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YOU CANNOT AFFORD to make a mistake about Salvation. Your soul is too valuable, the lake of fire is too final and eternity is too long to be wrong.
Satan's master plan is to make people believe they are saved when in reality they are still lost. His plan is sly, crafty and deceptive. His timing is just perfect. The name of his counterfeit is called EASY BELIEVISM. Approximately ninety five percent of all Protestant churches now accept it and most evangelical tract companies print it as being gospel truth. It has swept upon our land at a time when the cry of the masses is, "We like it easy and comfortable". A person can become a millionaire overnight by inventing a gadget that will make a hard job easy or an easy job easier. You can see this principle revealed in the success of perma-press clothes, micro-wave ovens, electric door openers, automatic dishwashers and electric knives. Everyone is crying, "Make it easy brother".
Satan designed his plan to include parts of the Bible which would add reverence and credibility to his counterfeit and at the same time twist the truths and change the words to produce a subtle half-truth which is more dangerous than an outright lie. Only the TRUTH, the WHOLE TRUTH, and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH will save a man or woman from sin.
Is a person saved by simply and only believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior? Many churches now teach that a person is ready to meet the Lord in the second coming simply because they raised their hand and vocalized the phrase "I do now accept Christ as my personal Savior". This plan is simple, easy, soothing, mild, and effortless, but OH . . . So FALSE! Ministers will be judged by God on the grounds of criminal negligence who allow their church members to continue in their sinful habits and at the same time believe they are gloriously saved. Saved from W H A T???
There is more to being saved than EASY BELIEVISM -please notice Acts 16:31 very closely. And they said ". . . thou shalt be (future tense) saved. . ." The Apostle Paul used the future tense, shalt be, which places the act or event in the future. Notice, he did not say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou art saved", like so many do today. It takes more to being saved than saying "I believe". James 2:14 teaches that faith alone can not save. "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can Faith Save Him?. James 2:20 declares, "Faith without works is dead." You do not have faith if you do not have works. Faith without works is dead. It can not save you if it is alone. Works are proof of faith. If works prove faith, then the absence of works prove unbelief. Yes, faith is necessary to be saved, but it takes more than just faith.
Was Simon the Sorcerer saved in Acts 8:13 by easy believism? we quote "then Simon himself believed also. . ." the answer to this question is "NO" Simon was not saved by only believing. We know this to be a fact from Apostle Peter's stinging rebuke in Acts 8:20-21. Listen to what he said, ". . . but Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee, because thou has thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou has neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God". He believed but was still unsaved.
Even Simon Peter himself believed and made a confession of faith in Matt. 16:16 "And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Was Peter saved according to the New Testament plan of salvation by his confession of faith? The Bible teaches he was not. In Luke 22:32 Jesus revealed Peter's spiritual condition by saying, ". . . when thou art converted (future tense) strengthen thy brethren." Mark 14:71 lets us know Peter was still in an unconverted condition of lying and cursing. Revelation 21:8 teaches us that all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire.
What about the thief on the cross? In Luke 23:43 we read, "And Jesus said unto him. . . Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." How was the thief saved without obeying the New Birth Plan of Salvation? The answer is, the thief actually lived in the Old Testament dispensation and did not have access to the Baptism of the Holy Ghost as we know it today. This is made clear in John 7:39, "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." The Baptism of the Holy Ghost or the New Testament inheritance could not be given until the testator died. Hebrews 9:16-17. The thief was not saved according to the New Testament Plan of Salvation which is found in Acts 2:38.
What about Romans 10:9? "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart. . .thou SHALT be saved." Again please notice that the Apostle uses the future tense. shalt be, placing salvation in the future. The Apostle Paul realized that no man can truly confess Christ without the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians 12:3 teaches, "No man can say Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Besides all of this, he is not addressing sinners, but a church of saved individuals. We know this because he addressed them as brethren in 1 Corinthians 12:1.
Were the disciples saved under the New Testament Plan of Salvation in John 6:66-69 when they made their confession of faith? Let us read, "We believe and are sure, that thou art that Christ. . ." Easy Believism must answer "yes, they were saved here." Let us, however, notice what Jesus said to these same disciples in Matthew 18:1-3. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus. . . and Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye (Disciples) be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." If the disciples could not be saved by Easy Believism, then neither can you or I.
Are the Devils saved? Easy Believism must answer in the affirmative. Why? Because James 2:19 teaches "The devils also believe. . ." Let us now examine the scripture to see if devils will be saved. Revelation 20:10 says, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire. . ." Also notice 2 Peter 2:4, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." NO! Devils are not saved by only believing.
Acts 10:1-6 records that Cornelius, the centurion, was a very religious and devout man; who feared God, gave much alms and played to God always. Was he saved by doing all of this? After doing all of this the angel spoke and told him to send for Peter in Acts 11:14 "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." In Acts 26:27-29 we read that King Agrippa believed. "I know that thou believest. . ." King Agrippa still remained unsaved however.
What is the New Testament Plan Of Salvation? Only Belief? Accept Christ? Join a Church? Pay dues every week? NO! Acts 2:38 is where the true plan is found. "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Repentance, Baptism in Jesus Name, and the experience of the Holy Ghost were the keys to the kingdom spoken about in Matthew 16:19. They are the fulfillment of the birth of the WATER and of the SPIRIT in John 3:5, and the resurrection power of the church as recorded in Romans 8:11. As there was a death, burial and resurrection in the life of Jesus; so repentance is our death to sin, Baptism in Jesus name is our burial, and receiving the Baptism of the Holy Ghost is our resurrection (To walk in newness of life). The church at Jerusalem believed this plan in Acts 2:38. The Church at Samaria believed in Repentance, Baptism in Jesus Name, and receiving of the Holy Ghost in Acts 8:12,16,22. The church at Caesarea also affirmed this truth in Acts 10:44-48. The church at Ephesus obeyed Paul's preaching and were baptized in Jesus Name and received the Holy Ghost, Acts 19:5-6. As you can see, believing in Jesus is necessary, but after they believed, these people in the book of Acts went on to REPENT; be BAPTIZED in JESUS NAME, and received the HOLY GHOST (Which comes with the evidence of SPEAKING IN TONGUES as the SPIRIT gives the utterance – Acts 2:4).
Many today will say that you cannot be saved by works, therefore you are not saved by being baptized in water or being baptized in the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in tongues. I submit that they are SO WRONG. Baptism is something that is done to you. All that you have to do is to receive it. The same is true with receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by the speaking in tongues. It is a gift! It is done to you. All you must do is receive. Are you doing a work if someone gives you a gift? Absolutely not! If this is a work then the very act of accepting Jesus as your Savior or the repenting of your sins could also then be considered works.
I would also tell you that there are many good men, charismatic men, even Godly men preaching the gospel. Many are led by the spirit of God, but not filled with the spirit of God, rejecting the whole of God's truth because of self study, or theological or denominational beliefs. The most dangerous lie there is one that is wrapped in so much truth that you can't see the lie that will send you to hell. First, pray that God will reveal the truth to you regarding his plan for salvation. Then, study God's word for yourself. It's there in black and white. Not a mystery, yet there is none so blind as them that will not see.
You can disagree on many things in the bible, much of which we'll know by and by. But there can be no mistake in the plan of salvation. To be saved you must first believe, then repent (turn away from) of your sins, be baptized by submersion in water in the name of Jesus, be baptized in the holy spirit as evidenced by the speaking in other tongues. |
