Part one of my article, “Am I a Christian,” was an overview of what it means to be a Christian from a Biblical perspective. I compared what the Word of God states to what is taught by most churches and pastors today. I want to dig deeper to contrast what is being promoted today as the true gospel with what I wrote about in part one. I watched a video by Mike DeSario, now deceased, titled “Holding Firmly or Standing in the Gap.” The title of his video is Christianity Defined. Mike did a great job of bringing to light some fundamental truths and contrasts between the absolute truth and the lies that are so popular today in Christianity.
Today, most “Christians” are taught the false gospel of salvation in the following 2 two ways:
- It is all of God alone, and we contribute nothing at all to our own salvation. They say it because we are born unable to respond to God in repentance and or faith. According to them, we are born totally depraved and totally unable to come to God because of Adam’s Original Sin. Only the elect of God are saved; all others are damned. This is what they call monergism (God alone saves us, and we have no part in it whatsoever).
- To get saved = we do nothing
- To stay saved = we do nothing
- Obedience = not required
- Stop sinning = not possible and not required
- Or, we are told that there is only one condition to being saved. That one condition is to believe in or have faith in Jesus Christ. One momentary act or profession of faith is all it takes to be saved forever. This means that we must confess we are sinners and trust that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on a cross for us and rose again from the dead so that the guilt of our sins (past, present, and future) is forgiven. This is a faith without faithfulness, which is not real Biblical faith at all. It is a lie that is deceiving multitudes of professing Christians. It is a faith without faithfulness, which is an oxymoron. James tells us that faith without works is dead and will not save anyone. (See the book of James, chapter 2).
- To get saved = we do nothing but believe, even if just for a moment
- To stay saved = we do nothing but believe and trust that Christ did it all
- Obedience = not required
- Stop sinning = not possible and not required
In both cases, ‘new Christians’ are taught to expect that sin will never actually cease in our lives until our death. That makes death our savior, not Jesus Christ. Both false gospels may teach a mild form of repentance from some sin, gradually over time, but never to the point where sin becomes the exception in our lives rather than the rule. In any case, “Christians” are taught that they go to heaven even if they never stop sinning. Both false gospels tell Christians that they are saved in their sins, not from their sins.
Then there are those “Christians” who claim to believe that repentance from sin, any sin at all, is not in any way at all a part of the gospel. These individuals preach and teach a distorted view of grace while claiming to convey the only true message of grace.They say that adding repentance to faith alone makes it a false and works-based theology. They may suggest that repentance from sin is a good idea, but not a necessary condition to salvation. Again, Christians are saved in their sins, not from their sins, contrary to Matthew 1:21. In this passage, the angel announced that Mary would have a son and he would be named Jesus because he would save his people from sin, not in sin as is being taught today in almost every Christian Church.
What is the true Gospel?
I understand that most evangelical Christians think that any ‘Christian’ who believes what a few of us believe is considered to be a heretical Christian, who is trying to work their way into heaven by being perfect. That is not the case, as these articles will make clear. We believe the following is faithful to the Bible.
- To get saved, we must repent from all our sins (confess and forsake them) and believe in Jesus Christ.
- To stay saved, we must continue in faithful obedience and righteousness, or we will be lost and damned
- Obedience is required, for it is the only true evidence of saving faith working by love
- Christians must stop sinning. That is not only possible, it is required. Sin must become the exception in our lives and not the rule.
The true gospel is about repentance, being zealous, striving, obeying, following, heartfelt obedience, denying self, endurance to the end, working out our own salvation, running, fighting, and so on. Most Christians have had their hearts hardened by the false teaching that is everywhere that tells them that Jesus paid it all and did it all. There is nothing left to do but to trust that you are saved, no matter how wicked your life continues to be. By believing these lies, the conviction of the Holy Spirit has been silenced, and the conscience has been seared. This is what “Christians” get from the evangelical Christian Church system in the USA.
Could it be that you and your family are being conditioned to accept this dead faith and religious system of unbelief? In 2 Timothy, the following is written:
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:5-7, KJV.
This passage refers to those who “have a form of godliness” but deny its power. Most evangelical Christians have no idea the danger they are in right now because having a form of godliness—while denying its cleansing power—is a strong and emotional attachment to error, dressed up in religious appearances. These deceived souls believe that going to church, hearing message after message from their Pastor (being a listener rather than a doer of the word), singing, worshiping God, praying, fasting, giving, attending Bible study, and similar activities mean they love God and are saved—even while they refuse to repent of their sins. They may have repented of a few sins, but not all, and never intend to because they have been repeatedly told that it is impossible and that it is fanaticism. Pastors who promote these lies are leading their people into error, not truth, and therefore, the Holy Ghost has no part in it. God sends strong delusion on those who reject the truth and take pleasure in wickedness. God said that, I didn’t.
Some pastors are convinced that most Christians are lazy and unwilling to invest the time and effort necessary to delve deeply into the Word of God. Most Christians are not like those dedicated individuals who search for gold or the pearl of great price. Only a few souls believe that the truth is more valuable than gold or the pearl of great price, and these few saints will do whatever it takes to find gold, to see the truth. They realize it will take diligence, faithfulness, obedience, self-denial, taking up the cross daily, and much effort to come to a real knowledge of the truth.
The false Christian Church system tells us that all we need to do is to receive and accept what Jesus has done for us. There is no striving, seeking, searching, denying self, taking up the cross, and so forth. Many Christians are captivated by the false idea of a pretribulation rapture for sinful Christians. That error is alive and well today. What they do not believe is that what is coming for them is judgment and the wrath of God, not the rapture of carnal Christians to paradise.
Just like Satan told Adam and Eve in the garden that they would not surely die, the day they ate the forbidden fruit. That lie is precisely what Christians are being told today by almost all evangelical Christian pastors and teachers.
We have Pastors today who believe that we are to come to God as we are, in a state of sin, confessing our sinfulness but not repenting of it. They preach little to nothing about denying oneself, taking up the cross, stopping all sinful practices, making a new heart, cleaning up one’s act, making restitution, and becoming a new person devoted to the practice of righteousness and pleasing God, rather than sinfulness. A different gospel is being preached today by the vast majority of Christian leaders. This is Satan’s message of salvation in and not from sin. Until the eyes of your understanding are opened, most will continue to believe these lies because they appeal to our flesh. Until we break free of all that error by seeking the truth and seeking God, there is no hope. We can wait until the cows come home and do nothing at all, expecting God to do what He has told us to do. We can wait forever, while God waits on us. Nothing will change until we strive, search, ask, deny, believe, seek, put off the old man, and put on the new man.
It is essential to recognize that the biblical term “believe” is often equivalent to the term “obey,” and they are used interchangeably. To talk of a disobedient faith is to proclaim a contradiction. Genuine faith is obedience to God. Faith without works and obedience is dead. Belief is interchangeable with obedience. Disobedience is disbelief, and disbelief is sin. Obedience is righteousness, and belief/faith is righteousness.
Jesus and the apostles said Enter by the small gate and walk the narrow path, strive to enter the kingdom, make every effort, lay aside everything that might hinder your walk, put off the old man and put on the new man, and work out your salvation, and so on. This message of Christ and the apostles is now replaced with trust, accept, and receive because God has done it all for us.
Beware of false teachers is what Jesus told us. Instead of putting off the old man, they say the old man stays with you all your life. These false teachers never warn anyone about the damnable danger of sin in the life of a believer and about holding fast in righteousness and obedience. They have all the best trappings of a vibrant Christian Church, along with the ‘appearance of godliness’ but not the reality of godliness. They proclaim a salvation in the present commission of sin, not the true gospel of salvation from sin.
Jesus told us to count the cost to see if we have what it takes to finish. The church today says there is no cost. Jesus told us to take up our cross, deny ourselves, and that we are not our own because we have been bought with a price. The church teaches us that we are saved by grace through faith, and our self-denial is considered a works-based approach. Today, church people don’t obey the law and commandments of God because they are told it is not mandatory, and they believe they are going to heaven anyway, even if they never stop sinning. Their pastor also tells them that it is impossible for them to stop sinning.
Christians are told they should obey God, but they don’t because they 1) can’t fully obey God, still possessing a sin nature, and 2) they are going to heaven anyway, even if they don’t stop sinning. Moreover, Christians, today are told the fable that the obedience of Jesus is imputed to them and their sin is imputed to Jesus. False double imputation. Where is the clearing of wrongdoing in churches today? Where is the reality of the new man experience? The false gospel believed and taught today is a gospel of Christians producing bad fruit habitually (and occasionally some good fruit). Scripture tells us to come out from among them and be ye separate. We are not to be partakers of their wickedness. Today’s gospel presents no conditions for entering into a relationship with God and staying in that relationship. Even when faith is presented as a condition, it can be a faith without faithfulness. That is not saving faith. Churches today tell sinning Christians that all sinners are going to heaven if they trust Jesus, or accept Jesus, or receive Jesus.
One pastor that Mike talked about told him that a child molester doesn’t need to stop molesting children before he is forgiven. This pastor told Mike that if the molester doesn’t stop it, God may take him to heaven! Apparently, that should scare him out of his child molestation tendency. If he doesn’t stop, he will be punished and sent to heaven before he gets to fulfill all his carnal desires. Can you believe it? Is that the gospel? I do not think it is the gospel. This pastor says this child molester is a brother in the faith, even if he doesn’t stop the molestation. What absolute nonsense. Most Christians don’t judge because they, too, are sinners living in impenitence.
After you are saved, you will probably get baptized. No doubt you will start attending church. You will want to share the good news about Jesus with others as best you can. But what do you tell them? Most likely, you will tell potential converts exactly how you became a convert, assuming that it was of God. As a new convert, you may sin less and less, but maybe not. None of us will ever be perfect, you tell them. God is working on you slowly, even while you continue to disobey Him presumptuously. But this is not the gospel. The gospel tells us to make our calling and election sure, to strive, to endure, to run the race, and so on. All this may sound reasonable, but you are not going to take the work out of God’s hands. If your sanctification in holiness and obedience makes that much difference to God, you will wait on Him to change you, even if no progress is ever made.
Some “new Christians” know very little about the truth and have little or no appetite for it. If you genuinely have little to no hunger for God’s truth, you are probably not a new follower of Jesus Christ. You likely haven’t been told that we must repent of all our sins, run the race set before us, fight the good fight, endure to the end, keep ourselves pure, test the spirits, and put on the whole armor of God, or that we need to be prepared. We are also instructed to examine ourselves to determine if we are truly in the faith and to deny ourselves. Today, some Christians refer to all these commands as legalism and works-based salvation. They may also mockingly call you a heretic, Pelagian, or semi-Pelagian if you teach and believe this.
We all know salvation is not of works, right? Works of obedience are optional. Many professing Christians can quote this passage, assuming the issue of sin in a believer’s life is settled. Ephesians 2:8-10. They think the work that we are saved to perform is something like parking cars, driving a bus, collecting money, painting buildings, landscaping, and so on. It seldom crosses their mind that the good works are works of self-denial, obedience to God, and sacrificial love.
Most of these false converts can quote the story about the thief on the cross who could only believe in Jesus and could not do works, for he was about to die. Can you be saved without good works? The thief on the cross had no works, they say. But faith without works is dead. Works prove you have faith. Jesus said a good tree can’t bring forth evil fruit. Most evangelicals believe just the opposite. They think of themselves as a good tree that brings forth evil fruit as often as daily.
Obedience to God’s laws no longer matters to many Christians. First, they are told that they can’t obey the laws of God, and second, they are taught that the laws of God have been abrogated with the New Covenant. Both are false. This new salvation is based entirely on trusting in Christ, from whom we receive everything. Jesus did it all, and all we need to do is trust that Jesus will save us in, and not from, our ongoing sins. Many of these so-called Christians can’t remember when they got saved and became a new creation in Christ. They remain in bondage to the practice of sin. Some pastors tell them that if they do not have the assurance of salvation, they should recite the prayer they said at the beginning and believe it is true, regardless of whether the Spirit of God is convicting them of sin. If you are unsure, then recite the prayer again to be certain. Trust in Jesus and confess your sinfulness (not a word about forsaking your sinfulness), and you are good to go. The conviction of God and the silencing of your conscience will go away in time. God will hand you over to strong delusion, that you might believe a lie.
Unmerited favor is grace, according to many evangelicals. The effect is to silence the conscience and harden the heart. Most pastors say little to nothing about the requirement of repentance from all sin. If they mention the word ‘repentance,’ they quickly pass over the remarks, ensuring that no one understands what real repentance demands. They want to leave the impression that becoming a Christian is not a complete departure from their past life of sinful behaviors.
These falsely converted people have a veil over their eyes, which is the ignorance and blindness of error. Their eyes of understanding are not opened. Paul discussed the pattern of his life, noting that he had fought the good fight and finished the course. Paul’s life was one of righteousness and holiness. (Most evangelicals think that Paul’s life is described in Romans chapter 7, the wretched man, but that is not the case. See my article Romans 7. But few of us ever question, What is the pattern of my life? (see 1 Timothy 1:15)
If saving faith is operating in a person, then the old man of sin dies, and the new man who practices righteousness and holiness lives. Most churches tell converts that living in sin is what to expect. And the best that they can expect as a child of God is pictured in Romans Chapter 7. They do not ask them to go deep with God in complete repentance. They are not told to dig deep for the truth. Many are never saved to begin with. There are lots of friendly people in churches. But few Christians contend for the faith and the truth. They don’t search the scriptures. They don’t care enough to search for the truth. They don’t have enough godly desire to sell everything to find the pearl of great price. They have no sense of urgency in purging their sinful lives. Their churches tell them to expect to continue to live in sin and that even the truth and grace of God are insufficient to get sin out of their lives. These churches keep you in sin and do not strive to get you out of it. There is no hunger and thirst after truth and righteousness. The pit of hell will be their end because they are fast asleep and refuse every effort to wake them up.
Your testimony must have such an example in your life, of a new creation rising from the death of the old man. You will have faith working by love. Scales will fall out of your eyes. People are not being led into all truth; no godly power over sin is evident. Just the opposite is true. Preaching, books, and conferences all peddle the lie of salvation in sin and not from sin. Most Christians are leaving it up to someone else to know the truth and tell them, as long as it is not the hard truth that they must completely repent of all their sins. Most are being deceived and are comfortably blind to the truth.
Most “Christians” are so ignorant of the Word of God that they fall for any lie. That is because the lies appeal to the flesh. But the real gospel tells us not to grow weary of well doing, don’t give up, keep seeking God and His truth. Few will believe, but each one saved will be worth it.
What is Christianity to you? How do you define it? Is Christ LORD and Savior to you? Many teach that we can be saved and not make Jesus our LORD. They abhor Lordship salvation, which is occasionally discussed in Christian circles. In other words, we can have a Savior in Jesus and not make Him Lord. We expect Jesus to save us “in” our sinful habits and not to require us to obey Him fully. We are told that our Savior saves us from all sin (past, present, and future). We are also told that making Jesus our LORD is optional. The evangelical gospel today is that Christians are saved no matter how wicked they remain in this life, and eternal life is their reward for trusting Jesus, who did it all. You do not need to make Jesus the Lord of your life, and you do not need to repent of your sins. This is the religion of the devil, and that is why it is so popular.
Ask yourself the question, Am I a Christian? Ask the Holy Ghost the question if you want to know the truth. If you want to be told pleasant things and be given false hope, ask your typical pastor or evangelical Christian. They will make you feel great in your ongoing rebellion against God and in your continued unrepentant sinfulness. But only the truth will set us free, according to Jesus Christ.
