There Must Be Conviction Of Sin To Be Saved

Romans 3:19-26, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

There must be conviction of sin to be saved.
There are false prophets on both sides of the theological equation:

1. 1. One one hand, you have heretics falsely preaching that you must turn away from your sinful lifestyle to be saved.
2. On the other hand you have heretics falsely teaching that you can be saved by only trusting Jesus, without any conviction that you are a guilty sinner in God's sight. BOTH sides are in error.

When I got saved at age 13, I heard my pastor say that if you don't have the indwelling Holy Spirit convicting you about the sins in your life, you're not saved. I knew immediately that I had never been born-again, and that Sunday morning I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I simply believed the Gospel (i.e., Good News) of Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day. I didn't commit to stop living in sin, nor did I turn away from sinful behavior to be saved.

After I got saved, the first thing I remember was that the indwelling Holy Spirit began to convict me about the sin in my life. You see, this is how salvation works. It's just like buying an old building. Once the deal closes, you are the new owner. But now the renovation process needs to begin. In other words, your salvation DID NOT change you one bit!!!

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) preached a helpful sermon on this very topic called: "The Sin Question And The Son Question":

https://www.soulwinning.info/sermons/hp031118.mp3

To be saved, it is not enough to merely believe on Christ, you MUST also know that you are a guilty sinner, so that you will see your NEED for a Savior. You've got to know what you're being saved from.

And contrawise, it is not enough to admit you are a sinner and merely turn over a new leaf. Reformation (turning from sin), penance (making a mend) and penitence (sorrow for sin) are NOT Bible repentance. Repentance DOESN'T means to turn away from your sinful ways and behavior. Repentance is a change of mind, that's it, that's all, no more! God intentionally chose the Greek word metanoia, which is an all-inclusive, open-ended term. In other words, you must repent (change your mind) about whatever it is that has been hindering you from coming to Christ by faith to be saved. We are saved by believing, not by repenting. Yes, repentance is necessary for salvation, but repentance is automatic.

I absolutely love what Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951) said:

“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?
https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/BTP/Dr_Harry_Ironside/what_is_the_gospel.htm
https://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Doctrines/Lordship%20Salvation/ironside.htm

I heard a Baptist preacher tonight say that it is not enough to merely say a prayer to be saved, there must also be conviction about one's sin. I agree if he means that a person must be convicted by the Holy Spirit to realize that they are a needy sinner, to be saved (Romans 3:19-20). But if he means that a person must have a drastic change of attitude toward their sins, so that their behavior will change, then he is preaching another gospel. I am not sure exactly what he meant, but will be paying close attention to his doctrine in the future. I wish pastors would be more clear.

Dear reader, not one verse in the inspired King James Bible says to repent "OF YOUR SINS" to be saved. 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." I have little patience with pastors who pervert the grace of God, and then get upset with me for standing up for THE TRUTH. I would rather stay home from church, than to attend a cult that requires people to turn away from sinful behavior to be saved.

I fully agree with my friend Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold:

“Lordship Salvation is the unsupportable and unbiblical belief that the performance of good works, the promise of good works, or the evidence of good works, must accompany faith in Christ to establish or provide evidence that such faith has resulted in eternal life.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold ('Jesus versus John MacArthur')

RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!! I am saddened by how many Baptist pastors have become offended when I handed them a hardcopy of Michael P. Bowen's excellent book: "I Never Knew You."

Kindly said, Evangelist Billy Graham was a false prophet (1918-2018). I know that offends many Baptists, but it is just the plain truth. Billy Graham foolishly insisted that to be saved, a person must repent and continue to repent their entire life from sin, and openly acknowledge Christ in their daily life. Graham was a LIAR!!! We read in John 19:38 that Joseph of Arimathaea was a secret disciple of Christ, for fear of the Jews. And again in John 12:42-43 we read that many chief rulers believed on Christ, but they did not confess Him, for fear of the Pharisees. Clearly, Billy Graham was WRONG!!!

Dear friend, you DON'T have to turn away and forsake sinful behavior to receive God's free gift. You simply need to be convicted that you are a guilty sinner in need of redemption. Whether or not such a person experiences accompanying sorrow (penitence), a desire to make a mends (penitence), or a willingness to forsake sinful bad habits (reformation) is IRRELEVANT to getting saved, which is by faith alone in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26). Remember, Jesus paid your debt of sin in full on the cross of Calvary.

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty!

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

We must stay true to the simplicity of the Gospel!! Since the Gospel of John doesn't mention the word "repent" even once, repentance regarding salvation can only mean a change of mind from unbelief to belief!!! In other words, the man who believes has also repented. We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3).

The Apostle Judas felt felt sorrow (penitence), he returned the 30 pieces of silver (penance), he was a changed man (reformed); but Judas went to Hell in his sins without Christ, because he lacked FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 27:3 says that Judas "repented himself," but this is a different Greek word than is used for salvation. Judas merely felt sorry for what he had done.

We've got a bunch of uneducated pastors and preachers running around today, who are woefully ignorant of the Word of God. They clearly do not understand God's simple plan of salvation. THE TRUTH is that God saves us by faith alone WITHOUT WORKS (Romans 4:5), and then the indwelling Holy Spirit begins to change a person by sanctifying them with the Word of God (John 17:17; 1st Peter 2:2).

In every saved person there WILL BE some degree of change inwardly, because the Holy Spirit is now present; however, these changes may not be visibly evidenced outwardly. We read in Hebrews 12:6-8 that God WILL SCOURGE and CHASTISE every true believer. 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.” That is what the Epistle of 1st John was written for (1st John 5:13), self-examination, to determine if you have God's presence in you (i.e., the blessed indwelling Holy Spirit).

BEWARE of these false prophets today, who insist that to be saved you must feel utter conviction about your sins, so that you will turn over a new leaf and live a changed life. They are preaching damnable heresy, and I will go to my grave exposing them with all my might, by the power and grace of almighty God.

BEWARE of 'UNSHACKLED' (a popular worldwide radio program broadcast by the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago). I feel sick each time I listen to UNSHACKLED, as they say that getting saved is difficult and hard to do, because you must forsake the old sinful ways to get to Heaven. Folks, that is a counterfeit plan of salvation! Jesus Christ never asked that we give up anything to be saved. Jesus simply said that despite whatever doubts we may have, we BELIEVE ON HIM anyhow. John 6:37, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!

Beware Of Deadly Wrong Repentance Heretics!

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.”

Today's churches are in deep trouble! I recently heard a pastor bragging on Pastor Adrian Rogers, former 3-term chairman of the apostate Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Kindly said , Rogers was an illegitimate infidel of the faith, who errantly required lost sinners to invite Jesus into their life, turning away from sinful behavior, making Christ absolute Lord and yielding total control of one's life to Christ to be saved. THAT IS WORKS!!! Folks, that is NOT the Gospel, not even close. Eternal life is a free gift from God, obtained through faith alone by ANY NEEDY SINNER WHO BELIEVES in the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). If Adrian Rogers was saved, then the Holy Bible is full of crap, because nowhere in the Gospel of John (which is God's Gospel tract according to John 20:31) are we taught to invite Christ into our life as supreme Lord, turn away from sinful living and live a changed life to get to Heaven...

The False Gospel Of Pastor Adrian Rogers

And on that note, Pastor James Melton is just as guilty of preaching another gospel as Adrian Rogers, and cannot be saved either, lest the Word of God be uninspired garbage and unreliable. James Melton foolishly ASS-U-MEs that Bible repentance means a change of mind concerning how we live our life, but he is WRONG. Bible repentance (Greek noun: metanoia) is simply "a change of mind." God deliberately didn't tell us what that change of mind is about, using an all-inclusive term that is open-ended. In other words, you must change your mind about whatever it is that is hindering you from BELIEVING ON JESUS to be saved.

That is the great message preached throughout the Gospel of John!!! 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." Please don't miss Jesus' clear answer on how to work the WORKS of God to get to Heaven: "BELIEVE ON HIM."

John 11:48, "If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation." You get saved by BELIEVING ON THE NAME OF JESUS, THE GOOD NEWS (GOSPEL) OF JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED ON A CROSS, WHO DIED, WAS BURIED AND PHYSICSLLY RESURRECTED THE THIRD DAY FROM THE DEAD!!!

Nothing more is required nor permitted by God the Father to have eternal life. So where in the world did Adrian Rogers, James Melton, John MacArthur, Steve Pettit, Chuck Phelps, Bob Jones University, Pacific Garden Mission's UNSHACKLED radio series, Gary Walton, Sam Horn, Chip Ingram, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, William Lane Craig, Pat Robertson, Joe Hansen, Jared Baldwin, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Moody Ministries, John Hagee, Charles Stanley, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Steven Furtick, J.D. Greear, Marty Herron, Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, and other hellbound (accursed by God) fools and devil-preachers, get the unbiblical FALSE idea that to be saved you must ALSO invite Jesus into your life, turn away from sinful living (keep the law) with all your heart, surrender all to Christ, run the race faithfully to the end, count the cost and pay the price, live a lifestyle of repentance, prove that your faith to be saved is real by performing works, turn away from a lifestyle of sin, give up the old sinful ways, commit your life to Christ as supreme Lord of your life, and follow Christ faithfully no matter what the cost?

If you have any doubts about these ministers of unrighteousness, please send me a message and the name of the preacher you want to learn about, and I will send you the article which I have already written to expose ALL OF THEM as guilty malicious corrupters of the GRACE OF GOD!!! NO ONE is saved who is wrong on repentance.

Philippians 1:17b, "...knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel."

Matthew 7:13-15, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”

Romans Chapter 10 Is About Individual Salvation, And Not The Future Salvation Of The Physical Nation Of Israel

Romans 10:9-11, “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. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

There is a horrible false teaching circulating on the internet and in many churches today, which errantly teaches that Romans chapter 10 has nothing to do with the spiritual salvation of the Jews (and the Gentiles too for that matter). This Zionist heresy claims that Romans chapter 10 only refers to the future physical salvation of the nation of Israel, and not to individual Jews. I couldn't disagree more, for several reason:

1. Paul was not writing to Israel, but to believers. The Epistle of Romans according to Romans 1:7 was written "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." Paul was not writing to Israel, but to believers. Paul makes his appeal to them to preach the Gospel to the unsaved Jews:

   Romans 10:14-15, "How then shall they [the Jews] call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"

   Clearly, Paul is recruiting soulwinners from Rome to preach the Gospel to Israel. Certainly, Romans 10 is about eternal salvation. The only salvation which God offers to blind Israel today is to be graffed back into to their olive tree by faith. Romans 11:23, "And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again." But all Jews who refuse to believe on Jesus Christ will go to burn in Hell forever, without hope. There has always been only ONE plan of salvation, which is through faith in Christ. Acts 10:43, "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." People in the Old Testament (both Jews and Gentiles) were saved by faith alone (Genesis 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4).
2. The entire chapter of Romans 10 is definitely about spiritual salvation. I strongly disagree with those who think Romans 10 has nothing to do with being born-again. The first few verses of Romans 10 plainly reveal that the author is absolutely talking about salvation. Romans 10:1-4, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." The apostle Paul is saying that Judaism (keeping the Mosaic law) is a false plan of salvation. Paul addresses this same falsehood of Judaism in the Epistle of Galatians (Galatians 3:1-3; 5:4). Paul asserts in Romans 10:4, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Romans 4:5, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Paul's earnest desire was for those Jews who were trying to merit Heaven through works (keeping the Mosaic law), to repent (change their mind) and come to Christ by faith alone to be saved. This is very clearly the message of Romans 10. Paul's desire was for Judaizers to get saved. Romans 10:5-10 contrasts the righteousness which comes from keeping the law (which no man has ever achieved because NO ONE can perfectly keep the law), versus the righteousness of God which is by faith alone in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9). Salvation is a matter of the heart, to "BELIEVE ON HIM" (John 6:28-29, 40). John 6:47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
3. Those who claim that Romans 10 only applies to the physical salvation of the nation of Israel are basing an entire doctrine on a single passage of Scripture. I like what Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) said: "A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one." Romans 10:9-10 is an obscure passage. That is, it raises questions and can be interpreted different ways. The Gospel of John according to John 20:31 is God's Gospel tract, "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." Nowhere in the Gospel of John is the reader taught to confess, call, pray, repent of sins, invite Christ into our life, get water baptized, run the race, follow Christ as "Lord," nor anything else, except to "BELIEVE ON HIM" (Jesus Christ). In chapter's 19 and 20 we read about Christ's death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection, which is "the Gospel" according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, by which all who believe are saved. Thus, we can logically conclude that in Romans 10:9-10 Paul was simply saying that a believer confesses with their mouth as a result of having believed in their heart. Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Out of the heart the mouth speaketh. That is all that I believe Paul is simply saying in Romans 10:9-10. We must be careful not to add words to what the Bible plainly says (Proverbs 30:5-6). Romans 10:4 and Romans 10:10 are clear and plain that a person is saved by BELIEVING IN THEIR HEART on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31). The proponents of the heresy that Romans 10 only refers to the future salvation of the NATION of Israel, claim that since confession is required to be saved here, that this passage cannot refer to spiritual salvation by faith alone in Christ. However, as I have just shown you from the Bible, Paul wasn't requiring confession with your mouth to be saved; but rather, he was simply saying that we confess Christ audibly as saints because of the faith in our heart. Not one verse in Romans chapter 10, nor anywhere else in the Bible that I can find, teaches that Jews will need to publicly confess Christ in the future for their physical nation to be saved. That is a strange doctrine!!! Jesus said that out of the abundance of a man's heart the mouth speaketh. Again, a good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.
4. God is not a respecter of person. In my humble opinion, it is a mistake to say that Romans 10 only applies to Israel. Romans 10:12-13, "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Clearly, God is no respecter of persons and does not differentiate between Jews and Gentiles (Galatians 3:28-29). God desires for all men to be saved, and will save WHOSOEVER believes (relies upon) the "Good News" (Gospel) of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, the Apostle Paul didn't write his epistle of Romans to Israel, but to all the saints in Rome (Romans 1:7). In Romans 10:1 Paul said, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." Notice that Paul didn't use the pronoun “ye,” but “they.” He is grammatically writing in the third person here, speaking about the Jews, not to the Jews. Paul desires for Israel to be spiritually saved.
5. God will restore the physical nation of Israel when Jesus Christ returns after the 7-year Tribulation. God raised up Babylon to destroy Jerusalem in 586 BC, ending the kingdom of Israel. We learn in Hosea 3:4-5 that God will someday in the future restore the physical nation of Israel, when a remnant of Jews turn toward God through faith in Jesus Christ. God destroyed the physical nation of Israel because of His people's spiritual harlotry with idols. First with the destruction of the northern kingdom by Assyria in 722 BC; and then in 586 BC by Babylon. But God is not done with the nation of Israel, He will restore the physical nation someday. However, only born-again Jews and Gentile (who are all ONE in Christ the Bible says in Galatians 3:28-29) will inhabit the rebuilt nation of Israel. No Christ-rejecting Jew will ever enter into God's Kingdom, nor enter into Heaven, nor enter into the Promised Land in the future; but rather, they will be cast by the angels into the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8). Jews do NOT have a separate or different plan of salvation than do the Gentiles. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through  his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” ALL the prophets testified of salvation through faith in the coming Messiah.
6. To say that Romans 10 only applies to the future salvation of Israel is to say that there are two Gospels. This doctrine is strange indeed. Proponents of the lie that Romans 10 has nothing to do with spiritual salvation, believe that future Jews will be required by God to audibly and publicly CONFESS with their mouth Jesus Christ to facilitate the salvation of the NATION of Israel. But the Bible does NOT teach that at all. Hosea 3:4-5, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” God will restore the true nation of Israel when the Jews repent of their unbelief and BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ. They will not have a different plan of salvation than Gentiles or Jews do presently. There has always been only one plan of salvation, which is through faith in Christ (Acts 10:43; Romans 4:4-7).
   

Romans 10 makes it clear that a man is saved by believing the Gospel in his heart. We know that public confession is not necessary to be saved, because among the chief rulers "many believed on Him" to be saved in John 12:42-43, "but they did not confess Him" for fear of persecution from the religious Pharisees. The Bible says they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God, but they were still saved, because they believed on Christ. One proponent of the Romans 10 Israel heresy, insisted to me that those chief rulers didn't really get saved in John 12:42-43. Dear reader, that is preposterous! The Bible says many believed on Him. If you don't think they got saved, then what would be the purpose of John telling us they BELIEVED? Yes, they most certainly did get saved. And if you don't believe they got saved, maybe you're not saved, because the only thing which God requires to get to Heaven is simple childlike faith in the Good News of Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day. Dear friend, one big thing that I have learned in my 42 years of being a born-again believer is that the Bible is very simple. Anytime that someone starts complicating the Word of God, you know that they have got it WRONG!!!

We can only logically conclude that "confess with thy mouth" in Romans 10:9-10 refers to confessing Jesus because we have believed in our heart. In other words, we don't confess Christ audibly to be saved; but rather, because we are saved. This is NOT required to be saved; but rather, it is simply a natural thing that many people choose to do. What if a person was mute, and couldn't speak? Does that mean they cannot be saved? Does that mean God makes an exception for them? That would be silly. There is and always has been, and always will be, only ONE GOSPEL. Galatians 1:6, “ 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.” As we just read, there is only ONE GOSPEL. If people had been saved differently in the Old Testament, then the Bible would have said so, but it doesn't. If people will be saved differently in the future, then the Bible would have said so, but it doesn't. It is ridiculous to separate the future physical restoration of Israel, from the saving Gospel of grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. God will not save any unbelieving Jews! They will be utterly destroyed and cast into Hell forever. Romans 2:28-29 is very clear that only born-again Jews are true Jews in God's sight:

Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”

Unbelieving Jews are mere sinners bound for Hell. Saved Jews are of the spiritual seed of Abraham, and so are ALL Gentiles of the Spiritual seed of Abraham. Galatians 3:29, “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Beware of Zionist heresy (both political and theological) that idolizes manmade Israel since 1948. God promised to restore the nation of future Israel when the Jews repent toward God, which hasn't happened yet, and won't happen until Christ's Second Coming (Hosea 3:4-5).
No unsaved Jew will ever go to Heaven, nor see the Promised Land in the future. Romans 10:9-10 refers to being born-again, by simply trusting Jesus Christ as one's Savior, believing that He died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and then miraculously resurrected three days later. This is the Gospel, the Good News, or Glad Tidings, by which all who BELIEVE IT are immediately, irrevocably and permanently saved (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

Just because the Apostle Paul mentions, that those who believe on Christ to be saved make a public declaration of their faith with their mouth, doesn't in any way contradict or change God's simple plan of salvation. I agree with Pastor Max Younce's interpretation of this passage. The Jews had been warned by the wicked unsaved religious Pharisees, that anyone who confessed Christ would be kicked out of the synagogue (John 12:42-43). So Paul in Romans 10:9-10 is countering that evil rule, simply saying that it is normal for a person to confess with their mouth, their faith in Christ after they've been saved, and Paul encourages them TO DO SO. Every child of God should confess publicly our faith in Jesus Christ. But if we don't, we are still secure and safe in God's promise of eternal life, which is a free gift (Romans 5:15-18).

Paul wasn't adding a new requirement to the Gospel just for the Jews, nor was he referring to the physical salvation of the future nation of Israel, which is absurd. It is very clear from Romans 10:1-4 that Paul is absolutely speaking about getting saved here, individually. It is bizarre to me, that anyone would totally ignore this beautiful passage of Scripture in Romans 10:1-4, to say that verses 9 and 10 have nothing to do with being born-again.

The apostle goes on in versus 10 through 15 to say that a lost sinner ultimately cannot be saved unless they have a preacher. Lost sinners need THE GOSPEL!!! Again, how in the world can anyone ignore all this truth and claim that Romans 10 only applies to the physical salvation in the nation of Israel? Zionism rots the brain! Please run from the retarded Zionist garbage circulating on the internet, religious colleges and in many churches today. Jews are no better than Gentiles, nor does God have a more earnest desire in His heart for Jews to be saved than Gentiles. The inhabitants of Heaven rejoice just as loud and exuberantly when an African American gets saved than some Jewish rabbi. God is no respecter of persons!

What about Romans 10:12-13, “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” When I got saved at age 13, I called upon the Lord in my soul. That is, I asked Jesus to save me, and He gratefully did. Now, I was saved before I even cried out to Christ, because I already believed on Him just seconds before. The word “call” here doesn't mean to pray. In old English it was standard for businesses to say: “Please call again!” That simply meant that they hoped you would return and give them the privilege to serve you.

God wants to save all sinners (2nd Peter 3:9), even the vilest of mass-murdering criminals. Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-9). That means He died for you too! It would be God's privilege to save even the worst sinner upon the face of the earth. But the only way anyone can be saved is through faith in Jesus Christ. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Romans 10:13-17 simply reinforces the truth in Romans 10:9-10, that in order for a person to come to Christ, they must believe in their heart. You don't get saved when you call, but when you believe. However, it is a normal response to hearing the Gospel that someone would be compelled to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. But truthfully, they got saved the first moment that they BELIEVED, which is exactly what the entire Gospel of John teaches (John 6:28-29; 40).

Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Those 3,000 sinners were instantly saved simply when they GLADY RECEIVED HIS WORD. What word? Well of course, THE GOSPEL which the Apostle Peter preached unto them on the Day of Pentecost. Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” I love that verse! I love it! I love it! I love it!!! The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the churches of Galatian, just wanted to know one thing from them—How did you get saved? Paul asked them how they received the indwelling Holy Spirit (i.e., how did they get saved). Was it by the KEEPING OF THE LAW (aka, “turn away from your sins to be saved” lie); or was it by the HEARING OF FAITH? Boy, I sure love the simplicity of the Gospel. What Paul means is that a sinner gets saved by simply placing their faith in the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ when we hear it preached.

What saith the Scripture? Hebrews 4:1-2, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” For 40 long years the Jews heard the Gospel preached unto them by Moses, but they didn't have any faith in what they heard, so they perished in the Wilderness and sadly went to Hell. I love these simple passages of Scripture, which show us how easy it is to be saved to go to Heaven. Can anyone actually claim that Romans chapter 10 has nothing to do with God's gift of eternal life? Romans 10:4 plainly says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” This Bible verse applies to every human being that has ever been born!!!

Romans 10:14b asks the$64,000 question: “and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans 10:15a, “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” Oh, what a responsibility we have as God's redeemed children to preach the Gospel. We are Christ's ambassadors to this evil world (2nd Corinthians 5:20-21). Literally, we represent the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Paul is recruiter soulwinners in Rome. Paul is stirring up the saints at Rome, to go preach the Gospel to Israel, so they may be saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ, who is the end of the law to them that BELIEVE. I am frustrated by those heretics who totally disregard Roman chapter 10, claiming that it only applies to the physical salvation of the nation of Israel, and not getting people saved. They simply cannot back up their false claims with the inspired King James Bible...

Romans 10:16-21, “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. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”

As we just read, the prophet Isaiah boldly reached out in love to the Jews ALL DAY LONG with the truth, but they were disobedient and gainsaying (they challenged and disputed everything Isaiah preached to them). Here is the Old Testament passage which is quoted by Paul:

Isaiah 65:2-3, “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;”

The Israelites were sinfully practicing idol worship. They were a rebellious people. They rejected the Gospel. They all went to Hell, those who did not trust in Christ. As you can clearly see for yourself, Romans chapter 10 is all about spiritual salvation, and not the salvation of a physical nation. There is no physical salvation except to those who accept God's spiritual salvation first, which is only obtained through childlike faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:3-4; Philippians 3:9). Amen and amen!

I see this happen so often, where people who don't understand the Word of God, wrest it to fit their own flawed understanding. Since Romans 10:9-13 seems to present a different Gospel than the Gospel of John, some Bible students errantly conclude that this must be a different plan of salvation for future Israel. Folks, that is bad Bible interpretation. If Romans 10 were only applicable to the future salvation of the physical nation of Israel, then the Bible would have plainly told us so, but it doesn't! You have to wrest, stretch, bend and pervert the Holy Bible in order to conclude that Romans chapter 10 is not about being born-again through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) is so right:  "A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one."

Although I tremendously admire Pastor Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016), he was very wrong in some of his theology. Most notably, his teaching that people were saved by faith plus works in the Old Testament. Nothing could be any further from the truth! Acts 10:43 plainly teaches that ALL THE PROPHETS give witness to remission of sins through faith alone in Christ. Romans 4:4 is very clear that if salvation at any time in human civilization has, or ever will be, by works, then God would OWE that person salvation (which means it could not be by grace). Well, we know that salvation has always been, and always will be, solely by God's wondrous mercy (not giving us what we deserve) and grace (giving us what we don't deserve).

So, if you understand this foundational truth (that future Jews during the Tribulation period will be saved THE SAME way that all saints have been throughout history), then it makes no sense why anyone would claim Romans 10 is not about the same salvation. So according to the proponents of the heresy, that Romans chapter 10 only refers to the salvation of the nation Israel, Jews getting born-again won't be enough for God to restore Israel. Folks, that is strange doctrine. God will not require anything more of unsaved Jews during the Tribulation, except that they repent of unbelief and turn to Jesus Christ by faith to be saved.

Jesus plainly said in John 14:6 that NO MAN (and that includes all Jews) can come to the Father, EXCEPT BY HIM. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Toward the end of the Great Tribulation, when Christ returns and men behold great signs and wonders in the heavens, many unbelieving Jews will finally realize that the Holy Bible is true, and they will repent and BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. And then Christ will physically descend upon the earth, just as He left in Acts 1:9-11, seen of all the world (that doesn't mean the earth is flat...lol). I do not know how God will do it, but I believe the Bible. Revelation 1:7, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” Amen! They who pierced him must refer to the magistrates and soldiers, the wicked Pharisees, Judas and the ungodly Jews who wanted Jesus crucified. All of earth, Heaven and Hell will see Christ's return. Don't ask me how, because I do not know, but my God is a miracle working God.

Where the Bible is silent we should also be silent. Nothing in Romans chapter 10, nor anywhere else in the Bible, suggests even remotely that Romans 10 only applies to the salvation of a physical nation, and not to individual sinners. Thank you for reading my blogs. I sincerely love you in Christ, whoever you may be. Jesus is precious!!!

False Prophet John Hagee: Zionism Is A False Doctrine Of The Devil

The Jews Couldn't Perfectly Keep The Law, And Neither Can You Turn Away From Your Sins To Be Saved

Romans 2:11-16, “For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”

Under the Mosaic law, the Jews were required by God to observe numerous ceremonial laws. These were not laws required to get to Heaven, but to avoid national judgment if the Jews didn't obey God. This is why God chastised His people in Babylonian captivity for 70 years (1 year for every 7 years the Jews failed to keep the Sabbath Day). No one has ever been saved by works, nor by partial faith in Christ plus works (Acts 10:43).

Romans 3:19-20 plainly tells us that the primary PURPOSE for the Old Testament law of Moses was to give men THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN. This was necessary so that seeing their sinfulness, the law of God would bring men to Christ to be saved by grace through faith (Galatians 3:24-26). But many of the Jews didn't understand this truth because they viewed the things of God from an unsaved carnal viewpoint:

1st Peter 2:5-8, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”

As we just read, the unsaved Jew who knowingly rejected the truth of the coming Messiah, remained in darkness, and Christ to them became as a stumbling block. In His great love for man, God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world to die on a cross to pay our debt of sin (John 3:16). The coming Messiah (Jesus Christ) was supposed to be the chief cornerstone for the Jews, upon which everything else in the house of God would be built. But by rejecting the blessed Savior, the Jews instead made Christ a stumbling block and a rock of offence.

As we enter into the New Testament, we see these type of unsaved religious Jews, attempting to keep the law of Moses to merit Heaven. They utterly failed to grasp the true purpose of the Mosaic law, which was to show men their sinnership, to bring them to Christ to be saved by God's grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:3-4; Philippians 3:9).

In the Epistle of Romans, the Apostle Paul is writing to the believers at Rome (Romans 1:6-7), but he teaches them the truth, just in case some of them are not really saved:

Romans 2:12-15, “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”

Many preachers misunderstand verse 13, teaching that we must keep the law to be saved. Evangelist Dan Corner on the internet is one such infidel, who preaches a counterfeit gospel, damning men's souls to Hell. Dan Corner cites Romans 2:13 to support his false teaching that works are necessary to get to Heaven. But kindly said, Dan is woefully ignorant of the Bible. 

In the preceding Scripture passage, Paul is saying that whether a person is aware of the Ten Commandments of not, they are still guilty for breaking them. For the ignorant person who hasn't heard the Bible, God has still given them a moral conscience to guild them, so that all men are without excuse. That is why even in the remote pagan jungles of tribal groups in Africa and places around the world, sinful people still know what is wrong and that all wrongdoing must be paid for, so they cut and torture themselves as a form of penance, and even in some cases have sacrificed their children or themselves in an attempt to cleanse away the evil, hoping to redeem themselves. Man's need is God's proof!

The Pharisees and other religious Jews in New Testament times, were trying to keep the law of Moses to get to Heaven. But here in Romans chapter two the Apostle Paul rebukes them, teaching them in verse 13 that in order to get to Heaven, you actually must keep the law. It is not enough to merely hear the law, which is all that the Jews were doing! They were breaking God's commandments, but foolishly thought they could still get to Heaven in their false religion. They had utterly failed to understand the reason for which God gave His law in the first place, which is to show mankind our hopelessness because of sin, and our desperate need for the Savior (Galatians 3:24-26).

Dear reader, this is exactly what is happening still today in fake churches around the world. Unsaved religious people are trying to get to Heaven by partial faith in Christ plus turning away from their sins. But that is not even possible! Just as the Jews failed to perfectly keep God's law, so also cannot anyone today repent of their sins. Even the best Christian still lives a lifestyle of sin, as evidenced by Paul's struggle with the sinful flesh in Romans 7:14-25.

NO ONE has ever turned away from their sins! You may have exchanged sins like adultery, homosexuality, theft and murder for the milder sins of gossip, envy, slander, indifference, hatred and not praying for others, but you are still just as much a dirty sinner in God's sight. The ONLY difference between the holiest Christian and the unholiest sinner is the redeeming precious blood of Jesus Christ!!! You and I have no righteousness of our own (Isaiah 64:6). God alone is the believer's righteousness, which is through faith in Jesus (Philippians 3:9).

Paul makes it clear in Romans 2:12-15 that no one is without sin. We are all wicked!!! If someone wants to get to Heaven through keeping the law, then they must actually keep it! They cannot break the law even one time!!! James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” This should make it very obvious dear reader that NO ONE has ever gone to Heaven by keeping the law of God, because no one ever has perfectly kept it except Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:17). Jesus perfectly obeyed the Mosaic law, because He is sinless (Hebrews 4:16). That is why ONLY Jesus could be the acceptable perfect Lamb of God, who sacrificed Himself for us (John 1:29; Romans 5:6-9). What a Savior!!!

My friend, if those Jews in Paul's time couldn't perfectly keep the law to merit Heaven, then neither can you! The very idea that a person must turn away from their sinful behavior to be saved is of the Devil. It is tommyrot, poppycock and balderdash! Nowhere does the inspired King James Bible tell anyone to “repent of your sins” to be saved. The word “repent” is mentioned in several places in the Bible, but most of the time is NOT concerning salvation. For example: Repentance is not mentioned in Acts 16:30-31, when Paul and Silas simply told the curious Roman jailer to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” to be saved.

Neither is any form of repentance mentioned in the Apostle Paul's definition of “the gospel” in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, which he received directly by revelation from Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12). Neither is the word “repent” mentioned even once in the entire Gospel of John, which book of the Bible was exclusively written to convince us that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, so that we might believe and be saved (John 20:31). How silly and foolish it is then, to take just a very small collection of obscure Scripture passages, to base a new doctrine on them that demands for lost people to forsake sinful behavior to get to Heaven. It is simply another Devil's lie. The only thing that you need to repent of to be saved is the only thing that can keep a man out of Heaven, and that is UNBLIEF (Hebrews 4:2).

How To Have A Soul Winning Church

Chapter Five from the book: “Let’s Baptize More Converts,” by Pastor Jack Hyles...

Everything we do in the church should have behind it the underlying passion that men are lost and must be saved if they go to Heaven. Soul-winning churches must be made up of soul-winning ingredients. One cannot use pink and white brick in a building and have a red brick building. A housewife cannot use sand, red clay and mud and make an angel food cake. Neither can our churches leave off soul-winning ingredients and have in the end soul-winning churches.

Let us notice the necessary ingredients if one is to have a soul-winning church.

1. A Soul-Winning Pastor

It is utter folly to think that a soul-winning church could exist without a soul-winning pastor. Someone has said that everything rises and falls on leadership. If a church is to be a warm, evangelistic, soul-winning institution, it must be led by a soul winning pastor. Would God that every pulpit committee in America when seeking a pastor would settle for nothing less than a man who is an active soul winner.

“Is he married?”

“Does he have curly hair?”

“What seminary did he attend?”

“How old is he?”

“How many children does he have?”

“Is he handsome?”

These and many other questions are asked concerning the choosing of a new pastor when a pulpit is vacant. Oh, may God help us to ask, “Is he a soul winner?”

2. Soul-Winning Deacons

If a church is going to be a soul-winning institution, it must of necessity have soul-winning ingredients. The second of these ingredients must be soul-winning deacons. Far too many churches consider the financial standing of a man when choosing him to be a deacon. Being a businessman does nor make a man qualified to be a deacon. Being a successful politician, an influential banker, or a wealthy financier should give a man no advantage at all over any other man when it comes to choosing a deacon.

Literally hundreds of churches do not have one active soul winner on the board, and yet, hope somehow that this kind of an ingredient, added to others of similar weaknesses, will in the end bring a soul-winning church. This, of course, is foolishness.

At the First Baptist Church in Hammond, we have sixty fine, consecrated deacons. These men are not chosen because of their financial standing, their social position, or educational background, but rather because of their love for the Word of God and the compassion for lost souls. Let us choose soul-winning deacons.

3. A Soul-Winning Staff

The idea of hiring specialists for a staff is a dangerous one. To be sure, a music director should know music. A secretary should be able to type. The youth director should have a heart for young people. And the custodian should use a broom. But this should not end their responsibilities.

At First Baptist Church, we require every staff member to be a soul winner and spend at least four hours a week in personal soul winning. We would not want someone leading our choir in “Send the Light,” “Rescue the Perishing,” “Where Be Leads Me I Will Follow,” and other great songs who is not a soul winner. I would not want anyone typing my letters who was not a soul winner. How foolish it is to think that we can hire a pastor who is not a soul winner, ordain deacons because of their community standing, employ a staff of specialists and end up with a soul-winning church. If this is true, then two plus two equals eighteen.

4. Soul-Winning Members

According to the Great Commission, we are to teach new converts to go and get others converted. How sad it is that in many churches it is years before a Christian knows how to be a soul winner. And many a Christian, it is sad to say, never learns to be a soul winner. He simply is not taught. He is taught church doctrine, the Articles of Faith, and even church history, but not soul winning. Yet, many churches guilty of this error would consider themselves soul-winning churches, or at least desirous of becoming so.

At our new members’ reception, when we welcome new members into our church family, we give them a copy of my book, Let’s Go Soul Winning. This gives them a step-by-step set of instructions as to how to win a soul to Christ. The following Sunday night they are taught how to win souls. This is the first thing that our new members learn.

It is not unusual for a person to be winning souls to Christ within the first week or two after he is saved and many of our converts will win a dozen or more in the first month. This is the New Testament pattern.

The woman at the well of Sychar in John chapter 4 did not wait until she had a Bible institute diploma before going to Sychar and bringing people to Jesus. Andrew did not wait for a seminary degree before bringing Peter to Jesus, in John 1. Let us teach our new Christians how to become soul winners, and have a soul-winning membership.

5. Soul-Winning Worship

A pastor chosen because of his good looks, a deacon board chosen because of financial position, a staff chosen to be a group of experts and specialists, an untrained membership, and a ritualistic, formal Sunday morning worship service, do not equal a soul-winning church. If we are to have the pie, we must have the ingredients. If we reach the result, we must use the means.

Perhaps nothing hinders soul winning any more in our churches than our misconception of what worship really is. The Old Testament idea that God lives in the church house and that we come by to see Him every Sunday, making us enter the church as we would a morgue, and behave ourselves as at a funeral, is certainly discouraging to New Testament evangelism and personal soul winning. If we plan to have Billy Sunday results, we had better have Billy Sunday services. If we plan to have an evangelistic end, we had better use evangelistic means.

Now it may be that you do not want an evangelistic church. If this be true, then, you certainly have a right to use non-evangelistic methods. But for one to say he wants an evangelistic church and use methods foreign to such results is inconsistency. Let us have dignity in our services. Let them be planned decently and in order. Let there be true Bible reverence, but not the ritualistic order of service we have borrowed from Catholicism which tends to deaden our services, drive away the common man, and lessen soul winning and evangelistic fervor.

6. A Soul-Winning Mission Program

If we are to build soul-winning churches, we must build them abroad as well as at home. It is not enough to give great sums of money to foreign missions and not see to it that the foreign missionaries are winning souls. Often times a church will boast concerning the thousands of dollars it gives to foreign missions, and will actually get fewer souls saved for its money than a church that gives much less to real warm-hearted evangelistic missionaries. We should see to it the kind of work our missionaries do overseas is typical of the kind of work we are trying to do at home.

For a number of years now we have required each missionary supported by the First Baptist Church to fill out a questionnaire annually. He must sign a statement as to his doctrinal soundness, personal separation from the world, and loyalty to the First Baptist Church. He must give a report of his soul-winning and evangelistic efforts. A missionary who is not majoring on soul winning is dropped from our budget. Of course, we do not leave him stranded on the field. If he is completely dependent upon our support, we wait until his next furlough. I am simply saying that every ingredient of a soul-winning church should be a soul-winning ingredient if we are to have the desired end.

7. Soul-Winning Music

Few things in our churches have done as much to steal the spirit of evangelism as has our music. If one would have Billy Sunday results, perhaps he should try Homer Rodeheaver music. If one would want the results of Moody, perhaps he should sing the songs of Sankey. The kind of music that tends to build soul-winning churches is that kind which has been tested and tried in revivals – the kind which the people know and love; the kind which moves the heart and not the head, the kind whose words bring out the deep truths of the Word of God.

We use no anthems in the First Baptist Church. It is not because we do not like them but because we feel they are not conducive to soul winning and evangelism. We sing the songs such as “Rescue the Perishing,” “Blessed Assurance,” “How Firm a Foundation,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” “There Is Power in the Blood,” “At Calvary,” “At the Cross,” “Send the Light,” etc. Yes, these songs are sung on Sunday morning as well as Sunday evening. We do not delegate the Sunday morning service to God the Father and the Sunday evening service to Jesus Christ. We use the same type music in all of our services, believing that the Gospel should be preached on Sunday morning as well as Sunday night, and that Gospel music should be used if Gospel results are desired.

One danger here is for the pastor to leave the music entirely up to the music director. I do not mean that the music director should have no freedom. However, I do mean that the pastor should realize it is his right to have veto power. The general type music should be approved by the pastor. It would do many pastors and churches good to reconsider their musical program and see that it is the type music that will bring soul-winning results.

8. A Soul-Winning Invitation

There is an old spiritual that says, ” Ev’rybody talkin’ about Heaven ain’t going there.” We could paraphrase it and say, “A lot of folks talking about soul winning ain’t doing it.”

If a church is to be a soul-winning church, there should be a fifty-two-week-a-year consistency in its program of soul winning. Invitations should be given both morning and evening and a burden and compassion should be evident at every invitation. I fear the trend toward simply asking interested people to seethe pastor after the service, where no invitation hymn is sung and no sincere heart appeal is made for people to come to Jesus Christ.

Let us train soul winners to work with converts. Let us study carefully the invitations of the great revival meetings of the past. If we would have revival results perennially, let us have evangelistic invitations regularly.

9. An Evangelistic Budget

Check the budget of the average church and you will be surprised how little money is spent for soul-winning purposes. Oh, yes, we say we believe in soul winning, and at The same time spend our money for other purposes. As we draw up our budgets, let us support schools that train soul winners, missionaries who are soul winners, local mission projects that are after souls, and pay the salaries of staff members who win souls. Include in the budget such soul-winning ministries as bus routes, rescue mission, tracts, etc.

l0. A Soul-Winning Schedule

I have reviewed and read many church calendars. After reading them it is not hard to understand why our churches are not soul-winning institutions. Check the average schedule of activities for a typical church. It will include a mixed bowling league, the men’s soft ball team, the ladies aid, the children’s party, the youth skating party. See how many times you see anything mentioned concerning a soul-winning activity.

The poorest attended meetings of the average church are the visitation meetings. Ten times as many people will work in the church kitchen as will work on the church field. We pastors certainly find ourselves guilty as we plan our church programs. We preach on soul winning and schedule it right out of the church. We have plenty of time for all of our meetings and plenty of people attend, but so little time for soul winning. Yet we preach on soul winning and say we want a soul-winning church.

We want to choose a pastor because of the vocabulary, deacons because they are rich, have members that have not been taught, budgets that bypass evangelism, ritualistic worship, long-haired music, brief invitations, and using those as ingredients, pull out of the oven a soul-winning church. Brethren, it simply will not work.

11. Soul-Winning Organization

Here is a sore spot and a hindrance to building a great soul-winning church. Laymen who work hard all day and have a limited number of hours to serve the Lord or the church find themselves using these hours in unnecessary committee activity and finding themselves with no hours left to go soul winning.

It does not take a committee of five to put the flowers on the Lord’s Supper table every Sunday morning. It does not take a committee of ten to tell the music director what the special should be on Sunday. It does not take a committee of three to put an ad in the newspaper every Saturday. Why couldn’t these same people organize soul-winning committees, rescue mission committees, tract committees, house-to-house committees, visitation committees, etc., thereby utilizing what spare time the laymen do have in the fulfilling of the Great Commission.

We have trained churches full of specialists who attend every meeting except the soul-winning meeting; do church work, and yet, not the work that Jesus called us to do; and have a form of godliness but know nothing of the power thereof. The average church is so bogged down with too much organization that the people simply do not have time to carry out the Great Commission in their individual lives. Yet, we wonder why we do not have stalwart people; we wonder why the prayer meeting attendance is down; we wonder why the number of baptisms are down. We weep, and oftentimes even pray, over our lack of soul-winning fervor and at the same time organize soul winning out the back door of the church. Brethren, our people simply do not have time to win souls when they are committed to committees that have little or no purpose for existence.

At the First Baptist Church in Hammond we have helped to solve this problem by having many deacons and choosing each of our church officers from the board of deacons. Our board of deacons meet regularly and when our deacons are in session, every committee and officer in our church is present. There is no such thing, then, as a week-night committee meeting in our church. We operate on the democratic principle. The deacons are advisors, the church votes the decisions for the business matters on the floor of the church, and the membership is trained to do the thing that Jesus left us here to do.

12. Soul-Winning Liabilities

To be sure there are many liabilities that come with a soul-winning church. A soul-winning church may be a little noisier than the average church because it will have a lot of poor people there who are unaccustomed to coming to church. It will take them a while to learn how to behave as they should. Then a soul-winning church will also have more dropouts than a church that is not evangelistic. The more babies you have, the more likely you are to lose one.

The same is true in a home. If a couple wants to have clean walls, no dirty diapers, no baby clothes hanging on the line, no burping on a clean dress, no broken vases, no fingerprints on the mirrors, and no hand prints on the towels, then it is best they have no children. With children comes these liabilities. But blessed be God, they are worth every one of them! So are the souls of men worth the price we pay.

Pastor Jack Hyles baptizing new converts

The Hoax Of Having To Turn From Sins To Be Saved

Psalms 130:3, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”

In nearly every church that we attend today, we hear the Devil's poisonous lie that in order to get to Heaven, you must repent “of your sins,” which is nowhere taught in the inspired King James Bible.

In nearly every church today, and the apostate Bible colleges that mistrain today's theologically perverse pastors, you will hear the Devil's lie that to be saved you must turn away from your sins to be saved.

Yet, there is no such teaching found in the inspired King James Bible. I intentionally mention the King James Bible, because many of the Devil's modern Bible versions corrupt the Scripture, adding words that God did not add (Proverbs 30:5-6). Please don't use any Bible other than the inspired King James Bible. It will require that you study to understand it, but you will be getting THE TRUTH.

The obvious truth is that NO ONE has ever turned away from a lifestyle of sinning. Even the best of Christians still sin many times a day. In fact, we sin every second of the day. We are in a continual state of being a sinner! You are woefully in error if you think that you appear righteous in God's eyes when you are not engaged in doing something sinful. We were born in sin! Psalms 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

NO ONE has ever turned from their sins. James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” It is a Satanic idea that anyone could ever please God by forsaking a sinful lifestyle as a requirement to receive His free gift of eternal life. The only requirement of God for a human being to be saved is to realize that you are a guilty sinner in need of a Savior. Thus realizing your need you put your trust in Jesus Christ to be born-again. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”

Fools like pastors' Marty Herron, Chuck Phelps, Steve Pettit, Gary Walton and John MacArthur, are sending people to Hell with their demonic false plan of salvation. You cannot get to Heaven by partial faith in Christ PLUS keeping the law. As we just clearly read in Philippians 3:9, we are NOT saved by our own righteousness, WHICH IS OF THE LAW. Those deadly preachers today who falsely teach that you must “turn away from your sinful ways” to receive God's free gift of eternal life, are LIARS!!!

To the carnal man who is not a child of God, it seems reasonable that to get to Heaven you must first give up your desire to wilfully commit sin, and forsake a life of sinning. That does seem reasonable from a human point of view. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” These foolish neo-evangelical pastors today in the shameful Bob Jones University camp, Southern Baptist Convention, Faith Bible College And Theological Seminary and umpteen more corrupt organizations, are leaning upon their own understanding, not trusting the Lord.

The FACT of the matter is that nowhere does the Bible teach you must try to stop sinning to be saved. The very idea is offensive to the precious blood that Jesus shed on the cross to pay for our sins! JESUS PAID IT ALL!!! Listen dear friend, God's gift of salvation is NOT a reward or exchange of some sort, where you are required to give something in return to Christ for His payment for your sins. Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross to purchase our redemption, because you and I were guilty sinners under the curse of the Old Testament law. Galatians 3:10, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”

We were all cursed from birth because of our sinful nature. When you get saved, by faith alone in Jesus Christ, then you are no longer under the curse of the law, you are now and forever under God's saving grace. Romans 5:20, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” A believer cannot fall from grace. As God's children, we can only fall IN GRACE, but never FROM GRACE! Only the unsaved person has fallen from God's saving grace (Galatians 5:4), which is what has happened to Marty Herron, Steve Pettit and Gary Walton—they have all fallen from God's grace, unable to go to Heaven as long as they think that a person must keep the law (i.e., turn from your sins) to be saved.

So please don't make the same damnable error friend. Salvation is solely of the Lord. 

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty!

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

We must stay true to the simplicity of the gospel!! Repentance regarding salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief!!! We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3).

It Is God's Gift To Be Able To Write Blogs For Jesus

2nd Corinthians 9:1, “For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous (more than is needed, desired or required) for me to write to you:”

Philippians 3:1, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”

2nd John 1:12, “Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.”

3rd John 1:13, “I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:”

Jude 1:3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

I love those tremendous Scripture passages. My mind is always thinking about truths, ideas and people that I pray for. God knows that I care. Little things are important. Our great God is not so high and holy (like many horrible pastors today), that He is too busy to pay attention to the details. If you pay attention dear reader, you will find that the Christians who care the most are the ones who pay attention to details. God pays attention to the small details. God sees every bird that falls from the sky (Matthew 10:29). God knows the exact changing number of hairs upon our head (Matthew 10:30). God sees when we lie down and when we get up from our bed, and He knows our every thought (Psalms 139:1-6). Nothing is hidden from the omniscient eyes of God almighty. Hebrews 4:13, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Amen! Nothing is hidden from our awesome God!!!

I don't know about you, but I want to care about the LITTLE THINGS that matter. When I go to the grocery store, I always grab an empty cart in the parking lot to bring back in the store. I'm going that way anyway. It might seem like a small thing, but it is really a big thing, because it is caring. God cares! I see dozens of shopping carts left in store parking lots everywhere I go. That shows how selfish Americans have become. There is one that cometh after you friend!

I was thinking today of the wonderful gift God has given to me of writing website articles and blogs. There are so many unsaved, confused, lonely and hurting people in this world. A dear man wrote to me today, who thanked me for my website ministry. I never give out any names. Just so you know, I keep everything confidential that you tell me. He said that God had used my writings to help and bless his life. He spoke of trials and circumstances that took him to the bottom of life (I've been there!). I wrote back to encourage my dear brother in Christ, and shared with him helpful books on salvation, since he said he had concerns about Heaven. What a blessed privilege to be able to feed Jesus' sheep!!!

One of the most common things that I've been told over the years by my web visitors, is that they have emailed pastors who either didn't care, didn't respond or mistreated them. I thank God for the opportunity to help those rejected people. It matters how we treat people! It really does. I've learned that people just want to be loved, so let's love the hell out of them!!! God pity and deliver us from today's shallow, uncaring, superficial and phony type of Christianity at Pensacola Christian College, that doesn't care if someone is sleeping in Walmart's parking lot. 

The first day that I met Pastor Jeff Redlin on July 4th, 2021, at the Campus Church picnic, I told him that I had just arrived from the island of Guam 36 hours earlier, and the hotel that I made reservations at a month ago, screwed me, leaving my homeless. So I told Pastor Redlin the truth that I was sleeping in Walmart's parking lot. I saw the startled look on his face, that he was surprised and thinking, and then he just walked away, not to return. Folks, that is not a caring pastor. That is not a spirit-filled man.

Pastor Jeff Redlin missed a wonderful blessed opportunity that God gave to him, who could have helped me that day, but he dropped the ball and blew it, leaving his Christian brother to sleep in Walmart's parking lot. With several hundred church members present at the picnic, I'm sure anybody would have helped me, if their pastor had simply asked them, but he didn't care at all. I don't hate Pastor Redlin, but I concluded after being ignored, mistreated and insulted by him in July of 2021 that he doesn't care about people.

When I told Pastor Redlin that I was divorced and lonely, and hoped to find a wife at Campus Church, he shamefully scolded me, jumping to the false conclusion that the only reason I came to Campus Church was to find a wife. That is a belligerent and foolish pastor. Something is terrible wrong with Jeff Redlin, for which he ought not be a pastor. A pastor needs to have God's unconditional love for everyone. You don't scold a 54 year old divorced man for saying that he hopes to find a wife. Jeff Redlin has a wife for comfort, sex, companionship and home-cooked meals. But I'm supposed to eat at McDonalds, relieve myself with a pillow and napkins, buy a dog for companionship and suffer loneliness for the rest of my life. This is the INSANE mindset of the entire Pensacola Christian College camp, for which they royally suck rotten eggs!!!

There is not a more hypocritical, unbalanced, unrealistic and unfair group today than the PCC camp. SHAME on Jeff Redlin! SHAME on Campus Church! SHAME on Pensacola Christian College, for berating and making single divorced people who hope to remarry feel like garbage. What saith the Scripture? 1st Corinthians 7:1-2, “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.” There you have it, in plain English. Evidently Pastor Jeff Redlin would rather that a man go to the brothel for the rest of his life to cope with his libido.

Do you really think that our great God doesn't care about divorced people? Some people can live alone and live without carnal knowledge (physical intimacy), but most men cannot! Many divorced men will go to Hell one day, because they wouldn't have anything to do with the hypocrites at PCC. It is the same as Christians who believe that the earth if flat. Normal people who are lost without Jesus Christ WON'T listen to a flat-earth NUT when they try to preach the Gospel. I sure wouldn't! The Young Earth Creation heresy is another rotten apple. I have heard many unsaved people criticize Christian NUTS who believe that dinosaurs walked the earth 5,000 years ago. Folks, these may seem like little things, but God does not. These are important issues. Science, the Bible and common sense teach an Old Earth.

I don't enjoy using strong language at times when I write, but it needs to be done! At times I may seem rude and crude with my words, but it only because I am preaching THE TRUTH as it should be preached, direct, to the point and without compromise or apology! I am calling Pensacola Christian College out for the mistreatment of divorced people and former students. They owe me a big apology at PCC, for their horrible senior pastor who woefully lacks compassion! Jeff Redlin is the opposite of humble. He is full of sinful pride, ego and stubbornness to apologize and make things right. The only apology you'll ever get from Mr. Redlin will be full of excuses, and junk like: “It was unintentional.” Redlin is a liar! He never did apologize for scolding me for hoping to find a wife at Campus Church. Pastor Redlin is not God, but he acts like it when he condemns people for being human (John 3:17).

I care about little things, which is exactly why I preach against phonies like Pastor Jeff Redlin, and I will continue to do so. It matters how we treat people. When someone asks me to pray for them, I PRAY FOR THEM!!! God knows that I have never once missed a rent payment in my life. Since 1993, I have never been late on paying a bill, except one time when the U.S. Postal Service got lazy and someone failed to do their job, leaving the mailbox at O'Hare Airport in Chicago full for weeks. My credit card payment sat idle in their mailbox. As saints our testimony affects others. That is exactly what the inspired Holy Bible means in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Paying our bills on time as Christians is important, because we are ambassadors for Christ here on earth (2nd Corinthians 5:20-21).

Before 1993, when I was struggling to find a good job, during the nationwide recession around 1990-1993, I had difficulty paying my bills. When for the first time I had some checks bounce in 1989, I immediately closed my checking account and for the next few years paid all my bills with Money Orders. You know what, I NEVER had another bad check bounce, because I didn't use checks anymore! It is easy to hit the bottom of one's bank account when you're always scraping close to the bottom. I've been there! Psalms 37:21, “The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.”

Little things are very important, not only to God, but also to other people with whom we interact. I bought some small pecans pies at a local gift store for a 91 year old lady in our church, just to let her know that I care. Jesus didn't spend His time selfishly thinking about Himself. The Bible says that He continually thought upon the things of OTHERS, thinking of ways that He could be a blessing. I'm confident that as a carpenter that Jesus fixed a lot of broken things for free, showing God's unconditional love, for He is God almighty and our blessed Savior (to those who have believed on Him - Romans 1:16).

All these shameful big name preachers today, like Pat Robertson and Benny Hinn, who dishonestly lie and con people out of their money are of the Devil (John 8:44). LIARS!!! Benny Hinn was proven a blatant fraud by the media many years ago. Pat Robertson and company have been lying to people for decades, falsely promising divine healing through their TV sets. Anytime that money is involved with God healing anyone, you KNOW that it is of the Devil (Acts 8:20). God's power is NOT for sale, and neither am I. My ministry labors are all for God. My preaching is none of my business, God alone tells me what to preach!!!

I THANK GOD with all my heart for allowing me to live to preach THE TRUTH, to write blogs and website articles to reach lost people for Jesus Christ. I THANK GOD for the wonderful gift and privilege to write blogs to FEED HIS SHEEP (John 21:17). I am just a humble, redeemed, broken, sinner, like anyone else. I do not claim to be a good Christian, but by God's grace I want to be. I long for the glorious day when my soul and spirit depart from this sinful flesh, to go to be with Jesus in eternity (2nd Corinthians 5:7-8). Jesus is worthy!!!

Years ago, around 1990, I had a car fall on me and I came within just second of dying. I had been replacing a deflective starter motor. I was working in the street in front of my father's Rescue Mission. I placed the weight of the car upon the jack, instead of lowering the car upon the two jack stands that I did have in place. When my creeper wheel got stuck on a pebble, I pulled on the car to unstick the heel, and unknowingly toppled the car and jack stand over. I had the full weight of a Ford Toranado front-wheel drive vehicle weighing down upon me, with a creeper under me. I was suffocating quickly. I couldn't breathe, screaming for help in an empty neighborhood. I almost died that day.

But I thank God for a black man who heard me cries for help. With trembling hands he didn't know what to do. I knew that if I didn't calm down, I would pass out and he wouldn't know what to do, and I would have died. So while gasping for breath I explained for him to place the car jack under the frame, and to tighten the value and pump the jack handle. I THANK GOD for that dear man! I THANK GOD that he had enough mechanical know-how to work the jack. That man saved my life! I often think about all the people who wouldn't have been saved, and how meaningless my life would have been, and I couldn't have been a father to my four children, or a husband to my fie, had I died that frightening day. If it hadn't been for that dear black man, I wouldn't be writing this blog, and none of my 9 websites or 8 blogs would exist. So I THANK GOD for giving me a second chance at life, and much moreover, eternal life.

I love you dear friend, whoever you may be. God loves everyone, saved or lost, and so should we as God's children. God pity the foolish preacher who teaches his congregation to hate anyone! We must hate sin, but never people. We ought to never accept the sin with the sinner, nor reject the sinner with the sin. People just want to be loved. Jude 1:22, “And of some have compassion, making a difference:”