The belief that all a person
needs to do in order
to be
Saved is to believe, is a false doctrine. The verses used to make this
false doctrine prosper are as follows:
- John
3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
- John
3:18 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.
- 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:
- I
John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and
that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
- John
17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
- John
6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life.
Please do not get me
wrong.
Believing is absolutely
essential in a person’s Salvation.
- Hebrews
11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he
that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.
So then believing in Jesus Christ, that He
is the
Son of God
and that He died on the cross for our sins, and was raised from the
dead, to forever be a mediator between us and His Father, is absolutely
essential for one to have Salvation, but is believing all that is
required for one to be Saved? Now the people of the last days
generation would like to believe that is indeed all you have to do and
Eternal Salvation is secure to ALL them that believe Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, And they eagerly embrace all the previous verses that
teach you must believe to have Eternal Life, the problem though is
there are Scriptures that teach you must do more then just believe,
there are verses that is contrary to the belief that believing is
enough for Salvation.
IF WHAT YOU BELIEVE CONTRADICTS EVEN ONE VERSE IN SCRIPTURES
THEN WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS WRONG.
Scriptures reveals very clearly that believing is not
enough, consider what demons said to Jesus:
- Mark
5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with
thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that
thou torment me not.
Now if we are to believe only the verse John 3:16 which
says
“Whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life” Should not this demon have everlasting life as well?
Did he not
confess that Jesus is the Son of the most High God? Is it not written
that whosoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, that God is in
them?
- I
John 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Yet we know that demons, and evil spirits
will
not have
Eternal Life in the Kingdom of God because believing IS NOT enough.
- James
2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the
devils also believe, and tremble.
Now if your going to pick and choose verses
to
believe, who
would not choose all the verses that say if you believe you
will have Eternal Life all the while ignoring or making void other
verses which teaches you must do something in order to have Eternal
Life. Yes believe it or not there are many Scriptures that teach in
order to have Eternal Life you must DO more then believe. But we live
in a generation that believes in easy Christianity, that is to say as
long as it is easy to be a Christian they are all for it, but if it
becomes to difficult to be a Christian they are not willing to remain
one.
Tell me, who has not heard and memorized this verse to have
Eternal Life?:
- John
3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
Yet how many know and memorize this verse
to have
Eternal
Life?:
- Hebrews
5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him;
So then which is it? Do we have Eternal
Life by
believing as
John
3:16
says or do we have Eternal Life by obeying as
Hebrews 5:9
says? It’s no wander to me why this generation would rather believe
John
3:16
and ignore or make void or interpret away Hebrews
5:9
. But
guess what!!! Both verses are indeed Inspired by God, both verses are
True, both verses are from the Word of God and is the TRUTH. Anyone who
believes one verse and not the other, believes in a false doctrine. “If
a person believes one verse yet ignores or
makes void all other verses that seem to contradict the belief of the
first verse, they do not know the Truth, Only when all verses agree
with each other and none are ignored or made void, is when a person can
come to the Knowledge of the Truth”
So then, the TRUTH is, (according to Scriptures) you must
believe (John
3:16
) AND obey (Hebrews
5:9
) in order to have Eternal
Salvation. But let us not stop at one verse, let us look at other
verses that teach that you must do more than believe, in order to have
Eternal Life.
- Romans
10:9 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.
So this verse says a person must confess
with the
mouth in
order to be Saved, so then you must DO more than believe only if this
verse is saying you MUST confess with the mouth in order to be Saved.
This generation is deceived, they go about teaching that all a person
must do is believe to be Saved, which is plainly contrary to verses in
the Word of God. Do not listen to those people they think they know the
TRUTH but what they believe is contrary to sound doctrine, and you
should avoid them. (Rom
16:17)
- Philippians
1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the
gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I
may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one
mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 And in nothing
terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of
perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 29 For unto you it
is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also
to suffer for his sake;
This verse clearly says we are not only to
believe but also
to suffer for Him.
- John
12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth
his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
So Eternal Life is to those who do not love
their
life
according to this verse.
- John
10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
So according to this verse we must hear Him
and
Follow Him
then He will give unto us Eternal Life.
- John
6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have
no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh
is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the
living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth
me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down
from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that
eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
So then aside from believing we are to eat
His
flesh and
drink His blood (live by His Word, and be led by the Spirit)
- Romans
2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for
glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Continuance in well-doing brings Eternal
Life.
- Romans
6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to
God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
So then being made free from sin because
Jesus
forgave our
past sins (Romans
3:25
,II
Peter 1:19) and we became servants to God and not
to satan, and our fruits (deeds) are unto holiness brings us in the end
(on Judgment Day) Everlasting Life.
- I
Timothy 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for
themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may
lay hold on eternal life.
That they may lay hold on Eternal Life by
doing
good, being
rich in good works, ready to give to others and willing to talk to all
that is willing. Doesn't this wicked generation teach that we already
have Eternal Life, the moment we accept Jesus Christ, why then are
there so many verses that plainly teach that we must lay hold of it, or
receive it in the end, or those who endure to the end shall be Saved?
Why does this wicked generation teach we already have it?
- Titus
3:7 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.
That they which believe would ALSO do
something
else aside
from merely believing and that is, according to this verse, to maintain
good works, that is to say, to not have bad works.
- Jude
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Again this is something we should DO, that
is to
keep
ourselves in the Love of God. This is yet another verse that plainly
teaches that we don't have Eternal Life yet, but is something that will
come when Jesus Christ gets here to take us up with Him. Which
Scriptures calls Judgment Day, that Day Jesus shows up to the Earth and
the Books are opened, and it is ONLY on that day that determines who is
written in the Book of Life and who is not written in it, or has been
blotted out of the Book of Life. ONLY on that day is a person Truly
Saved or Not Saved.
- Galations
6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap
life everlasting.
Again we see yet another verse that tells
us
something we
should DO to receive Life Everlasting, this verse says that if we sow
to the Spirit we will reap Life Everlasting. Contrary to that is if a
person sows to his/her flesh shall reap Corruption and NOT LIFE
Everlasting. Your belief of whatever doctrine you hold on to, does not
negate or make void this verse.
- I
John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ, AND love one another, as he gave us
commandment.
Loving one another is something we DO! It
is not
believing
only, but something we must DO. So the belief that believing only is
enough for someone to have Eternal Salvation is a false doctrine when
we have so many verses that clearly teach things we must DO in order to
have Eternal Salvation. You can’t believe a few verses all the while
ignoring all other verses concerning Eternal Life.
- John
3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life.
The question then is what does it mean to
believe
in HIM?
- Romans
10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed.
So to believe in Him a person is not
ashamed,
what then
makes a person ashamed?
- II
Thessalonians 3:14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle,
note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
- Titus
2: 6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7 In all
things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing
uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8 Sound speech, that cannot be
condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having
no evil thing to say of you.
- I
John 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.
So then when we abide in Jesus we will not
be
ashamed,
likewise it stands to reason when we do not abide in Jesus we should be
ashamed. So believing, according to Romans
10:11
, means for us not to
be ashamed. what else does it mean to believe in Christ?
- I
John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God:
and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is
begotten of him.
So we see then that believing in Christ
means you
are Born
of God, what does it mean to be Born of God?
- 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: 13 Which were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God.
Again this Scripture teaches IF you believe
on
Jesus Christ
then you should be Born of God.
- John
5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he
that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth
him not.
So then if you Truly BELIEVE in Jesus, then
you
are Born of
God, and if you are Truly Born of God you do not allow the wicked one
to touch you, you will not obey his temptations. {Now
it is easy to understand why so few will find that narrow and difficult
path that leads to life Everlasting, and why so many will be weeping
and gnashing their teeth because their whole lives they believed they
were on the narrow path, when in Truth they were all along on the broad
and easy path of Lukewarmness. much weeping and gnashing of teeth from
the Christian Goats}
Yet another inspired
by God verse confirms this as well, consider:
- I
John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed
remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In
this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness (to knowingly and
willingly commit
sin) is not of God,
neither he that loveth not his brother.
Again John
3:16 For God so loved the world, that
he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
So as to not take this verse out of context with the whole
of the Bible, there is a lot more to receiving Eternal Life than merely
believing only, when the whole of Scriptures concerning Eternal Life a
person must first believe (John
3:15,
3:18,
1:12, 17:3,
6:47,
I
John 5:13) ALSO we must confess (Romans
10:9
) ALSO we must
suffer (Philipians
1:29
)
ALSO we must love one another (I
John 3:23) ALSO we must not love this
life (John
12:25) ALSO we must follow Him (John
10:27-28
) ALSO we must
eat His flesh and drink His blood (John
6:53-58) ALSO we must be born
again (John
3:3) ALSO we must maintain to do good works (Romans
2:7,6:22,
I
Timothy 6:18-19,Titus
3:7-8) ALSO we must OBEY Him.
- Hebrews
5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him;
- I
Peter 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.
When a person asked Jesus, How could he
receive
Eternal
Life? Jesus did not say that all he needed to do was to believe in Him,
but says keep the commandments, lets review the whole conversation:
- Matthew
19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master,
what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
(This is a
perfect opportunity for Jesus to address the topic that you do not have
to do anything to receive Eternal Life, that believing is enough,
notice that Jesus proceeds to tell the man what he must DO in order to
receive Eternal Life) 17
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me
good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments. (Why would Jesus say
this if
believing was indeed enough to receive Eternal Life? But Jesus Himself,
after being asked what a person should do to receive Eternal Life,
clearly said, to obey the commandments, Lets continue with the
conversation) 18 He
saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no
murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou
shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Notice these are all things that Jesus says
a
person must DO
in order to receive Eternal Life, (True it was the answer for living
under the Old Covenant given by Jesus, because Jesus had not yet died
and risen yet, therefore the New Covenant, not yet started, So Jesus
answered the man according to the covenant that man was under at that
moment in time)
also notice that He did not think it
important enough to mention keeping the Sabbath Day Holy as a
requirement for one to receive Eternal Life. No! Jesus is not
forgetful, Jesus, nor His Disciples nor His Apostles instruct us
Christians anywhere to keep the Sabbath Day Holy unto the Lord, and
even though i think it is a good thing to do, it is not a requirement
for Salvation even by the Words of Jesus Himself. (for more information
see Chapter on Sabbath Keeping) lets continue with the conversation:
- Matthew
19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I
kept from my youth up: (he is saying that he obeys all
these things,
that he does all those things)
what lack I yet?
This man is now asking Jesus what else
besides
obeying does
he need to DO to have Eternal Life. Lets continue:
- Matthew
19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell
that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in
heaven: AND come and follow me.
Notice the last statement by Jesus “COME
AND
FOLLOW ME” This
is the something else that he must DO to have Eternal Life aside from
obeying His commandments, this is confirmed in these verse:
- John
10: 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Lets continue with Scriptures:
- Matthew
19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away
sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
You see this man thought that obeying was
enough,
he already
believed in Jesus, we know this because he calls Jesus Master. But you
see Believing is not enough, obeying is not enough. Even though this
man believed and he obeyed the laws of Moses, he was not willing to
follow Jesus, and he also loved his life because of all his
possessions. This man walked away sad because Jesus just told him that
believing and obeying the laws of Moses is not enough for Eternal
Salvation, that he has to follow Jesus and give up his life for Him,
even as Jesus gave His life for us, this he was not willing to do even
though he believed and obeyed the commandments.
The whole purpose of this chapter is to try to debunk the
false teaching that all a person has to do is believe Jesus is the Son
of God and they are then Saved and have Eternal Life. True a person
must believe but according to Scriptures they must DO more then just
believe. Consider the following conversation between a lawyer and our
Lord Jesus Christ
- Luke
10: 25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said
unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he
answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast
answered right: this DO, and thou shalt live.
Notice that this Lawyer asked Jesus what he
needs
to DO to
inherit Eternal Life. Again Jesus had a perfect opportunity to teach
that all a person needs to do to have Eternal Life is to believe in the
Son of God, but He doesn’t. He confirms that we are to obey the Word of
God by Loving God with ALL our heart, ALL our soul, ALL our strength,
and ALL our mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. ALL these
things is what a person DOES, not what they believe.
So when it comes to Eternal Salvation we should not only
believe a few verses concerning Eternal Life but believe all the verses
concerning Eternal Life, as a whole to come to the knowledge of the
Truth, to merely believe a few verses and discard, or excuse away, or
make void other verses concerning the same topic, is to believe a false
doctrine. Believe all of the Scriptures, do not pick and choose which
verses you will believe and which verses you will ignore or make void
or interpret to mean something other then what it clearly says.
Remember it is only when every verse agrees with what you believe,
before you will have come to the knowledge of the Truth.
i hope this Chapter has revealed to you that believing is
not enough, that along with your belief you will have to DO more than
just believe.
James also talks about this in his book Chapter 2 verses
14-26 that Faith alone is not enough, it requires works. Likewise works
alone is not enough it requires Faith. Faith plus Works equals Eternal
Salvation, just as believing (John
3:16
) plus obeying (Hebrews
5:9
) equals
Eternal Salvation.
Now you do greatly error if you believe you don’t have to do
anything once you are Saved. True there is nothing you can do to earn
Salvation. Getting Saved is free to whoever will receive it, but once
you are Saved, once you have accepted that free gift of Salvation, then
there are things that you must DO according to Scriptures, one of which
is to maintain good works to keep His commandments.
You do not do good works to get Saved, you do good works
because you are Saved.
The Apostle John also plainly teaches us that Faith and Works go hand in hand, consider:
- 1Jn
3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep
His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
Do you receive from Him whatsoever you ask for in prayer? If Not, maybe
you are NOT keeping His Commandments. What are His Commandments? False
teachers of this generation will teach you His Commandments are the "10
Commandments" given to the Israelites to follow and obey under the old
covenant, But what does the Apostle John plainly teach us His
Commandments are:
- 1Jn 3:23 And this is His commandment, That we should 1) believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ,(FAITH) and 2) love one another,(WORKS) as He gave us commandment.
So according to the Inspired by God Scriptures, to Keep His
Commandments a person must believe Jesus Christ, AND Love One Another.
To believe in Jesus is Faith. To Love One Another is something
that you must DO. Faith and Works both go hand in hand for those who
Keep His Commandments. Anyone who teaches otherwise is a false teacher
and not of God.
- 1Jn
3:24 And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He
in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which
He hath given us.
So then, according
to this verse, Those who Keep His Commandments (Believe in Jesus AND
Love One Another) Are they that Jesus Christ will dwell in. Do you
claim that Jesus lives in you, yet you do not Love One Another,
something that Jesus COMMANDED us to do? Many believe in Jesus yet do
NOT love one another, these are lukewarm Christian Goats, They call
Jesus "Lord" but fail at Loving One Another (Matt 25: 31-46) The
Sheep, Believe and Love One Another. The Goats, Believe and do NOT Love
One Another. Now many people in this generation will try to teach you
that the goats are the unsaved, do not believe those false teachers
over the Word of God itself. The goats call Jesus "Lord" which they
could not do if the Holy Ghost had not revealed that to them.
- 1Co_12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Know you not that the unsaved will never call Jesus "Lord" Even though
every eye on Earth shall see Him, they will not believe it is the Jesus
of the Bible, the unsaved will not call Him "Lord" Anyone who calls
Jesus "Lord" can only do so because the Holy Ghost has revealed that
information to be True to the person who is saying with their mouth
"Lord". The Goats are Christians who believe Jesus is the "Lord" and
even call Him "Lord" but these Christians fail to love one another as
they were commanded to do, they failed to maintain good works, also
something that they were instructed to do by the Word of God, these
held onto false doctrines that taught Works are not needed to be Saved,
and therefore had no works to show when the Lord Jesus shows up to
claim what is His, the Sheep. Which believe and Love One Another. Sheep
= Faith + Works = accepted by Jesus.
Goats = Faith - Works = DEAD, not accepted by Jesus.
Woe
to this generation that believe that Faith only (believing only) is
enough, there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth by the
Christian goats, who believe that they did not need to maintain good
works, because NO WORKS were required.
But here is good
news for you. NOW you know the TRUTH, and you have heard it from a
servant of Jesus Christ. You are still here, still alive, and there is
yet time for you to Love One Another, as Jesus our Lord and Savior,
COMMANDED us to do.
You will no longer be able to
plead ignorance because you did not know the TRUTH that Faith and Works
go hand in hand, not one without the other. What you do with this Truth
which i give you, and testify that it was told to me by God, is up to
you.
Those who believe and obey have Eternal Salvation. Those who
have Faith and Works have Eternal Salvation. These statements are True
and they are Scriptural. Scriptures teach us that we are to DO good
works, they teach us to maintain good works, and they teach that we
will be judged by our works. Woe to them who believe they do not need
works that believing is enough, they believe a false doctrine. But as i
previously said here is Good News, you now know the Truth, because i
have told you in this
Chapter. Repent therefore, and turn from your sinful ways and start
obeying the Bible, start doing what it says you should do, namely start
loving one another.
- Hebrews
5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him;
Faith + Works = Salvation
Believing + Obedience = Salvation
Faith – Works = Death
Believing – Obedience = Death
The
choice is
yours to
make, and that choice will determine where you spend Eternity.
Choose Wisely.
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