God knows the end from the beginning. He knew from the beginning that the descendants of Adam and Eve would accept the message put forth by an attention-grabbing headline, and, believing that they knew all that they needed to know, would not take the time to examine the entire article. For this reason He gave earnest Truth-seekers a formula that, if used in every instance, would lead to His Truth, which He calls a “mystery.” The formula is found in Isaiah 28:9-13 where the prophet asks: “Whom will He (God) teach knowledge (of His will)? And whom will He make to understand His message?” Then He answers the question: “Those who are weaned from the milk (mature); those who are drawn (removed) from the breast (no longer spiritual babes).” Having identified whom He can teach His will, He tells them how to find it–by studying His Holy Scriptures (the Law) “precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” In other words, we must search out every passage and verse that relates to the subject under investigation. In verses 11,12 He warns Israel, then and now, (see Who and Where is Israel?) that their ancestors were given His Word, “yet they would not hear.” In verses 11-12 He explains that they could not “hear” His Truth because they failed to use His Truth-learning formula. Counting the number of references God refers to concerning Bible study, we find that as many as 10 are sometimes used in one’s search. In short: NEVER ACCEPT A HEADLINE (SINGLE VERSE) AS THE TOTALITY OF GOD’S WORD ON A SUBJECT. The Bible is like a puzzle–one piece will not identify the picture and will often lead to a wrong conclusion. With that in mind, let us “Study (the Truth–God’s Word–Jn. 17:17) to show ourselves approved by God” (2 Tim. 2:15), and let us do so “precept upon precept ….”

How many billions of people have been supposedly “saved” during an alter call, or after being witnessed to, or after reading a gospel tract, or while experiencing a stressful situation, etc? The answer is “billions.” Multiplied billions of earnest God-seekers, having heard an “only believe” sermon followed by a mournful rendition of such songs as “Oh why not tonight?” and “I surrender all,” have “heard the call of God” to come to the alter and get saved on the spot. Then, following baptism, the “saved” are not told to “go and sin no more” (Jn. 5:14; 8:11), but are instructed to repent following each and every sin they would inevitably commit due to Adam’s miraculous sin-infusion into their spiritual dna. I know all about it. I not only bought into what Satan was selling, I helped him sell it. The key to the kingdom, we were told, is serial repentance, that repentance makes the sin go away, that Jesus’ death enables us to sin and get away with it, and that the wages of our sins will not be death as God tells us in Romans 6:23. To the contrary, because we have been “saved,” the wages of OUR sins will be eternal life. Indeed, we are told by a “minister of righteousness” (1 Cor. 11:13-15), “You shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). In other words, CHRISTIANS HAVE A LICENSE TO SIN. These is the type of bai” Satan uses to lure unsuspecting victims into his church system. Following our supposed salvation and rebirth, the master of “Bait and Switch” tells us through his minions that we now know all we need to know, that the fix is in, that our mansion awaits our arrival in paradise.

Sadly, MULTIPLIED BILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE BELIEVED HIM. In the following postings we will study what the Almighty says about the “only believe” gospel by which the devil has been seducing the salvation-seeking masses since the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ warned salvation-seekers to “Let no man deceive you.” He warned that “many” would come in His name, would proclaim that He is the Christ, and would deceive “many” (Mat. 24:4,5). We will be studying God’s warnings against such deception, warnings the church masses reject. An in accordance with God’s command, we will be studying His Truth precept upon precept …. L.J.