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Salvation Myths About How A Person Is Forgiven Their Sins?

HOW DO WE GAIN FORGIVENESS OF SINS WITH GOD?

By being a good person and doing good works? NO!

Read Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:23, and Isaiah 46:6.

By Asking God for forgiveness? By confessing sins to God? NO!

“God Forgive me” is not in any verse related to Salvation. Actually, it is not even found in the New Testament! The unsaved person is not asked to confess his sins to get forgiven nor saved. the fact is, that we couldn’t remember all our sins anyway! No salvation passage requests either of these. Some say what about 1 John 1:9? Yet by context, that passage is about a believer RENEWING FELLOWSHIP and not about an unsaved person.

By going to confession with a priest? NO!

A priest is just a man and cannot forgive sins. In fact, the word ‘confess’ in the New Testament is defined in the Greek as ‘ to agree’, or ‘profess’ in relation to belief on Christ and His finished work on the cross. (Matthew 10:32, Luke 12:8, John 1:20, John 9:22, Romans 10:9 and so many many more!)

By going to church? NO!

No where in the New Testament does it say to be saved one must attend a formal religious organization nor church building.

By forgiving others. NO!

Some will state Matthew 18 but in Matthew 18 Jesus is addressing the Jews and Pharisees who believed it was their Law of Moses following and good works that saves. Jesus then goes on to show them the extremes of the Law so that they are actually found guilty of breaking the Law. Jesus was preparing them for the soon coming New Covenant which He would bring forth from the event of the Passion of Christ and the Cross, paying for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

By giving all your money to the poor. By Helping others? By being good? NO!

It is good to give to the poor and those in need. It is good to live right before God. Yes. But doing so does not erase any of your sins. This would be work you EARNED but salvation is not of ourselves nor our good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). And even verse 10 states UNTO good works. So that is AFTER salvation and not about how one gets saved.

Apostle Paul wrote,

“Now to the one who WORKS, his wage is NOT RECKONED on the basis of GRACE, but as what is DUE. But to the one who DOES NOT WORK, but BELIEVES in Him (Jesus) WHO JUSTIFIES the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Romans 4:4-5 KJV)

By giving your heart to Christ? NO!

We do not give our heart to Christ. By belief on Christ God imputes our sin to Jesus on the cross and God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us (2 Cor. 5:17-21). God gives us a new heart. A new creation in the Spirit. We are already risen WITH CHRIST in the Spirit, COMPLETE IN HIM (Colossians 2). This is not done by any of our effort. It happens only by belief on Christ’s finished work paying for the sins of the world. In John 3:3, Jesus is clear that to be forgiven sins and saved, “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus then goes on to tell us HOW to be saved in verses 14-18 and it is all about BELIEF on Christ alone. Nothing else is mentioned.

We also read in Scripture how the “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9 KJV).

Some will say ‘but what about Romans 10:10?’ It does say with the heart a man believes on Christ unto righteousness but that is not an unbeliever giving his heart to Christ. It is just that they have come to an end of themselves trying to work to be righteous before God and to obtain salvation and they are crying out to God in belief to save them. This happens at the moment of belief and actually right after a person gains the knowledge of the Gospel of grace and believes it.

By just saying a prayer to God. NO!

No where does the Bible state that a person must pray to God to be saved. It only states to BELIEVE ON CHRIST. Yes, you can pray to God in this belief; absolutely. But going to an alter call and just saying a prayer saves no one and forgives no one. Only by BELIEF on Christ, as God in the flesh, having paid for your sins is a person saved.

By changing our life from sinful deeds to good deeds? NO!

Many believe this because they use the modern dictionary definition of the word REPENT and not the Bible’s definition of the word repent. Repent in the Greek is defined simply as ‘change your mind’. So when Scripture states REPENT, replace that word with ‘change your mind’ and you will see the intended true meaning. REPENT is NOT defined as TURN FROM SIN. IN fact, Scripture shows GOD REPENTING many times. I ask you; Does God Have Any Sin To Repent About? NO! Of course , we should turn from sin, but that does not save us you see. Nor will it forgive us our sins. The desire for outward right living comes from the inside NEW Spirit we were given as believers.

By making God Lord of your life? NO!

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:11 KJV) Notice how? ‘THROUGH’ Jesus Christ our Lord. This just states that Christ is the Lord and whether we believe it or not it is true. Romans 6:11 is all about a believer and their dedication to Christ. It is not about Salvation and forgiveness of sins. A person who is not yet saved by belief on Christ, cannot make Jesus Lord of their life. By belief on Christ as God and His finished work are we saved. Nothing else is required.

See my article about how the teaching of Lordship Salvation is not Biblically correct.

By surrendering your life to Christ? NO!

The unsaved person giving everything to the Lord when everything is already the Lord’s will not save a person. Isaiah 64:6 states, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; “ to God. We cannot save ourselves! Nothing we DO can erase any sins we have committed! Belief on Christ’s finished work on the cross and His resurrection is what saves a person and makes them righteous having all their sins PAID FOR BY CHRIST.

HOW DOES THE BIBLE SAY WE ARE FORGIVEN OUR SINS THEN?

Belief in the blood shed by Christ (Eph. 1:7) and belief on Christ and HIS FINISHED work (John 3:14-18, John 6:37-40, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, Colossians 2, Romans 5 and 6) on the cross having paid in full the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) as the ONCE FOR ALL FINAL sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10). And by belief on the resurrection of Jesus. And ‘…whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ (John 3:16)

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9 KJV)

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19 KJV)

Again, the word ‘Repent’ simply means ‘change your mind’ – not turn from your sins.

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and BELIEVETH ON HIM, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:37-40 KJV)

“He that BELIEVETH ON HIM is not condemned: but he that BELIEVETH NOT is condemned ALREADY, because he hath NOT BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18 KJV)

Who do you say Jesus is? Will you believe that He paid for your sins on the cross 2000 years ago? If so, you are saved eternally from the very moment of this belief and are SEALED by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is not about feelings. It is not about our good deeds nor works, or even our self! It is about BELIEF ON CHRIST ALONE.

“In whom ye also TRUSTED, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also AFTER THAT YE BELIEVED, YE WERE SEALED with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14 KJV)

Is Praying to Dead Catholic Saints Wrong?

Don Gerrity Q&A: False Gospels, Q&A: MYTHS, Q&A: The Truth About... July 27, 2018

A family member of the Catholic faith once posted on social media that by “praying to St. Anthony for help, he will be right on it; and you will always be grateful to know him.”

By stating this, whether knowing or not, she was stating that St. Anthony was the reason why prayer will be answered. The problem with this is that this is putting faith in St. Anthony and not God as if God is refusing to hear her prayers.

The Bible truth is that GOD HEARS ALL OUR PRAYERS and ONLY GOD can answer prayers.

I know this is a prayer to St Anthony to pray for a person, as to say Anthony is dead and is present with the Lord. So He is closer to God to pray on her behalf. Raised from birth in the Roman Catholic religion, I was brought up believing this too. However, since actually reading the Bible, I never understood doing this because I cannot find doing this instructed anywhere in the Bible.

First, as a believer in Christ and the atonement for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) that He provided on the cross for us, Apostle Paul tells us that at our very moment of belief on Christ alone for Salvation, a person is SEALED by the Holy Spirit who indwells the person forever from that moment on (Ephesians 1:13-14) until our bodily resurrection. With God now residing WITHIN US, how much closer can we get to God? Why is there any need of praying to a person that is dead when God is right here WITHIN US NOW as we are experiencing troubles? (Galatians 2:16-21)

Apostle Paul wrote,

“For there is ONE God,and ONE mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself A RANSOM for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Timothy 2: 5-6 KJV).

The Bible also says that Jesus intercedes on believer’s behalf to the Father,

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Romans 8:34 KJV)

If Jesus Christ HIMSELF is interceding for us, why the need to pray to a dead person? What we need is to have faith IN JESUS who is interceding for us already. He should be our only object of faith, shouldn’t he?

Jesus Himself prayed to the Father for us before His death and resurrection,

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, EVEN AS WE ARE ONE:” (John 17:20-22 KJV)

Do you think that prayer was answered? Absolutely! So, if a believer is one with Christ and Christ in us and we are now one with the Father. THAT IS REALLY INTIMATE AND CLOSE!!

Second is that we, as believers, have been completely forgiven for all the sins of our life (past/present/future) because Christ paid for all the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2) on the cross. By belief on Christ’s finished ‘once for all sacrifice’ (Hebrews 10:10) for the payment of all sins we have been made into a NEW CREATURE (2 Corinthians 5:1) called The Spirit and are from the very moment of belief SEALED by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 4:30, 2 Corinthians 1:22) and MADE the very righteousness of God, in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now, Stop and read that last paragraph again. Look up the Scripture references. This is not my opinion. It is what the Word of God clearly teaches. Let that soak into your mind! It should make us want to shout out loud! Hallelujah!

That is why it states in Hebrews,

“Let us therefore COME BOLDLY unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and FIND GRACE to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 KJV)

I am not trying to step on the toes of Catholic believers here. It is not my opinion that even matters. I was brought up believing this way too. I was taught this in Catholic High school. Priests have taught this to me.

The things is, I just cannot find it in Scripture anywhere. And NO ONE has been able to show me it is taught in the Bible anywhere either (unless context is ignored on a verse). And so, I gotta stick to what the Word of God says, the Bible. Church pulpits are not always right. I am not picking on just the RCC leadership in saying this. Most denominational Church religions each have some traditions they created without Scriptural backing. So does the Roman Catholic Church and I believe that praying to dead Saints or even Mary is one of the teachings without Scriptural backing.

Some people I know say that this prayer to St. Anthony works and has worked for them more then once. Their testimony makes me believe that it actually worked. I am not refuting that. If you experienced it… you did!

But my point is that maybe it works because they use their FAITH that GOD HEARS THE PRAYER. Maybe because God sees what is going on and wants to heal the issue anyway because He loves us and sees our heart. Maybe because Jesus is already interceding to the Father. Yet I wonder that maybe, going directly to the source of our faith (JESUS) is a better way we should pray in faith that God does hear our prayers and does answer them? In fact, the Bible definition of a SAINT is any person that accepts Christ as savior and Lord.

Another dark side could also be the reason for some such prayers to be answered. We see in Matthew 7 that Jesus is talking about false prophets (verse 15) who believe the are saved because of their works. They even cast out demons in the name of Jesus, yet Jesus will say to them at judgement day to ” I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:32 KJV).

Jesus will tell them the worst news of their lives; He never KNEW them and so they were not believers on Christ for Salvation but rather had faith in their works to save them. They thought they were ‘good enough’ by their own merit in self righteous deeds to be saved but they were wrong – seriously wrong! Jesus is warning them and us about something here.

First, Salvation is not by works but by faith and belief alone in Jesus finished work (John 3:14-18, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4..etc).

Second, we see that these unbelievers did cast out demons in Jesus name! The question is, without the indwelling Holy Spirit of a believer, HOW COULD THEY? It could be that the devil’s angels were casting fellow demons out to deceive these people to stay in their unbelief on Christ alone knowing it would in the end blind them to the true Gospel through Christ crucified.

Let this be a warning to everyone! If an unbeliever prays to the devil himself and it comes to pass, is it from God or was it fallen angels working behind the scenes making something happen in a person’s life? SCARY THOUGHT! Ephesians 6 tells us that is exactly what fallen angels are doing! It is called the ‘wiles of the devil’ and there is an importance to putting on the full armor of God to stand firm in faith in God alone and HIS MIGHT (Ephesians 6:10).

By the Word of God, I know the truth and the truth is that my prayers directly to God in faith ARE HEARD BY GOD. Answers are sometimes a YES and sometimes it is a YES with a delayed answer (as God knows the best timing) and sometimes the answer is simply a NO! We need to acknowledge that although we are struggling with something, God has a plan and purpose for everything we face in life. He has it all planned out from the very foundation of the world! Long before you and I were born. And in the end His purposes and plans are always the best.

Jesus said to encourage us,

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world YE SHALL HAVE tribulation: but BE OF GOOD CHEER; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 KJV)

Place your trust in Him alone. Give Him all the glory in all things (the good, the bad and the down right ugly). And TRUST GOD in all things, even when we do not understand.

Myth: Unrepentant sin causes loss of Salvation and a destination of hell for a believer.

Don Gerrity General OSAS Questions, Q&A: MYTHS, Q&A: Salvation July 20, 2018

For those teaching that unrepentant sin means loss of Salvation, it is high time that believers believing this understand that not only are they wrong, they are denying that Jesus’ Sacrifice for us was completely sufficient with the Father. I am not in any way saying to just go live carnally and sin all we want. Absolutely not. We should be striving to live right because of the grace God has given to us to even be eternally saved. If you believe that you can get saved and then just live carnally, because God’s grace abounds (Romans 5), you may need to reconsider that belief.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6 KJV)

After explaining to us in Romans 5 that grace much more covers our sins, some thought that meant we can just live our lives after salvation as we always have, since Christ paid for our sins. But that is the wrong attitude. Apostle Paul also rebuked the Corinthian believers as a very bad example of a group of believers living very carnally and doing things that believers definitely should not be doing. Sexual relations within families not by marriage even. Yet, the church ignored their grievous sins. Were they still saved believers? Yes and Paul addressed them as such while rebuking them. It seems they had the wrong attitude described in Romans 6; Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Did Jesus pay for just believers sins or ALL SINS from ALL TIME?

Jesus paid for the sins OF THE WHOLE WORLD on the cross. ALL SINS (past/present/future). (1 John 2:2).

Did Jesus make a partial payment for the sins of the whole world or did He pay for all sins completely and utterly?

On the cross Jesus cried out IT IS FINISHED. In the Greek that was penned it literally is an accounting phrase meaning a DEBT PAID IN FULL. Jesus did NOT make a a partial payment for the sins if the world; it was a full payment. His shed blood was SUFFICIENT to the Father! COMPLETELY SUFFICIENT!

How do we receive the forgiveness that the payment for all sins by Christ crucified died and risen provides? How does Jesus answer this question?

Was Jesusu answer to this direct question doing more good works? No. His answer was “…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God..” (John 3:3). And how does Jesus tell us that we become born again in the SPIRIT? Jesus tells us CLEARLY and REPETITIVELY for importance,

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but have ETERNAL LIFE. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE. For God SENT NOT his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world THROUGH HIM might be saved. He that BELIEVETH ON HIM is not condemned: but he that BELIEVETH NOT is condemned already, because he hath NOT BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:14-18 KJV)

Salvation hinges on BELIEF that Jesus as the Son of God, who is God in the flesh (John 1), born of the Virgin Mary (not born in sin) never sinned in thought nor deed, willingly shed His blood and paid in full for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD so that WHOSOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM and ON HIM alone is UTTERLY and COMPLETELY FORGIVEN.

BUT THERE IS MORE THAN THAT!!

From that very moment of belief on Christ a person is IMMEDIATELY SEALED by the Holy Spirit and has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30, Colossians 2). They have become a NEW CREATURE which is called THE SPIRIT. This new SPIRIT is now the REAL US. It is Holy, Righteous and redeemed COMPLETELY (2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 2:10). Our bodies are still corrupt (1 Corinthians 15:50) and not yet fully redeemed as we await our bodily resurrection at The Rapture Event prophesied by Apostle Paul.

DO believers still sin? DO YOU? Be Honest!

Yes we do. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 KJV, where John was encouraging believers to not fall prey to the false teachings of the Gnostics heresies). Our body and MIND is still corrupt with this THING called sin. In Romans when Paul uses the word SIN, it is used as a noun and not a verb. It is not an action word. It is a THING. Our Spirit is already heaven ready and fully redeemed by belief on Christ. But Apostle Paul taught that we still need to RENEW OUR MIND (which is how we repent after our moment of salvation) by God’s Word and by help of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12: 1-3 KJV)

Jesus also prayed for us to the Father before heading to the events leading up to the cross stating the same thing. We need to renew our mind.

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17 KJV)

Are the sins we commit after our moment of Salvation forgiven?

Yes. They were forgiven in the ONCE FOR ALL SACRIFICE of Jesus on that cross (Hebrews 10:10-11). From the very FOUNDATION of the world God foreknew all sins that we would commit and yet He still sent Jesus to die and pay for them all (Ephesians 1:4)! Sins of believers are future from the cross as any sins are for unbelievers today and so they too are FORGIVEN.

But why do believers still have sin in our lives?

ANSWER: THE FLESH. We still have this corrupt body that is bent on sinning. That is why when a believer dies physically, their Spirit goes to be with the Lord but their body goes to the grave. Our Spirit is perfect and the very righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), without sin and can enter Heaven. But as Apostle Paul states, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Corinthians 15:50 KJV)

Apostle Paul in Romans 7 shows the conflict of a believer internally as The Spirit (the new us God MADE US in an instant of our belief on Christ) and The Flesh (which has a disease called SIN). The two are at WAR with one another but make no mistake; we are not the Flesh as believers. WE ARE THE SPIRIT still residing in this BODY OF DEATH. Apostle Paul makes this very clear in Romans 7 but one can skip over and miss verse 17 and 20,

“14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, SOLD UNDER SIN.

15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

17 Now then it is NO MORE I THAT DO IT, BUT SIN THAT DWELLETH IN ME.

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I FIND NOT.

19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

20 Now if I do that I would not, it is NO MORE I THAT DO IT, BUT SIN THAT DWELLETH IN ME.” (Romans 7: 14-20 KJV)

Reading Verse 17 and then again in verse 20 is the truth that so many Christians have not grasped. Paul is saying very clearly that inside of us is the Adam, our OLD NATURE before our moment of Salvation which Paul calls THE FLESH. Our old nature always wants to sin. Whatever feels right was right with no thought given to sin against God. The Flesh is like a disease since our physical birth.

And then there is the NEW CREATED SPIRIT (2. Cor. 5:17-21) we received at our conversion and belief in the Gospel Of Grace that Apostle Paul taught.

The Spirit is now the real us and has become our very nature; though we may not act perfectly living in The Corrupt Flesh body.

The problem is The Newly Created Spirit is residing in The Flesh still and will until our bodily resurrection. Our minds have not yet been renewed completely and so our thinking is not perfect yet. We should strive in the renewing of our mind as it leads to be less deceived by the devil and his angels who scheme against us as believers. Right believing leads to better outward living.

Does the grace of God mean we have a license to sin?

Why is it that whenever the Grace of God through Jesus Christ and eternal Security of the Believer is taught it is assumed that means go and sin all you like? As if by believing the Eternal Security of a Believer that it somehow equates to us wanting to just go and sin all we want? DO YOU FORGET that we, as believers were not just forgiven.. we WERE MADE THE RIGHTEOUS OF GOD, IN CHRIST! (2 Cor. 5:21)

Believers STRUGGLE with our sins and no believer likes their sin! They may commit a sin, and even have repetitive sins, but they will feel very BAD about it. They will later have remorse. Guilt. They tell God and CONFESS the sin and agree with God that they blew it and sinned. Why can’t I stop this sinning God? Why does sin continue to happen in my life when I am now deemed to have DIED with Christ and Risen with Him (Colossians 2, Romans 6:4)? I do not want to sin! Yet, it still happens in my life. Why? BECAUSE WE HAVE THIS FLESH not yet resurrected. We struggle as Apostle Paul did.

Should we turn from our sins believing in the Eternal Security of a Believer?

YES! Paul says to the question of should we sin more with “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2 KJV). Yes, turn from your sins and when you blow it and do sin, CONFESS IT TO GOD. HIM to help you overcome the sin. Yet, know this; you will struggle with THE FLESH until you receive new glorified bodies at your bodily resurrection when we will finally shed this disease of sin. Yes, TURN FROM YOUR SINS . Isn’t that what we want as believers? YES! But never because we need to in order to remain saved. Our sins were PAID IN FULL 2000 years ago!

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

And YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power:

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

BURIED WITH HIM in baptism, wherein also ye are RISEN WITH HIM THROUGH THE FAITH OF THE OPERATION OF GOD, who hath raised him from the dead.

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision OF YOUR FLESH, hath he quickened together with him, having FORGIVEN YOU ALL trespasses;

BLOTTING OUT the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and TOOK IT OUT OF THE WAY, nailing it to his cross;” (Colossians 2:8-14 KJV)

ONCE SAVED. ALWAYS SAVED!

Believers are secure IN CHRIST. The penalty for our sins was PAID IN FULL by Christ friends!

ENTER INTO HIS REST!

Hebrews 3:18 KJV: “And to whom sware he that they should not ENTER INTO HIS REST, but to them that BELIEVED NOT?”

Hebrews 4:1 KJV: “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of ENTERING INTO HIS REST, any of you should seem to come short of it.”

Hebrews 4:10: “For he that is ENTERED INTO HIS REST, he also hath CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, as God did from his.”

You no longer have to make sacrifice for your sins. JESUS FINISHED all that on the cross! Strive to not sin. Confess your sins. Renew your mind by the Word of God. Walk in the Spirit to avoid the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Be Godly. Forgive others. YES! Yet, understand that to God,

Hebrews 10:10-11: “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, WHICH CAN NEVER TAKE AWAY SINS:“

Do We Need More Forgiveness Because As Believers We Will Still Sin?

Don Gerrity Q&A: Forgiveness, Q&A: MYTHS, Q&A: Salvation January 5, 2018

Colossains 1:27 Christ In Your. The Hope of Glory.

Contrary to this myth being taught in church building and pulpits, the Bible teaches us that Jesus already gave us all the forgiveness we will ever need. How many churches do we see today asking members to come to the front to gain forgiveness for sins this past week? What about going to a confessional to get your sins absolved? Colossians and the Book of Hebrews tells us otherwise.

“And YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power:” (Colossians 2:10 KJV)

“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened TOGETHER WITH HIM, having forgiven you ALL TRESPASSES;” (Colossians 2:13 KJV)

This truth is so often overlooked.We need to watch the tense of these passages as well. God foreknew every sin of every person from Adam and Eve until the end of the Kingdom Age to come. He knows everyone that will be born physically. He knows even the number of hairs on each persons head (Matthew 10:30). God also foreknew each person that will accept the gift of salvation by belief on His blood atonement and His rising from the dead and who will reject God’s great gift of redemption through Christ crucified, died and risen.

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,” (Ephesians 1:4-5 KJV)

It is not that God has predetermined who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. That is false. Jesus said that WHOMSOEVER believeth on Him has eternal life in John 3. When Jesus died on that cross HE did not only pay for the believers sins, He paid for all the sins of the whole world, believer and non believer,

“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2 KJV)

Jesus blood atonement for all sins was given as a gift and as a gift it is either accepted or rejected by each person. When someone accepts the gift of salvation by belief on Christ, as God, who never sinned and went to the cross willingly to die and pay for our sins and then rose again, God foreknew it. Our core being is our Spirit. God is a Spirit being and so to be born again as a member of God’s family, we must be born again in The Spirit (John 3). God foreknew the acceptance of the person and placed their old Spirit of Adam (dead sin bent Spirit we are born with) and placed it on the cross WITH CHRIST 2000 years ago. When Jesus died, our old Spirit of Adam died with Him. At that moment, God made us a completely new creation in the Spirit and gave us a born again Spirit of God. Our old spirit died and rose again with Christ. This new Spirit of God we have been made into is in perfect UNION with Christ and the Holy Spirit dwells within our new born again Spirit and sealed us in salvation forever (Ephesians 1:13-14). As Jesus explained it in His prayer for all Church Age believers,

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” (John 17:21-23 KJV)

Because God foreknew that a person will accept the gift of salvation, He also chose to predestine those who choose to accept this great gift of redemption, to all that salvation provides to the believer. This gift of salvation includes forgiveness of all of the person’s sins committed during their life (past/present/future) and literally making them, by imputation of God, the very righteousness of God, in Christ.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV)

We see in Colossians 2 that when Jesus died on that cross HE quickened us TOGETHER WITH HIM on the cross, that is our old Spirit of Adam, and so all our sins were judged and bore by Christ. The penalty for our sin was paid by Christ and we, together with Christ, had our sins 100% penalty paid having ALL OUR SINS PAID IN FULL. We were made alive together with Christ. Again, ALL means all. Before the very foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) God foreknew all that each of us would do as individuals and that is long before you or I came into physical existence right? God foreknew every sin you and I would commit. God is the alpha and omega. He sees the beginning to the very end. God created TIME itself and is outside of time. So He seen and knows all the sins we have committed or will commit in the future. Yet, Jesus Christ still died on that cross to forgive us and save us from perishing in our sins. This is the unconditional love of God.

“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God FOR US: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now ONCE in the end of the world hath he appeared to PUT AWAY SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was ONCE OFFERED to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time WITHOUT SIN UNTO SALVATION.” (Hebrews 9:24-28 KJV)

On that cross 2000 years ago, Christ solved our SIN PROBLEM! All our sins have been TAKEN AWAY completely from us and will no longer condemn a believer. In fact, as we see in 1 John 2:2, Christ paid for the sins OF THE WHOLE WORLD (not just for believers but for ALL people in ALL AGES). And God then OFFERS this FREE GIFT of Salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9) to all people. And whosoever BELIEVETH on Christ for the atonement of sins then RECEIVE the GIFT of Salvation . Free will is important to God. We each have a free will to choose to accept the gift of Salvation and Eternal life or to reject Christ and remain with our sins in pride; sins still to be paid for at the Great White Judgement of unbelievers. This is what Jesus said Himself in John 3:

“He that BELIEVETH ON HIM is not condemned: but he that BELIEVETH NOT is condemned ALREADY, because he hath NOT BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18 KJV)

The Book of Hebrews cannot be denied! Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross washed away our sins and the penalty of sin against us ONCE FOR ALL. A believer is completely and utterly forgiven.

“And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL.” (Hebrews 10:10 KJV)

“For by ONE OFFERING he hath PERFECTED FOR EVER them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14 KJV)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let that sink in to your belief. We have been PERFECTED FOREVER by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Yes, we have that Fleshly stinking thinking in our minds just after Salvation; the remnants of the old sin nature until our bodily resurrection in the future. Right now, only our Spirit has been redeemed and our body is still corrupt with this thing called sin. It is not ready nor can inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50) which is why one day we will have a bodily resurrection at the Rapture. Yes, we still fall into sin and stumble. Yet, we have been given a newly created spirit. This spirit is the NEW US whereas the Flesh is the OLD US wanting to sin continually. It is a struggle Apostle Paul describes as a war within ourselves in Romans 7. As believers on Christ, God now sees us in the newly created spirit. Our sins are not a barrier anymore to God as God is indwelling us right? If the Holy Spirit is sealed and lives within us that means our sins have been paid for. God sees us through Christ because we are in Christ and Christ is in us as we see Jesus prayed for us,

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” (John 17:20-23 KJV)

Jesus prayed this. Jesus is God (John 1). Do you think it will happen then as believers? YES! WHAT A PROMISE! One with Christ and one with the Father. Amazing grace indeed!

Christ came and died on the cross, wiping out the penalty for sins Himself. We did not do it by being a good person. We did not do this by doing good deeds. We did not do it by our religious rituals. We did not do this by following the Ten Commandments. We do not keep it by our good works after Salvation. We do not keep it by never sinning again after Salvation. (we strive to not sin of course as Apostle Paul in Romans 7). Will anything we have done, nor will do, give us or keep our Salvation? NO! God alone did this for us! Christ Alone did this for us. Jesus ONCE FOR ALL took all our sins away in full payment that was sufficient. Jesus replaced the Old Covenant with the New Covenant and when you believe on Christ alone for Salvation this is what God Himself has to say about it:

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I REMEMBER NO MORE.” (Hebrews 8:12 KJV)

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I REMEMBER NO MORE.” (Hebrews 10:16-17 KJV)

In fact, as a believer we should not have a sin consciousness. We should not be focusing on not sinning as a way to remain saved. That is no different that Law following for righteousness and it will cause a person to sin more because “…the strength of sin is the law.” (1 Cor, 15:56) Yes, we strive to not sin but our minds have not been renewed fully yet and we will at times sin as a believer. When we do, we thank God that He forgave our sin on that cross and we confess our sin as wrong. We ask God to help us overcome the temptation in the future. We ask God to give us more faith. Believers need not walk around feeling condemned all the time because we sometimes blow it and sin.

If you have accepted the FREE GIFT of eternal life and Salvation, by faith and belief on Christ alone, and the atonement for sin HE provided as God in the flesh then you have been set free from the penalty of your sins COMPLETELY and UTTERLY and are no longer condemned.

YOU ARE FORGIVEN.

FOREVER FORGIVEN.

God no longer remembers your sins nor holds them against you. He seen them all from the foundation of the world and seen Christ die and take the punishment for them crying out on the cross “IT IS FINISHED” which in the Greek it was penned literally means “debt paid in full!”. And He seen you one day receiving His free gift of Salvation from your debt of sins and no longer remembers them.

THAT is the unconditional love of God. That is utter forgiveness. Amen! Do not let ANYONE take this from you as a believer teaching otherwise.

What Should Be Focusing On

REST IN CHRIST, WHERE YOU NOW ABIDE

“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” (Hebrews 4:1 KJV)

“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:3-5 KJV)

Know who God has made you, in Christ!

Believe it and then walk in life knowing it.

RENEW OUR MIND BY GOD’S WORD

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17 KJV)

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2 KJV)

Read the Bible. Believe what it say and who it says God made you at your conversion in salvation. This is what repentance is for a born again believer. It is renewing the old sin bent beliefs and thoughts ion the mind and replacing them with the truth from the Bible, by guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The word REPENT is defined by the Bible as ‘change your mind’. Before salvation is is changing your mind about how to be justified and righteous with God; not by works but by faith on the Messiah, The Christ who bore our sins in death and rose again. Once born again we still REPENT, that is change our mind about many things. It is a changing of our world view to God’s view, by God’s Word.

We live outwardly by what we believe in our MIND.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” (Proverbs 23:7 KJV)

By renewing our MIND with God’s truth from the Bible, we make better decisions. As we understand and believe who God made us, in Christ, it impacts our life. As we abide more and more in Christ by truth, our sanctification (John 17:17), our new creation in Christ changes our minds and we produce good works in love for others outwardly into our lives. This is ‘walking in the Spirit’ and it helps us to avoid the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

If you have a strong sin consciousness and are always worried that God is just waiting to punish you, you are in wring belief and the devil will use those false beliefs from the Old, now dead, Spirit of Adam you once were. The old thoughts are in your MIND, but your Spirit is born again. Hebrews 10 tells us that Christ paid fro all your sins. God no longer remembers your sins against you. God is FOR YOU. God is WITHIN YOU. Believe it and have no more consciousness of sins and start renewing your mind to the truth of who God has made you, in Christ.

We will never be ‘sinless’ until our bodily resurrection
at the Rapture but we will ‘sin less’
as we renew our mind to the truth of
who we now are in Christ!

God bless.

MYTH: The Re-Filling Of The Holy Spirit

Don Gerrity Q&A: Christian Living, Q&A: MYTHS April 21, 2016February 18, 2022

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HATH blessed us with all spiritual blessings in HEAVENLY PLACES in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him BEFORE the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein HE HATH MADE US accepted in the beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3-6 KJV)

Take a close look at what is being said in this Scripture and it will surely bless you greatly and make you love God even more than you may already do. It is not saying anything about what we humans have done to make ourselves Holy and accepted by God as a son or daughter in Heavenly places. Instead it is saying that it is all, 100% the work of God to save us and keep us.

There is no condemnation being taught here by the Holy Spirit within a believer. It says it is Jesus Christ who has BLESSED US with EVERY spiritual gift and that these are already in the Heavenly places. That we are ALREADY Holy and WITHOUT BLAME before God in Heaven . That God already MADE US acceptable in the Beloved of God, that is within the family of God forever.

The question comes to mind, ‘How is that possible? I am still here in Earth and I am not in heaven in my new resurrected body. Well again the answer to that is also found in the above Scripture where it states, ” just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world”. We humans have a limited view because we are here stuck in time and space. From our viewpoint we are here traveling through time in a forward motion and all these things promised by God for the believer are all ‘in the future’ for us. But here we see that from the very beginning, when God created the Earth, from BEFORE God created the Earth, the animals, plants and human beings. Before Christ went and nailed our sins on the cross even.

From way back then, God who is outside time and space sees everything as ‘NOW’. God says He declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). He foreknew EVERYTHING that will ever happen as if it already happened. He foreknew who would accept Christ’s atonement for their sins from before time started. And so He also foreknew and predestined those that will accept Christ who at the very moment of their repentance and in their belief of their eternal Salvation would be saved, and sealed them with the Holy Spirit of God and placed them in Heaven with Him at the appointed time of the Rapture. God sees us as who we will be after the Rapture. He seen us from the very beginning of the Universe as those who we will be in Heaven, Holy, Righteous and redeemed! God is a spirit and He is outside of time because He created time! He is everywhere at all times and that includes our future. That is why God told Moses His name was “I am that I am”. God is the great I AM. God is already there in Heaven with us believers, in our future! It is amazing to think about the truth like this. It gives me a great hope and expectation. How about you?

We Have ALL Of The Holy Spirit From The Moment of Our Salvation

Believers have ALL of the Holy Spirit living and dwelling within them. Christ has truly given us ‘all things’.

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 KJV)

Believers in the redemption through Christ’s atonement for sins on the cross are, from the very moment of their Salvation, both filled with the Holy Spirit and also sealed in Salvation.

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” (2 Corinthians 1:20-22 KJV)

The Holy Spirit now forever resides with the believer and is our earnest (earnest: in Greek means ‘guaranteed down payment’) that we are forever to be with God in Heaven. The believer is a newly created being in the Spirit – never to lose their eternal righteousness of God, in Christ. Jesus describes this relationship of the believer with God like this,

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:” (John 17:20-22 KJV)

Oh my, what a promise! It is hard for us to believe in our fleshy bodies just how much God has given us through Christ! How deep and great is the unconditional love of God towards us? Absolutely AMAZING!
But What About The Sins Of The Flesh That We Commit After Our Salvation? Does That Disqualify Us From Our Eternal Security In Christ?

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9 KJV)

That is pretty clear right? Believers are no longer in the Flesh but in the spirit. That is the Holy Spirit now dwells within us and we are now IN CHRIST. We are a newly created spirit being at our very core.

“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17 KJV)

The debt of sins has been paid for in Christ on the cross. God is no longer mad about our sins. God is completely satisfied with the penalty for our sins when He placed it on Christ and nailed Christ to the cross, as our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).

What is the result of the New Covenant in Christ? Accepting the forgiveness of our sins through Christ and after the Holy Spirit dwells inside a believer. But what about their sins committed after the moment of Salvation? They too were all paid in Christ on the cross. Remember that when Christ died on the cross for you, all your sins were in the future tense, you were not even born yet right?

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 KJV)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 KJV)

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:13-14 KJV)

ALL means ALL. EVERY means EVERY. Right? God knew every sin we would commit in our entire life, BEFORE He even created us right? All of a believers sins are 100% completely forgiven in the New Covenant through Christ Jesus. But how does our sinning affect God after our moment of Salvation? What is God’s view of our sinning in the flesh afterwards?

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrews 8:12-13 KJV)

I can hear some of you already.. ‘Wait just a minute here, Christians still sin. Doesn’t that mean we still have the old fleshly sin nature within? Don’t we still have a ‘sin nature’ within us? We have the Holy Spirit but we also have the Flesh and we still sin?’

Yes, we still do sin but that is because we do not yet have our new bodies that are not corrupt in the flesh. We still have the flesh, our bodies and our mind. But our REAL being since the moment of our Salvation is not the fleshy body, it is the inward Spirit. We were made a NEW CREATION from that moment. And the Bible is clear that in the Spirit we have been MADE Holy, Righteous and redeemed by and through Christ.

Some get confused by what I am trying to convey because many teachers (I once did too) are calling the flesh as a ‘sin spirit nature’ within us, as if it were a second nature to the new creation in the spirit. There is not two Spirit natures in a believer. One sinful and the other perfect. It is not two Spirits warring against each other that Paul spoke about in Romans 7. That is, our ONE true self in the spirit is not TWO opposites. Our inner man is now the Newly Created Spirit. It is the ‘New Us’. But if that is the case, why do we still have urges to sin? That is the bodily FLESH nature which has not been changed yet. We need to understand this properly or all kinds of teaching can be off and not correct. It is the FLESH nature that sins, not the newly created Spirit of God within you.

That is why the Rapture to come is needed. In the Spirit we are already with God. He and Christ are one and we are one with Christ and so are now one with God. But we cannot be with God in our fleshly sinful bodies in Heaven.

When a believer dies he is immediately in the presence of the Lord. Is their body? NO. In the our spirit, YES! Our fleshly part stays behind at our death. Our inner spirit being has been recreated and is without sin and able to go to Heaven, a perfect place without sin. But our flesh and body has not yet been recreated and that needs to happen before we can enter God’s eternal Kingdom in a physical form.

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-53 KJV)

Paul made it very clear to the Corinthians, and you and me, that our Spirit has been made new and is righteous in the God’s eyes. That is why when we die our Spirit goes to be with the Lord. It is Holy, Righteous and Redeemed because it is IN CHRIST.

Our fleshly bodies however is another matter. When we die our fleshy body goes in the ground, 6 feet under actually. It remains here on this sin filled Earth. That is what Paul is saying when He writes, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”

The Bible makes it clear that Gods goal is not to keep us in our spirit for all Eternity. Heaven is not some spirit realm where we will reside forever. We do not become angels when we die neither!
That is NOT what the Bible teaches! Just the opposite. Jesus said He is going to prepare a PLACE for us. A place with REAL 3D dimensions. 1500L x 1500W x 1500H miles! A real physical place in the universe. (see my other article on the New Jerusalem here)

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare A PLACE for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3 KJV)

At the Rapture event Jesus comes back to Earth in the clouds and the spirits of dead Christians are coming with Him. Their PHYSICAL BODIES will be resurrected into NEW IMMORTAL and incorruptible physical bodies. Bodies without the fleshly sin nature we now have. Bodies that will be just like Jesus’ body! Imagine that! wow!

After our Salvation and acceptance of the atonement of Christ for our sins we can choose to walk in the Spirit or walk in the flesh. To be truthful, we usually are doing one or the other depending on life circumstances because we have to make decisions in life as it goes right? We still have the SIN NATURE in the FLESH and it has a bent towards sinning. There is a struggle ongoing between walking in The Spirit or walking in The Flesh. The struggle does not have to do with us losing our Salvation. That was accomplished and we were sealed with the Holy Spirit at our moment of Salvation. Your Salvation cannot be lost. But there are consequences for when we are tempted and then DECIDE to walk in the flesh and sin. We still have free will after Salvation.

This following verse of Scripture makes it clearer that it is The Flesh that causes us to sin, not our newly created Spirit, that is already with God. I have some comments in brackets that are mine to help you see it more clear. They expand based on what is trying to be conveyed with understanding about the Two Natures of the believer that Apostle Paul taught in Romans 7. The comments are my own thoughts on this, yet Let the Scriptures be the truth. I am just trying to get you to see what I have been writing about. But once you start looking at other Scriptures it just becomes clearer and clearer.

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle (Comment: our flesh body is our Spirit’s tent [a tabernacle is a tent], a temporary place our spirit resides.) were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (Comment: this is the newly created Spirit of God within us from the moment of Salvation. Not created by human means in reproduction. Because the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, we also are already eternal in the heavens.)

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. (Comment: if we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, through Salvation in Christ) For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (Comment: Not because we want to die physically. But that, we want our body to be made whole with the Spirit of God, without the sinful desires of The Flesh body. We have the Spirit but we want our body to match up to the Spirit and be perfect as Jesus is perfect.)

Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. (Comment: God wants us to have a physical body to inhabit the New Jerusalem and the New Earth but it needs to be without the fleshly sinful desires. He will create this for us in our future and God has prepared us for that by giving us the Spirit dwelling within each believer as a guarantee that He will accomplish this at the appointed time of the Rapture! And God’s timing is perfect.)

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (Comment: Our body is physically not present with the Lord in Heaven like our new Spirit is. Yet we are confident that God will make that possible for us because we have the down payment, the Holy Spirit of God living within us.)

(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (Comment: We walk by the Spirit of God in faith, believing not by what we see we are doing in the physical flesh which is sinful desires but by the promise of God.)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (Comment: We want to get rid of this body that sins and has this bet toward sinning. The struggle is very hard. One day we will be bodily resurrected just as Christ was. Yet if we die we have faith in God’s promise that we will be united with a new glorified body at the appointed time of the Rapture.)”
(2 Corinthians 5:5-8 KJV)

God’s ultimate goal is for us to be both Spirit and Physical body in the universe God created, both completely sanctified and Holy enough to be with God for all eternity in the New Jerusalem (Heaven), a perfect place with perfect people, where there is no sin. So from now until the Rapture and our bodily resurrection to an immortal body, Christ through the Holy Spirit within us is sanctifying us and renewing our mind to see things from God’s world view and not from the current world view. Until one day, ZAP!.. we have new bodies without the fleshly sinful nature. Then we will be as Christ is. Physical body yet Spirit; complete finally. It is all God’s work in us. Such a promise! Such a hope! A hope that makes anything negative that we go through in life, completely PALE in comparison.

“Jesus tells the Apostles and to each of us plainly and truthfully, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 KJV)

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 KJV)

The Holy Spirit Continually Sanctifies Us Until The Rapture

From the very moment of a person’s Salvation, the Holy Spirit within a believer now starts the process of sanctification and the renewing of our mind. The Holy Spirit starts from within the heart of a person, from within our newly created Spirit that is already completely filled and sealed as Perfectly Holy. And the Holy Spirit starts the renewing in our minds. You see our Spirit is newly created already. Our body will also be recreated at the Rapture and then we will be complete in who God has made us. In the meantime, our fleshly body and mind have not yet totally caught up to our new Spirit.

Paul describes that there is something in us that wars with our newly created Spirit in Christ. And that is called The Flesh. But is it us who are sinning? Is it our newly created Spiritual being, the real us, who does the sinning now? It is such an important Scripture that shows us that what I am saying here is correct. We are perfect in the Spirit from the very moment of Salvation. Our Newly Created Spirit never sins. It is The Flesh that is warring against our true being, in the Spirit. Our flesh tempts us to sin and has a bent toward sinning still.

“Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

or I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
(Romans 7:13-24 KJV)

Paul is telling us it is The Flesh sinning and not the new real you in The Spirit. If you are saved and have the Holy Spirit within, you hate it when you sin. You feel guilty after you sin because the Spirit of God dwells within you and you are one with Him.
In fact, we are sinning when God is standing right there within us. We know it is wrong. We try to fight it but there are times when we just decide wrongly to sin. Then after, we feel like we are HELPLESS and awful to do such a thing when God is dwelling within us right? It’s a horrible feeling isn’t it? You feel full of shame, weak, helpless even. You feel as Paul, ‘O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this BODY OF DEATH.’!

What is God’s thought of this though?

King David puts it this way,

“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. ” (Psalm 103:11-14 KJV)

Nothing takes God by surprise folks. NOTHING. He knows the end from the very beginning. He is the great I AM who is present everywhere, in every time and in every place! (Isaiah 46:10, Matthew 9:4, Psalms 44:21, Psalms 139:7-10, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Proverbs 15:3, Joshua 1:9) He knows our frame, that is God knows what we are like. Frail. Unable to save ourselves from our sins in The Flesh. He knew when you would sin before you ever were born. That is why from the beginning He appointed Jesus to die on the cross for us and to forgive us all our sins, ‘As far as the East is from the West’! Thank God that His unconditional love is so far above what we think and feel, even in what little faith we have.

You see unbelievers love to sin, it is just doing what The Flesh demands. Sinning is it’s very nature. You cannot make a dog act like a cat right? It is just not in their nature. And unbelievers do not have a conscience about their sins committed. They are not worried about their sins before a Holy God, as they do not believe in the God of the Bible. Is that not the way we believers once were? Do whatever makes you happy right? Today we live, tomorrow we die. If it feels good just go for it right? God never really was in the picture for us right? And non believers will continue living in their sins unless they are first confronted in the belief that God exists.

Do not misunderstand me. Believing that God exists alone will not save a person from their sins. Even the devil and his fallen angels believe there is a God – yet they tremble (James 2:19) at that fact because soon their sentence of an eternity in hell will soon come to be their reality.

But believing God exists is a step in the right direction to the possibility of being confronted with the truth. If they can stop comparing their goodness against other sinners and instead start comparing their so called goodness with the Holy Perfect God of the universe, there is a chance they will cry out to Him for mercy through Christ. They may drop their pride and instead be humble before God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). The Holy Spirit works externally for a person to give everyone the opportunity to choose. He confronts them with the utter impossibility to remove our sins against a Holy God through our own self righteous deeds. The Ten Commandments accomplished that for all us believers right?

We Do Not Need To Be Constantly Refilled With The Holy Spirit

What is all the teachings by some preachers and some denominations and religious groups that we must continually be refilled with the Holy Spirit then? Does the Holy Spirit run out and a person needs to be refilled again and again. Is the Holy Spirit dwelling in a believer like gasoline a car…that slowly gets used until we reach the point that the car starts reminding you that you are low on fuel. Better get refilled or the car will die on the roadside? Does that seem like a reality when God is indwelling us already? What is God, a tank to fill? No! The Holy Spirit within us is the fullest tank that keeps on producing! It is NEVER running on empty.

If the Holy Spirit is within you then YOU already have ALL of the Spirit of God dwelling within you. All the fullness of God. You even have ALL the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21 ), who lives within every believer. Believers do not need to be refilled constantly. We do not build up so many sins and then need a refill of the Holy Spirit to clean us again. We are ALREADY FULLY CLEANED in the Spirit, in our true being.

But we will run into what I call a dry spell of walking in The Spirit because The Flesh is still here and NONE of us can be completely sin free after our Salvation. NONE! At those times we need refreshing by the Holy Spirit to renew our mind about our sin and to help us get back to walking in The Spirit. The more we walk in The Spirit, the less we will sin. (Galatians 5:16)

Doesn’t the Bible Say Not To Grieve The Spirit?

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
(Ephesians 4:30 KJV)

Notice the words ‘YE ARE SEALED’. It was a past event and you ARE SEALED forever. Your Salvation cannot be lost. Jesus paid it all my friends! What is meant by ‘grieving’ the Holy Spirit then? Does this mean when we sin that God will get angry with us? Is that what this means? Does it mean that if you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you (which means you are in God’s eyes, Holy, Righteous and redeemed) that God will condemn you now because once again you failed and sinned in The Flesh? It does not make much sense given the truth of the Scriptures shown does it?

To God, the real you is the Spirit. In your spirit being you are in Christ. You are ONE with Christ and without penalty for sin. God already knew beforehand what sins you would commit. And He nailed them ALL to the cross in Jesus. So your sins are already done with and put away from God (Hebrews 9 & 10). Jesus took that punishment. You will never be condemned for the sins Christ already took the punishment for. NEVER! Christ’s sacrifice was 100% sufficient to God the Father for your redemption.
How Is The Holy Spirit Grieved When We Fail, And Sin?

Let’s use an analogy to see the truth. Before I was a father to my daughters, I did not understand this. But now I do! I get it! Here is me to my daughter, “Listen, do NOT run on ice. If you do you are going to get hurt physically and it will affect you badly.” So what happens when I get a call from the school that she hurt her ankle running on the ice in the playground? Am I ready to yell at her and disown her forever? Or am I firstly concerned for her as my daughter who I love? Do I feel grieved that she did not listen and she got hurt? Yes of course. I did warn her! Does that mean that I am going to disown her and kick her out of the family? Of course not.

Did she disobey me and cause this ankle issue? Yes she did. She has the consequence of the action to deal with (pain, healing time, loss of school studies, more time in school to catch up.) And what do I do? I try to help her in her healing and at the same time, she sees the consequence and hopefully learns from the experience.

God is not looking for robots. He gives us FREE WILL. In our fleshly bodies, we are going to be tempted. We can overcome the temptations but we will sometimes blow it. When we do it grieves the Holy Spirit. Of course it does! And the more a believer knows the Holy Spirit is within dwelling, that is He is right there while you are blowing it watching.. we do feel guilty afterwards right? God is not “out there somewhere”. He is ‘Emmanuel’ GOD WITHIN YOU and you cannot get much closer than that! Feeling guilty about a sin you commit is a sure way to know that the Holy Spirit is correcting you and disciplining you. It is not to condemn you of your sin as some are teaching these days. NO, it is out of love for you. When you blow it,

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:1 KJV)

What If A Person Continues To Repeat A Sin?

As a believer, do you still have a body? The sinful flesh? Yes, you do! Should we try to resist sinning? Absolutely! In no way am I saying that because we are forgiven we should just go and sin all we want. Absolutely not! If the Holy Spirit is within you He will correct you when you sin. If you are living in a continuous sin and not feeling any guilt about it when you know it is a sin, you need to question if you actually are saved. The Holy Spirit always helps to recognize and correct sins in a believer. It is part of the process of Him sanctifying you and renewing your mind. He will keep renewing your mind in the process of sanctification. But know this; this process of sanctification takes time, a lifetime. Resisting sin is a good thing. It is you trying to keep in line with what the Holy Spirit wants you to do (walking by The Spirit), as He is sanctifying you. Over time, the Holy Spirit renews your mind and as that happens, you will find that you stop repeating certain sins, or out right stopping them.

” What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
(Romans 6:1-14 KJV)

Paul is not saying that we lose our salvation if we sin. What he is saying is that Christ has redeemed us from our sins. He has made us DEAD to the Law. Now the Holy Spirit resides within us to help us renew our mind to the truth. Should we just continue going in the opposite direction to the sanctification process the Holy Spirit is working in us? That sure is the HARD way right? Do not look at not sinning as a requirement under the Law that we need to obey or we will lose our Salvation. Believers have been made DEAD to the Law. That is works did not save you right? Neither do they now to keep you saved! You are under grace and forgiveness. Instead we are no longer under the law as a means to be forgiven. We are already forgiven IN CHRIST right?

However, we should be working towards and willingly giving over sin temptation to the Holy Spirit and acknowledge it is wrong. It is good to pray to the Holy Spirit and ask for help in resisting. Asking for help to renew your mind over this temptation that you are struggling with. That is working with he Holy Spirit! God will help you! Even right when you are about to sin. And even pray about it after you already gave into it. It is not that you are asking God to forgive you – He ALREADY did that in Christ! It is that you ask God flat out in honesty, confessing your sin.. I blew it again. Please help me to stop this. Help renew my mind on this.

What should we do when tempted and we feel like ‘Uh oh.. this is a tough one to resist!’ One thing you can do in certain situations is to do as Joseph in Egypt as a slave when tempted to commit adultery with his master’s wife enticed him. He flat out RAN AWAY! Yes get yourself out of that situation and FAST! And of course, do not get yourself into situations where you know there will be a temptation that you have had difficulty.

Does that mean you will never sin again?
Does that mean it is possible to never sin again after Salvation?

“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10 KJV)

If I can be truthful in anything it is this.. you are going to blow it! You are still going to struggle with sinning after your Salvation. You are still in your fleshly sinful body just as I am. Anyone that says they have no sin after Salvation, they just cannot get around this one. They are actually calling Jesus a liar! All while they are flat out lying about this. Fighting sin is a daily struggle in this world. One of the greatest writers in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, struggled with sin. (Romans 7) So will we. However, it is a worthy struggle. Resist hard. Use your faith. Use the Word of God to renew your mind to the truth. Stand firm knowing what Christ did for us! Now I say that as one who also blows it! But I keep trying. Not to remain saved.. but because it is just right isn’t it?

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” (1 John 2:1 KJV)

The Bible is clear that God disciplines those He loves. He will discipline believers as His children because He loves us and wants to build up our faith in Him, learn that consequences are real and that we should not do that again. But rest in faith that what God says is true in the Bible. Rest on His promise of eternal life and that you cannot lose your Salvation. Your new immortal body will come soon enough and this life we live in The Sinful Flesh body will be less than a second of time in light of us living all eternity with Christ and our fellow Saints.

In Salvation, you always have the Full Holy Spirit with you, from the day of your Salvation and for all eternity.

Want to help the Holy Spirit?

Fill yourself with the Word Of God! Read the Bible. Abide in Christ and His words (John 15). Decide to walk in The Spirit as much as possible to avoid the sins of The Flesh. And know this: when you blow it, and sin (and you WILL!) know God is there ready to give you a hand up to overcome the sin. Be HONEST with God.. He knows you better than you know yourself and He INDWELLS you as a believer to help change you and renew your mind from the inner man of the Spirit of God, which works outwardly into your life in good works God has prepared for you.

HOW DO WE GAIN FORGIVENESS OF SINS WITH GOD?

By being a good person and doing good works? NO!

By Asking God for forgiveness? By confessing sins to God? NO!

By going to confession with a priest? NO!

By going to church? NO!

By forgiving others. NO!

By giving all your money to the poor. By Helping others? By being good? NO!

By giving your heart to Christ? NO!

By just saying a prayer to God. NO!

By changing our life from sinful deeds to good deeds? NO!

By making God Lord of your life? NO!

By surrendering your life to Christ? NO!

HOW DOES THE BIBLE SAY WE ARE FORGIVEN OUR SINS THEN?

Did Jesus pay for just believers sins or ALL SINS from ALL TIME?

Did Jesus make a partial payment for the sins of the whole world or did He pay for all sins completely and utterly?

How do we receive the forgiveness that the payment for all sins by Christ crucified died and risen provides? How does Jesus answer this question?

BUT THERE IS MORE THAN THAT!!

DO believers still sin? DO YOU? Be Honest!

Are the sins we commit after our moment of Salvation forgiven?

But why do believers still have sin in our lives?

Does the grace of God mean we have a license to sin?

Should we turn from our sins believing in the Eternal Security of a Believer?

ONCE SAVED. ALWAYS SAVED!

ENTER INTO HIS REST!

What Should Be Focusing On

Know who God has made you, in Christ!

Believe it and then walk in life knowing it.

We will never be ‘sinless’ until our bodily resurrection at the Rapture but we will ‘sin less’ as we renew our mind to the truth of who we now are in Christ!

We Have ALL Of The Holy Spirit From The Moment of Our Salvation

The Holy Spirit Continually Sanctifies Us Until The Rapture

What is God’s thought of this though?

We Do Not Need To Be Constantly Refilled With The Holy Spirit

Doesn’t the Bible Say Not To Grieve The Spirit?

What If A Person Continues To Repeat A Sin?

Does that mean you will never sin again? Does that mean it is possible to never sin again after Salvation?

Want to help the Holy Spirit?

We will never be ‘sinless’ until our bodily resurrection
at the Rapture but we will ‘sin less’
as we renew our mind to the truth of
who we now are in Christ!

Does that mean you will never sin again?
Does that mean it is possible to never sin again after Salvation?