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It Grieves God When Christians Bite And Devour Each Other

Through the years, I have encountered many people in church, and on Facebook, who name the name of Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but act viciously toward other believers.

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I have a strong feeling that this “new commandment” which Jesus gave to His followers was of great importance to Him.

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:34-35 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: False doctrine and false teaching should always be exposed. But too often in the Christian church, we sit in the place of God and by tearing each other down through lies, gossip and accusations become no better than the lost people out in the world. Sadly, the greatest enemy of Christians today are other Christians.

Jesus spoke in many parables to relay truths to the masses. When asked why He spoke in this manner by His disciples, He responded this way:

“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” Matthew 13:10-16 (KJV)

I am going to share some very deep hurts in this article. Some of the readers will identify with much of what I say. Hopefully, others will come under conviction of the Holy Spirit, that they have inflicted much hurt on other Christians. I pray that the Lord will use this piece in whatever way He desires.

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I have actually had the most hurt inflicted on me by Christians. I used to be such a trusting person. I guess I still am to a point. But I’m guarded now.

Through the years, I have encountered many people in church, and on Facebook, who name the name of Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but act viciously toward other believers. Let me make this clear — any one of us can fall and behave badly. But in a true follower of Jesus Christ, He looks for repentance and reconciliation from His people. Notice in the first passage of Scripture in this article, that He said “Love one another as I have loved you.”

How has he loved us? He loved us while we were wretched sinners! The Word says:

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (KJV)

He loved us enough to DIE in our place, to wash us clean from the horrible, sinful things we had done. He had NO sin. He was blameless, and saw us in the state we were in, and had compassion and Love, enough to die that horrific death on the tree. He did it because He wanted us to have a way back to His Father!

When I think of the things I’ve done in the past, that He has forgiven, it makes me so grateful. Honestly, I cannot fathom the love that He has for us. It is Agape love. What is Agape love?

Question: “What is agape love?”

Answer: “The Greek word agape is often translated “love” in the New Testament. How is “agape love” different from other types of love? The essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. Unlike our English word “love,” agape is not used in the Bible to refer to romantic or sexual love. Nor does it refer to close friendship or brotherly love, for which the Greek word philia is used. Nor does agape mean “charity,” a term which the King James translators carried over from the Latin. Agape love is unique and is distinguished by its nature and character.

Agape is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself. The apostle John affirms this in 1 John 4:8: “God is love.” God does not merely love; He is love itself. Everything God does flows from His love. But it is important to remember that God’s love is not a sappy, sentimental love such as we often hear portrayed. God loves because that is His nature and the expression of His being. He loves the unlovable and the unlovely (us!), not because we deserve to be loved, but because it is His nature to love us, and He must be true to His nature and character. God’s love is displayed most clearly at the cross, where Christ died for the unworthy creatures who were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1), not because we did anything to deserve it, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (KJV). The object of God’s agape love never does anything to merit His love. We are the undeserving recipients upon whom He lavishes that love. His love was demonstrated when He sent His Son into the world to “seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10) and to provide eternal life to those He sought and saved. He paid the ultimate sacrifice for those He loves.

In the same way, we are to love others sacrificially. Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan as an example of sacrifice for the sake of others, even for those who may care nothing at all for us, or even hate us, as the Jews did the Samaritans. Sacrificial love is not based on a feeling, but a determined act of the will, a joyful resolve to put the welfare of others above our own. But this type of love does not come naturally to humans. Because of our fallen nature, we are incapable of producing such a love. If we are to love as God loves, that love—that agape—can only come from its true Source. This is the love which “has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us” when we became His children (Romans 5:5). Because that love is now in our hearts, we can obey Jesus who said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” John 13:34 (KJV). This new commandment involves loving one another as He loved us sacrificially, even to the point of death. But, again, it is clear that only God can generate within us the kind of self-sacrificing love which is the proof that we are His children. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16 (KJV). Because of God’s love toward us, we are now able to love one another.” [1] – source

I have had people in church ignore me, say very hurtful things to me and when I’ve gone to them and asked what I had done to make them act in this manner, they simply brushed it off – like it was nothing. It took me a long time to understand something — as I walked around like a wounded soldier, these same people who persecuted me, never gave it a thought! It’s almost comical if it were not so sad. Recently, I asked two of these ladies to come and have lunch, so we could talk. I received no response.

I’m a Jewish Christian, and in a few churches there have been people who said anti Semitic things to me. It shocked and hurt me. I had grown up with anti Semitism being just part of my life in the world. It stung, but I learned to live with it. Jews are hated. It’s a fact of life.

“But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” Galatians 5:15 (KJV)

But in the church?? That was actually my mother’s first reaction, when I told her that I believed in Jesus. She said “Aren’t they going to hate you and insult you?” Back then, as a baby Christian, I believed that everyone loved and cherished one another in church. Oh, if that were only true.

I have actually had the most hurt inflicted on me on Facebook. I used to be such a trusting person. I guess I still am to a point. But I’m guarded now.

In 2012, a whole group of women came against me. They had a leader, and she had such power over these women. Most of the women were such lovely sisters in Christ. But when their leader decided to persecute me, they all followed suit. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but let me say that at one point, I did say that their behavior was “cult like.” I wrote to each of them, after being prompted by the Holy Spirit to do so, and asked their forgiveness for using those words.

They refused to reconcile and continued to abuse me. They all blocked me and continued to send hateful emails to me. I was in bad shape during this time as well. I was in a wheel chair — my doctors had not yet found the cyst wrapping around my spine. In December of 2012, I was successfully operated on, and I was able to walk again.

The leader of that group of women had a huge following. She taught from the Word to these women. As time went on, a few of the extended group of women, wrote to me and said that they had been fooled by her, and asked my forgiveness. As a follower of Jesus, I forgave them immediately and told them I loved them.

There are many other hurtful things which have taken place on Facebook. I will spare the reader the details.

Why am I speaking of these events in my life? I wanted to show the stark comparison between the actions of these women, and the Word of God – specifically the words of Jesus about loving one another, so that the world would know that we belong to Him.

Recently, I was part of a group on Facebook. I loved being there and was made an admin. It was a very loving group of people. Then something happened, beyond my control, and the devil turned people against me. Two friends stuck by me, because they knew I was innocent in what took place. They tried to no avail, to make the others see that I had done nothing. Then I was blocked by a large group of them, and even cast out of another group where one of the people was an admin. I guess she did that just to hurt me further.

Brethren, these things should not be happening in the body of Christ. I have had people say that those who act in this way are not truly born again. I don’t want to think that. But I will say that when we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, forgiveness should come to us a naturally as breathing.

Are you a forgiving Christian? Do you strive to reconcile relationships and pray for those who persecute you? Do you stand up for those who are being hurt and slandered?

Do you have people whom you have treated badly, and now are beginning to realize that the Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart, urging you to ask forgiveness for the hurt you have inflicted on others? I pray that you will listen to God, and do as He says.

Are you a person who has never repented and trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? You can come to Him today, and be born again. He is waiting.

“(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” 2 Corinthians 6:2 (KJV)

MARANATHA!
Shalom in Yeshua

 

Bible Doctrine

Don’t Be Fooled Into Observing Phony Roman Catholic ‘Holy Week’ Rituals Like Easter, Here Is What Actually Happened To Jesus During His Week Of Passion

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The weeklong passion of Jesus and the Easter Holy Week of the Roman Catholic Church have very little in common if truth and accuracy are of any value to you

For starters, we call it Passion Week because ‘passion’ is the term the Bible gives the events that took placed during that time, and it lasted from Sunday to Sunday. The Roman Catholic Church calls it ‘Holy Week’, sounds about the same, right? It does, until you come to realization that the path the Roman Church takes you down is not the path that Jesus walked.

“To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:” Acts 1:3 (KJB)

The apologist site Catholic Answers says this about ‘holy week’: “Holy Week is the most sacred seven days each year in the Catholic Church. It encompasses the crescendo of Lent, the sorrow of Good Friday, and the joy of the Easter Vigil which commences the celebration of Easter Sunday. There are many other rich traditions and key events during the week, from Jesus’s institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday to the solemn events of Good Friday, including the Stations of the Cross.” source

So what’s wrong with that? Plenty. In the Bible, there is no Lent, there is no Good Friday, and the only people celebrating Easter are the pagan Romans like Herod who killed Christians. It breaks my heart seeing Baptist churches putting up signs for ‘holy week’, and ‘come celebrate Good Friday with us’, proving just how hard it is to extricate yourself from the grip of Mother Rome, even for Baptists. That’s why I wrote the handy, little guide showing you the Bible truth about the week-long passion of Jesus Christ. For extra credit, please also read ‘Lent Is Taken From The Babylonian Practice Of Weeping For Tammuz’, and ‘Good Friday’ Is A Roman Catholic Invention, The Bible Says Jesus Went To The Cross On A Wednesday’ Hope it’s a blessing, enjoy and share!

The Two Babylons

For a detailed and eye-opening look at the actual origins of pagan practices like Easter and Lent, we highly recommend you purchase of copy of The Two Babylons and see where the Roman perversion of Easter comes from. 

The Passion Week Of Jesus

  • SUNDAY: “And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” Matthew 21:9 (KJB) Here we have the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy from places like Zechariah 9:9 (KJB) showing you what will turn out to be, one day, the Second Advent of Jesus Christ where the literal, physical and literal Kingdom of Heaven will be established on this earth. Jesus the King of the Kingdom of Heaven, riding on the ass, and Jesus King of the Kingdom of God, made possible by His death on the cross. The so-called ‘Palm Sunday’ is actually a presentation of the entire Bible. From here Jesus goes to the Temple and flips over the tables of the moneychangers, and heals the blind and the lame. All this happens on that Sunday.
  • MONDAY: “Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.” Matthew 21:18 (KJB) All day Monday, Jesus preaches and teaches the people, prophesying what is about to befall the Jews and the nation of Israel. On Sunday He was presented as a King, here on Monday He is presented as a Prophet. “But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.” Matthew 21:46 (KJB) When Jesus goes to the cross two days from now, He will be presented as a Priest. “Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.” Matthew 26:2 (KJB)
  • TUESDAY: “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.” Matthew 26:6,7,12 (KJB) Mary of Bethany, sister to Martha and that Lazarus Jesus raised from the dead, is seen here anointing the body of Jesus in anticipation of His death and burial. The devil Judas hates it and tries to stop her from doing it, but to no avail. Now everything is in place for the last supper the disciples will have with the Lord in the upper room.
  • WEDNESDAY: “Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?” Matthew 26:17 (KJB) The number one thing you must keep in mind is that the Jewish day starts at sundown. When does the Jewish ‘Saturday sabbath’ begin? It starts at sundown on Friday evening. So when Jesus and the disciples are in the upper room at night, it is the beginning of the day not the end of it. It is in this 12-hour period on Wednesday (at night on our Tuesday), that the events of the last supper, betrayal and arrest of Jesus will take place. When the sun comes up, it is still the same day, on the Hebrew calendar, that started the previous evening. It is here on Wednesday morning at around 9 AM, that Jesus will be crucified. He will be dead by approximately 3 PM later that same day.
  • THURSDAY – DAY ONE: “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” John 19:31 (KJB) This is DAY ONE of the 3 days and 3 nights that the body of Jesus will be in the grave. It is also a special High Sabbath, not to be confused with the upcoming regular Saturday sabbath.
  • FRIDAY – DAY TWO: “And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.” Mark 16:1 (KJB) The women come and anoint the body of Jesus after the High Sabbath and before the Saturday sabbath. This is DAY TWO of the 3 days and 3 nights the body of Jesus will be in the grave.
  • SATURDAY – DAY THREE: “And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56 (KJB) As we said before, this anointing of the body takes place between two different sabbath days. This is DAY THREE of the 3 days and 3 nights the body of Jesus will be in the grave. You will note that three consecutive 24-hour days, as a day is defined in Genesis 1, have now taken place. You will further note that this is only possible by starting our clock on Wednesday and not “good” Friday, which is not possible.
  • SUNDAY: In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matthew 28:1-6 (KJB) Remember how we showed you that the Jewish day on the Hebrew calendar begins at sundown? Ok, so the Saturday sabbath that began Sunday on Friday is now coming to an end at sundown on Saturday. Sunday is starting, and it is here, sometime between now and the sunrise of the next day, that Jesus will have risen from the dead. The Bible says that as the sun was coming up, Jesus was already up. This is not Easter, this is the biblical resurrection day of the ever-living God, Jesus the Christ.

This is Roman Catholic Holy Week

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Bible Doctrine

King Cyrus Had A Biblical Mandate To Authorize The Rebuilding Of The Temple In Jerusalem, President Donald Trump Does Not, And That’s A Huge Problem

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King Cyrus had a biblical mandate from God to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, no such mandate exists in the Church Age with Donald Trump. Any Temple built before the Second Advent will be for Antichrist

American president Donald Trump is making momentous changes that will have a global impact, he has only been in office for 28 days, but off to a furious start. One of the things he has said he will take control of is Gaza and the West Bank to the north of Israel proper. It remains to be seen if he can actually do that, but he certainly wants to. In the midst of all this, predictably, comes talk of Trump making it possible for the Jews to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem. To that point, many are calling Trump a modern-day King Cyrus, a nice sentiment and certainly a compliment, but quite impossible if you believe the Bible.

That saith of CyrusHe is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” Isaiah 44:28 (KJB)

One of the most astonishing prophecies anywhere in the Old Testament of your King James Bible, outside of those concerning the birth of Jesus, would have to be the foretelling of a king named Cyrus whom God would use to help the Jews rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the Temple after the events of the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Isaiah makes this amazing prophecy roughly 250 years before Cyrus, who would grow up to be king over the Persian empire, authorized the Jews to go back and begin the rebuilding process. We read about that in 2 Chronicles.

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.” 2 Chronicles 36:23 (KJB)

So the first point I would like to make for you to consider in any conversation regarding the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem is that there must needs be authorization from God to build it. King David wanted to do it, but God wouldn’t let him because he had shed too much blood. Instead the LORD chose his son Solomon to build the House of the LORD.

“And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.” 2 Samuel 7:12,13 (KJB)

The Temple built by King Solomon was authorized by God, the rebuilding of that Temple at the decree of King Cyrus was authorized by God, and the Temple in which King Jesus will rule and reign with also be, obviously, authorized by God. Chapters 40-48 in the book of Ezekiel lay it all out for you to read.

“And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.” Ezekiel 40:4 (KJB)

Do you see the problem? The Bible accounts for the first Temple, second Temple and the last Temple, but gives no instructions, decrees, commands or charges for any Jew to build the Temple that will exist during the time of Jacob’s trouble. We know that it will be rebuilt because we see it standing in the book of Revelation at the start of the Great Tribulation, the midpoint of the 7-year time of Jacob’s trouble.

“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” Revelation 11:1-3 (KJB)

A casual reading of those verses might tempt you to think that Revelation 11 is talking about the Temple of God as in the LORD God of Heaven, but you might want to cross-reference that with these verses before you come to any hasty conclusions.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4 (KJB)

Antichrist does not come as a god, he comes as the God Almighty and deceives the whole world who is now under the strong delusion in the days after the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church takes place. Paul is clearly showing us that Antichrist, as God, claims the rebuilt Temple as his own, just as Jesus warns about in Matthew. And guess what? The actual God gives Antichrist the whole thing lock, stock and barrel.

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)” Matthew 24:15 (KJB)

What does all this mean for us here in the closing hours of the Church Age? It means that any Temple that is built in Jerusalem before the Second Advent will be the Temple in which Antichrist will be worshipped. That is a non-negotiable fact if you believe the Bible. Donald Trump has no authority from God, and neither does anyone else, to build God’s Temple in His Holy City of Jerusalem. If a Temple is built, and you just may see that happen before the Rapture, it will be the Temple of Antichrist.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Bible Doctrine

Clearing Up The Confusion That Many Christians Have Regarding The Role That Repentance Absolutely Does Play In Your Salvation In The Church Age

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Biblical repentance toward God unto salvation is the repenting of your disbelief in Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God

The role that repentance plays in salvation for born again believers in the Church Age is one of those topics that always seems to create a controversy, and that need not be. God has given us the tool of rightly dividing the scriptures we read for situations just like this. Paul says we are saved by grace through faith, and he says that repentance is necessary in the salvation of a sinner. The question becomes then, what type of repentance is Paul talking about? What, wait…there’s more than one? Yep.

“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21 (KJB)

In the Church Age, there are no works attached to or associated with a lost sinner becoming born again, it is all a work of the LORD. He provides the salvation with Himself crucified in your place on the cross at Calvary, He shed His Blood for the payment for your sin, and it is presented to you as a free gift. Case closed. Baptism does not saved you, the sacraments do not save you, the eucharist does not save you, Mary does not saved you. It is all of Jesus. There is just one problem, though, like the thief on the cross, the lost sinner is lost because he or she does not believe the good news of the gospel that Jesus Christ was crucified, died, buried and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. It is their disbelief that is keeping them from getting saved, not their sins. Jesus died for your sins, He wants your sins, but your disbelief has to be shed by you.

“Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:23-25 (KJB)

Jesus was crucified between two thieves, both of whom mocked and insulted Jesus as they all were up on their respective crosses. Both those thieves mocked and reviled Him equally, in the beginning.

“Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.” Mark 15:32 (KJB) 

But then a change took place in the heart of one of the thieves, after thoughtfully and carefully considering the entirety of the scene playing out before him in real time, he repented. Not of his crimes, not of his sins, and not by making restitution at all to anyone. But what he did do was to repent of his disbelief in Jesus Christ. That was not a work, it is simply a change of mind, which not coincidentally is the definition of the word ‘repentance’ according to Jonah 3:10. The work is of God.

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:29 (KJB)

When a lost sinner repents of their disbelief in Jesus, they go from rejecting the gospel to believing the gospel, and when they do, they receive the free gift of God’s salvation. For me, that happened a few minutes to midnight on March 14th back in 1991. When did that take place for you? If you are saved, then you should be able to point to a place and time where you believed the gospel and became saved. If you can’t, that’s a problem. No one in the Church Age is born saved, no one is saved because their granddaddy was a preacher, or because you were raised on the mission field, or because you ‘just always knew that you were’. No one is saved against their will, or without their knowledge. Unless you are a very small child, mentally incapable or some other situation that Romans 5:13 points to, you did not get saved without first repenting of your disbelief and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

“And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Acts 16:30,31 (KJB)

So what about repenting of your sins? Glad you asked! After a soul gets saved, then repentance of and from personal sin becomes a vital, daily part of our walk with the Lord. Make no mistake about it, when you got saved you were given God’s imputed righteousness for your soul and you became born again in your spirit. But your body did not, and there’s the battle. There is no such as a sinner who gets saved who never again commits sin, that is a lie of the Devil. No sin you commit is held to your account that is true, from an eternal perspective, but a saved sinner here on Earth absolutely commits sin after salvation. God has provided the remedy for that as well.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:9,10 (KJB)

We hope this short little Bible study on the two types of repentance involved in salvation clears up some of the confusion surrounding this needlessly controversial subject. As with most other doctrines in your King James Bible, rightly dividing works every time. In Part #2, we will show you how after the Church Age, people will get saved by belief in Jesus and kept saved by enduring to the end with their works. A whole different ball game.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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