THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS, DO NOT FRUSTRATE HIS GRACE

Pastors and street evangelists — please quit accusing people of being ‘false converts’.

It is by His Work, His Sacrifice, His shed blood, It is Finished by Him, the same way it was started by Him, in the Spirit, the moment we believe! (not before — Eph 1:13)

If you think they are unsaved, then please, by all means, preach the gospel, (that is, if you know it and you are not possibly just parroting some video of your favorite teacher out on the streets in Malibu.  Is that what we see in the example of the apostles?  Did they use wisdom in approaching people (consider Paul and the philosophers on Mar’s Hill in Acts 17).  Or were they busy calling people lying, murderous, lusting, thieving adulterers at heart?  THEN he tells these sinners without strength to STOP SINNING — (that would be Ray Comfort).  I will tell you now, then by that standard no one is saved.  How much sin?  How much?  How sincere?  This is all about you then again and not about HIM saving you…

Wonder who out there is able to stop sinning?  Don’t use the verse, ‘go and sin no more’ which had nothing to do with receiving eternal life, but not going right back into the life of adultery, which had almost caused her death by stoning.  Likely since Jesus had just saved her from her accusers, they would be gunning for her also now.

And since I see and believe many of you out there are preaching a gospel that is dead and accursed, and will not bring life to one soul, I beg you to humble yourself under His mighty hand and stop, and ask God to show you the truth.  Tell Him sincerely that you do not want to be adding or taking away anything from the gospel. Ask Him to show you in His Word right from wrong so that you don’t cause someone to stumble or perish, maybe you and your loved ones.

GOD’S PART – For God so loved the WORLD

GOD’S PART – That He GAVE His only Begotten Son (the Lord Jesus Christ)

OUR PART – That whosoever believeth on Him (Christ and Him crucified and resurrected – the resurrection and the life)

GOD’S PART – Shall not perish (John 10:28-30)

GOD’S PART – But have EVERLASTING LIFE (John 5:24)

The Gospel is seen in 1 Cor 15:3-4.  This is the Gospel Paul preached to the Corinthians, in fact in vs. 11, he says ALL the apostles preached the same gospel.  He said they received it, stood in it, and were saved by it.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that CHRIST died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that HE was buried, and that HE rose again the third day according to the scriptures…

HE gave His life willingly in great love (John 10:18; John 15:13), and HE took HIS life back up again as HE said HE would, proving HE IS GOD.  But the reason HE died is that we all have sinned and we come short of the glory of God. Not one of us is good enough to be in a perfect heaven with a perfect God (Rom 3:23).   We could not do just ONE THING right from the beginning, man chose to obey one command. Just one we could not do.   We have all sinned against Him.  So the wages/penalty of that sin is death (Rom 6:23). That penalty (death) separated us from God for all eternity (Isaiah 59:2) because heaven is a perfect place whereby not even one who has lied once can enter (Rev 21:27).

We need to repent of thinking we can do something or add something to help — to repent is to change our mind about ‘dead works‘ of any kind, or our righteousness somehow being a part of saving us.   This seems to be the very thing all religions and religious have in common.

They CLAIM they preach grace, but they teach law, BUT James 2:10 tells us, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.   It is IMPOSSIBLE to try to do good to be saved.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Is 64:6

We know we cannot do works to enter heaven – (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 4:5, 11:5, Gal 2:16,21; Gal 3:11).   Jonah 3 speaks of the Ninevites when they finally turned from their evil ways, God saw their WORKS, and it was a good thing, it saved them from their nation being destroyed, but it did not gain them eternal life.  Turning from sin IS a WORK.  If you add turning from sin to the gospel, you have nullified grace, and it is an accursed gospel (Gal 1:6-9).

Salvation is nothing of ourselves, it is the GIFT of God.  A FREE GIFT.  What can you contribute to something that is FREE?  Do you think it can be your intentions to do better?  Your promises?  You being good?

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.

What is the gift of God?

Salvation as in Eternal life. Justification unto life, the Gift of
righteousness, the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 6:23, Rom 5:15-19, Acts 2:38, Acts 10“45)

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Rom 4:3,5

Salvation by Believing on Jesus Christ is not of works

Every false religion is about works.  Many good people, what separates us from them?  It is NOT of works, it is of faith ON Him (Jesus Christ) and what He did for us on the cross, resulting in justification of life.

So shouldn’t YOU be careful not to add works to salvation? Are you adding your own works to your salvation (Rom 10:3)?

Have you learned Christianease?

Christianese is the lingo we learn in churches, catch phrases and key words, that are not found in the Bible.  We make repent = repent from sin.  The Bible does not tell us to repent from sin in order to be given the free gift of eternal life.  Do you tell people they must do any of these things below?  You can choose more than one, just keep track of which ones.

1. Say a sinners prayer and humbly mean it?
2. Keep the Ten Commandments?
3. Be sorry and confess your sins?
4. Sincerely do your best or promise to do better?
5. Turn from sin or even stop sinning?
6. Be willing to turn from sin?
7. Do good deeds or works to prove you are saved?
8. Keep repenting from sin?
9. Commit or surrender your life to Him?
10. Go to a church or give money there?
11. Need Baptism, or communion, or anything else to be saved?
12. Know that I am sinner, and Believing on the Lord (kyrios-God, the Messiah) Jesus Christ, and Him crucified for my sin, buried and risen again in three days as the Scriptures say, is the only way to be saved?
13. Trust in Christ and serve Him?
14. Be a good disciple and stay faithful?
15. Keep the Law?

Or maybe for you it is none of the above, you may not believe at all, or you may be agnostic and just not know.

If anyone adds works to and for salvation (and that is the gospel they believed) they are lost.  It is an accursed gospel.   An example would be Ray Comfort, John MacArthur, Paul Washer, etc.  They all add either confessing sins, repenting from sin, turning or stopping sin to what one must do to be saved.

Galatians 2:16 tells us clearly.

…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

WHAT’S THE ANSWER?

All the above listed things except #12, is a work of the law.

Turning from evil deeds is a good thing to do, but it IS a WORK.  It may save us from certain consequences — such as this: if a drunk stops drinking, they might save their liver, their marriage, killing someone on the road, and more == but that will not save them from eternal death.

If you have believed that works of confessing your sins (like MacArthur below), or repenting from sin, or promising to do better — any of that added to the gospel makes you bewitched (assuming one believed the clear gospel initially) and if you believed that false gospel initially, you are still yet dead in your sins.

If you have started listening to the fruit inspecting, law keeping, load-ship* teachers and are following after them, calling people false converts, and question their salvation, vs. being ready with reason of the hope that is within you, then you are one who has corrupted minds from the simplicity that is in Christ.  You have been rendered ineffective in preaching the gospel.  And you have fallen from grace.

(* Why Loadship?  I call them Load-ship versus Lordship because of this passage below.  They imply we don’t believe upon Jesus as Lord, nor make Him our Lord (as if we MAKE Him Lord) and they try to put LOADS too HEAVY to bear on people, shutting up the kingdom of heaven against others.  “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, (LOADS) hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,  greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ (Or ‘Ray Comfort, Ray Comfort’) But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.    Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.   “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Matt 23:3-14

Like Paul and Barnabas, even if you are believers preaching a works based gospel, you should be openly rebuked for you are to be blamed, because you are hypocrites and are not straightforward about the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:11-16). You are then a Judaizer or compelling people to go under the law, to which the apostles and the Holy Spirit through the Word gave NO SUCH COMMAND (Acts 15:24).  Paul did not put up with them for an hour (Gal 2:4-5) SO the TRUTH of the Gospel might remain..  

You are frustrating His Grace.

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.  Gal 2:21

Jesus Christ paid for ALL of our trespasses at the cross (Col 2:13) and the gift of righteousness/justification/eternal life is FREE, not of works… We were sanctified BY one offering – once for all (it is not by confession of sins, that is practical sanctification for believers for fellowship with God and other believers, and so our joy may be full — Heb 10:10,14, 1 John 1:1-4,9)

We receive eternal life by BELIEVING in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God (that He is the resurrection and the LIFE – John 11:25-27).  Do you believe?

Because He died for my sins, and for your sins, He has satisfied the justice required for our death.  He put Himself on HIS Cross, for us (Col 2:13-14). And He imputed His righteousness to us when we believed upon Him!

Because I believed, Christ became the end of the law for righteousness for me (Rom 10:4)

All you have to realize is that if you believe upon Jesus Christ as your Savior and ONLY Jesus Christ’s work in our place on the cross (God’s testimony of His Son), then you WILL have (possess, own) eternal life right at that moment!  You can KNOW you have eternal life because God is not a liar (1 John 5:9-13), so won’t you place your trust in Him today?

Want to know more?

If so, please post a comment, and if you want it to remain anonymous, just say so in your comment, I will not post it here (all posts are held in queue until I come on to approve).

Thank you also Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold for your book, “The Gospel Driven Man“

See Pastor Tom Cucuzza’s Gospel Presentation.