It's Just the Truth

[David]

False teachers are God's judgments on people who don't want God, but in the name of religion plan on getting everything their carnal heart desires. That's why a Joel Osteen is raised up. Those people who sit under him are not victims of him.

He is the judgment of God upon them because they want exactly what he wants and it's not God. And you can line them all up along with him. That's where it is.

For ourselves, teachers in accordance to their own desires. So you can have any hen in there who all he wants to do is tell you you're going to have a Mercedes Benz. Those people aren't victims.

He is God's judgment upon them. They want what he wants and so they accumulate him to themselves along with all those other teachers because they teach exactly what they want. Do you see that? You boast in the fact that God has children running around all over this country full of carnality, steeped in sin, doing whatever they want and God does nothing according to your preaching.

But they're safe, bless God. When you preach their funeral, you'll preach them straight into heaven. I've seen it a thousand times.

I remember just a while back a man in my own town in Illinois who was a known drug addict, drug dealer, fornicator, absolutely everything. And he is there. He passes away.

And the pastor of one of the largest Baptist churches in the area is standing there at the funeral. That place is loaded with every person that's hardly ever been in church. Drug addicts and everything you can imagine are all there in church to honor their dead friend.

And that pastor gets up and he says, I praise God, I know this young man, he's sowed a lot of wild oats, but when he was nine years old, I was there when he prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior. And he's in heaven today. And all those lost sinners went straight out into the streets justified in their sin because of conservative evangelical Baptist preaching.

That's typical in almost every church in this country. It's true. It's true.

You say, oh, that's mean-spirited. Let me ask you a question. My mother passed away last year.

And I remember three years ago, I went to the doctor's office with her because she thought something's not right. And that doctor, very gentle, very noble, he looked at my mother and he says, Miss Washer, he goes, you've got cancer. And he goes, he hurt my mom.

He ruined her day. We were going to go out to get something to eat. He ruined her week.

He tore my mother to pieces. But he tried to save my mother's life. And if he hadn't done that, if he hadn't been so truthful, she'd have had no hope of salvation whatsoever.

We'd have had no recourse at all. And he could have been kicked out of his own practice for being immoral. They ought to kick most pastors out of their practice.

Because out of cowardice or self-preservation, they will not preach the gospel. That's all there is to it. This job's not for cowards.

It may be for wild men and fools, but it's not for cowards. I'm telling you, there's too much at stake. Too much at stake.

And it'd be different if it was happening in churches that denied the deity of Christ or substitutionary atonement. But this stuff goes on every day in men's churches who hold to these truths. But when they get to the gospel, they just seem to lose their minds.

This country's not gospel-hardened. This country's gospel-ignorant. Because most of the preachers are gospel-ignorant.

It's just the truth. That salvation is not merely the change of practice. It doesn't even begin there.

It's not turning over a new leaf. It's not New Year's resolutions. It's not this strong conviction to want to be a different person.

None of that. Salvation is a supernatural work of God whereby someone really does become a new creature. Really.

That's not poetry. It's not poetry. It's not poetry.

By Paul Washer

 

[william77]

False teachers are God's judgments on people who don't want God, but in the name of religion plan on getting everything their carnal heart desires. That's why a Joel Osteen is raised up. Those people who sit under him are not victims of him.

He is the judgment of God upon them because they want exactly what he wants and it's not God. And you can line them all up along with him. That's where it is.

I think you’re correct on this point.

And that pastor gets up and he says, I praise God, I know this young man, he's sowed a lot of wild oats, but when he was nine years old, I was there when he prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior. And he's in heaven today. And all those lost sinners went straight out into the streets justified in their sin because of conservative evangelical Baptist preaching.

That's typical in almost every church in this country. It's true. It's true.

Again you’re correct. Mainstream Christianity does it every time.

This country's not gospel-hardened. This country's gospel-ignorant. Because most of the preachers are gospel-ignorant.

Exactly true!

It's just the truth. That salvation is not merely the change of practice. It doesn't even begin there.

I think you might have this part wrong. Salvation comes from repenting and then putting God’s Law into practice along with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit comes and helps you to understand the Law and the gospel. The book of Revelation makes it clear this is an important part of going through the “great tribulation” successfully. Revelation 7:9-17; 12:17; 14:12; 22:14.

Revelation 7:9-17
New King James Version
A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

14 And I said to him, [a]“Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 12:17
New King James Version
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus [a]Christ.

Revelation 14:12
New King James Version
12 Here is the [a]patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Revelation 22:14
New King James Version
14 Blessed are those who [a]do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

 

[Yesua888]

Divine Judgment as Consequence:
The idea that they are "the judgment of God upon them" implies that God allows them to be led astray by a false teacher as a consequence of their rejection of the "whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). By preferring a message that suits their "own passions" over sound doctrine, they are experiencing a form of judgment (2 Timothy 4:3-4) is a biblical passage where the Apostle Paul warns that a time will come when people reject sound doctrine and instead accumulate teachers who cater to their "itching ears" and personal desires. In this era, believers will turn away from the truth and wander into myths or fables, preferring messages that please them over those that provide spiritual health.

 

[David]

I think you might have this part wrong. Salvation comes from repenting and then putting God’s Law into practice along with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit comes and helps you to understand the Law and the gospel. The book of Revelation makes it clear this is an important part of going through the “great tribulation” successfully. Revelation 7:9-17; 12:17; 14:12; 22:14.

You’re putting obedience at the front door, like it’s part of what gets someone saved. But the Bible puts it after the door, as the result of being saved.

Obedience matters. No question about it. But we have to keep it where Scripture puts it. We don’t obey to become born again. We obey because we have been born again.

Jesus made that plain. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” ~John 14:15. Notice the order. Love for Him comes first. Obedience flows out of that love. It’s not a payment to earn salvation. It’s the natural response of a heart that has been changed.

When someone is truly born again, something inside them is different. They don’t just try to obey out of fear or obligation. They want to obey because they love the One who saved them. “We love him, because he first loved us” ~1 John 4:19. His love comes first. Our response follows.

Salvation isn't earned by repenting and then putting God's Law into practice. Scripture is clear that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our efforts at obedience. ~Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." It doesn't begin with changed practice or Law-keeping. It begins with trusting in what Christ has already done.

The multitude in Revelation 7:14 are saved because they "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," not because they kept the Law well enough. The ones in Revelation 12:17, 14:12, and 22:14 who keep the commandments of God do so as those who already have the testimony/faith of Jesus. Their obedience is the fruit of being saved, not the root of it. Mixing Law practice into how we get saved turns the gospel into something else.

Repentance is real, but it's a turning to Christ in faith, not a system of Law-keeping to earn salvation. The Holy Spirit does lead us into truth and obedience after we're saved, but He doesn't make Law-keeping part of the saving itself.

 

[william77]

Jesus made that plain. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” ~John 14:15. Notice the order. Love for Him comes first. Obedience flows out of that love. It’s not a payment to earn salvation. It’s the natural response of a heart that has been changed.

I think you’re reading something more into Jesus’ statement than is warranted. It has always been about love for God by keeping His commandments. Deuteronomy 6:1-5. This is the greatest commandment in the Law as Jesus taught it in Matthew 22:34-40.

Deuteronomy 6:1-5
New King James Version
The Greatest Commandment

6 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and [a]be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Matthew 22:34-40
New King James Version
The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?

34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Salvation isn't earned by repenting and then putting God's Law into practice. Scripture is clear that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our efforts at obedience. ~Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." It doesn't begin with changed practice or Law-keeping. It begins with trusting in what Christ has already done.

But that’s not what Jesus and James said in Matthew 19:16-18; James 1:25; 2:14-26.

Matthew 19:16-18
New King James Version
Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good[a] Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? [c]No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

18 He said to Him, “Which ones?”

Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’

James 1:25
New King James Version
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James 2:14-26
New King James Version
Faith Without Works Is Dead

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without [a]your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [c]dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made [d]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [e]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

but He doesn't make Law-keeping part of the saving itself.

I’m getting a bad feeling you don’t believe in the importance of keeping God’s Law. Possibly you’re one of those who believe Paul taught that the Law was abolished.

 

[David]

I think you’re reading something more into Jesus’ statement than is warranted.

I’m not reading something more into what Jesus said. I’m reading the Bible with the Bible.

Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” ~John 14:15. That is the order He gave. Love comes first, obedience follows. That does not weaken obedience. It puts obedience in its proper place.

And the rest of Scripture says the same thing. We are saved “by grace… through faith… not of works” ~Ephesians 2:8-9, and then we are created in Christ Jesus “unto good works” ~Ephesians 2:10. Not by good works, but unto good works.

So no, I’m not reading something more into Jesus’ words. I’m refusing to read works into the cause of salvation when Scripture places them as the fruit of salvation.

 

[David]

Deuteronomy 6:1-5
New King James Version
The Greatest Commandment

6 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and [a]be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Matthew 22:34-40
New King James Version
The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?

34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Those verses are true, but you’re applying them the wrong way.

~Deuteronomy 6:5 and ~Matthew 22:37 are commands. They tell you to love God perfectly. They do not tell you how to be saved. They show what God requires. And if that’s your standard, you’ve already failed it. Scripture says, “There is none righteous, no, not one” ~Romans 3:10.

So what are you really saying? You’re saying loving God by keeping His commandments is part of what saves you. That sounds right on the surface, but it’s not what Scripture teaches. The Law doesn’t save. “By the law is the knowledge of sin” ~Romans 3:20. It exposes you. It doesn’t fix you.

Jesus wasn’t giving a salvation formula in ~Matthew 22. He was stating the standard of God’s righteousness. And that standard condemns every one of us, because none of us has loved God perfectly.

Here’s the truth you’re missing. Salvation is not “love God enough and be saved.” Scripture says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” ~Acts 16:31, and “not of works” ~Ephesians 2:8-9.

Then after that, God changes the heart. “We love him, because he first loved us” ~1 John 4:19. Love and obedience come after, not before.

So the issue is simple. You’re taking commands that show what a perfect life looks like and turning them into the way to be saved. That’s not the gospel. That’s putting trust in your ability to meet a standard you’ve already broken.

What you are pushing is a works-based mixture, and Scripture already condemns that. And that line matters.

 

[David]

But that’s not what Jesus and James said in Matthew 19:16-18; James 1:25; 2:14-26.

Listen to this one from Scripture itself. You are Not trusting in Christ alone you are obstructing the gospel. You're not just missing it, you're standing in the way of the true gospel, peddling a deadly mix of law and grace that Scripture calls another gospel. Jesus did not give this rich young ruler a list of things to do so that He might have eternal life. He sliced that man open with the sword of the gospel: “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Jesus revealed this man could NOT GET INTO LIFE by keeping the law because he trusted in his OWN righteousness. He walked away sad. ~Matthew 19:17-22 (KJV). You see, the law exposes and kills our pride. It doesn’t save by being kept.

James 2 is not your passage for works salvation. James says if your faith has no works it is dead. Dead like a corpse. James is making the point that true faith produces evidence. When Abraham believed God in Genesis 15(Genesis 15: 6), even before Isaac was ever brought to the altar God said Abraham “because he believed God, it was counted unto him for righteousness.” James BOOM! Quotes THAT very verse for emphasis! Faith produces works because it IS faithful, alive faith. Not a list of works you did to buy your way in!

Paul drives the door nail through with Romans 4: “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God... But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” ~Romans 4:2,5 (KJV). You plug law keeping into salvation like its gonna make faith whole again. That’s GALATIANS!! Paul didn’t whisper here. “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.” Twice. Let. Him. Be. Accursed. ~Galatians 1: 8-9 (KJV) Salvation comes by grace THROUGH faith. Period. Not of works lest any man should boast. ~ Ephesians 2: 8-9 ANYTHING ELSE is cursed Gospel of DEATH! !

This is not some Bible study debate. This is the Bible pounding your heart in alarm. Stop telling people “do this” and “live.” REPENT AND BELIEVE ON CHRIST ALONE His precious blood, His substitutionary death on the cross, His once finished work or you too will stand before God on Judgment Day with all your good deeds in your hand only to hear Jesus say the most terrifying words to hear; ” Depart from me, I never knew you.” SCRIPTURE HAS SAID IT!” Let EVERY MAN NOW GIVE ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF UNTO GOD.” Repent, trust Christ alone today. Choose who you will serve.

True good works in a believer flow only from knowing and loving the Savior Jesus Christ, not to earn His favor but because we love Him who first loved us. ~John 14:15 (KJV): “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” ~2 Corinthians 5:14: “For the love of Christ constraineth us.” Anything else is self-righteous striving, not the fruit of grace.

 

[David]

I’m getting a bad feeling you don’t believe in the importance of keeping God’s Law. Possibly you’re one of those who believe Paul taught that the Law was abolished.

That’s not what I said, and that’s not what Scripture teaches.

I never said God’s Law isn’t important. Scripture says it is “holy, and just, and good” ~Romans 7:12. The issue is not the value of the Law. The issue is its role.

The Law was never given to save you. “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” ~Romans 3:20. It shows sin. It cannot remove it.