It is so easy to look at a website, decide you know what they are saying, and to then move on to the next website, being confident in your existing view. Please don’t do that today!
Please take the 1-2 minutes needed to read this page
and consider what it says.
This is Texas. The Bible Belt. Most of us around these parts go to Church, or at least grew up going to Church. Not all of us, but many of us. That Bible we carry to Church and keep on our nightstand has a lot of things to say, and most of us have covered very little of it ourselves.
What if some of the things you were taught aren’t even in the Bible? Not possible? A Christian couldn’t be wrong about what you know to be in God’s Word? Especially about things you have heard several Pastors teach on. Don’t worry, this isn’t some crazy cult website trying to mess with your mind. We simply want to challenge you to look at your Christianity in light of Scripture. If you would describe yourself as being familiar with Christianity, or even as being a Christian, then maybe it is time to compare what you believe, what you hold as truth, to what is in the Bible. But you may be saying, “I know I am a true Christian, holding true Christian beliefs!” If that is true, and Jesus Christ is truly “your personal savior”, then why are you finding these questions boring or making you feel uncomfortable? If you are in the faith, a challenge to look in the Word should not be intimidating or boring. So, let’s look at just a few small items of interest…
What if the Bible never says, “Ask Jesus to come into your heart and you will be saved”?
The truth is, it doesn’t. It is a relatively modern teaching with no Biblical support. The verse most Preachers will use to support this teaching is Revelation 3:20 where it states:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
But take a good look at what it actually says. Nowhere does it mention your heart. In many, many other places salvation is described as hinging on faith, a calling to God, repentance and a commitment to follow Him. With Revelation 3:20 having none of these things being mentioned, it should be obvious that to turn this into a formula prayer is a dangerous thing. The Holy Spirit does indeed come to reside in a person after conversion, but to label that as the conversion process is to put the cart before the horse. This seemingly harmless teaching turns one of the effects of salvation into a formula for salvation. All of this aside, the fact is that nowhere in all of Scripture is, “asking Jesus into your heart” mentioned. Not in the Old Testament, not in the symbology of the Passover, not in one single instance in the New Testament. Nowhere. That alone should ring the alarm bells that this teaching is not Biblical (and if it isn’t Biblical, it isn’t Christian).
What if the reason you know you are saved is because you said the “sinner’s prayer”? You might want to be a little concerned, because the Bible doesn’t have any teachings on this… anywhere! The Bible makes it very clear that there will be many on judgment day who argue with the Lord saying, “We called you our God and lived our life working for you, and now we find out we weren’t even saved?!?!?” Read this troubling passage for yourself in Matthew 7:21-23:
Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
Just because we said a prayer when we were young, call ourselves “Christians”, and are relatively good people attending Church doesn’t mean anything! A mental nod that there is a God will not save us from the punishment that is coming for sin. So how can we know if we are saved? This is an incredibly important question, you would think the Lord would provide us with a way to be sure. Speaking if which…
What if the Bible gave a way we could examine ourselves to make sure we were truly saved believers? Did you know the whole book of 1st John in the Bible was written to give us tests we can use to see if we really are right with God? Here is just one of the ways John tells us to test ourselves:
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:3-4
Wow! This is challenging to say the least! But if you read the whole book, you will realize that John isn’t saying that from the time you are saved you will never sin again, and you that will be perfect. He is saying that your life will be spent avoiding sin and pursuing Christ and His Holiness. The sin you once loved, you will now hate. Your life will no longer be dominated by sin. Does this describe you? Do you weep over your sin, avoid it with what strength you do have while begging God to take it from you? Does your sin bring you pain, or excitement?
The challenge to take a Biblical look at if you are truly saved from sin and Hell may seem offensive to you, but it should not be this way! “I don’t need to examine anything,” you might say, “I am saved! I don’t need a test!” Well, that is probably just what the people John wrote to said as well! If the apostles Paul and John needed to examine themselves, we probably should, too. We had all better be sure that what we are clinging to is really the truth!
What if the true Gospel of Jesus Christ offers a freedom from the slavery you are in? Freedom from the slavery of alcohol, rage, porn, misery, hatred, sex, or drugs? Freedom from the things you once enjoyed but now eat into your conscience even as you continue to do them?
Read the following passage:
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. Romans 6: 16-18
What if while reading this you have realized you may not have ever heard the true gospel before? The good news of being made right with God, of freedom from the slavery of sin here on Earth, of a new heart and new spirit with the promise of eternal life? Well…read on…
God had promised us that when we become truly saved that He will place in us a new heart, and we will follow Him because we want to, not as though we are trying to earn favor with Him. Look at what Ezekiel 36:25-27 says about salvation:
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanliness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
This change in us is brought about when we repent of our sins (you have violated God’s laws, and you have done so willingly…and more than once!) and cry out to God for forgiveness, trusting in the fact that Jesus Christ (God in flesh) took the punishment for your sins on the Cross. There are changes that happen when you are truly born again into a new creation. It is impossible to be remodeled by the Living God and not show a few changes! Read 1st John to see what these changes will be, and it will bring you assurance in your salvation. The Lord will begin to change your desires and give you strength to deny yourself and follow Him. It is a freedom from the slavery of trying to earn the Father’s love and mercy!! You will already have it! Repentance and saving faith are both gifts from God, and what incredible gifts they are. Call out to Him today that you might find Him and that He bestows these gifts on you!!
What if the annoyance, anger, and condemnation you feel toward this website is actually God stirring up your conscience, trying to awaken you to the fact that something is wrong with your Christianity?
What if you open the Bible, start looking for yourself, and find these things to be true?
What if you ignore all this and go on your way, ignoring the warning bells?
Choose wisely!
Our final thought, we beg of you….PLEASE:
Please inspect the fruit in your own life to see if your faith and salvation is genuine.
Please study the Word so as to learn the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Please don’t take the teachings of anybody (including this website) over the clear teachings of the Bible.
and most of all…
Please don’t decide what you believe and then look for Scripture to back it up.
Instead, look at Scripture to decide what to believe!