YesToTheTruth: September 2020

Monday, September 14, 2020

The Gospel Is Not "Don't Take the Mark of the Beast." It's "Repent."

The beast isn't a science fiction movie kind of animal that you can shoot at with laser guns. It's a Babylonian system of false worship that is functioning on the earth and that will ultimately be destroyed (cf. Revelation 17-18). Don't let Hollywood fool you, nor any actor dressed as a minister of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Come out of and stay out of that system (Revelation 18:4; 2 Corinthians 6:17-18).

The Bible says nothing in the book of Revelation about running or hiding or carrying weapons in order to not take the mark of the beast. Those who take it gladly receive it because they are already worshipers of the beast and not of God. They are big fans and followers of the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4). Their thoughts (mark on their foreheads) and actions (mark on their right hand) express those sentiments and they are deceived about where they stand with God —utterly deceived, especially if they call themselves Christians but are actually heading to a Matthew 7:21-23 reality check. They may not love the truth that can save them (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

Bearing the mark of the beast is rejection of God's reign over one's heart ultimately. It's refusing to submit to God wholeheartedly and to resist the devil (James 4:7-8). It's basically bowing to the devil and remaining under his power (2 Timothy 2:25, Acts 26:18). So, staying with the mark is maintaining the separation between oneself and God because of sin and, alas, despite Jesus having come into the world to bridge the gap between God and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5) and offer eternal life instead of death to those who would live for Him. The mark of the beast is then fundamentally a spiritual mark that only confirms those who are not doing the will of God on earth when they should have chosen to repent and follow Jesus (Mark 1:15, Mark 8:34).

So, the thing for a person to avoid in this time is to be embracing a false gospel that twists a few scriptures here and there, and thinking that one is saved or a Christian (according to the Bible's definition, cf. Acts 11:26). That is indeed being under a "strong delusion" (2 Thessalonians 2:11). To possibly come out of that, it is necessary to have an immense hatred for lies and no soft spot for any sinful thing whatsoever.

If you know that you have followed Jesus and have become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; John 3:6-7), you have eternal life by faith now (1 John 5:13). The seal of God is already on your forehead (2 Timothy 2:19). Revelation 7:3 has already happened for you. You have no beast nor mark of the beast to worry about. That is in your past and hopefully will stay in your past if you remain faithful to Jesus to the end. It's the beast rather that should worry about you opening your mouth to preach the truth to whoever has ears to hear it until you can't do that anymore. You know who Jesus is and He knows you. And if it comes to it, it's nothing to die for your faith. It would be an honor.

Matthew 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Revelation 12:11-12, 17
11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. They did not love their life, even to death. 12 Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the land and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.
17 The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

2 Timothy 4:1-5
1 I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be diligent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they draw to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto myths. 5 But you watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fully carry out your ministry.

Titus 2:11-15
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, 12 instructing us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; 13 looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ; 14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works. 15 Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one despise you.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Forgiveness of Sins Is Not Something You Just Claim

Forgiveness of sins is not something you just claim. You need to seek it from God. It's part of the process to be reconciled to God through repentance. You receive it by faith because you cannot ask and be in doubt. And you will know also when your sins are forgiven, with unmistakable peace coming into your heart with the weight of sin being lifted from it; and you will have the joy of knowing you are no longer on God's "wrong" side, no longer under his wrath. If you truly understand the seriousness of sin, how God looks at it and the penalty that it deserves, that forgiveness you receive will be like being a criminal coming out of death row and being given the opportunity to live a different way. It's hard to maintain an ongoing relationship with sin (alongside a relationship with Jesus) with such an understanding. "I do not condemn you. Go, and sin no more" (John 8:11) should then be a word that is well understood and heeded by you, as a sinner who has received mercy instead of the condemnation deserved (e.g. 1 Timothy 1:13-16).

John 3:36
The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

disobedience = unbelief
belief = obedience

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

So, you can't just put your trust in the fact that Jesus died so the sins of sinners could be forgiven in order to be forgiven yourself. He did that and provided the means for you to receive forgiveness for your own personal sins when you personally approach Him for that forgiveness and reconciliation to God.

And note that you don't go to God seeking forgiveness for sins you are premeditating to do in the future, or thinking you may possibly be open to do. That is mocking God. He forgives your past sins (Romans 3:25; 2 Peter 1:9) when you do repent, sets you free from sin (John 8:31-36) and enables you by his grace to overcome sin (Titus 2:11-14) so you don't go on sinning (Romans 6:1-2; Galatians 2:17). So, this saying that one's "past, present and future sins" are covered under Jesus' blood is just a cover-up in the circles where that lie is preached to give people false peace in the reality that their sins have not stopped after being declared "saved" and filled with the Holy Spirit. They were not brought to faith in Jesus through repentance. That is the calamity that is being masked from every side by false teaching piling upon false teaching.

Repentance then is you turning away from being disobedient and submitting yourself to be Jesus' obedient servant (if you are disobedient to Him, you are not his servant and you can't call Him your Lord).

Sin is disobedience. Hearing God's word and doing his will is what makes you obedient. And it's out of a heart that loves Him that you will obey Him (John 14:15, 1 John 5:3). So, you cannot obtain forgiveness of sins with an unrepentant (still disobedient and rebellious) heart. Your heart must be softened towards God if you are going to walk with Him in a relationship based on love. None of that happens when you just stand and claim that you are forgiven because you believe that what Jesus did on the cross is true. It's true but God requires your personal approach to Him and your personal accountability for your own sins that his light has shined on you to see.

James 4:8-10
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

The acknowledgement of your sins before God is necessary. Then you need to be sorry if you are seeking to be reconciled to God (as much as to anyone you have hurt with your behavior). Being sorry is not something you can learn or follow like a "step" to salvation. It's either you are sorry or you are not. Either you understand how you have personally opposed God's ways and offended Him or you don't. God can't be fooled. Godly sorrow (Psalm 51:17; 2 Corinthians 7:10-11) is what will make you understand repentance as turning away from sin (offense against God) unmistakably. If you never had godly sorrow over your sins because all that you heard was a motivational message working up your emotions about what Jesus did on the cross, and nothing to convict you of your sins (make you see yourself as God sees you as a sinner who stood against Him in your ignorance), then you will remain in sin, not forgiven, and under God's wrath until you do repent as God expects it from you.

Those who want to develop methodologies to get people "saved" (according to themselves) in some uniform or ritualistic way are sure to come up with steps to lead the people away from coming to God as the Bible teaches. The approach will have to be impersonal and the message of Jesus will be diluted because of the concern to not offend anyone with God's truth. False ministers will be wanting to please men rather than to please God, being ashamed of Jesus and of his words (Mark 8:38). The truth of God's word that could let people see themselves as God sees them (James 1:21-25) will be suppressed by the wickedness of such false ministers (Romans 1:18; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15) who strengthen the hand of sinners to go on sinning.

Ezekiel 13:22-23
22 Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life: 23 Therefore you shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and you shall know that I am the LORD.

There are plenty today like these prophets of Jerusalem. They gladly accept to be called "Reverend" and people do revere them and are deceived and overcome by them (2 Peter 2:28-19, not 1 John 4:4):

(( 2 Peter 2:18-19

18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.

vs.

1 John 4:4

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. ))

Jeremiah 23:14-16
14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none does return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

Such will want to grow the number of people that are attached to themselves (e.g. Acts 20:30), rather than to grow the number of people they would lead out of sin and into God's kingdom. They will tell you to just put your trust in some facts, and you can then claim that you are "saved" and have a relationship with God. And once that supposed relationship grows (supposedly), it becomes at some point even too costly for many who receive a rebuke for believing false teachings to come humbly before God and ask for his forgiveness and his help to tear down what He had not built, and then build with Him on the solid foundation of his truth.

2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows thosd who are his. And, Let every one who names the name of Christ depart from unrighteousness.

Acts 20:20-21
20 [You know] how I kept back nothing that was profitable, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, (1) repentance toward God and (2) faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 26:19-20
19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works consistent with repentance.

1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Repentance According to the Bible

Faith Implies Obedience

Past Sins are Forgiven — Past, Present and Future Sins are NOT Pre-Forgiven

True Humility Is Needed to Cry Out for Salvation

Godly Sorrow Leads to Repentance

Connecting with God - video playlist

Original publication date: 2017-09-06

True Humility Is Needed to Cry Out for Salvation

True humility will make any sincere Christian broken before God about not being perfect, making mistakes and messing up all the time. If you don't see these things as your misery, then you are all set: you love your life (G5590) the way it is. But if you see these things as your misery and you truly want it to end, because you do love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and want to please Him above all, nobody will need to tell you anything and you will cry out to God to be SAVED from that misery and to receive a new life, even eternal life (G2222).

John 12:25
He who loves his life (G5590) will lose it, and he who hates his life (G5590) in this world will keep it for eternal life (G2222).

Mark 8:34
For whoever desires to save his life (G5590) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (G5590) for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

You must die to sin and be raised from the dead in newness of life (G2222):

Romans 6:3-11
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death (cf. repent and be baptized - Acts 2:38)? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (G2222) 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (not sin), for they shall be filled.

Coming as you are to God does imply a changed heart

What does "by grace are you saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8) really mean?

See definitions and lists of passages using those different words for "life":
Strong's G2222 - zōē (eternal life):
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2222

Strong's G5590 - psychē (this passing life):
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G5590

Image by BedexpStock from Pixabay

"God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble"

(James 4:6)

What is the Grace of God?

Original publication date: 2017-09-12
Last modified: 2020-09-14

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Difference Between the Wrath of God and the Great Tribulation

They aren't the same.

God's wrath will be poured upon sinners, those who do not obey Jesus:

John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Romans 2:5-11
5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 19 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Ephesians 2:1-3
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,* like the rest of mankind.

*in the past, before becoming followers of Jesus or born again.

Tribulation, on the other hand, has always been the lot of those who are God's servants at the hands of those who are not (John 16:33, Romans 8:36, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10). What is called the "Great Tribulation" is simply a time of unprecedented tribulation in this world (Matthew 24:21); it's a perilous time for God's people or those who may be seeking God in those days (Matthew 24:12, 2 Timothy 3:1-4). God's servants are called to endure to the end to be saved (Matthew 24:13). So, they have to come out victorious from that great tribulation. And indeed by their faith they shall be overcomers if they don't draw back to destruction (1 John 5:4, Hebrews 10:38-39, Matthew 7:13-14). And I believe, in some aspect, distress will be upon the whole earth.

Original picture by EliasSch on Pixabay.com.