Matthew 15:7-8, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”
The great news is that you don't have to attend a church one day in your life to go to Heaven. You don't need to be water baptized. You don't need to speak in Charismatic tongues (a pagan practice that has it's origin in witchcraft). You don't have to partake of church sacraments (which aren't even taught in the inspired Holy Scriptures). To get to Heaven you don't have to join a church or live a good life, you just need to cease from trying to save yourself and REST completely in the dear Savior, Jesus, who died on the cross for you.
From the earliest age, many people have been indoctrinated to think that you need to become religious if you want to go to Heaven, but the wonderful truth is that you don't have to be religious at all to go to Heaven, Eternal life is the free gift of God, paid for in full by the precious blood of Jesus Christ that He shed on Calvary's cross for all humanity 2,000 years ago. Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt of sin we could not pay. 2nd Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Salvation is not found in any religion, but in a person—the Lord Jesus Christ. Religion tries to fit us with glasses, but the Lord wants to open our eyes with the truth. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Billions of humans pursue religious paths throughout their life, but they never come to the knowledge of the Gospel which saves them who believe it.
What exactly is “the Gospel”?
1st Corinthians 15:1-6, “1Moreover, 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: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”
There you have it, the Gospel is three things:
- Jesus DIED on a cross to pay for our sins.
- He was BURIED.
- Three days later Jesus bodily RESURRECTED from the dead.
That is why we read the beautiful words in 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” The only prerequisite to believing the Gospel is you must realize that you are a needy sinner in the sight of a holy God. That is, you must see your need for salvation. You must know why you need to be saved, and that is because you are a woeful guilty sinner, the penalty of which is to spend eternity burning in Hell (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8). This is why God gave mankind the Old Testament law. Romans 3:19-20, “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. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
The wicked Pharisees, and most Jews today, and all of the world thousands of false religions, foolishly think that the way you get to Heaven is by keeping the law. However, as we just read in Romans 3:20, God never intended for the law to save anyone; but rather, to show humanity our SINNERSHIP and bring us to CHRIST to be saved through faith alone in Him. Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
God has already made TWO great divisions to His inspired Word of OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS; or respectively, LAW and CHRIST. The Law shows us that we are needy sinners, and then brings us to Christ to be saved by faith in Him. Simply believe that Jesus did it all for you. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty. Salvation is not achieved, it is received. Eternal life is the free gift of God. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract according to John 20:31, “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.” The purpose for which John penned the Book of John is to convince you (the reader) that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, so that by trusting upon Jesus' name you will be saved. That is so beautiful!
In the Gospel of John we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times, but you won't find any requirement to repent, confess, turn, surrender, forsake, pray or get water baptized to get to Heaven. Jesus said in John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” The inspired Holy Bible is very clear about God's simple plan of salvation, as I have just shared with you. Yet, a counterfeit plan of salvation is being preached from nearly every church pulpit, every religious film, every so-called “Christian” book, every television station, every radio program and every Bible seminary today.
Repetition is the key to learning, which is why I often write blogs about salvation. There is nothing more important in this universe and beyond than the GOOD NEWS (i.e., the Gospel) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day, because the Good News of salvation through faith in Jesus is the ONLY way to Heaven. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
If you trust in the Sacramental Salvation of the Roman Catholic church, you will NOT go to Heaven. If you trust in the Sacramental Salvation of Martin Luther (1483-1546), who in his written catechisms (1529 AD) required water baptism and communion to be saved, then you WON'T go to Heaven. You either exclusively trust (rely) upon Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross as full-payment for your sins or you cannot be saved. There is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved (Acts 4:10-12).
Dear friend, you don't have to be religious to know that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Luke 10:20). Religion is manmade, but salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).
