Man's Free Will (David Pawson)

So many are in Apostasy. They love to hear the teachers tickle their ears. More and more false teachers join the parade. Inside they are ravenous wolves. Why would you listen to a man who may be staying up at night looking a pornography when you have the scriptures? Trust no man with your soul.

Witchcraft & Charlie Charlie Challenge Ouija Board

Charlie Charlie Challenge Ouija Board

Posted on May 30, 2015 by Eternal Life

Through the new so-called Charlie Charlie Challenge, the devil has made it even easier for people to get ensnared by the occult and DEMONS! Why bother buying a Ouija board from Walmart with the Charlie Charlie Challenge? So what is the Charlie Charlie Challenge? The Charlie Charlie Challenge consists of using two pencils or wooden sticks for a type of pointer placed on a surface with yes and no written on it. The top pencil is carefully balanced on the bottom pencil at a 90% angle. The victim (player) asks a yes or no question and the demon moves the pointer (top pencil)! Some think it is a disembodied spirit moving the pointer, but disembodied spirits do not exist! When a person dies, his spirit goes either to heaven or hell. No one’s spirit roams the earth, a house, a bridge, an area, etc. or answers the Charlie Charlie Challenge. It is DEMONS which are doing all these things and thereby giving the illusion that it was a murdered person from the past or something else! Again, there are no disembodied spirits answering the Charlie Charlie Challenge or haunting cemeteries, etc.!

Read How Astrology Led To Witchcraft For One Woman

The Ouija Board Made Easy

The Charlie Charlie Challenge is a new type of easy inexpensive Ouija board, which has been used in witchcraft for divination purposes for a long time.Therefore, neither the Charlie Charlie Challenge nor the Ouija board are just a kid’s game or innocent entertainment! They are SPIRITUAL DANGER! Any involvement in the occult (astrology, palm readers, fortune tellers, etc.) is dangerous. Let there be no question about that. The Bible always condemns the magic arts in the most severe way, even explicitly stating that all who practice the magic arts will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8)!

Charlie Charlie Challenge Permission!

It is said without asking permission to stop playing, the violator will be haunted!

If the pencil lands on “yes,” you can ask the demon any question you want. But if you stop playing without asking, “Charlie, Charlie, can we stop?” the specter will haunt you. [yahoo.com]

In The Name of JESUS

Christians have power over demons! If you are a Christian, with the holy name of JESUS you have power over demons. Furthermore, the Christian’s physical body is the TEMPLE OF GOD:

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20)

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. (1 Cor. 3:16,17, NKJV)

Stay Away From The Charlie Charlie Challenge

As with the Ouija board, stay away from the Charlie Charlie Challenge. It can only lead to trouble and harm. It therefore is not innocent! Warn others you love and care about, just like any such involvement with witchcraft. The Charlie Charlie Challenge is bad news for all who play around with it.

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Hating Sin, Loving Holiness

Bill Muehlenberg's commentary on issues of the day…

There are millions of Christians today who read Scriptures many times over, but live just like atheists. They read the Word of God but they don’t believe, they don’t live it. To read the Word daily yet ignore its clear demands and teachings means we are simply ‘Christian’ atheists.

Consider just one passage of Holy Scripture: Hebrews 12:14b which says this: “without holiness no one will see the Lord”. How many millions of Christians have read this countless times. But who actually believes it? Who takes a passage such as this seriously?

Without holiness we will not see the Lord. End of the story. No getting around it. Now of course New Testament Christianity is clear in teaching that the initial step in getting right with God (justification), and the ongoing step (sanctification) are a package deal. We cannot have one without the other.

By grace through faith we are declared righteous and holy by the finished work of Christ. But that is only the beginning. The next step is to live like what we have been declared to be. Living a holy life experientially is also of grace through faith, but we must take the necessary steps to achieve this. We must be obedient. The gospel really is, as David Pawson reminds us, quite simple:

“It is not, ‘you must now be holy’. It is not, ‘you needn’t be holy – you’re still going to heaven’. It is, rather, ‘you can be holy’. Holiness is on offer as well as forgiveness. Both are by faith from beginning to end. It is not only to be covered by his righteousness, but to have his righteousness created within me.”

We are to be holy not just in our standing, but in our state. We are pronounced holy and righteous because of what Jesus did for us, but now we are to appropriate that, experience it, and slowly but surely live it out in our lives. It does no good to raise your hand as an emotional response to some gospel pitch years ago, but to keep on living like the devil.

A real Christian – over time at least – learns to hate sin – beginning with his own – and to love righteousness and holiness. But the reason so few Christians are moving down this path is because we have proclaimed a false gospel to people. We have emphasised the love of God but totally ignored the holiness and righteousness of God.

Thus our gospel is truncated and incomplete. We tell people that God loves them unconditionally and accepts them just as they are, and all they have to do is give a mental assent to all this. We no longer preach the horribleness of sin, the utter need of repentance, and a willingness to renounce self and take up our cross daily.

So we have plenty of Christians who have sung ten choruses of “Just As I Am” who leave a gospel meeting just as they were. They have never been regenerated because they have never repented. And they have never repented because they have never been told there is need to. Just accept God’s love – end of story. As Pawson says:

The idea that God loves everybody unconditionally, wants them all to come to him just as they are, and everyone can then be happy – that is not the gospel, or the God that we are to present to the world. It implies when we emphasise to unbelievers that God is love that we are lovable. Because we measure His love by ours…. God had to tell the Jews, ‘I don’t love you because you are special; you are special because I love you’. And that is the biblical emphasis. God doesn’t love us because we are lovable, but because He is love. That’s a very different thing. And so we have had an overemphasis on a God of Love in our preaching to unbelievers – something that the New Testament apostles never did.

He is quite right. I will give you a hundred dollars for every time you can find for me the love of God being mentioned in the book of Acts. Surely if we want to know what biblical evangelism is all about, we will find it here. But in Acts we find a gospel of repentance, and a God of righteousness and holiness being proclaimed.

We need to get back to New Testament evangelism. We need to get back to the gospel message of the New Testament. It is never about ‘your best life now’ or how to be happy and prosperous and feel good about yourself. It is about: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

All the great preachers and evangelists know these truths, which is why they had such a powerful impact, and why their converts remained – they preached sin and repentance, and they preached holiness. And that is what we must once again do as well if we want to have a real impact, and if we want to make real disciples of Jesus Christ.

Let me close with some of these great men of God, and their great words on sin, repentance, and holiness. Let their words soak in deeply and with great Holy Ghost conviction:

“You know, we live in a day when we are more afraid of holiness than we are of sinfulness.” Leonard Ravenhill

“It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors.” A. W. Pink

“Listen, I’m against sin. I’ll kick it as long as I’ve got a foot, I’ll fight it as long as I’ve got a fist, I’ll butt it as long as I’ve got a head, and I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth. And when I’m old, fistless, footless, and toothless, I’ll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition.” Billy Sunday

“There must be a divorce between you and sin, or there can be no marriage between you and Christ.” Charles Spurgeon

“Sin is the greatest power in the world, with one exception, and this is the power of God.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“True repentance begins with KNOWLEDGE of sin. It goes on to work SORROW for sin. It leads to CONFESSION of sin before God. It shows itself before a person by a thorough BREAKING OFF from sin. It results in producing a DEEP HATRED for all sin.” J.C. Ryle

“The idea that God will pardon a rebel who has not given up his rebellion is contrary both to the Scriptures and to common sense.” A.W. Tozer

“If the man does not live differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a fiction.” C.H. Spurgeon

“Before I preach love, mercy, and grace, I must preach sin, law, and judgement.” John Wesley

“True repentance will entirely change you; the bias of your souls will be changed, then you will delight in God, in Christ, in His Law, and in His people.” George Whitefield

“The holiest person is one who is most conscious of what sin is.” Oswald Chambers

“I believe the holier a man becomes, the more he mourns over the unholiness which remains in him.” Charles Spurgeon

“People may refuse to see the truth of our arguments, but they cannot evade the evidence of a holy life.” J.C. Ryle

“The failure of modern evangelicalism is the failure to understand the holiness of God.” R.C. Sproul

“As we grow in holiness, we grow in hatred of sin; and God, being infinitely holy, has an infinite hatred of sin.” Jerry Bridges

“It is not surprising that the cross has been discounted by modern theologians; it is because they have started with the love of God without His holiness.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Every man is as holy as he really wants to be.” A. W. Tozer

“The holy man is not one who cannot sin. A holy man is one who will not sin.” A. W. Tozer

“The greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world, and make that man holy and put him back into that unholy world and keep him holy in it.” Leonard Ravenhill

“Without holiness, no one shall see the Lord. Jesus didn’t die to save us from hell. That’s a fringe benefit! He died to get total occupation of us. To be holy in speech… in actions… in everything.” Leonard Ravenhill

Please take 80 minutes to hear David Pawson teaching on these truths here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ3XnhIhkUY

The Sadness of God's Heart for the Sin of His People - Anastasios Kioulachoglou

The sadness of God's heart for the sin of His people

In the times of Jeremiah, the people of Israel were in apostasy. This kept actually for quite some years and the writings of many of the prophets are in many cases, not to say in most, pleads for return and repentance and warnings for the coming judgment. Unfortunately, the people of God did not respond to these warnings. Reading some records from Jeremiah and Hosea will show us what great sadness and distress this caused to God. This may sound surprising to our ears as many implicitly or explicitly have difficulties to connect God with feelings we have over situations. Well, God’s Word tells us that we were made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26) and it also shows us that we can make God joyful, pleased, angry or sad. If we think that our behavior has no effects to God’s heart but it only adds some points against us or for us then we are totally wrong. We can make God glad and we can make God sad! All depends on our behavior. In the case of the Israelites of the time of Jeremiah and Hosea, we can see that they had seriously hurt God’s heart. In Jeremiah 8:18-9:3 God is pouring out His heart revealing the effect the rebellious behavior of His people had on Him:

Jeremiah 8:18-9:3
I would comfort myself in sorrow; My heart is faint in me. Listen! The voice, The cry of the daughter of my people from a far country: "Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her King in her?" "Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images - With foreign idols?" "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!" For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people? Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for travelers; That I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me," says the LORD.

This is not Jeremiah’s personal sorrow. Many commentators present it as so, but a reading of the passage (see especially the phrases: “they provoked Me” and “says the Lord”) would make clear that it is God that is speaking here. It is God that expresses His heart and feelings here. It is God that was provoked to anger with their images and it He that wanted to leave them and cry endlessly because they didn’t know Him. God was terribly sorrowful for the sin of His people. And God is sorrowful when we sin. The New Testament tell us clearly “to grieve not the holy spirit of God, by which we were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). The spirit of God can be grieved. God IS sorrowful when we reject Him. When we willfully forsake His way to walk somewhere else, due to personal passions, wills and ambitions. When instead of bowing down to Him and say “your will be done and not mine” we move ahead carelessly and without fearing Him. The spirit of God is not indifferent but sorrowful in such cases.

Hosea Hosea 11 is another passage where God expresses His feeling towards the apostasy of His people:

Hosea 11
"When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. As they called them, so they went from them; They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to carved images. "I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; But they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them. "He shall not return to the land of Egypt; But the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to repent. And the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts, and consume them, because of their own counsels. My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, None at all exalt Him. "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror. "They shall walk after the LORD. He will roar like a lion. When He roars, then His sons shall come trembling from the west; They shall come trembling like a bird from Egypt, like a dove from the land of Assyria. And I will let them dwell in their houses," Says the LORD. "Ephraim has encircled Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; But Judah still walks with God, even with the Holy One who is faithful.”

This passage shows another aspect going on in the heart of God concerning the rebellion of His people. His fierce anger and his sympathy were in struggle in Him. When the Bible says that his people provoked him to anger it is very real! God is a long suffering God and slow to anger but He does get angry! It takes long to make Him angry. He is VERY patient, but He can do indeed get angry. The rebellion of His people is certainly a main reason. In the above case, it is like God struggling against this anger. His heart was churning within Him!

Many people think of God as an Almighty but rather motionless being. This is not at all true. We have a real relationship with God and as in any relationship we can make him glad, blessed, sad, angry etc and this due to our behavior. Our God is not a set of cold rules which if you follow you will succeed. He is a LIVING GOD desiring a living relationship with each one of His kids. God desires a living relationship with YOU and YOU can make God, the Almighty Creator, glad or sad. You can make Him pleased or displeased. Isn’t this amazing? Isn’t amazing that God has opened Himself so much to us human beings , to me and you, so that we can even hurt Him! I find this really amazing! Our relationship is with the LIVING GOD and it is up to us to make His heart not sad but glad! To make Him not wanting to cry but smile! Amazing!

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

Vital Truths For New Converts
Or New Christians

Dan Corner

The Radical Change into a New Creation

Vitals For New Converts (print free tract pdf)

New Christians (New Converts) Have Cause To Rejoice,
But Also Need To Be WARNED OF REAL DANGERS

When a person becomes a true Christian (a new convert) he enters a brand new life. In a moment of time he passes from death to life, from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God. Many things start to happen to him that may be surprising. (I can still remember what it was like for me when I came to salvation over 35 years ago.) What you are going to read in this article is what I would have greatly benefitted by had I been presented with these vital Scriptural truths back then. These are not the kinds of things you will readily hear from the typical pastor of our day or TV or radio teachers who seem more interested in getting people under their influence than spreading the word of life. Nonetheless, these basic Christian truths are precious pearls for the new convert. Let's go to the Scriptures and see what they declare.

The New Convert and Family Division

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mat 10:34-39)

Do You Know The Spiritual Danger Of Your Old Friends

It is very common for one's family to be divided because of Christ, even to the point where dear family members become the new Christian's spiritual enemies. If this occurs to you, please know that it has also happened to multitudes of others as well. It is possible your unsaved family might want you to stop reading and talking about the Bible. They could also be ashamed of you being so religious all the time and will try to cool you down. Dear new Christian, regardless who or what might try to hinder your love, zeal and devotion to Jesus, you must not yield to their ungodly desires. You mustlove Jesus first, which will be shown by obeying him over others who would want you to go against the Lord's teachings or to just ignore them. This is vitally important. To be worthy of Jesus, we must love him supremely. Notice the following two Scriptures about those who love God:

However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared forthose who love him" (1 Cor 2:9)Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? (James 2:5)

We show our love for God by obeying his commands (John 14:15).

New Converts and Persecution

Another important fact of your new life in Christ is that you will bother people outside your family who don't have a heart for truth - old friends, coworkers, neighbors, etc. Some of these people will show their annoyance with persecution in various ways. Take heart and be encouraged by what Jesus (and Peter) taught:

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mat 5:10-12)Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. (Luke 6:22,23)
They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. (1 Pet 4:4)

Persecution for righteousness, even in the milder form of being excluded or insulted, is a test. Loneliness will probably result. That is something all godly people have to deal with from time to time. Sadly, some Christians have fallen away from salvation over the test of persecution or just the fear of it:

... They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. (Luke 8:13)

So when (not if) persecution comes to you as a new Christian because you are living godly, continue to obey and let your light shine. But also remember not to cast your pearls to swine - those who boldly oppose the truth of God - because they may tear you to pieces (Mt. 7:6). Keep walking in faith thinking about the eternal rewards before you because of these persecutions. All godly people of the past were also persecuted and faced suffering:

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim 3:12)Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated - the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. (Heb 11:35-39)
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. (Heb 11:24-27)

We must be willing to die for Jesus if necessary and never be ashamed of Him or His words (Lk. 9:26).

The Importance of Knowledge For New Converts To Christianity

Similarly, Jesus taught:

All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. (John 16:1).

Hence, knowledge of certain things is a preventative from going astray or stumbling. Conversely, some do go astray because they are not aware of the things Jesus was referring to. Let's check the context to learn what the Lord is speaking of:

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.' When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. (John 15:18-27)

New Converts Are Called To Be Witnesses

Jesus stated that the knowledge we need so we won't go astray is that we will be persecuted and we must testify about Jesus. We have all been called to be witnesses for the Lord in this dark, sin-cursed age (Acts 1:8). This is how the first-century Christians were, according to the book of Acts.When I started witnessing (or testifying) about Jesus to others, I simply gave people the word of God. Sometimes I was asked a question I could not answer. I would tell them, "I'll get back with you on that." That gave me a chance to search for an answer in the Bible. After awhile, your ability to fluently witness will become more and more polished as you continue to read and study God's word. Remember, people are going to Hell all around us and desperately need to know the truth about salvation.
An excellent way to spread God's eternal truths to others is by having a personal tract ministry, but be sure to use only Biblically sound literature - literature that clearly tells one he must repent (turn from sin) to be saved from Hell. Moreover, don't distribute literature that teaches or implies the lie of eternal security, even if it is free. Our ministry makes available an excellent and very popular dual-colored salvation tract on Heaven and Hell with the vitals about the plan of salvation. We also have an important article on tract evangelism.Learn How EASY Gospel Tract Evangelism Is
The true gospel, which we are to spread, includes the following truth:

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. (1 Cor 15:2)

Old Friends of the New Convert

If you are like many other new converts, when you first came to the Lord, all your friends are ungodly. In fact, some new converts don't even know a single Christian! But now that you are a follower of Jesus, at least some if not all of these old friends won't like your new priorities. In fact, some might even try to get you to sin or snare you somehow with wickedness. They want you back the way you were when you readily sinned as they still do. Scripture states:

... do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. (1 Tim 5:22)

How To Be Victorious Over Sexual TemptationCan Your Name Be Blotted From The Book Of Life
Sin can make a holy person unholy and a pure person impure and no longer fit to enter heaven. It can bring a true Christian to his spiritual death (Rom. 8:13; James 1:14,15 cf. Lk. 15:24,32; etc.). Hence, after you tell your old friends your stand for God, if they want to continue in their sin, don't hang out with them anymore. DANGER: To continue to spend time and go places with such people will open you to spiritual dangers that would never exist otherwise:

Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." (1 Cor 15:33)

Remember, your old unsaved friends are in darkness and spiritual death. They do not think or react like you. They are also on the road to Hell, even though they don't know it.One of the shocking (and vital) truths I learned in the Bible is that Christians are to avoid certain people, places and things. Remember also if Eve would never have gone near that tree with the forbidden fruit she would have never been tempted, which led to her sin and leading Adam into sin also. So avoid places of temptation like swimming pools, beaches, discos, Las Vegas, etc. It is also important to dress modestly so you won't cause another to sin (1 Tim. 2:9). The wicked dress to get others, if possible, to lust after their body! Remember also Rom. 12:2:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom 12:2)Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate," says the Lord. "Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters," says the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor 6:14-18)

Keep a Clear Conscience

One of the striking truths about Paul's strong and faithful walk with God is shown in the following Scripture, which is also very important for the new convert:

... there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. (Acts 24:15,16)

The importance of this is also expressed as a safeguard against shipwrecking your faith:

Holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Tim 1:19,20)

Paul knew the same horrible thing that happened to Hymenaeus and Alexander could also happen to his faithful co-laborer, Timothy. Hence, he gave him these vital responsibilities to follow which would prevent the loss of salvation. For us to enter the kingdom of God we will have to endure to the end to be saved (Mt. 10:22). See also Hebrews 3:14 and Rev. 2:10,11. Follow Paul's example and advice to Timothy about keeping a clear conscience. This is also one of the reasons you need to be water baptized by immersion now that you have become a Christian (1 Pet. 3:21). Any true Christian can water baptize you and it doesn't have to be done in a church building.

New Converts, False Teachers and False Prophets

All new Christians are hungry for God's truth. Oftentimes they can never get enough of His precious word. This is clear evidence of God's saving grace in one's life. But with this hunger for God's truth a new danger is opened up - false teachers! One of the great dangers at the end of our age especially is religious deception. There are false teachers around us. Examples are Calvinists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Catholics, Muslims, the Church of Christ, Jesus Only people and Seventh Day Adventists. These people can be very friendly and zealous, but they are spreading deadly false doctrines, especially about salvation and Jesus himself. See Matt. 7:15.Beyond them there are also many more false teachers on religious TV and radio, as well as authors of books, articles and tracts, which are not readily known as false teachers. These would especially include the eternal security teachers and people compromising with the Catholic church. (Eternal security is, for the most part, an unrecognized rampant heresy in our dark day.) Without writing a mini book on why these people are so dangerous, suffice it to say they dangerously downplay sin in the life of a Christian and de-emphasize the importance of bringing forth good fruit. Because of eternal security teachers, multitudes are on the road to hell but think they are on the road to heaven. Consequently, their false doctrine needs to be exposed and refuted, not supported. To support such ministries and local congregations will cause you to share in their wicked work. (For an exhaustive presentation of this teaching with Scriptural refutation, please see our 801 page book entitled, "The Believer's Conditional Security.") Don't just trust what you hear someone teach, even if they are a popular teacher over TV, radio or from a pulpit in a local church. Verify and test everything with the Bible, including miracles. You might be surprised to know that both God and the devil can perform miracles! Click here to read Bible facts about such miracles or obtain it from our ministry.

Churches or Death Traps?

Hand in hand with the danger of false teachers can be going to church! Strangely, many churches are spiritual death traps. Most often the pastor and elder board are apostate themselves and therefore cannot offer sound doctrine and true godly leadership. Such congregational leaders will lull a new convert into lukewarmness and worldliness as they take money from them! This would also include any congregation that would teach one can commit occasional acts of adultery and murder, like King David did, and still remain saved. If the Christian doesn't flee from such an environment he will often die spiritually because of such a church. It is better and safer to witness to those going to such a local church after you leave it. The Christian of our day might have to gather with just a few other true believers in a home where they can worship and seek God together, since a sound congregation is hard to find in our present apostasy.Finally, oftentimes the so-called spiritual leaders themselves and the other people in a modern-day church often hurt others, especially new converts. For the spiritual health and well being of the Christian, the follower of Jesus must forgive others so his sins can likewise be forgiven (Mt. 6:14,15).

New Converts and Music

Godly music will definitely prove to be a tremendous blessing to the new convert. On the other hand, secular music in the form of rock 'n roll, country, oldies, etc. will adversely affect you spiritually. Hence, all music which is not spiritually edifying is potentially dangerous and should be avoided. Again, don't listen to such music at all. I remember hearing a testimony of a woman who fell away from the Lord for a time, which all began because she started listening to country music. Also, remember that just because music might be religious doesn't mean it is doctrinally sound. Many dangerous anti-scriptural concepts are conveyed in so-called "gospel" music! You should examine the words of a song as you would a teaching - checking it with the Scriptures.

TV and the New Convert

Perhaps the greatest tool the devil has in the early part of the twenty-first century is television, which can be magnetizing. The sights and sounds can stay with a person long after the show is over. The Bible says:

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Rom 8:6)

Since TV shows are produced by ungodly people to draw ungodly people, much harm can come to the Christian, especially new converts, through such besides it being a waste of precious time which could be used to serve God. Even religious TV is far from being beneficial to the viewer with all those false teachers on there, as already mentioned.

The Bible is Final Authority

Another vitally important fact for new Christians is the Bible is final authority. This means if an experience, vision, dream, prophecy, teaching, testimony, sensation, feeling, etc. contradicts the written word of God then reject it. It is not God's truth. Furthermore, you won't ever need more than the Bible to accurately learn about salvation and what God wants from you in this life. Some dangerously think you need to supplement the Bible with Sacred Tradition, the Book of Mormon, the Koran, the writings of the ante-Nicene Fathers, etc. The Bible reads:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16,17)

The man of God is thoroughly equipped for every good work with the Scriptures alone. If someone thinks the Scriptures are not sufficient then he must not be a man of God! Finally, avoid so-called study Bibles with notes. The notes in them are often wrong and don't deserve the same space on the page as Scripture.

What Bible Translation for the New Convert

As a new Christian, I was misled into thinking the King James Version of the Bible is the most accurate translation we can read. Consequently, I spent a number of years struggling over this hard to read and misleading Elizabethan English translation. Many words in the KJV are words that readers have never seen before. Hence, readers of the KJV will often just take a guess at their meanings, while many other words seem to be commonly known but in reality have a different meaning from everyday life. All this adds up to frustration and hindrances in understanding God's precious, eternal word. Don't be deceived by KJV Onlyites who say the KJV is not hard to understand. Obtain a reliable, easy to read and understand translation of the Bible like the New American Standard, New International Version or ESV. In fact, switch off from these three translations for shades of meanings that are not apparent otherwise. Stay in the New Testament to learn especially what Jesus and his apostles taught about salvation. After you read through it perhaps 10 times, then start to learn the Old Testament while you also continue to read the New Testament.

New Converts Should Memorize Scripture

Memorizing God's eternal word will have various benefits throughout your entire Christian life. There are various reasons why this will help to strengthen, guide and encourage you as it also bolsters your faith to face each new day. The devil will try to hinder you from memorizing God's word. Stick with it and your blessings from such will be great:

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psa 119:9-11)

New Convert, Your Soul Is Most Precious

Nothing you own now or ever will own can compare with the value of your soul. Therefore, you need to guard your SOUL carefully. See Prov. 4:23. Heaven is real, but so is Hell. To enter the kingdom of Heaven and escape Hell there are things you must do for yourself now that you are saved, so that you will stay saved. There is salvation maintenance and effort that needs to be exerted to stay with God. That is true salvation security. See 2 Peter 1:5-12. Also, notice what the Lord Jesus taught:

Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." (Luke 13:23,24)

It is worth any sacrifice to enter God's eternal, paradise kingdom and escape eternal punishment in Hell fire. The road to life is hard (Mt. 7:14) and there are enemies along the way, besides the devil, so you will have to dress yourself with the whole armor of God and continue in the faith, even through the rough times that will sometimes come:

"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. (Acts 14:22)

You have a glorious future before you that cannot properly be expressed in words. See Rev. 21:4; Phil. 1:21-23; 1 Cor. 2:9; Isa. 35:10; etc.New Christian or old Christian, keep your eyes on Jesus, your hand to the plow and don't look back. Immerse yourself in the Bible (especially the New Testament at first) and put into practice what you read. Jesus described the true Christians (his real spiritual family) as:

He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." (Luke 8:21)

Several good daily prayers are:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psa 19:14)Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. (Psa 119:36,37)
Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. (Psa 119:133)

GOD BLESS YOU.Please also see What Does God Want From Me Now That I'm Saved and Do Not Be Deceived. Both also have truths for new converts.

Other Subjects:

Universalism

The Real Blessed Mother of Jesus, Mary

Latter Day Saints (Witnessing To Mormons)

Calvinism RefutedSkull And Crossbones Awards For False Prophets And False Teachers


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Jacob Prasch - God's Master Plan

Brethren, this is one of the most important videos you will find. The seriousness of this video requires your full attention. If you cannot give it your full attention, wait till you can. It is about life, true life. warren

Can Salvation Be Lost, According To Scripture?

An intense, raging battle continues over the doctrinal issue, can salvation be lost or are we once saved always saved? Connected with this subject are several other related issues: 

● If it can be lost, what are the ways?

● How can a Christian protect himself spiritually?

● Can you get salvation back again?

Let’s carefully examine all these questions in this same order.

Can Salvation Be Lost Or
Is It Once Saved Always Saved?

ANSWER: Yes, salvation can be lost. A righteous person can die spiritually. Spiritual Death can definitely occur to a Christian. If a person would read the New Testament without any preconceived ideas of what it says and just accept what it declares, there would be no controversy. It is clear—salvation can be lost. Rather than ignore or reject the overwhelming evidence, embrace it and act accordingly. It is to your advantage to believe the truth that salvation can be lost. Furthermore, that can possibly happen even over One Sin. Conversely, it is to your great disadvantage to deny this. It is actually self-destructive.

There are nearly two dozen examples of people, named and unnamed, who died spiritually after salvation. That is conclusive evidence which ends this once saved always saved debate for truth lovers, but that is not all. There are also many warnings of this same possibility. Here is one:

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25)

According to Jesus, a Christian loses or keeps his salvation based on his loving or hating his life in this world. The many ifsconnected with salvation are the icing on the cake. Without doubt, salvation can be lost. Hence, the Holy Spirit had New Testament writers proclaim:

We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. (Heb 3:14)

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Rom 11:22,23)

What Are the Ways Salvation Can Be Lost or
How Can You Lose Salvation?

ANSWER: There are three main ways you can lose salvation: (1) Through certain sins, (2) By believing and/or preaching certain false doctrines related to salvation, and (3) Disowning Jesus during persecution.

Not all sins lead to spiritual death (1 John 5:16,17), but many do. Besides the obvious sexual immorality, drunkenness and idolatry, there are other sins which can bring spiritual death, like Fruitlessness, lukewarmness and being Unforgiving. Dozens of Scriptures can be cited.

Preaching a False Gospel will also damn a person, while not continuing in doctrinal truth, which brought salvation, will likewise cause loss of salvation:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Gal 1:8,9)

See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. (1 John 2:24-26)

It is our own responsibility, under the Christian gospel, to hold on so as to continue with salvation:

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. (1 Cor 15:2)

Disowning Jesus will cause him to disown you:

But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (Mat 10:33)

Between Initial and Final Salvation there are many things that will occur over time which can be destructive to spiritual life. Those things could bepersecutions for godly living, cares of this life, painful trials, prayer disappointments, Sinful Temptations, sicknesses, bad relationships, false teachers (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons etc.), financial calamity, etc. We must remain on guard. It is a salvation issue and nothing less. All of these truths should be readily known by all professing Christians, not debated as they are. To reject disturbing truth will not change it. The danger is still real—not nullified—by discounting it.

How Can A Christian Protect Himself

ANSWER: A Christian must take serious the various directives to protect himself and stay alive spiritually, which is the exact opposite of the prevalent security-in-sin messages in our day. There are well over a dozen Spiritual Safeguards, which need to be heeded. Here are a few:

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Eph 6:11)

Holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. (1 Tim 1:19)

Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. (2 Cor 6:17)

All of these are under grace and true Christian teaching. To Obey them is not legalism or a work’s salvation, as the blind guides say. Those are justCommon Misconceptions About A Conditional Security. It is vital to ignore those False Teachers and DO what Scripture says. Jesus taught the following simple truth about how to avoid spiritual death:

I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death. (John 8:51)

There is no salvation security in wickedness. Do not be deceived by blind guides who confuse the issue and allow for Occasional Acts of sexual sin, drunkenness, etc.:

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. (Eph 5:5-7)

Can You Get Salvation Back Again

ANSWER: Yes. In every case but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (or eternal sin) one can get salvation back again. Eternal Sin is only committed when a person says and believes Jesus had a demon and by the power of the Devil he performed his miracles (Mk. 3:22-30). This is also the sin related to the well-known Heb. 6:4-6 and 10:26-29 passages.

Other Scriptures are clear in revealing salvation can be regained (Lk. 15:24; James 5:19,20; Rom. 11:19-23). There are also actual examples of those who did regain their salvation (David, Peter, the Prodigal, etc.), which prove the point indisputably. The plain truth is: A real present- tense Christian is described in the following:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Mat 7:21)

He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” (Luke 8:21)

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27)

Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:29)

If those Scriptures do not describe you NOW, repent for you are in the greatest danger. You are on the road to Hell, regardless what you have done in the past or how you were once changed. Just believing you are not lost now will not change the fact that you are! So, can salvation be lost?Can you lose salvation. Yes, according to Scripture, but the repentant can get it back. 

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Read More:

A Form of Godliness (The Social Gospel)

The New Creation In Christ Radical Change

Eternal Security or Conditional Security?

Evangelical Outreach

PO Box 265
Washington, PA 15301

www.EvangelicalOutreach.org
www.EternalLifeBlog.com