8 Indictments of Church in Today's Culture (Part 1)

 

8 Indictments of Church in Today's Culture (Part 1)

Below is a speech delivered by the fiery Paul Washer.  I guarantee you will love what he says.  A slightly Cliff Notes version follows:

 

We need revival; we need an awakening.  The Holy Spirit is involved, but we have to do our part.  We have clear direction from the Word of God on how He expects us to live, how He expects us to order His church.  But Biblical principle is violated all around us.  We have been given truth in Scripture; we cannot simply do what is right in our own eyes, and then expect the Holy Spirit to bless our labors.  God is specific in His will, and we are not to take the smallest detail and ignore it.

 

I know that I have weaknesses, but I have an indictment.  As I look around at the Church, and compare her to Scripture, I see that there are certain things that must change.  You may be angry to hear it, but please, this is the burden on my heart, and I must share it. 

 

Indictment #1:  A practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture.

 

Look at II Tim. 3:16-17:

 

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

Over the last several decades there has been a mighty battle with regard to the inspiration of Scripture. But when you come to believe that the Bible is truly God’s Word, you have only fought half the battle.  You must then depend on the Bible in your decisions.  But you ask, "it's old; will it do the job today? Is it sufficient?"  But the Biblical rules are true when you run a church, or design a growth package.  Pastors say “Gee, maybe we can bring in secular psychology, social science and cultural studies to know how to run a church.”  But these studies, in my opinion, have been relied on too often as gospel truth instead of God’s instruction in His Word.  We call these “experts” so they can creep into our evangelism and missiology so that what we do now can hardly be called Christian.  What do those verses above say about the profitability of studying Scripture...that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Sounds like sufficiency.  The social “sciences” were created by men to provide an alternative to the Word of God. They do not know the power of God. Given that reason, shall we rely on these experts? No, every idea we get for church ought to flow from our Scripture and from godly theologians. We should have but one answer to the question “how do we get church growth?”  Simply this: What is thy will, Lord?

 

We should not send out questionnaires to carnal people to discover what kind of church they would attend. A church can be “seeker-friendly,” IF we realize who is the seeker we should be friendly to--God. Let us accommodate Him and seek to demonstrate His glory. We are not called to build empires.  We should not be concerned about being accepted.  We are called to glorify God.  If you want the church to be hip, to avoid the word "peculiar"(but see I Peter 2:9), then you want something God does not want.  Worldly persecution we can ignore.  After all, every two or three years the church social scientists change their mind—they introduce yet another fad that “will make the church change the world.” Isaiah 8 seems to fit this situation:

 

And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God (instead)? Should they seek the dead (the worldly wise) on behalf of the living? ²⁰ (Go) To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.

 

Mediums, wizards, the dead, having no light--these are harsh pronouns—but remember what is said about their origins!  Let us all repent and return “to the law and to the testimony” for guidance on church-growth.  

 

Indictment #2: Our ignorance of God. 

 

This ignorance is deeper than we think.  If I begin instructing about the whole of God, not just His lovingkindness, but also about His justice, His wrath, His sovereignty, His pruning—you’re going to have some of your finest and oldest church members stand up and say, “That’s not my God—I could never love a God like that.”  That's because they have a god that they have made with their own mind, and they love what they have made. Jeremiah 9:23-24:

 

“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; ²⁴ But let him who glories glory in this: That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness and judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

 

God knows about our egos and all our thoughts.  He advises us to retrain our thoughts to get to know Him. Also note these verses speak of the two sides of God—His lovingkindness and His judgment. 

 

Or consider Psalm 50:21-23:

 

You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes. ²² “Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, And there be none to deliver: ²³ Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.”

 

God sees that we imagine Him like us, easy on sin, but when He tells us about His disciplinary side, we may complain.  We do not like His pruning, especially not Him “tearing us in pieces” if we profess to love God and yet totally ignore His Word and His commandments.

 

I Corinthians 15:34 also ties this knowledge of God and focus on avoiding sin:

 

Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame

 

Sunday morning is the greatest hour of idolatry in America—because people do not know the God they are worshiping. They have another god.  He looks more like Santa Claus than he does Yahweh.

 

Indictment #3:  Our failure to address man’s malady.

 

In the book of Romans, Paul spends the first three chapters doing one thing:  Bringing all men into condemnation.  That was essential in his goal of bringing salvation to his listeners.  Men must be brought to a knowledge of their dark self before they see their inability to reform on their own. After repeated failures at reform, a person who knows he is an unregenerate sinner may finally do what needs to be done:  Surrender himself over to God.  They must cut away every hope in the flesh before they can go to God.  This is especially important in evangelism.  An old preacher once told me, “We would preach for two and three weeks and give no invitation to sinful men; we would plow, and plow, the hardened hearts of men until the Spirit of God began to break their hearts.”

Now we just walk in and talk to them, give them three exploratory questions and ask them if they want to pray a prayer and ask Jesus to come into their heart--and as a result--we make a two-fold son of hell for whom what you promised "didn't work," who will never again be open to the gospel because the religious lie that we, as evangelicals, have spewed out of our mouth.

 

If we treat sin superficially, we are fighting against the Holy Spirit. When pastors speak, they should be an instrument for convicting people—that means being blunt on the subject of sin.  As John 16:8 says about the Spirit:

“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin.”

There are very popular preachers today who are more concerned about giving you your best life now than they are about your eternal life. And they brag about the fact that they do not mention sin in their preaching. I can tell you this. The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with their ministry. Why? When a man says he has no ministry dealing with the sin of men, he is the opposite of the Holy Spirit. So know this: When you do not deal specifically, passionately, lovingly with men and their depraved condition, the Holy Spirit is nowhere around you.

 

Also we are deceivers when we deal with the malady of men lightly like pastoral “shepherds” of Jeremiah’s day. Look at Jeremiah 6:14:

They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

There’s that word “superficially” to avoid.  If we don’t deal with this, we are not only deceivers, but we are immoral, like a doctor who denies his Hippocratic oath because he doesn’t want to tell someone bad news because he thinks that person will be angry with him, and will be sad. And so he does not tell them the news most necessary for them to prepare their souls for eternity.

I hear preachers say, “No. No. You don’t understand, brother Paul.  It is not like the days of John and Charles Wesley. We are not like the culture that Whitfield addressed or Edwards. We are not as hearty as those people were. We don’t have as much self-esteem. We are feeble. We can’t bear such preaching.”

Have you ever studied the lives of these men? What they preached, their culture couldn’t bear it either. No one has ever been able to bear the preaching of the gospel. They will either turn against it with a fierceness of an animal, or they will be broken by it and converted. Look at Acts 2:37 and 7:54 for proof of each of those reactions.  And about us “not having the self- esteem,” our country and this world is overrun with this disgusting malady of self-esteem. Even the convicts plead innocent.  Our greatest problem is that we esteem ourselves more than we esteem God.

 

Let me ask you a question: Where did all the stars go this morning? They were there, but you couldn’t see them. But then later, the sky grows darker and darker and as that night turned black as pitch the stars came out in the fullness of their glory.  Likewise we cannot appreciate the glory of God for salvation, unless the darkness of sin of is realized first.  Think of the other Mary; Scripture shows that  she loved much because she has been forgiven much and she knew how much she had been forgiven because she knew how wicked she was before.  Oh, we are afraid to tell men of their wickedness--and they can never love God because of it. We have robbed them the opportunity to boast not in self, but to follow the admonition, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

 

Indictment #4: An ignorance of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I want to submit to you tonight that this country is not gospel hardened. It is gospel ignorant because most of its preachers are, too. And let me repeat this. The malady in this country is not liberal politicians, the root of socialism, Hollywood or anything else. It is the so called evangelical pastor of our day and preacher of our day. Fact is, we as a people do not know the gospel. We have taken the glorious gospel of our blessed God and reduced it down to patriotism for how God has blessed the U.S., or four spiritual laws with a little superstitious prayer at the end and if someone repeats it after us with enough sincerity, we declare them to be born again.  We have traded true regeneration for “decisionism.”  The new wave.

Here is the gospel: it begins with the nature of God and it goes from there to the nature of man and the fallenness thereof. Thus, the greatest problem in all of Scripture is this. How can God be just and at the same time the justifier of wicked men, when Scripture such as Proverbs 17:15 says:

 

He who justifies the wicked is an abomination to God

 

That is the greatest problem. You see, you have got to present all this to people. If God is just, then He must condemn wicked man. But continuing with the gospel:  then God, for His own glory, loved us, and sent forth his Son who walked on this earth as a perfect man. And then according to the eternal plan of God, he went to that crucifixion tree. And on that tree he bore our sin and he became a curse.  Christ redeemed us from the curse of sin by becoming a curse in our place (Galatians 3:13).

So many people have this romantic, powerless view of the gospel that the Christ is there hanging on the tree suffering under the wounds of the Roman Empire and the Father did not have the moral fortitude to bear the suffering of his Son so he turned away.

NO!!  The Father turned away because his Son became sin.

When he was in that garden and he cries out, “Let this cup pass from Me,” people speculate, “Well, what was in the cup? Oh, it is the Roman cross. It is the whip. It is the nails. It is all this and all that.”  I do not want to take away from the physical sufferings of Christ on that tree, but the cup was the cup of God the Father’s wrath that had to be poured out on the Son. Someone had to die, bearing the guilt of God’s people, forsaken of God by His justice and crushed under the wrath of God, for it pleased the Lord to crush him.  It had to be a blood sacrifice.

Well, when the gospel is preached today and when it is shared in personal evangelism today, do you ever hear these things? Almost never. It is never made clear that Christ was able to redeem because he was crushed under the justice of God and having satisfied divine justice with his death God is now just and the justifier of the wicked.  No, we have "Gospel reductionism" now. And then we wonder why it has no power. I’ll tell you. When you leave the gospel behind, then you have got to go to all the little tricks of the trade that are so prominently used today to convert men. But truth is, none have any lasting power.  They do not work.

Indictment #5: An ignorance of the doctrine of regeneration

My dear friends, I know that there are Calvinists here and I know that there are Arminians here and I know that there are all sorts of strange animals in between, but I want you to know this: these are not the issue. The issue is regeneration. Being born again; showing that you are a new creation. 

There is a great manifestation of the power of God in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit; remember that it is the Spirit that gives life.  Every one of us who proclaims must proclaim our witness.  If you truly know this, you will no longer give yourself to tricks, or the manipulation that is so often carried out in the name of evangelism in this country. You will proclaim the Word of God with Spirit-approved power.

Examine yourself. Be diligent to make your calling and election sure (II Peter 1:10).  Here in America, the idea of being “born again” is totally lost. It seems to only mean that at one time in a crusade you made a decision and you think you were sincere. But what if there is no evidence of a supernatural recreating work of the Holy Spirit in your life?  Which happens too often. “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature.” Ask yourself:  Is that me?  Totally different thoughts, actions, responses to people who push my buttons?

What do we face as an alternative to the truth? I will tell you what we face. It’s not infant baptism. It is not a high church confirmation by an ecclesiastical authority. What we’re against now is the sinners’ prayer. And I am here to tell you, if there is anything I have declared war on it is that. You say, “What?”  Yes, in the same way that infant baptism was the golden calf of the Reformation, today the sinners’ prayer has sent more people to hell than anything on the face of the earth.  You say, “How can you say such a thing?”

Go with me to Scripture and show me, please. I would love you to stand up and tell me where anyone in the early church was evangelized that way. The Scripture does not say that Jesus Christ came to the nation of Israel and said that “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, now who would like to ask me into their hearts? I see that hand.”   That is not what it says. He said, “Repent and believe the gospel.”

Men today, if you ask them, “Are you saved?” they do not say, “Yes, I am because I am leaning unto Jesus and there is mighty evidence and fruits giving me assurance of being born again.”  No. They say, “One time in my life I prayed a prayer.”

 

And they live for the world; seeking God was for the foxhole or Sunday. But, hey, they prayed a prayer. They were told it was enough.  Insurance against hell.  We will go to extremes to get that “confession” out of him.  I heard of one evangelist who was coaxing a man to do that thing. Finally the man felt so uncomfortable the evangelist said, “Well, I’ll tell you what. I will pray to God for you and if it is what you want to say to God, squeeze my hands. Well, behold the power of God,
my people!  The idolatry of decisionism.

 

When Paul came to the Church in Corinth he did not say to them, “Look, you are not living like Christians so let’s go back to that one moment in your life when you prayed that prayer and let’s see if you were sincere.”  No, he said this, “Test yourselves, examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith.”  The evidence of conversion is the on-going fruit in your life.  Only you and God know.

Oh, my dear friends, look what we have done. Isn’t a tree known by its fruit? Here we are, 60%, 70% of America thinks it is converted, born again. But--we kill how many thousands of babies a day? We are hated around the world for our immorality.

And I lay this squarely, the blame, at the feet of the preachers.

Students get a flawed idea from the “youth minister” about living for Christ.  Then they go to college, and live like the devil. And then, after college, maybe around 30, they drift back to church wanting us to instill morality in their new family.  And they may even rededicate their life and they join right in with that pseudo Christian morality that encompasses churchianity in America. BUT in the end they hear this from God: “Depart from me you worker of iniquity. I never knew you.”

You say, “Brother Paul, you are so angry.”  Have I not right to be? Somebody must be. We cry out for revival, but we haven’t even got the foundations straight.  My dear friend, everybody wants to go to heaven. They just don’t want God to be looking at them when they get there. Do you want God? But are you ignoring God, because you are ashamed? Is honesty with Him too uncomfortable? 

God bless us to respond to these Holy Spirit wrought words.

 .

Fire and brimstone preaching—good idea or bad idea?

 First things first:  We’re defining “fire and brimstone” as, preaching righteously against sin, or an evil that has spread in the culture. Or it could be reminding people of Satan or hell, or using the term "blood" or other "offensive" terms.  I AM NOT SUGGESTING we do this kind of preaching all the time.

We know that the earliest church was the most effective at evangelism of all time, right? They began with less than 100 true believers, and turned the Roman Empire over. So why not study the earliest preaching? Let’s begin by looking at Peter.  In his very first sermon, in Acts 2:19-21, he began with a quote from Joel 2:

 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. ²⁰ The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. ²¹ And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’

 So he begins his preaching by giving graphic images of the devastation of the future Day of the Lord, and how judgment will come down, including "blood" and "fire." Such a terribly negative introduction, don't you think? (This sermon was, at least, book-ended with hopeful statements.) Right after the scary statement above, Peter wasted no time in reproaching everyone (Acts 2:22-24a) for a recent incident that was still raw on their nerves—he accused them (notice, he did not place the responsibility on Pilate or on the Pharisees) of crucifying their Messiah.  He didn’t shy away from blunt language:

 

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles… ²³ Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;²⁴ whom God raised up…

 

Note how confrontational Peter is: YOU have crucified Him, you have put Him to death.  Note particularly his calling them “lawless.”  The Jews thought they knew the law, and had abundant scribes and lawyers to tell them exactly how to be lawful to the finest degree possible; so being accused of lawlessness was a gigantic slap in the face, was it not?

He points more emphatically at their gross sin in verse 36 in the same sermon:

 

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

 

So he flatly tells them that the man they crucified was the Messiah that they had been waiting centuries for. This directness about their sin makes this “fire and brimstone” preaching.  What was the reaction? Surprisingly, a good one, from Acts 2:37-41:

 

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” ³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized…" and, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” ⁴¹ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Three thousand people saved!  An astonishing result from one “fire and brimstone” sermon.  These people turned completely around; as later verses show, they later were on fire for Christ.

If something works in a sermon, you do it again, right?  Peter, after healing a lame man, is equally forceful in his reproach of the Jews, in Acts 3:13-15:

…God…glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

Peter reminds them that when Pilate was willing to gift them by letting a prisoner go free, they chose a murderer, Barabbas, instead of the Son of God. He again won’t let them escape blame; he could ease their consciences  by saying "He never really said He was God," or some such. The Jews knew that certain things He did, certain names He called himself, were idiomatic to Jews; He clearly claimed Godhood. They knew that Pilate tried hard to prevent this crucifixion, but the Jews wouldn’t let Jesus off the hook.  Peter is again forceful with his language; “you killed the Prince of life,” you delivered Him up, you traded Him for a murderer.  He also accused them of denying Christ.  To do that was a serious charge; if unrepentant, it is a ticket to hell, as Jesus points out in Matthew 10:33:

But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven

Then Peter seems to open the door for them to ease their consciences, in Acts 3:17:

“Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

But how acceptable is it to accept that as a relief from guilt?  Will they agree to say, “Yes, we killed Him, but we did because we were ignorant.” They really knew that their ignorance was their own making; when they screamed for His blood, they were just doing what senseless rioters do. So Peter's backhanded "compliment" was only a temporary respite from his accusations.  His censorious language reaches its peak in verse 23:

And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet (Jesus) shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.

A bold statement.  I can only surmise that legitimate rumors of His resurrection must have spread by now, or else they would have called Peter a lunatic, since he claimed His resurrection in v. 15 above.  So, he told them that if they don't hear Jesus' words, they'll be destroyed.

You just never hear this confrontational preaching anymore, do you?  In any event, except for the priests, the response was amazing, as Acts 4:4 says:

However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Five thousand! Considering that households generally took on a faith together, this suggests at least 10,000 people, including wives and older children, either were saved in this sermon, or have been saved soon after, to follow their father.  When compared to 3000 souls added in his previous sermon, shortly before, this sermon, also classed as "fire and brimstone," might’ve saved another 10,000 people!  Two fire and brimstone sermons, 13,000 saved!  This is shocking, is it not?

Now of course, you might beg off from the obvious conclusion that I'm hinting at, by saying, "Wait!  It was an unusual time; the Jews were ultra-sensitive as to what they did, so that made the emotional impact greater."  Well, think on this:  how do people react when they made an emotional decision, and you push their raw emotional buttons, telling them they were wrong and how God will avenge justice on them? They react the wrong way, that's how. They get defensive.  They’ll say anything to “prove” that you’re wrong, not them. They mostly don't get repentant, they get angry.  So this result was a miracle, really.

How did this happen, in the midst of a fire and brimstone, “negative” sermon? Simply this: God approved what Peter said. He is, after all, a God of justice, not all love.  So in His sovereign will, the Holy Spirit activated people’s minds and wills, and proceeded to convict people's hearts. God can turn around their consciences and their minds. It doesn’t matter how much “finesse” you put into a sermon; if it’s what God wants, you get good results.

Maybe you'd say "the Holy Spirit did something special here just to “kick off” Christianity’s start in a big way."  Well, “doing something special” is my point.  The "special" started with Peter's boldness.  God honored that boldness, and the Holy Spirit acted to convict as a result.

So here is my question:  Couldn't the Holy Spirit do the same again, even in “sophisticated” days, acting on a preacher's boldness?  Yes. Preachers need to understand that the results are not theirs to claim—the results are God's action. Do not assume that preaching of judgment will necessarily bring a negative reaction. The Holy Spirit can make a man feel great conviction far better than the preacher can by telling jokes, or by a dazzling intro. Your first motive should be to honor God.  Tell what He is like--as Savior and as Judge.  That's better than a smooth, intellectually persuasive sermon about the benefits of Christianity.  You want to tell the truth about both sides of God, His grace and His jealousness about letting another "god" being first in your life, whether it's envy, greed, sex, whatever. In sermons, pastors should speak of His compassion and His judgment, despite continual harping from the baby Christian gallery about our "narrowness" in the way to heaven, or how we scare people away, and "fear is not a good reason to be saved." If pastors respond to such harping, they will lack confidence in the greatness of God's Gospel to convince people. Suppose that a pastor is never blunt about sin, and worries about a negative response to such preaching so much that he never delivers a fire and brimstone message.  Given that this is the OPPOSITE from what Peter did, shouldn't he expect results that are the opposite--namely, few people truly saved, congregations immersed in the world, little prayer or Scripture reading to apply what they hear or read?  Are you in a church where everyone loves the pastor because he delivers comfortable messages, even has good timing with jokes? Well, how many parishioners are on fire for God there? How many congregants are willing to do the evangelistic work, how many of you step up and do your gift God gave you? Who, over dinner at a restaurant, likes to talk a lot about what Christ is doing to you and people you know? You say, "we don't get that--only the newly saved folks act like that--for a few weeks."  That's my point.  Does your pastor want to save souls more than worry about how some of the people feel about him?  If that's the case, he should be willing to give the hard line, give fire and brimstone a try, right? His model is in God's revealed guidebook, the Book of Acts.  That model is approved from the best teacher, right?  God the Holy Spirit.  But if pastor rejects it, maybe he's got that devil's disease, called "fear of the world."  So how can the Holy Spirit bless his messages? Is this why in many churches, the Holy Spirit is MIA? You see the liturgy, the fine use of words in a fine pastor, at a fine church building, with fine people. Maybe you are linked in to the status folk.  But how many new souls does that get added to you?  It could even be that with "tickling" your ears preaching, your church adds, instead, more “worldly Christians” to his membership (that’s an oxymoron—being worldly and a real Christian doesn’t exist).  These lukewarm people nurtured by a comfy gospel often become trouble in hard times.  They actually get angry and fearful if the Holy Spirit goes to work, changes the length of the service beyond the 60 minutes "that it's always been" and gets some people on fire and starts to shake up the place.  If pastors listen to their complaints, and gets worried himself, he might suppress anything considered "radical" today--such as a revival.

My conclusion is, the Holy Spirit liked Peter’s sermons, and blessed them by convicting people and bringing more souls to heaven.  May God be praised.  When you see these results, why not copy it, pastors? Are you bold enough?

Another angle used nowadays, is the pastor who preaches on the sins that beset America, like homosexuality, etc.  It's easy to attack those kind of sins--because pastor assumes nobody in the congregation have "those" sins--and most everyone in the seats agrees.  He will win their favor for sure, as long as the sins outlined belong to someone else.  "Amens" will bounce off the rafters from the old men and women. But I attest that America's REAL problem is divorce, pride, greed, our lost youth killing their spirits with drugs, or no goals to live for.  Or killing themselves spiritually from fornication and pornography.  Let's see pastor really tag THOSE buttons.  "Baby" Christians everywhere will squirm with discomfort, nag him for being negative, even try to throw him out.  If they can't get him out by insurrection and scandalous rumor-mongering, they will simply change churches to where comfort can be re-obtained.

In Acts 4, Peter preaches like that again, this time before the religious rulers, after a miraculous healing.  If Peter had used worldly logic, it would suggest that he “back off” from a fire and brimstone style with them, knowing that they had the power to imprison him, and then no one would hear the gospel from him again. Logic would suggest to "go softer" than to be forced to go silent, right?   But the Holy Spirit gave him the fire and brimstone words, as we’re told in Acts 4:8, and you can see his forthrightness in the sermon in verses 10-12:

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel… ¹⁰ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead… ¹¹ This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’

¹² Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Note that Peter really accuses them of conspiracy to murder.  I would also just like to note, for present day woke readers, the “bigoted intolerance” of Peter’s—or really God’s —statement in verse 12, that there is no salvation in any other faith, like Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.  No salvation in the Jews trying to obey the law--which they had strained and failed at for thousands of years. This time, the results are radically different. Namely, the Spirit does convict them--that you can tell because of the anger. They are filled with outrage, gnashing their teeth against him.  And they wouldn't repent from killing Jesus. And they might have even committed the unpardonable sin--attributing to Satan for his power of the Holy Spirit.

So, you say, ah-ha, fire and brimstone has negative results too.  But, hey, it did have a "good" result here--namely, they heard that what they did was evil, and made it clear that they rejected Jesus again.  That will come up at the Judgement day, and they will know their guilt is real.

But, results we have today are radically different. From the "soft sell" of pastors, there are lots of people who THINK they're Christians, but only because they haven't had their gut checked by a confrontation about their sin, or why they're really coming to church (it may be just to be a person of status).  They love to hear about Jesus (or actually their version of the "sissified" Jesus that is carefully sculpted by the pastor, by avoiding Jesus' confrontational sermons).  These people--we're speaking of millions in America--are deceived today--why is that, you say?  Because when the "rubber hits the road," they will abandon Christ in droves should serious persecution comes.  As long as America gives a good economy and freedom of worship, they have a wonderful, yet distant relationship with Him.  They are, when you get down to it, lukewarm; they are not hot enough for Christ, for His Lordship in ALL their lives.  They haven't been taught to handle persecution or serious trials that God might bring their way.  Not hot for Jesus enough to retain optimism and endurance, no matter what.  Nor were they cold--like those Jews were.  But what happens to lukewarm "Christians?"  Jesus vomits them out of His body! See Revelation 3:15-16:

‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth

Now you may argue another angle.  You could say that, sure, some people are beyond hope, but: if we could have more miraculous healings, as Peter had in Acts 4, that’s the real reason why they were saved.   My answer is three-fold:  First, despite His own healings, Jesus was crucified.  Which says, men did not behave rationally about the miracles.  So more miracles won't save your butt either.  Secondly, the Jewish rulers were not even focusing on the meaning of the miracle in Acts 4; their concern was that Peter was preaching that Jesus was raised from the dead. Note verses 1b-2:

…the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, ² being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

My third reason is, Jesus knew that salvation by miracles had a twofold design; first, it was to pull more people around to hear His great words.  The point is, the words were the key, not the healings; they were calculated to convict of sin, which is essential in being saved.  As you can see in John 2:23-25:

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.²⁴ But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,²⁵ and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man

That's not a ringing endorsement of our basic nature. Nor should any current pastor assume more of us—we are sinful creatures.  Secondly, His miracles testified that He was God.  Nobody before had ever brought sight to the blind, only Him.

All of this says, miracles from God can't bring lasting revivals, given the cynicism of these days.  Sure, most people  will like the miracles the Antichrist will do (see 2 Thessalonians 2:9), but their perverse discernment in misaligning Jesus’ miracles shows that most people are too stiff-necked and rebellious to repent and endure persecution for Jesus.

Now let’s turn to the deacon, Stephen, a fire and brimstone preacher in the “worst” way.  Just like Peter, when Stephen used fire and brimstone style on the religious rulers, the results were again disastrous. He was stoned to death. But God approved Stephen's style, as His miracle of divine radiance was given to him. See Acts 6:15:

And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

He had that pre-glorification glow--the kind we'll all have who are headed for heaven.

Why did God want Stephen to preach that way, when it resulted in him being killed?  The biggest reason was, God had told the apostles to preach to the Jerusalem first, then to spread out--to Judea, to Samaria, to the world (Acts 1:8).  But the saved folks weren't doing that. So God was willing to let them suffer persecution to get them to move out, spreading the Word.  As a result of Stephen's martyrdom, they did spread out--and brought the Gospel to the whole world.

Now Stephen uses language guaranteed to touch their “hot buttons” more than Peter, in Acts 7:51 and 52:

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers

Stiff-necked!  Uncircumcised! (That must’ve hurt—circumcision was a badge of honor to them).  You always resist the Holy Spirit. He told them that they were persecutors, betrayers, and murderers.  This over-the-top language, calling people names, is guaranteed NOT to save, especially those who had their conscience seared, making them possibly demon-oppressed.

So why would God might want you to do this method (it is not always about preaching; perhaps you are speaking to an individual.)  Here was the stranger side of evangelism, a possible approach when the sinner has seen the power of God in the past, and yet still refuses. Maybe over-the-top preaching will bring out the worst in people. When they get super-angry, we (and they) get to see who they really are underneath.  Who knows, maybe they will actually see themselves as rebels against God too. There are people who know how to keep up surface appearance; they worked at being nice, as tolerant and not radical; they were civilized, not overcome with anger.  Maybe, if they saw themselves acting this way, they might see what they really are, and repent. Any preparation that you do prior to this has to be only with the Lord’s help. We’re not talking about you just blowing off steam at someone you’re angry with.

Here's yet another reason for fire and brimstone now and then:  We all should be “watchmen,” when culture starts to turn rotten. Ezekiel 33:2-6 explains the idea:

…let the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, ³ when he sees the sword coming upon the land: If he blows the trumpet and warns the people, ⁴ then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. ⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’   

The definition of “warn” is to “inform someone of an impending danger…give someone forceful advice about their actions.”  If you are the watchman, it is your obligation to use forceful (i.e, fire and brimstone) language on some occasions to steer them clear of danger.  If you don’t, judgment is on you.  A sober reason to change preaching styles now and then!

 

Now, you pastors and others, may argue that you are following a Scriptural path, as I John 4:7-8 points out:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

So you say, "How can we do fire and brimstone, in light of these "love" verses?  I'm a pastor; how can you think that fear-obsession, that fire and brimstone, is love?"  But let's talk about the real meaning of love.  If a man loves his wife, he protects her, right?  That's a given.  Suppose he comes home from work, and sees his house completely engulfed in a raging fire.  Toxic smoke is pouring out, he can hear the stairway collapsing.  Then he sees his wife, outside, with a strange look on her face, walking steadily toward the house. Maybe she wants to save the baby.  But the firemen are on the scene, ready to do that.  But she still wants to hurry and save the baby, or her brain has become disoriented by the toxic chemicals. So what does husband do?  Firemen are busy; no time to call anybody's attention to the danger, she will be in the house within seconds.  He steps out in front of her to stop her--but she goes around him, moving on toward disaster.  He runs up to her, tells her in strong language to stop.  She ignores him, persistently moving ahead.  She's getting close to the front door.  Then he has to do things that are "unreasonable," in most situations.  He wrestles her, tackles her, pins her down to prevent her from walking into the fire.

Well, what is hell, after all?  It's far worse than this fire. It's forever.  None of us can imagine God doing that to most people, but we trust His Word to tell the truth. Hell is real, it is hot, and the suffering is endless. We need to act like it's the truth.  So, there are times when we should act desperately.  The real truth is, the majority of people will go to hell.  You say you don't believe that?  Proof?  Matthew 7:13-14:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Yes, you've read it many times.  But do you meditate on His words, really think what He's saying here?

And we know how certain people live, that some of them can't be Christian, if you go by Scripture, as fewer people do nowadays.  Maybe our own loved one is on a path to hell, per the Bible.  Let's say they were married twice, and are now enjoying life and love with a boyfriend.  You say, "no harm done--they love each other."  You know, we don't know when they may die, or you might die, and the kind of relationship-designed message you can give them about the Gospel would not be delivered to them.  I'm talking about the serious sin here, sexual immorality (such as included in Revelation 21:8):

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

You must believe that every Scripture is God's truth.  Yes, sexual immorality is listed alongside sorcerers, and idolaters!  You must believe it! Do you believe that ALL His Words are truth?   Your warning of hell--that's love.  It's never too early to get those Scriptures out, get pointed with them.  Hey, we are talking about the dangers of hell, with fire and brimstone.  I guarantee you of one thing.  Even if they cut off relationship with you for being "weird," the desperation on your lips (the desperation will prove that you love them) will haunt them for a long time. You can at least slow them down on their hypnotic walking to hell.  We need to be a continual watchman.  We have the answers.  They don't.  Give them the knowledge.

Now let's take another angle on this subject of the proper sermon.  When Peter preached to Gentiles, beginning with Cornelius in Acts 10, his approach was completely different.  No more fire and brimstone.  Why?  Well, he saw the Gentiles as a foreign mission.  Jews previously had minimal relations with Gentiles, particularly about religion.  Most of the Gentiles knew little about this Jesus of Nazareth.  They seldom even spoke to the Gentiles.  So the words to the Gentiles were those of instruction and education about Jesus.

So, we see that fire and brimstone preaching was highly successful--or highly non-successful--with the Jews, who knew the Scripture--and knew that Jesus fulfilled many of the prophesied words on the Messiah. Well, speaking of people who likewise should have plenty of Scripture and knowledge, isn't that the U.S. mostly through our history? But today, things are different.  We have lots of Bibles, lots of Christian "tradition," as each denomination defines it.  But hardly anybody reads Scripture and meditates on it.  And parents aren't teaching their children.  As many studies prove, people's knowledge of Jesus has been lost.  So, in our time, it's like preaching to the Gentiles again. I'm NOT saying that means preaching that God is only love, Christianity is all about benefits, etc.  Preaching to the unknowledgeable is simple:  Tell both sides of God. Tell about Jesus' sacrifice and upcoming judgment.  After you've given the Real gospel in different ways and they don't act, then hit on them with fire and brimstone often.   Go for expository preaching on Matthew through John, cover how Jesus talked frequently about hell.  Teach about sin, about money and the world.  You'll see a huge wall of resistance going up.  For a lot of people, either they repent or they leave.  You are left with fewer, but the most faithful fewer. Then you start to think like Gideon. (Judges 7). You can do more with the faithful fewer. You can tell the sinner from the saved, in how they respond.  Many people would rather believe Scripture is lying on this subject, rather than what it says about the devil and hell. Straighten them out on that.  Tell them you can't cherry-pick Scripture.

Pastors, resist the urge to assume that everyone in your church is saved, so you conclude not to aggressively warn them.  You say to yourself, the devil has not captured anybody in my church.  (but you haven't been preaching on the wiles of the devil, and some people have drifted down morally.) Yes, it's true that most pastors are diplomatic personalities--so by nature they push back on this idea.  If the prophetic voices (those that are hard against sin) are active, let them speak the hard word to everyone. (That would involve accepting all gifts as still active, changing the service--like the church did in Acts.  Is that bad? Look at the American morals; you must see that our approach has failed--are we salt to the world?)  The problem I see, is pastors tend to suppress prophetic voices among their leaders.  It seems so negative, and so scary with unpredictability in services. (How pastors hate things beyond their control!  Are they willing to let the Holy Spirit have control?)  Pastors consider the prophets, the sources for those utterances, as speculative, emotionally driven, only believable with a large grain of salt, and pastors don’t like to deal with problems that seem to always result when someone gets their feelings hurt when these guys talk.  And that's even among churches that believe all the gifts are for today.  If pastors don't believe in all the gifts, they'll shut down the prophets even quicker.  Many churches like tongues and emotionalism, but the prophet who bewails some of their sins, they still don't like.

Also, church discipline, commanded in Scripture, is totally ignored (I have a blog on that subject).  But take a look at Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 10:11-12.  This was after his listing past sins of people lusting after evil things, sexual immorality, etc, all of which are pointed out explicitly in Scripture.  Gee, you might ask, do you really want to mention these terrible things that people are capable of doing?  Here is his answer:

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹² Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.:

Some Scriptures are for our admonition, to shake a finger at us, to warn us, lest we fall.  Fall, in the above Scripture, might mean going to hell, or taking steps in that direction (this is an educational verse for those who mistakenly believe "once saved, always saved.")  Such admonishment is needed to remind ourselves that we are sinful people and need God every day. So when was the last time you heard a pastor preach on one of the fallen people in Scriptures, preaching deeply about that person's sin, and concluding the sermon with “so as far as we know, he is in hell even today. We could go there ourselves, taking the path he took.”  You say, that's not going to happen?  Pastors are trained in seminary that negative preaching is "sadistic."  I know this for a fact.  He is told to begin a sermon lighthearted, and end on a positive note, to send everyone home happy. Keeps everyone coming back, tithing, paying the church bills. But God’s goal is sometimes not to make us happy—but to call us up short, to make us sober and vigilant, sometimes to make us introspective.  To make us take a good hard look at ourselves, trying to strip away the self-deception that we fall prey to if we are not bathed in Scripture, which gives us a realistic look at ourselves.

Since pastors are often not very good at encouraging us to do these things, may we desire to be closer to God, and warn ourselves to put an end to our own sins and self-deception.  And pray for pastors to become leaders, with more spine.  Willing to warn us away from falling; may God have mercy on us.

 

Last Comment and Appendix in Answer to Once Saved Always Saved

 Before I begin: I ran four blogs in late September that disputed the doctrinal assumption of "once saved always saved." I mentioned that  I would give a list of Bibe verses that suggest that a loving relationship with God, a sanctification, which shows that you are really saved, was necessary also to show that we are saved. A desire to fight any connection with "the world" of sin has to be active and striving. James talks much about this in James 2, that "faith" without the works to prove it, is not really faith. The list finally given below is NOT saying you can’t go to heaven unless you concentrate on works. No, I'm saying that such works become first nature for those whose love of what God in the form of Jesus has done for us. We do these things because we develop love of our brothers, and love for the lost unsaved. Continuing in sin after you think you were saved suggests a "mental assent" only has happened; you are unsaved. True salvation runs deep into a heart of love. Salvation has an initial date, and a maintenance period for the rest of your life, as you must grow in the Lord.  As I expressed in another blog, INITIAL salvation can be accomplished by (1) BELIEF in what Christ did:  He is God, He died to pay the price to redeem me; He was resurrected—that means I could be resurrected, taking away the power of death.  (2) I have a desire to REPENT, turn away from my sins and the world which I can’t reconcile to God, no matter what I do for works; and (3) Receive an adult BAPTISM to testify to the world that I am on Christ’s side.  I differ from many denominations in the final aspect:  to MAINTAIN my salvation, I must show a relationship with Christ, so my love and obedience with Him grows.  I progress into sanctification, gradually becoming more like Him in bearing fruit.  (More on fruit of Spirit in Galatians 5).  If I am initially saved, and then I go wandering off into the world, and don’t develop fruits or relationship (or abiding in Him), then I lose salvation at some point, as Scriptures below will show.  After that, getting “back on track” takes honest confession of weakness and, realizing His holiness, and hatred of the practice of sin, begin once again the path to sanctification.  God has patience, to a degree.  Some sins are worse than others, and we must discipline ourselves to avoid those altogether.  We must examine ourselves often, confess our sin often, and ask for the Spirit’s help in the power of feeding Christ, and not the world, to make my decisions—and we should read God’s Word often to learn what His commandments are.  We MUST endure to the end to reach Heaven.

SO HERE IS THE APPENDIX:  NEW TESTAMENT VERSES THAT EITHER (1) DON’T GUARANTEE “ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED,” OR (2) INDICATE THAT THERE ARE CONDITIONS IN CONTINUING THE PROCESS OF SALVATION: IT IS NECESSARY TO ENDURE TO THE END, SHOWING GODLY FRUIT AND WORKS:

:

• Matthew 3:10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
• Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses
• Matthew 7:14  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
• Matthew 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
• Matthew 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
• Matthew 10:22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
• Matthew 10:33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven
• Matthew 12:32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come
• Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
• Matthew 18:27, 34-35 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt…. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat….And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.³⁵ “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
• Matthew 24:47-51 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant….Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸ But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, ⁵¹ and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• Matthew 25: 31-45: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom…. Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me….’Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink….inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
• Mark 3:35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
• Mark 4:16-17,20 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble….  ²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
• Mark 8:38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
• Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—
• Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
• Luke 8:13-15 ¹⁴ Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience
• Luke 9:23-24 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
• Luke 12:5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
• Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
• Luke 12:47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes
• Luke 13:6-9 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. ⁷ Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ ⁸ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
• Luke 14:27-28 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it
• Luke 15:11,12,24 And He said, “A man had two sons. 12“The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them….So he got up and came to his father….for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’
• Luke 16:19-23, 29-31 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20“And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores….the rich man also died and was buried. 23“In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24“And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me….29“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30“But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ 31“But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
• Luke 19:27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ 
• Luke 21:36 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day (of the Lord, which includes final judgment) come on you unexpectedly. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
• John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God
• John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin (as a practice) is a slave of sin.
• John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me
• John 12:25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life
• John 14:15,21 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and Myself to him.”
• Acts 2:37-38 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” ³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
• Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
• Acts 7:39-43b But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt….and I (God) will carry you away beyond Babylon.
• Acts 10:35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
• Acts 22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
• Acts 26:20 First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance
• Romans 2:5-8,10 But in accordance with your hardness and your  impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ⁶ who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: ⁷ eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; ⁸ but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath….but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek
• Romans 2:13 for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers o
  f the law will be justified
• Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?
• Romans 6:21 What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death
• Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit
• Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace
• Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live
• Romans 14:10 Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.
• I Corinthians 6:9-10 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 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
• I Corinthians 9:27But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (Greek, castaway)
• I Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall
• I Corinthians 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain
• II Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
• II Corinthians 6:17-18 “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” ¹⁸ “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.
• II Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death
• II Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified (reprobates, failed the test)
• Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
• Galatians 6:7-9 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart
• Philippians 2:12,16 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling….¹⁶ holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
• Philippians 3:11-13 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
• Colossians 1:21-23 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled ²² in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope….
• I Thessalonians 3:7-8 ^…therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress--we were comforted concerning you by your faith. ⁸ For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.
• I Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness
• II Thessalonians 1:3-5 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other…which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer 
• II Thessalonians 1:8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• II Thessalonians 1:11 To this end, we always pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of His calling, and that He will powerfully fulfill your every good desire and work of faith
• II Thessalonians 2:3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first
• II Thessalonians 2:12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness
• I Timothy 1:19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith
• I Timothy 3:9 They must hold to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience
• I Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
• I Timothy 4:8 godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
• I Timothy 5:3,8 Honor widows who are really widows… But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever
• I Timothy 5:11-12 But refuse the younger widows….having condemnation because they have cast off their first faith
• I Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses.
• I Timothy 6:18-19 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, ¹⁹ storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.< /li>
• I Timothy 6:20-21 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the.…contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge— ²¹ by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith
• II Timothy 2:12-13 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. ¹³ If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself (“faithful” means God is true to His pronouncements, for good or bad: He will, in that case, deny us)
• II Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth
• Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work
• Titus 2:11,14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men…. who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
• Hebrews 3:12, 14 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
• Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
• Hebrews 8:9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded (NIV, “turned away from”)them, says the Lord
• Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
• Hebrews 10:36 You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised
• Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back,
  My soul has no pleasure in him.
• Hebrews 11:6b He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him
• Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
• Hebrews 12:28b-29 …let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire.
• James 1:22 But be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves
• James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
• James 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
• James 2:24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only
• James 4:4 Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God
• James 5:19-20 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save ^[a]a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins
• I Peter 1:13-14a Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as children of obedience
• I Peter 1:17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear</strong>;
• I Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love (brotherly affection) of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
•  I Peter 2:24 Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having   died to sins, might live for righteousness
• I Peter 4:2 Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God
• II Peter 3:17 Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing
• I Peter 3:21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
• I Peter 4:19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good,
• II Peter 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble</strong>;
• II Peter 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
• I John 1:9 If we (continuously) confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• I John 2:17 The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever
• I John 2:28-29 And now, little children, abide in Him, that ^[a]when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming….everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him
• I John 3:7 He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
• I John 3:10 Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not (unselfishly) love his (believing) brother.
• I John 3:17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
• I John 3:24 Now he who keeps His commandments a
  bides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
• III John 11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does (practices) evil has not seen God
• Jude 5 the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe
• Jude 21 (you must) keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life
• Revelation 3:15-16 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot…because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.