blown away by article AGAINST Paul Washer!!

Hi folks ~ yesterday, Donna S. posted a link to an article that bashes Paul Washer for saying that Christians must stop living in sin in order to be saved. Well, YAY for Paul Washer -- he is preaching THE TRUTH ~ straight from the Word of God!!

Folks, this is very easy & elementary & yet too many people neglect this & therefore prefer to stay on the broad way that leads to hell.

^{Matt 7: 21} “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² 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?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Let's look at other translations to help further understand this important Scripture: Matt 7: ²³And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].

²⁴So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them [obeying them] will be like a sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock. {Amp.}

NLT: ^{Matt 7:23} But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Notice, Jesus tells them to GET AWAY FROM HIM REGARDLESS of what they "did" FOR Him!! [casting out demons, and prophesying in His Name] ~ something that only "believers" can do, BTW!!

It is never enough to merely "believe in" Jesus ~ any ol' demon can do THAT!! James 2:19
It takes BOTH repentance AND belief!! Acts 20:21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.

That would send a signal to some to call us "goodie-two shoes" or "judgmental" for WANTING to live holy lives.

It's true, we're not perfect - yet. We will never be "perfect" down here in our UNglorified bodies, we will fall down & skin our knees & some days act downright unsaintly..... but is there a GENUINE DESIRE in our hearts to want to follow Him, to WANT to please Him?.... to OBEY HIM!!?? {GASP!!... that's such an awkward concept for many to grasp! In today's society of ME-ness, it's all about me, and it's also a society of rebels.... of "do your own thing"! the idea of OBEYING the Lord!!!???.....}

If we are true Christians, then we will not walk in any of these ways on purpose; 1 Cor 6:⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal 5: ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,^[c] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders,^[d] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The difference being: if we are TRULY saved, we will not WANT to sin, and we will not sin ON PURPOSE by living any of these lewd (anti-God) lifestyles! When we do mess up & fall down every now & then, then we confess our sins and He is faithful & just to cleanse us

1 John 1:9 but this is an ongoing "process" for when we sin out of weakness, or ignorance, but not for when anyone sins PURPOSELY [ie. someone who's getting into bed with prostitutes or church members or whoever..... & NEVER LEAVES THAT LIFESTYLE]

this confessing to Him is the same as "getting our feet washed".... an ongoing process until we get to heaven. John 13:8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

1 John 2:3
[ The Test of Knowing Him ] Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

1 John 2:4
He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

His commandment are not burdensome!! 1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

So, what is the "freedom" we have in Christ? We do not have to keep the OT Mosaic law -- have you ever read it? Check out Leviticus! However, throughout the NT over & over again, we are told to keep the Lord's commandments. What are THESE commandments? It's His precepts -- how we are to CONDUCT ourselves during our stay here.... and they are sprinkled throughout all of the New Testament. {they are not "suggestions", BTW!}

When I read so many posts/thoughts about how people claim "easy believism" to get into heaven, it just blows me away how no one is interested in pleasing the Lord with their lifestyles! Lifestyles are to MATCH the Christian talk! Titus 1:¹⁶ Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

Our chief aim should be to please the Lord! ~ not to see "how much sin" we can get away with & still make it into heaven!

Paul Washer may not be right on *everything* (who is?) but in any area he is wrong about, God will deal with him! His preaching is overall very biblically sound.

At least he's not one of these who says that "regardless of how you live" ~ ALL you have to do is "merely believe in Jesus" & you have a free pass into heaven! Jude 4, NLT: "...some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives."

And people who say belief is all that is necessary are merely taking Scriptures out, one by one, out of context. We should read ALL of it!! Not go into it "cafeteria style" & pick some of that & that.... but noooo, don't give me any of that "got to obey" stuff!.....

IMO, surely one of the hugest signs that we are sooo close to the end of the Church Age (of grace) is the fact that people want to hug Jesus with one arm & hug the world with the other. Easy believism is one of the facets that sends hoards of people to hell. I could go on & on, listing Bible verse after Bible verse.... but simply don't have the time. I would greatly recommend though that we are carefully read & ponder on the Scriptures & life-changing devotions that Paul N.F. posts here daily.

Jesus Himself said: I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:5

And there will be those who will tell us that repent means to turn FROM unbelief TO belief in Jesus...... Hmm... sure doesn't work for this bunch:

And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. Revelation 9:21

Here, it's not a matter of "turning FROM" unbelief TO belief in Jesus!! But rather, these are the ones who will perish for all eternity -- because they did not repent of these particular sins.

and I know there are many who'd love to hop on the train & call me a "legalist" or saying that I'm trying to attain salvation BY WORKS..... nothing could be further from the truth! It's not MY life, or MY righteousness sustaining me; it's by the power of the Holy Spirit; it's by being in His Word to be born again of INCORRUPTIBLE seed. http://www.truthablaze.com/works.html