D
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Please tell me why NT passages such as these do NOT apply to you?
“… wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to (eternal)
destruction … narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which
leads to (eternal) life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
The truth of the narrow way has not at all been taught in its full reality.
There are many NT verses which prove how narrow the way really is!
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven …
I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you (approved of you); depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness (sin)!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23)
There’s much more to doing God’s will than merely believing in Jesus!
Yes, sin keeps you out of the kingdom … see the NT “sin lists”
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-6).
“You will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures
to the end (until his death) will be saved (eternally).” (Matthew 10:22)
There are about 15 NT verses which teach us … the believer must
endure in the faith until death to receive eternal life (and some are below).
“But if you want to enter into (eternal) life, keep the commandments.”
(Matthew 19:17)
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”
(John 14:21, also John 14:23 & John 15:14)
Does anyone get into heaven who does NOT love Jesus and obey Him?
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
into life maimed rather than having two hands and go to hell” (Mark 9:43)
“For whoever desires to save his (worldly) life will lose it (eternal life)
but whoever loses his (worldly) life for My sake will save it (eternal life)
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is
himself destroyed or lost (eternal death)?” (Luke 9:24-25 and John 12:25)
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh” (Galatians 5:24)
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die (eternally)” (Romans 8:13)
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh
reap corruption (eternal death)” (Galatians 6:7-8)
“… the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received
... by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which
I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)
“Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth (eternal) death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:15-16)
“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in
destruction and perdition (eternal death) … Command those who
are rich … that they may lay hold on to eternal life.” (1 Timothy 6:9-19)
“ ‘My righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure
in anyone who turns away.’ But we are not like those who turn
away from God to their own destruction (eternal death). We are
the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.” (Hebrews 10:38-39)
Paul says some believers turn back to their destruction, but in fact,
he has NO idea who will remain faithful to the end, or who will turn away!
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God” (1 John 3:10)
“He who practices righteousness is righteous” (1 John 3:7)
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God
and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars
shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death (eternal death).” (Revelation 21:7-8)
The “cowardly” include believers who fall from the faith when persecuted
for their Christian faith, or later submit to taking the mark of the beast.
“But there shall by no means enter it (the New Jerusalem) anything
that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those
who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:27)
“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and
I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life” (Revelation 3:5)
Jesus gives His definition of who the victorious “overcomer” is …
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)
Just what did Jesus overcome? Primarily: the world, sin, and the devil.
We today are the deceived church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22).
“If you refuse to forgive others, your Father won’t forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:15)
Unforgiveness blocks you from heaven and also blocks you from being healed!
“Fear the Lord and keep His commandments … so that you may be saved.
… So have faith in Him and fear Him and by that fear exercise self-control.
Keep these commandments. If you do, you will put on the strength of
righteousness, and cast all wickedness from you, and live to God.”
(“The Shepherd of Hermas” -- most popular Christian “book” during 100-400 a.d.
Quoted as Scripture by such as Irenaeas, Clement, Origen, Codex Sinaiticus.
The Shepherd calls himself: “the Shepherd and messenger of repentance”.)
“Fear God, who has the power … to throw you into hell” (Luke 12:5)
“… unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3 and 13:5)
“… beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God … your sorrow
(over his first letter to them) led to repentance … For godly sorrow
produces repentance leading to salvation.” (2 Corinthians 7:1-10)
Yes, ALL sins will be forgiven through deep and sincere repentance!
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
“When the Lord saw that their repentance was good and pure, and that they
were able to remain in it, He ordered their former sins to be blotted out.”
(“The Shepherd of Hermas” – he’s not nearly as tactful as the earlier Epistles)
Has Satan deceived you? ... Has he deceived your church?
Satan hates God, and he hates you! … He and his demons work
tirelessly to succeed in having you spend eternity in hell with them.
“the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4)
“the ruler of this world” (John 12:31)
“the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9)
“he is a liar and the father of it (lies)” (John 8:44)
“evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world” (Ephesians 6:12)
Have you been deceived into believing in “once saved, always saved”,
and that your sins (past, present, and future) have all been forgiven?
(Also, have you been deceived into believing in a pre-tribulation rapture?)
Heads-up! The dozens of warnings in the NT are there for a purpose!
For example: “… you are that one’s slaves whom you obey,
whether (slaves) of sin leading to (eternal) death, OR
(slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness … now present
your bodies as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” (Romans 6:16,19)
Born-agains have been given a new nature and the indwelling Holy Spirit
to free them from their bondage to Satan – and from their slavery to sin!
Please tell me why NT passages such as these do NOT apply to you?
“… wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to (eternal)
destruction … narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which
leads to (eternal) life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
The truth of the narrow way has not at all been taught in its full reality.
There are many NT verses which prove how narrow the way really is!
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven …
I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you (approved of you); depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness (sin)!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23)
There’s much more to doing God’s will than merely believing in Jesus!
Yes, sin keeps you out of the kingdom … see the NT “sin lists”
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-6).
“You will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures
to the end (until his death) will be saved (eternally).” (Matthew 10:22)
There are about 15 NT verses which teach us … the believer must
endure in the faith until death to receive eternal life (and some are below).
“But if you want to enter into (eternal) life, keep the commandments.”
(Matthew 19:17)
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”
(John 14:21, also John 14:23 & John 15:14)
Does anyone get into heaven who does NOT love Jesus and obey Him?
“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
into life maimed rather than having two hands and go to hell” (Mark 9:43)
“For whoever desires to save his (worldly) life will lose it (eternal life)
but whoever loses his (worldly) life for My sake will save it (eternal life)
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is
himself destroyed or lost (eternal death)?” (Luke 9:24-25 and John 12:25)
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh” (Galatians 5:24)
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die (eternally)” (Romans 8:13)
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh
reap corruption (eternal death)” (Galatians 6:7-8)
“… the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received
... by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which
I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)
“Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth (eternal) death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:15-16)
“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in
destruction and perdition (eternal death) … Command those who
are rich … that they may lay hold on to eternal life.” (1 Timothy 6:9-19)
“ ‘My righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure
in anyone who turns away.’ But we are not like those who turn
away from God to their own destruction (eternal death). We are
the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.” (Hebrews 10:38-39)
Paul says some believers turn back to their destruction, but in fact,
he has NO idea who will remain faithful to the end, or who will turn away!
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God” (1 John 3:10)
“He who practices righteousness is righteous” (1 John 3:7)
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God
and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars
shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death (eternal death).” (Revelation 21:7-8)
The “cowardly” include believers who fall from the faith when persecuted
for their Christian faith, or later submit to taking the mark of the beast.
“But there shall by no means enter it (the New Jerusalem) anything
that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those
who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:27)
“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and
I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life” (Revelation 3:5)
Jesus gives His definition of who the victorious “overcomer” is …
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)
Just what did Jesus overcome? Primarily: the world, sin, and the devil.
We today are the deceived church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22).
“If you refuse to forgive others, your Father won’t forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:15)
Unforgiveness blocks you from heaven and also blocks you from being healed!
“Fear the Lord and keep His commandments … so that you may be saved.
… So have faith in Him and fear Him and by that fear exercise self-control.
Keep these commandments. If you do, you will put on the strength of
righteousness, and cast all wickedness from you, and live to God.”
(“The Shepherd of Hermas” -- most popular Christian “book” during 100-400 a.d.
Quoted as Scripture by such as Irenaeas, Clement, Origen, Codex Sinaiticus.
The Shepherd calls himself: “the Shepherd and messenger of repentance”.)
“Fear God, who has the power … to throw you into hell” (Luke 12:5)
“… unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3 and 13:5)
“… beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God … your sorrow
(over his first letter to them) led to repentance … For godly sorrow
produces repentance leading to salvation.” (2 Corinthians 7:1-10)
Yes, ALL sins will be forgiven through deep and sincere repentance!
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
“When the Lord saw that their repentance was good and pure, and that they
were able to remain in it, He ordered their former sins to be blotted out.”
(“The Shepherd of Hermas” – he’s not nearly as tactful as the earlier Epistles)
Has Satan deceived you? ... Has he deceived your church?
Satan hates God, and he hates you! … He and his demons work
tirelessly to succeed in having you spend eternity in hell with them.
“the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4)
“the ruler of this world” (John 12:31)
“the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9)
“he is a liar and the father of it (lies)” (John 8:44)
“evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world” (Ephesians 6:12)
Have you been deceived into believing in “once saved, always saved”,
and that your sins (past, present, and future) have all been forgiven?
(Also, have you been deceived into believing in a pre-tribulation rapture?)
Heads-up! The dozens of warnings in the NT are there for a purpose!
For example: “… you are that one’s slaves whom you obey,
whether (slaves) of sin leading to (eternal) death, OR
(slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness … now present
your bodies as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” (Romans 6:16,19)
Born-agains have been given a new nature and the indwelling Holy Spirit
to free them from their bondage to Satan – and from their slavery to sin!
))