There Are No Conditions To Receive God's Gift

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.”

The Apostle Judas had a relationship with Jesus, but John 6:70 says Judas was a devil. I never did like the term “relationship” because it is not found in the Bible. I think we ought to avoid using terminology that the Bible doesn't use. That is why I prefer to use the Bible word “Godhead” (Romans 1:20; Acts 17:29; Colossians 2:9) instead of the theological term “Trinity” when describing God. I was disgusted earlier today as I listened to UNSHACKLED, produced by Pacific Garden Mission (PGM) in Chicago. They have really gone to the dogs spiritually, teaching junk theology. PGM preaches another gospel of partial faith in Christ plus works! It is a heresy commonly known as “Lordship Salvation.”

While still alive on earth, Jesus PROMISED to send the Holy Spirit when He raised up from the dead. John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” That is why the blessed Holy Spirit is often referred to as the “Spirit of promise.” Every Christian believer has the Holy Spirit of God indwelling (living inside) them (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; 1st John 3:24).

Jesus came to redeem us from the curse of the law and sin, by paying our legal debt owed. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. Anyone can have this legal pardon from God, simply by putting your faith (trust) in His name. The moment that someone receives Christ's payment on the cross for their sins, they are JUSTIFIED, declared innocent, JUST-IF-I'D never sinned at all. Salvation is not a plea agreement where a person accepts a lesser charge. Salvation is the complete erasure of all of our sins. Micah 7:19, “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” I love this Bible verse! The Christian believer is justified from “ALL THINGS” the Bible says. Acts 13:39, “And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”

If you listen to the most popular preachers today, you will be confused, because they are confusing grace with works. Please read this article that I wrote about grace. At salvation, our POSITION in Christ is settled. We are now His child. That is the only relationship that matters. The Devil's preachers often mean something entirely different when they use the term “relationship.” They mean to live the Christian life, which is not the Gospel. Our POSITION in Christ was settled the moment we received Christ by faith as our Savior. Then as a child of God our CONDITION in Christ is determined by how we live. The latter is discipleship, not salvation. We must never intertwine works with grace!

By the way, I strongly recommend listening to one of my favorite preachers, Pastor Ralph 'Yankee' Arnold, because he is 100% correct on the Gospel, and you can trust his theology. But as I always tell everyone, the inspired Scripture is our only authority in all matters of faith, life and morality. What saith the Scripture? Every time we hear a sermon, we learn a little bit more. I like to think of it as little nuggets of gold, which I glean in every sermon that I hear. I am always looking for and collecting truth! I also highly recommend that you listen to the Gospel of John 30 times. Just let it keep playing until it sinks in. The Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract.

The reason why so many people are messed up theologically and confused is because they are listening to these ignorant preachers today, who confuse justification by faith, and sanctification by the Holy Spirit. We are saved (justified) by faith alone. Then as a born-again believer, God's Holy Spirit sanctifies (conforms us into Christ's image) as we are renewed by the Word of God. John 17:17 says we are sanctified by God's Word, which is the truth. John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Truth sanctifies us, but we are saved by God's grace through faith. We are saved by believing THE TRUTH, and then TRUTH sanctifies us. You can be saved without intending to change at all. Eternal life is a gift. You don't earn it! You don't deserve it! You don't have to make any promises to God to be saved. Just simply receive His gift by faith!

Paul mentions the phrase “according to the Scriptures” twice in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. Everything that I believe is based upon the King James Bible, nothing else. It is very important that we emphasize Paul's confidence “according to the Scriptures.” What saith the Scripture? The Bible is inspired by God, men's words are inspired by men. Lordship Salvation cannot be backed-up with the Bible. Oh dear friend, please don't listen to these horrible corrupt preachers today, who teach that you must forsake sinful behavior to get to Heaven. That is not God's plan of redemption. Many preachers today say to start a relationship with Christ to be saved, but that is a false gospel. It is what Jesus did for you on the cross, and not what you can do for Him, that saves you!

Having a relationship with Christ will not save you. You don't have to surrender total control of your life to receive God's free gift. The power of sin is broken by the Gospel when you trust Christ as your Savior. You don't turn your life over to Jesus to be saved, as Pacific Garden Mission heretically teaches. You simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31), and then when He forgives and saves you, His Holy Spirit comes inside to live (Romans 8:9), as you grow in grace studying the Word of God. We ought to think of getting saved as a new birth. 1st Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” There is such a thing as growing in grace. This is one reason why Lordship Salvation is wrong, it eliminates growth in grace. Proponents of Lordship Salvation frontload the Gospel, requiring of someone characteristics of a mature believer. That is just as ridiculous as expecting a newborn infant to crawl, walk or run a 26 mile marathon! 

I listened to 'UNSHACKLED' today, program #3625 - Aired in 2020 (the story of Cydanni Ade). Pacific Garden Mission is pulling on the same rope as the Devil! In this episode, the following ungodly heresy is taught...

Cydanni Ade: “I know, you're going to tell me He loves me unconditionally, and wants to be my Savior.” 

Stranger on the beach: “Yes and no!” 

Cydanni Ade: “What?” 

Stranger on the beach: “He does love people, but Him becoming your Savior HAS CONDITIONS!” 

Cydanni Ade: “I've always heard He loves everyone unconditionally.” 

Stranger on the beach: “Then, why does He call us to repent? If God loves everybody unconditionally, then you can do whatever you want, and believe whatever you think.” 

Cydanni Ade: “I know that's not true!” 

Stranger on the beach: “Right! So, God placed an absolute condition, by which He requires, commands all people everywhere, to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ, and live for Him!” 

Cydanni Ade: “Huh.”

Dear reader, there are NO CONDITIONS to receive a gift! A gift must be free and without obligation, or else it is not truly a gift. The very definition of “a gift” is something acquired without compensation. Yet these foolish these days preach that the requirement to “turn from your sins” is not a form of compensation. PGM preaches another gospel! Nowhere in the Bible does God require or command anyone to “repent of our sins,” nor to “live for Him” to be saved. Getting saved is not about having or maintaining a social relationship with the Lord. It is a judicial matter, just like a legal court case. We are all guilty sinners. God's law indicts and condemns humanity as sinners (Romans 3:19-23), putting us under a curse.

In UNSHACKLED program #3553 - Aired in 2019 (the story of Paddy Wrench), a woman says to Paddy that the way to be saved is:

“Talk to God. Admit you are a sinner. Repent of your sins. That means turn your back on the sinful life. Then tell God that you accept Jesus as His free gift as payment for your sins.” [emphasis added] —UNSHACKLED, program #3553 - Aired in 2019 (the story of Paddy Wrench)

That is straight from Hell! You cannot show me anywhere in the Bible that says to turn your back on the old sinful life to receive God's gift. The addition to turn your back on the sinful life perverts grace, negates faith, and cannot produce the new birth. There is a specific mindset that you must have to be saved, which is to wholly trust in Jesus' name!!! Paddy alleges that she got saved in 1973, foolishly saying:

“This was not an emotional experience, like I've often had in my life, this was a real commitment to Jesus!” —UNSHACKLED, program #3553 - Aired in 2019 (the story of Paddy Wrench)

Folks, you don't get saved by making “a commitment to Jesus.” You don't pursue “a relationship” with the Lord to receive the gift of eternal life, which implies the need to walk in holiness and live for Christ. If we have to surrender everything to live for Christ, then it is a reward and not a gift. A gift can simply be taken, period. You don't have to turn from the old life. I am so sick and tired of the perverted gospel being preaching on UNSHACKLED. 

UNSHACKLED is full of junk theology that is not Biblical. In another episode, program #3532 - Aired in 2018 (the story of Dee Dove), they state:

Sister: She [her mom in a nursing home] asked me if God would forgive her for all the evil she did.

Dee: And I told her, 'Yes, if she asked Him to forgive her.'

That is totally unbiblical. You don't have to “ask” Jesus to save you, He is asking you. The Bible already promises that God will save anyone who BELIEVES! The Gospel of John tells us 85 times to believe on the Son of God to be saved. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” I am not trying to pick on Pacific Garden Mission, but when they confuse people by obscuring the Gospel, embellishing it by adding turning from sinful living, they are preaching another Gospel. At the end of the episode (#3532) I just shared with you, the UNSHACKLED narrator leads the listener to pray a sinner's prayer, including asking Jesus to: “come into my life and change me.” That is not Free Grace Theology, it is Lordship Garbage! Christ automatically comes into your body and soul to live when you get saved, you don't have to ask Him.

PGM's UNSHACKLED episodes are infected with Lordship Damnation, and it is not a trifle matter! Telling someone to turn from the old sinful life is REFORMATION, not REPENTANCE. Bible repentance is a simple change of mind. It means to think differently toward the truth (John 3:21; 2nd Timothy 2:25). Repentance is to agree with God that you are a guilty sinner in need of redemption. Repentance and faith are inseparable. The man who believes has repented, and the man who repents has believed. To separate these two things into two different activities is to cast stumbling blocks before the people. Here is the best quote that I've ever heard on repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951):

“Which comes first, repentance or faith? In Scripture we read, 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' Yet we find true believers exhorted to 'repent, and do the first works.' So intimately are the two related that you cannot have one without the other. The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. Theologians may wrangle over this, but the fact is, no man repents until the Holy Spirit produces repentance in his soul through the truth. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God. And this is repentance.” —Pastor harry Ironside, 'Except Ye Repent,' p. 16)

The Gospel of John mentions the word “believe” or “believed” 85-times, without ever mentioning the word “repent” even once. This is clear evidence that faith and repentance are inseparable; and that by believing on Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, one has also repented. Repentance is acknowledging one's sinnership—admitting that I am as needy a sinner as God hath declared me to be in His Word. The Law of God was given “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). Adding the requirement to “turn from sins” totally changes the Gospel. So please remember dear friend that there are NO CONDITIONS of salvation, except to believe!