1. Salvation REQUIRES obeying Jesus
Does salvation require obedience? Deceiving preachers say to be saved you only need believe and declare Jesus died for your sin, was buried, and rose from the dead 3 days later. This made-up, false path for eternal life does not require we obey Jesus, rather, it only puts confidence and lip service in what Jesus did. But lying church leaders are not the authors of salvation. The one and only author of eternal salvation is Christ Jesus. Hebrews 5:8-9 says, "…he [Jesus] became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him…" To author something is to create it. Jesus is the original creator of what is required to gain eternal life. As the author, He requires we obey Him for salvation. If you reject His requirement to obey, He will reject saving you.
2. Salvation is saved FROM your Sin, NOT saved IN your Sin
Jesus came to save his people from their sin, so they might inherit Heaven. Sin causes spiritual death, and spiritually dead souls are damned to Hell. Matthew 1:21 says, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." The Bible defines salvation as being saved from your sin. To understand the danger of sin, think of it as a cancer. Cancer destroys vital life-giving organs, and the consequence is physical death of your body. Sin quenches the holy spirit, and the consequence is spiritual death of your soul. (CORRECTION: In the video I state sin destroys the holy spirit, but sin actually quenches the holy spirit and so it leaves, resulting in death of the soul.) Doctors do not rescue a patient’s life by leaving the cancer in their body. Doctors rescue a patient’s life by saving them from the cancer; that is, removing and destroying the cancer from their body. So also, Jesus does not rescue your soul by leaving sin in you. Jesus rescues his people from spiritual death by saving them from their sins; that is, removing and destroying sin from their hearts, minds, and life. Churchgoers are deceived to declare they are saved, redeemed and free while continuing to do sin. But in John 8:34, 36, Jesus said, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin…If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Jesus said if you commit sin, you are a servant of sin; you are not free, you are not saved.
3. Jesus is AUTHOR of Salvation to all who OBEY Him
Churchgoers are deceived to believe they are saved children of God even as they continue to disobey the commandments of Jesus. To grasp the danger of this false salvation, let’s consider a hypothetical analogy using life and death of our physical body. Let’s say I have a friend who tells me he has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his body. If he does nothing, the cancer will kill him within a year. He is afraid and does not want to die. I advise him of a wonderful doctor who authored the book on a cure, and tell him this doctor cures all his patients from their cancer. So, my friend meets this doctor who says the only cure is a 9-month rigorous treatment plan of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Shortly after this appointment, I visit my friend and he is now happy and at peace. He tells me he is cured and has escaped death. I am surprised and ask if the cancer is gone from his body. My friend replies the tumor is still there. But after the doctor’s appointment, he met a fortuneteller who told him not to worry—that as long as he accepted and believed the doctor, he was already cured and would not die. This whole scenario sounds ridiculous. How to be assured you will not die while the cancer which kills remains in your body? False salvation is equally ridiculous—how to be assured you are saved and going to heaven while the sin that causes spiritual death remains in you? In this story the fortune teller is clearly a deceiver, in real life most pastors are deceivers. If you truly accept and believe the doctor, you will obey his treatment instructions. So also, if you truly accept and believe Jesus as Savior, you will obey His commandments and teaching.
4. SIN causes spiritual DEATH
Salvation is being freed or rescued from sin because it is the root cause of spiritual death. Ephesians 2:1-3 says, "And you hath he [God] quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." To quicken is to make alive, God makes spiritually alive the souls of those who were dead in sin by giving the holy spirit. Just as blood is the life source of our physical body, the holy spirit is the life source of our soul. If we repent of sin and cry out to God for help, He gives us the holy spirit to live holy, righteous in this present world. As the verses say, after being quickened and made spiritually alive, our prior life of doing sinful deeds is in time past. As the physician of the soul, Jesus’s first teaching is repent—that is, turn away from sin. In Luke 5:31-32 Jesus said to the Pharisees and scribes, "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Pharisees and scribes were self-righteous hypocrites. Jesus called them children of the devil, but they considered themselves free children of God. So also, now pastors and religious churchgoers are self-righteous, sinning children of the devil, but they consider themselves saved children of God. Jesus did not come to call such people. He came to call sinners who are humble enough to repent and obey Him.
5. Assurance of Heaven while continuing in Sin is DECEPTION
Lying preachers define salvation as assurance of heaven, and insist obedience is not required for this assurance. They contradict Scripture and say salvation comes first and trying to obey Jesus comes after—but this deception puts the cart in front of the horse. God’s Word does not give assurance of Heaven to those who continue to sin. Ephesians 5:5-6 says, "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience." 1 Corinthians 6:9 says, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." In both passages, Apostle Paul warns believers to not be deceived by anyone into thinking they will inherit Heaven while continuing to do sin. God will be a righteous judge—He hates sin and His wrath will fall on unrepentant sinners.
6. Jesus died to become Author of Salvation, NOT as substitute for your ongoing sin
Church people believe Jesus died on the cross as a substitute of punishment for their ongoing sin—this is absolute deception. Jesus died to become the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Hebrews 5:8-9 says, "Though he [Jesus] were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him…" Jesus is not Savior to whoever claims His blood, and Jesus is not Savior to whoever declares clinging to the cross. Scripture says Jesus suffered crucifixion and death to obey God’s will, in doing so, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. So, what does it mean to obey Jesus? Obeying Jesus is taking up your cross to put to death the sinful nature of your flesh. Galatians 5:19-21, 24-25 says, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like…that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God….And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." We do not have to be physically crucified. However, we are to crucify the sinful desires of our flesh so that we do the will of God to stop sinning. Our new walk of life must be in the holy spirit to do righteous, holy deeds.
7. Obey Jesus to WALK in the light, then His blood will cleanse from all sin
1 Peter 4:1-3 says, "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries…" Please notice this verse emphasizes when we put to death the flesh nature, then the sinful deeds of sexual immorality, drinking, partying and idolatry, etc become in time past. The Jesus’s blood does not apply to forgive future sins; it only applies to forgive past sins of those who meet God’s requirement. (For more details on this topic click on this link: God Forgive Future Sin? ). The blood of Jesus applies to supernaturally cleanse us from all sin, including forgiveness of past sin, if we walk in obedience to His commandments. 1 John 1:6-7 says, "If we say that we have fellowship with him [God], and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Scripture gives a clear condition for applying the blood of Jesus: it is only for those who walk in the light as God is in the light. So, while it is true Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the dead, Jesus is NOT your Savior if you simply think and declare these facts about Him. Christ Jesus can only become your Savior if you obey Him.