Church people have been told from day one of their religious lives that Jesus came to earth in order to die for every human being who has ever been born or will ever be born. Is this true? Does the Godhead view every person in the same way? Is Their love for the mass murderer the same as for the holy martyr? Do the three Biblical resurrections indicate a difference in Father and Son’s view of the individuals who will be resurrected at three different times for three different reasons? Read The Three Resurrections. Key word–Resurrections.

In this series we will examine numerous passages of Scripture in our search for the answers to those very important questions. Those who are locked into their denominational “truths” will probably not accept the Scriptural answer to the question asked by the title of this series. Regardless of your spiritual inclination, I ask only that you study the Biblical information provided and allow God to speak to you concerning what you find.

Keep in mind that THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN TO, FOR AND ABOUT GOD’S PEOPLE, NOT THE OUTSIDE WORLD. GOD AND CHRIST DO NOT CHANGE. THEIR WORDS TO BOTH THE TRUE AND THE FALSE CHRISTIAN TODAY IS THE SAME AS IT WAS TO ADAM AND EVE. THE BLESSINGS PROMISED TO THE OBEDIENT AND THE CURSES PROMISED TO THE DISOBEDIENT HAVE REMAINED THE SAME. JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER. HE IS THE LORD, HE CHANGES NOT. Keep these truths in mind as we delve into the Holy Scriptures in search of the Truth of God, which Jesus said was His Word (Jn. 17:17). Remember, when Jesus said what He did about God’s Word being His Truth, the New Testament did not exist and would not exist for approximately 60 years. HE WAS REFERRING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT. Remember also that the New Testament was built upon the teachings of BOTH THE PROPHETS AND THE APOSTLES (Eph. 2:20). Remember also that God’s dealings with ancient Israel serve as His instructions for believers who would be living at the end of the age–the Laodicean era in which we are now living (1 Cor. 10:11/ Rev. 3:14-20).

In Romans 5:8-11 the Apostle Paul reminds those in the church located in Rome that, prior to their conversions, they HAD BEEN (past tense) SINNERS, which had made them CHRIST’S ENEMIES for whom He died. His death enabled the PAST SINNERS to be justified (to have all PAST sins forgiven–Rom. 3:25). This unearned gift from God totally freed them from Satan’s control. This enabled them to be converted (reverse the direction of their lives) and to receive the Holy Spirit. Having the Spirit’s power within them, they were able to resist Satan’s temptations to sin, thereby qualifying them to receive salvation upon Christ’s return IF they maintained their holiness until the ends of their lives (Mat. 10:22). Having been RECONCILED to God, they would be SAVED by Christ’s life IF they obeyed Him by “walking as He walked” (1 Jn. 2:6) during His earthly life. His walk included OVERCOMING SATAN’S TEMPTATIONS TO SIN as He did (Rev. 3:21). Read about the Process of Salvation using the key word Process.

Salvation is a process, not an instantaneous act. Qualifying for eternal life is a marathon, not a sprint. The “race” of life is life-long, and, though all salvation seekers run the race, only the winner receives the crown of eternal life (Heb. 12:1/ 1 Cor. 9:24). Jesus said that there would be few winners. And the winner must not only run the race, he must run it according to God’s rules. The modern spectacle of masses of people answering an “alter call” featuring soft, mournful music and the promise of instant salvation was invented by Satan’s false prophets hundreds of years after the founding of the New Testament Church. Church leaders’ “repeat after me and be saved” heresy is simply religious fantasy having no Biblical foundation. The latest t.v. heaven huckster asks the question: “Are you going to heaven, or not?” He then guarantees that if you repeat his well-rehearsed prayer, “… you will go to heaven.” What happened to “the race?” The modern version “the race” goes like this: “Get on your mark, get ready, get set. Congratulations, you are saved. Go and sin some more. Just don’t forget to repent. And most importantly, be sure to tithe.” In other words, to spend eternity with Jesus you need only to show up, “fess” up and pay up. Then when you die you will go up. Did you know that you can now get a prayer app? What’s next? Will we be told to simply write a prayer on a sheet of paper and periodically point to it and tell God to read it. This would save a lot of time that could be put to better use, such as watching t.v., staring into an Ipad, etc. A preacher I knew (he died at a young age) dismissed the men in his congregation early during Sunday services so that they could go to a t.v. room and watch the kickoff of the NFL game while he finished his alter call, etc. That church’s motto should have been, “Go Cowboys.”

In First Timothy 1:15 we are told that Jesus came to save sinners. In Matthew 9:10,11 we find him eating with some of the worst of sinners to be found within Jewish culture, including publicans. These were Jews who served the Romans by collecting Jewish taxes. Matthew was a publican. An interesting aside, as well as a valuable lesson, is found in First Corinthians 5:9-13 where the Apostle Paul is telling those true saints in the church NOT TO EAT WITH CHURCH SINNERS. Our Biblical instructions are clear: we are to eat with worldly sinners but not with church sinners. This proves that God views non-church sinners higher than “Sinners Saved By Grace.” To eat with sinners in the church makes it appear that one condones their sins. As Paul told the Corinthian church, we must put sinners out of the church. Or if they outnumber us, we must leave the church as we are told in Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1. Notice in First Corinthians 5:5 He tells the church that he will turn an unrepentant sinner over to Satan for “the destruction of his flesh.” Paul pronounced the death sentence on him. Being a true apostle of God, he had that power. Nothing has changed.

If Christ came to earth to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), why does He not hear their prayers as we are told in John 9:31? Here is another valuable lesson the church refuses to learn. Remember that the Scriptures are written to, for and about the church, not to those outside the church. Remember also that Christ ate with the world’s sinners, then told Paul not to eat with church sinners (SSBG). The reason for this strange command is because church sinners have no intention of removing sin from their lives and walking in holiness for the rest of their lives. Their repentance is faked. Repentance is simply an act of unloading (of sins) and reloading (preparing to sin again). This hypocrisy at its most obvious. Believing that they are already “saved,” SSBG go about their sinning ways without fear. To SSBG, repentance is nothing more than an inconvenient ritual. However, those outside the church make no such pretense. They do not claim to be what they are not. Hypocrisy is a church problem. Those outside of her have no such problem.

As Paul said about those in the church who were in a continuous sin-repent cycle. “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18). Recall that “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” Fearless church sinners are unwise for they believe that their continued prayers of repentance are being heard and answered by God. Incredibly, one preacher has gone even beyond this deadly error by telling her congregation of supposedly “saved” souls that sin is no big deal, that God forgives their sins even BEFORE THEY REPENT OF THEM.

The Scriptures reveal that the opposite is true. Paul warns SSBG that their sins are “treasured (saved) up” until the Day of Judgment when each person will be judged by his “deeds,” not by his faith, churchiness, etc. The proof of our holiness (retention of our justification) is in our “doings,” our “works,” our OBEDIENCE to God’s Law, not our believing (Rom. 2:5,6,7,10,13,15). Read the previous series titled “Transchristianity” using that word as the key.

The primary problem behind most church errors is the theological “truth” that Jesus died to take onto Himself all of the believer’s sins as quickly as he repents of them, that this is THE primary reason for which He came to earth. The Scriptures say the opposite. Jesus died so that, through God’s grace, the sinner can be forgiven of his PAST sins (justification). This one-time act of grace renders him SINLESS–righteous and holy. God commands that cleansed, holy saint remain in this spiritual condition through the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ’s death made the Holy Spirit available to those who are truly converted. Upon true conversion the “old man” is put to spiritual death; the “new man” is spiritually created a holy being. The past sinner/enemy of God changes from obeying Satan to obeying God, from walking in the devil’s darkness to walking in God’s light. As Jesus tells us in Revelation 3:14-20 and Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1, the believer must do a complete 180 degree reversal of life. There can be no mixing of good and evil, light and darkness. With the Lord, it is all or nothing.

The modern (Laodicean) church member does not believe this. He believes that he has no choice but to live in sin due to Adam’s sin-injection miracle. He believes that Jesus, knowing that “truth,” voluntarily died to enable him to do what is “natural” (sin) and get away with it. I was told this by a seminary student.

However, the Scriptures tell us that Jesus died so that we can be justified and receive the Holy Spirit which enables us to resist temptation, WHICH WE ARE COMMANDED TO DO. Jesus tells us in Revelation 3:21 that in order to join Him in paradise, we must “…. overcome (temptation) even as I overcame (temptation).” The Institutional Church rejects this Biblical Truth. She chooses to follow in her original parents’ spiritual footsteps. Because of her rejection of God’s Words, which proves that she DESPISES BOTH FATHER AND SON (Lk. 10:16), the modern church is vomit in God’s mouth (Rev. 3:14-17). L.J.