Year: 2014

It is written in 1 Peter 3:18-19 that our Lord Jesus went and ‘preached’ to the ‘spirits in prison’ after He resurrected. One questioner also says, “When I read Dr. Bullinger’s slant on this chapter and verse, he states Christ preached His glorious Salvation to the captive, disobedient angels from the time of Noah. Not to save, but to proclaim His victory……..kind-of-a rub it in your face thing, I guess (All this from How to Enjoy the Bible, page 190-191).¹  Bullinger goes on to says if this is translated any other way it would mean a ‘second chance’ theory.”
     So what was that event in 1 Peter 3:18-19 of Christ preaching to the spirits in prison?

That word ‘preached‘ in 1 Peter 3:19 is the same Greek word ‘kerusso‘ translated as to ‘preach‘ The Gospel all throughout the New Testament. Question: when The Gospel is preached, does It ONLY proclaim Christ’s Victory over Satan, and that’s all there is to It? Of course not.
     When Christ’s Gospel is ‘preached’, Salvation is offered along with it. Bullinger, though he was an excellent Christian scholar, was on the pre-tribulational “secret rapture” boat ‘theory’, and even held the ‘tradition’ that those ‘asleep’ in Christ are waiting it out in the ground somewhere (see Bullinger’s work How To Enjoy The Bible). To think the flesh will be re-united with the spirit is an insult to Christ’s resurrection, and a doctrine of the false one, as Paul even stated, “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor.15:50). So even an excellent scholar of The Word cannot also be deceived? Yes. Paul, before he was directly converted by Christ was one such example also. He was one of the best Hebrew Bible scholars of his day, but he lacked The Holy Spirit as Guide to properly understand The Word.
     Bullinger, with all his learning, just got ‘sucked’ into a false doctrine which is countered in many areas of The Word, Eccl.12 for one; Luke 16 for another, and Rev.19 & 21 with what the angel said to John, about being of his brethren the prophets. Bullinger also thought the ‘resurrection’ is postponed until Christ returns. Nope. Those who die today, resurrect, going to either side in Heaven, as Luke 16 is our example by Christ’s teaching. Many think the story about Lazarus and the rich man of Luke 16 is a parable. It is not. The same also have a problem understanding Christ’s simple explanation to His disciples of the ‘parable of the tares of the field’ in Matthew 13.
     The following Scriptures are about Christ Jesus’ first Advent as Messiah Savior, offering us The New Covenant:

Isa 42:5   Thus saith GOD the LORD, He That created the heavens, and stretched them out; He That spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He That giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
6    “I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the People, for a light of the Gentiles;
7    To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

     Question: Which people have evangelized a ‘light‘ unto the Gentiles, preaching Christ’s Gospel to all who would receive It? Has it been the non-believing Jews? No. The Apostles of Christ and then the Western Christian Nations have been the heraldic proclaimers of Christ Jesus, The ‘Light’ also offered to the Gentiles. So even back in Isaiah, God spoke of His Salvation Gospel to be offered as a Covenant to His People, i.e. the scattered remnants of all twelve tribes of Israel, and then The Gospel would be preached by them…to the Gentiles.
     So the next verse 7, is when Christ preached to the spirits in prison. And not all those in prison were of the fallen angels in chains.

Isa 61:1   The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

     To proclaim ‘liberty‘ is to declare The Gospel of Salvation, not just a ‘Victory’ over Satan. The ‘prison‘ was opened for some, meaning those who accepted Christ’s Victory when He proclaimed It. Why would the prison (pit) be opened if some were not to be led out? Not all in Satan’s prison were bound in the same manner as the fallen angels. The false tradition of man, that none born flesh who have died go to Heaven just yet, causes the error of thinking that these ‘spirits in prison’ were all ‘fallen angels’ of Jude 1. They were not all fallen angels, but those similar to the ‘rich man’ of Luke 16, who either didn’t have the ‘chance’ to hear The Gospel before they died, or refused Him before our Lord fulfilled His Mission upon the cross.
     (Hint about Lazarus being in Abraham’s bosom in the story of Luke 16: Abraham represents the ‘flesh’ father of The Salvation Promise through Christ Jesus. That Lazarus was carried into Abraham’s bosom in Heaven by the angels, it showed Lazarus ‘believed’ in That Promise given by God through Abraham (Gen.12;17; John 8:56-58). And that, even though Christ hadn’t been born flesh yet. Thus, as Paul would teach in Galatians 3, all believers on Christ Jesus The Promised Savior, are children of Abraham, regardless of nationality or race.)

Isa 49:8   Thus saith the LORD, “In an acceptable time have I heard Thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee: and I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the People, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
9    That Thou mayest say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth;’ to them that are in darkness, ‘Shew yourselves.’ They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

     Not only was the ‘prison’ of hell opened for those who believed on Christ when He preached to them during His resurrection, but our Lord told those to “Go forth”! That means leave it. But to the fallen angels, who are still reserved in chains, our Lord said to them, “Shew yourselves.” Bullinger’s idea of Christ showing them His Victory only, might apply with that “Shew yourselves.” But not with “Go forth” (Hebrew ‘yatsah‘, meaning ‘to go (causatively, bring) out’, Strong’s no. 3318).

Zech 9:9   Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10    And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the heathen: and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
11    As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

     If you’ll remember Luke 16 about the ‘rich man’, he asked Abraham across a “great gulf fixed”, to allow Lazarus to come over and drip water on his tongue, to cool his torment. So make no mistake, this ‘pit‘ is the abode across the ‘great gulf fixed’ in Heaven, opposite of God’s side called Paradise (Greek for ‘Eden’).

Luke 4:18   “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19   To preach the acceptable year of the LORD.”

     How did an excellent Christian scholar, such as Dr. Bullinger miss all these examples for Christ’s preaching to the spirits in prison, with some (i.e., believers) being delivered out? Well, if one wants to cling to this old flesh, refusing to believe the full Truth of what the ‘resurrection’ into the spiritual body is, then they will not understand the spiritual dimension of Heaven; a Heaven of ‘now’, not just later at Christ’s second coming. Even as our Lord Jesus said of our Heavenly Father in Mark 12:27, “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living:…”
     Paul also explained in 1 Thess.4:15 that we which are alive in the flesh at Christ’s coming shall not ‘prevent‘ (‘precede’ in the Greek with ‘phthano‘) those who are already ‘asleep’. Since the start of this flesh age, all who have left this earth, putting off their flesh body at death, have gone to Heaven. Do you want to go to Heaven? You do? But to which side is the question I ask? For even Satan and his angels are cast out of Heaven to the earth per Revelation 12:

Rev 12:7   And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8    And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9    And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

At the time of year which we as Christians remember our Lord’s days of deliverance and crucifixion, a teaching about the Passover feast is at times presented with the act by our Lord Jesus giving His disciples the Holy Sacraments of Communion (Luke 22). The ‘Cup’ our Lord offered is His Body and our Communion with Him, remembering His sacrifice upon the cross for the redemption of our sins, His Blood shed for us.
     The Israelite Passover feast was that time of our Lord’s Last Supper He held with His disciples. So the old ‘ritual’ dogma of the Passover feast is sometimes taught in relation to how Christ Jesus gave us The New Covenant of His Blood, with the Bread and the Wine.
     The following paragraph was presented as Christian Doctrine by certain ones, and represents a ‘false doctrine’, alluding that our Lord Jesus drank from the same ‘cup’ as what He gave to His disciples, to ‘seal’ The New Covenant. Read it ‘very’ carefully:

“Wine was used at several points in The Passover meal. It is believed that Jesus chose the third cup of wine…known as the cup of redemption. He did not drink the fourth cup of consummation, but pledged that redemption would be consummated at that future messianic banquet when He drinks it anew in the kingdom of God.”

     That paragraph, with the remark, “It is believed that Jesus chose the third cup of wine…known as the cup of redemption. He did not drink the fourth cup…”, is a bit tricky, but it assumes Jesus did drink of the ‘third cup of wine’ of redemption. And we know what ‘redemption’ means don’t we? It means The New Covenant of His Blood; Christ’s Blood shed for us. That’s what the cup our Lord offered to His disciples at the last supper represents (Luke 22:20). For our Lord to also partake of it would be to admit He was not worthy to take our sins away, that He needed it also. That’s false doctrine of devils friend, anyway you look at it!
     I will not reveal the author of that paragraph, they know who they are. I also heard this false doctrine presented on a Christian radio broadcast preparing for Easter holidays. Let’s read our Lord’s Words from Luke 22 and compare It with that paragraph:

Luke 22:16    For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
17    And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, ‘Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
18    For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.‘
19    And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.’
20    Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you.”

     There were three separate suppers our Lord partook of during the Passover days (see Companion Bible Appendixes 156 and 157). This supper here in Luke 22; Mark 14; Matt.26, was the ‘last’ supper, before His being delivered up to be crucified. And the last supper event is the only mention of more than one ‘cup’, as noted above.
     Jesus DID NOT drink of it with His disciples there! He gave it to HIS DISCIPLES, commanding THEM to drink of it. This is the ‘main’ point of these verses, for that ‘cup’ and ‘bread’ represent The New Covenant of His BODY. This is VERY IMPORTANT. Especially note Luke 22:18 & 22:16. Regardless of whether our Lord did actually eat and drink anything at the Passover with His disciples, with that New Covenant Commandment of observance, He set forth a remembrance of Him for all Christians to hold still today, called Holy Communion. So let no man tell you He ate and drank of that part, or cup, along with His disciples. He did not.
     That paragraph referenced is about the traditions of Passover meal. That author is ‘speculating’, with the phrase “it is believed that Jesus chose…”. That author is also applying the ‘cups’ to dispensational times of Christ’s Kingdom (see Companion Bible Appendix #140, about the “Gospel of The Kingdom”). Our Lord conquered ‘Death’ for us, but His Kingdom is still ‘expecting‘ until His enemies be made His footstool (Hebrews 10:12-19). That’s when Jesus will actually ‘drink’ with His disciples in His Kingdom, at His Second Advent as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev.11; Rev.20). We as being ‘in Christ’ look forward to that Day of The Lord, His thousand year reign on earth. That’s when we will drink and eat with Him. To ‘consummate’ means to complete a ‘contract’, make due, or make good, in final. With a marriage, it is consummated when the husband goes in the ‘tent’ to his wife, and they become ‘one’. That consummation applies spiritually with Christ The Bridegroom, and His Bride, The Church, i.e. Body of Christ.
     But our Lord didn’t teach about His selecting from among a group of ‘cups’, drinking from some, and not others. That’s bogus. As per Luke 22, He gave His disciples to drink from two cups, one during the Passover meal, and one after, to represent the New Covenant. But our Lord drank of neither. His ‘cup’ which He was to drink of, was a metaphor for the suffering upon the cross to fulfill His Mission for the first Advent as Savior. Our Lord drank from a SPECIAL spiritual cup which was meant for Him only. Two people per Matt.20:20-24 with Zebedee’s children, asked ‘unknowingly’ to suffer like Christ did. They really didn’t know what our Lord’s ‘cup’ was about, otherwise they wouldn’t have agreed with “we are able”, after Jesus had asked them if they were able to drink of HIS ‘cup’ (Matt.20:22). I think we know better than to ask that which the mother of Zebedee did, do we not?
     So our Lord did NOT drink of that author’s so stated “third cup of wine…known as the cup of redemption” either! If He had, wouldn’t that have made the ‘cup’ of The New Covenant void and null if He partook also? It sure would, because the ‘victim’ of Old Testament sacrifice was required to be killed, blood spilled for atonement and the Passover. Our Lord Jesus Christ was in place of the animal ‘victim’ of sacrifice. He became our Passover Lamb sacrificed for us (1 Cor.5:7). Can a ‘victim’ also partake of its own BLOOD in sacrifice? That’s what Christ would be doing IF He had drank of that ‘cup’ along with His disciples.
     The main ‘hinge point’ of being ‘in Christ’ is to never deny Him as God’s Role of Savior, Emmanuel, “God with us.” (Matt.1:23). That also means knowing and understanding Christ’s Role as Savior as given by God from Genesis through Revelation. If ANY doctrine, absolutely ANY, teaches ANYTHING which pulls down Christ Jesus’ Role as Savior, our New Covenant sacrificed for us, or… tries to put ‘man’ on an equal ‘par’ with our Lord Christ Jesus, then they work for the ‘wicked one’, either knowingly, or in ignorance.
     The following verses of 1 John 4:1-3 do not mean, “Well that teacher says they believe Christ is The Son of God, so they must be of God.” Not so fast…. If one believes they can become ‘like’ Christ, or be ‘a Christ’, or claim any ‘role’ our Lord Jesus performed or held, then they are NOT of God. It’s as simple as that. And the false ones will detract from Christ Jesus while building themselves up in His place, and all the while ‘claiming’ to believe on Jesus as The Son of God, just to fool you. So the denying of Jesus of Nazareth as The Christ can come hidden in many forms and fashions. That paragraph quoted is just one of them, with the “fourth cup” thing.

I Jn 4:1    Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2    Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3    And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

We are not held to a ‘specific’ amount when doing ‘almsdeeds’ in Christ. This giving is a ‘spiritual matter’ of our ‘heart’, between the giver and our Lord.
     It is true there was a ‘tenth’ (tithe), given unto the Lord, of all their increase dedicated to sacred use (see Gen.14 with Abraham; Gen.28:20-22 with Jacob; Lev.27:30-33; Num.18:21-28, 31; Deut.10; 12; 14; 18, etc.) And that tithing back then included the coverage of government administration, etc. There was no tax system yet; no social security, etc. Our Government provides many of those functions now, and… for most, it’s way over a ‘tenth’. The Church today is left out of that, so it’s up to us to fulfill the sacred reason for ‘tithes’, that of providing for God’s chosen, and His Purposes of Righteousness.
     It is the ‘Spirit’ of God’s Law on tithing which now applies for our New Testament example, not a ‘hard line’ rule or ordinance in the ‘have to’ or ‘how much’ sense. It is set forth in 2 Corinthians Chapters 8 & 9 and 1 Corinthians 16:1-3.
     So what is that Spirit of this Law of alms in Christ now? How does tithing apply now? It is more properly called ‘alms‘ by our Lord (Matt.6). Let’s cover 2 Cor.9 there together:

2 Cor 9:1   For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:
2    For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.
3    Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:
4    Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.
5    Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

Paul is speaking to the Corinthians about how though the Macedonians being poor, yet they still gave freely for other brethren in need (see previous 2 Corinthians Chap.8). He’s saying he had no need to write them on the importance of “ministering to the saints”, for it should be obvious to those ‘in Christ’. Those brethren had prepared their alms a full year prior to Paul’s visit with those who would carry it back to Jerusalem, to be distributed among the poor brethren there (see Romans 15:25-28).

2 Cor 9:6   But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
7    Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

These two verses ‘seal’ exactly how, and ‘how much’ to give. Notice nothing is said here about a ‘tithe’, which means ‘a tenth’. An analogy of agricultural ‘sowing’ is used here by Paul, because it was used in The Old Testament as to God’s blessings on those who seek to do right. Sowing ‘sparingly’ vs. ‘bountifully’ is to let us know that if you ‘feel’ like giving a lot, your ‘heart’ leading you, then give ‘cheerfully’, knowing that it will help serve God’s Purpose, and He will still make sure you have what you need afterwards.
     And this act ‘in the Spirit’ is out of love for our fellow-brethren, and not done out of feelings of ‘necessity’ (“grudgingly” of vs.7), or trying to be within The Law according to a ‘tenth’ or whatever amount. If we feel in our ‘heart’ that we can give more and still be OK with it, then we should do it ‘cheerfully’, understanding the workings of the Grace of God, and not depending on reward. In other words, if a ‘system’ makes one feel that they ‘must’ give a certain amount, as a necessity, and it causes a ‘grudge’, then the ‘heart’ and Spirit of the meaning is taken out of the whole act. This is why God’s teachers, ministers, should not be beggars. A tithing box out in the lobby for people to drop an envelope in is more in accordance with Paul’s teaching than those who send out letters of notice to members, keeping track of how much they give, and bugging them about it. That ‘system’ is setup as a business, not a House of God.
     I know farmers in my area which help each other in times of need, one neighbor helping another when they are sick and can’t plow the fields, etc. There is no payment involved, though it is usually always offered. Most will not take it. And when that other farmer needs help, the one who recovered from sickness will go and take care of work on their farm when in need, and without the feeling of a ‘payback’ or anything of that manner. It’s done because others have a genuine “need”. The help can be in many different matters; money, food, clothing, odd-jobs, etc., depending on one’s skills. When our People see someone in ‘need’, most just act on instinct, with God putting His Laws in their ‘hearts’ (Hebrews 8:8-10). And we should seek to help our brethren ‘in Christ’ especially, for they have a Mission separate from the non-believer. But anyone truly ‘in need’ is not to be shunned.

Now go back to 2 Cor.8:

2 Cor 8:7   Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
8    I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

     “This grace” Paul is speaking of here is this matter of ‘giving’ alms, as shown at the start of this Chapter 8 also. Just as those in Christ ‘abound’ in faith, teaching, knowledge, diligence, and love, so we should ‘abound’ in giving alms also. And notice verse 8 that Paul was not speaking “by commandment“, but we do this grace out of love for others, and love in Christ. This means no man, no Church ‘system’, can with authority set a certain amount on a member to give in tithes. This matter is of ‘the heart‘ now, not of a hard-rule Law, as in the Old Testament. It is now of the ‘Spirit’ of the Law. It is between the giver and God. (See Acts 5 where certain ones sold a property, vowing to give it as alms, yet held back part of the profit. They didn’t sin against the people [church, i.e. ‘gathering’, ekklesia], they sinned against God.)

2 Cor 8:11   Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
12    For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
13    For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:

     This giving is according to what we have, meaning ‘abundance’ which we really could ‘spare’, for others who have a genuine ‘need’. It is not according to what we “hath not”, or don’t have in order to give. God does not want our family or children to starve or do without the basic necessities. Verse 13 is clear that those false teachers who beg for alms, and then buy a great big ol’ fancy car, swimming pool, etc., while the givers even give what they ‘don’t have’, doing without necessities, is against the Spirit.

2 Cor 8:14    But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:
15    As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

     The whole purpose for giving is a matter of ‘sharing’ our ‘abundance’, with those who have a real need. And in times when we are need, they share their ‘abundance’ with us. Verse 15 is Paul quoting from Exod.16:18 about gathering the Heavenly ‘manna‘. It was written to gather only the amount which was needed. Even those who had gathered much, disobeying God then, still had nothing left over. Some were severely punished. They were not allowed to store that ‘manna‘. So God seeks an equality between us as children in Christ. Well does this ‘equality’ mean if you’ve got a nice home stereo system, and someone else does not, you should go out and buy them one? Not necessarily; use common sense. What if one in genuine ‘need’ doesn’t have a coat for the winter, nor food for the family?

2 Cor 9:8    And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
9    (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.
10    Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
11    Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
12    For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

SUMMARY:
As according to Paul’s teaching here, give from ‘your heart’, not according to a set amount. But don’t extend yourself where you or your loved ones are in genuine ‘need’, though even that is according to your ‘faith’ in God to re-supply you with your need (Mark 12:41-44). This is an act between YOU and GOD. It ‘ain’t’ nobody else’s business, period.
     Each person has different needs in service to our Father. God will only give you what you can take care of. If one can’t give anything because they or their family is in great ‘need’, then the ministers should come to them to offer help obviously, and the needy shouldn’t be looked upon, or treated as second class citizens in the matter either (how does someone poor sitting in Church feel when the ‘plate’ is passed to them, and they don’t have much to put in?). So ‘almsdeeds’ is a spiritual matter, not one in the ‘keeping of Law’ sense.

Matt 6:1   Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father Which is in heaven.
2    Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3    But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4    That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father Which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.

Yes. Clearly yes.

2 Cor 5:10   For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

     Each will ‘receive’ according to their works. For those ‘in Christ’, that means ‘rewards’ of righteousness. So ‘judgment’ for those in good standing with our Lord Christ, is going to be a good thing!

I Jn 2:28   And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

1 Pet 4:17   For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18    And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
19    Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

We all fall short, as we all are sinners in this flesh, even still. If it were not so, then why would we need the Perfect Sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Through repentance, asking Him to forgives us of our sins, having a change of heart and trying to improve, doing better… then we are counted ‘perfect’ in God’s sight, the slate being wiped clean (see Romans 7, where Paul said he constantly found battle between his flesh and his spirit, as we all do.) So by that, if that righteous group scarcely be saved, then what of the ungodly and sinners (habitual sinner) who love to sin against God? Stay in Christ Jesus, on The Rock.

Pass a test to be in God’s service?

1 Cor 10:13    There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

There is… a big test coming upon all of during these latter days. It’s been steadily growing for quite some time now. Will our Father test us? Yes:

Judg 2:20   And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, ‘Because that this people hath transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto My voice; 21    I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died:
22    That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.
23    Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered He them into the hand of Joshua.

Our Heavenly Father is definitely ‘in control’. Make no mistake about it. Satan only can do what God allows him to do. Our Father has ‘stepped in’ many times with His People to change the results of history. Those events are written all throughout His Word.

II Th 2:10    And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11    And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12    That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

What? “God shall send them strong delusion”? Test? You bet! Put on The Gospel Armour; all of It, from both New and Old Testament Books. So what is this “lie” which God shall send? It is The Antichrist. And that “lie” is a ‘specific’ test for the latter days. So I can’t deny in teaching this, for it is well written, especially covered in the Book of Revelation and in Daniel, and in the Books of the prophets. Even our Lord Jesus taught of it in His Gospel of Mark 13; Matthew 24; Luke 21, which give the ‘seven signs’ of the endtime, paralleled with Revelation Chapter 6.

Well…yes! That is… if one wants to be part of His Family in Christ. Paul taught us about the powers given by Satan over this flesh world, about a ‘battle’:

Eph 6:10   Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
11    Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12    For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The whole reason we are born of woman in this flesh is to make a ‘choice’ of who we will serve, whether that be Christ our Lord, or defaulting to Satan, the controller of ‘this’ world (Luke 4:1-8). There is NO in between! There is no ‘my’ side, or ‘our’ side of neutrality. What did our Lord Christ say to the Church of Laodicia about spewing them out of His mouth, because they were neither ‘hot’ nor ‘cold’, but ‘lukewarm’ (Rev.3:16). Our Lord is teaching there to ‘choose’. Pick which side you want to be on; make up your mind. Those who make no choice, naturally ‘default’ to Satan’s side, regardless of whether they like it or not. The false teaching that each one can be their own ‘individualist’ just won’t work in this matter with our LORD. Choose.

Eph 6:13    Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14    Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15    And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16    Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17    And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18    Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Notice Eph.6:13 above says to “take” ‘the whole armour of God’. Does that mean by only believing on Christ Jesus as our Savior, that we will just be given God’s Armour, with no work? No…we must “take” It. We must spiritually ‘eat’ The Book, His Word, taking It into our minds and hearts (see also Rev.10:9-10).
Being Christ’s servants means doing work for Him, according to His Will. ‘Works’ are very important to being ‘in Christ’. We are not saved by our ‘works’, but by ‘grace’, a ‘gift’ which we did not merit, a Precious Gift from our Lord and Savior. But… our ‘works’ do follow us to Heaven, for they are our just rewards. We will be judged by our ‘works’ (Rev.14:12; Rev.20:12-13; Rev.18:6). A good ‘work’ for Christ can be something as simple as a smile to comfort a brother/sister who is depressed, etc. So ‘works’ do not necessarily mean going out and becoming an El Cid (though God does send those).
Is it any different than joining up to play school sports? Do we go through weeks of training just to sit down or throw it all away when game time comes along? Of course not. It’s no different with God’s servants. This life is our ‘game’ Which we enjoy, because we have a Perfect Winning Strategy from the Best COACH (Christ Jesus) in the league, so we naturally would want to get out there and sweat a little, getting ourselves ‘in shape’, so we can be part of HIS TEAM! And what A COACH we have in Him! A Perfect Coach! Likewise, those who want to serve God have to learn how to run the ‘playbook’ (Bible), having It locked away in the heart and mind. One may begin on the fourth string, but working hard, they’ll soon be first string starters in doing His ‘work’. And when God’s Team wins, all His Body of members win together, as we all have the same inheritance in Christ (Eph.3:6; Gal.3:7-9; Romans 12; 10:12-15; Acts 20:32). And… we already ‘know’ Who wins.

I’ll cover this question in two parts: the first is – “If I were to be left behind (on Judgment Day)…” 
     There are ‘two’ judgments (not per person, but two different times for different groups), because there are those of the ‘first resurrection’, who receive their ‘reward’ by Christ at His coming. Those are the ‘sheep‘ on the right hand of Matt.25. Then there are those of the second resurrection, those who come to Christ during His thousand year reign. They will not experience the ‘second death’, which is the casting into the ‘lake of fire’ at the end of that thousand year period. Thus their ‘reward’ in Christ comes at the end of the thousand years, after Satan is loosed again for a short time (see Rev.20 for all this).
     Firstly, the Judgment of God’s Great White Throne Judgment happens at the ‘end’ of Christ’s thousand year reign on earth (Rev.20:11). ‘Final’ Judgment does not happen with Christ’s return. The final Judgment will cast anything evil which is against God’s Kingdom into the ‘lake of fire’. That includes Satan, hell, i.e. the ‘pit’, his followers, etc.
     That idea there of being ‘left behind’ is a tradition of man not written in God’s Word (study 1 Cor.15; 2 Cor.5 about being ‘absent from the body’; Eccl.12 about what happens to each at death today, the flesh going back to the ‘elements’, and the ‘spirit’ going back to God).
     Read Zechariah 14 and Acts 1 together, to discover just ‘how’, and ‘where’ our Lord Christ returns. Discover from 1 Cor.15 just on which ‘trumpet’ our Lord Christ returns on (the “last trump”, or ‘trumpet’ Paul wrote in 1 Cor.15, which is the “seventh” angel sounding of Rev.11:15). The Left Behind Series books and movies are against God. The deception message taught in them is not from our Heavenly Father and His Christ. Fanciful reading though, hmm? How silly it is to put man’s books over God’s Word! And that’s exactly what many do when they have not thoroughly studied God’s Word for themselves, but instead seek to some popular tradition which the world creates.
     The judgment of appearing before Christ, which happens at our Lord and Savior’s return, is one of reward for His servants, but wrath to the ‘goats‘ put on the left hand (see Matt.25:31-34). But that is not the The White Throne Judgment Day of God which happens later, written of in Rev.20:11. Do not leave out the ‘thousand years’ Millennium of Christ’s reign, for it is clearly written of in God’s Word:

Rev 20:2     And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3    And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4    And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5    But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6    Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
7    And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

     At the end of Rev.20, after God’s White Throne Judgment, which is at the ‘end’ of Christ’s thousand year reign, that’s when anything evil, including the devil, his abode of hell, etc., will go into the ‘lake of fire’, and be no more. The burning forever idea is an ‘idiom’ for those rebellious who refuse our Righteous KING Christ Jesus. They will not be remembered any more; they’ll be merely ‘blotted out’ as if they had never existed. That’s when GOD’s Kingdom will be setup, and this old earth made ‘new’; refreshed is what the Hebrew and Greek meaning is (Psalms 37; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev.21:1; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22).
     Our Lord’s teaching about the ‘sheep‘ being put on His right hand, and the ‘goats‘ being put on the left hand, means during Christ’s thousand year reign, there is going to be a separation between His, and those who refused Him today. We will all be in a ‘spiritual’ Kingdom under Christ Jesus as KING (see Rev.11:15; Rev.19:16; Rev.20 – 22). The unrighteous will not go into the ‘lake of fire’ yet, for God’s People are going to help our Lord Christ to do a little ‘boot camp’ drill, trying to get those unrighteous deceived straightened up. Satan being locked in the ‘pit’, will not be allowed to prevent the great teaching of God’s Word during that time (Rev.20:3). Isaiah 13-14 speaks of this ‘day of the Lord’, which is the beginning of Christ’s thousand year reign, but there is much ‘metaphor’ in those Chapters of Isaiah. I did some studies of them on my website, explaining many of the metaphors.
     God loves all His children He created, and doesn’t wish to lose any of us. That’s what Christ’s thousand year reign is for. All those who won’t, or can’t come to His Truth today, will know during that thousand years. God is most loving, and most fair. It is wrong to teach that the ‘lake of fire’ event happens when our Lord Christ returns, and that tradition is not according to His Word. We serve a Just GOD, most fair and long-suffering. None will perish until they have a ‘chance’ to hear the full ‘Wine’ of God’s Word, untainted, with ‘full’ understanding. Many today do not have that ‘chance’ of clearly understanding God’s Word for themselves. That’s what the thousand year reign of Christ is for. The last nine Chapters of Ezekiel reveal Christ’s thousand year reign of the future. Ezekiel 44 reveals that separation during Christ’s Millennium reign also. Those Ezekiel 40 – 48 Chapters link with Rev.22.

The second part of the question – “…what would I have to do to show God that I believe and that I want to serve Him?”
     To show God that we believe, and want to serve Him only;… get into His Word He sent to each one of us, learning how to do it His Way, and not the way ‘we’ think He wants. There’s only ONE WAY to be in God’s Will, and that is to know what He said do, and what He said not to do. It’s as simple as that. Those who don’t care to study It for themselves, at least trying,… well who do they have to blame? Themselves, for they don’t know what God wants them to do, for they haven’t read God’s Word! Part of the ‘big test’ is just opening His Word up for ourselves, and trying to understand It, asking His Guidance.

Isa 1:18    ‘Come now, and let us reason together’, saith the LORD: ‘though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19    If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20    But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.’

Isa 55:1   Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2    Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
3    Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
4    Behold, I have given Him for a Witness to the people, a Leader and Commander to the people.
5    Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He hath glorified thee.
6    Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near:

     Those verses are not just towards old Israel; they are for us today just as much; to all who call upon The Name of The LORD, of both Jew and Gentile (Romans 2:10).

Here’s a question: Can a child who lives in their father’s house with established ‘rules’ setup to benefit the whole family just go and do what they want to do, and still honor their flesh father? As long as the child ‘knows’ the rules, and does not go out and do anything against them, then they are under their father’s will, even living according to it, bringing their father and their family ‘honor’ and blessings. The result is true peace, a life which the father naturally wants the child to have. When they fail, repentance is necessary, and then trying to do better, for we all fall short.
     That good family situation is no different between our Heavenly Father and ‘us’, His children, of all races, tongues, and nations. God gave His Letter The Word to each one us, for each to study, so we would know, understand,… and do that which He knows is best for us. So why wouldn’t we want to follow His Ways that He outlined for us? When we do, it always brings blessings from Him, for we will be in His Will.

I John 5:14    And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us:
15    And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.

     Notice above “according to His will, He heareth us”. Does that mean if we pray for a brand new car that God will give it to us? Well, we of course have to go out and work for it, but if it’s according to His Will, He hears us. Notice it still didn’t say we are going to get what we prayed for. It depends if it is according to His will for us or not. Then also, if we pray for something that He knows will harm us, or is not in His Will, loving us, He won’t do it. So how do we know what to pray for then? Studying His Word for ourselves will show each one of us. That’s why He sent His Word to us. God has setup His Ways during this flesh age time, which we cannot just steer around. That’s why when we don’t study His Word, not knowing what is best for us, we can go out and try to be something we are not, or that isn’t best for us, and it just will not work. We can cause ‘conflict’ in our lives which will bring misery upon ourselves. Is it God doing it, or of ourselves when that misery happens? Other than periods of temptation and testing by the evil one that all ‘in Christ’ must suffer at times, with most, we ourselves often bring misery on ourselves by not being in God’s Will.
God sent one of Satan’s “messengers” to buffet Paul, keeping him in line for his chosen Mission. Paul prayed to our Heavenly Father three times to remove it. God told Paul His ‘Grace’ for him was good enough. So there’s our example in praying for help in a matter (2 Corinthians 12:6-10). After petitioning God in the matter after three times, and we still run into a ‘wall’ with it, then it most likely is not according to God’s Will; at least not at that time. We need to thank Him for the Grace He has given us in Christ Jesus, and ‘press on’, trying to do the best we can.
So the other ‘side’, with one who leaves God out of their lives, and goes out to be what ‘they’ want to be and not caring about God’s Will; they break the ‘house rules’, and wind up dishonoring their family, while bringing turmoil upon themselves. And for one who claims to be Christian, our ‘family’ is the Body of Christ. The ‘key’ – study ‘all’ of God’s Word to know how to be in His Will, then He will add to us those things we need, and often, before we even ask. Paul taught in 1 Cor.10, going back to God’s People in the wilderness, how they were ‘under the cloud’ of God’s Glory then, but still many refused to be under His Will. Paul then said about all those events of the Old Testament:

1 Cor 10:11   Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12    Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

     Another level to this question of “Can I be what God wants me to be…”, i.e., being one of God’s servants vs. doing what we want to do with our own lives. There’s many examples in God’s Word where certain ones were ‘chosen’ for a specific Mission by our LORD; i.e. Moses, Jonah, Job, David, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John the Baptist, Christ’s Apostles, etc.
     Paul in Acts 9 was one such example. Christ intervened ‘directly’ in Paul’s life, taking his ‘free-will’ choice to believe, or not to believe, away from him. Paul (named Saul then), was actually persecuting Christians at the time before Jesus struck him down on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Our Lord said Paul was His ‘chosen vessel’ (Acts 9:15). Thus, Paul had a special Mission for Christ. Jonah was in the same situation, with being a chosen one, with a Mission for our Father. Neither Paul, nor Jonah, got out of performing that Mission. They had no choice in the matter.
     Some children may grow up later to fulfill some special Mission ‘in Christ’. It might not be on Paul or Jonah’s level or type, but none the less important to our Father. A chosen servant will bring ‘much more’ suffering on themselves by staying outside God’s Will for them, vs. one who is not chosen. They will not ‘get out of their duty’. God will bring calamities their way, until they get back in line. Our Father will naturally bring those to the forefront, making them easily recognizable. So they need to be properly ‘instructed’ about examples such as Paul, and Jonah. In the Book of Jonah, it’s revealed that Jonah tried to get out of doing what God told him to do. God commanded him to go preach to the pagan city Nineveh. Did Jonah fulfill it? There’s your example for a ‘chosen’ one. (see also Romans 9; 11; Jeremiah 1; all of the Book of Jonah).

There’s only ONE WAY to know if we are in the “right group”, meaning Christ’s Body. That is to study His Word to discover what true ‘righteousness’ is. Knowing ‘righteousness’ from His Word then, how can we turn to those wrong groups who oppose righteousness?
     Only one who loves our Lord Jesus, but doesn’t know what God’s Word says, could ask such a question as this one. That question shows a type of ‘fear’, as if one was pre-ordained to messing-up. Even the ‘workers of iniquity’ can change, using their free-will, to come to Christ Jesus, and become a ‘son of God’. Remember Isaiah 1:19 that IF we are “willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.”? That’s the condition; “IF” we are “willing” to be obedient to Christ our Lord.

James 3:13-18
13    Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14    But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15    This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16    For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17    But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18    And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
(KJV)

     We are to ‘make peace’ in the world for our Lord, with His Guidance. And that doesn’t mean just ‘laying down’ either, but being a bit ‘salty’ for our Lord. But we are to try to make peace whenever possible. If that means we go to ‘jail’ for making peace and following Christ Jesus, then so be it. We are not to fear this flesh world, but be strong ‘overcomers’. Just believing on Christ as Savior is no guarantee that we will go through life with no trials. The matter is, everyone, those in Christ, and those not in Christ, all must suffer through various trials while in this flesh. My question is, which is easier; to go it alone, trying to make our own decisions and choices without God in our lives, or to ask Him to come in our lives? When we do seek and come to Him through His Son, He makes our ‘yoke’ lighter. Our trials don’t end, but they become easier to bear, because we have a very strong Mediator to The Father for us. And didn’t our Father create everything? How would any father treat his children whom he loves so much?

Matt 10:28-39
28    And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29    Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30    But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31    Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
32    Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father Which is in heaven.
33    But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Which is in heaven.
34    Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35    For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36    And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
37    He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38    And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.
39    He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.
(KJV)

We all are here in this flesh to make ‘choice’ as to whom we will serve. If not The Father through His Son Jesus Christ, then the ‘default’ is to Satan. There’s no middle-ground. To fear ‘flesh’ death is to be weak in God’s work. If we have ‘any’ fear, it should be of GOD, Who has Power to destroy ‘both’, flesh and soul, forever. Did our Lord mean all this as a ‘threat’ then? No… He meant it to those to whom it is given to. Not all are ‘able’ to bear a cross even ‘similar’ to His. But His chosen will have a similar ‘cross’ to bear, and He will make them prepared for it when the time comes, for they are His ‘chosen’ vessels. God’s Word is full of examples of this type, such as Paul especially:

2 Cor 11:23-31
23    Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
24    Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25    Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26    In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27    In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
28    Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
29    Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?
30    If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
31    The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
(KJV)

     Let me take inventory now, comparing my life in Christ with Paul…. Let’s see… can’t remember the last time I had to run for my life for preaching Christ; don’t remember ever receiving stripes on my back from a whip, nor being in prison; I’ve never been stoned; I did have a type of ‘shipwreck’ on a fishing boat once though I didn’t spend “a night and a day” in the sea; can’t say I’ve really ever ‘hungered’ or ‘thirsted’ like Paul… get the idea?
     Clearly, compared to what some have suffered, and others must suffer, to be in Christ, how bad do most of us have it? Paul never had a color TV, stereo, automobile, nice house, etc. One thing he did have… was a Mission for Christ Jesus. And was he slack in it? No way. There’s ‘our’ model for following Christ when things get a little rough in our lives. We are to stand up like a child of God and say, “can do”! And all these things Paul experienced, it was because he was preaching The Gospel of Christ. That’s the only Matter he was being persecuted for. So when we suffer persecution for Christ’s sake, because we ‘know’ we are doing His work as servants, then it means we are ticking the ‘wicked one’ off, because we’re wining in the spiritual war against him. One who does more for our Lord must ‘expect’ that kind of attacking in this world of flesh, for Satan has been given power to rule over the flesh world (Luke 4).[Important: Never argue with Satan. Even Michael the Archangel knew this; Jude 1:9]
     Note that God always protected Paul until his Mission was fulfilled. Just like Jonah, a ‘chosen’ one will not get out of their ‘duty’ God has ordained for them. He really makes them ‘tow the line’.
     For most of us in Christ today, who may be ‘called’, but not ‘chosen’, we have a similar responsibility to our Lord. If not, then why would He have ‘called’ us? And further, what is a true servant to Christ? Is it one who believes, but just wants to do whatever they wish to do in life, having an easy existence, and not doing any work for Him? Based on how Paul served our Lord, obviously not. And that’s what many believers truly want, an ‘easy way out’, meaning not suffering any persecution for making a ‘stand’ for Christ. The Gospel Armour of Ephesians 6 fits real well here.

John 17:13-18
13    And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves.
14    I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15    I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16    They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17    Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.
18    As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
(KJV)

     Those who are ‘called’ and ‘chosen’ are sent into the world for Christ’s sake. Notice above Christ prayed to The Father that His servants not be taken out, but stay in the ‘field’ doing His work. How is it that so many wish to leave it without fulfilling their God given Mission, just to escape persecution, especially when the ‘times’ are getting so exciting? It’s time to ‘stand up’, and make a difference in the world, for our Lord Christ Jesus, being His servants.

All those who come to Christ Jesus, believing on Him as The Only Begotten Son of God, that He only died on the cross to redeem us from our sins, is a ‘requirement’ to being saved (John 1; 3:15-21; 3:36; 5:24; 6:40; 7:37-39; 20:30; Acts 10:43; 13:19; 16:30-31).

Rom 10:8     But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9    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.
10    For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11    For the scripture saith, ‘Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.’ [Note: Paul quoting from Isaiah 49:23 and 28:16]

Rom 10:12     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.
13    For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

     After our ‘confession’ of believing on Christ Jesus, He also commanded His to do certain acts to ‘seal’ us with His Covenant, such as repenting and being baptized in His Name, and observing Holy Communion, and continuing in His Word (Mark 1:15; 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 8; 10:47-48; Acts 18:8; Acts 22:14:16; Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; 1 Cor.10 & 11; Isaiah 8:16; John 8:31).
     But believing, repenting, and being baptized in His Name is only the first step to truly be ‘in Christ’. (Not to go into depth here, but it’s important to know our LORD also has Power to save without ‘water’ Baptism, such as the case with the malefactor crucified with our Lord who believed; Luke 23. That was a special example to show us God’s Power. Those who can get baptized, have no excuse, especially in the Western Christian Nations where we worship God through His Son in liberty and in freedom still).
     The ‘major’ purpose of this flesh age existence is for God to bring That Salvation through Christ Jesus, His Son, to us, redeeming all those who ‘believe’, back to Him by defeating the devil (Heb.2). That Promise of Salvation was first given through Abraham (Gen.12 & 17). And The Word ‘hinted’ at It all the way back in Genesis 3:15.
     Concerning sin, all one has to do, is look around today. Can we honestly say that any of us actually know someone totally ‘without sin’ today? We all ‘sin’ in this flesh (again see Romans 7 and Gal.5 as to what Paul taught about the war between flesh and the Spirit). Christ Jesus is The Only One ‘totally’ without ‘any’ sin, Who came to earth, born of woman just like us, but was slain and then in Glory resurrected to the Right Hand of God. If Christ had sinned, He wouldn’t be the Perfect Sacrificial Lamb of God for us. We would be left of our own flesh infirmities and failures, lost, with no hope, left with the world’s devices. And this is why ‘we all’ are, and must be, born into sin in this flesh once (Gal.3:22; Heb.9:27); it’s God’s Way to show us that we need Him, and Him only for Salvation! (see Isaiah 44:6-8; Deut. 4:35; 4:39; Deut. 32:39-43, as “His people” and “nations” there mean ‘all’ who accept Christ Jesus; also see Isaiah 45 especially).

Titus 3:3-8
3    For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4    But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5    Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6    Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7    That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8    This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
(KJV)

     Notice the last verse here of Titus 3:8 about being “careful to maintain good works.” Like was said a previous time, and as written in Rev.14:13, our ‘works’ follow us to Heaven. And that means our ‘good’ works. So what happens to our sins after we repent to Christ Jesus? That’s what that word ‘remission’ means; literally wiped away, forgotten (1 John 1; Heb.10).
     To be ‘perfect’ in The Lord is to ‘want’ to follow Him, to ‘want’ to do right, even though we may fall short, and we will while we are still in this flesh body, for the ‘flesh’ cannot please God. It’s the acts of allowing His Spirit to work through us, doing work for Him, which justifies our spirit in Him (Romans 8). The ‘flesh’ is not of our Father’s original first Plan for us before Lucifer rebelled. God brought the flesh state because of Lucifer’s rebellion against Him, and the drawing away of one third of God’s children (Rev.12). But while we are still here in this ‘flesh’, those who claim The Salvation Promise have got work to do, fulfilling a Mission for our Lord. Let’s not be slack in it, for it’s an honor and a ‘pleasure’ to serve Him. His Letter He gave us, The Word of God, instructs us on ‘how’ to serve Him according to His Will, not ours. That’s where many believers on Christ fail, listening and following those who use man’s human nature to form morals, and thus leaving the Doctrines of Christ. God’s Word has the only true set of morals for us to follow. And in this dispensation time of ‘Grace’, He gives us His Holy Spirit to guide us in that. The Word solidifies our understanding of true righteousness, as aided by His Spirit.
     So… that’s a ‘general’, and ‘specific’ coverage of what we ‘must do’ to be saved, and go to Heaven. Is there anything written about those who sin ‘against’ Christ; those who will not get into Heaven? Romans 1 and Galatians 5 both cover some of those, with the ‘works of the flesh’:

Gal 5:16-21
16    This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17    For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18    But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19    Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20    Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21    Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
(KJV)

But the ‘works’ of the Spirit are:

Gal 5:22-26
22    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23    Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24    And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25    If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26    Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
(KJV)

     Simply, if we always do works which are the ‘fruit of the Spirit’, then we are not under The Law, for those good works are not ‘against’ God’s Law. That is our ‘liberty’ in Christ today. To go against the Spirit, means to give up that liberty in Christ, and walk after the flesh. The Law then certainly applies in that state. That’s still easily seen today with one going out getting into trouble for stealing, etc. How does God’s Law apply to those? When caught, they’ll most likely go to jail, as many our civil laws were originally based on God’s Law directly from His Word. And the framers of our U.S. Constitution also knew this; that’s why they wrote about some of these matters in their writings. They understood God’s Plan.

TO GO TO HEAVEN, WE MUST BE ‘OVERCOMERS’ OF THIS WORLD

The word ‘convert‘ is in the KJV in Isaiah 6:10, and it’s about those who ‘convert’ back to God with their hearts, and their minds, knowing His Truth, doing His Will. The phrase which even our Lord mentioned in Matt.13, about ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’ is mentioned there in Isaiah 6 also. That Hebrew word ‘shuwb‘ translated ‘convert‘, means ‘to turn back; to return’ (Strong’s no. 7725). Salvation through Christ Jesus means ‘returning’ back to God, as His People. Even the New Name God gave to Jacob, that of ‘Israel‘, has a special meaning for ‘all’ those who receive God’s Grace of Salvation through Jesus Christ. That word ‘Israel‘ means “God prevails” (Strong’s no.3478 from two Hebrew roots of ‘sarah‘ meaning ‘to prevail’, and the other ‘El‘, i.e. ‘The Almighty’). In Gen.32:28 God gave that Name to Jacob because he ‘prevailed’ with God’s helping hand. The New Testament uses the word ‘overcome‘ in the KJV in the same sense as to ‘prevail with God’ (Rev.2:7; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 2:13-14; Romans 12:21).
     Thus, to be an ‘overcomer’ in Christ, is to be working ‘with’ God, overcoming this world of evil. Each must ‘overcome’ to go to Heaven, to be part of God’s Israel. And Christ makes our ‘yoke’ light, helping us every step of the way. For as written, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom.8:31).

TO SUMMARIZE: Confession that Jesus of Nazareth is God, ‘Emmanuel’ in the flesh (Matt.1:23), our Savior, and that only through Him do we have Salvation, is the first step in going to Heaven. Then repentance to Him, and baptism in His Name, following what He told us to do as best we can, are the next required steps. Our repentance to Him is no different than a child who messes up, and goes to their flesh father, asking for forgiveness. That flesh father will naturally wish to embrace their child in love, and actually forgiving them, bringing the child back into ‘the fold’. So we shouldn’t beat ourselves up with ‘guilt’ trips once we’ve repented to our Lord, asking forgiveness, and trying not to do the sin again. Our Lord doesn’t want to hear about it anymore after repentance.
     Thus, one who refuses to repent, not accepting Christ, who ‘loves’ to sin, and even show others how to sin, will not go to Heaven. That is the ‘habitual sinner’, one who actually does not care if they sin or not. They will not have a place among God’s elect in Christ’s future Kingdom (Romans 1; Galatians 5; 2 Peter 3, Matt.25; Luke 16 with Lazarus and the rich man; and many other Scriptures in Isaiah Chapters 1 throughout.)
     Further, if you understood about Christ’s Millennium reign of a thousand years with His elect, many who fall and stumble today, who really don’t have a ‘chance’ at coming to Christ, will have ‘their’ chance during that thousand years. And that can never apply to one who is ‘called’ today, meaning one who ‘hears’ by God’s Grace today. Many in the world don’t have a ‘clue’ as to what God’s Plan is about, and are not ‘in Christ’. But we, being ‘in Christ’, who are ‘called’ during this dispensation time of ‘Grace’, cannot afford to be slack on ourselves, otherwise we crucify our Lord all over again. And I mean this in the sense of one who comes to Christ, and then later flat refuses Him in their life, and turning to the world, because of not keeping the ‘faith’. Repentance to Christ when we sin, trying to do His Will, and staying on Christ, is keeping the ‘faith’. Paul taught about this in Hebrews 6. And the Book of James also covers much of our needed attitude to stay ‘in Christ’. The Word teaches against a “once saved, always saved” type of thinking. Those with free-will, not specifically being ‘chosen’ for a special Mission in Christ, can fall away from Him. 2 Thess. 2 with “fall away” is the Greek word ‘apostasia‘, meaning ‘apostasy’ away from Christ. Only one who once ‘believed’, can become apostate away from Christ. It doesn’t apply to one who hasn’t accepted Christ yet.