Please Make Sure You Are Really Saved

John 3:3-7, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

Dear friend, have you been born again? I didn't ask you if you attend church. I don't want to know if you've been water baptized. I am not concerned if you have turned away from a lifestyle of sinning, because that is not how you become a child of God. Have you been born again? That is, have you been reborn from above by a miracle of God? John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The new birth is a supernatural miracle of God wrought in response to a person's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

More specifically, you must know WHO Jesus is. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. You must also know WHAT Jesus did for you:

1st Corinthians 15:1-6, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He was buried. Three days later He miraculously physically resurrected from the dead. That is “the Gospel” (or, “Good News”). You are going to Heaven solely by believing in what Jesus Christ did for you in His death on the cross for your sins, His burial and His bodily resurrection. If you are partially believing in “giving your life to Christ,” repenting of your sins, confessing your sins, confessing your faith, changing your life, loving people, church membership, water baptism; or anything else!, as part of what will get you into Heaven, you will wake up in the fires of Hell the moment after you die. These aforementioned things are all good works—but the Bible never promises salvation by works. Salvation is not by your good works.

So I ask you dear reader: “Are you really saved?” Have you been born anew from above by the Holy Spirit of God? Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. Seventh-Day Adventism is a prime example. Their religion adheres to the heretical beliefs of Miss Ellen G. White (1825-1915), which is identical to the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation. Sadly, Bob Jones University today preaches the same false gospel as SDA's, that you must turn away from living in sin to be saved. That is a works-based counterfeit plan of salvation, not the free gift of eternal life which God freely offers by His free grace. If you have been trapped into the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, you are not really saved. I plead with you to forsake the cult you've been entangled in, and flee to the free grace Gospel, which is by faith alone (Romans 4:4-6). The fraud of Lordship Salvation says that faith is not enough; but in addition, you are told you must turn away from your sins. 

Here is an example of what I am warning you about. Sadly, this quote came from the popular radio program called: 'UNSHACKLED' by Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. In UNSHACKLED program #3589 (aired in 2020), a woman named Debbie Brooks meets with a religious friend named Sharon:

SHARON: Trusting Jesus is the only thing that can make a difference in my messed-up life.

DEBBIE: I keep hearing that in church, but I don't get it—how something that EASY can be a life-changer.

SHARON: Oh Debbie, it's not easy—believing in Jesus means repenting and asking forgiveness for all the old ways, and then GIVING THEM UP FOR GOOD. When you find the COURAGE TO DO THAT, He'll help you CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

DEBBIE: Huh, well, I'll have to think about it.

Dear reader, what you just read taught by Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago is of the Devil, straight out of the pits of Hell. I hope you see how evil this is. According to this UNSHACKLED program, it is NOT EASY to be saved; because you are required to GIVE UP YOUR OLD SINFUL WAYS PERMANENTLY! That is “another gospel” accursed by God:

Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 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.”

Pacific Garden Mission are PREACHING ANOTHER GOSPEL!!!

The Gospel is not open to embellishment. There is a certain degree of allowable semantics in presenting God's plan of salvation, but the Gospel itself is set in concrete! Here it is:

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:”

There you have it—Jesus DIED, was BURIED, and miraculously RESURRECTED three days later. There is no mention of turning away from sins, forsaking the old ways for good, speaking in tongues, getting water baptized, joining a church, praying, confessing Jesus publicly, nor of anything else to be saved! The apostle Paul said this is, 'THE GOSPEL,' which Jesus personally gave to Him:

Galatians 1:11-12, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Do you know WHO Jesus is? Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Do you know WHAT Jesus did for you? Jesus died on the cross in your place. He was buried. Three days later He triumphantly resurrected from the dead, conquering sin and the grave! But do you also know WHY Jesus did all that for you friend? Jesus did it for you and me because we are guilty sinners (Romans 3:10-23). We are all guilty of breaking a holy God's Commandments (James 2:10). Therefore, we are needy sinners as well. We all need a Savior to redeem us, so that we can escape being punished in the fires of Hell forever without mercy. God has shown the whole world incredible mercy, through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son on the cross.

Dear reader, God desires for ALL humanity to be saved (2nd Peter 3:9). I don't care how evil you may think you are, “CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY” (Romans 5:6-9). That includes you, me, your pastor, Jeffrey Dahmer and the Golden State Killer. Christ didn't just die for our sins, He died for our righteousness too! Isaiah 64:6b says that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Dear friend, even your very best is filth to God. That is because even if you could live an admirable upright life of moral purity and goodness, even one sin makes you a guilty sinner in the sight of a perfect holy God. James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

That is why the whole lame idea that someone is required by God to “repent and turn away from their sins” to be saved is gross theological incompetence. Who can turn from their sins? Proverbs 20:9, “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” Yet, that is exactly what Dr. Steve Pettit foolishly teaches at Bob Jones University...

“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)

What saith the Scripture? Galatians 3:3, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Please notice the capital “S,” which refers to the Holy Spirit. That is, when we got saved, God's Holy Spirit came to live inside (indwell) our body permanently. We were born again by the Holy Spirit. And so the Apostle Paul is asking the foolish Galatians why they are trying to complete their salvation in the flesh. That is exactly what Steve Pettit is doing in his preceding false teachings. This is Calvinism by the way, teaching that a saint must persevere in holiness to get to Heaven. That is not the Gospel.

Notice that Dr. Pettit says four times “YOU HAVE TO.” That is works, not grace! There are only two types of religion in the world Dwight Moody said: DO and DONE! You either believe that you must DO something to get to Heaven, or you believe Jesus did it all and it's DONE! Steve Pettit says to be saved YOU HAVE TO do this, and YOU HAVE TO do that, but the Bible says something very different in Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” 

No, you don't HAVE TO do anything to receive God's free gift of eternal life, you simply receive it by faith. Just take God at His Word as recorded in the Scriptures. Simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He is risen from the dead. If the Good News of Jesus crucified, buried and risen is your only hope for Heaven, you are saved. Simply rest in the blessed Savior! John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”