Lordship Salvation 3

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us" 1 John 2:19.

There are few churches today who preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It was told in Holy Writ that religious people would fall away from true faith,

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

I found this at Bible Hub:

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_thessalonians/2-3.htm

 “That falling away” must undoubtedly imply that the persons so apostatising had formerly held (or, perhaps, still professed to hold) the Christian faith: men cannot fall from ground which they never occupied. This vast and dreadful Apostasy (see Luke 18:8), so clearly and prominently taught of to the ancient Church, and so mysterious to us, is further defined by the following words, as the Apocalypse or Manifestation of the Man of Sin. Of this revelation of Antichrist the same word (apocalypsis) is used which is often used of Christ, as, e.g., 2Thessalonians 1:7; Luke 17:30; and thrice in St. Peter; so that we may expect to recognise him when he comes as clearly as we shall recognise Christ. The conception of the Antichrist is not merely that of an opponent of the Christ, but of a rival Christ: there is a hideous parallelism between the two.

The falling away is all around us. Religious men are out in force, falsifying the word of God and preaching a wrong message. They use some Scriptures from their modern versions and then shape its meaning into another but false gospel. The Scripture can be forced together like pieces of a jig-saw puzzle, but when you are done assembling the pieces in a force manner its shows a different image than what was intended.

Let's Examine Another Gospel

 The false gospel will have similarities with the true gospel of grace for instance,

I've heard it said, "The gospel is not about being good enough." 

Really! What do they mean by that statement? If they mean good works will not save us, they would be correct. However, salvation is about being good enough. Since we are sinners, we need the righteousness of God. Why? We need holiness to enter Heaven. We need imputed goodness. Our holiness is in Christ as a gift from god,

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" Hebrews 12:14.

"And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" Philippians 3:9.

You might hear another false teacher say,

"You must be born again. It doesn't matter how bad your life has been. It doesn't matter how many sins. You must be born again."

I've said it many times that you must be born again. But what do others mean by it? Does it matter how bad your life has been? Why be born again if it doesn't matter how sinful we are? I think it does matter how bad your life has been. We are all deserving of Hell because of how bad we were and how bad we have become.

God also thinks sin matters,

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" Romans 3:19-24

Words are cloaked with different meanings by false teachers. What should have been said is that sin should not prevent us from being born again. Sin does matter in our coming to the Lord. Christ died for all our sins,

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses" Colossians 2:13.

I know you must be thinking that I'm picky, "Not everyone can be so articulate." I think that's what's wrong with Christianity. We play around with the Words of the Bible until the true meaning is abolished or lost and then we suffer the final outcome of our folly when we find ourselves damned for believing a lie.

Here is another false statement mixed with truth,

"The Bible says that whoever will receive Him will be saved. It begins when you receive Him, Jesus, as Lord of your life."

Is that what saves? We must ask Jesus to become Lord of our lives? I know Jesus is Lord but is He the Lord of our lives? As we grow in the Lord, we should become more obedient to Christ. However, Jesus is Lord whether we follow him perfectly or not. To say that Jesus becomes the Lord of our life for the beginning of salvation is bizarre. Have you seen one of Jesus's followers today living like Christ did? No one that I have ever seen has ever made Jesus the Lord of their lives, at least not totally or perfectly.

The attitude of wanting to follow Jesus is noble and yet we find error in those that say making Jesus Lord of their lives is the beginning of a new life. It sounds stupid when you apply it to your earthly birth: "You begin your earthly life when you receive your parents, as guardians of your life." How can a baby do that? They must first learn to know their parents before they can follow them. The spiritual birth is like the natural birth. You are born again and start as a baby and then grow in the admonition of the Lord.

"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" Ephesians 6:4.

Salvation is not about following but receiving Christ, who died for our sins, and was raised for our justification.

I will conclude with this last thought from a follower's prayer he made for salvation,

"I'm saved, born again and as I follow you, as your disciple, I have eternal life and I'll be with you always."

This prayer places the person who wants to receive Christ in an awkward position. You must follow Christ, as His disciple, to have eternal life. A young religious person who wants to be a Christian has no idea what it means to follow Christ. This subjects him to all sorts of religious teachers who have plans for his life. "Follow what I say," the false teacher declares, "and you will be following Jesus. God has appointed me as the shepherd of your soul."

"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. 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: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time" 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.