The Good Of The Father (The Biggest Sell Job In History) # 2208

 

Religion has actually convinced some people that there is an invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time.  But he loves you.  He loves you, and he needs money.  He always needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-knowing, all-perfect and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money. 

~George Carlin~ 

Tell me this, would you buy a car from someone who tried to sell you something which was unreliable?  Would you buy a house from someone who tried to sell you a home in a bad neighborhood?  I would hope that many would look the other way when these hard sells come along.  In my younger years, I worked for a time at a telephone marketing company.  My main job was selling people on things they normally wouldn't buy.  I hated it.  I thought about that the other day while I had a conversation with a friend who was wondering why a few of the people he had spoken Jesus to had failed to respond to him.  I had to ask, what is it that he said about Jesus when he talked to them?  In his own words, "I told them about the dangers of going to hell if they didn't accept Jesus."  Well, what did he expect would happen?  For thousands of years, those within the church have used their ministries in their attempts to persuade converts to believe in Jesus through the coercion of telling them that they would burn in hell if they didn't believe.  These religious based salesmen remind me of that telemarketing job I once hated.  Selling something to someone by means of fear.  You need Jesus because you don't want to go to hell.  You need Jesus because to deny Him is the unpardonable sin.  I've heard them all before.  I've even used a few myself in my younger years as I tried to gain converts for the church.  This is what I was taught to do, that as Christians, we needed to warn others of Gods impending wrath before it was too late.  This the hard sell of Jesus in the mainstream church.  Once again, I look back upon the words of the apostle Paul and what he spoke in his evangel.  It is Paul who encourages us to "Be singing with grace in your hearts to God" {Paul to the Colossians 3:16}.  Someone once said that you can catch more flys with honey than you do with vinegar, but apparently this lesson has been lost on those within the church.  Now the message to would be believers is that if they don't convert that they can expect to be thrown into hell.  Tell me, how's that working out for you?  Because from my perspective, the church is not doing too well when it comes to bringing in new members.  Maybe all those people feel that this whole believing in Jesus thing is just too scary and comes with far too many restrictions.  They're right.  

I know a gym buddy whom I have told more times than I can count that he carries an air of depression around him.  Granted, he has been dealing with a lot in his life, but I've done my best to speak the joy I have found in the Father to him.  He's told me stories of those within his church who have tried to somehow link his depression to the Lords being unhappy with him.  What BS!  As I've mentioned before, this is NOT in the Fathers nature.  The apostle John speaks that the true nature of God is one of love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  Knowing this, why wouldn't those in the church proclaim the love of God instead of warning people of the dangers of going to hell?  Well, I suggest that to do this would not be serving the interests of the church.  For the traditional position of the church is that man is a sinner doomed to hell unless he seeks and believes in Jesus.  They've put God in the position of condemning the children He loves.  Did Jesus condemn the woman caught in adultery?  Did He condemn the thief crucified beside Him?  No!  Both of these individuals were assuredly doomed to hell by the standards given unto us by the church.  Yet Jesus spoke of their forgiveness, not their condemnation.  One of the most controversial theories in all of Christianity is that of universal salvation, that all will ultimately be saved.  The iconic passage which we find in the book of John tells us of the love of the Father in dispatching Jesus into this world {Johns Account 3:16}.  However, it is the following passage which gives us the key to why He has been sent into this world, that "The world may be saved through Him" {Johns Account 3:17}.  It has never been Gods desire that ANY of His children would perish.  Paul speaks "That in the name of Jesus every knee should be bowing, celestial and terrestrial and subterranean, and every tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord" {Paul to the Philippians 2:10-11}.  So it is that ALL will come to the acknowledgment that Jesus is Lord.  And so I ask, who is it that condemns us?  Is it God?  Is it Jesus?  I say neither {Paul to the Romans 8:33-34}.  One could also make the argument that, seeing that all will come to know Jesus, that there is no hell, but that's a discussion for another day.  The truth is that warning others of the impending dangers of hell is a sure fire way to have them run the other way.  Yet speaking the truth of the uncondemning love which we have within the Father is a sure way to set them free. 

Who will be indicting Gods chosen ones?  God, the justifier?  Who is the condemner?  Christ Jesus, the One dying, yet rather being roused, Who is also at Gods right hand, Who is pleading also for our sakes? 

Paul to the Romans 8: 33-34, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (The Fear Of The Cross) # 2207

 

For God gives us, not a spirit of timidity, but of power and of love and of sanity 

Paul to Peter (2) 1: 7, Concordant New Testament 

I have asked this question of more than a few people that I have come into contact with while sharing the good news of Jesus.  Why are you afraid of God?  What is it about Him that you're afraid of?  Is it His love for us that causes you to be afraid?  Surprisingly, I recently had a conversation with a gym friend which shed some light on this issue.  When asked why it is that they are afraid of God, they said that they feared His ultimate judgement of the world and if they would be deemed good enough to get to heaven, BINGO!  Now I was at the heart of the issue, the root cause if you will.  Growing up in the mainstream church I was taught that I was indeed saved, but that I needed to live a good life lest God change His mind and revoke my salvation.  Somewhere along the line, something I do could convince the Lord that I was no longer worthy.  I suggest that this is not a God, but a man-made religion issue.  For it is the church which has convinced us that salvation is not only something which we earn, but something which can be revoked as well.  This is what I call the fear of the cross.  That despite the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, that we would somehow still need to worry about if we are good enough for the Father to redeem us.  I believe that a lot of this fear is based upon our short-term belief of the death of Jesus on the cross, that His willing sacrifice only covered those sins of our past, and that sin still remains an issue for the believer.  Fortunately, we have the words of the apostle Paul in his evangel to convince us that this is simply not true.  Paul has written that Christ Jesus has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  That when Jesus cried out "It is accomplished," He meant it {Johns Account 19:30}.  The question is, do you trust Him at His word?  Do you trust that Jesus did what He came to accomplish?  Do you trust that Jesus took all which was sin or imperfection within us upon Himself at the cross? {To the Hebrews 9:28, Peter to the Dispersion (1) 2:24}. That He Who knew no sin Himself became that sacrifice for us? {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Do you trust in this truth? 

When I was still "In the church," I swallowed the religious theology hook, line and sinker.  It was all which I knew about God because it was I that I was taught to believe.  I also had that fear of the cross, that despite knowing that Jesus had died in my place that I could still be deemed unworthy for that which I had done.  I would suggest that this fear of the cross is but another lie spoken by those within the church.  That when Jesus proclaimed "It is accomplished!" that He meant just that.  That He had accomplished all which He had come to do.  And what exactly was He dispatched to do?  Was Jesus sent to spread a lie to Gods creation?  Because when we trust in the false teaching of the church, we are basically proclaiming that Jesus lied when He announced His victory over sin {Johns Account 19:30}.    That sin somehow continues to be a major issue in our lives.  The truth is that Jesus is incapable of lying, and that His sacrifice on the cross has cleansed us of ALL sin past, present and (GASP!) future.  When Paul speaks of Jesus dying to sin "Once for all time," this is what he is referring to.  That "We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it?" {Paul to the Romans 6:2}.  THIS is the truth of the sacrifice of Jesus which you will never hear spoken from any church pulpit.  That Jesus has carried upon Himself all which we feel could impede our salvation.  That ship has sailed.  What remains after Jesus has stripped away all which was against God within us, is what the Father always intended for His children.  That we have been reconciled unto Him {Paul to the Ephesians 2:16}.  We're not sinners saved by the grace of God, but new creations in Christ Jesus {Paul to the Ephesians 2:8-9}.  Not sinners, but we are dead to our former offenses {Paul to the Ephesians 2:4-5}.  When we know and understand the truth of our life in the Fathers love, we have no need to fear the cross.  We also understand that the image of the cross is simply a prop used for thousands of years by man's religion, but that's a topic for another day.  The truth is that God has not given unto us a spirit of fear, but of love {Paul to Peter (2) 1:7}.  

Fear is not in love, but perfect love is casting out fear, for fear has chastening.  Now he who is fearing is not perfected in love

First Epistle of John 4: 18, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (God And Politics) # 2206

 

Now it is eonian life that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Him Whom Thou dost commission, Jesus Christ

Johns Account 17: 3, Concordant New Testament Translation

For too many years I have been living with the lie.  That lie that speaks to the false intentions of the Lord whenever election season rolls around.  That lie that says that God, depending on whatever side of the aisle that you walk in, has decided to punish the nation or a certain group of people because of the state of our country, our disobedience or some other concocted reason people can come up with.  For too many years I believed that lie, and every election cycle I would pray that God would reserve His punishment upon a wicked nation.  Then the other day a good friend of mine reminded me of something important.  He remined me of the true desire of the Lord.  That being, that ALL of His children would come to know Him.  Those who speak of the Father punishing His children for their disobedience or other so called sin do not know the true nature of our God.  The apostle John reminds of this in his epistle, that the one true nature of God...is love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  It is God Who loved us enough to create us in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  It is God Who, through His love for us, dispatched His Son that "The world may be saved through Him" {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  If God is so into punishing us for our disobedience, why send Jesus for our redemption?  Why provide us that reconciliation unto Himself {Paul to the Colossians 1:20}.  I suggest that the New Testament, the good news of Christ Jesus, is not about Gods punishment of the wicked, but about the revelation of our lives in Him.  Jesus Himself speaks to this union of ours in the book of John {Johns Account 14:20}.  How is it that we will know the Father if He is always punishing us for one sin or another?  If anything, this belief presents to us a false image of God.  That God is an authoritarian Who deals out pain and punishment upon all who do not please Him.  Unfortunately, this is the view of God which continues to be spoken by those within the church.  I am well aware of this because I continue to have more than a few friendships with those who adhere to the theology of the church.  Whenever something bad happens, be it elections or some other tragedy, their first inclination is to immediately assume that the punishment of the Lord is at hand.  Tell me, what room does this belief have for the mercy and grace of the Father?  

I find it funny that one of the attributes of the Lord which the church espouses to is that of His love and mercy for us.  But whenever tragedy strikes, this all goes out the window and God switches into punishment mode.  Like I said, a good number of so-called believers really do not know God.  For if they did know Him, they would understand that despite all that goes on in this world, that God never changes {James to the Twelve Tribes 1:17}.  That Jesus "Yesterday and today, is the same for the eons also" {To the Hebrews 13:8}.  So, if God is indeed love, then He is love FOR THE EONS!  He never changes.  To know the Father is to know that within His love there is no room for fear {First Epistle of John 4:18}.  With fear comes the expectation of punishment or chastening, but the perfect love we have in the Father casts out that fear.  For we know that we need not fear God, we only need know that we live within His love {Johns Account 17:21}.  So, what does this have to do with God and the politics of mankind?  Well, despite our false belief that election results either display His blessing or punishment depending what side of the aisle you are on, it is God Who has appointed leaders to guide us {Paul to the Romans 13:1}.  If you don't like the results of the election, know that it is the Father Who has placed certain people in their positions.  Are you going to disagree with Him?  Who are we to disagree with the plans which the Father has for His creation?  I believe that comedian George Carlin said it perfectly when referring to those who question Gods plans.  "What's the use of being God if every run-down schmuck with a two-dollar prayer book can come along and fuck up your plan?"  What's the use indeed!  For if God is in control, as we're so fond of saying, why do we continue to snatch that control away from Him?  To trust in the Father is to trust in Him completely.  To know in our hearts that all which He does is out of His love for us.  But for those who adhere to the mainstream church theology, that's a hard pill to swallow.  

Fear is not in love, but perfect love is casting out fear, for fear has chastening.  Now he who is fearing is not perfected in love.  

First Epistle of John 4: 18, Concordant New Testament Translation

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (That Eonian Life) # 2205

 

Now it is eonian life that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Him Whom Thou dost commission, Jesus Christ

Johns Account 17: 3, Concordant New Testament Translation 

If I were to ask you why you believe in God, what would you say?  That your sins be forgiven you?  That you spend eternity with Him in heaven?  Most believers would choose the latter.  To choose a heavenly abode over the trials and tribulations of this world.  In fact, this is the most common answer that people give me when asked why it is that they believe in God, eternal life.  Modern Christianity has taught us that eternal life and heaven are linked together as one as a reward for our righteousness.  That the believer will be with the Father in heaven for all time.  I was one of those who grew up believing in this version of the afterlife.  This is what I was taught while in the church.  So it is that I understand just why it is that most believers feel this way.  After the death of my mother in 2016, I trusted in my heart that she was now in the Fathers presence for all time.  I also knew that I would most assuredly see her again when my time came to join her there.  I still believe this, but I am also beginning to understand more about that which we call eternal life.  In His prayer in the garden before His death, Jesus spoke to the truth behind what we have been told is eternal life.  Many Christians do not understand that these words spoken by Jesus are the best definition of eternal life which we have.  For eternal life is not centered around our own being in the afterlife, but something completely different.  First off, the wording "Eternal life" is a crude reference to what Jesus has referred to as our Eonian life.  Now, eonian, as defined by definition, is "Lasting forever or for an indefinitely long time."  That sounds ok within this context.  However, eonian life is also defined as that which is relating to a specific geological eon, or age.  Still, Jesus obviously intended the use of His words which we see in His prayer in the garden that night.  I believe that His intent was to give us the true meaning of that time after we have passed from this life.  That eternal life has never been about our existence in the Fathers heaven, but of knowing Him intimately.

Jesus has spoken that "It is eonian life that they may know Thee" {Johns Account 17:3}.  That the truth about heaven and the afterlife is less about our reward for a good life and more about knowing He Who has provided for it.  Jesus obviously understood this, while too many modern believers have yet to grasp it.  Those within the modern church continue to preach of the reward for those who trust and believe in the Lord Jesus.  I know a man, a pretty dogmatic believer if ever there was one, who will adamantly condemn all who do not believe in Christ Jesus to the fires of hell.  For these poor souls, there is no reward given unto them by the Father.  Despite the fact that it is God Who loved the world enough to dispatch His one and only Son to save the world, there will be those who apparently will not be offered the reward of an eternity in Gods heavenly abode {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  But if this were indeed true, why is it that Jesus would pray that Gods children would "Know Thee?"  Why wouldn't Jesus simply spell it out and condemn those who did not believe?  Why indeed.  Well, we're told that despite being dispatched by the Father that all who believed in Him should not be perishing, but have life eonian, we're told that Jesus has not come to judge the world, but that ALL the world would be saved through Him {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  So it is that our afterlife has already been determined long before we were born into this life.  That the Father's true desire for us is for our life eonian.  Not that we would somehow be rewarded, but that we would finally know Him.  The apostle John has also spoken that what we have been promised is not a reward, but life eonian {First Epistle of John 2:25}.  God INTENDS for His creation to come to know Him.  Yes, in that day every knee shall bow and declare Jesus as Lord {Paul to the Philippians 2:10-11}.  But even this is accomplished "For the glory of God, the Father."  So it is that all will acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and all will come to know the Father.  So, what does this truth we have in the scriptures tell us about the punishment of hell for unbelievers?  Is there even a hell?  That's a topic for another day.  For now, I rest in the truth that in my life eonian that I will come to know the Father.  That is reward enough for me.  

And this is the promise which He promises us: the life eonian

First Epistle of John 2: 25, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (By No Other Name) # 2204

 

And there is no salvation in any other one, for neither is there in any other name, given under heaven among men, in which we must be saved

Acts of the Apostles 4: 12, Concordant New Testament Translation 

Growing up in the church, I was taught that salvation was by the grace and mercy of the Father.  However, I was also told that my salvation was something I could earn as well as lose.  If I believed in Jesus, I would be saved.  Yet if I behaved in a way that the Lord did not approve of, I could definitely lose that salvation.  Moreover, there was also that unpardonable sin of not accepting the Lord Jesus which could also keep me out of heaven.  Like many believers, I began to see heaven as a destination.  I was regaled with sermons of a physical description of heaven.  Never once was I introduced to the idea that my salvation is not a destination, but in the person of Christ Jesus Himself.  The physician Luke mentions this within the book of Acts, that there is no other name in which one must be saved {Acts of the Apostles 4:12}.  While those within the church will claim that this passage does not directly tie Jesus to our salvation, I believe that the verse is pretty clear that it does.  For Jesus has also proclaimed that "No one is coming to the Father except through Me" {Johns Account 14:6}.  If we believe that our salvation is defined by being in the presence of God for eternity, then Jesus is definitely the pathway to our salvation.  But is heaven an actual physical destination, or, as I believe, is it found within Jesus?  When we look at the passages describing heaven, we will definitely see that Jesus IS our salvation.  You might say, but isn't there a separation between Jesus and the actual physical description of heaven?  Perhaps, but we're speaking of salvation here.  IS our salvation actually within Christ Jesus?  I believe this to be true.  For it is through Jesus alone by which we come to the Father.  If heaven is a destination in which we will reside in God's presence, then Jesus is our way unto Him.  But wait, Jesus has also proclaimed that our lives are not lived outside of the Fathers presence, but in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  So, if our salvation includes residing within the presence of God for eternity, then Jesus is most assuredly in that conversation.  Remember, Jesus has proclaimed that, "I and the Father, We are one" {Johns Account 14:30}.  Jesus IS our salvation.  

Seeing my salvation as a person and not a destination has been a lot for me to unpack.  This is due to having been told for most of my life that salvation is linked to a physical destination.  I believe that this is where most believers find themselves, seeing salvation as punching their ticket into God's heavenly abode.  Of course, contrary to the warnings given by the apostle Paul that we're saved through the Father's grace and not through works, those within the church continue to speak to the false belief that salvation is somehow earned {Paul to the Ephesians 2:8-9}.  Paul understood that if men were given the opportunity to gain salvation through their own means, that there would be a lot of self-righteous believers out there.  Indeed, I have seen this pride among a lot of believers.  I also understand that these so called believers continue to view salvation through the church narrative as a destination and not in the person of Christ Jesus.  That Jesus is the door to our salvation, that IN Jesus we shall be finding pasture {Johns Account 10:9}.  I believe that one of the keys to understanding the truth that our salvation is indeed a person and not a destination comes from knowing the truth of our life within the love of the Father.  That man is NOT a separate independent self living outside of God.  This is the false teaching of the church based upon the lies of the deceiver spoken in the garden {Genesis 3:4-5}.  For Satan has convinced us that if we were to partake of the fruit which God had commanded not to, that we would "Be like God, knowing good and evil."  Of course, most every believer knows that there is but one God.  The author Norman Grubb, in his book No Independent self, goes so far as to proclaim that, "There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM {Exodus 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside Me {Isaiah 45:5}."  So it is that we have never been separated from God, but are an intimate part of who He is.  Therefore, our salvation is not about the destination, but the person of Christ Jesus, the door to our salvation.  

I am the door.  Through Me if anyone should be entering, he shall be saved, and shall be entering and coming out and will be finding pasture

Johns Account 10: 9, Concordant New Testament Translation

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (All Unto Jesus) # 2203

 

For the One not knowing sin, He makes to be a sin offering for our sakes that we may becoming God's righteousness in Him 

Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5: 21, Concordant New Testament Translation 

Remember that I have given you fair warning of what you're about to read.  That what you're about to read may just change your opinion about sin not only in your life, but in the world as well.  As I said, you've been warned.  The other week I had a conversation with a dogmatic, church centered man who stood fast to his claim that there is indeed an unpardonable sin which God will never forgive.  Of course, this made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but I listened to him nonetheless.  He was adamant that the unpardonable sin was one who steadfastly refused to accept Christ Jesus no matter what the case.  Now, I have heard far too many so called believers make this claim before,  In fact, back in my church days I believed it myself.  That was what I was taught to believe.  So, when this man claims that there is an unpardonable sin, I know exactly where he learned that.  My answer to his statement was simple, what about Jesus?  Hasn't Jesus bled and died to take away the sin of the world {Johns Account 1:29}?  Is it not through the love of the Father Who has dispatched His one and only Son, that the world will be saved through Him {Johns Account 3:16-17}?  But yet you speak to me of an unpardonable sin which Jesus somehow refused to acknowledge?  Despite the truth spoken in the scriptures that ALL will believe {Paul to the Philippians 2:10-11}.  So, if all shall believe and confess Jesus as Lord, that unpardonable sin will still be counted against us?  Well, if that's the hill that you want to die on, so be it.  In the film Come Sunday, the reverend Carlton Pearson was removed from his leadership position of the church he had led for a good number of years, all because he questioned the church belief that there is no hell for us to fear.  What drove the reverend to this conclusion?  Well, it seems that he had been troubled by the belief that those who has never even heard of Jesus would be doomed to an eternity in hell.  Why would God do this?  How is it that someone who has never even heard of Christ Jesus even be accused of the unpardonable sin?  That's the question every believer needs to be asking.

Despite the fact that we live in an information age, where news alerts and stories flash across the screens of our devices at lightning speed, it is a well known truth that there remain those among us who have yet to be introduced to the truth of the Lord Jesus.  If this were not true, the mainstream church would not spend untold amounts of our tithe money each and every year on so called mission trips.  It is also a well known fact that there continue to be tribes of people in remote areas of the world who have never even heard of the bible, or Jesus for that matter.  Do these children of the Lord need to fear hell for their unbelief?  No!  But what about that unpardonable sin?  The apostle Paul, in his evangel, addresses that sin issue in his letter to those in Corinth.  Here, Paul lays out the truth that it is Jesus Who has been made that sin offering for our sakes {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  But what is meant by the words of Paul as he describes Jesus as our sin offering?  Well, simply put, it is Christ Jesus Himself who has taken ALL of our sin and imperfections upon Himself that we would be free of them.  That's right, Jesus took all which made us that imperfect sinner unto Himself at the cross.  Do you feel guilty over your continued lust and addiction to pornography?  Jesus has taken that unto Himself that you would be free of the bondage it carries.  Think that your bad language will keep you out of the Fathers eternity?  That's right, Jesus has taken those imperfections upon Himself as well.  He has set us free from that which once held us in bondage.  Paul assures us of this in his letter to the Romans.  If you follow the church narrative and continue to feel the guilt of sin, Paul speaks to the truth that "We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it" {Paul to the Romans 6:2}.  This is the truth about sin that those within the church for one reason or another refuse to acknowledge, that we have indeed died to sin {Paul to the Romans 6:11}.  We are no longer held by the chains of the bondage of sin {Paul to the Romans 7:6}.  So, what is it that the evangel of Paul tells us about that unpardonable sin?  That's right, Jesus has taken that upon Himself along with all which once held us in bondage.  THIS is our freedom which we now have in Christ Jesus.  The mainstream church narrative will preach about sin as if the forgiveness of Jesus never even existed, but the truth which we have in Him testifies that Jesus took that which we were enslaved to upon Himself that we would be free from it.  

Yet now we are exempted from the law, dying in that in which we were retained, so that is for us to be slaving in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter 

Paul to the Romans 7: 6, Concordant New Testament Translation

~Scott~ 

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The Good Of The Father (The Salvation Lie) # 2202

 For in grace, through faith, are you saved, and this is not out of you, it is Gods approach present, not of works, lest anyone should be boasting

Paul to the Ephesians 2: 8-9, Concordant New Testament Translation

Once again I am going to tackle a subject which most church going believers will scowl and claim I am speaking falsehoods.  That is the subject of our salvation.  We fill those pews each and every Sunday in the hopes that we will be able to "Punch that ticket" of admission into the Lord Gods paradise.  We pray for His forgiveness each and every day, fearing that there might be something He saw which would cause Him to recant His promise to us.  But, can God ever lie?  Obviously to even think that God could lie to us is a lie in itself.  So, how is it that so many of the Christian religious faith adhere to the false claim that our salvation is a conditional thing?  I don't get it.  We're told numerous times in scripture of the Fathers love for us {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  We're told that Jesus has indeed gone to prepare that place for us {Johns Account 14:2}.  So tell me, where in the scriptures is it written that one shall LOSE that which God has promised?  Where in the scriptures is it written that it is by our efforts alone that we're saved?  The apostle Paul speaks to this in his letter to the Ephesians, that it is "In grace, through faith, are you saved" {Paul to the Ephesians 2:8-9}.  Yet, I continue to see far too many believers walking around with their chests puffed out and proud that they have punched their ticket to heaven.  I have a gym friend who fits this description as well.  But these same people also often live with the fear that any sin they seemingly commit will cause God to break His promise to them.  I used to be among that crowd.  I would pray continuously that God would find me worthy of His eternity.  But that question always loomed in the back of my mind, if God has promised my salvation, why would He lie to me and revoke that promise?  I knew that God is incapable of lying, but those within the church attempted to convince me that this is exactly what He would do if I behaved badly.  This is the salvation lie of the church.  

Step into any church and you might hear the claim, that those who believe in the Father will be saved...but.  That Christ Jesus has given Himself on that cross for the forgiveness of sin...but.  See, there is always a catch to the salvation lie.  Yes, Jesus has died for the forgiveness of sin, BUT we can still sin.  Yes, God has provided for our salvation, BUT that sin could cause Him to change His mind.  In effect, admitting that God will indeed lie to His children.  But, is it at all possible for God to lie?  No!  This is the lie of the church, performance based salvation model.  That in order for us to get our ticket to heaven punched, that we need to behave well enough for God to approve it.  What blasphemy is this?  When you realize the truth spoken by the scriptures, you see that it is not I who speaks blasphemy, but  those within the church!  I only expose the lies of the church.  And for that I'm a marked man.  One thing I have told a good friend of mine in numerous conversations and podcasts is that we fight the thousands year old church narrative that heaven is something that we earn.  This is exactly why I refer to it as the salvation lie.  While it is not possible for God to lie, those within the church will lie to us at any given opportunity.  Think I'm lying?  Tell me where it is in the scriptures that God will revoke that which he has promised.  On the ghost of a chance that you are able to cherry pick some verse to fit your church based narrative, know that at that point you are openly admitting that God is capable of lying.  And, as we all agree, that is impossible.  So, we must then accept God at His word that He has provided for our salvation through His love and grace.  That our salvation has absolutely nothing to do with our own efforts.  So it is that your confidence that you have done well enough to warrant your presence in the Fathers paradise is misguided.  You needed Jesus in order to achieve that!  For it is Jesus who took all of our sin, bad behaviors and human errors upon Himself at the cross {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Whatever it is that we think will keep us out of heaven, Jesus has already taken that upon Himself out of His love for us.  But that doesn't fit the salvation lie narrative.  

For the One not knowing sin, He makes to be a sin offering for our sakes that we may becoming God's righteousness in Him 

Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5: 21, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~