GospelNotes.life

Tag: Faith alone

  • Least and Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

    Matthew 5:17-20

    1. “Do not think that I came to destroy (get rid of) the Law or the Prophets (prophecies). I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away (after the Millennial Kingdom and the Great White Throne Judgement), one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all (all prophecies, including the end of Revelation with the destroying of the current Heaven and earth, and the creation of new ones where we will dwell for eternity) is fulfilled.
    2. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
    3. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

    In point one, Christ tells us that He came to fulfill the law, which we later find out is on our behalf, that anyone who places their faith in Him receives His imputed righteousness. But He also mentions in this point that He does not abolish/get rid of the law – it still stands, just not for salvation.

    In point two, He tells us that those who obey the law and teach other believers to do so as well (again, not for salvation, but because its statutes are good and sums up the holiness of our Father who adopted us as His children) will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. And the opposite is true: while technically we can choose not follow the law and teach other believers that they don’t have to either (because we’re no longer under the law for salvation and that we’re saved by grace and not by works), for doing that we will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

    In point three, He makes an interesting point: that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. The Pharisees were known for the most stringent perfection of law keeping, and not even they were good enough? We have to be more perfect than they? What Jesus is doing here is elevating the standard of the requirement of law keeping for salvation to perfection, naturally leading people to the question: “Well who can be saved then? Since no one can keep the law that perfectly – not even the Pharisees.” Christ partially gave the answer in part one: He will fulfill the law, and we learn later in the epistles of Paul (primarily Romans) that we all fall short of the law’s standard, and the only way to achieve the righteousness that God requires (point three: a righteousness greater than the Pharisees) to enter into the kingdom of heaven is to get the imputed righteousness of Christ that comes by faith in Him alone – not by working the law.

    And again, in points one and two, while we’re no longer saved by following the law, the law hasn’t been abolished (ie: murder and lying isn’t all the sudden ok), and we’re still to uphold it because we agree that its statutes are good (not murdering is good. Not stealing is good), and if we choose not to obey the law and teach others they don’t need to follow it either because we’re saved by grace and not by law keeping, we will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

    Why do we still follow the law if we’re no longer under the law for salvation? Because it’s good, and its statutes bring true joy, peace and freedom (and the entire point of life is to feel peace and joy): it’s good not to murder. It’s good not to lie. It’s good not to steal. It’s good not to commit adultery, etc. The law sums up our Father’s holiness. He adopted us as His children, and like any good Father, He wants His children to grow up to be like Him. It’s like adopting a teenager who was in a street gang. You would want to teach him that the gang is not good, and would want him to separate from the gang. You would teach him good ways (the law) and would want him to start living a good, honorable life. Like Father, like son.

    We uphold the law because it’s good, but we’re not saved by keeping it.

  • Why You Won’t Find James 2 on This Website

    God loves to test the genuineness of our faith. In the very second and third verses of James 1 it says: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

    And in 1 Peter 1:6-7 it says: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ

    James has a lot of good nuggets of godly knowledge and wisdom that he’s learned from Christ that are found throughout his book, but at the end of the day, the book of James (especially James 2) is as good as the rest of the apocrypha – uninspired by God, and cannot be because it plainly contradicts the entirety of the rest of scripture.

    Hundreds of years ago when those who were discussing what books should be in the Bible, the book of James was a heavily debated book. And the Lord told me that the reason He allowed Satan to sneak it in there was for it to be a test of faith for us (as I said earlier in this note, He loves to test the genuineness of our faith). If you can take the entirety of scripture (100’s of verses) that says that salvation is by faith in Christ alone, no works, and negate all of that for 2 simple James 2 verses that plainly say that salvation is by works, then you have failed the test of faith and are not worthy of God. The Lord tests our faith with James 2: are you going to keep your pride and say that Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t enough and that you need to have works to prove your salvation, or are you going to humble yourself completely and say, “Man, I know James 2 says my faith without works is dead, even though the rest of scripture says it’s not by works, but I’m deciding to throw out James 2 and go all in on Christ and put all my eggs in His basket and not trust in any of my own works.” Proverbs 16:18 — Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

    I’ve heard every way under the sun from people trying to reconcile James 2 to the rest of scripture and what it “really means”, twisting it to try and make sense of it, but James makes it very clear what he means in verses 24-25: “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?” He says we’re justified by works. Plain and simple.

    But we know that the entirety of the rest of scripture attests to salvation being by faith alone, and not by works: Ephesians 2:8-9 — “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” Also consider the parable Jesus Himself told concerning the Pharisee (religious leader) and the tax collector, where the Pharisee supposed that he was acceptable before God for his works, vs the sinful tax collector who realized he was a sinner simply in need of mercy:
    Luke 18:9-14 — Also He (Jesus) spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

    See faith alone scriptures in the note: The Knowledge and Wisdom of God

  • The Book of John: Faith, not works.

    John 1:7 – He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

    John 1:12 – Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

    John 3:15 – that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

    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.

    John 3:18 – Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

    John 3:36 – Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

    John 4:14 – but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

    John 5:24 – “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

    John 6:28-29 – Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

    John 6:35 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

    John 6:40 – For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

    John 6:47 – Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.

    John 6:50-51 – But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

    John 6:54 – Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

    John 7:38-39 – Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

    John 8:24 – I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

    John 10:9 – I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

    John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

    John 12:36 – Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

    John 17:3 – Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

    John 20:31 – But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

  • How to Go to Heaven

    It’s dead simple. It’s by faith alone in Jesus’ gospel (scriptures below). You can’t earn your way to heaven by being a “good person” or “doing good deeds” or “following the law to some extent.” Salvation is a free gift (not earned). Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise:

    The first thing is to realize that everyone is a sinner and falls short:

    Romans 3:23 — for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

    Romans 3:10-12 — As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”

    Isaiah 64:6 — But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteous acts are like filthy rags [filthy menstrual rags]; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

    So you can see, everyone who has ever lived except Jesus is a sinner unworthy of heaven. Now, how do we get to heaven if this is the case? Simple, believe the gospel alone. What is the gospel (the good news):

    1 Corinthians 15:1-4 — Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the GOSPEL which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are SAVED, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: [1] that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and [2] that He was buried, and [3] that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures

    So by simply believing that (1) Christ died to pay for all your sins – past, present and future – (2) was buried and (3) rose again the third day according to the scriptures, you are saved. It’s about what Christ did on the cross – not about “being a good person.” There are many false gospels out there: “turn from your sins”, “follow the law”, “get water baptized”, “confess your sins”, “attend church”, “speak in tongues.” They all add to the one true gospel above, and therefore will lead you to hell.

    After believing the gospel alone, you’re instantly sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of your salvation:

    Ephesians 1:13-14 — In Him you also trusted, after you HEARD the word of truth, the GOSPEL of your salvation; in whom also, having BELIEVED, you were SEALED with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

    Again, there are many false gospels out there in christianity, Catholicism and other religions, in which most believe in. The bible says the road to heaven is narrow, and only a few find it. Most people are on the “broad road that lead to destruction [hell]”:

    Matthew 7:13-14 — “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction [all false works based gospels, all other religions, atheists, etc], and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and confined is the way [the true gospel alone] which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

    Over the millennia, the institutional church has redefined the word “repent” and have added “of your sins” to the end of it. The biblical definition of repent does NOT mean to “turn from sins.” The true definition is: “to change your mind.” As in – to change your mind about who Christ is, and go from unbelief to belief in Him. It does NOT mean, “to turn from your sins.” Not once in the bible does it ever say to “repent OF YOUR SINS.”

    Proof that salvation is by faith alone, and that you can’t bring your “good deeds”:

    Ephesians 2:8-9 — For by grace you have been saved through FAITH, and that NOT of yourselves; it is the GIFT of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast.

    Matthew 7:21-23 — “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father [to believe in Christ] in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice iniquity [the iniquity of unbelief]!’

    As you can see, the person in the scripture above professed to “know” Christ, but brought their works along as the means for their justification: “prophesied in Your name”, “cast out demons in Your name” and “done many wonders in Your name.” They simply didn’t trust in what Christ did on the cross to pay for all their sins as enough. They thought it wasn’t sufficient, and that they had to have good works. Another example scripture next:

    Luke 18:9-14 — Also He [Jesus] spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee [religious leader] and the other a tax collector [sinner]. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

    What are the “works”, the “will”, the “overcomer”, the “command”, the “obedience” and the “righteous” of God? Let’s find out:

    The Works
    John 6:28-29 — Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

    The Will
    John 6:40 — For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

    The Command
    1 John 3:23 — And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

    The Overcomer
    1 John 5:5 — Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

    The Righteous
    Romans 1:17 — For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

    The Obedience
    Romans 16:26 — but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith