FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED
BY lanre AYOOLA
(lanre@hotmail.com)

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. -Matthew 7:21-23

This is an amazing portion of the Bible. These people preached in Jesus' name, cast out devils in Jesus' name, and performed many wonderful works in Jesus' name; BUT, they all went to Hellfire. Why? Because they failed to do the will of God, which is plainly stated in John 6:40... "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."
The world is filled today with do-gooders, religious and non-religious alike. The Word of God teaches that they'll all go straight to Hellfire if they don't obey the will of God. We are warned once again in 2nd Thessalonians 1:8,9... "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." Those do-gooders, no matter how much good they have done in this life, who refuse to OBEY the Word of God, will be punished for eternity in the tormentuous flames of Hell under the wrath of God. The World Today Abounds with Workers of Iniquity.
The world is filled today with workers of iniquity, i.e., people who do good works in the world's eyes; BUT, they have not done God's will by obeying the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This can become confusing at times for immature believers, and certainly for the unsaved, who cannot understand why a person who does good deeds their entire life could still go to Hell to be punished forever. The answer is very simple if one believes the Bible, for we read in Proverb 14:12... "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Just as the sincere religious folks in Matthew 7:21-23, who found out the hard way that they "thought wrong," so will many sincere people today (billions in fact) will find out at the Great White Throne of Judgment that they were DEAD WRONG.
It doesn't matter who you are, how much good you have done in your life, how little you've sinned, how many friends you have, how good of a parent you are, how faithful you've been to your church, or how much money you've donated to charity—You will be cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity if you don't obey the will of God, which again, is plainly stated in John 6:40... "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." Do you realize your GUILT of sin? Do you realize that you justly deserve to be punished in Hellfire for those sins? If so, then you simply need to BELIEVE on Jesus as the Christ, i.e., as your personal Savior, to be saved. Jesus has paid the price for your sins with His own precious blood (1st Peter 1:18,19). You may have eternal life as a FREE GIFT (Romans 5:15; 6:23) because Jesus paid for it. You cannot
earn or merit eternal life (as many false prophets teach today). Ephesians 2:8,9 state... "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." How much plainer could the Bible be? Thank God for the simplicity of salvation, that even a small child can comprehend. We are sinners, and Jesus is the Savior. It's that simple.
I plead with you, whoever you may be, to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ while there is still hope for your soul. Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again for our justification; but, we must receive God's free gift of salvation by simply believing on the name of Jesus to forgive our sins. You see, the religious folks in Matthew 7:21-23 performed many wonderful works in Jesus' name, preached in Jesus' name, even cast out devils in Jesus' name; BUT they never actually BELIEVED on Jesus as the Savior. They were exploiting the name of Jesus for their own benefit (profit). Many false prophets abound today. They are Bar Jesus. They call the name of Jesus but their hearts are far from Jesus. They and many other denominations today all exploit the name of Jesus. They are false religions. In one way or another they have ALL perverted the simple Gospel (Galatians 1:9; 2nd Corinthians 11:3).
To add any self-righteous work; such as, baptism, tithing, keeping the Sabbath, showing devotion to the virgin Mary, or anything else is blasphemy against the plainest teachings of God's Word. If you realize your guilt and condemnation of sin under God's Holy Law, and you repent, i.e., turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, trusting upon Him to forgive your sins, then you will be SAVED! It is the precious blood of Jesus Christ that takes our sins away forever, in response to our faith solely in Him, and nothing else. What a Wonderful Savior!
This piece is not meant to be unkind, or to be critical of the good deeds done by anyone. The Bible is God's Word, and the Bible warns that even the most noblest and generous of people in this world WILL go to Hellfire if they die in their sins without Jesus Christ. John 8:24 states, "...for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."

In Christ Alone,lanre AYOOLA

"The race is not [always] to the swift nor the battle to the strong..." Ecclesiastes 9:11