norm! Bravo! I couldn't agree more with his interpretation of the Bible. BELIEVING is enough to get to Heaven. Granted, it is a normal tendency for people getting saved to want to accompany their heart's faith with a sinner's pray, or to ask Jesus to save them. I don't have a problem with these things, just so long as you don't mandate them to be saved.

Having said that, I have never seen such theological bullying, as the New IFB attacking Norm Diamante lately. Here is an example of what I am talking about. In this video, Pastor Roger Jimenez attacks Norm's correct teaching that faith is enough to be saved.

Is Good Hope 'Norm Diamante' saved? | Pastor Roger Jimenez

I learned from Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) that: “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” In the preceding video sermon by Pastor Jimenez, he foolishly bases his Bible interpretation solely upon Romans chapter 10. At the same time, he ignores the entire Gospel of John. There is no mention of confessing Christ to be saved in the Gospel of John.

Albeit, we find the word “85” mentioned 85 times. John 6:28-29, “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.” Jesus didn't tell them to call, ask, pray, surrender, get baptized in water, speak in tongues, invite Christ into their life, walk a church aisle, repent of sins or anything else; Jesus simply told them to “BELIEVE ON HIM.” If you disagree, then argue with Christ, because I just shared with you from John 6:28-29 what He said a person needs to do to get to Heaven.

Respectfully, Pastor Jimenez is wrong to say (in the preceding YouTube sermon) that Onorato Diamante is not saved. That is a cheap shot. Just because Norm believes that you can be saved without praying, calling or asking God to save you, doesn't mean that he is not saved.

I heard Pastor Steven Anderson say in a sermon exposing Norm Diamante, that the thief on the cross asked Jesus to save Him. Pastor Anderson cited this Bible truth to support his false teaching that you must pray, call or ask to be saved. The Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 asked Jesus for the living water that would forever quench her thirst (i.e., eternal life). The repentant thief on the cross asked Jesus to remember Him when He came into His Kingdom. So it is okay to call, pray or ask God to save you.

But this does not mean that you have to call, pray or ask to be saved. The Bible is very clear that we are saved BY FAITH. Romans 1:17, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Habakkuk 2:4, “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” The prophet Habakkuk lived under the time of the Mosaic law, yet he plainly said that salvation comes by faith alone without works (Acts 10:42). Nobody in the Old Testament was saved by works!!!

Having exposed this deception which has become increasingly popular in the New IFB camp, I'd like to say that I am still a big fan and supporter of the New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement (New IFB). When I attended Hyles-Anderson College (1985-1993), I remember in chapel one day that Johnny Esposito (who worked on staff at the college) preached. I was sitting toward the back of the auditorium. I'll never forget what he said to thousands of students: "We need a whole new breed of preachers in the next generation!” Wow, he nailed it! Well, the New IFB is that new breed of preachers! I thank God for Pastor Steven Anderson and his ministry.

Kindly said, I don't agree with numerous doctrines and methods of the New IFB camp. I believe in a Pretribulation Rapture, the New IFB does not (1st Thessalonians 4:13-18). I don't believe Jesus burned in Hell for 3 days, but Pastor Anderson does. Our dear Savior plainly told the repentant thief on the cross that they would be in “Paradise” together that very day (Luke 23:43). These are a couple doctrines that we differ on.

As I mentioned earlier, a good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one. It is folly, poppycock and balderdash to interpret Romans 10 without considering the entire canon of Scripture.

Jesus said in John 3:3 that to get into God's Kingdom a person MUST be born again. Jesus said: "YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN." What is going on in Wilmore, Kentucky at Asbury University is a lame religious event, a so-called "spiritual awakening," but the Gospel was not being preached. The world is going to Hell because of empty religious movements that are woefully devoid of the Gospel of free grace. Asbury has "a form of godliness," but they deny the power thereof, which is THE GOSPEL. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again.

To summarize and clarify, I don't like using a Sinner's Prayer. I don't like it because for nearly 20 years I struggled with the assurance of my salvation. In the early years I wept often, and was worried day and night that I might not be saved. I was afraid of something that I didn't understand. I got saved at age saved, but I didn't go down the church aisle because I was shy. From that day forward I began to fear going to Hell, and missing out on Heaven. I read every religious tract that I could get my hands on, hoping to find some helpful newly phrased words to give me a greater understanding of how to get to Heaven.

After several years I just decided to trust God's promises in the Bible and not worry. I thought to myself that if I go to Hell it will be Jesus' fault, because I am solely trusting in Him as a sinner to save me. But I still didn't have the perfect peace of knowing that I am saved, which only comes from fully understanding God's simple plan of salvation. You see dear reader, I had been lied to by every preacher I had ever known, who all taught me to pray a sinner's prayer to be saved. It confused me a lot, and I know that it confuses others too. I fear that many people who think they'll someday be up in Heaven, won't be allowed entrance (Luke 13:23-24). They won't be allowed into Heaven, because they were misled by some corrupt Baptist pastor, who told them to pray a prayer to be saved, and they misunderstood the Gospel. I have met countless people who never really got saved, because they just repeated some "1-2-3 follow me" type of prayer empty of true faith. They will burn in Hell forever, all because some foolish preacher told them to recite some words along with them.

But having said that, there is nothing wrong if you want to pray, call or ask the Savior to take you to Heaven when you die. I did ask Jesus to save me at age 13. It felt natural. But I was confused when I read religious tracts that told me to pray a suggested prayer. I often wondered about many emotionally torturous questions? Did I leave something out when I prayed to be saved? Did I have enough faith? Did I truly know that I was a sinner? Did I know at the time about Jesus' resurrection? What if? What if I go to Hell? What if I was never saved at all?

So at age 17, I finally mustered up enough courage to go talk with my Baptist pastor. I nervously explained my dilemma to him. I told him that I could not find the assurance that I am saved. Sadly, he made a foolish mistake of concluding that since I didn't know for sure that I am saved, I must not be. But that was the whole reason why I came to him in the first place, because I couldn't settle the matter of my salvation. Then he added insult to injury, by doing the worst thing he possibly could have done—he led me to pray another Sinner's Prayer! Arrggh!

The next Sunday my pastor told the church congregation that I had just been saved. A couple weeks later I was water baptized. As I was getting water baptized, I remember the fear which still imprisoned my soul, not knowing for sure if I was saved or not. My Pastor just didn't understand what I was suffering though. Although he meant well, my pastor actually made things more difficult for me, because now I was terrified to dare tell anyone that I still didn't know I was saved, after my pastor just told the whole church that I am saved. 

All of this suffering and pain happened to me, because a few dozen preachers needlessly told me to pray a sinner's prayer to be saved. Dear friend, you don't have to pray, call or ask to be saved. Jesus doesn't forgive sin. You read right! Jesus doesn't forgive sin, He has already paid for it with His precious shed blood. That is why God can offer us forgiveness of sins and eternal life as a free gift (Romans 5:15-18, 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).

Since God is already freely offering everyone eternal life, then all you need to do is take it by faith. You don't need to ask for it. God won't be mad at you if you do ask Him to save you. However, it is critically important that you fully understand God's simple plan of salvation, if you are to ever find the sweet peace that I have, and that God wants for you to have, KNOWING beyond any shadow of a doubt that your name is written in Heaven (Luke 10:20; 1st John 5:13).

There are numerous passages in the Word of God where lost sinners did ask Jesus to be saved. The Samaritan woman asked Jesus for the Living Water (which is Jesus Himself); but she could have just as easily believed on Him without asking, calling or praying to be saved.

I have received some angry emails recently from New IFB followers, who are so devoted to everything that Pastor Steven Anderson preaches, that they literally go ballistic and get angry at anyone who disagrees with their movement's kingpin leader. Please don't take my word for it, watch this video of Pastor Anderson explaining the differences between the New IFB and the Old IFB churches. What Steven Anderson believes and preaches IS the New IFB movement, and whenever he changes his views, so does everybody else in the New IFB camp. Kindly said, they are WRONG to teach that unless you pray, call or ask for salvation, you cannot be saved. That is damnable heresy, which by God's grace I will be exposing fiercely from now on. I love the New IFB and support Pastor Steven Anderson and his ministry. I am awed at what God has done (and is doing) through Pastor Anderson's church.

I don't have a problem with pastors and churches who choose to lead lost sinners to pray a Sinner's prayer to get to Heaven, but I don't like it. I let people be people be. Unfortunately, New IFB pastors are not okay with Norn Diamante, Curtis Hutson, Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold and myself preaching THE TRUTH, that you DON'T have to call, pray or ask God to save you. God is already asking you to take His free gift by faith!

By God's grace, I will continue to defend and fight alongside with Onorato Diamante in this important theological matter of not having to pray, call or ask to be saved. Despite some Bible characters calling upon or asking for God to save them, the Bible is also full of people who simply BELIEVED the Gospel and were saved (Genesis 15:6; Acts 10:43-44; Acts 16:30-31). 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

The LITERAL Blood of Jesus Had To Be Applied To The Mercy Seat In Heaven

Hebrews 9:12, “But BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

The great Bible teacher, M.R. DeHaan, M.D. (1891-1965), has it 100% correct when he states concerning the blood of Jesus...

The blood was to be sprinkled, remember, on the mercy seat right after the death of the substitutionary animal of sacrifice, Now Christ is, of course, our substitute. He was slain for us upon the Cross, and entered into death for us, and when He arose, He immediately went to heaven, entered into the holy of holies in heaven, sprinkled His precious blood upon the mercy seat before the throne of God, and forever settled the sin questions, and delivered us from the curse of the law. This is clearly taught in the New testament. 

Hebrews 9:12, “But by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

The Bible also makes plain when He accomplished this. On the morning of the resurrection He meets Mary at the tomb. As soon as Mary recognized Him, she prostrated herself upon Him, and would have kissed His feet, but with shocking suddenness, Jesus emphatically says to her: "Touch me not"; and then He proceeds immediately to give the reason why Mary is not permitted to touch Him at all.

John 20:17, “For I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”

Literally the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Touch me not; for I now am about to ascend unto my Father." We can understand this action when we remember the the high priest after he had offered the sacrifice, was to enter the holy of holies, before he did anything else, with the precious blood. No one was allowed to approach him. Everyone was shut out until this was completely done. And here in the record of the meeting with Mary we have the fulfillment of this type. Here Mary meets her great High Priest, just arisen from the tomb, but before He had entered the holy of holies with the reconciling blood. And so He says to her, "TOUCH ME NOT."

SOURCE: 'THE TABERNACLE,' by M.R. DeHaan, M.D., ISBN 0-310-23491-3, p. 129

What a wonderful truth! The Bible is so clear when you accept It as it's written. The best way to interpret the Bible is to not interpret it. By diligently cross-referring Scripture with Scripture, we are able to form a complete and accurate picture of divine Truth.

Lordship Salvation Refuted

“But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew... But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.” —Mark 14:68, 71

Pastor A. Ray Stanford (1916-2012)

The following excellent rebuttal of the heresy of Lordship Salvation is from Dr. Ray Stanford's classic book titled, “Personal Handbook Of Evangelism,” pages 45-49...

CHAPTER VII — “Lordship Salvation”

CHRIST, the SAVIOUR

Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of mankind there is. "There is none other Name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). When He was born, the angel declared, "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2: 11). The prophet Isaiah quotes God as saying, "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside Me there is no Saviour" (Isaiah 43: 11).

The Scriptures are emphatic that God took on flesh in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ, and became man's Saviour (John 1:1-3, 14, 29).

Man's belief or lack of belief in the Saviourship of Jesus does not change the fact that Jesus Christ is truly the Saviour. However, when a man recognizes that Jesus Christ is truly the Saviour and trusts Him to be his Saviour, then-and only then-does that man receive the benefits of Christ's saving power.

Christ died and rose again for all (Hebrews 2:9; I John 2:2), but He saves only those who trust Him. That is to say, even though He is the "Saviour of the world," He saves only those in the world who personally and individually receive Him by faith. God invites "whosoever will" to trust in His Son, but it is an amazing truth of God's Word that men can forbid the Saviour to save them. Such men die without a Saviour, though One was available to them all the time (John 3:16-18; I John 5:10-12; Revelation 22:17).

CHRIST, the LORD

What we have seen about Christ being the Saviour also applies to His Lordship. He IS the Lord, whether men believe it or not. Whether or not a man allows Christ to be his Lord is something else again.

Jesus Christ is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator and Controller of the universe. Colossians 1:16 says, "All things were created by Him and for Him." Verse 17 adds, ". . . by Him all things consist . . . (or, are held together)." God led Paul to write that Jesus Christ is the "blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (I Timothy 6 :15 ) . The One who was crucified on Calvary was none other than the Lord of Glory (I Corinthians 2:8).

Some may ask if Jesus was really LORD when men "by wicked hands crucified" Him. Absolutely! For He said, ". . . I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again . . ." (John 10:17, 18).

Is He Lord now, though some men refuse to let Him rule in their lives? Certainly! The Bible says, ". . . know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ (Messiah)." The time is coming when EVERYONE will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10, 11).

THE ISSUE INVOLVED

Just as you receive the Saviour by faith and He becomes YOUR Saviour, when you allow Christ to control your life, He becomes YOUR LORD. There is an increasing number of "evangelicals" today who are preaching that in order for a man to be saved he must not only receive Christ as his Saviour, but also must make Him absolute Lord and Master of his life.

This doctrine has been termed "Lordship salvation" and has absolutely no support from the Word of God. It is, in fact, another subtle way Satan has invented to get Bible-believing men to add works to salvation without, perhaps, their realizing it, and to do it in such a way that it sounds spiritual and good.

What could SOUND more spiritual or honoring to the Lord than statements like: "Either Christ is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all. And if He is not Lord then He is not your Saviour. You are lost. You must turn over all the strings of your life to Him-then He will save you. Give your life to Him if you want to be truly saved." This is what is taught.

The truth of the matter is that salvation is not a "give" proposition at all; it is a "take" proposition. We don't give our hearts, lives, wills, or anything else to God in order to get Him to save us. This would be a form of bribery, a way of meriting or deserving to be saved-but God says salvation is "NOT OF OURSELVES"-and especially, it is not offering anything to God.

Salvation is receiving! We simply receive His Son. John 1:12 says, "But as many as RECEIVED Him, to them gave He power (the right) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name." God does the giving. We do the receiving.

God GAVE His Son (John 3:16).

God GIVES eternal life to those who trust His Son (John 10:28).

God GIVES believers everything they need through His Son (Romans 8:32).

Christ didn't come to have us sacrifice, or minister, or give our life to Him . . . but He came to be OUR sacrifice, to minister to US, and to give His life a ransom payment for OUR sin. "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

God offers to save us as sinners and doesn't require us to stop sinning and start obeying Him before He saves us. "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." I John 1:8 tells us that "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." No one can say that he stopped his sinning and THEN the Lord saved him. It is impossible. Be careful not to ask a person to do the impossible. Remember, God did not require it of you either. It is only after a person is saved that the Holy Spirit will give him the power to control his old nature and live a life pleasing to the Lord (Philippians 2:13).

"Lordship salvation" is sometimes preached by men who are sincerely sick of the low spiritual level of the "average" Christian. So these men begin preaching a message they hope will bring more lasting and noticeable results. We can sympathize with these preachers. The spiritual condition of believers is often deplorable. But even a casual reading of the New Testament reveals that the early church had the same problems. See I Corinthians 3:1-4; 5:1-5; Galatians 4:8-11; Hebrews 5:12 14; and II Thessalonians 3:6-15.

What did the early apostles do to combat this problem of spiritual weakness? Did they change the gospel message from "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" to "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, give up sin, and let Him rule over all the details of your life, and thou shalt be saved"? Of course not! That isn't the gospel! God doesn't give the Holy Spirit in response to a "grace plus works" message for salvation.

What did the apostles do? They emphasized the proper doctrines to meet the needs of the people. Such great life transforming truths as the Holy Spirit of God indwelling the believer, Christ's at-any-moment return, the eternal destiny of the lost, and the fact that "every one of us must give account of himself to God"-these were brought to bear on the children of God, and the Holy Spirit did His work of convicting and changing lives.

The problem does not lie with God's message of salvation. That is eternal and unchanging. It will always be sufficient to do what it is intended to do-to save souls. The problem is that God's people have not had the great Biblical truths applied to their lives, and so they are living at a spiritually low ebb.

If a person has to make Christ Lord of his life to be saved, why are most of the New Testament epistles filled with commands, warnings, exhortations, and pleas for the child of God to yield to Christ's Lordship?

If "Lordship salvation" were true, these people wouldn't even be children of God! But it is apparent that they are, for throughout the epistles they are called "brethren," "saints," "believers," etc.

Now since it is obvious that God DOES exhort His own children to ALLOW Him to control them, to be their Lord, then it is just as obvious that they did not HAVE to make Him Lord in order to be saved. Consider these passages where God pleads with His own children to allow Him to control them: Romans 6:12, 13; 12:1, 2; Galatians 5:16; 3:1-3; Ephesians 4:1-3; 6:10-17. When the pastor FEEDS his sheep they will not lack knowing how to be spiritual (Jeremiah 23:4, 28; Acts 20:18-32; II Timothy 4:2).

CONSIDERATION OF ROMANS 10:9

This is the primary verse used to try to prove the teaching of "Lordship salvation." The King James translation reads, "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." A more literal rendering of part of this verse is, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord . . . thou shalt be saved." This is where the advocates of "Lordship salvation" get their basis for the doctrine.

However, notice several things about the context of this verse. First of all, Paul is writing primarily of unbelieving Israel. From a human standpoint, the Jews had a very real part in crucifying Christ; see Acts 2:22, 23, 36; 4:10-12. Had they realized that Jesus was God Himself, they certainly would not have had a part in His death (I Corinthians 2:7, 8). Therefore, unbelieving Jews (and anyone else who wants to be saved) must own up to the fact that Jesus is the Lord- that He is God Himself-and all who call upon Him this way are saved (Romans 10:9, 10, 13). The emphasis here is not upon making Jesus Lord of someone's life, but rather on recognizing His true identity-that He is God! In John 8:24 we find that if a person doesn't believe Christ is God, he will die in his sins.

Notice, too, that nowhere in the entire chapter of Romans 10 are our lives in view. Instead, the emphasis is on His person. The issue here is not so much what l do, but who He is. The question is not one of service but of salvation. Never confuse the two. Salvation becomes ours when we trust Christ to SAVE us. Effective service is ours through OBEDIENCE. Salvation primarily involves the spirit and our eternal destiny; it is a gift ( John 5: 24). Service involves the body and our present earthly life; it is labor for which rewards are given (Romans 12:1, 2; I Corinthians 3:8-15; Luke 10:2).

The late Dr. M. R. DeHaan realized the importance of keeping salvation and service separate and said so well: "There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel. To be a disciple one obeys the challenge of a life of dedicated service and separation.

Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ, but discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation cannot be lost, because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost, because it depends upon our faithfulness."

REASONS FOR NOT TEACHING “LORDSHIP SALVATION”...

1. It contradicts Scripture; therefore, it cannot be true. This one reason should settle the matter completely. If a doctrine is contrary to what God says, then it should be discarded immediately. See Rom. 3:4; Titus 2:7; Gal. 4: 16.

2. It causes confusion and frustration to the unbeliever because it leaves the impression that salvation is by works. Therefore, the lost person often puts off accepting Christ until he is "ready" to turn his entire life over to the Lord. If the truth were presented to such a person, that salvation is free, but that after we are saved the Lord would work in our lives, perhaps he would trust Christ. Because of a "grace plus works" message he might NEVER trust Christ (I Cor. 14:8,9).

3. This message CANNOT SAVE. If anyone gets saved during such a message, it will be because God has honored a portion of His Word IN SPITE of the unscriptural teaching brought into the message (Rom. 4:5; Gal. 5:1-4; Rom. 11:6; Isa. 55:8-11; Rom.10:17).

4. This message is accursed of God. Any message, no matter how "good" it may sound, is condemned by God unless it is His own salvation message. HIS message is the only one that saves. All others are of satanic or fleshly origin and curse men to hell. Therefore, God curses such a message (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; Galatians 1:6-9; II Corinthians 11:13 15; Galatians 3:1-3).

5. The person who preaches such a message is also accursed of God. Strong statement? Yes, but it is what God says. A man who preaches man's efforts have a part in salvation is leading people to hell, not heaven. Even if a man believes he is sincere, a wrong message still has the effects of the wrong message. Sincerity is no substitute for truth (Deuteronomy 27:18; Proverbs 17:15; 19:5; Jeremiah 23:1).

6. It, in effect, makes God a liar and the Bible untrue. If salvation really does come to those who turn over their lives to Christ, then God has been wrong all the time, throughout the entire Bible, because salvation is taught from Genesis to Revelation to come only through faith (Titus 1:2, 3; Romans 3: 4).

7. It causes even Christian preachers to further the error by thinking it might have some merit and preaching it themselves. One well-known Christian returned to America from some meetings he held in a foreign country and made a statement like this: "I really made it difficult for them to accept Christ over there. In America it's too easy to become a Christian, so I made it hard for them there. I told them accepting Christ meant turning from their sins, reading their Bibles, praying every day, giving up bad habits, and going to church regularly. And in spite of such a hard message hundreds made decisions for Christ."

WHAT A TRAGEDY! When people hear the true gospel after hearing this type of message, they are often unable to distinguish what is truth from what is error, and so many are left confused and unsaved.

8. The preaching of this error robs the one preaching it of reward. Paul said, "What is our . . . crown? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?" The more we are able to win to Christ, the more souls will be in heaven, and so the more reward we will have. But those who preach a confused message hinder people from trusting Christ as their Saviour. Therefore, many souls are left unsaved, and so these preachers will not have the reward that they could have had (I Thessalonians 2: 19, 20; II John 8; I John 2:28; I Corinthians 9:18).

9. It confuses "laymen" believers and causes them to be ineffective in their witness. A girl recently asked, "I know that you are sincere and seem to have Scripture to back up what you teach, but my pastor is also sincere and teaches differently about salvation than you do. How do I know which one of you is right? How can I witness when I don't know what to tell people?"

A confused believer isn't going to be a faithful witness because he is going to be in constant turmoil over what to say. When he does try to witness, he will probably give out some mixture of "grace and works" that will not only confuse the lost person, but will also bring discouragement to the believer when he doesn't find people responding to his witness. When the gospel is given out, pure and simple, there will be results. The gospel is good news, and people respond to it.

10. It hinders the growth of the body of Christ. This is one of the results of the above (#9). When the believer's mouth is stopped (regardless of the reason), then the natural flow of fruit-bearing is stopped. Since Christ's body is composed of believers, the growth of His body is hindered when souls are not won (John 15: 8, 16) .

Incidentally, this will also stop the growth of the local church as well. It is so obvious when you stop to think about it. Why any preacher thinks this accursed "grace and works" message would in any way benefit anyone is a puzzle to me. Let's learn to THINK THINGS THROUGH!

11. It brings persecution to the believers who stand firm for the Scriptural message of "justification by faith." Those who are clear on the gospel are often accused of preaching "easy believism" or "cheap grace." Nothing could be further from the truth! Tell me, is a person ever saved by "hard" believism? Certainly no Christian I know believes in "cheap" grace! This is absurd. God's grace is precious. The blood of Jesus is precious. The price our Lord paid for our redemption was so high that nothing can be compared with its great value. Salvation is anything but cheap. It is free to us only because Jesus paid the full price. And that price was His precious life blood (I Peter 1:18, 19).

God has gone through so MUCH to provide redemption for us! When I think that Jesus even gave His life-died such a horrible death-in order to provide eternal life as a free gift to those who would accept His payment by faith . . . and then someone comes along who professes to be a child of God and wants to make salvation HARD for the lost person . . . how the heart of our dear Saviour must break!

"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, where with he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" ( Hebrews 10: 29)

I doubt seriously if anyone could carefully read the Gospel accounts of what Christ went through to purchase our salvation and ever again speak glibly of "cheap grace." No one is ever saved by "cheap grace." They are saved by PRICELESS, AMAZING GRACE! Don't let Satan blind you to the fact that salvation REALLY IS FREE to man. Don't listen to him when he insinuates that "justification by faith" is a dangerous doctrine that will lead to "loose living." The greatest soulwinners who ever lived believed in salvation by grace through faith, and they preached it faithfully . . . and God blessed them and their ministry for it.

We have a miracle salvation-provided and preserved by God Himself! Let's give out the good news of this salvation simply and faithfully for His glory.

"But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (I Corinthians 1 :30, 31).

SOURCE: Dr. Ray Stanford, Handbook Of Personal Evangelism, chapter VII, pp. 45-49

"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." —John 3:16 

Everlasting Separation From God

Psalm 139:8, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”

Revelation 14:10, “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.”

All my life I have heard Baptist preachers teach that the second death is separation from God for all eternity. However, Psalms 139:8 teaches that God will be with the person who suffers in Hell, which is the Second Death. Right doctrine matters. It is biblically incorrect that death is separation from God. It depends on what you mean. The Bible warns that there is not only a physical death, but also a second death in Hell. Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Carefully make note that the Second Death is not the spiritual death. Ephesians 2:1-2 teaches that every unsaved person is already spiritually dead. You and I were born into this world spiritually dead, which is why we all need to be born-again (or spiritually born anew by the Holy Spirit of God). Once a man is born-again, he is a new creature, meaning that the Holy Spirit now indwells that person. Literally, God the Father and God the Son live inside every child of God, in the form of God the Spirit. Romans 8:9, “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.”

I think we've all heard that Hell is an eternal separation from God, so how do we explain these text verses? How do we explain Psalm 139:8, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” As with all truths, there is often an opposite paradoxical view. It is true that lost sinners who go to Hell will be separated from the joy, blessings and sweet in the presence of God for all eternity. Yet, God is the one who pours out His just wrath upon all Christ rejecters in Hell. Yes, God is in Hell. Lost sinners who go to Hell are in fact NOT separated from God; but they will be separated from the sweet fellowship, happiness and inexplicable joy that every child of God enjoys in Heaven.

I have been encouraging all of my web visitors for many years now to THINK OBJECTIVELY. That is, learn to question everything that you hear taught by preachers. Pastors are one of the main sources of false information today, sadly. BEWARE of pastors!!! Please don't let some lying FALSE PROPHET like Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, John MacArthur, Steve Pettit, Chuck Phelps, Marty Herron, John Piper, Adrian Rogers, Sam Adams, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham or Pat Robertson take you to Hell with them. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

Jesus will take vengeance with flaming fire upon the heathen world when He returns at the Second Coming. ...

2nd Thessalonians 1:6-9, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”

If you are born once, you die twice; if you are born twice, you die once. Every human being must die the first, or physical, death. This first death is separation of our soul and spirit from our body. Nobody can escape this death. Jesus didn't redeem us from the first death. But thankfully Jesus DID redeem us from the Second Death by His blood. Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Jesus died on the cross to pay our debt of sin. He was buried. Three days later Jesus miraculously resurrected bodily from the dead.

Truthfully, Jesus has already died for everybody's sins. 1st John 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” The preceding Bible verse refutes the lie of Calvinism called “Limited Atonement,” which falsely teaches that Jesus only died for the saints, and not all mankind.

And did you know that Jesus doesn't forgive sins? You read correct. Jesus does NOT forgive anyone's sins. Jesus has already paid for everyone's sins with His precious blood. Hence, forgiveness of sins (which includes eternal life) is a free gift from God, paid for by Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross. All you need to do is come to God as a guilty needy sinner, and BY FAITH receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He is risen. That's it!

1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” I love that Bible verse, because it contains THE GOSPEL. If we simply BELIEVE that Jesus was crucified and then after being buried raised up triumphant the third day, we are forever saved. God had to make His plan of salvation easy, free and simple, because there are a lot of unlearned, educable slow and ignorant people in the world. God made His plan of salvation so simple that even a small child understand it enough to be saved.

I thank and love God for making is so easy to get to Heaven. All you need to know is that you are a sinner, and that there is a penalty for sin, which is death (including the Second Death in Hell). You need to know why you need to be saved—because you are a guilty sinner and everlasting Hell, fire and damnation is the penalty for sin. You need to know what you are being saved from. The GOOD NEWS (or, GOSPEL) is that Jesus is the Christ who died on a cross for our sins, was buried and then resurrected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

So in a sense, Hell is separation from God. What saith the Scripture? 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.” The damned in Hell will weep bitter tears and endlessly wail, gnashing their teeth in sorrowful regret, knowing that they forfeited the wonderful life of bliss that they could have enjoyed forever in Heaven with the Lord.

Instead, they must suffer the torments of Hell, fire and brimstone, where “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” (Revelation 14:11b). Dear reader, please don't risk going to Hell. There is no decision you'll ever make any more important that receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Many religious people know the lingo. They have been playing church for most of their life.

Yet, they have never actually been born-again, which is by faith alone without works in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Millions of people have been deceived by the Devil misled to think that water baptism, turning away from their sinful lifestyle and other WORKS are required to get to Heaven. They are NOT saved at all, because they are relying upon partial faith in Christ PLUS something else, which is a false faith.

If I offer you a birthday gift, but obligate you to wash my car each month for the next year to receive that gift, is it really a gift? No, it is a reward, a trade, an exchange; but it cannot truly be a gift if there are any stipulations, obligations or compensation in return. As an example: I saw a bank advertisement that offered people a free toaster as a gift, if they opened a new bank account. I immediately recognized their advertisement as false advertising. If you must open a new bank account to get the gift, then it is really a reward, not a gift. 

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines the word “gift” as:

“something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.” [emphasis added]

Wikipedia defines a “gift” as:

“A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return.” [emphasis added]

Eternal life is a gift. Romans 5:15-18 even mentions the words “free gift” three times. I love that. God didn't just call eternal life a gift, He wanted to call it a “free gift” with emphasis on the word “free.” Of course, we all know that nothing is free in life, not even salvation. Jesus paid for our sins with His precious blood. 1st Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”

Kindly said, if you choose to reject the Gospel (Good News) as rubbish, then you alone will bear the pain and regret in eternity. 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” I used to naively think that if we could just share the Gospel with other people, that they would gladly repent (change their mind) and get saved. However, I was wrong! Sadly, nearly everyone that I share the Gospel with refuses to listen. They often have a bunch of foolish preconceived ideas about God, religion, preachers and the Holy Bible; and those ideas are like an impenetrable wall to break through.

In Luke 16:19-31 we read the factual true story of The Rich Man And Lazarus. The rich man dies in his sleep, and is now poorer than poor, being tormented in the fires of Hell. Lazarus was escorted by angels to Abraham's Bosom, or the place called Paradise. The rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead to warn his 5 living brothers; but Abraham told the suffering rich man that if his 5 living brothers refuse to listen to the Word of God, then nothing will sway their thinking.

Tragically, the rich man is now poor, and it is eternally too late to get saved. In torment, he will be separated from God's loving family in Heaven for all eternity. What a tragic fate that was totally preventable. Yet, in another sad sense, God's presence will be in Hell, pouring out His wrath on the rich man forever. There is no forgiveness, mercy or compassion in the Lake of Fire, because the opportunity to do the right thing is gone.

It is no different than man's laws. Once you've committed a horrible crime, such as murder, your opportunity to do right is gone. You did the crime, now you must do the time. I don't claim to understand God's system of justice. In my mind, there should always be an end to someone's punishment, even if one million years in Hell. But as a sinful and flawed human being with finite understanding, I cannot grasp the thoughts of a perfectly holy God. Isaiah 55:7-8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Regardless, I trust my good, loving and faithful God. Job 13:15, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” Everyone at some point in life will either place God on trial, or else you will learn to blindly trust Him. I decided to trust God no matter what. If I pray and it seems like God is not answering me, then I am going to walk by faith, not by sight, and trust that the Lord is working quietly behind the scenes as He so often does, as seen in the Old testament  book of Esther. Despite “God” not being mentioned even once in Esther, we see His power at work throughout the true story of Esther. When you cannot see the hand of God at work, trust the great heart of God.

Luke 16:23-24, “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.”

Is There A Specific Version Of The King James Bible That We Should Use?

2nd Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Someone asked me a question this week: "Is there a specific version of the King James Bible that we should use?"

My humble answer is: No, although some people say there is. I wrote an article to expose the arrogant Cambridge Press, for claiming that they own the King James Bible.

In fact, NO ONE except God owns the King James Bible. There is no copyright, proven by the fact that anybody can print King James Bibles in their basement and no one can legally do anything about it. God's Word cannot be copyrighted. Psalms 119:89, "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven."

As far as which King James Bible to use, there have been no additional translations of the King James Bible since the original was completed in 1611. It took 54 scholarly men 8 years to complete this masterpiece of literature, as commissioned by the King of England. However, there have been several editions to update the archaic English language.

Humans make mistakes. I have heard some ignoramous pastors try to prove that the King James Bible is not inspired, by showing that some Bibles says "he" and others "she" in a particular passage, but these are typos by the publishers, and not errors in God's Word. Wisdom and common sense tell us that an error on man's part does not constitute an error on God's part.

In my humble opinion, all of the King James Bibles are fine to use (regardless of the edition). Some crazies will argue that the Cambridge editions are the only truly authorized versions, but that is hogwash. A King James Bible is a King James Bible. If someone think that theirs has some typos in it, then go buy another one.

Here is a helpful listing of all the different King James Bible editions and how they differ.

My humble opinion is that whatever edition of the King James Bible that you choose to use, it is still God's inspired Word. Just because one edition capitalizes a certain word and the next doesn't, in no way means that one is superior to the other. These are manmade debates, opinions and preferences.

Albeit, we know that ALL of the modern perversions which are based upon the corrupt Greek text of Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort from the 19th century are of the Devil. Their corrupt Greek text was released to the world in 1881. Even the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses love the perverse Greek of Westcott and Hort, which their founder Charles Taze Russell based his demonic New World Translation (NWT) upon.

I like what Pastor Jack Hyles said: "The King James is not a 'version,' it is THE BIBLE!"

Pastor William Tyson Has It Right

Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”

One of the main things that is destroying America today, is lackidaical pastors who refuse to take a Biblical stand against doctrinal error, wickedness and corruption in society. The inspired Word of God tells us in 1st Timothy 6:10-11, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”

I read a great statement tonight on Twitter by Pastor William Tyson, pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church:

“As a local pastor, YOU have the liberty to lead YOUR local assembly in ANY direction you decide, but when you invite the young people of other churches to your college and speak out at others, you are accountable to those churches to be honest about where you stand on issues.” SOURCE

When I read these truthful words, I immediately thought about the contemptible nightmare at Pensacola Christian College (PCC). PCC has never stood against anything, they merely play church to make money. When I first moved from Guam to Pensacola, I attended Campus Church at PCC in 2021 and I was disgusted by what I saw and heard. Their senior pastor is Jeff Redlin. His sidekick assistant pastor is Timothy Zacharias. These two fools ought to be fire and banned from preaching behind any pulpit in the world.

On July 21, 2021 I was sickened at a Wednesday evening Bible study, as I watched a Ken Ham video, and then Pastor Zacharias for up afterwards and preached damnable heresy. It's really bad that Campus Church's pastors are too lazy to prepare their own sermons. All summer long they played a series of Ken Ham videos, promoting the heresy of a Young Earth Creation. These fools actually think that dinosaurs roamed the earth 5,000 years ago with mankind, which shows how woefully ignorant and unscholarly they are at PCC. Anybody who thinks that dinosaurs lived with humans 5,000 years ago is an idiot. I say that kindly.

Even worse, after the sermon Tim Zacharias got up and made a fool out of himself, by boldly preaching that repentance means more than a change of mind. Zacharias is WRONG! The Greek noun for “repent” in the Bible concerning salvation is metanoia, which means, “a change of mind.” That is all it means. But according to PCC's pastors, as officially taught in their corrupt Foundation's Class, they say that: “Repentance is a change of mind resulting in a change of behavior.” That is heresy! My friend in the ministry, Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, rightly defines Lordship Salvation:

“Lordship Salvation is the unsupportable and unbiblical belief that the performance of good works, the promise of good works, or the evidence of good works, must accompany faith in Christ to establish or provide evidence that such faith has resulted in eternal life.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, "Jesus Versus John MacArthur"

Sadly, PCC is preaching Lordship Salvation. Ironically, Pastor Jeff Redlin and his peers are in denial. They superficially claim not to believe in Lordship Salvation, yet by errantly teaching that repentance must result in a change of a person's behavior, they are in fact preaching the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation (which is rooted in Calvinism). A heretical unsaved man named John Calvin lived in the 16th century (1509-1564). Calvin errantly taught that faith is not enough to be saved, but also, he taught that your life must change, and you have to persevere in holiness all your life, or else you cannot go to Heaven. That is a works based plan of salvation, and not the free grace Gospel taught in the inspired Word of God.

I said that all as introduction. Pensacola Christian College (PCC) is in bed spiritually committing whoredom with Bob Jones University (BJU). PCC should be exposing BJU, but instead they wickedly bid them Godspeed, which makes them partaker of their evil deeds (2nd John 1:11). Here again are the truthful words of Pastor William Tyson, pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church...

“As a local pastor, YOU have the liberty to lead YOUR local assembly in ANY direction you decide, but when you invite the young people of other churches to your college and speak out at others, you are accountable to those churches to be honest about where you stand on issues.” [emphasis added] SOURCE

PCC are theological liars! On the surface they claim to believe a free grace Gospel, but as I learned and was horrified from attending Campus Church at PCC, they in fact preach a form of Calvinism. PCC falsely teaches that your behavior must change, or else they say you've never repented and you're not saved at all. That is Lordship Salvation. Even unsaved Jehovah's Witnesses do “many wonderful works” (Matthew 7:21-23). The good fruit that the Bible speaks of to identify a true Christian is their doctrine. False prophets bring forth other false prophets and heretics. Christians bring forth Christians.

Pastor Joel Osteen is a false prophet. Osteen falsely teaches that to get to Heaven you must turn away from your sinful ways, invite Christ into your life, and follow Him as the Lord of your life. None of those things is the Gospel. False prophets are everywhere today. Unfortunately, many of those false teachers are harboring in today's corrupt Bible colleges like Bob Jones University, Maranatha Baptist University, Faith Baptist Bible College And Theological Seminary and Pensacola Christian College. Damnable heretics like vice president Marty Herron at Faith Baptist Bible College And Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa must be exposed, because they are sending lost sinners to Hell with their heresy of Lordship Salvation.

Pastor William Tyson is correct, local pastors need to show their true colors, and tell people where they stand on doctrinal and moral issues. We've got a bunch of money-hungry parasites in the ministry today, who are only in the business of religion to make more money. No wonder the United States is going to Hell. I agree with Pastor Tyson, pastors need to be honest about where you stand on issues.”

What Did Paul Mean: "If Ye Keep In Memory What I Preached Unto You"?

1st Corinthians 15:1-2, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

That is a great question! The Apostle Paul had started several churches on his various missionary's journeys. On numerous occasions, false prophets had crept into some of those churches, after Paul moved on to other cities to preach the Gospel.

I love the Epistle of Galatians, which focuses primarily on this very problem. The Galatian churches has been corrupted by a cult of Judaizers (Galatians 1:6-9; 3:1-3; 5:4), who required keeping Moses' law to get to Heaven, in addition to faith in Jesus. So Paul writes a letter to them to rebuke them, calling them "fools" (Galatians 3:1) for being so soon removed from the Gospel (Galatians 1:6), which Paul received not of man, but directly from Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12).

Having said that, when Paul wrote 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, he defines "the Gospel" and then warns the Galatians not to be led astray unto another gospel, lest they have believed in vain. We see in Matthew 7:21-23 that a group of religious people followed Jesus as their Lord. They even called Him, "Lord, Lord." There is Lordship Salvation in the Bible! They boasted of having done "many wonderful works," but they never mentioned wholly trusting in Jesus' name.

Likewise, we heard all sorts of plans of salvation today, which contradict what the Holy Bible teaches. Joel Osteen says you've got to turn away from your sinful ways, invite Christ into your life, and follow Jesus as your Lord. Joyce Meyer errantly teaches that to get to Heaven, you must let God take the driver's seat of your life, turn away from your sinful behavior, invite Christ into your life, et cetera.

Hundreds of millions of lost sinners have a false sense of security, just like feeling the calm of the storm in the eye of a hurricane. It is a false security! Pastor Max D. Younce taught me: "A demon's favorite activity is to make people feel comfortable in their false religion." Michael P. Bowen says: "Satan's favorite weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again."

I believe Paul was simply teaching in 1st Corinthians 15:2 ("By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain"), that you cannot get to Heaven if you get the Gospel wrong.

We know that Paul was NOT teaching that salvation can be lost, because the new birth is irreversible. Not one verse in the entire Bible even hints that eternal life can be forfeited; for if it could be lost, it would mean that eternal life cannot be a gift. A gift cannot be returned, because it is free.

once witnessed the Gospel to my Seventh-Day Adventist doctor. He said that he believed exactly what I believed. But I knew better than that. So I asked him if he would still be saved if he committed a very bad sin, like God forbid, murdering someone. He immediately replied, "Oh no, I wouldn't be saved anymore." I asked him why he thought that way, since we know that eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23). He said, "Yes, salvation is a gift, but it can be returned to God if we choose to go into sin." Kindly said, my former doctor is WRONG!

I didn't rebuke my former doctor for speaking as a fool, but I simply told him what I believed, that I could go into gross immorality and still be 100% saved, because I am saved by God's righteousness and not my own righteousness. I then handed him a free hardcopy of Michael P. Bowen's helpful book: "I Never Knew You" (free .pdf online version - hardcopies are available at Amazon.com).

Kindly said, SDA's are a Satanic cult. They are NOT true born-again believers. SDA's are trusting in 100% Lordship Salvation. SDA's believe that keeping the Ten Commandments (i.e., keeping the LAW of God) demonstrates your love for God. So if you don't obey the Ten Commandments, SDA's say that it proves you don't really love God, and you don't have faith, so you are not really saved. This is a 100% WORKS based plan of salvation, which is really DAMNATION.

Again, I think Paul is simply saying in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 that if you hear the Gospel, but it gets confused and obscured somewhere long the way, you won't be able to receive the new birth. Jesus said in Luke 8:18, "Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." Carefully notice what Jesus said: "TAKE HEED THEREFORE HOW YE HEAR."

As Pastor Max Younce rightly says: "RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS." It sure does. Jesus is warning everyone to be diligent to make you you hear God's Word correctly. And I think that is essentially the same thing that Paul is saying in 1st Corinthians 15:2. Paul preached the simplicity that is in Christ, which is "THE GOSPEL" (Romans 1:16; 2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). It would have been VERY easy for some false prophet to creep into the church at Corinth. Also, keep in mind that the Apostle Paul penned the Epistle of Galatians approximately 5 years BEFORE he did the Epistle of 1st Corinthians. Here are the years in which each of the 66 books of the inspired Holy Bible were penned by holy men of old, as they wrote under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. 

After the horrifying experience of what happened to the Galatian churches, when they were deceived to follow false prophets (wolves in sheep's clothing who brought in another gospel), Paul was being extra careful to warn the church at Corinth. Paul remembered the horror story of what happened to the churches of Galatia. The apostle had preached a clear Gospel presentation to them, but after he left town to go preach in another city, word later came back to Paul that the churches of Galatia were now cults, requiring WORKS (keeping the law) to get to Heaven. Paul was alarmed! The Greek word word “marvel” means that the Apostle Paul was “astonished.” ...

Galatians 1:6-9, "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. 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."

I humbly think that in 1st Corinthians 15:2, Paul is simply telling them that if they get deceived by the Devil to believe another gospel after he leaves town, they won't go to Heaven. Paul is telling them to guard the accurate of THE GOSPEL which he is preaching to them. I love Paul for that!!! Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” Jude 1:3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

It is the solemn duty of every Christian man who is learned and skilled in the Word of God to contend for the faith. Titus was NOT an apostle of Jesus, yet Paul told him in Titus 1:13-14, “This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.” Lordship Salvation is the commandments of men, not the free grace Gospel taught in the Holy Scriptures.

Corrupt preachers who wickedly tell lost sinners that they must "turn away from your sinful ways" to be saved, are pulling on the same rope as the Devil. They are preaching another gospel. They are sinfully requiring people to keep the LAW as a prerequisite to putting their childlike faith in CHRIST. Romans 3:20 teaches that by the LAW is THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN. That is, the Law shows us our need for redemption, and then brings us to CHRIST to be saved by grace through faith alone. ...

“The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out.“ —Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935)

That is what I am doing, day and night as a preacher, warning everybody not to be led away from the simplicity that is in Christ, which is THE GOSPEL. It is a full-time job! False prophets are crawling out of every nook and cranny like cockroaches! 2nd Peter 2:1, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

Dear reader, it is IMPOSSIBLE to lose God's free gift of eternal life. If you couldn't get saved by GOOD WORKS, then how could you ever lose it by BAD WORKS? Hebrews 6:1-2, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” Please don't miss that: REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS!!!

Ungodly ERV Changes Plan of Salvation By Corrupting Hebrews 6:1

If you look at the modern Devil's Bible revisions, you'll see that they corrupted the Word of God. Now my friend, you are about to read the ungodly, wicked, blasphemous, PERversion, rendered in the “Easy-To-Read Version” (ERV) of the Bible . . .

EASY-TO-READ VERSION (ERV) — “So we should be finished with the beginning lessons about Christ. We should not have to keep going back to where we started. We began our new life by turning away from the evil we did in the past and by believing in God.” [emphasis added]

Here again is Hebrews 6:1 in the beloved, correct, King James Bible . . .

KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) — Hebrews 6:1, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.” [emphasis added]

Do you see how the new corrupt Bible versions are horribly changing theology in the churches? The King James Bible teaches that we must repent from our DEAD WORKS to be saved; but the ERV teaches that we must stop living a life of deliberate sin (evil) to be saved. The Alexandrian Greek is of the Devil, teaching a works-based plan of salvation. Salvation is NOT by works (Romans 3:20; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Romans 4:5-6). The doctrine of the imputed righteousness of God silences all the critics.

A baby believer won't see the major theological differences between the ERV verses the KJB, but I tell you that there are THOUSANDS!!! They've butchered the Words of God!!! Hebrews 6:1 in the ERV sinfully changes the entire plan of salvation, which now requires partial faith in Christ + human effort! No wonder our churches are so messed-up nowadays.

The really tragic thing is that many churches use the ERV piece of crap, using the lame excuse that BI-LINGUAL church members need an easier-to-read Bible. In reality, all the church has done is hand some easy-to-read satanic heresy to the victim. The doctrinal soundness of the Holy Scriptures is GONE, GONE, GONE in the ERV! The built-in dictionary is gone! God's Word is special, it is unique, it cannot be watered-down and simplified without ruining its power. I'm telling the truth, the Luciferian-worshipping occult want to bring spirituality into the churches and eliminate theology. It should be obvious to you that this is exactly what the modern corrupted Bible versions are doing.

The reason why they need to do this is to infiltrate, corrupt and take control over the churches, so that they'll all receive the Antichrist when he comes. If you think that could never happen, you are deceived already. The mystery religion which began in ancient Egypt (which is at the core of New Age) teaches to love God and your fellow mankind, which means rejecting Christianity and the King James Bible, because they are [they say] bigoted, hateful and prejudiced. Of course, Luciferians promote a phony type of ecumenical love, which sinfully embraces unrepentant homosexuals, unbelievers and all apostate religious faiths.

I believe that when the Lord appears at the Rapture to catch away the saints, 97% of the churches will be unaffected (because they are not saved). Lordship Salvation is a false plan of salvation, just as Seventh-Day Adventists, Greek Orthodox, Episcopalians, Church of Christ and Lutherans teach a false plan of salvation. Whether you add water baptism or forsaking sinful living to be saved, it is a false plan of works salvation.

Biblical salvation is based solely upon what Christ did for us, and not what we can do for Him. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved.

Corruption Must Be Identified, Exposed And Removed

Ephesians 5:10-11, “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

The modern dictionary says that the word ‘corrupt’ means immorality, perversion, depravity, characterized by bribery, dishonesty, or having errors. The dictionary compares corruption to a corrupt computer file. What do we do when a virus is found on our computer? We find a way to eradicate it. We destroy it without any feelings for the virus. We want it utterly and completely dead.

Ironically, this modern dictionary also mentions an example of corruption as being a ‘corrupt translation.’ We have plenty of those in our age. The Devil's corrupt Bible revisions are everywhere in the churches today. What should we do with them? We should destroy them all! But most professed Believers won’t do it. Why? By failing to kill these corrupt translations, well-meaning Christians are unknowingly enabling the Devil’s work. They are pulling on the same rope as the Devil. 2nd John 1:11, “For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

What happens if the corrupt translations are not destroyed? Psalms:11:3, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” If the foundation of Christianity is destroyed, then we are well-nigh hopeless as God's children. Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” That is why I preach against anything “new” (or, “neo”) in the churches. The neo (or new) evangelical movement must be exposed. New-evangelicals are destroying the churches!!!

I am against new-evangelical music, which is often referred to as: “7-11 music” (seven words repeated 11 times). Today's neo-evangelical music is spiritually lifeless, woefully lacking in theological meaning. Such music catapults the listener into the emotional stratosphere, but then leaves the listener feeling empty with no spiritual edification. Today's Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is worldly, carnal, empty and even oftentimes sensual. It is of the Devil.

I am against all of the new-evangelical Bible revisions, which have been corrupted by Satan. There is nothing as dangerous to the churches today as the Devil's counterfeit Bible versions. They must be rotted out, exposed and destroyed. For example: All of the Devil's Bible revisions remove the word “begotten” concerning Jesus. John 3:16 now refers to Jesus as God's “he gave his only son” (Revised Standard Version) instead of as “His only begotten Son” (King James Bible). This is a direct attack on the deity of Christ. Biblically, Jesus is God almighty (Revelation 1:8). Sadly, all of the Devil's new Bible revisions brutally attack the deity of Jesus, obliterate the Godhead (aka, Trinity), and diminish the preeminence of Christ.

In fact, God has many sons according to John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” God the Father has many adopted sons (i.e., believers), but He only has only begotten (biological) Son, Jesus. BEWARE of the modern English Bible perversions!!!

I am also against the new-evangelical false gospel known as “Lordship Salvation.” Nothing is destroying churches today like the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, which heresy teaches that faith is not enough to get to Heaven. Lordship Salvation requires some type of works to be saved, some form of evidence. But the Holy Bible warns that salvation is without works (Romans 4:3-7). I don't know of even one new-evangelical church today that hasn't been caught between grace and works, preaching another gospel of partial faith in Christ plus works. They preach Lordship Salvation, requiring you to turn away from your sinful ways, invite Christ to take control of your life, and follow Jesus as Lord regardless of the cost. These things are NOT part of the true plan of salvation, which is by grace through faith alone.