John 3:1-3, “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 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.”
Dear reader, there is no greater or more important thing you will ever hear than, “Ye Must Be Born Again.” Here is a helpful quote by Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980):
Multitudes of people who expect to go to Heaven will go to a Hell of torment. Thousands of “good” people, “moral” people, church members, even church workers - yes, and, alas, even prophets, priests and preachers - will find themselves lost when they expected to be saved, condemned when they expected approval, cast out of Heaven when they expected to be received into eternal bliss. That is the explicit meaning of the words of our Lord... (see: Matthew 7:21-23)
The Bible says in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Please don't take this Scripture passage lightly.
This dedicated group of religious did “many wonderful works.” Carefully notice that these many wonderful works were all done in Jesus' name. They were following Jesus as their Lord, evidenced by them calling Him: “Lord, Lord.” We hear Neo-evangelical preachers today errantly teaching people, that to get to Heaven they must follow Jesus as the “Lord” of their life, turning away from sins and giving control of one's life over to God. None of that is biblical to be saved.
Here for example is Pastor Joel Osteen's counterfeit plan of salvation. ...
Joel Osteen's Counterfeit Plan Of Salvation
The Bible teaches that to be saved you must admit you are a sinner (Romans 3:19-23). You must believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, the Christ (John 20:31). You must believe that Christ died on a cross to pay your debt of sin, and that He was buried and after three days resurrected bodily from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). Dear friend, if you by faith receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He was buried and then raised up physically three days later, you are saved! All you need to do to get to Heaven is to simply BELIEVE that Jesus did it all for you!
In sharp contrast, Joel Osteen's plan of salvation doesn't match Christ's plan of salvation. According to Osteen in the preceding video link that I have provided, he falsely says that you must “repent of your sins.” You cannot find that phrase anywhere in the inspired King James Bible! Christ died on a cross to pay for your sins, He doesn't demand that you forsake a lifestyle of sinning to receive God's free gift of eternal life. I mean, if Christ died on the cross to wash all our sins away, then what is there to repent of? What sins can we repent of, since Jesus has taken the punishment for all those upon Himself on the cross?
Sadly, Pastor Osteen also demands that you “make Jesus your Lord and Savior.” Dear reader, that is another gospel. Nowhere in the Gospel of John (which is God's Gospel tract according to John 20:31). To understand what is so dangerous and unbiblical about being required to “make Jesus your Lord and Savior,” you need to know what they mean by that statement. These ungodly Neo-evangelicals mean that your life must change. They mean that you cannot continue living in willful open sin. They mean that from now on and for the rest of your life, you will live a changed life, following Jesus daily as your Lord in obedience. None of this is the Gospel.
Joel Osteen also errantly tells you to pray and ask Jesus to “come into your heart.” Again, you won't find that nonsense in the Gospel of John. How does a man invite Christ into his heart—a muscle twice the size of your fist that pumps blood? It makes no sense what Joel is saying. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again.
Why do ungodly pastors like Joel Osteen embellish and obscure God's simple plan of salvation? They do it because they are afraid to go against what other false prophets are teaching. Check and you will find, that every pseudo-Christian prophet today teaches the same exact theological garbage as Joel Osteen does! I dare you to research what I just said. If you'd like some help, please read this great book by Michael P. Bowen titled: “I NEVER KNEW YOU.”
Also, you DO NOT need to pray a prayer to be saved, you can simply BELIEVE the 'Good News' (Gospel) of Jesus' crucifixtion, burial and resurrection.
Jesus said in Luke 13:22-24, “And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” I quoted Matthew 7:21-23 to you earlier, which were Christ's very words. Jesus called them 'WORKERS OF INIQUITY,' even though they called Him: “Lord, Lord.” Why weren't they saved? What did they do wrong? What did they miss? Jesus plainly tells us in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Jesus plainly tells us the “will of the Father” in John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Did you read that? The will of the Father is just to BELIEVE ON JESUS, nothing more or less! Dear reader, the following words were written by Christian author Michael Patrick Bowen. Please pay close attention as Brother Bowen exposes Pastor Osteen's counterfeit plan of salvation:
Salvation, according to Joel Osteen, consists of having a “relationship” with Jesus Christ. In order to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, Osteen says we must 1) repent of sins, 2) ask Jesus into our hearts, 3) ask Him to wash us clean, and 4) “make Him” our Lord and savior.
Now, according to the bible, this is not how to go to heaven. What this is, however, is a blueprint for discipleship. More accurately, what we really need is a “savior.” When you become born again through faith alone in Christ, you are automatically in a “relationship” with Jesus Christ the very instant you trust in what He did for you by His death, burial and resurrection from the dead. To say that we need a relationship with Christ is not an accurate statement. We need salvation in order to escape the wrath of God, not a “relationship.” Osteen preaches our need for a discipleship-based relationship with Christ. Salvation is vastly different from discipleship in that discipleship requires hard work whereas salvation requires only your trust in the promise of everlasting life that Christ extends to all of us by His grace. Quite literally, Jesus saves you the instant you trust in what He did for you. Salvation is not what you do for God. Salvation is what God did for you and nothing of yourself (works) enters into the contract (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Imagine you are about to buy a home. As you are about to sign the contract, you cross out the price and you insert a lower price. Will the seller of the home honor that contract? No, of course not. You have violated the terms of the contract. In the same way, a pastor who crosses out the terms of God’s contract and adds different terms to His contract, that contract is void. It will not stand.
What is free and available to all by grace through faith is hijacked by the addition of human efforts.
In no way can a person’s good works and deeds be added to the contract. God will not honor such a contract, and if you die under the terms of your own works-based contract, which essentially makes you the “savior” and not Christ, you will stand before Him at the Great White Throne Judgement. READ MORE (you can purchase hardcopies or Kindle on Amazon. These books make great gifts. I just gave one to my doctor last month.)
SOURCE: Michael P. Bowen, “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” chapter 2 - 'The Plan Of Salvation According To Joel Osteen', pp. 22-23
Dear friend, for Joel Osteen to require lost sinners to “repent of my sins,” is effectively the same as telling people to forsake their sinful bad habits to get to Heaven, which is 100% WORKS! Jonah 3:10, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” The Ninevites (the capital city of Assyria) did not get saved, they repented of their evil ways, so God also repented (changed His mind) and didn't destroy them.
Albeit, God sent the prophet Nahum to preach to the Assyrians, but they didn't listen so the Lord utterly destroyed them for their wickedness. Shortly before the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C., Nahum uttered his prophecy against the hated city. To understand the prophet's exuberant outbursts of joy over their impending destruction, it is necessary to remember the savage cruelty of the Assyrians, which had made it the scourge of the ancient Near East for almost three centuries. The Assyrian soldiers were greatly feared, known as a hairy people who nailed their victims to a tree and then filleted them alive. The Northern Kingdom of Israel fell prey to Assyria in 722 B.C., because of their idolatry and continued rebellion against God.
BEWARE of Billy Graham, John Piper, John MacArthur, Steve Pettit, Marty Herron, Sam Horn, Chuck Phelps, Gary Walton, John Lewis, Adrian Rogers, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Charles G. Finney, Sam Adams, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson, Bob Jones University, Faith Baptist Bible College And Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist University, the Southern Baptist Convention, Chip Ingram, William Lane Craig and countless other damnable wolves in sheep's clothing who pervert the Gospel by embellishing it with add-ons.
Jesus was directly asked what “WORKS” we must do to merit Heaven. 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.” As we just read, the dear Savior's simple answer is to BELIEVE ON HIM. Jesus didn't tell them to repent of their sinful ways. Nor did Jesus tell them to make Him the “LORD” of their life. Jesus simply told them to BELIEVE ON HIM.
Again, in Acts 16:30-31 the Apostle Paul and his companion, Silas, were directly asked: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved” by the Philippian jailer in Rome. Paul and Silas simply replied: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” Paul and Silas did not tell the man to “turn away from his sinful ways.” They did not tell him to surrender control of his life over to Jesus (this is the unbiblical heresy that Joyce Meyer preaches).
Dear friend (and I am being your true friend by telling you THE TRUTH), you cannot believe over 95% of preachers today concerning how to be saved. Preachers are human beings. Behind every pulpit is a flawed human being. As humans we tend to need heroes. We look up to others. I don't care who you are, you look up to someone. Many atheists look up to comedian George Carlin (1937-2008). I admit that Carlin was a profound philosopher. He said some amazing true things, even though he blasphemed God much of the time. I liked George and am sad that he very likely went to Hell (unless he repented of his unbelief on his death bed). I heard George once say: “He [God] loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money!” I thought that was funny. Carlin was mocking the greed of preachers today. I love people and am sad that George Carlin almost assuredly perished in his sins into Hell, without knowing Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
One of my heroes is Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001). I love that godly man for his tremendous influence upon my life! I choose to have preachers as my heroes. Another one of my heroes is Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951). We all need heroes! Americans have the wrong heroes today. Homosexual Elton John is a great singer and musician, but he is not nor ever will be one of my heroes. No sodomite will ever be my hero! Having said that, I love everybody with God's unconditional love, including Sir Elton John.
The Bible tells us the reason why billions of lost sinners won't come to Jesus Christ to be saved. John 3:20-21, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” People who love sinning refuse to come to Christ to be saved. Misunderstanding about this passage of Scripture has caused many people to go astray, errantly thinking that to be saved a person must turn away from their love of sinning, and forsake sinful behavior. That is NOT what this verse teaches. Carefully notice John 3:21a, “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light...” Bible repentance is not forsaking your sinful ways, it is acknowledging THE TRUTH that you are a guilty sinner and Jesus is the only Savior.
2nd Timothy 2:25-26, “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” I love that! Repentance is simply the acknowledgment (the admission) that you are a needy sinner and that Jesus is the Savior. Repentance and faith happen at the SAME time. It is false theology to think that repentance and faith happen separately, even though they are two separate things. The man who believes has repented, and the man who repents has believed. Bible “repentance” as a noun (Greek: metanoia) is simply: “a change of mind.” The verb form of “repent” (Greek: metanoeo) means: “to think differently.”
To be saved, you simply need to look up to God in your soul in admission that you are a guilty sinner, and turn toward Christ to be saved by His mercy and grace—through faith in the precious blood that He shed on Calvary's cross—where He died, was buried and resurrected three days later. This is the 'GOSPEL,' that is, the 'GOOD NEWS' (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). Any sinner who BELIEVES this Good news is saved. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” BELIEVE IT, oh sinner, and you are saved!
The Bible teaches that the only way to enter into the Kingdom of God is to be BORN AGAIN.
Beware Of Wolves In Sheep's Clothing!
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