I spent over thirty years being taught in church that Jesus loves us so much that all of our sin is forgiven, and that our sin is removed from us as far as the east is from the west…
I absolutely believe in the gospel message.
I absolutely believe that we all have fallen short of the glory of God.
I believe we have earned the wages of sin, which is death.
I believe Messiah died on our behalf, and paid our ransom.
I believe no one comes to the Father except through Yeshua Messiah!!
I am not denying the good news!!
I am saying we need to understand it better.
Hebrews 10:26-31
26 For if we keep on sinning willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and a fury of fire about to devour the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the Torah of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severe do you think the punishment will be for the one who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, and has regarded as unholy the blood of the covenant by which he was made holy, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the One who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “Yehova will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
We are told in Hebrews 10 that if we continue to sin willfully, there no longer remains a sacrifice!
And if there no longer remains a sacrifice, there no longer remains salvation.
Do you understand the significance of this warning?
Do you realize this warning has eternal consequences?
Grace is a good thing.
Insulting the spirit of grace is not a good thing.
“But, what about John 3:16?
That is all I need to know, right?”
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Yes, this is a wonderful promise in scripture.
But it does not stand alone.
It must be understood within the context of all scripture.
For example, John 3:36
36 He who trusts in the Son has eternal life. He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Whoa, wait…
Did you catch that?
We not only must believe in Him, we also must obey Him.
What did He tell us to do?
John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Isn’t it funny how some denominations will teach one thing, and others teach something different. In my County in Indiana, there are 43 different denominations of churches. All with a bit different slant on their doctrine, and then we wonder why there is so much confusion in the church world. The truth is, their is only one doctrine, one creator, one YHWH, and one set of rules. We play by His rules or we don’t play at all. Yeshua has made the sacrifice, and salvation is just one step of many. Great teaching.
I agree!!
I try to write these articles, not to criticize the church, but to show people there is more to scripture, and therefore, more to the truth than they are getting at church.
And the differences have eternal consequences. It is no small matter.
Where in Indiana?
I grew up in Pendleton, near Anderson.