Authentic Bible Discusion Forum

True Salvation (Part 297);

Matthew 5:20;
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

‭Romans 10:1-4;
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

I have many religious friends and pastors who are better behaved than me. In fact, I wouldn't match their zeal to live a godly, clean, and pleasant life. I tend to think that I am more evil and fleshy than them. They work really hard, and they really strive to keep doing good. They give to the poor, they are faithful to their spouses, they don't drink, they love everyone, they have no lust, they don't joke (they are ever serious), they don't curse or abuse anyone, they don't love money, they are not greedy, they are humble, they are kind, they don't overlap on the road, they do not covet, they don't tell lies, etc. Such men are very respected in society, and everyone admires them and wants to be like them.

The Scribes and the Pharisees were teachers and keepers of the law. They really worked hard to be godly and to live a clean life. But even with all this zeal, they couldn't meet the threshold or the standard of God when it comes to righteousness. They still fell short, and Jesus even told them that they would die in their sin (John 8:24). Humanly speaking, the Scribes and the Pharisees exhibited such a godly behavior, and they had very good moral character. But even with all this, they couldn't meet the standard of God on righteousness. Can any of us be better behaved than the Pharisees? The answer is no. Then why did Jesus say that if our righteousness doesn't exceed that of the Pharisees we, cannot enter heaven? How can we exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees who had such high moral standards, and who knew the law of God perfectly?

The devil deceives us that we are good, and so we keep trying to work so hard to portray a good image outwardly before men. What we don't know is that God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Even before killing, God sees us as murderers in the heart when we hate or get angry (1 John 3:15, Matthew 5:21-22). Even before committing adultery, God sees adultery in our hearts when we lust (Matthew 5:27-28). Based on the Bible, we are only evil and wicked continually (Genesis 6:5); there is nothing good in us (Romans 7:18); we are all sinful and we have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Based on human deeds, nobody can be righteous; no one at all (Romans 3:10). Even at our best or when we do good, our righteous acts are only but filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). But our heart, which is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), deceives us that we can be good, and so we continually trust in ourselves. But because we can't keep up with the standard of God, we keep confessing sin and asking to be forgiven sin. What we don't know is that sinners belong to satan and that God doesn't listen to sinners (1 John 3:8-9, John 9:31, Isaiah 59:2).

Our righteousness exceeding that of the Pharisees simply means putting away the righteousness of man and putting on the righteousness of God which comes by believing in Jesus (Romans 3:21-22, Romans 3:23-24, Romans 4:5-8, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 61:10). This righteousness is not based and is not dependent on our deeds, whether good or bad and so it can't be lost. The righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees was based on keeping the law, and this was very shaky. One can keep some laws for some time, but eventually, he will definitely break some. Breaking one law is equivalent to breaking all the laws (James 2:10), meaning that sinners are not any different, whether one is a murderer or a pr******te and another one is just a liar. It is true that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God as Romans 3:23 states (based on the righteousness of man). But in Romans 3:24, we have been justified FREELY by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In verse 24, we have already been made righteous in Christ Jesus, and so we are not sinners. We do not keep confessing sin and asking to be forgiven sin; we are already forgiven in Christ Jesus (Colossians 3:13). Are you still in verse 23? Please move to verse 24.

In Matthew 22:1-14, it didn't matter whether those who came to the wedding party were good or bad (verse 10). What mattered was if they had the wedding garment. A man who was there and who had no wedding garment was thrown out. This wedding is talking about our wedding with Jesus Christ. What will make one enter the party is the 'wedding garment', not our good deeds or evil deeds. This wedding garment is the righteousness of Jesus (Isaiah 61:10), which is not based on deeds (Galatians 5:4). We must not hold to our own righteousness, which is only but filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6) like the man who was thrown out. To make us guilty of sin continually, the devil wants us to focus on our deeds because he knows we all have flaws and weaknesses. Instead of focusing on the finished work of the cross by Jesus, we keep focusing on ourselves, and by so doing, we can only be sinners. Let us put away the righteousness of man that keeps us sinners forever and put on the righteousness of God, which is a free gift and which makes us righteous, holy, perfect, and free forever. Amen.

Mtakatifu.

True Salvation (Part 294);

2 Samuel 4:4;
Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

1 Corinthians 8:2;
And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.

Matthew 7:21-23;
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Having grown up in religion, it was very hard for me to change my mind and believe in the truth. How would one convince me that I had not been born again all through and that what I believed in all along was wrong? How could I accept the fact that I was headed to hell fire? I had been a Christian Union leader in high school and in campus, I was also very active in Church from my childhood and in matters Bible, I was well versed. I had received several miracles, including total healing on my leg, which had broken where I had even dropped crutches, I had gotten several promotions at work, and I would pray in 'tongues' for hours, etc. After university, I offered to serve as an intern pastor for a full year in what many consider a big pentecostal Church. How could one then dare tell me that I wasn't a child of God going to heaven with all these 'godly' attributes?

There are elephants that live at peace with humans, and they can carry luggage or even carry people, especially in Western Countries like Nepal and Myanmar. How can such a huge animal be used like a donkey, and yet it can kill many people in just seconds? When the elephant was young, a strong rope was tied on its leg. It tried to come out many times but couldn't. Even as it grew older and stronger, it still couldn't come out. Eventually, it was registered in its brain that it was powerless and couldn't be free. Even when the rope was removed, the elephant still knew that it was under the mercy of the people around it. The elephant's mind had been held captive, and despite its strength, it could only be used as a donkey and never again did it try to free itself. This is what religion did to us from when we were young, and this is the reason why many people can't open up to the truth. In their minds, they think they know God without knowing for sure that they are headed to hell as sinners who keep confessing sin. Sinners belong to satan, and God doesn't listen to sinners (1 John 3:8-9, John 9:31, Isaiah 59:2).

The first nurse of Mephibosheth made him really suffer. She dropped him when he was five years old and he broke his two legs. She kept hiding him from David and made him grow up fearing David. All this time, the nurse did not know that there was a covenant to save Mephibosheth, and David was looking for him to show him mercy and kindness (2 Samuel 9:1-13). Despite his background (he was from the family of King Saul) and his lameness, David wanted to show him mercy. David hated the lame and wanted them killed, and they wouldn't come to the palace (2 Samuel 5:8). But there was a covenant between David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:13-17), which the nurse was not aware of. This covenant had salvation for Mephibosheth, but the wrong nurse was taking him far from David, and she really made him suffer. Mephibosheth couldn't stop being lame and his blood line was that of King Saul, and there was nothing he could do about it. But the covenant between David and Jonathan made him get to the palace and sit on the king's table.

Like it was for Mephibosheth, there is a covenant that makes us acceptable before God no matter how dirty and filthy we are. We all became sinners through Adam (Romans 5:12), and there is nothing we could do to solve the sin problem. Since sinners belong to satan, we belonged to satan right from our mothers womb (Psalms 51:5). Because of this seed of sin, we can only do evil and so our 'legs were broken' and we became lame like Mephibosheth (Romans 7:14-20, Jeremiah 13:23, Genesis 6:5, Isaiah 64:6, Job 15:14-16). This means that there is nothing we could do to change our status, and like Mephibosheth, we were completely doomed. But what our first nurse did not tell us is that there is a covenant that gives us eternal salvation without us doing anything. By telling us that we are sinners who should keep confessing sin and by telling us to keep trying doing good so as to go to heaven, the wrong nurse kept taking us away from God for sinners belong to satan and God doesn't listen to sinners (1 John 3:8-9, John 9:31, Isaiah 59:2). We can only be saved if we believe in the right nurse. I am sure Mephibosheth was so afraid when he met the new nurse that was taking him to David, for he thought David would kill him, but this was the right nurse that brought salvation to him. Let us not hold onto past religious knowledge, which blocks us from hearing the right nurse brethren! Just like we became sinners through one man, Adam, we also became righteous through one man, Jesus Christ, and without doing anything (Romans 5:18-19).

In Hebrews 10:15-17, God made a new covenant that He would not remember our sins and iniquities anymore. It is true that we have all sinned and we do fall short of the glory of God but because of this covenant, we are freely justified by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24). But because of the wrong nurses (religious denominations), we have grown up knowing that we are enemies of God and we keep confessing sin, thinking that God is counting our sins against us. But Romans 4:5-8 tells us that our righteousness is without works, our sins are all covered, and God doesn't count our sin against us. Hebrews 10:10-12 tells us that through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, we have been sanctified once and for all and that this sacrifice for sin was forever. If we keep trusting the wrong nurse, for sure, we are headed to destruction, and we will live in suffering. Many people think that they belong to God because of miracles, signs, prophecies, etc, but Jesus will tell them that He doesn't know them, for they didn't do His will. The will of God is that we look at Jesus and believe in the finished work of the cross (John 6:40). Those doing the will of God are not sinners and do not keep confessing sin, for they believe that Jesus paid it all. Do you want to remain with the old nurse as a sinner, or do you want to believe in the truth and be set free from sin forever? It's all up to you, choose wisely, please! Amen.

Mtakatifu.