The Lord’s Work – Part 22
James 2:21-23 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Abraham’s faith is the pattern of our faith. He is called “the father of all them that believe”.
Abraham didn’t have to commit his life to God and live his whole life serving others. But He had to make a sacrifice.
A person is not saved until he makes this sacrifice to COMPLETE his faith. But once he makes that offering, he is done. He is “complete in Him” (Col 2:10). His faith is counted for righteousness.
You can’t just sacrifice YOUR sacrifice. It has to be HIS sacrifice.
You can’t just sacrifice YOUR words. They have to be HIS words.
You can’t just mix your words in with His words. God HATES mixing things that are not alike!
If you mix in your words with His words, then your sacrifice, your prayer, becomes SIN!
So, do you really think God is okay with it (do you think He accepts it?) if we DEFINE and teach salvation with a word like “Admit” or “Accept”, that God does not require? If you offer him words that are not right, how can He accept them?
And if what you offer to God is not the right thing, but a corrupt thing… will He accept it?
Malachi 1:13-14 … and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. 14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
Jeremiah 48:10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, …
What is this lesson / series titled? The Lord’s Work.
The only way a man can do “the work of the Lord” is the speak the words of God out of his mouth. To speak the gospel. That’s how you offer to the Lord. That’s how you give eternal life and health to men.
But if you do this work of the Lord (speaking the Lord’s words) deceitfully, if there is iniquity in your mouth, if you mix in your own words, if you mix in your own WORDS, you bring a curse upon yourself, and not a blessing.
You don’t understand how incredibly important your words are.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
You can literally give eternal life or you can give eternal death, out of your mouth. Your words are your fruit. What you give to men will be rewarded to you again.
Proverbs 18:7 A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Proverbs 12:13 The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
Proverbs 13:3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
Proverbs 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Your words are how God judges you.
Matthew 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
The only thing that will determine your eternal destination, is your words.
A wise man will set a watch at the door of his mouth, so that no iniquity goes out of it.
Psalms 39:1 … I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
Psalms 141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
A man needs to VERY CAREFUL what words, what works, come out of his mouth.
A salvation prayer cannot have iniquity in it. If there is anything perverse in it, the prayer becomes sin. The prayer is not acceptable to the Lord.
Proverbs 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
If your mouth doesn’t know what is acceptable, thus it does not speak what is ACCEPTABLE to the Lord, then you are not righteous.
If you speak frowardness (backward, wrong), then how can God accept it? If there is anything corrupt in your offering, it won’t be accepted.
Leviticus 22:24-25 Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land. 25 Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.
Leviticus 22:21 … it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
It isn’t required that YOU accept Christ. It is required that HE accepts YOUR OFFERING… that He ACCEPTS YOU. You better learn what is acceptable, and speak THAT out of your lips.
And here is what is acceptable: PERFECTION.
Your offering must be JESUS CHRIST. Not yourself.
But if you Commit your life to Christ, you haven’t offered Jesus Christ to God, you’ve offered yourself to God.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
There is a time and a way win which The Lord will accept men.
If the wrong man approaches unto God, or if a man approaches to God at the wrong time, or in the wrong place, or with the wrong sacrifice, or with any corruption in him (Lev 21:16-23), he is not accepted. He is rejected. Because he is not acceptable.
You are not commanded to “accept Christ” in Scripture. Rather, you need to be accepted of Him. You need to be acceptable to God. How do you make yourself acceptable to God? The answer is: You don’t!
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Jesus Christ makes us acceptable. He is the offering. We eat of Him, and we are made partakers of the offering. (1 Cor 10:18)
In His GRACE, we are made acceptable to Him. And now, the things we bring forth, the sacrifices we make, are acceptable to the Lord.
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Romans 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
You are never told to accept Christ. That is not a requirement to receiving eternal life.
The reason Satan wants men to “accept” Jesus. Is so that a man will “accept Him” into his heart. “Accept Him” as Lord of his life.
But when you accept Him, its you who holds the power. You are judging what is acceptable. You hold the authority to accept Him. And so then, since you hold the authority to “make him Lord” of your life, you can reject Him later. And then accept Him back again. It’s your home. It’s your heart. You can decide when you want to let Him in and when you want to kick him out. Its your life. You can decide when you want to live for Him, and when you want to live for sin.
Scripturally, God doesn’t need to ACCEPTED of you. YOU need to be accepted of HIM.
That is the problem with “The ABCs of how to become a true Christian”.
Their message is Accept Jesus and Commit to Him!
Their message is Admit your wrong doing and do right instead.
- Admit? How can you Admit (Confess) before you even Believe? We might as well be sprinkling babies! How can you offer the right sacrifice if the first thing you do is confess? The word “admit”, and its variations, are not even in the Bible. That alone should tell you that this “gospel” is not acceptable to the Lord.
- Accept? How can you Accept something before you Believe? What exactly are you accepting? You may be accepting ANYTHING. And that’s the point, isn’t it? To accept something… something else which is not the true gospel. The point is to accept.. another gospel!
- Where is the Repentance from dead works?? That is the biggest issue with the ABC “gospel” message, there is no R
I told you to look, so I went back and looked to be sure. If you look at the word accept* in the Bible, and especially in the NT (28 times), you will see what I told you. There is no command to “accept Christ”. Regarding salvation, it’s all about what God accepts, not what you accept.
But, I did find two verses that caused me to pause initially. And I’d like to address.
–
There are 12 instances of “accept*” in the same verse with “God” in the NT, and none of them are about a man accepting God, but rather whether God will accept men or their works.
There are 5 instances of “accept*” in the same verse with “Jesus”, “Christ”, or “gospel”.
Romans 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
Well that’s not about accepting Christ, its about Him accepting us.
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Again. God accepting us.
Romans 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
That is not about accepting the gospel is it? No, rather, it is the gospel that makes us ACCEPTABLE to The Lord!
That was 3 of the 5. Clearly, in 3 of the 5 there is no commandment to accept Jesus or accept the gospel.
Well, there is no such commandment in the other 2 as well. But it’s a little more difficult to see at first.
But praise the Lord, that this holds true, and the false prophets who teach we must “accept Christ” into our hearts and lives, have no Scripture to stand on. They can use other words, but not “accept”.
1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
I saw this one and I paused, thinking, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we do Scripturally have to “accept” the gospel.
Praise God, I am wrong all the time, but the Bible isn’t. Praise the Lord, the Bible doesn’t contradict itself.
If we take this verse by itself, then one may be inclined to think that God is saying that a man should accept or must accept this saying. But if you’re honest, you’ll admit that this is not a command to men to accept this. Well then what is it? It’s a statement on the acceptability of this saying. It is simply telling us what IS ACCEPTABLE.
So look at it like this… If what we learn from all the other instances of accept is that it matters not what a man accepts, but what the Lord accepts, then it likely applies here too! This is about what the Lord accepts.
This saying is worthy of all acceptation. This saying is worthy to be accepted. This saying is ACCEPTABLE. Not to men, but to the Lord! That is what we learn from Scripture. It matters what is acceptable to Him.
We better know what is acceptable to Him.
Proverbs 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable …
Well… This is “what is acceptable” to the Lord.
If you want the sacrifice of your lips to be acceptable to the Lord, this is what you better offer out of your mouth: “Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of whom, I am chief.” Not Paul is chief. I AM CHIEF. YOU are chief. AM, not was. Not Paul WAS, Not you were. “I am Chief.”
That is an acceptable saying to the Lord. That is humility. That is repentance, if you understand it. That is understanding who you are. That is understanding that salvation is by grace through faith and not by works of righteousness which we have done. That is understanding that my works are an abomination, and as a sinner, I have no hope of salvation other than Jesus Christ. That is understanding that even NOW, I’m a sinner. In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.
That is the gospel. If we want to be accepted, all we have to do is to repent, believe, and confess – to offer what is acceptable out of our mouths.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”. This saying is worthy of all acceptation… to the Lord. But with no repentance, with no understanding, it STILL won’t be accepted.
That’s a pretty straightforward understanding of the verse, isn’t it. No contradiction with the rest of Scripture. No cause for concern. No need to pause or backtrack. That’s just “plain”.
Proverbs 8:8-9 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. 9 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
So we move on to the final of the 5 instances of “accept” and Jesus, Christ, and/or gospel.
2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
This is the only one that seems to indicate that we as Christians have accepted the gospel, or have accepted Christ.
But let’s note a few things in this verse here:
First, this is not a commandment to “accept Jesus”.
So you can’t prove that we are required to “accept Jesus” to receive eternal life.
Second, it is not a commandment to accept Jesus “as the Lord of your life”. There is the real leaven.
Third, this is the only one that talks about men accepting the gospel, right? Well no actually, its not about us accepting the gospel, its about NOT accepting another gospel – a false gospel. Think about that!
The push to “accept” the gospel, is not from the Lord, it is from the enemies! If you hear men teaching then we must ACCEPT Jesus, ACCEPT the gospel.. well, you look for accept and gospel in the Bibel, and this is where you must go: 2 Cor 11:4
But this verse is not about how to get saved, its about how to get LOST!! Its not about accepting the gospel, its about accepting “another gospel”.
So if you go around preaching “accept Jesus” when the Bible never says to “accept” Jesus, but rather warns against “accepting” “another Jesus”, you’re going to be sorely mistaken.
Fourth, The order is wrong.
You cannot Accept, before you Repent.
This is exactly what Satan wants you to do.
Before you do anything else, before you change your mind to believe the truth, ACCEPT something. Before you repent and believe, and then confess TO receive eternal life, Satan wants you to ACCEPT something. Accept something… accept another Jesus. Accept something that is not the gospel. It’s another gospel.
And another gospel, is not acceptable. But the lips of the righteous know what is acceptable with the Lord.
Well what about “Receive”?
Solly asked a really good question about “receiving the gift” of salvation.
I had to hit the pause, and study, and I still have more study to do.
I don’t want to go into this in huge detail, because I still have a number of questions myself. And the subject goes very deep. Where exactly does “receive” come into the plan of salvation?
But here is a quick summary of what I believe the answer is:
“Receive” is in the NT 263 times. Two uses of “receive” as it relates to Salvation:
- To Receive is to hear the word of God. But you can receive without receiving, just like you can hear without hearing (understanding). You can receive things in a parable. Repentance must come first, such that the heart can hear/understand/receive in truth. This receiving is baked into repentance, and it must happen before salvation.
- To Receive is to obtain. To obtain eternal life. To obtain the gift. The gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of righteousness. One does this AFTER he confesses. RBC, then receive. This happens at the moment of salvation. But you don’t receive the gift of God, until you R-B-C.
Oct 3 2021
The Lord’s Work – Part 22
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 22
The Lord’s Work – Part 22
James 2:21-23 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Abraham’s faith is the pattern of our faith. He is called “the father of all them that believe”.
Abraham didn’t have to commit his life to God and live his whole life serving others. But He had to make a sacrifice.
A person is not saved until he makes this sacrifice to COMPLETE his faith. But once he makes that offering, he is done. He is “complete in Him” (Col 2:10). His faith is counted for righteousness.
You can’t just sacrifice YOUR sacrifice. It has to be HIS sacrifice.
You can’t just sacrifice YOUR words. They have to be HIS words.
You can’t just mix your words in with His words. God HATES mixing things that are not alike!
If you mix in your words with His words, then your sacrifice, your prayer, becomes SIN!
So, do you really think God is okay with it (do you think He accepts it?) if we DEFINE and teach salvation with a word like “Admit” or “Accept”, that God does not require? If you offer him words that are not right, how can He accept them?
And if what you offer to God is not the right thing, but a corrupt thing… will He accept it?
Malachi 1:13-14 … and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. 14 But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
Jeremiah 48:10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, …
What is this lesson / series titled? The Lord’s Work.
The only way a man can do “the work of the Lord” is the speak the words of God out of his mouth. To speak the gospel. That’s how you offer to the Lord. That’s how you give eternal life and health to men.
But if you do this work of the Lord (speaking the Lord’s words) deceitfully, if there is iniquity in your mouth, if you mix in your own words, if you mix in your own WORDS, you bring a curse upon yourself, and not a blessing.
You don’t understand how incredibly important your words are.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
You can literally give eternal life or you can give eternal death, out of your mouth. Your words are your fruit. What you give to men will be rewarded to you again.
Proverbs 18:7 A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Proverbs 12:13 The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
Proverbs 13:3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
Proverbs 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Your words are how God judges you.
Matthew 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
The only thing that will determine your eternal destination, is your words.
A wise man will set a watch at the door of his mouth, so that no iniquity goes out of it.
Psalms 39:1 … I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
Psalms 141:3 Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
A man needs to VERY CAREFUL what words, what works, come out of his mouth.
A salvation prayer cannot have iniquity in it. If there is anything perverse in it, the prayer becomes sin. The prayer is not acceptable to the Lord.
Proverbs 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.
If your mouth doesn’t know what is acceptable, thus it does not speak what is ACCEPTABLE to the Lord, then you are not righteous.
If you speak frowardness (backward, wrong), then how can God accept it? If there is anything corrupt in your offering, it won’t be accepted.
Leviticus 22:24-25 Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land. 25 Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.
Leviticus 22:21 … it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
It isn’t required that YOU accept Christ. It is required that HE accepts YOUR OFFERING… that He ACCEPTS YOU. You better learn what is acceptable, and speak THAT out of your lips.
And here is what is acceptable: PERFECTION.
Your offering must be JESUS CHRIST. Not yourself.
But if you Commit your life to Christ, you haven’t offered Jesus Christ to God, you’ve offered yourself to God.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
There is a time and a way win which The Lord will accept men.
If the wrong man approaches unto God, or if a man approaches to God at the wrong time, or in the wrong place, or with the wrong sacrifice, or with any corruption in him (Lev 21:16-23), he is not accepted. He is rejected. Because he is not acceptable.
You are not commanded to “accept Christ” in Scripture. Rather, you need to be accepted of Him. You need to be acceptable to God. How do you make yourself acceptable to God? The answer is: You don’t!
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Jesus Christ makes us acceptable. He is the offering. We eat of Him, and we are made partakers of the offering. (1 Cor 10:18)
In His GRACE, we are made acceptable to Him. And now, the things we bring forth, the sacrifices we make, are acceptable to the Lord.
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Romans 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
You are never told to accept Christ. That is not a requirement to receiving eternal life.
The reason Satan wants men to “accept” Jesus. Is so that a man will “accept Him” into his heart. “Accept Him” as Lord of his life.
But when you accept Him, its you who holds the power. You are judging what is acceptable. You hold the authority to accept Him. And so then, since you hold the authority to “make him Lord” of your life, you can reject Him later. And then accept Him back again. It’s your home. It’s your heart. You can decide when you want to let Him in and when you want to kick him out. Its your life. You can decide when you want to live for Him, and when you want to live for sin.
Scripturally, God doesn’t need to ACCEPTED of you. YOU need to be accepted of HIM.
That is the problem with “The ABCs of how to become a true Christian”.
Their message is Accept Jesus and Commit to Him!
Their message is Admit your wrong doing and do right instead.
I told you to look, so I went back and looked to be sure. If you look at the word accept* in the Bible, and especially in the NT (28 times), you will see what I told you. There is no command to “accept Christ”. Regarding salvation, it’s all about what God accepts, not what you accept.
But, I did find two verses that caused me to pause initially. And I’d like to address.
–
There are 12 instances of “accept*” in the same verse with “God” in the NT, and none of them are about a man accepting God, but rather whether God will accept men or their works.
There are 5 instances of “accept*” in the same verse with “Jesus”, “Christ”, or “gospel”.
Romans 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
Well that’s not about accepting Christ, its about Him accepting us.
1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Again. God accepting us.
Romans 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
That is not about accepting the gospel is it? No, rather, it is the gospel that makes us ACCEPTABLE to The Lord!
That was 3 of the 5. Clearly, in 3 of the 5 there is no commandment to accept Jesus or accept the gospel.
Well, there is no such commandment in the other 2 as well. But it’s a little more difficult to see at first.
But praise the Lord, that this holds true, and the false prophets who teach we must “accept Christ” into our hearts and lives, have no Scripture to stand on. They can use other words, but not “accept”.
1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
I saw this one and I paused, thinking, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we do Scripturally have to “accept” the gospel.
Praise God, I am wrong all the time, but the Bible isn’t. Praise the Lord, the Bible doesn’t contradict itself.
If we take this verse by itself, then one may be inclined to think that God is saying that a man should accept or must accept this saying. But if you’re honest, you’ll admit that this is not a command to men to accept this. Well then what is it? It’s a statement on the acceptability of this saying. It is simply telling us what IS ACCEPTABLE.
So look at it like this… If what we learn from all the other instances of accept is that it matters not what a man accepts, but what the Lord accepts, then it likely applies here too! This is about what the Lord accepts.
This saying is worthy of all acceptation. This saying is worthy to be accepted. This saying is ACCEPTABLE. Not to men, but to the Lord! That is what we learn from Scripture. It matters what is acceptable to Him.
We better know what is acceptable to Him.
Proverbs 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable …
Well… This is “what is acceptable” to the Lord.
If you want the sacrifice of your lips to be acceptable to the Lord, this is what you better offer out of your mouth: “Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of whom, I am chief.” Not Paul is chief. I AM CHIEF. YOU are chief. AM, not was. Not Paul WAS, Not you were. “I am Chief.”
That is an acceptable saying to the Lord. That is humility. That is repentance, if you understand it. That is understanding who you are. That is understanding that salvation is by grace through faith and not by works of righteousness which we have done. That is understanding that my works are an abomination, and as a sinner, I have no hope of salvation other than Jesus Christ. That is understanding that even NOW, I’m a sinner. In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.
That is the gospel. If we want to be accepted, all we have to do is to repent, believe, and confess – to offer what is acceptable out of our mouths.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”. This saying is worthy of all acceptation… to the Lord. But with no repentance, with no understanding, it STILL won’t be accepted.
That’s a pretty straightforward understanding of the verse, isn’t it. No contradiction with the rest of Scripture. No cause for concern. No need to pause or backtrack. That’s just “plain”.
Proverbs 8:8-9 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. 9 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
So we move on to the final of the 5 instances of “accept” and Jesus, Christ, and/or gospel.
2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
This is the only one that seems to indicate that we as Christians have accepted the gospel, or have accepted Christ.
But let’s note a few things in this verse here:
First, this is not a commandment to “accept Jesus”.
So you can’t prove that we are required to “accept Jesus” to receive eternal life.
Second, it is not a commandment to accept Jesus “as the Lord of your life”. There is the real leaven.
Third, this is the only one that talks about men accepting the gospel, right? Well no actually, its not about us accepting the gospel, its about NOT accepting another gospel – a false gospel. Think about that!
The push to “accept” the gospel, is not from the Lord, it is from the enemies! If you hear men teaching then we must ACCEPT Jesus, ACCEPT the gospel.. well, you look for accept and gospel in the Bibel, and this is where you must go: 2 Cor 11:4
But this verse is not about how to get saved, its about how to get LOST!! Its not about accepting the gospel, its about accepting “another gospel”.
So if you go around preaching “accept Jesus” when the Bible never says to “accept” Jesus, but rather warns against “accepting” “another Jesus”, you’re going to be sorely mistaken.
Fourth, The order is wrong.
You cannot Accept, before you Repent.
This is exactly what Satan wants you to do.
Before you do anything else, before you change your mind to believe the truth, ACCEPT something. Before you repent and believe, and then confess TO receive eternal life, Satan wants you to ACCEPT something. Accept something… accept another Jesus. Accept something that is not the gospel. It’s another gospel.
And another gospel, is not acceptable. But the lips of the righteous know what is acceptable with the Lord.
Well what about “Receive”?
Solly asked a really good question about “receiving the gift” of salvation.
I had to hit the pause, and study, and I still have more study to do.
I don’t want to go into this in huge detail, because I still have a number of questions myself. And the subject goes very deep. Where exactly does “receive” come into the plan of salvation?
But here is a quick summary of what I believe the answer is:
“Receive” is in the NT 263 times. Two uses of “receive” as it relates to Salvation:
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, Salvation • 0