Don't Fall into Their Traps

[Christsfreeservant]

Mark 8:34-38 ESV

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’”​

The gospel message which is permeating the American church at large today is not this gospel that Jesus taught, and it is not the gospel that the NT apostles taught, but it is a man-created gospel message intended to tickle itching ears, and to sooth guilty minds and hearts, and to appease human flesh. But it is a trap! And it is a deception (a lie). And if you fall into that trap you will not have salvation from sin, and you will not inherit eternal life with God, for you don’t really believe in God but in a lie of Satan.

This lie of Satan has some of the appearance of the true gospel, but it is a half-truth (lie) gospel message intended to deceive naïve minds and those trapped in sin who are looking for an easy way out of having to spend eternity in hell while they continue to live in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. But it is a lie! It is a trap! And if you fall into it, you will die in your sins. You will not have heaven as your eternal destiny regardless of what other humans are telling you. Read the Scriptures in their context!

So, what do I mean by a “Half-truth gospel”? I mean that what so many are teaching as the gospel today is being parceled out in segments, but not in whole, for they are removing key Scriptures from their original context, and they are twisting them to make them say what the Scriptures do not teach, in whole. So, let me give you some examples of what I mean:

John 10:28-30 is being taught absent of John 10:27 which is where we learn who these promises apply to, which is critical to us being able to apply them to our lives, or not. For it isn’t those who merely make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ who are promised eternal life with God, but it is those who are listening to Jesus, who are heeding his counsel, and who are walking in obedience to him in following him in his ways who have this promise and this hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

And Ephesians 2:8-9 is being taught with the message that no works are required of us at all, and that they play no part in our salvation. But this is absent of Ephesians 2:10 which teaches us that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them, making them our practice. And this is absent of the whole context of Ephesians which teaches us that we must forsake our former lives of sin and now we must live holy lives or we will not inherit eternal life with God (see Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6).

And Romans 6:23 is being taught absent of the entire book of Romans, especially absent the whole of chapters 6 and 8, as though our salvation from sin is just handed to us on a silver platter and that nothing is required of us other than some obscure belief in Christ which is rarely biblically defined. The same with John 3:16, which is not usually taught in the context of an ongoing continuous walk of faith and which is not usually taught in the whole of John 3. And the same is being done with Romans 10:9-10, etc.

So, what many are doing is that they are pulling these Scriptures out of their context and they are building their doctrines of salvation around them, but half-truths are lies if they are deliberate half-truths with the intention to deceive and to lead people astray, which these are. Now I am not saying that everyone who teaches these half-truths is a liar and a deceiver. Some are just the deceived who don’t know they are believing lies. But many know it is a lie but they hang on to it because the lie appeases their flesh.

And many of these lies are being spread via social media memes and short devotionals and short videos and via preachers’ sermons and “Christian” authors’ books, and via movies and cartoons and TV dramas which are loosely about the Bible and the character of God, of Christ, and via “Christian” artists and their music lyrics, etc. And since we live in a “fast-food” society, where most people, it seems, want things short and quick and easy, the masses are falling for these clever lies being told by people in their trickery and cunning and craftiness and in their deceitful scheming.

So, what is the truth? Let’s go back to this passage in Mark 8 and to Jesus’ words. For he said that to come after him we must deny self (reject the self-life), and we must take up our cross (daily – Luke 9:23-26), i.e. we must die daily to sin and to self, and we must follow (obey) him. And here I will paraphrase Jesus’ words: For whoever holds on to his old life of living in sin and for self will lose it for eternity. But whoever denies self, dies daily to sin and to self, and who follows Jesus in obedience, for his sake, and for the sake of the gospel, that person will have salvation and eternal life with God.

This is the essence of the message of the gospel of our salvation and the purpose for why Jesus died on that cross. For he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him and no longer for self. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of living in sin and for self so that we will now honor God with our bodies. And he was crucified that we might be crucified with him in death to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

My Sheep

An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

 

[The Hour IS AT HAND]

Mark 8:34-38 ESV

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’”​

The gospel message which is permeating the American church at large today is not this gospel that Jesus taught, and it is not the gospel that the NT apostles taught, but it is a man-created gospel message intended to tickle itching ears, and to sooth guilty minds and hearts, and to appease human flesh. But it is a trap! And it is a deception (a lie). And if you fall into that trap you will not have salvation from sin, and you will not inherit eternal life with God, for you don’t really believe in God but in a lie of Satan.

This lie of Satan has some of the appearance of the true gospel, but it is a half-truth (lie) gospel message intended to deceive naïve minds and those trapped in sin who are looking for an easy way out of having to spend eternity in hell while they continue to live in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. But it is a lie! It is a trap! And if you fall into it, you will die in your sins. You will not have heaven as your eternal destiny regardless of what other humans are telling you. Read the Scriptures in their context!

So, what do I mean by a “Half-truth gospel”? I mean that what so many are teaching as the gospel today is being parceled out in segments, but not in whole, for they are removing key Scriptures from their original context, and they are twisting them to make them say what the Scriptures do not teach, in whole. So, let me give you some examples of what I mean:

John 10:28-30 is being taught absent of John 10:27 which is where we learn who these promises apply to, which is critical to us being able to apply them to our lives, or not. For it isn’t those who merely make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ who are promised eternal life with God, but it is those who are listening to Jesus, who are heeding his counsel, and who are walking in obedience to him in following him in his ways who have this promise and this hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

And Ephesians 2:8-9 is being taught with the message that no works are required of us at all, and that they play no part in our salvation. But this is absent of Ephesians 2:10 which teaches us that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them, making them our practice. And this is absent of the whole context of Ephesians which teaches us that we must forsake our former lives of sin and now we must live holy lives or we will not inherit eternal life with God (see Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6).

And Romans 6:23 is being taught absent of the entire book of Romans, especially absent the whole of chapters 6 and 8, as though our salvation from sin is just handed to us on a silver platter and that nothing is required of us other than some obscure belief in Christ which is rarely biblically defined. The same with John 3:16, which is not usually taught in the context of an ongoing continuous walk of faith and which is not usually taught in the whole of John 3. And the same is being done with Romans 10:9-10, etc.

So, what many are doing is that they are pulling these Scriptures out of their context and they are building their doctrines of salvation around them, but half-truths are lies if they are deliberate half-truths with the intention to deceive and to lead people astray, which these are. Now I am not saying that everyone who teaches these half-truths is a liar and a deceiver. Some are just the deceived who don’t know they are believing lies. But many know it is a lie but they hang on to it because the lie appeases their flesh.

And many of these lies are being spread via social media memes and short devotionals and short videos and via preachers’ sermons and “Christian” authors’ books, and via movies and cartoons and TV dramas which are loosely about the Bible and the character of God, of Christ, and via “Christian” artists and their music lyrics, etc. And since we live in a “fast-food” society, where most people, it seems, want things short and quick and easy, the masses are falling for these clever lies being told by people in their trickery and cunning and craftiness and in their deceitful scheming.

So, what is the truth? Let’s go back to this passage in Mark 8 and to Jesus’ words. For he said that to come after him we must deny self (reject the self-life), and we must take up our cross (daily – Luke 9:23-26), i.e. we must die daily to sin and to self, and we must follow (obey) him. And here I will paraphrase Jesus’ words: For whoever holds on to his old life of living in sin and for self will lose it for eternity. But whoever denies self, dies daily to sin and to self, and who follows Jesus in obedience, for his sake, and for the sake of the gospel, that person will have salvation and eternal life with God.

This is the essence of the message of the gospel of our salvation and the purpose for why Jesus died on that cross. For he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him and no longer for self. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of living in sin and for self so that we will now honor God with our bodies. And he was crucified that we might be crucified with him in death to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

My Sheep

An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

Thank you for this post!
I must indeed agree that we do not want to be in the lukewarm category, narrow is the gate, and its very sobering to think that when God sent the flood, only 8 lived...
It is a challenging thing, since God has revealed Himself to me, there have been many changes in me, but I am indeed far from perfect. When I start to have that internal doubt and fear, I always turn back to Romans 7. I cant ever do enough to make up for my sin, thankfully the work has been done by Jesus on the cross, hallelujah! Indeed not so sin may abound, but that I have a mediator in Christ with the Father.

 

[Christsfreeservant]

Thank you for this post!
I must indeed agree that we do not want to be in the lukewarm category, narrow is the gate, and its very sobering to think that when God sent the flood, only 8 lived...
It is a challenging thing, since God has revealed Himself to me, there have been many changes in me, but I am indeed far from perfect. When I start to have that internal doubt and fear, I always turn back to Romans 7. I cant ever do enough to make up for my sin, thankfully the work has been done by Jesus on the cross, hallelujah! Indeed not so sin may abound, but that I have a mediator in Christ with the Father.

With regard to using Romans 7 as your comfort, I would encourage you to read this: Was Paul a Hypocrite? II

 

[The Hour IS AT HAND]

With regard to using Romans 7 as your comfort, I would encourage you to read this: Was Paul a Hypocrite? II

Thank you for the link. I read it, but it seems to me disregarding two very real aspects, the flesh and the spirit.

1Ti 1:15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
1Ti 1:16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

Paul seems to be speaking in the present tense here, not past-tense, which you assume must mean he must be committing every sin possible to be considered, the foremost.

Okay, so if Paul was literally saying that he was (present tense) the chief (foremost, leading) of all sinners, that would mean that he was committing every sin possible to man, that he was living in sin, and he was making sin his practice (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 1:18-32; 1 Co 6:9-10).

But are we not judged on what we know? Just presenting a possibility here, but maybe Paul considered himself as the foremost sinner because Jesus confronted him personally about his transgressions! I.E. did a mighty work.

Mat 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Mat 11:22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
Mat 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Mat 11:24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Regarding the interpretation of Roman 7

Pay attention to the wording here. For, if Paul was saying that this was a description of his present life, then he was saying that he:

• Is sold as a slave to sin
• Does not understand his own actions
• Is doing (actively, as a matter of practice) what is sinful
• Does not have the ability to carry out what is right
• Keeps on doing what is evil (practicing sin)
• Is captive (a slave) to the law of sin

Rom 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
Rom 7:8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
Rom 7:9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.
Rom 7:10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.
Rom 7:11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Rom 7:12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Rom 7:13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Rom 7:16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
Rom 7:17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
Rom 7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Rom 7:21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
Rom 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Rom 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Rom 7:25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

I disagree with the interpretation on several points. If Paul is talking about his past life, how could he be delighting in the Law of God? How would he know he was doing that which was evil, unless he had been convicted by the Holy Spirit? Paul is clearly establishing that we are not just flesh, but spirit encased in flesh. We are called to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh. Before I was saved I walked in the flesh and thought nothing of it; since God has drawn me to him I now understand what I am doing wrong. Yet even though I now have understanding, I still fall short, every single day. Is Paul or anyone perfect? No one is good, the Bible tells us. Should we sin that grace abound, no! Yet we are weak compared to the strength of God which is why we must turn to Jesus for our salvation, not to hope in our own righteousness.

But Romans 7 falls “smack dab in the middle” of Romans 6 and Romans 8. And what do they say about slavery to sin, making sin our practice, keeping on doing what is evil, and not having the ability to do what is right?

Rom 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Rom 6:16 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?
Rom 6:17 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,
Rom 6:18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
Rom 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Rom 6:21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Once you become saved, do you immediately become perfect? Henceforth are we spitten images of Jesus Christ? Or is it a path that we must walk daily, carrying our cross every single day, that God may complete his work within us? Paul even addresses our "natural limitations", knowing that none are perfect like Christ. We are led, to sanctification, which is a process throughout the rest of our lives.

For Paul wrote that if we live in sin, according to the flesh, we will die in sin. If we keep on doing what is evil, if we remain enslaved to sin, and if we make sin our practice, then we don’t have eternal life with God (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 1:18-32; 1 Co 6:9-10; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8).

But isn’t that exactly what he said he was doing in Romans 7? So, is he a big fat liar and the chief of hypocrites? Or is there another explanation for what he said in Romans 7? Yes! There is!!

Look at how Romans 7 was sandwiched in between Romans 6 and 8. Study word by word what he said in Romans 6 and Romans 8. What he is describing in Romans 7 is the life of one who is still under the power and control of the flesh. But then the good news comes in Romans 6 and in Romans 8. Through abiding faith in Jesus Christ, we are delivered from that slavery to sin and we now become slaves of righteousness.

I very much disagree that in Romans 7 Paul is describing his past life, due to the above points.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
Rom 8:4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Rom 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
Rom 8:8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Again Paul is differentiating between the flesh, and the spirit. If I am dead in my sins, and a slave to my sins how could I have convictions of what I am doing is wrong? As Paul describes, living in the flesh is being free in regards to righteousness. To set my mind on God doesnt mean I become perfect, instantly, but that I know I commit sin, I know I cant do it alone, and I know I need the free grace of Jesus Christ, otherwise I could boast. Thank the Lord for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice, paying the price for my sin, removing from me my condemnation.

And it teaches that if we remain living in sin, doing the kinds of things he described in Romans 7, that we are hostile to God, and we cannot please God, and that our lives will end in death without Christ because we refused to die to sin and to live for Christ in this life on earth.

Look at Romans 8:7, Paul is describing a mind set on the flesh, not one which is set on God.

Jesus delivered him from his slavery to sin, and that is why he could write what he did in half of the New Testament. He was no longer a slave to sin, but now he was a slave to God, to Jesus Christ, and to his righteousness. And that is why he could boldly teach us that we must do likewise, or we will not have eternal life with God, but we will face the wrath of God, instead.

So, don’t believe the lies telling you that Paul was living in sin or that he was struggling with (regularly giving in to) sin. Study Paul’s writings and you will see that he lived such a holy and godly life above reproach that he could, in fact, tell people to imitate his manner of life. How many of us could do that?

Refer back to 1 Timothy 1:15. Paul surely lived a righteous life after his encounter with Jesus, but I don't think we can honestly say he lived a perfect life, devoid of sin. Paul set his mind, his spirit on Christ, our only hope of salvation. Paul also continuously acknowledged the flesh, and his human constraints.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Luk 12:8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,
Luk 12:9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

Gal 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
Gal 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Gal 3:12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Gal 3:14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Thanks be to God for His grace, and his Son, Jesus Christ, who died for us and paid the price for our sins.

 

[Aaron112]

Once you become saved, do you immediately become perfect?

Once a baby is adopted, in a healthy faithful family, do they not already call the baby 'perfect' many times ?

 

[Aaron112]

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

When I speak with other sheep, there is a harmony, a peace, a union in Jesus,
that
we do not have nor expect in or from religion nor the world.

 

[Aaron112]

Once you become saved, do you immediately become perfect?

See God's Description in Scripture of those He calls Faithful, Blameless, etc ...

Note that if a man and wife adopt a 3 year old child, the child immediately is theirs for life, God WIlling, and they may well call their child 'perfect', -- maybe also if they have a baby the usual way ... ?
The English word and definition of "perfect" does not fit perfectly with what Jesus says,
but God perfectly understands this and reveals what is true and right to those He Chooses to do so....