We are living in times that very much mirror the Reformation period. Many of churches today like the Roman Catholic Church then are eroding with false doctrines, the Roman Church of the Reformation time had its Indulgences to buy salvation, today Evangelical and other Protestant Churches preach the Prosperity Doctrine, that if you follow Jesus you will have wealth and riches. At the time of Reformation, the Ottoman Turks (Muslims) were invading and conquering the known world, and had their sights on Europe, today we seeing Islam infiltrate and take over Europe with no go zones in France, Belgium, England, and now in America, Dearborn Michigan. In the same way, the Gospel of Grace is under siege as it was by Roman Church in Martin Luther's time. Many brothers and sisters in Christ are falling into the trap of works based salvation; the fall for the promise of more, deeper truths and merit based cults. Today's churches are very much like the Roman Church of Reformation Times, fat, rich, and full of bad teachings and traditions. Churches today have programs and ad campaigns and entertainments (festivals back in day) to assuage people's doubts nad pain today, but they fail in more important things, they do not visit the sick in hospitals or show world that we Chris'ts disciples, "A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another," (John 13:34-35), and "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law--justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things." (Matthew 23:23).
Today's Protestant Churches are fastly mirroring the Roman Church of the Reformation. They are content in their traditions and verging dangerously from the True Gospel and teaching of the Holy Bible. Many Protestant Churches have embraced universalism, and interfaith ecumenicalism, claiming that Catholics and Protestants, Hindus and Holy Bible Thumpers can be one family; neglecting the facts that Jesus is only Way, "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6), There is no other name by which we are saved, "let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved," (Acts 4:10-12), and anyone who presumes to jump over gate with their doctrines into the kingdom will perish, "I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!,Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures., " (John 10:1,7-9), "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten [not made, begotten means to come forth from, see Hebrews 1 and Philippians 2] Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God," (John 3:16-18), and "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”" (John 6:40). Other churches are taking a more Pharisaical route (Pharisees), believing that being more knowledgeable and focusing on Scripture will help, but often this results in an intense legalism and ironically it can lead to less grace and more salvation by works, specifically by doing more. These brothers and sisters confuse Salvation and Fruit bearing. Salvation is by grace, fruit is built up through a relationship with the Vine Jesus Christ whom through we can only bear fruit, "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5). And this is what often happens, churches try to bear fruit out of sheer will, teachings, and zeal; but it can only be done through relating to Jesus Christ as fiend, Savior, and God; and letting Him within you (Colossians 1:27) shine forth with His fruit.
Grace is under siege these days. Ironically, when we have more access to Scripture and the Greek than ever, people are falling further and further away from grace into works. I believe this has much to do with Islam and its influence. Right now, Muslims by sheer procreation and numbers are majority in most countries, even in US they rising to dominance. The spirit with Islamists, is Allah, a harsh god who demands salvation by works (Jihad Ashgar); that Muslims prove themselves worthy of paradise through doing enough good deeds to outweigh bad deeds; and if this is not sufficient, a Muslim may employ another path of good deeds, and indulgence akin to Crusader Indulgence, dying in cause of holy war and killing infidels (non-Muslims) in Jihad Akbar. Every time a Muslim blow themselves up with suicide vest, runs over people with van, or does any act of terror, it is blood sacrifice to Allah, and creates a stronghold. The Apostle Paul tells us, "For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We do this with prayer. The problem is that the identity and ideology of Allah, a harsh god is infecting the minds of Christian brothers and sisters; because his adherents (Muslims) are everywhere. Their prayers five times a day are calling upon a god of wrath and harshness, and it is effecting prayer life of us Chrsitians. The goal of Satan right now is to paint Jesus as harsh like Allah, that like Medieval paintings of Jesus, you will see a Christ who is indifferent, harsh, cruel, and even apathetic to your needs. This is part of brain washing spiritually going on. And so to counteract this false image of Jesus as harsh and demanding, I suggest that you fix your eyes on God's face, which is Grace:
Grace means unmerited favor, in this case unmerited favor of God towards man, He freely gave Himself as salvation for our sins on the cross.
"But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" (Romans 5:8-9)
"Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault (beyond reproach)." (Colossians 1:22)
"So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers[a] with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 15:10-11)
"Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." (Ephensians 2:8-9)
"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." (Romans 11:6)
"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3;20-24)
"You who are trying to be justified by the Law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." (Galatians 5:4)
"Christ is the end of the Law, in order to bring righteousness to everyone who believes." (Romans 10:4)
"And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24)
"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—" (Philippians 3:8-9)
"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:10-14). Notice here that fruit bearing, good works follows after salvation has taken place!
"Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began." (2 Timothy 1:9)
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
"For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (Galatians 2:19-21).
"And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33)
There is a reason that the Solas of Reformation were Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), and Sola Fide (Faith Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), Solae Scriptura (Scripture Alone), and finally Solae del Gloria (Glory be to God Alone). The reason is the Reformers were saying what Apostles were saying, salvation in Christ is by Grace (His unmerited favor, dying for us while we are stiller sinners), and through faith in Christ (John 6:40, John 3:16, Philippians 3:9), and that this faith can only be in Christ Jesus (John 14:6, John 6:40, 1 John 4:15, Acts 4:10-12) and no other, according to the Holy Scriptures, not the traditions of Roman Catholic Church, Church of Latter Day-Saints, The Eastern Orthodox Church, Evangelical Churches, Charismatic Churches, or any institution; the authority that affirms that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone is the Holy Bible, New Testament, Scripture, and that glory only belongs to God who has saved us; our requirement is to accept and receive that free gift of salvation by having faith and believing in Jesus Christ as God and Son of God and that His grace and sacrifice on cross for our sins is enough (Hebrews 9:26, Hebrews 9:28, Hebrews 10 whole chapter, 1 Peter 3:18).
"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." (Romans 11:6)
"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3;20-24)
"You who are trying to be justified by the Law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." (Galatians 5:4)
"Christ is the end of the Law, in order to bring righteousness to everyone who believes." (Romans 10:4)
"And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24)
"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—" (Philippians 3:8-9)
"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:10-14). Notice here that fruit bearing, good works follows after salvation has taken place!
"Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began." (2 Timothy 1:9)
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
"For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (Galatians 2:19-21).
"And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33)
There is a reason that the Solas of Reformation were Sola Gratia (Grace Alone), and Sola Fide (Faith Alone), Solus Christus (Christ Alone), Solae Scriptura (Scripture Alone), and finally Solae del Gloria (Glory be to God Alone). The reason is the Reformers were saying what Apostles were saying, salvation in Christ is by Grace (His unmerited favor, dying for us while we are stiller sinners), and through faith in Christ (John 6:40, John 3:16, Philippians 3:9), and that this faith can only be in Christ Jesus (John 14:6, John 6:40, 1 John 4:15, Acts 4:10-12) and no other, according to the Holy Scriptures, not the traditions of Roman Catholic Church, Church of Latter Day-Saints, The Eastern Orthodox Church, Evangelical Churches, Charismatic Churches, or any institution; the authority that affirms that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone is the Holy Bible, New Testament, Scripture, and that glory only belongs to God who has saved us; our requirement is to accept and receive that free gift of salvation by having faith and believing in Jesus Christ as God and Son of God and that His grace and sacrifice on cross for our sins is enough (Hebrews 9:26, Hebrews 9:28, Hebrews 10 whole chapter, 1 Peter 3:18).
The problem in churches today is that many confuse salvation and fruit bearing. Anytime someone begins to speak about grace, the response is "there has to be fruit!" Sadly, this often then evolves into having to bear fruit to be saved, the same old works based salvation of the Roman Catholic and other churches. The truth is fruit bearing comes later, after one received God's Grace through Jesus Christ and believes in Him, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, [He is] training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:10-14). The Apostle Paul discovered something here, the fact that fruit bearing and doing works comes as an expression of the grace inside us, after someone is saved; because a person who does not have Christ inside them can never bear fruit! (see Colossians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 John 4:15). The problem is we can bear no fruit of our own volition, zeal, and will. Jesus told us, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5). The point Jesus is making is to remain in Him, to keep communing and being close to Him, not fixating of fruit bearing, something you cannot achieve apart from Him. The fruit bearing is Christ working through you; because we are unable to bear any fruit on our own or apart from Him. As one theologian put it, "the problem isn't sin, as if there is a number of sins and if we reach it we can be done with it, the problem is we are a sinner, we are infected with malignant disease that goes to core of our being." (Martin Luther, Augustine of Hippo). Jesus has cured that disease by taking the sin upon Himself and giving us in exchange His righteousness (Colossians 1:22, 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, Philippians 2:15, 1 Peter 2:24). The problem is that many of us in our pride still behave as if we can achieve any fruit through our own ideas, programs, asceticism's, and self denial. We make light (as in weight) of Jesus' sacrifice on cross so we can keep a shard of our self conceited notion of superiority and self salvic methods. The problem is Paul warns us of trying to bear fruit apart from Christ "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." (Galatians 5:4). It is impossible for us to bear fruit, only Jesus Christ can bear fruit through us, because He is the Vine, we are branches, and He gives life to the fruit in our life; this is what Paul meant by, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" (Galatians 2:20-21, Galatians 3:1-5), we will always nullify any good we do with one bad sin; and so Jesus in His mercy and grace bore our sins in His body (), and so Has set us free from them and makes us bear fruit through Him and from Him. This is Grace, God's unmerited favor, His gift to us of salvation and healing our condition of fruitlessness. If we remain in Jesus, keep our eyes fixed upon Him (Hebrews 12:2), and obsess over our relationship with Him; wanting to know him (John 17:3) deeper and deeper; we will bear fruit anyway. But so often churches get focused on fruit bearing, taking their eyes off the Vine (Jesus Christ) and the result is man made religion (Colossians 2:23) and works of the law that profit them not. This is what Jews did with Law before Christ came with Grace, they made the Law this fruit bearing asceticism and harsh mandates rather than fruit they needed to learn through a relationship with the Most High; the Law was suppose to be guide to God's character, but more than that it was wedding vows, and meant to be indicators that people knew the LORD God, but instead the Law was turned into works based salvation, much in same way Grace is being turned into works based salvation through pastors and ministers who do not preach the simplicity of the Gospel, that we are sinners doomed to dwell in hell and unable to approach the One True God, but God in his mercy and Grace came in a body to bear the sins of all sinners, remove their debt and hell bound sentence and instead give them eternal life and make it possible by His blood to approach the entire God head, being reconciled to God. Or more simply, believe in Jesus Christ as LORD and Son of God and you will be saved and gain eternal life (John 6:40, Romans 10:9-10).
This is grace, that we no longer have to try and play God by keeping laws and being perfect in behavior and character. Let Christ take over, let Him be God and handle your sins. For He died for them, and offers to you His righteousness and salvation. Stop adding to Gospel with all these requirements of Law that cut people off from Christ! (Galatians 4:5, Galatians 3:1-4). Jesus paid it all, and now you are reconciled to the Entire Godhead (Trinity)! We are now free of our chains and able to relate in an intimate, close, and deep relationship with God Almighty! Stop focusing on fruit bearing, that will come when you remain in Christ, and He in you, and you both are in each other (1 John 4:15) upon your confession of Jesus as LORD and Son of God! Do not let the spirit of antichrist dissuade you and convince you that Christ is cruel, harsh, and mean; how can that be when while we were sinners and enemies of God Christ died for us!, "For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!," (Romans 5:10), "Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God--and He is interceding for us," (Romans 8:34), "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," (Romans 8:1), "But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's Wrath!," (Romans 5:8-9.). Grace is to see God's Face! A face of mercy and love, grace and truth. Certainly Justice too, but you need to understand, those of you who believe in Jesus Christ are justified, God's justice has already passed over you when Jesus died on cross, and you have been declared "not guilty" and this is because of what Christ has done. We do not fear judgement, the wicked and unrepentant sinners who refuse to believe and love Jesus back are in fear of judgement (Revelation 6:1-6, Hebrews 10:17), not us. We are saved by God's Grace, and we merely receive it when we believe, confess, and trust in Jesus Christ. After this, you are not to fear condemnation from God or His wrath, for it is written, "There Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," (Romans 8:1), and "But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's Wrath!," (Romans 5:8-9.). Amen.
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