STOP CORRUPTING GOD'S SIMPLE PLAN OF SALVATION

By David J. Stewart

Galatians 1:9, “If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

       So many self-righteous hypocrites try to take God's place, forcing people to change in order to be saved, corrupting the simplicity that is in Christ, mandating a changed life as part of saving-faith.

Biblical salvation is simple; It is a free gift. Salvation is a gift to be received; not a reward to be earned. You don't work to get salvation; you receive it by faith in the Son of God. Faith in Jesus as the Christ to forgive one's sins is the only way to be saved and go to Heaven. John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” Praise God!

There are many false prophets today who pervert the Gospel message. They claim that faith in Jesus is not sufficient to save a sinner. They quote, but misrepresent, James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” This Scripture warns of those who only have a belief in God; but do not trust His upon Son, Jesus Christ. Anyone who trusts upon Jesus will be saved. Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That is a promise from God almighty! Faith in Jesus is enough, and the only way, for a soul to have eternal life.

I warn you, beware of those people today who want to police everyone who gets saved. Beware of those self-righteous hypocrites who think they are not as sinful as others; so they change God's plan of salvation to require good works, mending one's ways and departing from the sinful world to be saved. But that's not what the Bible teaches. You get saved by ceasing from your own self-righteous efforts; and coming to God as a SINNER, by faith through God's Son, Jesus, the SAVIOR. You get eternal life by receiving it in Jesus' name. It is a free gift, paid for by Jesus' precious, literal blood (1st Peter 1:18,19).

Revelation 1:5, “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and WASHED US FROM OUR SINS IN HIS OWN BLOOD.” We are saved by Jesus' blood. What a wonderful truth! The blood of Jesus washes men's sins away by faith. Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” This is the simple truth from God's Word.

Don't you believe the lies of false prophet's like Ray Comfort, Aiden Tozer and John McArthur; who teach that faith alone is not enough to be saved. These men all misunderstand the meaning of Biblical repentance, and so they pervert the truth of the Gospel. These men teach that a person must depart from their sinful ways, give up the world, and determine to sin no more as part of saving-faith.

But the Bible says eternal life is a gift that is received by faith, and not by works. Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.” The Bible is clear and plain that we are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, i.e., the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is imputed (attributed) to a sinner by faith at the time of salvation. Works have no part in salvation. In fact, any self-righteous works is a road to Hell, because it is a false gospel of works salvation. God will not save anyone who adds even one self-righteous act to their faith to be saved (Romans 3:20).

Those false prophets who teach that salvation can be lost by sin, or that a person must stop committing sins to be saved, have a self-righteous mindset that is a curse upon them. Those who turn to Jesus by faith to be forgiven of their sins, have forsaken their sins; they have turned their back on sin by turning toward God to be saved. The Biblical emphasis is not upon ceasing from one's sins; but rather, upon believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and trusting upon His name to have one's sins forgiven. John 3:17-18, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Whatever changes need to be made in that sinner's life, God will make. It is God's place to change lives, and not man's. Far too many people nowadays are trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit, by forcing men to give up their sins as part of saving-faith. In reality, they have concocted a damnable heresy of self-righteousness, which requires daily effort on the part of the sinner not to commit sins to become saved, and to stay saved. It is all wrong!

The Bible teaches a completely different mindset toward salvation. Biblical, salvation is a second birth. It is a spiritual birth. A Christian is born anew of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:9) by the Seed of God's holy Word (1st Peter 1:23). Becoming a born-again believer is the way to Heaven; and not by religious dedication, committing one's life to following Christ, nor by serving in church work for a lifetime. Judas was a devil, and yet he was a follower of Christ (one of His very own Apostles).

Judas even repented (Matthew 27:3), throwing the thirty pieces of silver onto the floor because the Pharisees and Scribes refused to take them back. It was blood money, filthy lucre, the loot of betrayal. As we see, repentance from sins is not the way of salvation. Judas was only sorry he got caught, which is a not Biblical repentance unto salvation. Judas did not repent toward God as the Bible teaches. Instead, Judas only repented from his sins. You can try to give up your sins, forsake the world, and mend your evil ways; but you'll go straight to Hell when you die. Biblical salvation teaches for a sinner to repent TOWARD GOD, by believing on Jesus to have one's sins forgiven. This is not repentance from sins to be saved; but rather, repentance toward God to be forgiven of one's sins. Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance TOWARD GOD, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Salvation happens when a person turns toward God in repentance; believing on Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, to be forgiven of one's sins. Salvation is receiving, not giving. You are not saved because of what you are doing; but rather, because of where you are looking. Look to Jesus! Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Amen! Acts 10:43, “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.”