Beware Of Infidel False Prophet J.C. Ryle

John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

Acts 16:29-30, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

The dear Savior Himself said that the work of God for salvation is simply to BELIEVE ON HIM. When asked by the Roman jailor how to be saved, Paul and Silas simply told him to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Yet, many preachers when asked how to get to Heaven, have a very different answer.

One such dangerous false teacher is John Charles Ryle (commonly know as: J.C. Ryle):

“The man in whose heart a true work of the Holy Spirit has begun, will never be content with thinking and resolving. He will break off from sin. He will come out from its fellowship. He will cease to do evil. He will learn to do well. He will turn to God in humble prayer. He will confess his iniquities. He will not attempt to excuse his sins. He will say with David, 'I acknowledge my transgression.' He will say with the tax-collector, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' (Psalms 51:3. Luke 18:13.) 

Let us beware of any repentance, falsely so called, which is not of this character. Action is the very life of “repentance unto salvation.” Feelings, and tears, and remorse, and wishes, and resolutions, are all useless, until they are accompanied by action and a change of life. In fact they are worse than useless. Insensibly they sear the conscience and harden the heart.” —Pastor J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)

SOURCE: Repentance - J.C. Ryle 

BLASPHEMY!!! Dear reader, what you just read is another gospel by J.C. Ryle. It is blatant damnable false doctrine! Not one verse in the Bible mandates a changed life to get into Heaven. What he is effectively teaching is that getting saved must result in keeping the law, so if you don't keep the law you never really got saved. The woeful theological error that J.C. Ryle has made is that he mixed sanctification with justification. We must not confuse these two things.

The following blatant heresy is mind-blowing dear reader! It is very obvious that John Ryle was an infidel (unsaved), a foolish man who didn't have a clue how to really be saved. If you read his biography on Wikipedia, you'll learn that John Charles Ryle was an Anglican minister (the same as Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort, the two infidels behind all of the corrupt modern Devil's Bibles). Anglicans are part of The Church of England, which requires water baptism to get to Heaven. This is a counterfeit gospel which does not produce the new birth in Jesus Christ. Read this shocking heresy by J.C. Ryle (1816-1900):

“"Make every effort" teaches that men and women must expect many adversaries and a hard battle, if they would have their soul saved. And this, as a matter of experience, is strictly true. There are no "gains without pains" in spiritual things any more than in earthly things. That roaring lion, the devil, will never let a soul escape from him without a struggle. The heart which is naturally sensual and earthly will never be turned to spiritual things without a daily fight. The world, with all its opposition and temptations, will never be overcome without a conflict. But why should any of this surprise us? What great and good thing was ever accomplished without trouble? Wheat does not grow without plowing and sowing; riches are not obtained without care and attention; success in life is not won without hardships and work; and heaven, above all, is not to be reached without the cross and the battle. The "kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men and women lay hold of it" (Matthew 11:12). A man or woman must "Make every effort.”

SOURCE: https://www.biblebb.com/files/ryle/JC-HowtobeSaved.htm

I am numb with bewilderment at the utter gross theological incompetence of J.C. Ryle! In the entire preceding article titled: “How To Be Saved,” not once does Ryle mention the death, burial or resurrection of Jesus Christ!!! Not once does he mention the word “gift.” Eternal life is a free gift (Romans 5:15-18; 6:23). One of my favorite preachers (and the author of Pilgrim's Progress), John Bunyan, correctly teaches:

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)

Bravo! Boy, I love that quote! Here is another profound helpful quote, this time from Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965):

“There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness.” ~Pastor M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117)

Thank God for doctrinally sound men like John Bunyan and Martin R. DeHaan, who've studied the Scriptures to show themselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, workmen who need not to be ashamed before God.

Here is another excellent quote from one of my favorite preachers, Pastor Curtis Hutson:

“But we've so muddied the Gospel, that when men want to make a decision to trust Christ, we've made it so complicated that they can't make a simple decision to 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' We'll say, 'If you don't do this' or 'You don't do that' or 'You haven't done that,' you're not saved'; but the truth of the matter is that when asked in the Bible, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?,' one clear simple answer was given to him — 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'” —Pastor Curtis Hutson, “Things That Are Different Are Not The Same” (preached at Southwide Baptist Fellowship on October 3, 1994)

What saith the Scripture? John 3:14-16, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I love the simplicity of the Scriptures!

Here is another mind-blowing quote from Pastor J.C. Ryle, preaching a perverse false gospel of works:

Narrow as this door is, it is "a door always ready to open." No sinners of any kind are forbidden to draw near: whosoever will, may enter in and be saved. There is only one condition of admission: that condition is that you really feel and hate your sins and desire to be saved by Christ in His own way. Are you really aware of your guilt and wickedness? Have you a truly broken and contrite heart? Look at the door of salvation, and come in. He that made it declares, "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37).

The question to be considered is not whether you are a great sinner or a little sinner—whether you are elect or not—whether you are converted or not. The question is simply this, "Do you feel and hate your sins? Do you feel burdened and heavy-laden? Are you willing to put your life into Christ's hands?" Then, if that be the case, the door will open to you at once. Come in this very day. Why are you standing out there? ~Evangelist J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), “How To Be Saved”

I wonder if this man has ever even read the Holy Bible! J.C. Ryle doesn't even mention faith in Christ, he merely tells people to hate and turn away from their sins, and to put their life into Christ's hands. Folks, that is NOT the Gospel. What Ryle is preaching is WORKS!!! You don't get to Heaven by hating and forsaking your sins, and by putting your life into Christ's hands. You cannot show me that nonsense in the Bible. Where does he get this garbage theology? He sure didn't get it from the inspired Word of God.

Dear friend, a good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one. We have the entire Gospel of John, which was written solely to show us the way of salvation. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” The Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract! In this blessed book we find the word “BELIEVE” mentioned 88 times, but the word “REPENT” is not mentioned even once! That speaks volumes! It means that repentance is automatic, included with BELIEVING. Evangelist John R. Rice got it 100% correct, who wrote these eloquent true words:

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith.

Everyone who genuinely repented under the preaching of John the Baptist put his trust in the Saviour John the Baptist preached, and was regenerated. There is no such thing as being “a disciple of John the Baptist” in any honest sense without being a disciple of Jesus, that is, without trusting Christ for salvation. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

That is VERY different than what Pastor J.C. Ryle taught. Things that are different are not the same. Perhaps you say: “J.C. Ryle was a good man. He helped multitudes of people. He did many wonderful works throughout his earthly life. John Charles Ryle loved Jesus and followed Him as his Lord. Surely this man must have been saved? Surely he must have been a child of God?” Not so fast friend! What saith the Scripture? ...

Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

These people in Matthew 7:21-23 were very sincere! Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” They followed Christ. The called Him “Lord.” They prophesied (preached) in His name. Yet, Jesus denied even knowing them, calling them workers of iniquity. So you see friend, it is absolutely possible to serve Christ and follow Him loyally as your Lord, and yet still die in your sins and go to Hell to burn for all eternity.

The Bible tells us why in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” The will of the heavenly Father is to BELIEVE ON HIM. John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Oh dear friend, that is so beautiful. Jesus didn't come to save those who are willing to turn from their sins, but to save everyone who believes on Him for the remission of their sins! That's the Gospel!

Pastor Curtis Hutson makes these helpful statements:

“And when it comes to salvation the only thing that counts with God today is the death of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. If you are counting on anything other than Jesus Christ to take you to Heaven, then you are counting on something that God doesn't count. Won't you trust Christ today? If you are not absolutely sure that there was a time in your life when you knew you were a sinner and made a definite decision to trust Jesus Christ completely for salvation, then we urge you to trust Him now.” —'Salvation Crystal Clear,' by Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)

It's true, Jesus was a friend of sinners, and because he was a true friend, He called those friends to repent of their unbelief, so that they would BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. The Bible way of salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” I have no doubt that Pastor J.C. Ryle is burning in Hell this moment, because he trusted in his own human effort to hate and turn away from his sin. Mr. Ryle didn't not preach the Gospel of free grace, because clearly he did not even understand it!

Pastor Ryle keeps foolishly speaking of “making every effort to be saved,” but dear reader, Jesus has already paid the price for our ticket to Heaven. The payment has been made with Jesus' precious blood. So in fact, we DON'T have to make every EFFORT to get to Heaven. But contrawise, we simply are told in Hebrews 4:10-11 to REST in Christ our Savior. Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” So, no, you don't need to MAKE EVERY EFFORT! That is false religion! That is of the Devil! That is J.C. Ryle's foolish words, not God's! The false teaching of "Lordship Salvation" is not the SAME as "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:30-31).

The True Gospel Of Free Grace

In closing, let me give you the TRUE Gospel. Here is a wonderful excerpt from Michael P. Bowen's helpful book titled: “I NEVER KNEW YOU: The Horror Of The Great White Throne Judgement And How You Can Avoid It”:

Here is the gospel: God says that we are sinners and that no amount of good works or behavioral changes on our part could ever make us holy enough to enter heaven. God sent His Son to pay for all of our sins. Jesus paid for our crimes by dying on the cross for us all. His dead body was buried in a grave. On the third day, Jesus arose from the dead. The instant you believe this, He knows it and He saves you. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life”(John 6:47). The free gift is based solely upon your trust in what Jesus did for you and has nothing at all to do with what you do for Him. “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” (Ephesians 2:8-9). ~ Michael P. Bowen, “I Never Knew You,” p. xii

There you have it dear friend—God's simple, easy and free plan of salvation!

As you can plainly see for yourself, you don't have to “make every effort” to be saved (as J.C. Ryle errantly preaches). Christ has already made every effort on the cross to pay for our sins. That is why Jesus came down from the riches of Heaven, to became poor on earth, going to the cross to be crucified for our crimes. 2nd Corinthians 8:9, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” Through Christ's sacrifice we can have the victory!

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) once said: “If you succeed without sacrificing, it is only because someone else sacrificed without succeeding.” So true! Jesus was beaten, spit upon, stripped naked in shame, belittled, berated and ultimately crucified as a criminal on a lonely cross, but He was totally innocent. Jesus never did anything wrong! So why did He volunteer to do die for us? Dear friend, Jesus did it because He loves you very much, and He loves me, and He knew that the only way we could ever escape God's wrath in an eternal fiery Hell, was that He needed to pay the price for our sins. THANK YOU JESUS!!!

Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

I Love Cold Refreshing Mineral Water

Luke 16:19-26, “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”

I Absolutely Love Cold Refreshing Mineral Water!

If you've ever drank distilled water from a grocery store, then you know how empty and lacking of flavor it is. Drinking distilled water ironically produces a dry aftertaste sensation, which I don't enjoy. But mineral water is so delicious and satisfying, because it contains important micronutrients which the body craves and requires to stay healthy.

I almost never drink tap water, simply because it contains many toxins and impurities; such, as fluoride, chlorine and literal rusted metal from the pipes underground. I absolutely love Dasani mineral water, which I buy is large quantities from local gas stations and Walmart. I can buy a large case of 18 bottles for about $5. When I lived on Guam that would have cost $20. I make sure never to run low on mineral water. I drink on average about 6 16.9 ounce bottles each day, kept nice and cold in my refrigerator. THANK YOU God for water, and for a healthy body to enjoy water.

One of the most horrifying thought s which has ever entered into my mind, is the sad realization that billions of human beings are burning in the fires of Hell this moments, unable to drink even one drop of water, suffering in the torments of Hell forever. It saddens me. I know they made their own choices, but they are still people, for which Jesus died on Calvary's cross. Oh how the Devil is a beautiful liar!

Matthew 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” This is a remarkable passage of Scripture, because it confirms that not only will a damned person's SOUL be cast into Hell, but also some form of BODY. In order for the formerly rich man, who died in his sleep and awoke in the fires and torments of Hell (Greek: Hades), to request a drop of water to quench his thirst, then he logically must have had a BODY. Thirst for literal water is something that only a physical body can need. Most people only think of eternal punishment in terms of the SOUL going to Hell, but Jesus plainly warned that both the SOUL and BODY will be cast into the Lake of Fire forever!

“I saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday and today and forever.” —Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan (1628-1688)

Dear friend, I promise you that one of the worst things about Hell will be the lack of water! I would get saved, if for no other reason, than just to know that I'll be able to drink of the water of life in Heaven. Revelation 22:1, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Boy that sounds refreshing doesn't it? Cool, clear, refreshing water! In fact, I'm taking a break right after typing this sentence to go drink some COOL FRESHING WATER. Here I go...

Okay, I'm back. Dear friend, we take SO MUCH for granted in this life.

I drink nothing now except Dasani mineral water. I buy cases at Walmart. I thank God for water! Every time that I enjoy drinking cold refreshing water, I am reminded of the suffering once rich man in Hell in Luke 16:19-21, who now is so poor that He cannot even have a single drop of water to quench his dying thirst. Dear friend, that unfortunate man is still suffering in the torments of Hell this very minute! Think about that. It has already been thousands of years, but his suffering continues, and will continue for ever and ever!

Listen dear reader, God is not playing games with you! I often refer to my blog readers as “dear” because you are dear to me. I care about people. I truly do care, which is why I work day and night on my website ministry. It is now 10:53 pm. God knows I am trying to do my best, by His strength. I am far from perfect. The Lord has been convicting me for the past week about something that happened at Walmart recently.

A black man from the street came into Walmart begging people for me. He looked desperate and asked me for some money but I immediately said, “No.” There are people begging for money everywhere in Pensacola, by the hundreds, black and white alike. My neck was hurting bad that day from stenosis and radiculitis (from an old neck injury). As I left Walmart to go to my car, he waited for me in the parking lot and approached me again. I got scared, backed around my cart, and exclaimed: “What the f#ck!” He just looked at me and left. What creeped me out is that he approached me twice. I felt completely justified by my reaction.

But I then later realized that he had seen my hat which says “Jesus” and “John 3:16.” I was wearing a sweatshirt that day which read on the chest: “Stedfast in the faith.” He likely figured that if anyone was going to help him out, it would be a person of Christian faith. I felt so bad. Why didn't I witness to that man? What an opportunity I missed that day. I overreacted in fear and anger, tired of people begging for money all the time everywhere I go. But the Lord has been convicting me, that: “There but for the grace of God go I.” I know I can do better. Hell is real. I don't have to give them a lot of money, but I can witness to them and hand them $5 at least. That is much better than how I poorly responded as a Christian.

Many of these people are addicted to drugs, I know. I really need to find a better place to live, I know. But until that times comes, I choose to love the unloving and share the Gospel with them. I want to love everyone as Jesus would have loved them if He were here. You know, the Bible does in fact call us “AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST” to this lost and sinful world. Did you know that dear reader? 2nd Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” Literally, Jesus has appointed us to represent Him in His stead while He is away in Heaven. What a great responsibility and privilege! Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”

In Romans 8:32 we read, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” I love that Bible verse! Our dear heavenly Father promises to FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS in eternity. In our rotten American society, nothing is free today. NOTHING! Just to drive to Pensacola Beach costs me a $1 toll each time, plus taxes and fees. Just to take my own money out of the bank at any ATM costs me between $2.50 to $5.00. Many news websites (e.g., New York Times, Washington Times, et cetera) won't allow you to view their website unless you pay money to subscribe. Forget that! I'll just go read the news elsewhere. Their writers aren't that good!

Many local churches are charging 5$ for Wednesday night dinner at Bible study, which costs them about 50 cents worth of food. Where is that money going? Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College shamefully charges $10 to learn how to be a better witness for Christ. Everybody has their hands out for money these days. Thankfully, Romans 8:32 promises that God will “FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS” in Heaven, to those who love Him (i.e., every redeemed child of God). I don't know how our rewards figure into that. I mean, Jesus told us to lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-20). So if God freely give all things to every believer, then why would we labor to earn rewards in Heaven. My thinking is that God will give all things necessary to be content in Heaven to every believer, but there will be special rewards for those who labored diligently for the cause of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. What a day that will be! There won't be any property taxes in Heaven. Amen. There won't be any federal, state nor local taxes in Heaven. Hallelujah!

My friend, God loves and cares about you so much, but there are laws and rules which cannot be violated. A lot of people fail to understand this fact. For example: God loves you, but if you climb up and jump off a tall building, you are going to have a really bad day! You are either going to die, or wish you had. The law of gravity cannot be broken. We live in a world of all sorts of laws! There is the law of physics, and the laws of thermodynamics, and the law of God. John 10:35-36, “If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?”

God doesn't allow unbelievers to go to Hell forever because He hates them or doesn't love them, quite the contrary, God does love them very much. God sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for “THE WORLD” (John 3:16). Christ gave Himself as a ransom “FOR ALL” (1st Timothy 2:6). 1st John 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind. Anybody who says differently is contradicting the plain teaching of the Scriptures.

The reason why God allows unbelievers (i.e., the wicked) to perish into the fires of Hell forever, is simply because THE SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE BROKEN. There must be justice! Sin is a crime against God, and all sin must be paid for. God would be unjust and unfair if He let some people slide for their offenses, but punished others. That is what wicked men do, succumbing to favoritism, nepotism (favoritism toward family and close friends) and other injustices. Justice is a law of the universe. The statue of Lady Liberty is blindfolded, because justice is supposed to be blind (unbiased). Sadly, justice in human courts is often partial and corrupt, influenced by brides and political power, amounting to “JUST US” instead of true justice. But God sees and will reckon ALL injustices in eternity, guaranteed (Hebrews 4:13). You have God's promise of it (Ecclesiastes 5:8; 12:13-14; Romans 12:19-21; 1st Thessalonians 4:6; Romans 14:10-12).

If you are a born-again believer, REJOICE that your name is written in Heaven (Luke 10:20). We have so much to be thankful for. Just something as simple as cold refreshing water nearly everyone takes for granted. Did you know that most people around the world do not have a pure and clean source of drinking water? In Africa they people who drink from the rivers are drinking water with animal and human excrement in it. There is a limited amount of fresh water in the world. I once visited Long Beach, California for a wedding around 1992. I visited the ocean, which I had never seen before. I met a man who was fishing, telling him that I was from Chicago. I'll never forget that he said he wished he could fish in fresh water. I realized something that day—for me, seeing the ocean for the first time, and testing its saltiness, was amazing to me; but for him that was just another normal day, and for him it would have been an amazing thing to visit back where I came from. So we all have incomplete lives on earth.

I've been drinking cold refreshing mineral water all during writing this blog article. I'm on my third bottle! Good stuff!!! The man who went to Hell in Luke 16:19-31 was rich while on earth, yet because he chose to reject the Word of God, dying in his sins without Christ, he became poor in Hell, unable to even get a drop of water. 2nd Corinthians 8:9, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” Dear friend, Jesus was also once rich in Heaven, but He chose to become poor, being beaten and crucified on a cross on earth to pay for our crimes against God. We are all guilty sinners for breaking God's law (Romans 3:19-20). God gave us His law to show us how sinful we are compared to Him, and why we need the Messiah (Galatians 3:24-26). The LAW shows us our need for salvation, and CHRIST provides that need through His sacrifice on Calvary's cross.

I have been made RICH because Jesus became POOR for me. You can have that too friend, if you haven't already received God's free gift of eternal life. Simply come to God as a guilty sinner, and receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins. Jesus DIED, was BURIED and three days later He bodily RESURRECTED from the dead for the justification of your faith (i.e., so your faith wouldn't be in vain). These three facts comprise THE GOSPEL (1st Corinthians 15:1-4), by which we are saved if we BELIEVE those facts (Romans 1:16). The choice is yours alone to make dear reader. I don't know about you friend, but I want to be drinking icy cold refreshing water in Heaven. Revelation 22:1, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

I'll close with this true sad story. I lived on the island of Guam for 17 years. Each year a couple dozen people, locals and tourists alike, drown at sea. I remember reading a sad story one day in the news, about a married couple from Kansas City, Missouri if I recall right. They were married for about 25 years I think the story said. They decided to go snorkeling on the east side of Guam, where the waters can get pretty rough at times. The ocean depth drops off quickly as you leave Guam, descending thousands of feet almost immediately. This causes severe sudden currents at times in the water, pulling the victim into the vast ocean.

Well, as fate would have it that day, as the couple were holding hands and swimming she was pulled under and away by a dangerous undercurrent, but her husband broken free. He survived, but rescuers later recovered her lifeless body from the sea. They came together to Guam, but he flew back to Kansas a widower. For that reason I stayed out of the ocean on Guam. I swam in it a few times in the early years, even went scuba-diving 35 feet down at the Piti Bombhole (literally holes in the ocean floor from World War II bombs), and waded in the shallow water here and there in later years, but I didn't go out by the dangerous reef anymore (after I was knocked back by a wave and cut my hand open on the jagged sharp reef stone). The ocean's tremendous water pressure literally carves the reef into jagged razor sharp rocks.

I don't know if that woman who drowned was saved or not. The important question right now friend is, are YOU saved. If you don't know 100%, beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are going to Heaven when you die, you sure can know! If you have any Bible questions, please email me at the address at the top right of this blog page. I love helping people for Christ! Below you will find a wonderful Gospel tract by Pastor Harry Ironside, which I encourage you to read if you want to know more about getting saved. God bless and kindest regards.

What Is The Gospel?
(a wonderful Gospel tract by Pastor Harry Ironside,1876-1951)

Why Grace Can Save The Worst Man

by Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold

I want to continue just a few thoughts from what I had this morning, even though I didn't know I didn't get a chance to do all of it this morning. But I want to help you to see something, and then I got a couple of questions I want to ask you.

I said this here microphone was the cross—before the cross, the law; after the cross, grace. Now you can't mix law and grace together. Under the law, you have two phrases that many people use today, saying this is what you must do. They don't seem to understand that when you say that, and do that, you're putting people under the law. When you tell a man that he has to turn from his sins, well that's what the law taught.

When you tell a person that you have to commit your life to Christ—remember under the law in Mark chapter 12 it talks about a scribe that came up to Jesus and says: "What is the great commandment of the law?" He said: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy mind..." Well that's total Lordship Salvation! That's where God has to be total in control of every area of your life. Love him in every area of your life. That's law. So we know that the law cannot save a man, because a man can't turn from all of his sins, and that a man cannot make Christ the Lord and Master of all of his life. Though you want to try and experiment, and spend your whole life trying, it will not work.

So a man cannot save himself by his works, by the law. So when we trust Christ as our Savior, we are saved by grace. So this is based upon what we do; this is based upon what he did. Now should we trust in what we do to be saved, or should we trust in what He did to be saved? Which would be the best? Trust in what He did to be saved. This is Grace. He did it. On the law, we did it. So is a man saved by what he does? No. So his turning from sin, or making Christ the Lord and master of his life, in order to be saved, is not gonna work.

So what happens if a man trusts Christ as Savior and now he's saved, he has eternal life, and by grace, Christ paid for all of his sins, all of them? Now, how is he to live? The Bible says: "The just shall live by faith." So, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. So if you receive Christ by faith in what He said, then you serve the Lord by faith in what he said.

Now if you take a person and say, "This is what you must do or you will lose your salvation," and "What you must do is you must turn from your sins and you must make Christ the Lord the Master of your life," what have you done? You have placed them back under what?—under the law. So when you tell them, "You have to keep now the law in order to be saved, to stay saved, and if you don't God will take away your salvation that He gave to you by grace." Does that make sense? This was supposed to be free, without my works, without any of my performance in any way, shape or form; because if it's not eternal it's not worth anything.

When it came to works, the law. Remember [in the Old Testament system]—they sinned, sacrifice; sin, sacrifice; sin, sacrifice; sin, sacrifice; it was never over, you had to stay current. Under grace, we're saved because of what Christ did for us. One sacrifice for all sin, for all time, for every individual, and those who believe that, have His payment put to their account, so I have a sin—a payment—for all of my sins that I will ever commit. So I am saved by grace.

If now I must perform to keep my salvation, then it wasn't free. So now you say you must turn from sin and you must make Christ the Lord and Master, now you pull that person back here under law. This is what you must do. Now should I as a Christian should I depart from the works of iniquity? Yes! Should I allow the Lord to be the Lord and the master of my life? Yes, but I don't have to. Under the law, you have to!

So this is why you have preachers today telling you that, "Yes you're saved by grace, but you have to you must have a change life, and if the change life doesn't materialize in your Christian life, then it's a sign you either really weren't saved by grace at all—because if you were really saved you're not gonna want to go out here and do those bad things—so naturally there's gonna be a change in your life, and if there's no change there's no salvation." So now instead of looking at what Christ did, now you have to focus about what you are going to do, and there's no difference in teaching that, as it is to teach works for salvation. It's the same message.

We're to rest, the rest of my natural life I rest my whole case upon one thing—the work He did! When He went to that cross and He paid for my sins; therefore, I despise legalism, where people are trying to take the Christian and slide them back underneath the law, and as though the keeping of the law is gonna now prove that I'm saved; and if it doesn't and if I don't do it, that I can lose my salvation, because that's what it's teaching. And many people in their mind, if you never see that and never separate that, you can get mighty confused.

So we were under the law with a curse; now we're under grace. But if you try to put yourself back under the law, saying: "Now I must do all of these things or I'll lose my salvation," then you place yourself back under a curse, and you're not gonna be blessed. Remember the reason Christ came and the reason he died, is because God promised to Abraham before the law, He would justify the heathen through faith, and faith alone.

So that the law cannot annul that promise, because this law covenant was based upon us performing, and we failed, we broke, it we didn't keep it. This New Covenant that God made is based upon what He did and He says: "I will save you." Remember under the law, the law could not save the best of man. The best man, the best woman, whatever, the law can't save them; can't save even the best. Under grace it can save the worst! The law cannot save the best. Grace can save the worst. So therefore my life, and how I live, cannot touch my salvation. I am saved because of what Christ did on the cross for me. He gives me this free gift of eternal life because of grace, and this grace says that God will never cast me out. That means what I do or don't do cannot take it away from me. He will never lose me, for no reason.

If He won't cast me out, and He'll never lose me, then evidently my lifestyle; however, I live—good or bad or indifferent—cannot affect my salvation. If he that eats this bread; one bite of this bread and He [Jesus] is the Living Bread—He says: "You will never hunger. He didn't say, "Well you're gonna lose your salvation and have to eat again, and you get hungry because you lost your salvation. Once for all, when He talks about the water to the woman at the well (you drink the water that's in this well, you will thirst again; but the water that I given to you, will spring up inside of you into everlasting life). In other words, and you'll never thirst again. So that's eternal security. This is what He promised. This is why this has nothing to do with the likes of the law. The law couldn't do this, but grace can. So it can save the worst of sinners, and the law cannot save the best of men. So I would rather have grace any day.

Now just because I believe this, does that mean that I'm gonna go out and live a wicked life, because I believe in eternal security? That's what a lot of people try to get me to believe. [They say]: "That doctrine that your teaching is just given people a license to sin!" I am NOT given anybody license to do anything! This was not my plan, it was not my design, this is the Gospel. Eternal security, and if you're not eternally secure you are not secure! It means that you have it to where you cannot lose it! Otherwise, nobody would ever know for sure where they're going when they die. And you won't even know it when you die, if you'll finally make it, because then you'll have to wait until some Judge.

But I can save you a lot of time. I'm not the Judge, but I can tell you what He said. If you die without Christ, you're lost. And if you die in Christ, you're saved. And your works will not determine your destination. Your destination is determined—did you or did you not accept Jesus Christ as your Savior? So I wrote down a few questions. I did this when I was on that little boat we was on you over week. So I'm drinking some coffee and I'm sitting and I'm thinking, "I'm gonna write this question down." So I wrote it down: "Why does 'turn from sin' produce more people living in sin?"

And it was mainly because of a person in India, who emailed me a letter ,of people that he knew that believed in Lordship Salvation, and he was one of them, that thought because he could not measure up, he could not keep this high standard of life, that he lost his salvation and people convinced him that he'd lost his salvation, and he was teaching in a Bible School, a Bible Institute, over in India, North India. So they sent him home to figure out what he was doing, because they couldn't let him teach because he was all messed up. So he thought he's gonna go to Hell, and because he's going to Hell anyway, why not go ahead and do what I want to do and live however I want to live?

Because see, when you have to make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life, and if you're honest with yourself, you know he isn't. It doesn't matter, you want Him to be, you desire it to be; but it's just not reality, because no man can live up to this high standard, because you're going to fail. You're not always going to maintain that spirituality, that level; so therefore, it produces the frustration, the hopelessness, the despair. And when you tell a man that he has to turn from his sins to be saved and he knows the truth of it—he hasn't turned from all of his sins. Well if I'm going to hell anyway, I might as well live like it!

But let me ask you a question: "Is Lordship Salvation, making Christ the 'Lord' of your life—that means you're gonna serve the Lord (e.g., "I promise to serve the Lord," "I commit my life to the Lord"). Well if that is true, would you say that making Christ the Lord of your life, or just believing by faith—which one is real easy-believism?

Now careful, I've often had people accused me—"Yankee you just have that easy-believism." Because I'm not requiring anybody to do anything! I say, "You don't have to keep the law, you don't have to go to church, you don't have to change your life, you don't have to stop anything, you're not the prominent... you can just trust Christ and then live like you please!" That's what you teach, that's that easy-believism!

Alright, and let's say that I said that and it's true. Alright, when it comes to Lordship Salvation, making Christ the Lord and the Master of your life, and committing your life to Christ. They're making it hard! And you've gotta promise to stop these bad things. Promise you're gonna do these good things. I'm really putting it out there, and man that's gonna be hard for you to be a Christian! Being the Christian is so hard because you've got to walk that straight narrow way! You've got to live it! Now that's supposedly the truth. Mine is the easy believism, but it's not mine. I didn't make this thing up. But in reality which would you think is really the easy-believism?

Turn in your Bible to the book of Matthew chapter 7. Matthew in Chapter 7. There's a simple little verse here. And in verse 13 he says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction." So the straight gate, the narrow gate, is the one that leads to life; and then he says "many" there be which go in thereat, the broad gate, "many" that go into the broad gate. Verse 14, because strait is the gate, narrow, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, "few" there be that find it. Now out of these two messages, one is narrow and the other one is broad; more people go through the broad, fewer people go through the narrow. Well which one would be the easiest? The broad or the narrow?

Now if you're talking to people, and think of how many churches there are, and how many preachers are, are and the message they have' and a lot of preachers are teaching works for salvation—you got to turn from sin, make Christ the Lord of your life, change your life, commit—all these things in order to be saved—why is it that more people believe that kind of a message, then the message that says: "It's free, you have to do anything, it's just by grace?" If the salvation by grace message is so "easy," why don't more people believe it? Which one must appeal to the flesh, if you have a part, if you have to do something? That appeals to the flesh. I get to do something! That would be easier for people to accept, because in your mind you think bad people ought to go to Hell (and you know it), and the good people ought to go to Heaven. So that's the way it ought to be! That's easy to believe, evidently, because more people believe that. But the truth is, it's free. It's harder for people to believe it's free, than you have to do something, wouldn't you think? So who is the one who's really guilty of easy-believism? Us or them?

I don't mind people accusing me of being a person who teaches easy-believism, because I believe that it's easy when you really understand it, and you really get it. When you really see the Gospel, understand that it's a gift, and the reason why you have to be perfect to go to Heaven and you're works could never do it, when then they really see it, it's easy for people to trust the Lord. This is why we try to emphasize so much the clarity of the Gospel, because the clarity of the Gospel is what makes it easy for people to believe; but if you add works to the Gospel it's hard for them to believe. But that's what most people would believe, you've got to do something.

So I guess you would come down to—which is really the easiest: Grace or works? I don't know if I figured it all out, but I do believe that we're responsible to God to teach the truth—and the Bible says it is the gift of God not of works. Isn't that what it says? So regardless of where people come from, and what they want to hear, and what's more pleasing to them—and isn't it amazing how many churches can be packed to the gills and the preacher is preaching a false message, or a "by works" message, by which you have to do something—and the churches that are clear on the Gospel sometimes struggle to keep the doors open. Have you noticed it? Because, which is the easiest?

You see, if we really believe this then, we know that we have a responsibility to win more people to Christ. But if we believe you have to do the other, then there's a thousand churches out there already preaching that! You're already preaching that; but few are telling the true Gospel of how to really know you have eternal life, and go to Heaven. There's the more pressure. If I was the Devil, I'd let them alone; but buddy, I would work on churches like this one. I would do whatever it takes to stop the Gospel coming out of this church! Because we're reaching a lot of people, even though we're a few in number, we reach a lot of people. But remember it's a battle, it's a warfare, it's not easy.

Another question. I wrote down: "Since we are saved by faith, is it faith in what we do, or what Christ did?" If we're saved by faith, is it faith in what we do under the law, or is it faith in what Christ did under grace? Which way is it? This is the message you were supposed to preach. Therefore, we don't try to take people and put them under the law and say, "You must perform." That's law! That's works! It won't work! You're saved by grace alone. Is it faith in my works that I must yet perform, or trust in the work that Christ has already performed? We said, "You're saved by faith." Okay, faith in what? Faith in the work that I must yet perform, or faith in the work Christ has already performed? If I'm saved by my faith in what Christ has performed, it's a done deal; if it depends upon the works that I must perform, it ain't over yet.

That's why [according to Lordship Salvation] you can't know for sure where you're going when you die. This is why we always ask the question: "Do you know where you're going when you die?" And I had a lady tell me the other day, she said: "Oh yes, I'm going to Heaven when I die!" I walked out walked over there to check the mail, and there was a lady at the door. Young lady, the door was locked. And I said, "Are you trying to break into the church?" She turned around and said, "No no no." I said, "What can I do for you?" She says, "I just want to know if you need some people to clean your church." I says, "No, we got all the cleaners we need."

So she came over and she had some literature. And she said, "Can I leave this with you?" I said, "I'll take yours if you'll take mine." So I pulled out my little blue track and I said, "This is my picture on the front." She laughed. I don't know why everybody laughs at my picture, it's not that bad...lol. It's not that bad and so I says, "Can I ask you a question?" She said, "Yeah." I says, "Where you gonna go and die." She says, "I'm going to Heaven." I said, "Are you sure?" She says, "Positive. Positive!" I says, "Is there anything you could do in the future that could keep you from going?" She said, "Well, of course!" She's positive! Can you do anything in the future to keep you from going? Well of course!

Now, what is she depending on to get her to Heaven? Her works! Do you think that's what she believes? She doesn't believe that you're saved by your work, she believes you're saved by grace. But [she thinks], I could do something and lose my salvation. And they don't see it. They just don't see it. And so when I explained it to her, she says, "I ever never heard it like that before." I says, "It's okay, most people haven't." I says, "Once you trust Christ as Savior, He put that payment He made to your account, and you get to go to Heaven on what He did. It's not what you do! I says, "You have never lived good enough, and never will, to deserve to go to Heaven. God says for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."

This is why me and Hank loved the Gospel, the clarity of the Gospel. I hadn't heard him for about 20 years. I'd come down here and I'd speak, but I didn't get a hear Hank. But I knew where Hank stood, and he had a reputation. Hank was good. He was clear on the Gospel. Hank was a soulwinner. But that's what, when you see it, and you really understand it, you harp on it. If there's anything that we call a "hobbyhorse," this is our hobbyhorse. But what a horse to ride! Because we know that there's so many people that's never understood.

Did you realize that after the service this morning we had one boy trust the Lord, but also we had somebody from Kentucky, that said that they would trust Christ as Savior this morning. And one before that was somebody in Tampa. But they come from a little bit of here and there, you know, no for sure, and there could be a lot of people trust Lord then we have no clue who they are. I had one guy I talked to him the other day and he says, he says, "I like Calvary." I said, "Well great, I'm glad." I says, "Are you talking about Calvary Community Church?" He says, "No, it's over in Clearwater some place, at Calvary." I don't know what Church, I've never been over there, so I don't know what he's talking about. He said, "But there's another Calvary somewhere."

I said, "Do you know where you going when you die." He said, "Yes!" I says, "Is there anything you can do to keep it from going to Heaven?" He says, "Yes!" Does he really know where he's going when he dies? No, he doesn't know where he's going when he dies. 'Cuz he ain't dead yet. He's thinking, "Well if I died today." And they don't understand that they're really not trusting Christ to take them to Heaven. Does it matter? Does this matter? This is Heaven and Hell! If Christ is not your Savior, you're not going to Heaven. And it means that you must trust Him, and Him alone as your only hope of going to Heaven.

If you have not yet lived a perfect life, what makes you believe you will today, or tomorrow, or the next day, you never will. So there's many people who just not clear on the Gospel. You know there's power in this Gospel message, most people just don't know how to present it. And the reason we keep doing the same thing over and over, and over and over, again is because you learn it that way. You'll learn it. Next thing you know you'll be out someplace, and you'll be talking and you'll say it word for word, like you've heard, because it's ingrained in your brain. So it is important.

I love the Gospel because there's not another message like it. And the works does not work. Salvation by grace and grace alone. So you and I that are saved by grace, and we know that, we know that when Christ died he paid for all of our sins. There's no sin to condemn me. I can never be condemned in the future. Because you see, His death became my death, and His death means that I have fulfilled the demands of the law. The wages of sin is death and I died. The law cannot touch a dead man. I am dead to the law, so the law can never condemn me, because I will never have a sin that needs to be paid. Christ paid it all. That's the best news all the world.

The Gospel Teaches Forgiveness Of Sins, Not Turning From Sins

Luke 1:76-79, “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Our text passage above speaks concerning John the Baptist, who went before to prepare the first coming of Jesus Christ. Sometimes Bible students misunderstand the ministry and baptism of John, thinking that he preached a different plan of salvation than Jesus or the Apostle Paul. Not so. There has always been only one plan of salvation, which is through faith in Christ. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” ALL of the Old Testament prophets preached salvation by grace through faith in the Messiah.

Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) penned this helpful Bible commentary:

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith.

Everyone who genuinely repented under the preaching of John the Baptist put his trust in the Saviour John the Baptist preached, and was regenerated. There is no such thing as being “a disciple of John the Baptist” in any honest sense without being a disciple of Jesus, that is, without trusting Christ for salvation. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

Oh dear friend, that is so beautiful. Please don't miss it! I have heard Missionary David W. Cloud and other false teachers, attempt to portray Dr. Rice as a proponent of Lordship Salvation, saying he taught that people must turn away from a lifestyle of sin to be saved. That is simply not true about Dr. Rice! David Cloud even goes as far as to pitch Dr. John R. Rice against his successor Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995). I explain this issue in the preceding hyperlink. Mr. Cloud claims that Curtis Hutson leaves off repentance, thus corrupting the Gospel. Nothing could be further from the truth!!!

Silly phrases such as “repent of sins, confess your sins, turn from you sins, ask Jesus into your heart, follow Jesus and make Jesus Lord of your life” cannot explain the Gospel because they are contrary TO the gospel.

The Gospel teaches forgiveness of sins, while they are teaching turning from sins. There is a big difference! The subject at hand is justification, and their gospel is clearly shown false by Scripture. Until they recognize that the Scripture teaches God justifies the ungodly by faith alone, they will never recognize the falsehood of their teaching! The Gospel teaches repentance unto God (Acts 20:21), but they are teaching reformation from sins (i.e., a changed life). Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins, not demand that we commit to live a changed life in order to be saved. Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Please notice again our text passage from Luke 1:77-78a, “To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God...” You get saved by having your sins forgiven (remitted). This is something that only God can do! Even the wicked unsaved Pharisees understood this truth. Mark 2:7, “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?” Dear reader, getting saved is a legal matter of justification of the sinner, not the believer's sanctification.

Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan, understood this important truth well:

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)

Once a man trusts in his own self righteousness, that’s when religion, shame and condemnation spring forth (Mark 7:13). We do not get saved by our own righteousness, NOR do we live for God by our own righteousness. IT is the Holy Spirit who seals us (Ephesians 1:13-15), and works within us by faith alone in Christ crucified (Romans 4:4-5). Mark 7:13, “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” The clichés: “repent of sins, confess your sins, turn away from you sin, be willing to turn from sin, ask Jesus into your heart, surrender all to Christ, follow Jesus and make Jesus the 'Lord' of your life,” are all MANMADE TRADITION, not Scriptural. You may do all of these things and yet never be born-again. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again.

If it were necessary to give up a lifestyle of sinning to be saved, then God would owe us salvation. Romans 4:4-5, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” God doesn't owe anybody salvation!!! Salvation is by God's grace. We don't deserve it. ...

Grace is God giving us what we don't deserve. 

Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve.

The only difference between the words “works” and “grace” are the letters “ne.” Either you believe that you must “DO” something to get to Heaven; or else you believe that is is already “DONE,” paid for in full by Jesus Christ, Dear friend, you get saved simply by COMING TO CHRIST! You get saved simply by BELIEVING THAT JESUS DID IT FOR YOU!!!

Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” You get saved by just getting out of the way, and letting Jesus do all the saving. Just as God the Father rested from His creative labors for 6 days, and rested on the 7th day; even so must we cease from “repenting of our sins, confessing our sins, turning away from our sin, being willing to turn from our sin, asking Jesus into our heart, surrendering all to Christ, following Jesus and making Jesus the 'Lord' of our life,” and REST COMPLETELY in the finished work of Jesus Christ through Calvary's cross.

In other words, we get saved by ceasing from our own human efforts, and RESTING IN THE GOSPEL (i.e., the Good News of Jesus' death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection from the dead - 1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

You'll die and go to Hell if you're trusting your own goodness. It is done! Your sins have already been paid in full by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (1st Peter 1:18-19). All you need to do is freely accept it by faith. Simply trust the GOOD NEWS and the great transaction will have taken place!!! Simply believe the Good News that Christ died, was buried and raised up from the dead FOR YOU dear friend. That is why the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” I love that! When you hear the Gospel preached, you simply BELIEVE it, and you are saved. It is that simple to be saved.

We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is why we read in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Philippians 3:9, “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:” You see, when you put your faith in Jesus as your personal Savior, God credits (imputes) His righteousness to you! God imputed our sins to Jesus on the cross! This is The Imputed Righteousness Of God!!!

I want you to please notice something. Look at Philippians 3:9, “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:” Please don't miss it! The Bible says, “not having my own righteousness, WHICH IS OF THE LAW.” Dear reader, if you must repent and turn away from your sinful ways to receive God's free gift of eternal life, then it cannot truly be a gift! How can it be free if you must give up your sinful bad habits to get it? Obviously it cannot.

I once saw a local bank that was offering a free toaster as a gift, but only if you open a new account to get it. Is that really a gift? No, it is not. It is a reward for opening a new account. The term “gift” is often misused by business and sadly, by preachers too. By every dictionary and Greek lexicon meaning you'll find, the word gift means something given without compensation. A gift is something that you receive, not achieve or qualify for. A gift is a take proposition, not a give proposition. You simply receive a gift. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We know that nothing in life is free. That is true concerning salvation as well. Jesus paid for it! Therefore, nothing is asked or allowed of us to receive it!

When pastors, evangelists, missionaries, chaplains and Bible college professors require people to “repent and turn away from sin” to be saved, they are perverting the grace of God. Anytime you attack the grace of God, you are attacking the God of grace! I fully agree with the following preaching by Dr. Curtis Hutson:

“But we've so muddied the Gospel, that when men want to make a decision to trust Christ, we've made it so complicated that they can't make a simple decision to 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' We'll say, 'If you don't do this' or 'You don't do that' or 'You haven't done that,' you're not saved'; but the truth of the matter is that when asked in the Bible, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?,' one clear simple answer was given to him — 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'” — Pastor Curtis Hutson, “Things That Are Different Are Not The Same” (preached at Southwide Baptist Fellowship on October 3, 1994)

Amen and amen! It is of the utmost importance that we always keep justification entirely separate from sanctification, lest you not be able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people:

“Certainly discipleship is a most important aspect of our relation to Christ, but it belongs to the sphere of Christian life rather than entrance upon that life... One does not become a disciple in order to become a Christian, but because he has become a Christian by faith in the Savior, it is fitting that he embark upon a life of discipleship.” —Everett F. Harrison, “Must Christ be Lord to Be Savior?-No”; Eternity, September 1959 (p. 14)

Famous soulwinning Chicago pastor, D.L. Moody, rightly said:

“When men are trying to patch up this old Adam-nature, trying to make themselves better, they are growing worse all the time. When men are trying to save themselves and work out their own salvation without God, they are all the time making themselves worse.” —Pastor Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899)

Here again is a helpful quote from Dr. Curtis Hutson:

“Faith and repentance are the same; they are not two separate decisions. One cannot trust Christ as Savior without repenting or changing his mind. The very fact that he trusts Christ for salvation shows that he has changed his mind regarding sin, salvation, and God.” —Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)

That is exactly what Dr. John R. Rice said earlier in the quote I shared with you. There are many false prophets today; such as, Ray Comfort (Living Waters ministry) and Steve Pettit (incompetent executive president of Bob Jones University), who teach TWO STEPS to be saved. These ungodly men falsely teach that you must FIRST turn away from your sins, and then SECOND believe in Jesus. That is another gospel which cannot produce the new birth (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-9).

What saith the Scripture? Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” When the Roman jailor asked Paul and Silas how to be saved, they simply told him to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!!! Paul and Silas didn't tell the man

“I saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday and today and forever.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)

God’s Simple Plan of Salvation

Pastor Robert Ford Porter (1893-1976) was born in Sparta, Michigan. His parents were godly Christians, and he was saved at a young age. After his father died, however, he drifted away from God. He rededicated his life to Christ during a revival in Evansville, Indiana when he was 23. Porter taught Sunday school and worked with Dr. Ernest Reveal at the Evansville Rescue Mission. In 1919 he surrendered to preach and attended Moody Bible Institute.

After graduating he founded the East Side Baptist Church in Evansville. In 1926 he accepted the pastorate of First Baptist Church in Princeton, Indiana. He led his church to leave the increasingly liberal Northern Baptist Convention, then was forced by the convention to spend two years in court defending the withdrawal. Porter won the case, establishing the right of churches to leave the convention.

Porter later founded the Lifegate Baptist Church in Indianapolis. Among the other ministries he started were Indiana Baptist College (Heritage Baptist University), Came Berean, a radio ministry, a film ministry and the Vacation Bible School Institute. He is best known for his tract," God's Simple Plan of Salvation," which he wrote in 1933. Lifegate, Inc., which he founded for the sole purpose of distributing the tract, has now published more than 500,000,000 copies in over 100 languages.

Porter's prayer for a worldwide ministry that outlived him has been richly answered. On November 20, 1976, Ford Porter went Home to Heaven. His ministry continues today, led by his son, Robert Ford Porter, and his grandson, Robert Mark Porter. His tract continues to be printed and distributed around the world, and multiplied thousands have been saved through its clear presentation of the gospel message. SOURCE

Without further ado, here is Pastor Ford Porter's wonderful Gospel tract, “God's Simple Plan Of Salvation,” which he wrote in the year 1933:

My Friend: I am asking you the most important question of life. Your joy or your sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die?

God says in order to go to Heaven, you must be born again. In John 3:7, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”

In the Bible God gives us the plan of how to be born again which means to be saved. His plan is simple! You can be saved today. How?

First, my friend, you must realize you are a sinner. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). 

Because you are a sinner, you are condemned to death. “For the wages [payment] of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This includes eternal separation from God in Hell. 

“ . . . it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

But God loved you so much He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear your sin and die in your place. “ . . . He hath made Him [Jesus, Who knew no sin] to be sin for us . . . that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus had to shed His blood and die. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11). “ . . .without shedding of blood is no remission [pardon]” (Hebrews 9:22).

“ . . . God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Although we cannot understand how, God said my sins and your sins were laid upon Jesus and He died in our place. He became our substitute. It is true. God cannot lie.

My friend, “God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). This repentance is a change of mind that agrees with God that one is a sinner, and also agrees with what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

In Acts 16:30-31, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas: “ . . . ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. . . .’ ”

Simply believe on Him as the one who bore your sin, died in your place, was buried, and whom God resurrected. His resurrection powerfully assures that the believer can claim everlasting life when Jesus is received as Savior. 

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13).  

Whosoever includes you. Shall be saved means not maybe, nor can, but shall be saved. Surely, you realize you are a sinner. Right now, wherever you are, repenting, lift your heart to God in prayer.

In Luke 18:13, the sinner prayed: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Just pray: “Oh God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for me. I now receive Him as my Savior. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace. Amen.”

Just take God at His word and claim His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember, God does the saving. All of it!

God’s simple plan of salvation is: You are a sinner. Therefore, unless you believe on Jesus Who died in your place, you will spend eternity in Hell. If you believe on Him as your crucified, buried, and risen Savior, you receive forgiveness for all of your sins and His gift of eternal salvation by faith.

You say, “Surely, it cannot be that simple.” Yes, that simple! It is scriptural. It is God’s plan. My friend, believe on Jesus and receive Him as Savior today.

If His plan is not perfectly clear, read this tract over and over, without laying it down, until you understand it. Your soul is worth more than all the world.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

Be sure you are saved. If you lose your soul, you miss Heaven and lose all. Please! Let God save you this very moment.

God’s power will save you, keep you saved, and enable you to live a victorious Christian life. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Do not trust your feelings. They change. Stand on God’s promises. They never change. After you are saved, there are three things to practice daily for spiritual growth: 

Pray — you talk to God.

Read your Bible — God talks to you.

Witness — you talk for God.

AFTER you are saved, you should be baptized in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ as a public testimony of your salvation, and then unite with a Bible-believing church without delay. “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord . . . .” (2 Timothy 1:8).

Please note that you DON'T have to be baptized to go to Heaven. It is a step of obedience for the believer.

“Whosoever therefore shall confess [testify of] Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).