Doing Good Enough Does Not Save Anyone

There are many people who are believing they must do good things or live righteously to be saved and heaven bound. Christ is the only way to heaven, it is through His righteousness that a born-again believer gains heaven nothing of their own work.

Every born again believer remains to the end. Not remaining to the end is the proof the person was never born again.

When Christ changes us into a new creation it is all His Work because of our confession that we are sinners and cannot save ourselves. We cannot work our way to heaven or work to keep the salvation that was a work of God.

Our salvation is not based on Christ's sacrifice and us too. You will not find this anywhere in Scripture.

Ephesians 2:10

"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

We do not make ourselves this new creation, Christ does it so no one can boast that they did enough to save themselves. No human being has the ability to be "good enough" to earn heaven.

Ephesians 1:13-14 "13And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"

When Christ changes us we cannot change back nor do we want to.

Those who walk away after claiming to be a Christian were pretenders they are explained in Matthew.

Matthew 7:21-23

I Never Knew You

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Matthew 15:8-9

"8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

9 And in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Someone can attend a church gathering all their lives, claim to be Christians and even have much "god-talk" and never have been changed by Christ because they were playing religion not wanting to be changed by Christ and expecting to be good without Him.

Many people are more about impressing others than they love Christ. They will parade their good deeds and god-talk as if this is convincing, but to the discerning Spirit one can often see the pretense because the fruit of the Spirit is missing in these people.

Galatians 5:22-26

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

The fruit of the Spirit is not works, neither to earn heaven or good graces. The fruit of the Spirit is the character qualities of Christ that we get when He comes to live in us, they have nothing to do with any thing we do.

Christ saves those who confess their sinfulness and desire to be changed by Him, then He comes to live in us as our guide and teacher and disciplines us when we falter.

Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"

God does not throw away His children for sin, He disciplines them.

Also, anyone who thinks we can sin to lose our salvation had better be able to tell us which ones would cause this to happen, how many and how big.

Christ died for all our sins and cleanses us as we confess them.

1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Someone changed by Christ does not keep on sinning but confesses it to be cleansed. Those who resist correction defending their sin will willful abandon were never born again.

Who Should Be Our Companions?

God wants us to surround ourselves with those who affirm our desire to walk with Christ. Those who negate what we believe, the things we say and what we do according to God's Word must be removed from our lives as much as possible.

The devil wants nothing more than to discourage and silence us so that we never share the love of Christ or His Truth from His Word.

Intimidation and mocking are the most used tools on the devils belt. He cannot cause us to lose our salvation but He can turn people against us through gossip and lies so that no one will listen to us. We must walk away from those who will not listen to God's Truth.

When we see this happening we can praise God because the devil cannot silence any believer who is dedicated and sold out to following Christ. Since Christ is our focus at all times we are not moved by the tactics of the devil or those he has enlisted to attack us.

1 Peter 5:8 "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

The devil and his followers cannot harm us or diminish our witness if we don't care if people "like" us. Our concern is that people who encounter us will become convicted of their sinfulness and trust in Christ for their salvation. When our walk is not about us but about Christ it doesn't matter if anyone likes us. We can expect most if not all family members to come against us since we are living in the last days of apostasy.

Matthew 10:21-23a "…21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next."

God never commands us to remain with those who have rejected Him or us. He tells us to move on without missing a beat. We are not called to "convince" someone through arguments, we are called to share the good news and move on when it is rejected.

2 Timothy 3:5 tell us to avoid people who are rebellious and hostile.

"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

There are many of these kinds of people in the organized church system who will reject anyone who is bold for Christ and His word. The apostate Christians seek a false gospel that elevates themselves while denying Christ by negating His Word even as they claim they are Bible believers.

The word tells us to 'avoid such people", they will work to malign your character to others, to pressure you at every turn to give up your desire to follow Christ. They want us to become like them.

Matthew 19:29 "29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother [c]or children or farms on account of My name, will receive [d]many times as much, and will inherit eternal life."

Luke 14:26 "

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."

Do not despair but praise God when you have become the family outliar for seeking Christ and pray for those who have rejected Him. It is Christ we love more than any other human being and our brothers and sisters in Him, they are our family forever.

Atheists are Liars They Know Who God is and Hate Him

I have never seen an atheist oppose dramatically ferry tales. They don't give them a second thought. Anyone who claims to be an atheist is lying, they know there is a God and is fighting against Him.

Atheists know that God is real and the ferry stories are not, so the stories are not threatening but God Whom they have no power over is very threatening.

Have you ever had someone deny you in the sense that they demean, mock, dismiss and become angry over everything you say and do, even the most insignificant things? I have experienced this many times in my life and have come to realize this is how the rebellious heart treats God.

Those who know God is more powerful than they are mock and demean in subtle ways such as denying God said something when He did. They will change His Words in the Bible and seek out false teachers to make it appear as though they love Him but in reality, they are attempting to change Him into their own likeness.

Those who snatch passages out of context in the Bible to make them say what they personally like or to fit the culture they live in, are denying Christ. Then there are those ho add to the Bible by ignoring whole passages that would clarify God's true meaning.

I am not a fan of Bible studies that claim to go "verse by verse" this is an irresponsible way of handling God's Word. Every verse must be read in the context of the whole passage and then in the context of the entire Bible. This takes study and the reason so many people get so much wrong because they are lazy in their studies if it can even be called a study. They allow others to tell them what to believe without questioning what is said. And, often they believe what they like or are familiar with not what God said.

2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 "…20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt, 21 but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.…"

Paul was a preacher of the gospel led by the Holy Spirit and yet the Bereans wanted to make sure He was telling the truth by going to the scriptures themselves, just as we should do.

Acts 17:10-11 "10 As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true."

We have an obligation to God to seek the Holy Spirit whenever anyone tells us something about the Bible. We will either know the Bible well enough to accept or reject what we heard or we will rush to prayer asking the Holy Spirit for what we are not sure of or what He is warning us about.

Many times preachers who were thought of as more knowledgeable than I and others, who said things that the Holy Spirit warned me about. When I was unsettled about what was being said I would go to prayer and study and find out something was wrong with it and the Holy Spirit gave me the answer.

We are all teachers to some degree if we are walking with Christ, but we must challenge one another when something is unclear or something is believed that was not in the Bible.

The Christian church is full of false beliefs that undermine the Word of God but the people think are wise. When we believe what we are told without question, we disobey the Word of God that commands us to test everything.

1 Thessalonians 5:21

"21 but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good,"

Once the Lord has shown us the truth, we can never be convinced of anything else and easily see when something is wrong.

Galatians 6:7-8

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

We will speak and act out the WAY we think. If we think with the mind of Christ dismissing all that is worldly we will act like Christ. If we think like the world we will act the way the culture acts and not according to truth.

Don't Fight with a Narcissist - God Says Do This Instead!

Amen, Amen! The fretting is because we want to feel in control when we cannot be in control. When I realized I could not do anything to make things better with the narcissists I walked away and felt the freedom of God to carry on without that worry.

The Fruit of the Spirit is not Works but Character Qualities

Many people have confused the fruit of the Spirit to mean actions, this is not accurate and here is why.

The fruit of the Spirit is not actions because anyone can pretend good actions. The fruit is the character qualities of Christ only discerned by born again believers.

Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law"

Good fruit will be followed by righteous actions but the fruit is the character qualities that lead to the actions.

I have known many people who have good actions who are not born again. And, God describes their condition if they don't repent and trust in Christ.

Matthew 7:21-23 "Matthew 7:21-23

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Narcissists can fool people but not forever, those who know the character of the person can see that the actions are manipulative and not genuine.

The good actions that come from God's fruit of character qualities are never manipulative, they do not have to be concocted, they come as naturally as breathing because they are a part of the person who has Christ living in them. They do not have to "try" to appear good, they have Christ in them Who is good!

Ecclesiastes 7:8

"The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one."

It is the Spirit of a man that walks in love, not the tries of a man who wants to be seen as good and special.

Romans 8:5

"Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."

It is fleshly to attempt to be good to be liked by others, it is the Spirit of Christ working in us when His character qualities live within us producing effortlessly the fruit because we love Him and because He has changed us into a new creation. We no longer desire the things of the flesh.

Romans 14:17

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."

When we have become weak and given into the flesh God has given us the Advocate, the Holy Spirit Who brings us back to right actions because He convicts our hearts of sin so that we will not continue to walk in it.

Galatians 5:16-18

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh…"

Psalm 1:3

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Those who walk in the Spirit battle against the flesh and the Holy Spirit in us gives us the victory when we confess we took our eyes off of Him and gave into the flesh momentarily.

1 John 3:6-7 " 6 No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.…"

The unbeliever justifies their sin and rages at the suggestion that they must repent. But the born-again believer is ashamed when they sin and confess it to be cleansed of it and continue to walk in holiness.

Romans 15:14

"And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another."

If we love one another we will correct each other out of a deep love of the Brethren so that everyone is growing and changing as they put off the desires of the flesh.

Galatians 5:15-17 "15 But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another. 16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.…"

The biggest problem in the believers life is the pressure of the culture and family to be just like them, walking fleshly without a desire to become more holy. We must resist them and get away if the pressure becomes overwhelming and ruinous.

Keep Looking Up, very soon we will be free from this wicked world and its false demonstration of religion that enslaves people to their sinful desires to be superior. Only Christ is superior and He is the One we follow.

Seek Christ and His Meaning not the Thoughts of Men

One time years ago I attended a Bible study conducted by a Pentecostal woman.

After having us read a Bible passage the first thing out of her mouth was; "what does that passage mean to you."

I raised my hand and said; It's not what a passage means to me it is what God meant by it. I left that gathering and never returned because everyone ignored me and avoided me after that.

We can not influence a group when everyone in it is looking to the false leader to guide them not to the Bible or the Holy Spirit. If we are asking people what they want to believe about a passage we are pretending all opinions are equal to God's wisdom. This is a form of heresy propagated liberally in our time.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "

…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"

It will not be easy to find groups of people in our day who are seeking the Bible and the Holy Spirit for the truth. It is best to remain alone unless God guides you to someone who agrees with Him too.

Remember Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, He is called the Word, it is His meaning and His purposes that we seek therefore we should be asking Him for wisdom not concocting our own based on our desires.

James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"

No One Earns Their Way to Heaven Because No One's Could be Good Enough

When Christ changes someone into a new creation it is His work and not ours. Nothing we do can save us or lose us, it is Christ Who seals us.

2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30, is the mark of identification that the believer is truly God's own and is kept forever by the power of God.

Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

If we could do anything to keep our own salvation then salvation would depend on us entirely. Christ is the only One Who can change a person into an entirely new person.

Those who walk away after claiming to be a Christian were attempting to save themselves and were never born again.

Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Notice the word; "never", God said He never knew the one who claimed to be a Christian but walked away.

God also says, no child of God keeps on sinning, in other words if we sin it is giving into the flesh and we repent to be cleansed to grow in holiness.

1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Those who are born again battle with the flesh but resist the sin, if they fall they have an advocate with the Father. The one who says they are Christian but has no staying power was never born again. It is Christ Who keeps us, not our own will.

1 John 3:9 ""No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God"

1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.…"

Those who fight to defend their sin or walk away were never born again in the first place, they were pretenders.

The five virgins did not have the Holy Spirit and weren't saved. Those who had enough oil, that is the Holy Spirit were those who never turned back.

The five virgins who walked away knew of Christ but did not heave His Holy Spirit. They never belonged to Him. The five foolish virgins knew of Christ but never placed their trust in HIm. The five wise virgins were indwelt with the Holy Spirit, belonged to Christ and would not be turned a way based on their own good deeds but based on the righteousness of Christ.

Luk 13:23-27 Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, (24) Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. (25) Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' (26) Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' (27) But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'"

Many people know of Christ and even believe He exists but have no desire to be changed by Him, they want to walk their own path believing in themselves.

Proverbs 28:26
"26 Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe."

Our salvation is not dependent on how good we are, it is dependent on the work of Christ on the cross. In response to our confession that we have sinned and cannot save ourselves, along with our desire to be changed by Him into a new creation, He does all the work on our behalf. He saves us, He cleanses us over our lifetime as we grow in holiness and He advocates for us before the Father.

If we fail in the flesh Christ disciplines us to bring us back to obedience and advocates to the Father on our behalf.

 
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"

No one will be saved who depends on their own ability to be good, only those who have fully trusted Christ and believe Him when He says He already did the work to pay for our sin on the cross.

 
Trusting Christ is not a work, it is a heart belief in His work on the cross and a desire to be changed by Him. When He does this He changes the WAY we think entirely so that we no longer love the sin we used to obey as slaves to it. After He changes us we love His righteousness. When we fail in the flesh we hate it and confess it to be cleansed.

 
1 John 1:9 "
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Only those who have been changed by Christ after they have repented will have His righteousness accounted to them and will battle sin in the flesh to grow in holiness over their lifetime until He takes us home.

 
Ephesians 1:14: "The Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory".

 
Our Guarantee is the Holy Spirit, It is God's seal on us and a promise to us that we will never be lost again. There will be many pretenders who claim to be Christians but have never trusted in Christ, they wanted all His blessings and perks but they didn't want Him.

Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, 14 who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory."