Let's Keep The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Very Clear

1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “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.”

I have noticed over the years that soulwinners tend to emphasize Jesus' death much more than His burial and resurrection. I have learned over the years to emphasize all three elements of the Gospel. When witnessing to lost sinners, I humbly suggest that Christians mention that the word “Gospel” means, “Good News.” And then kindly explain to the listener what the Good News is. 

The Apostle Paul defines the “Gospel” in our text Scripture passage as:

1. Jesus DIED on a cross for our sins.
2. Jesus was BURIED.
3. Jesus bodily RESURRECTED from the dead three days later.

I like to stay close to this definition when teaching the Gospel, because there are many heresies floating around on social media. Humbly said, most presentations of how to be saved on social media are so vague that it is easy for a lost person to miss the truth of the Gospel.

For example: Pastor Bob Wilkin of the Evangelical Grace Society (EGS) errantly teaches that a person can simply “trust Jesus” without believing the facts of the Gospel. My ministry friend, Pastor Max D. Younce of the heritage Baptist Bible Church in Walnut Grove, Minnesota wrote an article titled: "THE CROSS-LESS GOSPEL," exposing this heresy by Bob Wilkin, which I think you will find edifying.

You did mention the cross in your video, so that is good. Another example is that the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses errantly teach that Jesus only raised up from the dead in Spirit, bit not physically in His body. JW's errantly teach that World Wars I and II were outward manifestations of Jesus' return, and that the Watchtower organization are God's vehicle by which He is ushering in the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. We know that JW's are unsaved heretics, denying Jesus' deity, the Godhead and Christ's bodily resurrection. Shockingly, 25% of all professed Christians in Europe deny Jesus' bodily resurrection.

So for those reasons, and many more, I always try to make it very clear what THE GOSPEL is, by which we are saved. People oftentimes ask me how to witness to different religious groups. My answer is simply to give them THE GOSPEL. Romans 1:16 teaches that "the gospel" is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION, unto them that BELIEVE IT! It is not by our eloquent words, cunning wisdom or skilled oratory abilities that people get saved, but by THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. The simple truth, the "GOOD NEWS," that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 20:31), who DIED on a cross for our sins, was BURIED and bodily RESURRECTED three days later, is THE POWER that saves whosoever BELIEVES IT!

Like I said, there is nothing wrong with your presentation, but I want to help you make it better (in my humble opinion). I love when I hear a Gospel presentation where Jesus' death, burial and resurrection are strongly emphasized.

What saith the Scripture? 1st Thessalonians 4:14, "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." I love that Bible verse. If you haven't read it yet, I cannot recommend enough that you read: "I NEVER KNEW YOU" by Michael P. Bowen. Hard copies are available on Amazon, but here is the free version in .pdf format.

This book WILL help you immensely to hone your Gospel presenting skills. This is one of my favorite books authored by a man.

I also love Pastor Curtis Hutson's excellent book titled: "SALVATION CRYSTAL CLEAR," which I just ordered another copy from Amazon. Sadly, there is no free version yet.

Of course, the inspired Holy Bible was authored by God alone (which is what "inspired" means). They are God's pure Words, untainted by sinful men.

I also highly recommend reading this simple Gospel presentation by military chaplain, David Rutkin.

One of my favorite preachers is Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951). Dr. Ironside was 100% free grace! He pastored Moody Church in Chicago between 1930 to 1948. I love this Gospel tract by Pastor Ironside, titled: "WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?"

These resource will help you tremendously. The Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract according to 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." At least 85 times in John we find the word "believe," but the word repent is not mentioned once. That is because repentance is automatic, a simple change of mind. I heard someone this week correct the King James Bible, claiming that the 54 translators in 1611 got it wrong. No, they got it right! The person claimed that the KJB translators should have transliterated the New Testament Greek word "metanoia" (noun: a change of mind) into the English language; just the same as the Greek word "baptizo" in the New Testament was transliterated (directly carried over) into the English language. But at the time of the translating of the King James Bible, the word "repent" still meant a change of mind. It wasn't until later that the English dictionary began to define the word "repent" as "to turn away from your sinful ways." There is nothing wrong with the King James Bible, our English language has changed, following the corrupt religions of this world. My father used to say: "Religion is the worst thing that ever happened to this world." Dad was right!

We sure need more free grace truthers to preach the Gospel accurately.

I listen weekly to the YouTube sermons of one of my favorite free grace preachers, Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold. I love this guy! More than any other of today's preachers, Yankee Arnold gets the Gospel 100% accurate.

I hope this information is helpful. I love helping others for Christ, so please don't hesitate to ask questions if you have any, that is why I am hear on social media, to be a blessing for Jesus. Your video is acceptable, as I mentioned, but I would redo it and include equal emphasis on all three elements of the Gospel.

DR. LAW Brings Us To DR. GRACE

Evangelist Lester Roloff (1914-1982) has a wonderful MP3 sermon called, “The Two Greatest Doctors Who've Ever Lived: Dr. Law And Dr. Grace” (Part Two). One of these doctors is despised and the other is greatly misunderstood by the world...

Romans 5:13 and 20-21, “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ... Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 8:9-10, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

Dr. Law is good at his job, the best diagnostic doctor in history. When a bad man runs into a good law, he hates it! Dr. Law is very firm and doesn't get along with a lot of people! Dr. Law diagnoses what is wrong with us, and boldly shows us our problem, that we have heart trouble (Jeremiah 17:9). WE ARE WOEFUL SINNERS!!!

Dr. Religion is a horrible doctor. He tells the sick patient that there's nothing to worry about, everything will be okay, just get water baptized and join a church to get religion. Dr. Religion is very pleasant and likeable, but he is irresponsible and has killed billions of patients. In sharp contrast, Dr. Law is unpleasant, making the dying patient feel bad about them self, telling us the truth that they are dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1), and we are the cause of our own sickness. Dr. Law tells the dying patient that they need a surgery. The unsaved man needs heart surgery!

Dr. Law cannot perform the surgery, he can only diagnose the problem! But he brings us across the hall into another room to meet Dr. Grace, Who is an expert heart surgeon. Dr. Grace asks, has the patient tried all other doctors? Dr. Law says, “Yes, he has, but to no avail.” Dr. Be Good and Dr. Religion failed him! Dr. Do Good and Dr. Feel Good couldn't help the man either! So Dr. Grace asks the patient, “Are you willing to trust me fully?” The patient agrees and Dr. Grace does the surgery, and that man is redeemed!!! In case you haven't figured it out, Dr. Grace is the Lord Jesus Christ. The surgery is free, it's already been paid for by Dr. Grace!!!

The just shall live by faith!!! Galatians 3:11 and 22, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. ... But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”

The LAW is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Notice that believers are NO LONGER UNDER THE LAW (schoolmaster).

The world is filled with Gospel perverters! God divided His Word into two parts: Old Testament (Law) and New Testament (Grace). God has given us LAW and GRACE. The heresy of Lordship Salvation confuses these two. Wrong Repentance confuses these two.

Dr. John MacArthur is a wicked false prophet, who confuses discipleship with salvation, teaching Satanic Calvinism, perverting the Gospel, complicating the simplicity that is in Christ. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins!!! Christ died on the cross, He was buried, and three days later He resurrected. This is THE GOSPEL by which we are saved when we believe. 1st Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

You don't repent and then believe. Repentance and faith are not two separate acts to being saved. The man who believes has also repented, which is why the words “believe” and “believed” are mentioned in the Gospel of John (God's Gospel tract according to John 20:31), but the word “repent” is never mentioned, not even once. Repentance is necessary for salvation, but to “repent” concerning salvation, simply means that a person has judged them self as being a guilty sinner, in response to Dr. Law having done his job well. Romans 3:19-20, “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.

Romans 3:20, “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.” Every unsaved person is still under the curse of the LAW, because of sin, for all men are guilty sinners in God's sight. Ah, but every born-again believer is no longer under the LAW; but rather, we are under GRACE. This is why we read in Romans 5:20-21, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

A lot of well-meaning people on the internet, who are woefully ignorant and horribly deceived, continually try to combine the LAW along with GRACE to be saved. This is what the heresy of Calvinism does. This is what the heresy of Lordship Salvation does. This is what the heresy of Wrong Repentance (i.e., “turn from your sins” or “be willing to turn from sins”) does.

I've heard some foolish Baptist pastors try to downplay the seriousness of the issue, by cutting slack to corrupt preachers who teach wrong repentance. It is true that you cannot turn to Christ by faith to be saved, without turning from something (John 3:20). That is repentance. 1st Thessalonians 1:9, “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” 

They weren't saved by turning away from their idols, but by turning in faith toward the living God. You don't get saved by repenting, you get saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31). But turning to Christ to be saved, and in the process turning your back against whatever was hindering you from being saved, does NOT mean forsaking sinful behavior, nor even being willing to forsake sinful behavior. That would constitute self-righteous works! There is a clear and definite line of heresy that cannot be crossed for the Gospel to remain true and thus valid. Satan loves to blur that lines of distinction between truth and falsehood, and thus, between salvation and damnation. No one is saved who thinks John MacArthur's plan of salvation is correct! We get saved by BELIEVING the Gospel, period!!!

Ye Must Be Perfect

(an awesome MP3 sermon by Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold)

“The Gospel reveals the impossibility of man saving himself, but the 'Good News' is that a God can, and God will.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “YE MUST BE PERFECT”

How To Be Saved

The Bible declares, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Because of sin, none of us can pay the price to enter Heaven. Despite our “good” works, we are still sinners by birth, unable to merit the favor of God. Thus, we have come short of God’s righteous standards.

The Good News is that, through the finished crosswork of Jesus Christ on Calvary, we can be made “the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can receive God’s righteousness as a free gift which blesses us with eternal salvation from our sins!

“What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30, 31).

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

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

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“In whom [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

“In whom [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).

Salvation = Faith + Nothing. It is free to you because Jesus Christ paid the price. Do you believe that? Have you fully trusted in that alone for salvation?

Jesus Christ (God manifested in human flesh), in His great love, grace, and mercy, paid the penalty for our sins. The Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts 20:24) which saves lost mankind is: “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). The Lord Jesus Christ shed His sinless blood to forgive us our sins, but the Bible declares that anyone who rejects the Gospel of Grace will have to pay for his or her sins in the lake of fire for all eternity.

When you trust exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, Jesus Christ’s righteousness will be applied to you. Jesus Christ is perfect, so His righteousness imputed to us is our only means of getting into Heaven.

Will you trust in Jesus Christ alone as your personal Savior?

Evangelist Ray Comfort's Damnable Counterfeit Gospel

Ephesians 2:8-9, “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.”

Case in point, watch this very disturbing video clip (here's an audio backup in case the video is taken down). Here's an article I wrote refuting Ray Comfort's damnable heresy! Ray Comfort and his Hollywood actor sidekick, Kirk Cameron, operate Living Waters and The Way Of The Master ministries in California. In the heretical video, Ray pressures the unsaved woman to “live a lifestyle that proves the reality of your repentance.” Folks, that is NOT the grace of God! That is NOT the free gift of eternal life.

Kindly said, Ray Comfort should have told that unsaved woman that if she sees herself as a needy sinner, all she has to do to be saved is BELIEVE! The woman openly admits in the video that she believes Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross, but she doesn't get saved because Mr. Comfort perverts the Gospel. Ray lied to her, convincing her that “more” (he even uses the word “more”) is required than simply coming to God as a needy sinner.

In addition, Ray foolishly tells the woman that she must turn from her sins, and then live a lifestyle of turning away from her sins, to get to Heaven. Since she knows that she cannot forsake her sins (which NO ONE can), she is obviously confused and not ready to commit to what RAY (NOT GOD) is asking of her. At the end Ray asks her if she'd like to get saved (according to his perverse plan of salvation), to which she reasonably replies:

“Well I don't need to think about it, I just need to do it I guess, but I don't even know how to do it.” —Evangelist Ray Comfort, “I've never killed anyone” (MP3 clip from video)

Of course she doesn't know how to do what Ray just said, because none of it makes any sense! The Gospel makes perfect sense. You are a sinner (Romans 3:23)! No amount of good you may do can erase the bad things you have done in the past (Isaiah 64:6). Even one sin is enough to send you to Hell forever (James 2:10). Therefore, you need a Savior (John 1:29). 

Jesus Christ paid your sin debt on the cross (2nd Corinthians 5:21). The Gospel means 'Good News.' It is the 'Good News' that Jesus DIED, was BURIED and RESURRECTED three days later from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus paid our debt of sin with His precious blood. Christ died in our place on the cross, paying a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. Christ died, that's history; Christ died and rose for me, that's salvation! Eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23). Jesus paid the high price of our redemption with His blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). You simply BELIEVE the Gospel to be saved!

Kindly said, if Ray Comfort had simply presented the Gospel properly to that lost woman on the airplane—explaining that she is a guilty sinner in God's sight (Romans 3:19), and then shared the 'Good News' of Jesus' crucified, buried and bodily risen for her, and then simply asked her if she believed it as her own—I guarantee you that she WOULD HAVE received Christ right there and then!!!

Instead, Mr. Comfort perverted the Gospel of free grace by adding an extra requirement for her to clean up her life of sin, and to commit to living a reformatory type of lifestyle for the rest of her life. WHAT A FALSE PROPHET! WHAT A SATANIC PLAN OF DAMNATION!!! WHAT A SAD TRAGEDY!!! Ladies and gentlemen, I am so sick and tired of this demonic Lordship Salvation heresy! Pastor Jack Hyles was sick of it too (MP3 clip). Dr. Hyles is right—DO GOODERS don't go to Heaven, DO TRUSTERS go to Heaven!!!

“The worst pervert in America is the Gospel pervert!” —Evangelist Lester Roloff (1914-1982), “The Gospel Perverts Or Jesus?”

George Harrison's Failed Search For God

2nd Timothy 3:5-7, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

George Harrison In India With A Hindu Cult

“Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait.” —George Harrison, The Beatles

It saddens me to know that George Harrison (1943-2001) almost assuredly went to Hell. Unless he experienced a deathbed conversion, George died in his sins without 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.” Jesus warned the Jews in John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” Jesus Christ is the ONLY Way To Heaven!!!

I watched a 1997 documentary on YouTube about George Harrison. It was his last public interview before his death in 2001 from cancer. I am a musician myself, so I have always loved other musicians and am curious about their lives and talent. In his interview, George opens up about his search for God in his life. Sadly, Harrison rejected Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, choosing rather to put his trust in Hare Krishna.

I found this information about Harrison's faith in Hare Krishna and Hinduism...

 Harrison Traveled to India and Embraced Hare Krishna

Harrison embraced the Hare Krishna tradition and remained a plainclothes devotee or 'closet Krishna', as he called himself, until his last day of earthly existence. The Hare Krishna mantra, which according to him is nothing but "mystical energy encased in a sound structure," became an integral part of his life. Harrison once said, "Imagine all the workers on the Ford assembly line in Detroit, all of them chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna while bolting on the wheels..."

Harrison recalled how he and Lennon kept on singing the mantra while sailing through the Greek islands, "because you couldn't stop once you got going…It was like as soon as you stop, it was like the lights went out." Later in an interview with Krishna devotee Mukunda Goswami he explained how chanting helps one identify with the Almighty: "God's all happiness, all bliss, and by chanting His names we connect with Him. So it's really a process of actually having a realization of God, which all becomes clear with the expanded state of consciousness that develops when you chant." He also took to vegetarianism. As he said: "Actually, I wised up and made sure I had dal bean soup or something every day."

He Wanted to Meet God Face to Face

In the introduction Harrison wrote for Swami Prabhupada's book Krsna, he says: "If there's a God, I want to see Him. It's pointless to believe in something without proof, and Krishna consciousness and meditation are methods where you can actually obtain God perception. In that way, you can see, hear & play with God. Perhaps this may sound weird, but God is really there next to you."

SOURCE: The Spiritual Quest of George Harrison in Hinduism

Tragically, George Harrison was a confused man. George spent his life searching for God, but died in woeful ignorance. The reason why is because when you pass up the light of the truth of Jesus Christ, you have fallen from grace. That is, you have missed the only bus that is going to Heaven. Galatians 5:4, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Sadly, George Harrison put his trust in Hinduism, which has over 3,000,000 different pagan gods to worship.

From everything that I have read and seen about George Harrison, he was a sincere, generous, loving and good man, as far as lost sinners go. Unfortunately, he spent his life searching for a God created in George's own image. 2nd Timothy 3:7, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Harrison was a notorious adulterer, as confirmed by fellow band member Paul McCartney in a public interview. John Lennon and Paul McCartney have openly admitted publicly to their sexual indiscretions. I'm not sure about Ringo Starr.

Paul wasn't criticizing George in the interview, he was just telling the truth that his friend George was “a lady's man.” I am not condemning those men, because we are ALL dirty sinners in God's sight. John 7:7, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” John 3:20, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” The Bible teaches that lost sinners won't come to Jesus Christ to be saved, because of their love for sin. Although a person doesn't have to forsake their sinful ways to be saved, you do have to admit you are a guilty sinner to get to Heaven. You need to know what you're being saved from. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23-24, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

It is horrifying to know that George Harrison is burning in the fires and torments of Hell forever and ever without hope. Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Billions of people will spend eternity burning in Hell, fire and brimstone because they put their faith in something other than Jesus Christ. George had a form of godliness, but denied the power thereof (2nd Timothy 3:5), which is THE GOSPEL (Romans 1:16).

I am sad, not glad, that George Harrison went to Hell. The Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). God desires for all mankind to repent of their unbelief to be saved (2nd Peter 3:9). Tragically, Harrison pursued his own ideas, following false religion instead of the inspired Word of God. Like billions before him, the heathen world wants nothing to do with Jesus Christ, because He is the Word of God (John 1:1-3, 14; Revelation 19:13). John 15:19, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” The world has always hated Christ and His disciples.

Dear reader, please don't make the same foolish mistake that George Harrison made, of searching for God in all the wrong places. In Harrison's last public interview, which I linked to at the beginning of this blog, he quotes Jesus from the Bible. Yet, why didn't George accept Jesus as his personal Savior? The reason why is because naming the name of Jesus brings reproach. You can tell society that you are a follower of Buddha, Zoroaster, Hare Krishna or Muhammad and nobody will persecute you; but if you confess publicly the name of Jesus, and live according to the inspired Holy Bible, the lost world will persecute you. 2nd Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

Is Being Born Again A Thing Of The Past?

John 3:1-3, “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

1st Peter 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”

I am saddened as a redeemed adopted child of God that it is rare nowadays to hear preachers use the Biblical phrase that Jesus used in John 3:3b, “Ye must be born again.”

I triple-dog dare you dear reader to examine the ministry websites of all big name preachers; namely, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Billy Sunday, Joyce Meyer, Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, et cetera. If you compare what all of these heretics teach concerning what it means to “repent” to get to Heaven, you will sadly find that they are all in diabolical agreement with the pseudo-Christian cults (i.e., Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutherans, Methodists, Churches of Christ, Roman Catholics, et cetera). Birds of a feather flock together. 

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty! Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work. If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from? The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. We must stay true to the simplicity of the Gospel!! Repentance regarding salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief!!! We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3).

Jesus warned that to enter into God's Kingdom, a man must be born again. John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Being born again is NOT optional to get to Heaven. What does it mean to be born again? It simply means that since you were born spiritually dead, you need to be reborn of the Holy Spirit of God. When our ancestor Adam sinned, he consequently opened the floodgate of sin and death upon the human race. Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”

The inspired Word of God teaches that we were all born spiritually dead into this earthly world. Ephesians 2:1, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” The word “quickened” in the preceding Bible verse means “made alive.” The moment that a lost hellbound sinner puts their childlike truth (faith, confidence) in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, their old spirit which was dead in trespasses and sins, is now and forever born anew from above by God's Holy Spirit.

A good way to explain it, I humbly think, is to compare the new birth to our earthly biological parents. We are not them, and our parents are not us; but genetically we have the DNA of both parents in us, so that they are a part of us, and we them. Likewise, I am not God, and God is not me; but I have some of God's DNA (the blessed Holy Spirit indwelling me), and I am in Christ, an integral part of the Body of Christ, of which Jesus is the head.

When you listen to a preacher and never hear him mention the words of Jesus, who said: “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN,” something is very wrong! I cannot help but serious wonder if becoming “born again” has already become a thing of the past. Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” I cannot think of anything more important than Jesus' words, “Ye must be born again.” Yet when is the last time that you heard a preacher use those words?

Instead, what most people are hearing is a bunch of unbiblical tommyrot; such as:

1. Repent “of your sins.”
2. Turn away from your sins.
3. Surrender control of your life over to Christ.
4. Receive Jesus as “Lord.”
5. Follow Jesus no matter what the cost.
6. Confess the name of “Jesus” publicly.
7. Call, pray or ask Jesus to save you.
8. Invite Christ into your life.
9. Get water baptized.
10. Forsake a lifestyle of sinning.
11. Give up the old ways.
12. Live a changed life.
13. Be willing to turn from sin.
14. Pick up and carry your cross.
15. Do good deeds.

All of the aforementioned things have their proper place in the Christian life, but they have NOTHING to do with being saved. You can do all of these things and yet never have been born again at all. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. John 3:7, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” Dear friend, have you been born again? ...

• I didn't ask if you prayed a sinner's prayer in the past. Have you been born again? 
• I didn't ask if you have been baptized in water. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you attend church. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you are a good person. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you love God. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you love your neighbour as thyself. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you live the Christian life. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you keep the Seven Sacrament of Catholicism. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you live a changed life. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you are active in your religious denomination. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you give money to a church. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you have a relationship with Jesus. Have you been born again?
• I didn't ask if you had a religious experience in the past. Have you been born again?

That is the $64,000 question—Have you been born again?

There are an estimated 350,000 churches across the United States. Yet, how many of them preach the Bible truth: “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN?” You won't hear Ray Comfort using this term much, and when he does he corrupts what it really means. There is a disturbing trend among evangelicals to explain being “born again” as an “EXPERIENCE,” instead of as a supernatural miracle of God in response to a man's faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have a copy of Ray Comfort's “THE EVIDENCE BIBLE” in front of me. I bought it a few years ago. On page 1529, under the commentary section, “How Can You Know That You Are Saved?,” The Evidence Bible states:

Christians believed in God's existence before their conversion, however, when they obeyed the Word of God, turned from their sins, and embraced Jesus Christ, they stopped merely believing. The moment they reached out and touched the heater bar of God's mercy, they moved out of belief into the realm of experience. This experience is so radical, Jesus referred to it as being born again. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: The Way of the Master Evidence Bible, by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, page 1529; ©2003 by Bridge-Logos Publishers.

May I say, being born again is NOT an “experience.” Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron wrongly understand being “born-again” as an EXPERIENCE that involves forsaking one's sinful lifestyle and “EMBRACING” Jesus Christ. Ray Comfort gets this idea from an errant understanding of James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Many foolish Bible teachers misinterpret James 2:19 to mean that simple BELIEF on Christ is insufficient to be saved. This is not what the Bible is saying here. It simply means that no one is going to Heaven just because they believe there is a God.

This is why Jesus told His disciples in Luke 13:23-24, “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” You can believe in God all you want—you can serve Him, go to church, tithe, sacrifice and do good all your life, and then go straight to the Lake of Fire forever to burn!!! Jesus said, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).

What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?

What did Jesus mean by “born again?” The question is answered in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” When you were born the first time into the world, that was of the flesh; but the new birth (or second birth) is when the Holy Spirit of God comes inside your body to indwell you (upon your faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Being “born again?” means that you have been born into God's family! Whereas all men are born spiritually DEAD from birth (Romans 5:15), in order to enter into the Kingdom of God a person must be born for the second time, spiritually (John 3:6-7). The first birth is PHYSICAL, earthly; The second birth is SPIRITUAL, by the Holy Spirit of God (John 1:12-14).

Biblically, mere childlike BELIEVING is all that God requires to be saved. This is what Jesus said in 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.”

In Mr. Comfort's broken thinking, being “born again” means moving from the realm of merely believing in God, to the realm of leaving one's sinful ways and clinging to Christ. Mr. Comfort recognizes this as an EXPERIENCE, which to him means being born-again.

The Word of God teaches something entirely different. A person is “born again” by the Holy Spirit of God, which is initiated by mere childlike belief in Christ's death on the cross for our sins, His burial and bodily resurrection three days later. The Bible defines this as the “Gospel” in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the new birth! Whereas 'The Evidence Bible' teaches that a transforming “radical experience” is what it means to be born-again; the Holy Bible teaches that it is the transforming power of God's Holy Spirit that produces the new birth...

John 1:12-13, “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: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

It is a false plan of salvation to explain the new birth as a mere transforming experience. Any radical transformation is wrought solely by the Holy Spirit of God. It is heresy to require an experience, a radical change, or some transformation from a person in order to be saved (or to prove that they are saved). This is because eternal life is a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is a TAKE proposition, not a GIVE proposition. God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved. It is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit that changes a person, and not our own human effort. The ONLY thing that a believer automatically gets at the moment of salvation is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:21). Everything else from that moment forward in a saint's life is a matter of growth in grace and discipleship, not justification.

Ray Comfort understands salvation backwards. He requires a person to commit to leave their sinful lifestyle and embrace Christ, which is the radical experience he requires from people to be saved. Biblically, you don't have to embrace Christ as your “Lord” to be saved, you simply need to believe on Him (John 3:16). That's what the Bible teaches. John 3:16, “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.”

Although a person may or may not express emotions at the time of salvation, emotions are not required for salvation. Neither tears, nor any outward manifestation of inner changes, nor a desire to serve God, nor forsaking sins, nor any “radical experience” is necessary to receive the free gift of eternal life. IT IS A GIFT, and a “gift” is free in every sense. For a wonderful presentation of the simple plan of salvation by Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), please see: Get God's Gift.

Furthermore, forsaking one's sinful lifestyle is NOT what it means Biblically to “repent.” Repentance is “changing one's mind,” that is, realizing and acknowledging one's guilt of sin for breaking a holy God's commandments (Romans 3:19-23). The only thing you need to repent of to be saved is whatever has been hindering you from coming to Christ to be saved (Hebrews 6:1 - repentance is from DEAD WORKS, which includes both bad and good works). 

The man who BELIEVES the Gospel has repented, otherwise he never would have come to Jesus Christ to be saved (John 3:20). Our part in salvation is simply to BELIEVE on Jesus Christ. Whatever else is a part of our salvation is solely God's department, and you can be assured that He will attend to it. Our part is just to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (Acts 16:30-31). Religion is the worst thing that ever happened to this world! Religion is man trying to reach God through human effort; Christianity is God attempting to reach man through the sacrifice of His dear only begotten Son on the cross.

Sadly and tragically, it seems that over 95% of today's pastors think they know better than God how a person gets to Heaven. This includes independent Baptist churches, pastors and Bible colleges too! Nearly all of today's Bible colleges errantly deny that we have an inspired Holy Bible today in the English language. It is shameful! Whereas the Bible simply teaches for a lost sinner to BELIEVE the Good News of Jesus crucified, buried and risen to be saved; nearly all of today's preachers (popular and unpopular alike) are preaching an embellished counterfeit plan of salvation, damning men's souls to Hell by giving them a false hope. Please read: 'What Is The Gospel?,' by Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951).

Pastors Who Refuse To Contend For The Faith: Biggest Threat To Churches In 2023

Revelation 3:1-3, “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

The saddest thing that I have seen in my lifetime is pastors who no longer stand, or never stood at all. Tragically, over 95% of pastors today do not contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3). They do not rebuke false prophets sharply as Titus 1:13-14 commands. They do not refute all works of darkness as Ephesians 5:11 commands. They only care about THE LOVE OF MONEY (1st Timothy 6:10-11). Sadly, nearly every one of those pastors (if not all of them), would refuse to admit that they love money, but their actions deny their words. One of the worst offenders is Pensacola Christian College (PCC), who wickedly bid Godspeed to Calvinists in the Bob Jones University (BJU) camp. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!

BJU for the past 40 years have preached hardcore Lordship Salvation. BJU praises and wickedly bids Godspeed to their alumni, Pastor John MacArthur (a devout 5-point Calvinist). Sadly, hardly anybody cares anymore about preserving the accuracy of the Gospel, the proper Bible meaning of repentance to be saved, or the purity of the inspired Holy Bible. Steve Pettit, Marty Herron and Jeff Redlin are all wicked religious imposters, who love money more than truth and individual people. They should all be put into prison for their crimes against humanity. Anybody who corrupts the truth, and supports those who corrupt the truth, belong in prison! All of the aforementioned wicked men get paid an outrageous 6-digit salary, for ruining people's lives with their heresy, woeful lack of compassion and religious hypocrisy.

It's bad enough the PCC is hateful, bigoted and prejudiced against people, but even worse they bid Godspeed to evildoers like Ken Ham who says that faith is not enough to get to Heaven. ...

Ken Ham's Deadly FALSE Gospel

I read on Twitter this week that Clarence Sexton (shameful pastor of the Temple Baptist Church in Powell, Tennessee) wickedly bids Godspeed to both Ken Ham and Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University). Why does Clarence Sexton praise, honor and support Calvinist devils? Why doesn't he contend for the faith? Why doesn't Pastor Sexton care about exposing a counterfeit plan of salvation? I'll tell you why, it is because Clarence Sexton is living large as a millionaire! He and his wife recently enjoyed a fancy vacation to England. The Sexton's own a large chunk of land, living in a mansion compared to what the average person does. THE LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil the Bible says. SHAME on Crown College. SHAME on Temple Baptist Church. SHAME on Pastor Sexton for not contending for the faith.

I don't enjoy writing blogs like this, but somebody needs to TELL THE TRUTH. Our nation's churches are in big trouble! The Gospel is rarely preached correctly anymore. False plans of salvation abound everywhere, so that lost sinners cannot be born-again. Religion never saved anybody! It is tragic and sad that America's church pastors are cowards, afraid to stand on their own two feet to speak THE TRUTH. Well, I'm not afraid to offend people, lose fair weather shallow friends, or please God by exposing error, false prophets, incompetent pastors and parasite preachers. I speak THE TRUTH in love.

Where are the 7,000 men who have not bowed their knees to Baal? The Bible defines “the Gospel” plainly in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 as Jesus' death on the cross for our sins, His subsequent burial and miraculous bodily resurrection three days later. Anyone who comes to God by faith as a needy guilty sinner, and receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sins, believing that Jesus is risen from the dead, is instantly and forever saved. So where do today's incompetent pastors get the crazy idea that you must cease from living a life of willful sin to get to Heaven? Where do those incompetent pastors get the wrong idea that you must invite Christ into your life, and turn control of your life over to Christ to serve Him faithfully as your “Lord”? The Bible doesn't teach those things to be saved.

It breaks my heart that less than 1% of pastors are preachers, who without apology or compromise cry aloud against the false doctrines, counterfeit gospels, fake bibles and perverse meaning of repentance being taught in churches today. The Bible colleges are mostly to blame, 99% of them denying that we have an inspired Holy Bible today. The LOVE OF MONEY silences pastors from making enemies by preaching THE TRUTH. It is sad and tragic. I love you dear reader with Christ's unconditional love. That is why I am telling you THE TRUTH. I don't hate any living creature (but Grizzly bears are getting close to being put onto my list...lol).

Dear friend, God commands Christian men who are learned in the inspired Word of God to contend for the faith. Titus was not an apostle, yet the Apostle Paul told him to “rebuke them sharply” who subvert whole households with a false gospel, that they might be sound in the faith. ...

Titus 1:9-14, “Ti:1:9: Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”

The main reason why Bob Jones University (BJU) is preaching the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation (i.e., a form of Calvinism) is because no other Bible colleges and churches will REBUKE THEM SHARPLY. I triple dog dare you to name even one pastor, Bible college or church that exposes BJU for preaching Lordship Salvation. Dr. Peter Ruckman (1921-2016) had earned bachelor's master's and doctorate's degrees from BJU, yet as an alumni he openly exposed them for selling, using and bidding Godspeed to the Devil's Bible perversions. SHAME on BJU for pulling on the same rope as the Devil.

Sadly, Pensacola Christian College (PCC) wickedly bids Godspeed to the BJU camp and their corrupt churches, like the ungodly Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. When I begged and pleaded for their love between 2014 and 2012, Pastors' Marty Herron and Gary Walton threw me under the bus, leaving me for dead, and I suffered inexplicable mental anguish and pain of soul, having no church family or friends. I felt like dying because of the abuse I was subjected to for all those years—being shunned, rejected, mocked, laughed at, ignored and ostracized for TELLING THE TRUTH—by the wicked pastors and carnal congregation of the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam.

There is no genuine love for broken people and hurting sinners at Harvest, not at PCC or BJU. They're all in it for their bellies, for the love of the money. No wonder Ben Fieldhouse took his own life in 2010, who was a member of Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. Marty Herron doesn't know the meaning of love, forgiveness or compassion, who also ruined my life. God knows that I love all of the people I have mentioned in this article with God's unconditional love, but I am compelled to expose them because they are injurious, cruel, calloused, spiritually dangerous.

They are ALL phony religious leaders, who need to be identified and avoided (Romans 16:17-18). PCC has become the epitome of everything that is wrong with Christendom in the United States and beyond.  Pensacola Comfortable College is a disgrace to the cause of Christ. Pastor Jeff Redlin at Campus Church is as phony as they come at PCC, who horribly mistreated me when I attended Campus Church, and has banned me since August of 2022 from attending Campus Church anymore. These ungodly cult leaders need to be exposed! PCC is today synonymous with tommyrot, balderdash and poppycock!

Maranatha Baptist University, BJU, PCC, Crown College, Hyles-Anderson College, Moody Bible Institute, Faith Baptist Bible College And Theological Seminary, et cetera—these are all spiritually dead and corrupt institutions today. Combined, these apostate institutions adversely influence thousands of churches across the United States. They influence several thousand missionaries around the world. Most of these organizations are wrong on the Gospel. Hyles-Anderson College is wrong to deny (since 2008) that we have an inspired King James Bible today. I have never wavered from my conviction that the King James Bible is 100% verbally and plenary inspired by God.

Kindly said, SHAME on the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, for departing from the truthful position of their former longtime faithful pastor, Dr. Jack Hyles (1926-2001), who believed and preached that the King James Bible is 100% inspired by God.

The LITERAL Blood of Jesus Had To Be Applied To The Mercy Seat In Heaven

Hebrews 9:12, “But BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

The great Bible teacher, M.R. DeHaan, M.D. (1891-1965), has it 100% correct when he states concerning the blood of Jesus...

The blood was to be sprinkled, remember, on the mercy seat right after the death of the substitutionary animal of sacrifice, Now Christ is, of course, our substitute. He was slain for us upon the Cross, and entered into death for us, and when He arose, He immediately went to heaven, entered into the holy of holies in heaven, sprinkled His precious blood upon the mercy seat before the throne of God, and forever settled the sin questions, and delivered us from the curse of the law. This is clearly taught in the New testament. 

Hebrews 9:12, “But by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

The Bible also makes plain when He accomplished this. On the morning of the resurrection He meets Mary at the tomb. As soon as Mary recognized Him, she prostrated herself upon Him, and would have kissed His feet, but with shocking suddenness, Jesus emphatically says to her: "Touch me not"; and then He proceeds immediately to give the reason why Mary is not permitted to touch Him at all.

John 20:17, “For I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”

Literally the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Touch me not; for I now am about to ascend unto my Father." We can understand this action when we remember the the high priest after he had offered the sacrifice, was to enter the holy of holies, before he did anything else, with the precious blood. No one was allowed to approach him. Everyone was shut out until this was completely done. And here in the record of the meeting with Mary we have the fulfillment of this type. Here Mary meets her great High Priest, just arisen from the tomb, but before He had entered the holy of holies with the reconciling blood. And so He says to her, "TOUCH ME NOT."

SOURCE: 'THE TABERNACLE,' by M.R. DeHaan, M.D., ISBN 0-310-23491-3, p. 129

What a wonderful truth! The Bible is so clear when you accept It as it's written. The best way to interpret the Bible is to not interpret it. By diligently cross-referring Scripture with Scripture, we are able to form a complete and accurate picture of divine Truth.

In Defense Of Evangelist Onorato Diamante's Preaching

John 3:15-16, “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.”

Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

This blog is my rebuttal to the following horrible YouTube video by Pastor Roger Jimenez who ruthlessly attacks Onorato Diamante for preaching that you can be saved by simple childlike faith, without adding an unnecessary requirement to pray a prayer to get to Heaven...

Kindly, Brother Diamante is 100% correct on the Bible. I have heard Pastor Steven Anderson (whom I love and promote his awesome ministry) teach that he believes a person CAN be saved by simply believing without faith, but he thinks that calling (praying) is the Bible method to get saved. I heard pastor Anderson also say that he doesn't want any of his church members counting anybody as being saved who does not pray a sinner's prayer. I humbly think he is right in the first thing he said, but wrong on the latter.

I have no problem with soulwinner's and preachers leading lost sinners to Christ by leading them in a sinner's prayer, just so long as it is clearly explained to a person that they DON'T have to pray to be saved. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Kindly, I strongly disagree with Pastor Jimenez (whom I also love and support his ministry) that it is impossible to believe on Jesus without also calling. That is not true, proven by Romans 10:14, "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"

When I got saved at age 13 in 1980, I didn't walk down the aisle to find out what I just did. Consequently, for the next several years I lived in tearful fear. I literally cried often, afraid that I wasn't saved and might miss Heaven. I was shy and reluctant to seek advice from my pastor. I read every religious tract I could get my hands on. When a preacher spoke anything about salvation, I sat on the edge of my pew. I did learn many great truths that helped me, so that after 20 years I finally found the absolute 100% assurance of my salvation. The one truth that solidified my salvation beliefs is that I DIDN'T have to pray any prayer at all to be saved, I simply could have just believed.

In hindsight, the reason why I couldn't settle the assurance of salvation is because of the unbiblical addition of being required to pray a prayer to be saved. I couldn't remember over time what I had prayed at the time I thought I got saved, so it was a nightmare for me trying to remember what I couldn't remember. No one had ever told me that I could simply BELIEVE to be saved, without praying, until I read Pastor Max D. Younce's helpful book titled: "Salvation And The Public Invitation" (backup link). That book changed my life, solidifying my salvation beliefs.

To clarify, it is okay to call upon the Lord through prayer to be saved. It is a natural thing to desire to call and ask Jesus to save you. But faith is enough, without prayer. The choice is yours alone to make. If you want to pray, invite Christ into your life, commit to reform your life, confess Jesus publicly, get water baptized, and do a bunch of other possible WORKS, it is okay just so long as they accompany your faith and are not attached to your faith. If you put your trust in any of those things that I just mentioned, you cannot be saved. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

The inherent danger of requiring lost sinners to pray is that they might become confused for years to come, as I was for decades. Even worse, they might rely upon their prayer instead of Christ. I heard a Contemporary Christian Music singer say in an interview that she "got saved at age 3 by praying the Jesus' prayer." She is as lost as Judas Iscariot! You can pray and still not be saved, but you cannot believe the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day and not be saved. John 3:15-16, "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."

Respectfully, Pastor Jimenez keeps citing John 4:10 as his go to Bible verse, while ignoring the 85 references in the Gospel of John to the word "believe" without any mention of "calling." Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) correctly said: "A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one."

One of my favorite Bible passages is the true story of Cornelius in Acts chapter 10. Cornelius was a centurion, a commander over 100 soldiers. They were Italians. We read in Acts 10:1-2 that Cornelius was a good man who prayer to God, gave alms to the poor, faster and feared God. Albeit, he was not saved yet. Cornelius was religious but lost. Billions of people in the world today are religious to varying degrees, but they have never been born-again by faith alone in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God arranged a meeting for Cornelius and his friends to hear the Apostle Peter preach the Gospel.

If you read the rest of Acts chapter 10, you will see that Peter simply preached the wonderful GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ, and when Cornelius BELIEVED IT he was saved. Acts 10:43-44, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.” Galatians 3:1-2, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 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 simple small phrase, “by the hearing of faith.” Hey, that's how Cornelius got saved in Acts 10:44. Acts 10:43-44, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.” That is, they BELIEVED the Gospel that they heard preached unto them and were instantly saved. They became born-again into God's heavenly family, born anew of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9).

Kindly, in the preceding terrible video, Pastor Jimenez uses a lousy illustration of salvation. He uses the illustration of a World War II soldier abandoned in the ocean who is rescued by a passing military ship. When someone asks him how he was rescued, he says that he saved himself. Let me give you a much better and accurate illustration of salvation. Let's use the same soldier abandoned at sea again. A passing ship comes to his rescue, throwing a life preserver into the water. They tell him to just take hold of the life preserver and they'll pull him in (this can be likened to God's free offer of eternal life). But the man asks them, “Will you please save me!” Would that make any sense? No, it would be confusion. Why would you ask someone to save you, who has already offered to save you? Dear reader, God is freely offering you His free gift of forgiveness of sins which includes eternal life. All you need to do is TAKE IT! Salvation is a take proposition, not a give proposition.

I need to say this, knowing that it will offend some people. I love the New IFB movement, but the New IFB is in essence Pastor Steven Anderson! Whatever that man preaches becomes the dogma of the entire IFB movement. Pastor Anderson denies a biblical pretribulation Rapture, and so do ALL new IFB pastors who follow him. I am not against men following men, if the man they are following walks with God and is doctrinally sound. I humbly think that Pastors' Anderson and Jimenez are correct on the two deal breakers—the inspiration of the King James Bible, and a free grace Gospel. No doubt some people will argue with the claim I just made, that these pastors are all in collusion together, but if you simply look at the commonality of their beliefs you will see that I am right.

Norm Diamante is not attacking the new IFB movement, they are attacking him. All norm is teaching is that faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Faith is enough! In Acts 8;27-38, we read about the Ethiopian eunuch. Phillip "preached unto him Jesus" (verse 35). In verse 36 the eunuch asked to be water baptized. We know that baptism cannot save a sinner. So Phillip told the eunuch that he could be baptized, but only if he BELIEVED. Acts 8;37, "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." There is no mention of calling or praying in this verse, but only to "BELIEVE" that Jesus is the Son of God.

In my humble opinion, Pastor Anderson's error on "prayer" as the Bible method of soulwinning does not affect the Gospel, because he does explain to people that it is faith and not prayer that saves a person. However, leading people in prayer to be saved runs the risk of confusing people doctrinally (as it did me for decades), causing me much unnecessary pain of soul, fear, worry and grief. I knew that prayer didn't save me, but I thought that praying (calling) is how you believe. I was misled by ignorant preachers.

I know this matter is splitting hairs doctrinally, but God's simple plan of salvation is important and worthy of defense. Philippians 1;17, “But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.” Kindly, I am not saying that the New IFB are wrong on the Gospel. I have had some angry people try to convince me that the New IFB are wrong on the Gospel. As I mentioned earlier, I know Pastor Anderson does believe that a lost sinner CAN be saved by faith alone without prayer. He just thinks that leading people in a sinner's prayer is the Bible method of soulwinning. I respect his right to disagree. I love Pastor Anderson.

When I attended Hyles-Anderson College (1985-1993), I led people to pray a sinner's prayer to be saved. By God's grace, I led hundreds of people to Christ during my time at Bible college. I plainly explained to all of those converts that prayer cannot saved anybody; but rather, we are saved BY FAITH alone. I wasn't using a different Gospel, I was just leading people to Christ in a manner that can and has confused some people.

Now that I have honed my beliefs decades later and I know better—after having learned from my own painful experience with doubting my assurance of salvation for so long; and also having learned that I was saved by simply believing, and I didn't have to pray at all to be saved—I have perfect peace in the matter. I haven't had the slightest doubt or worry about going to Heaven for decades. It is the great Bible truth that faith saves, and prayer is not required, that gave me this blessed confidence. The only way that the New IFB can support their heresy is by selectively cherry-picking the Scriptures. If you read the Apostle Paul's definition of 'THE GOSPEL' in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, there is no mention of praying to be saved.

When the Philippian jailer in Rome asked Paul and Silas in Acts 16:30b, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved,” their simple answer in verse 31b was: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Again, there is no requirement to pray, but simply to believe.