You Cannot Be Confused On The Gospel And Be Saved

Acts 15:1 and 24, “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. ...Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment.”

The apostles replied to the controversy in Jerusalem by confirming that they DIDN'T teach the garbage being taught in town by the false prophets in Acts 15:1. Those hellbound lying false teachers were guilty of SUBVERTING MEN'S SOULS!!!

Dear reader, there is a dangerous idea circulating in some churches, Bible colleges and on social media today, which says if you're trusting the name of Jesus you're saved, regardless of what additional things you add to your faith. The Bible does not agree with such nonsense! 1st Corinthians 15:1-6 plainly defines “the gospel” for the reader as three things:

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

In particular, many Baptists today think that all Baptists are saved. I can tell you assuredly that many Baptists are NOT going to Heaven (Luke 13:23-24). Like other pseudo-Christian cults today, those Baptists who adhere to the foolishness of Misunderstood Repentance and Lordship Salvation have churchianity without Christianity. I have been a Baptist since age 12 when I received Jesus as my personal Savior. Thankfully I have had godly teaches who were doctrinally sound (Jack Hyles, Curtis Hutson, Max Younce, Hank Lindstrom, Harry Ironside, et cetera). So, I have a right to critique my own denomination for their increasing apostasy and doctrinal flaws. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!! HIGH MORAL STANDARDS MATTER!!!

There are approximately 47,000 member churches belonging to the apostate Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). A ministerial student in the SBC recently told me that he is in a good conservative church in the SBC. He is attending Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. The student told me that he highly regards their religious leader, Dr. Albert Mohler Jr.. But dear reader, Dr. Mohler is an unsaved reprobate if the Bible be true! Sadly, that ministerial student has been blinded by the Devil and is wearing rose-colored glasses.

Richard Albert Mohler Jr. (born 1959) has been the theologically incompetent President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Hillcrest, Kentucky since 1993. The man is a brilliant writer and loves to read many books. In that respect, he is a man after my own heart. I humbly think Dr. Mohler is a good man and sincere in his beliefs. That being said, he is unfortunately WRONG on God's simple plan of salvation. ...

“We don't affirm easy-believism.” —Dr. Albert Mohler Jr. 

SOURCE: 'Have We Really Misunderstood the Gospel for 2000 Years?' (you can read what he said in the transcript article; you can also hear him say it at 23:47 time in YouTube video)

Kindly said, what an incompetent religious fool! Only a fool denies easy-believism. Coincidentally, I heard an awesome sermon this morning by Pastor Jack Hyles from 1990 titled, “God's Memorial Day,” in which he makes this beautiful statement...

“You know why good works can't save you, 'cause there's no such thing as good works. ...The Bible says in Isaiah 64:6, even our righteousness is like filthy rags in the sight of God.” —Dr. Jack Hyles, “God's Memorial Day” (1990)

I also made this excellent excerpt today from the same sermon, in which Dr. Hyles defends the biblical truth of how easy it is to be saved. I titled the excerpt, “Easy Believism Defended” (John 3:14-16 says the Jews simply LOOKED to the brass serpent Moses' made to be saved from death, and likewise you get saved simply by LOOKING TO JESUS).

Dr. Mohler is openly a heretical 5-point Calvinist, which makes him an infidel, as was his mentor Dr. John MacArthur (1939-2025). These men are theologically dangerous, despite both being likable personalities and good men (as far as sinful humans go). Although I admire certain aspects of both men, I also loathe their corrupt view of God's simple plan of salvation. Getting saved has never been hard; it's easy, free and simple.

On his website, Dr. Mohler praises Pastor MacArthur's book, 'The Gospel According To Jesus' as one of the top 10 most important books written over the past 25 years. Dr. Mohler chose to quote this excerpt from Dr. MacArthur's toxic demon-spawned book...

The gospel in vogue today holds forth a false hope to sinners. It promises them that they can have eternal life yet continue to live in rebellion against God. Indeed, it encourages people to claim Jesus as Savior yet defer until later the commitment to obey Him as Lord. It promises salvation from hell but not necessarily freedom from iniquity. It offers false security to people who revel in the sins of the flesh and spurn the way of holiness. By separating faith from faithfulness, it teaches that intellectual assent is as valid as a wholehearted obedience to the truth.

Dear reader, what you have just read is the damnable heresy of 'LORDSHIP SALVATION.'

I am a graduate of Hyles-Anderson College (1985-1993). Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) strongly opposed and preached against the Devil's falsehood of Lordship Salvation. Yet, I have heard pastors (graduates of Hyles-Anderson College) wickedly endorse John MacArthur and his demonic ministry. SHAME!!!

Dear friend, you cannot be confused and wrong on God's simple plan of salvation and be saved. I understand that there's always a natural temptation to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. “Well, she just doesn't understand the Bible very good, but she is still saved.” No, she is not saved if she trusts in turning from her sins to be saved, or is following Jesus as the “Lord” of her life to merit Heaven. This was the fatal mistake the people made in Matthew 7:21-23. In Acts 15:1 those people made the fatal mistake of adding keeping the law to their faith, which blunder cannot produce the new birth by the Holy Spirit of God.

I wrote this blog to warn you dear reader not to fall hook, line and sinker for the deception that you can be wrong on the Gospel and still be saved. You cannot! You don't get to Heaven by “becoming a Christ follower,” which is a popular false teaching in SBC churches today, like the corrupt downtown First Baptist Church of Pensacola. I visited their Contemporary Service at 8:15 AM on a Sunday a couple years ago just to see what they're about.

At the end of the service Pastor Dave Snyder (the senior pastor) announced that a 12 year old boy in the church had “become a Christ follower” to go to Heaven, and everybody clapped for the young man. Folks, that boy didn't get born again!!! Did not Judas Iscariot follow Christ? Yes he did, but Judas sadly died in his sin of unbelief and is in Hell forever. Did not the crowds follow Jesus for a food handout? Yes, they did, but they were not saved, just like the accursed followers of Christ in Matthew 7:21-23. They boasted of their “many wonderful works” done in Jesus' name. They called Jesus “Lord, Lord” and had followed Him devoutly, but they were not His sheep. They had failed to simply REST in the finished redemptive work of Christ through Calvary's cross (John 6:40; Hebrews 4:10-11).

There are approximately 9 million Jehovah's Witnesses, 110 million Lutherans, 17 million Mormons, 1.4 billion Catholics and 2 million followers of the Church of Christ who all trust in the heresy of Baptismal Regeneration (i.e., you must be water baptized) to go to Heaven. Not one person in the Bible was ever water baptized to be saved, they were always baptized AFTER they trusted Christ. And many believers were never baptized at all, such as the repentant thief on the cross.

Dear reader, make sure that you are doctrinally sound on the Gospel. Your eternal destiny weighs upon it. Here is a helpful book by my ministry friend Michael. P. Bowen titled, “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” which excellent book will solidify your salvation beliefs if not already. I hope you will at least read the introduction. The book is based upon Matthew 7:23. I also wrote this helpful blog titled, “The Gospel In 45 Seconds.” Going to Heaven is free, easy and simple. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.

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.

One is saved by God's grace, through faith in the finished Work of His only begotten Son on the Cross, as payment in full as our pardon for sin. Jesus is precious!!!

The Sin Of Indifference Toward Gospel Accuracy

1st Thessalonians 4:13-14, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

The inspired Word of God clearly defines “the gospel” for the reader in 1st Corinthians 15:1-6. Yet, you'll hear preachers behind nearly every pulpit today embellishing, changing and perverting God's simple plan of salvation, adding words to the Scripture that God didn't say. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Case in point...

Pensacola Christian College Preaches Another Gospel

For example: I live in Pensacola. In my mailbox in 2023, I found an envelope from Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College (PCC) with my address and the words: “To Our Neighbor” on it. I opened the envelope and inside I found a booklet of “John & Romans.” The booklet has 64 pages in it. The Campus Church logo is printed on the front cover. I was shocked on page 60 when I read PCC's counterfeit plan of salvation. What I am about to show you from PCC was inspired by Satan dear reader:

“REPENTANCE — Now is the time to turn from your sin and embrace God. The act of turning away from sin is called 'repentance.' This word implies an inward decision to follow and obey God's will instead of your self-serving sins. It means changing your mind about sin and seeing it as something that grieves God. The Bible says that God patiently waits for all people to make this decision.” [emphasis added]

SOURCE: “John & Romans” by Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, p. 60

Do you still think I bumped my head? I've been exposing the Calvinist religious cult at Bob Jones University (BJU) since 2014, and now I have been exposing the cult at Pensacola Christian College (PCC) since 2021. By God's grace, I will continue to expose these wicked organizations for perverting the Gospel. Tragically, 99% of clergy today couldn't care less! They merely want to follow the herd, laboring in the ministry for the INCOME, not the OUTCOME. Today's churches are pathetic!

Smyrna Baptist Church In Pensacola Is A Bad Place

Here's another example: When I attended the shameful Smyrna Baptist Church in Pensacola in 2024, the place was spiritually dead. Their incompetent pastor Bill Adams is a Zionist, wrong on Bible repentance, and has zero love for hurting people. When I shared my broken life, divorce and chronic health afflictions with him, he just ignored me. What a lousy pastor! His wife is even worse, who deliberately dissed me in September of 2024 to offend me; that was her ungodly way of saying: “We don't want you here!” I kindly contacted Pastor Adams twice about what she rudely did, but as expected he just ignored me, so I reasonably never went back again. There is no genuine love at Smyrna. Our churches are dying folks.

I humbly think I know what their problem is too. They've been going through the lifeless motions of playing church for so long (decades) that it has become mundane, boring and repetitive. To them it's just a means of keeping the money coming in (Romans 16:17-18). The fact that they're willing to lose members shows me that PCC is likely paying Pastor Bill Adams' salary. PCC takes in $175,000,000 annually, so they certainly can afford it. I have no doubt that his daughter gets free tuition at PCC. This is just speculation of course, but something is very wrong when a pastor and his wife couldn't care less about losing church members. I never caused them the least bit of trouble and quietly attended their church for 8 months.

The leaders at Smyrna and PCC woefully lack God's unconditional love for people. No wonder Smyrna is always 85% empty, and I told that to Bill Adams the last time I contacted him in September of 2024. They also distribute toxic Chick Tracts at Smyrna, perverting Gods simple plan of salvation. I guess it shouldn't surprise anyone that if they don't care about the accuracy of the Gospel in these cults, why would they care about a hurting sinner like me?

Wicked pastors and Bible colleges are so busy today making money that they have no interest in making waves, splitting hairs and rocking the boat by contending for the Christian faith, which will draw attention to themselves. Sadly, these big religious institutions today just want to quietly take in tens of millions of dollars and let the world go to Hell. God's curse is upon PCC! They refuse to suffer reproach for the cause of Christ. They refuse to be put outside the gate with Jesus. As a fundamentalist Baptist Bible preacher, I am outside the gate with Jesus and have been for decades, despised and rejected by ungodly neo-evangelicals. To no surprise, now PCC is offering engineering classes, going secular. What a shame!

John 4:22, “Ye worship ye know not what...” To their utter shame, I actually found FOUR different plans of salvation at PCC, which just shows how little they care about right doctrine. Making money is what concerns them the most, whose God the Bible says is their bellies (Romans 16:17-18).

Apathy refers to a lack of interest, motivation, or emotional response, often associated with a specific condition or situation; while indifference is a broader term that describes a general lack of concern or interest in any matter. Both involve emotional detachment, but apathy is often more specific to an individual's state or condition. I'd have to honestly say that at PCC you'll find both indifference and apathy, toward people and the Gospel. The place is a spiritual mess!

Over the past 24 years of faithful website ministry since 2002 (by the grace of God), I have been saddened to see how few professed Christians care about the accuracy of the Gospel, the purity of God's inspired Word, or loving hurting and broken sinners. There is a disturbing vacuum of God's unconditional love toward sinners in the churches today. This is largely because many of today's pastors have been trained by corrupt Bible colleges—by educators instead of church builders who woefully lack compassion for people, by educated fools who deny that we have a perfectly inspired Holy Bible in the English language today, and who have succumbed to the Devil's falsehoods of Lordship Salvation and Misunderstood Repentance.

Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” I care dear reader! If you walk with Jesus you will care too. That gets me into trouble sometimes. When you care you get upset. When you care you make a fuss and throw a fit sometimes. I get angry over false teaching! I get angry over the evils of abortion, the evils of homosexuals adopting children, the evils of women wearing dental floss wherever there is water in America, the evils of over-taxation, the evils of open borders, the evils of publishing hundreds of different English Bible revisions, et cetera. I CARE!!!

It frustrates me that I am one of only a handful of caring Christians today who cry aloud against the perversion of “turning from your sins” to be saved. No such teaching is found in the inspired King James Bible, which is the only trustworthy English Bible today. It frustrates me that your average professed Christian nowadays is completely apathetic toward false doctrine, false Bibles, false prophets and even false Christs. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!

It's Okay If You Don't Remember When You Were Saved

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 think I was saved at the early age of 12. To be honest, I don't remember the year that I was saved. It is true. For many years I assumed I was 13 when I got saved. But last year I gave it a lot of thought. My parents had removed me from public school at the end of the 6th grade, and I attended a Christian school at a local Baptist church in Chicago for junior high and high school for 6 years. That was the best decision my parents ever made to steer my life into the right direction for Christ. If they hadn't done that, guaranteed, I would have gone to the Devil.

I got saved shortly after I began attending Christian school at a local Baptist church. So, I was 12 to 13 years old. I wish I knew the year I was saved, but I don't. I know it was early summertime. Pastor Jack Hyles was saved at age 11. Dr. Curtis Hutson was also saved at age 11. Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold was saved at age 18. Pastor Steven Anderson was saved at age 6. Pastor Harry Ironside was saved at age 17. It was in church. I remember the experience, but since I didn't tell anyone that I had been saved, no one could tell me to write down the date in my Bible. I wish that had happened, but it didn't.

The important thing is that I am trusting Christ now as my personal Savior. I know I wasn't born believing, but I believe now, so I must have been saved at some point in my life. I remember an experience in church on a Sunday morning. I remember that it was summertime. I remember that I felt convicted by the pastor's sermon.

During the invitation after the sermon, I clinched the back of the pew in front of me with my hands, and for the first time in my life I felt the Holy Spirit's conviction. I knew that I was a sinner. I was too shy to walk forward down the church aisle, but the best I knew how from my pew I asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. I believed that He died on a cross to pay for my sins. I believed that He was buried, but then physically resurrected from the dead three days later. I believed that I was calling out from my heart to a risen Savior, asking Him to please forgive my sins and save me from Hell. I never prayed audibly out loud, just silently from my heart.

I remember that in the days, weeks, months and years to come, I feared greatly that I was not saved. I desperately grabbed every piece of literature regarding salvation that I could get my hands on, but every tract and piece of literature that I could find ended with a requirement to pray a stupid sinner's prayer. That misled and confused me concerning God's simple plan of salvation. Since no one had ever taught me God's simple plan of salvation, I couldn't settle my assurance of it. It wouldn't be until I met Pastor Max D. Younce (1935-2023) online 25 years later that the Lord would finally solidify my salvation beliefs, and give me perfect peace in the matter of God's free gift of eternal life.

Dear reader, although there is nothing wrong and it is quite natural to ask, call or pray for God to save you, it is NOT necessary nor required by God to get to Heaven. What saith the Scripture? John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Repeatedly in the inspired King James Bible we are told to simply BELIEVE the Gospel of Christ to be saved. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” This one Bible verse proves Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016), Robert Breaker, William P. Grady and Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola all dirty damnable liars!!! No one was ever saved by WORKS under the Mosaic law, they were saved by faith in Christ just as Acts 10:32 declares.

Dr. Bill Grady preaches a perverted view of repentance for salvation. Beware of the Ruckmanite crowd who are corrupt to the core. The greedy Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola are militant reprobates, distributing their toxic damnable Chick Tracts, and preaching another gospel of partial faith in Christ plus turning from your sinning. What they preach is religious quackery, not a free grace Gospel message! If a man is wrong on repentance you simply cannot trust anything that he says. It is like buttoning a dress shirt, if you get the first button wrong then all the buttons that follow will be wrong too.

It's okay dear friend if you don't remember when you were saved, I don't either. But you should remember a moment from your past when you realized that you were a guilty sinner, and you by faith (taking God at His written Word in the Bible) placed your trust (faith, reliance) in the name of Jesus Christ, believing that He died in your place on Calvary's cross; and believing that He didn't stay dead, Jesus physically raised up triumphant from the dead the third day.

You get saved by coming to God as a guilty sinner (Romans 3:19-20), and you by faith (taking God at His written Word in the Bible) accept Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was build, but then three days later bodily resurrected from the dead for your justification (because if Christ is still dead He cannot save anybody). I believe, do you? And remember, if salvation is truly by grace, then you don't need to start or stop anything to be saved. Eternal life is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23). 

Always Explain What It Means To “Repent“ If You Mention It To A Lost Sinner

Mark 6:5-6 and 12, “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching. ...And they went out, and preached that men should repent.”

It is tragic that 99% of the people who read our text passage of Scripture from Mark 6:12 will wrongly assume that to “repent” means “to turn from your sins.” However, as I have already done for you, if you examine the passage carefully we find that the issue at hand is not one's sins; but rather, “UNBELIEF” as we see in Mark 6:6. What those people in Jesus' own country where He grew up needed to get to Heaven was to repent of their UNBELIEF, not their sins. 

Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches to “repent of your sins” or “turn from your sins” to get to Heaven. Wicked religious men added those words to God's inspired Word. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Should God's saints repent of our sins? Yes, absolutely (2nd Timothy 2:19). But to be saved, someone need only repent of their unbelief (Matthew 21:32).

And yet, if you research the pseudo-Christian cults (e.g., Mormons, Roman Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of Christ, et cetera), they all pervert the biblical meaning of repentance to teach that you must turn away from your sinful ways to get to Heaven. That is works, not salvation by God's grace through faith alone.

Romans 4:4, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” I love that Bible verse! If salvation has ever been merited by works at any time in human civilization, then God owed a debt to that individual, and it wasn't by grace. The Bible warns that this has never been the case. From this passage alone we KNOW that no one under the Mosaic law was ever saved by works, nor by partial faith plus works. According to Acts 10:43 remission of sins has always come only though faith in Christ.

The writer of the preceding counterfeit gospel tells the reader to “repent,” but he doesn't explain what that means. In today's wicked American culture where most churches falsely require people to be willing to forsake a lifestyle of sinning to be saved (which is reformation not repentance), it is absolutely necessary nowadays to explain what it means to “repent.”

I personally never use the word “repent” at all, simply because the Gospel of John (God's Gospel track according to John 20:31) doesn't mention the word “repent” even once. That is simply because repentance is automatically included with believing. That is, you have changed your mind from unbelief to belief when you trust Christ. Bible repentance simply means to “change your mind,” nothing more. The context of a particular Scripture passage provides the necessary supplemental information to know what we must change our mind about.

By deceptively merely requiring readers to “repent,” the reader can go either way in meaning and the questionable webpage creator knows it. Repentance means different things to different people, which is why it is so vitally important to explain what the word means if you ever use it. Like I said, I just don't mention repentance because it is not necessary.

A good illustration of repentance is flying from Chicago to Los Angeles. I can simply instruct you to fly to Los Angeles. It is not necessary for me to first tell you to leave Chicago, and then secondly go to Los Angeles. The same is true with leading someone to faith in Jesus. You can simply preach the Gospel (which means “Good News”) to a lost sinner, without first telling them to leave their unbelief. This is exactly why we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times in the Gospel of John, but the word “repent” is not mentioned even once.

You don't repent AND believe to be saved; you repent TO believe. Repentance facilitates believing. Please do as Jesus commanded in John 5:39 to 'SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES,' because 99% of churches and religious colleges are WRONG today on Bible repentance and God's simple plan of salvation. There are not 50 different shades of the Gospel, there has alway been only one plan of salvation (Galatians 1:6-9).

If you tell lost sinners to “repent” without explaining to them what it means, you are sending them up a potentially deadly creek without a paddle. You are woefully ignoring the reality that “many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1st John 4:1b). Don't you dare ever tell someone to “repent” to be saved without explaining yourself, because 99% of Americans have been lied to by the religious cults, to think that repentance means to turn away from your sinful bad habits. By the way, the meaning of “repent” in our English dictionary is based upon the Roman Catholic understanding of the word, which is NOT the biblical Greek meaning.

Behavior modification has absolutely nothing to do with the new birth. A changed life is the “fruit” of the indwelling Holy Spirit after you get saved (Galatians 5:22-25). A change of behavior has NOTHING to do with repentance to be saved. Whatever changes God wants to see happen in your life after you get saved is His department alone, and you can be assured that He will attend to it. God is not an absent parent (Hebrews 12:6-8).

Our only part in getting saved is just to believe the Gospel (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). All that God asks is that you believe Jesus did it all for you through Calvary's cross. Nothing more is required or allowed dear sinner! The only thing that you and I contribute to our own salvation is the sin that made it necessary. Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9).

THANK YOU for reading my ministry blog. To God alone be all the praise, credit and glory.

Beware Of A Sneaky False Gospel

2nd Corinthians 11:3-4, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”

Be careful about anybody who tries to make you doubt your salvation.

Salvation is not based on your performance, it’s based on what Jesus Christ already finished through Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago.

Religious legalism is the belief that individuals can earn God's approval and achieve salvation through strict adherence to rules and regulations (works), rather than through faith by grace. It emphasizes a change of external behavior as proof of faith, rather than biblical easy-believism which has absolutely nothing to do with one's behavior.

The moment a man starts tying your salvation to your works, he’s undermining your assurance and denying the sealing of the Holy Spirit the moment you were born again.

Good works are not the payment for sin, the payment for sin is death.

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.

One is saved by God's grace through faith in the finished Work of His Son on the Cross as payment in full as our pardon for sin.

We All Wonder Where Someone Went When They Died

Ecclesiastes 12:6-7, “Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”

Several notable celebrity deaths have occurred recently, including actor Robert Carradine, who died by suicide at age 71, and former New York Jets running back Matt Snell, who passed away at 84. Additionally, civil rights icon Jesse Jackson has also perished. Phil Campbell died, and the former guitarist of the band Motörhead. Also, actress Jennifer Runyon, known for her role in "Ghostbusters." Other notable deaths include actor Eric Dane, who battled ALS; and John Alford, a British actor who died in prison. Martin Short's daughter, Katherine Short, passed away at 42. These were all recent deaths!

We all wonder where such deceased people went in the afterlife. Is there an afterlife? Are those departed souls unconscious in the grave? Are they suffering in a literal burning Hell? Did they go to a literal place called Heaven with streets of gold? We simply do not know dear reader. If you believe the inspired Holy Bible to be true, as I do, then you believe that there is an afterlife. And you also believe that when a person dies, there are only one of two places they go go, which is either Heaven or Hell forever. There are no second chances beyond the grave! Once you've breathed your last breath on earth, and your heart has beat for the very last time, your eternal destiny is permanently sealed. I believe in an afterlife according to the plain teachings of Scripture, but I cannot prove that there is an afterlife and nobody can!

Dear reader, The Grim Reaper is coming for us all. The death angel doesn't discriminate. Today could be the last day of our life. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” James 4:14, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Life is so short in comparison to the timelessness of eternity. No one can escape death! You might be able to delay your death by living a healthy lifestyle, but you assuredly will eventually die. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Have you been born again dear friend? It's still not too late.

Death often come without notice. It could be a car accident. You could slip on the ice, hit your head and die, which happened to health guru Robert Atkin (1930-2003). Life has no guarantees. Comedian George Burns (1896-1996) smoked a cigar every day and lived to be 100. So much for the dangers of tobacco! Yet, he still perished.

Someone asked Star Trek film series icon William Shatner (born 1931) how he managed to live to be 94 years old. Shatner said it is just a matter of some good luck and genetics beyond his control. Sadly, William Shatner, best known for his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, does not believe in life after death and identifies as an atheist. Shatner's life is near an end but he is not prepared to meet His Creator. That is so heartbreaking.

I oftentimes wonder where AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcom Young (1953-2017) went in the afterlife. The Young brothers have been very private publicly about their family's beliefs. In sharp contrast, frontman Brian Johnson has publicly denied Jesus' deity, calling him a clever man who deceived the world. Woe unto the wicked! I feel so sorry for Christ-rejecting sinners like Brian Johnson, who blaspheme the Son of God who came down to earth to die on a cross for him. My trust is completely in Jesus Christ because of what He did to pay for my sins on Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago.

Lord willing, as I grow older in the time remaining of my life on earth, I will likely see many of my childhood musical idols pass away into the afterlife. I cannot help but often wonder where they are now. For example: Where did Olivia Newton John (1948-2022) go? Although she did profess to be a Christian, she was a heathen Roman Catholic, regularly visiting mass at Capuchin Novitiate in Santa Ynez, California. There is no salvation in the Catholic prisonhouse of religion. No one has ever been born again via sacramental salvation!!!

It will be interesting when I get to Heaven to learn where everybody went. If the Bible be true, then I am safe in the Father's hands, because Jesus is my only hope for Heaven. I have placed all my hope in the Gospel plus nothing. I hope you have that same peace of assurance dear friend. If you don't you can right now. Simply by faith (taking God at His written Word) accept Christ's sacrificial death on the cross as full payment for your sins. Believe that He was buried, this proving that He was dead. And then finally, believe that Jesus physically resurrected from the dead three days later for your justification and mine. That is, validating our faith in Him as the only begotten Son of God, the Christ. These three things comprise “THE GOSPEL” (1st Corinthians 15:1-6), by which all who BELIEVE IT are saved. 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.”

There's a lot of famous celebrities dying lately, and as the Baby Boomer generation ages we'll see millions more passing away over the next 25 years. Glenn Frey (1948-2016) of The Eagles died on January 18, 2016, at the age of 67, from complications of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia. I couldn't find any information about his beliefs. I have no idea where he might have went in the afterlife. The Holy Bible is nothing to shirk off dear reader. If the Word of God be true, you could end up burning in Hell forever if you neglect to obey the Gospel by simply believing it. Please don't delay if you've never been saved.

To Whom Should We Pray In The Godhead?

Matthew 6:6, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

John 16:23, “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.”

I don't find any certain command in the Bible concerning which Person of the Godhead to pray to. Certainly, we must realize that to pray to Jesus, the Father, or the Holy Spirit is to pray to God, for there is only ONE God (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Apostle Paul speaks of the "mystery of God" in Colossians 2:2.

The Godhead is a mystery indeed, but we believe it because the Bible teaches it, and the Holy Spirit bares witness with our spirit that it is true. God has manifest (or revealed) Himself to mankind in the Persons of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

I pray to all three Persons of the Godhead, usually depending on the circumstances. When I pray for guidance, comfort, or power, I usually pray to the Holy Spirit because the Bible mentions the Holy Spirit with those things. If I want something from God, I'll usually pray to the Father, asking “In Jesus name” as the Gospel of John directs us to do so. Daily, I speak with the Lord Jesus, just as I would a friend, Who knows and understands what it means to suffer and be rejected and despised of men.

I don't think it really matters to which Person of the Godhead we choose to pray, just as long as we understand that we are praying to ONE God and that we must come to the Father through the Son, i.e., in Jesus' name. Jesus said in John 14:6 that we must come to the Father through Him, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus is one with the Father, and the Holy Spirit lives within the believer's heart. The Holy Spirit is God within us. Thus, we pray TO the Father, THROUGH the Son, IN the Spirit.

This is not to say that we cannot pray directly to the Holy Spirit, knowing that He is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9), or that we cannot pray to the Son of God, Who is called the “Everlasting Father” in Isaiah 9:6. The Godhead (Trinity) is a mystery that unbelievers cannot grasp, because it is spiritually discerned. Unbelievers cannot reconcile their finite human thinking with the eternal truth of God. But as true Christians, we understand (1st Corinthians 2:14-17; Luke 7:35).

Here is a wonderful quote from Dr. Jack Hyles' excellent book, 'EXPLORING PRAYER WITH JACK HYLES' . . .

I remember one night years ago when Dr. John R. Rice and I were at a Bible conference together. Before he preached, he prayed something like this, "Oh, Father, breathe on me. Lord Jesus, help me to preach tonight. Holy Spirit, give me power."

After the service a young preacher came to Dr. Rice and said, "You made a serious mistake while you prayed to God the Father, then you prayed to Jesus, then you prayed to the Holy Spirit." He continued, "The proper procedure is to pray to the Father through the Son in the Spirit."

Dr. Rice looked at him with a sheepish grin and replied, "Son, I've been in the family long enough until I know all of Them personally. I just talk to whichever One I need to talk to at the time." The old giant patted the young man on the shoulder and went his way.

There is nothing wrong with the child of God saying, "Jesus, I love You," "Father, supply my needs," and "Holy Spirit, give me power." Sometimes we can be so busy being theologically correct that we can be spiritually empty! Oh, for the heartbeat of the Christian faith! Oh, for the lilt and joy! Oh, for the tears and the burden! Oh, for the warmth and the tenderness!

SOURCE: Dr. Jack Hyles, 'EXPLORING PRAYER WITH JACK HYLES,' chapter 35

The most important thing is that we understand it is only on the basis of Christ's blood sacrifice that we are entitled to approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:15-16). Amen!