Galatians 3:1-7, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.”
One of my favorite passages in the Holy Bible is Galatians chapter 3. I really love the Apostle Paul's zeal for exposing false doctrine. Paul suffered no fools. In Galatians 3:-7 we find the phrase “the hearing of faith” mentioned twice.
Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”
Galatians 3:5, “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”
What does Paul mean by the HEARING OF FAITH? The answer is found in Hebrews 4:2, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Moses preached the Gospel to the Jews in the Wilderness for 40 years. The Jews could have recited the Gospel forwards and backwards, but they didn't believe a word of it. You get saved by placing your faith in the Good News (Gospel) when you hear it preached. It's that simple.
This is exactly what happened in Acts 2:41 on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2:37a and 41 “Now when they heard this... they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” They heard the Apostle Peter preach the FACTS of the Gospel. Then they put their FAITH in those facts and were saved. That is how everyone gets saved, by BELIEVING THE GOOD NEWS!!!
In John 20:31 we read, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” We are saved by accepting God at His Word, as He has recorded for us in the Holy Bible. There is no need to guess, wonder or embellish the Gospel, because the Bible clearly defines it for us:
1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
Please notice the phrase twice mentioned by Paul, “according to the Scriptures.” Again and again we see in the Bible that salvation comes to the man who BELIEVES the Written Word, the Scriptures!!! This takes the guesswork and mystery out of going to Heaven. God plainly lays out His simple plan of salvation for all humanity to see. We are all sinner (Romans 3:23). There is a penalty for sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). This includes a second death, which is the lake of fire and brimstone, or Hell (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:9; Psalms 9:17). But God is His love made a way of escape. The heavenly Father sent His only begotten (biological) Son, born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life, ultimately dying on the cross to pay our debt of sin. Jesus was buried (to prove He was dead). After three days Christ arose from the dead triumphant, and was seen physically by over 500 brethren at once (1st Corinthians 15:6). This is “the gospel,” by which all who are saved who BELIEVE (Romans 1:16).
Having laid that solid Scriptural foundation, how in the world does false prophets like John MacArthur come up with this junk theology? ...
“The narrow gate is hard to find and hard to go through, because it demands: denial of self, denial of self-righteousness, recognition of sin, full repentance, submission to Christ, commitment to obey Him, and follow Him no matter what the cost!” —Pastor John MacArthur, a quote from his sermon titled, “Saved Or Self-Deceived, Part One” (time: 4:25 in YouTube sermon video)
Let's list the SEVEN requirements for salvation which Mr. MacArthur just mentioned:- Denial of self (wrong! You get saved by receiving Christ, not forsaking self)
- Denial of self-righteousness (this one is Biblical, you've got to trust Jesus alone)
- Recognition of sin (this one is Biblical, you've got to know what you're being saved from)
- Full repentance (what does this even mean?)
- Submission to Christ (wrong! This is sanctification, not justification)
- Commitment to obey Christ (wrong! This is sanctification, not justification)
- Follow Jesus no matter what the cost (wrong! This is sanctification, not justification)
Ladies and gentlemen, that is not “THE GOSPEL.” The 'GOSPEL' (or, 'GOOD NEWS') is Jesus Christ's DEATH on the cross, His BURIAL and subsequent bodily RESURRECTION three days later. This is “THE GOSPEL” according to the apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 15:1-6, as we just read. Mr. MacArthur doesn't mention any of this in his requirements to make it through the narrow gate. Go figure! Of all the things MacArthur mentions, he leaves off the Gospel. What a deadly false teacher!!!
The ONLY requirement for salvation is to recognize your need as a GUILTY SINNER. What do we need? We need the precious Savior who has the nail-scared hands and feet! The reason is because we deserve to be punished in Hell for our own sins. Anyone who dies in their sin will go to Hell forever.
God gave mankind the Old Testament law to be used a measuring stick, to show us that we cannot live a perfect enough life to merit Heaven. Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” The hardest part about getting people saved is to first get them lost. Once a person recognizes their lost condition as a guilty sinner, then it is easy to bring them to Jesus Christ to be saved BY FAITH alone.
As I said earlier, I love Galatians 3:1-7. There is so much beautiful doctrine here. We read in Verse 6 that Abraham BELIEVED God and it was counted (credited) to him for righteousness. In this great truth rests the key to man's salvation!!! Since we have no righteousness of our own to appease God's wrath against sinners (Psalms 7:11; John 3:36), we need someone else to pay for our ticket to Heaven. Jesus did that for us on the cross of Calvary!!!
The Bible teaches that our best goodness is as filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6). That is because no amount of good can compensate for the sins we have committed. This is why we read in James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” The law is like a car side window, if you break it, it will shatter into a thousand little pieces. The glass is designed this way on purpose, to prevent large chunks of glass from causing severe bodily injury if it breaks. Likewise, you can break the Ten Commandments which God has written in stone, but you cannot bend them. There is no eraser or white-out that came with God's Ten Commandments, He wrote them in solid stone!
The hearing of faith!
The hearing of faith!
The hearing of faith!
The hearing of faith!
I love it. I love it. I love it!!! Such a simple statement, yet it conveys such a deep and profound Biblical truth. No one has ever been saved by the keeping of the law! We are saved by the hearing of faith, that is, putting our faith in the Good News of Christ crucified, buried and risen that we hear preached. Oh, how simple it is to go to Heaven!!! Yet, sincere but foolish and ignorant ungodly men complicate God's simple plan of salvation...
These Falsehoods Will Keep You Out Of Heaven If You Trust Them
The preceding list of good works are okay in their proper place, but that place is NOT in God's simple and free plan of salvation. Our ONLY part in God's plan of salvation is to BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ; everything else is God's part, and you can be assured that He will attend to it.
Beware of Deadly Lies Subtly Hidden Among Truth
The Devil is a beautiful liar, more subtle than any other creature (John 8:44; 2nd Corinthians 11:13-15). The Devil's standard M.O. (Method of Operation) is to employ half-truths to deceive people. It was 33rd degree Freemason and prolific writer, Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) who stated:
“The half-truth is the most dangerous form of lie, because it can be defended in part by incontestable logic.” —Manly P. Hall, 'The Secret Destiny Of America,' p. 195; 1944; ISBN: 0-89314-388-X; publisher: The Philosophical Research Society, Inc, Los Angeles, California.
False knowledge is more dangerous than ignorance. Satan loves to deceive people, and using half-truth is an effective way to do it! An example is the 911 attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC). The world on video saw two commercial jets crashing into WTC buildings 1 and 2, murdering 2,996 innocent people. The BIG LIE was that rogue terrorists operating from a cave with a laptop in Afghanistan pulled it off. THE TRUTH is that there were bombs in all those WTC buildings, which took a demolition team several months to prepare.
That is why Marvin Bush, the younger complicit brother of President George W. Bush, worked on the management board for the security company which oversaw the WTC buildings for the 2-years leading up to 911. That gave them the perfect opportunity and secrecy needed to prepare and execute their sinister plan. It is so unimaginable that our own White House could be involved with such a wicked plan, that most people cannot even grasp such heinous evil. But what saith the Scripture? Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
The WTC complex was brought down to the ground in just 12 seconds by controlled demolition, using high explosive thermite charges to cut through the massive thick structural support beams. The debris was hauled off on barges to China, preventing metallurgical testing from being done, lest the true culprits in the White House who orchestrated the attacks (and their many accomplices) be exposed.
So what was the half-truth? What was the truth? What was the lie? The lie was the government telling the public that planes brought down WTC buildings 1 & 2. But what about WTC building 7? No plane struck it. How do 2 planes brings down 3 buildings? The truth is so blatant to see, 911 was an INSIDE JOB!!! (so says Vietnam veteran and 32-year retired NYFD firefighter Rudy Dent). The Luciferian elite who control this world for Satan (2nd Corinthians 4:4), were able to get away with the 911 attacks because they control the mainstream newsmedia. Through the media they convinced 99% of the public that 2 airplanes caused those buildings to crumble to the ground. But that is not the truth. THE TRUTH is that bombs via controlled demolition brought WTC buildings 1, 2 and 7 down. The planes didn't do that, but the planes provided a convenient lie to cover for the real truth. 911 is one big giant HALF-TRUTH.
False Prophets Use Half-Truths To Lead People Into Hell
Jesus warned in Matthew 7:13-14 that most people are going to Hell, and that only very few will go to Heaven. Jesus tells us why in Verse 15, because of FALSE PROPHETS!!! These frightening statistics most definitely include preachers, missionaries and churches!!! The number one group going to Hell are religious people. We see this truth evidenced by the arrogant self-righteous Pharisees in the New Testament. We see this truth evidenced by the 450 unsaved prophets of Baal who challenged the prophet Elijah.
Dear friend, I encourage you to listen several times to Alexander Scourby read the Epistle of Galatians and the Gospel of John, to get a clear comprehension of the simple Gospel. Please STOP spending most of your time listening to corrupt preachers on TV and the internet, who are woefully ignorant of the Word of Truth. Tragically, preachers simply DON'T STUDY as the Bible commands all of us to do in 2nd Timothy 2:15.
The Word of God plainly defines "the gospel" as Jesus' death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection. Yet, we hear tommyrot garbage like this from Satan's unrighteous ministers. For example: Evangelist Ray Comfort once had a conversation with a lost woman on an airplane, saying to her:
“So if the plane goes down, you'd end up in Hell! There are TWO THINGS you have to do to be saved. Do you remember what they are? I told you what they are—You've got to repent and trust the Savior! ... God's offering you everlasting life upon your repentance and faith in Christ. Who in his right mind wouldn't say, 'Whoa! That's a good offer!'" (The curious woman asks what it means to “repent”?)... Ray responds by saying, "Have you ever said you're sorry to someone you did something wrong to? That's all repentance is—You've sinned against God; it's a matter of saying, 'God, I'm sorry,' and then LIVING A LIFESTYLE that proves the reality of your repentance. That's what repentance is, it's a continual thing! God, 'I'm sorry, but I'm not going going to lie or steal or blaspheme Your name ever again. It has that attitude! And the second thing—trust in Jesus!” [emphasis added] SOURCE: Evangelist Ray Comfort, “I've never killed anyone”
Kindly said, Ray Comfort goes horribly astray from the Gospel of free grace, turning getting saved into a lifelong process instead of an instantaneous new birth. Nowhere in the inspired King James Bible are we taught to LIVE A LIFESTYLE of turning away from sinning to get to Heaven. That is keeping the law, not resting in Christ (Hebrews 4:10-11; Romans 3:20). Notice that Ray then teaches the woman that to get to Heaven she must do a "SECOND" thing, because in his counterfeit plan of salvation faith is not enough.
Ray uses a half-truth. The true part is that we must believe to be saved. The false part (or lie) is that you must repent of your sin to be saved. Not one Scripture in God's Word teaches to repent “of your sin” to be saved. Wicked unsaved men added those extra words to the Bible, and thus adding another requirement to be saved, which demands more than faith alone. What saith the Scripture? Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Paul doesn't make any mention of turning away from your sin.
Well don't you have to repent to be saved? Yes, of course, but Bible repentance is simply a change of mind. I have heard umpteen pastors get angry at the very thought, that repentance means nothing more than a change of mind. They insist that a person must experience profound guilt and grief over their sins to be saved, and must be so convicted by the Holy Spirit that they are resolved to stop living a lifestyle of sinning. This all sounds good and reasonable to a religious person, but the problem is that none of it is Biblical.
All God requires to be saved is that we acknowledge our sinnership. John 3:20-21, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” So here we see that someone who loves living in sin WON'T come to the light of the truth of the Gospel to be saved. This is why they must repent, that is, change their mind. But please read Verse 21 again, which says, “He that doeth truth cometh to the light...” The Bible doesn't say “He that turns from his sin” cometh to the light. Repentance is a matter of seeing your need as a guilty sinner for the dear Savior.
Further evidence of what I am teaching is found in 2nd Timothy 2:25-26, “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” Please notice that repentance unto life is not from sin, but TO THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE TRUTH. Amen and amen. One of my favorite preachers, Pastor Harry Ironside, gets repentance 100% correct.
Dear reader, we find the word "believe" mentioned 88 times in the Gospel of John, but there is not even one mention of the word "repent." That is because repentance is automatic. That is, the person who believes on Jesus Christ has repented (i.e., changed their mind from unbelief to belief). It is another gospel to teach that there are two steps to be saved.
Although repentance and faith are two different things theologically, they both happen in just ONE STEP of believing the Gospel. When asked, "What must I do to be saved" in Acts 16:30, the Apostle Paul answered the Roman soldier in Verse 31, "BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED." There was just one work to be saved, which is to BELIEVE ON JESUS. John 6:28-29, "Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
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