The Adverse Psychological Effects Of Lordship Salvation

1st John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

The inspired King James Bible teaches that anyone CAN KNOW that you have eternal life. You don't have to struggle with fear and doubt, wondering if an unpredictable capricious God will save you or not, hoping that you make it.

I once worked with an unsaved Muslim man named Ed in Chicago. I shared the Gospel with him one day at work, but he was grounded in his Christ-rejecting religion of Islam. I greatly offended Ed when I told him that, “I know I am going to Heaven.” He replied, “How arrogant to say that you 'know' you are going to Heaven.” He said, “You had better do your best and hope that you make it to Heaven someday.” I kindly explained to Ed that his faith was based in his works to please Allah, to earn his way to Heaven; whereas my faith was based in the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ done through Calvary's cross, and the promises of God. It was like talking to a brick wall. 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

Islam is an oppressive false religion rooted in fear and uncertainty. Likewise, the Devil's lie of LORDSHIP SALVATION causes so much needless fear, worry and doubt in people's minds. My long time ministry friend, Curtis Smale (1965-2022) wrote this helpful blog...

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LORDSHIP SALVATION

I have received countless ministry e-mails over the years, since I began my Jesus-is-Savior.com ministry website in 2002. Since then I have started several more websites and blogs. Hundreds of people have told me about their long time battle with fear, doubt and even thoughts of suicide because they were lied to by neo-evangelicals preachers. These people were terrified that someday they might miss Heaven and go to Hell forever to burn, because of the ongoing struggle with sinful bad habits in their life.

You see, they were lied to by preachers, told that they aren't really saved if they still live a lifestyle of sinning. Case in point, take a look at the damnable heresy that Evangelist Ray Comfort teaches. What Ray preaches is not the Gospel, not even close! It has been my joy over the past 23 years of ministry to help rescue people away from the sharp claws of these demonic preachers who pervert the Gospel of free grace, “teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake” (Titus 1:11b). See also, Romans 16:17-18 and Galatians 1:6-9). False teachers must be exposed!

I cannot warn everyone enough to RUN from Answers-In-Genesis and their damnable Lordship Salvation heresy. RUN from Pensacola Christian College and their "be willing to turn from your sinful bad habits" lie to be saved heresy. THESE ARE FALSE PROPHETS!!! Dear reader, please don't ever forget that: RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!! It really does.

The inspired King James Bible says in 1st John 5:13 that we can “KNOW” we are saved. First John is a commonly misunderstood epistle (letter). Bible students often quote from chapter three, taking John's words out of context. For example: One of the most cited phrases is “He that committeth sin is of the devil” from 1st John 3:8b. So, if taken by itself, we could accuse anyone of being unsaved who commits sin (which would include all of us). Some people would claim that this passage only refers to habitual sinning, that is, a habit of willful sinning. But this type of unbiblical thinking opens up a Pandora's Box of problems, worrying and fear for the ignorant Bible student.

This is one of the big problems with the fallacy of Lordship Salvation—a person can never know if they have crossed the line by sinning too much. If continuing in a pattern of sinful living is an indication that a person doesn't love God, so their faith is not genuine and they are not really saved—then who determines that point of no return? This just brings us back to the horrible Islamic false religion of my unsaved coworker from years ago, Ed, who was trusting in his good works to please Allah, doing his best and hoping that one day he makes it to eternal paradise. Do you see dear reader how Lordship Salvation is in the same sinking boat as Islam? In both counterfeit plans of salvation you can never really KNOW if you are saved, because the test in Lordship Salvation of being saved is your behavior.

Sadly, Pensacola Christian College (PCC) is woefully guilty of teaching the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation. Here is an actual screenshot from Wednesday evening, July 21, 2021 at Campus Church at PCC. I added the cancellation circle. ...

PCC is causing people to fear, worry and doubt God's gift of eternal life. Anytime that a pastor associates a change of your behavior with God's free gift of eternal life, he has lied to you! That pastor is theologically incompetent, a minister of unrighteousness and a child of Satan.

I want to go back to the matter of the Epistle of 1st John to finish up. As I mentioned earlier, passages like 1st John 3:8 are commonly taken out of context, used to accuse people living in sin of not being saved. That is not true! I humbly believe that the key passage to understand the Epistle of 1st John is found in 1st John 3:24, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” The inspired Word of God tells us that the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the only evidence that we are saved. Living a good life is not proof of the new birth. Loving people is not evidence of being saved. Anything that an unsaved person can do, cannot be used as evidence of being saved. No unsaved person has the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9).

So, as you can see, loving your Christian brother and trying to live a morally upright life cannot be used to prove that you are saved. The evidence that you are saved according to 1st John 3:24 is the presence of the blessed indwelling Holy Spirit, and that is something that only YOU can know. I have received numerous emails from worried people, who struggle with 1st John. Dear reader, it's as simple as this, if you can sin without any conviction whatsoever from the Holy Spirit, then you are not saved. I was saved at age 13 and from day day until now, the Holy Spirit has convicted me about the sins in my life. The Devil will convict you over past sins to discourage you. But God's Holy Spirit only convicts us over present sins.

The Epistle of 1st John was written by God to help the individual who professes faith in Christ, to solidify your salvation beliefs. God wants you to KNOW that you have eternal life. It is so important that you settle it once and for all, that your performance or behavior has NOTHING to do with God's free gift of eternal life (Romans 5:15-18, 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). We are saved by faith alone (Galatians 3:26). Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Please don't let some foolish neo-evangelical pastor confuse you, causing you to fear that you are not saved because of sin in your life. We all have sin in our life! The proof that you are saved is that the Holy Spirit convicts you about your sins. You CAN live like the Devil as a believer, and still KNOW that you are safely born again forever!

“'You can't tell me you can trust Christ as Savior, and then go out here and live like the Devil, and still go to Heaven!' Yes, I can tell you that! That's what the Bible says. If you don't come to the conclusion, that—Yes, you can trust Christ as your Savior and live like the Devil, and still go to Heaven when you die—you don't get grace, because that is the exact truth! That is the truth! I do not have to change my life! I don't have to stop one sin! You say, 'I've never heard a preacher say that.' You just heard one! And you listen to me—I want to live as holy and as godly as I possibly can. I am now 70 years old. I've been saved for 52 years. ... the only reason I'm going to Heaven is because, 52 years ago in a little living room, I accepted Christ as my Savior.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, a great quote from the awesome sermon, “Calvinism And Grace Are NOT Compatible”

If you remember a time in your life when you came to God as a needy sinner, receiving Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was buried, but then physically resurrected three days later, you are saved eternally friend. You don't need to worry about whether you're saved or not every time you backslide, or commit a horrible sin (what we call “deep sin”). God's promise of eternal life to those who BELIEVE ON JESUS (1st Corinthians 1:21), has nothing to do with the lifestyle that we choose to live here on earth. Biblically, we must always keep SERVICE (sanctification, Romans 12:1) completely separate from SALVATION (justification, Romans 3:28).

I Encourage You To Daily Listen To God's Inspired Words

𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝟭𝟬:𝟭𝟲-𝟭𝟳, “𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹. 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁? 𝗦𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱.”

I'm listening right now to an interesting 1974 sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles titled: "THE 5 MOST OFT USED SUBJECTS BY THE EARLY PREACHERS"...

https://www.soulwinning.info/sermons/ha050904.mp3

I cherish my collection of 3,334 sermons and Bible studies by Brother Hyles...
https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/playlist_preaching.htm

Preaching helps us think and live right! 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀 𝟰:𝟮𝟯, “𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲; 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲.” This is my favorite Bible verse.

“𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻!” —𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝘆𝗹𝗲𝘀

When I get down and discouraged, I often like to listen to Bible preaching by Pastor Hyles. Albeit, as Dr. Hyles himself taught, nothing can substitute for abiding in God's Word.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcR6ca8SrDg&t=28s...

Here is Alexander Scourby (1913-1985) reading the inspired King James Bible...

• https://youtu.be/OgFT_IxwJJY

Also, here is an MP3 archive of the inspired King James Bible as read by Willard Waggoner...

• https://archive.org/details/kjvmp3
• https://archive.org/embed/kingjamesaudiobible&playlist=1

Here is another precious resource; Dan Wagner also reads the entire inspired King James Bible...

• https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mims/kjv/gen.1
• https://kingjamesbibletruth.org/web-player

What a blessing to be able to sit back and just listen to someone else read God's inspired Words. I very much enjoy listening to Alexander Scourby read the Bible to me, because I can just focus on what is being said, without struggling to pronounce difficult names, or articulate the passage. I get much more out of the Holy Bible when I just listen to it. I love to lay down,. close my eyes, and just listen.

Something very interesting happened to me. Sometimes I like to listen to Alexander Scourby read the inspired King James Bible while I am sleeping. The key is not to set the volume so high that it wakes you up, nor set it so low that it is irritating that you cannot hear what is being said. There is a perfect volume. I don't know why, but when I am sleeping and certain Scripture passages are read, I wake up! For example: Whenever Revelation 19:13b is read, “𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱,” I wake up. There's just something about the phrase “THE WORD OF GOD” that captivates my brain and requires my attention, so that I wake up momentarily and then quickly fall back asleep. I think that is beautiful!

Anyway, I wanted to share these valuable precious resources with you. I've given you three different men which you can listen to, as they read the inspired King James Bible. These files are all FREE!

Nothing Can Replace The Holy Bible

Every Christian Should Be A Soul Winner

Daniel 12:3, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”

My Baptist pastor said something in a sermon a couple weeks ago that has stuck with me and encouraged me. He said that even if you win just one person to the Lord in your entire lifetime, it will have been worth it all. I really love what he said. By God's amazing grace, I've had the privilege of leading many lost sinners to the dear Savior. Amen and amen.

At the end of every year, I update the statistics for my Jesus-is-Savior.com website ministry. In 2024, by God's grace my website received 1,207,256 visitors. Of those visitors, there were 27,038 people in 2024 who spent an hour or more searching through the Jesus-is-Savior.com website. THANK YOU to all my blog and website visitors! In 2024, my web visitors drew 2,070,000,000,000 bytes (2.07 Terabytes) of bandwidth. There were a total of 19,354,984 webpage hits (pages viewed). To God be the glory, great things He hath done (and is doing).

Sadly, Google has been caught red-handed censoring Christian and conservative webpages, while leaving liberal webpages alone. In 2017, my Jesus-is-Savior.com ministry received 10,879,326 total visitors. Google has been horribly censoring my ministry's webpages. Google has removed all of my 400 abortion memes, banners and images. Very few of the images were graphic, showing aborted baby parts. Over 95% of the images were simply anti-abortion banners and signs, which Google has censored without providing any explanation. It is wickedness and an attack upon our First Amendment freedom of speech Bill of Rights.

Sadly, the U.S. government has been hijacked by criminals. Our own elected leaders are warning us. We're in trouble folks! Satan has taken over our federal government, social media and it's only going to get much worse. Next, you can expect to see a nationwide ban on the sale, purchase and trade of guns. This happened in Canada in October of 2022. Tyranny is coming to the United States! By censoring Christian and conservative websites, Google is effectively shaping public opinion. This is all necessary to destroy the Old World Order, to make way for the diabolical New World Order. I digress. Having said that, gratefully, God is still using my website and blog ministries to lead lost sinners to Jesus Christ with 'THE GOSPEL.'

The Bible tells us in Daniel 12:3b, “and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” I humbly think this Scripture refers to the grateful people in Heaven whom we have led to the dear Savior. They will adore, love and cherish us for sharing the light of the truth of the Gospel with them, without which they would be burning in the fires of Hell without hope, without rest day or night, forever and ever (Revelation 14:11, 20:11-15, 21:8). Soul winners will be the heroes, the celebrities, in Heaven (not some high school dropout who is 6' 6" tall and can win a basketball ballgame). We've got all the wrong heroes in America! Talent seeks attention; wisdom pays attention.

Dear reader, my pastor is absolute right! If all you do in life for God is to lead just one lost sinner to Jesus Christ, it will be worth it all. Your suffering, your sacrifice, your life, your patience—all that has happened to you, good and bad alike—will not have been in vain if you take one person with you into eternity. Although it is true that we cannot take anything temporal with us into eternity, we CAN send it ahead. Jesus exhorts every saint in Matthew 6:20b-21 to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Please don't miss verse 21, which teaches that where your treasure is, there your heart will follow. Many people get this backwards, thinking that where your heart is, your treasure will follow. But the inspired Holy Bible says your heart will follow your investment. People sometimes tell me that they have a problem with caring; they don't care but want to. Here is the answer in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” If you want to care more, then invest in someone. Pray for them. Do something kind, loving or generous for them.

There is a 95 year old Christian lady in our church. She asked me if I knew where she could get some unprocessed walnuts and almonds. I told her that I would gladly buy them for her. I went to the local store the next day and I bought her one pound each of raw unprocessed walnuts, almonds, pecans and pine nuts. I also gave her $95 for her 95th birthday. She was born in 1929. I am honoring her as an elderly person, which I believe is proper and right for the younger generations to do. We treat our elderly like garbage in America. I speak this to our shame as a society. Every time an elderly person dies, a library of information is gone.

By caring it helps me to care more. My treasure is people, and my heart increasingly cares about them the more that I invest in them. I have invested well over 50,000 hours into my website ministry since 2002. I did it all for Jesus, to help others, and I am laying up treasures in Heaven, the greatest of which is my converts whom God used my Bible preaching to turn from darkness to light. I don't spend time relishing in the work I have already accomplished, I am solely focused on the work ahead for Christ. Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

The adage is very true: “People don't care what you know, until they know that you care.” Sadly, I have attended many Baptist churches where I felt that the pastors didn't care. In fact, I know that they didn't care. When I handed the truth to them, they rejected it (Hosea 4:6). When I attended the shameful Harvest Baptist Church on Guam from 2013 to 2014, their incompetent senior pastor, Marty Herron, preached the Devil's deception of Lordship Salvation. When I befriended him with the truth, by giving Pastor Herron Michael P. Bowen's excellent book in defense of a free grace Gospel, 'I NEVER KNEW YOU,' he rejected it and was offended. I was harshly rebuked by the cult pastors and forced out of the so-called “church.” Let me tell you dear reader, any church with a pastor who preaches the lie of Lordship Salvation is a cult, not a New Testament church. Part of being a soul winner is warning people what is NOT the Gospel.

In 2024, I attended the Christmas Eve service at the neo-evangelical First Baptist Church of Pensacola. They are 1 of 45,000 Southern Baptist convention churches. During the service, the senior pastor Dave Snyder told everyone of their need to turn from darkness to light by trusting in Christ, but that's all he said. The pastor never bothered to warn anyone that you cannot add good works, turning from sinful behavior or following Christ to faith, otherwise it negates faith. But don't take my word for it. Jesus tells a horrifying account in Matthew 7:21-23, about a group of people who followed Him, calling Jesus, “Lord, Lord.” They reminded Christ of having done many wonderful works, preaching in Jesus' name and casting out devils. They did these things all in Jesus' name. Yet, the blessed Savior said to their horror in Matthew 7:23b, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Dear reader, this is where the falsehood of Lordship Salvation leads, to Hell. In case you still don't understand what this deception is, please read: 'What Is Lordship Salvation?' Lordship Salvation is an enemy of soulwinning, because it perverts the free grace of God. It misleads and confuses people, causing them to emotionally worry and fret whether or not they are really saved, doubting God's free gift of eternal life because of their struggle with sinning. They have been lied to by fools such as Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Charles Lawson, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, Adrian Rogers and others who preach the damnable Lordship Salvation heresy.

I encourage you dear reader to get busy soulwinning for God. I have several web visitors who are sharing my articles on social media. They share sermons by soulwinning pastors; such as, Jack Hyles, Ralph Yankee Arnold, Steven Anderson, Onorato Diamante, Roger Jimenez, Curtis Hutson, Max Younce, Harry Ironside and others. This is a ministry! Jesus promised that even if you give a cup of water to a child of God, you will be rewarded. Matthew 10:42, “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”

The true measurement of our success won't be measured by how many people show up to say goodbye at our funeral; but rather, how many people will be waiting to greet us when we get to Heaven. Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.

The Lie Of Believing With The Mind But Not The Heart

Romans 10:8-10, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

This is one of the most obscure and debated passages of Scripture in the Bible. And let me say, there is no such thing as believing in one's mind without believing in one's heart. That is utterly impossible. I love Pastor J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988), but he wrote a religious tract once that I absolutely hate. It is called, "Missing Heaven By 18" Inches." I wrote an article refuting this horrible lie.

The heart is a muscle about twice the size of one's fist that pumps blood. The "heart" mentioned in the Bible is part of the human brain, our subconsciousness. No one has ever trusted in Christ with their mind, but not their heart. That is impossible, because our mind and heart work together. I think what Dr. McGee meant is that it is possible to have head knowledge of the facts of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, but THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS TRUST. To "trust" the facts of the Gospel means that you personally have decided to make those facts your only hope for eternal life. This is faith, not mere knowledge. I love how Pastor Max Younce expressed this truth:

"Christ died, that's history; Christ died for me, that's salvation." Amen and amen.

So, if you my friend are relying (which is what trusting and faith is) upon the biblical truths that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 20:31); who died in your place on the cross, was buried and physically resurrected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-6; John chapter 19), then YOU ARE ETERNALLY SAVED. Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold says it this way: "To be saved just believe that Jesus did it all for you." By the way, I highly recommend that you regularly listen to Dr. Yankee Arnold's Bible preaching. He is one of the best free grace Gospel preachers today. It will help you become more doctrinally sound, as it has myself.

Matthew 9:4, “And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?” Here Jesus plainly confirms that the mind and the heart are essentially the same thing. Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” The Bible mentions thinking with our heart. So, we see clearly that the idea someone can only believe with their mind without the heart is utter foolishness. The heart is one's subconscious mind, which is involved in all thinking and decisions.

In Romans 10:10, the Apostle Paul says that we are saved by believing in the heart. This would automatically include the mind as well, since the heart is located in the brain. The human soul is comprised of THREE things: A mind to THINK, a heart to FEEL, and a will to DECIDE. These all work together. The spirit is our person, who we are, created by God. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says when we die, our spirit returns to God who gave it.

Singer "Sting" of the band, The Police, has it right we he sings, "We are spirits in the material." We are not a body with a spirit, we are a spirit with a body. When the tabernacle of this human fleshly body can no longer house the spirit, we go home to be with God (2nd Corinthians 5:1). Unbelievers perish into Hell beneath.

When Paul says in Romans 10:10 that "confession is made unto salvation," he is simply saying that we testify with our mouth what has happened in our heart. This is biblical. Matthew 12:34, "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." It is out of a believing heart that one's mouth confesses that he or she is trusting Jesus alone to save him. Many Bible students go astray by focusing on this sole passage of Scripture, while totally ignoring the entire Gospel of John.

Pastor Curtis Hutson wisely taught: “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” I love that truth! It is a mistake to base a doctrine solely on Romans 10:10 (which is what many fools have done), while completely ignoring the entire Gospel of John. Several dozen times in the Gospel of John, we are simply taught to BELIEVE ON JESUS to have eternal life. For example: John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” It would be wrong to teach that to get to Heaven a person must confess with the mouth, when no such requirement is found in the entire Gospel of John.

If you as a needy sinner are trusting (relying) upon Jesus Christ alone, because of what He did through Calvary's cross to pay your debt of sin, believing that He was buried, but then resurrected from the dead three days later, you are saved. There's no such thing as believing with one's mind but not the heart. That would be IMPOSSIBLE! It is unfortunate that some preachers are needlessly confusing people about this matter. If your only hope for forgiveness of sins and eternal life is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved. Simply believe that Jesus did it all for you. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

You Don't Have To Give Up Anything To Be Saved

Titus 2:11-15 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.”

Jesus gave His life on the cross to pay for your sins, He doesn't demand that you meet Him half way. He doesn't demand that you give up your sins or follow Him as “Lord” to receive His free gift of eternal life. All God requires is for you to believe that Jesus did it all for you. That's it!

I cannot warn you enough to RUN from today's corrupt Baptist churches (or any so-called church) that requires you to first be willing to forsake your sinful bad habits to get to Heaven. That is a works-based plan of salvation (damnation), not Bible salvation. For example: Here is a quote from their Statement of Faith at the Baptist Christian Church in Royal Center Indiana...

We believe that repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God brought about by the Holy Spirit. Repentance is characterized by godly sorrow for sin which is offensive to God and destructive to the soul. True repentance is inseparably related to true faith causing one to purposely turn away from sin and move instead toward God as an act of faith. (Luke 13:1-3; Luke 15:7; Acts 8:22; Acts 20:21; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10) SOURCE

There are THREE major heresies in the preceding Statement of Faith:

1. Repentance means a change of mind, period. Nowhere in the Bible do we learn that repentance also includes a change of purpose toward God. Wicked people added those extra words to God's Word (Proverbs 30:5-6).
2. Nowhere does the inspired Word of God require someone feel sorry for their sins to get to Heaven. I triple-dog dare you to show me where the Bible says that! When the Apostle Paul mentioned godly sorrow in his second epistle to the church at Corinth he was addressing saved Christians, not the lost.
3. Nowhere does the inspired Holy Bible teach that we must turn from our sins to get to Heaven. In sharp contrast, Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. He does not require that we be willing to forsake a lifestyle of sinning to be saved.

Do you see how bad churches today wrest the inspired Word of God, teaching false doctrines which poison men's souls and damn them to the Lake of Fire forever? Dear reader, you don't have to be willing to give up anything to be saved, Jesus gave up His life for you on the cross. 

All you need to do to be saved is simply come to God by faith as a needy sinner. “By faith” I mean to just take God at His promises as recorded in the written Holy Bible. If you'll simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that Jesus died, was buried and physically resurrected three days later, you will be instantly and forever born again (saved). This is the Gospel as recorded in the Bible...

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:”

That is the official “Gospel,” which means, “Good News”:

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

If anybody SUBTRACTS or ADDS to the Gospel, he or she is preaching another Gospel. The only thing that you need to know to BELIEVE THE GOSPEL is why you need to be saved, which is because you and I are guilty sinners, and the penalty for our sins is eternal damnation in Hell's fire and brimstone (Romans 3:19-20; Revelation 20:11-15, 21:8).

NO ONE has ever been saved who refused to admit that he or she is a SINNER (1st John 1:8-10).

One of my favorite historical preachers was Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951), who made this excellent observation concerning the Gospel...

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …

Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”

SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside, from the sermon: 'What Is The Gospel?'

Amen and amen! I encourage you to read Pastor Ironside's Gospel tract, 'What Is The Gospel?' Please don't allow any false prophet, who is really a wolf in pastor's clothing, to take you to Hell forever with himself. Jesus paid your debt of sin through Calvary's cross. He raised up from the dead and ascended into Heaven. Jesus sprinkled His literal liquid blood upon the heavenly Mercy Seat in the presence of His Father (Hebrews 9:12, 22-24; 12:24). All you have to do to be saved is to BELIEVE that Jesus did it all for you!

Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty! 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.

And remember, In Jonah 3:10 God repented, that is, He changed His mind not to destroy the people of Nineveh. If repentance means to turn from your sins, then how could God repent, since He is incapable of sinning? Tragically, many Baptist preachers (pastors and clergy) today are bold-faced theological LIARS! They are mere fools parroting and regurgitating the things that they've heard other fools saying, propagating the lies. This is why the inspired Word of God exhorts every believer to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES (John 5:39; Acts 17:10-11), so that we may RIGHTLY DIVIDE the Word of Truth (2nd Timothy 2:15).

No one has ever turned from his or her sins. The very idea is preposterous! That is why Jesus Christ had to die on a cross to pay our massive debt of sin, so that we wouldn't have to burn in the fires of Hell forever to pay for our own sins. You may clean up your life superficially, so that you cleverly hide your sins from others (living above reproach), but God still sees your sins. No human being has ever achieved sinless perfection (Romans 3:10-23). Jesus was the only person who was completely without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is the sinless Lamb of God (John 1:29).

God freely offers the gift of eternal life to anyone who wants it. You need not give up anything to receive it. Just come to God as a needy sinner and take His gift by faith, by simply BELIEVING the Good News of Jesus crucified, buried and risen the third day. There is nothing else that you need to do, nor that you are allowed to do, to get to Heaven.

God Knows Your Thoughts, So You Don't Need To Pray To Be Saved

Luke 6:8, “But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.”

My humble belief is that when you rightly believe the Gospel you are saved and the Lord knows what your thoughts are, and He knows that you have believed the Gospel.

At one time, someone said to me that if you don't pray, then how does God know that you want to be saved, so I let him know that the Lord knows your thoughts and I quoted a verse about that. Luke 6:8, “But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.”

In his helpful book titled, "I NEVER KNEW YOU," Michael P. Bowen eloquently writes in chapter 5...

The gospel message is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we believe that Jesus died for us and came back to life three days later, He knows it — He knows all of your thoughts — and He knows the very instant that you believe His gospel message. The instant you believe His message, Jesus saves you. Time and time again we see in the bible that when people heard this message, they “believed.” When they believed, they were saved that very same instant. They did not pray prayers of salvation asking Jesus into their hearts. They did not commit their lives to the Lordship of Christ. They did not determine to follow Him all the days of their lives in obedience to His Lordship or to the practice of discipleship. They simply believed on Christ alone as their savior.

It doesn’t matter how successful a ministry is, or how beautiful and satisfying their particular plan of salvation may be. If what they say about salvation does not match with what Christ said about salvation, their plan is counterfeit and falls under the label of an “accursed message.” Galatians 1:8-9 says, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

If you were to have asked Paul how to be saved, he would have told you the same thing he told the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31: “...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” And if you were to ask Jesus Christ how to be saved, He would tell you the same thing that He told Nicodemus in 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.”

Bravo to Michael Bowen for these truthful words! The simple Bible way of salvation is to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, which even a small child, or a mentally challenged person, or an uneducated person, or even a stupid person, can easily do. God deliberately made His plan of salvation very simple, so that anybody can have eternal life. All you have to do is simply BELIEVE that Jesus did it all for you. Just by faith (taking God at His written Word) receive Christ's death on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was buried, but then resurrected three days later from the dead. This is the Gospel according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4.

Thank you for reading my ministry blog dear friend. God bless you.

The Gospel Leads People To Jesus Christ, Not Us

Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

Over the 22 years of my website ministry, I have often been asked the question: “What is the best way to lead _______ to the Lord?” They sometimes ask, “What is the best way to lead a Roman Catholic to the Lord?” or “What is the best way to lead a Muslim to the Lord?” The Bible gives us the answer in our text passage of Scripture from Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

It is not our eloquently prepared words, cunning wisdom or articulated speech that will win a lost sinner over to trust the Lord Jesus Christ; but rather, it is the GOOD NEWS (the Gospel) itself that wins people to Christ. No matter whom you are trying to win to Jesus, whether it be a hardened atheist, or a blinded religious Catholic, simply share the Gospel with them.

According to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, "the Gospel" is comprised of three things:

1. Jesus DIED on a cross to pay our debt of sin
2. He was BURIED
3. Jesus RESURRECTED three days later from the dead in His physical body

The ONLY prerequisite to believing the Gospel is to know what you are being saved from. You are a guilty sinner, and so am I (Romans 3:10-23). There is a penalty for sin, which is death (Romans 6:23), which includes the Second Death in Hell (Revelation 21:8). You need to know what you're being saved from, Hell. So, if you acknowledge being a hell-deserving sinner, simply BELIEVE THE GOSPEL to receive eternal life. If someone refused to admit being a sinner, they would be calling God a ”liar” (1st John 1:8-10). No one has ever been saved who didn't admit to being a sinner in God's sight. That is why we need s Savior. The best way to lead anybody to Christ is to simply preach to them, THE GOSPEL.

We Cannot Save Anybody

By God's abundant grace, I've had the privilege of leading countless lost sinners to the dear Savior during my lifetime. Jesus Christ is the only Savior (Acts 4:10-12). I've been laboring diligently night and day now for the past 22 years. Lord willing it will be 23 years in May of 2025, since I started Jesus-is-Savior.com ministry website. But I fully know that the hundreds of people whom are my precious children in the Lord, that is, I led them to Christ; it was the power of God through the Gospel that saved them, not me. What saith the Scripture? 1st Corinthians 3:7, “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” I give all the praise, credit and glory to my blessed faithful Savior, God and Lord, Jesus Christ!!!

I heard Missionary Steven Heidenreich years ago sinfully boasting that he has singlehandedly led 200,000 people to Christ. I seriously doubt that claim! It is such foolish braggadocios tomfoolery why many people today no longer trust lying Baptist preachers. I am confident that hundreds of people have come to Christ through my global website ministry since 2002, but I don't go around boasting about it; I give ALL the glory, praise and credit to God alone.

I had the displeasure of meeting with Steve Heidenreich back in 2004 in Indiana, when he still worked at Hyles-Anderson College (HAC). I drove all the way from Chicago to meet with the idiot. I wanted to pursue missionary work and needed his help. He was worthless! Heidenreich was rude, weird, selfish and a first-class moron! I regret ever meeting with the incompetent fool. The jerk didn't even thank me for the meal that I paid for. I have no respect for Steven Heidenreich as a Christian, man or a Baptist minister.

All Mr. Heidenreich did during our ridiculous meeting was horribly brag on himself, that he had built over one million dollars worth of buildings in the Philippines for missionary Rick Martin. He made it sound like he and Darrell Moore were homosexual lovers, by the creepy way that he kept sticking it in my face how “close” they were. I do not trust this man. When I needed his help, Heidenreich dropped the ball big time. How in the world a fool like that was ever put in charge of their mission's program at HAC bewilders me! Proverbs 20:6, “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”

“There is power in this Gospel message. Most people just don't know how to present it... The clarity of the Gospel is what makes it easy for them to believe.”—Pastor Yankee Arnold, “WHY GRACE CAN SAVE THE WORST MAN!”