Kindly, there was once a very popular steel guitar club in New York with the motto
“promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” I was saddened to learn 10-years
later that they had changed their club's motto to, “promoting the Gospel of the steel guitar.” That is
so terrible and sad. There's only one “Gospel” and that's the Good News of Jesus Christ
crucified, buried and risen for our sins...
1st Corinthians
15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I
preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By
which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you,
unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
The Gospel is not good advice to be
obeyed, it is Good News to be BELIEVED. If you BELIEVE (rely upon)
the Gospel, you are saved. Romans 1:16, “For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek.” The holy Bible calls the Gospel, “the simplicity that
is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3b). If you admit that you are a
guilty sinner in God's sight, and you receive Christ's sacrifice on the
cross as payment for your sins—believing that He DIED on a cross for your
sins, was BURIED, and
bodily RESURRECTED three days later from the dead—you are saved immediately,
securely and permanently! It is that simple to become a born-again
Christian.
Jesus Christ died, that's history; Christ died for me,
that's salvation! My sin belongs to me; my righteousness is Jesus Christ's. 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” This particular Scripture
speaks of Christ future return.
John
3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.” ... Romans
4:5, “But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is
counted for righteousness.”
Life is short, Hell is hot, and eternity is a
long time. What doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world and then
goes to hellfire for eternity? The “bad news” is that we are all
hell-deserving and hellbound sinners, but the “Good News” (aka, “the
Gospel”) is that God the Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ,
into the world to pay the price for our sins, dying in our place
(vicariously) on the cross, so that we could be saved and escape damnation
(John 3:16). What a tremendous God and Savior!
There is nothing more than what I just shared
with you that you need to know to have eternal life. Jesus has already paid
for everyone's sins with His “precious blood” (1st Peter 1:18-19). So
it is a free gift. God did everything so that you would have to do nothing,
except receive it as a free gift! Will you believe it? And if you will
BELIEVE (“believe” and “trust” used interchangeably in the Bible), will you
simply believe that Jesus Christ died for you, and that He was buried, and
resurrected three days later? God says that if you'll do that, He promises
on the authority of His Word, that you'll never perish, but you'll have
everlasting life! God has promised “TO SAVE THEM THAT BELIEVE” (1st
Corinthians 1:21b). It's that simple. I hope to see you in Heaven my
friend.
A More In-Depth Explanation if You'd
Like
Some people like to have more information,
which is understandable since nothing is more important than the salvation
of one's soul, so I will elaborate a bit more if that is something you'd
like...
We are all guilty and
needy sinners in God's sight. Humbly said, I
am the biggest sinner I know. Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it
saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God.” God's Law
(Ten Commandments) was given to mankind as a measuring stick to show us the awfulness
of our sin and our guilty condition, so that we would see our desperate need for the
redeeming Savior. The
Law was not given so that men could keep it and merit Heaven. When we try to
obey the Law and utterly fail, the Law
shows us that we cannot save ourselves. Isaiah 64:6, “But we are
all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the
wind, have taken us away.” We are all woeful sinners by nature
and by choice. To get to Heaven, we must acknowledge our sinnership, so that we know
what we are being saved from, the penalty of sin, which is death and
Hell. No one ever got saved who didn't admit
that he is a sinner! (1st John 1:10).
There's a penalty for our sin,
Death and Hell. The penalty
is death, including a second death in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. 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.” The Bible has much more to say about Hell than
Heaven, both being literal places. Revelation 21:8b teaches that there is
a Second Death... “the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death.” God
never sends anybody to Hell except those who choose to go there! If you
do nothing, you will go to Hell forever in your sins. I say that kindly with
God's unconditional love for you, whoever you may be.
Jesus Christ
is our sin payment! Thankfully, the law of God points us to the
blessed Messiah, Jesus Christ, Whom the Father lovingly sent into the
world to bear our sins. Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus.” Jesus willingly took our sins upon Himself on
the cross. Christ died, was buried and bodily
resurrected from the dead
after three days. This is “the Gospel” (i.e., Good News)
according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. Anyone who by faith receives Christ's
death on the cross, burial and resurrection as full-payment for their sins is saved. It's
that simple. Eternal life is a free gift from God. Romans 6:23,
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.” A gift is a take proposition,
not a give proposition. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having
Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. God
will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those
who are trusting to be saved.
Believe (rely upon)
the “Good News” of Jesus Christ and you are saved. My friend, if you admit that you are a
sinner in God's sight, and simply believe with childlike faith
(trust) that Jesus is the
Christ, the only begotten Son of God—Who bled and died on the cross for
your sins and mine, and was buried, and bodily raised up from the dead
three days
later— YOU ARE SAVED! Christ died on the cross as our sacrificial LAMB
(John 1:29), and He raised up 72 hours later as our intercessory HIGH PRIEST (Romans
8:34; Hebrews 4:14-16). Please note that all Scripture references are
ONLY from the King James Bible. If you've made the Gospel your only hope for
Heaven, believing on the precious name of Jesus, you are a born-again child of God!
1st Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by
wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe.” It's that
simple.
Jesus doesn't forgive sins! That is
correct. Jesus has already paid for everyone's sins with His own precious blood
(1st Peter 1:18-19). The price for sin has been paid. Thus, eternal life
and forgiveness of sins are free gifts. A gift (if it is truly a “gift”) need
only be taken, with no obligations or requirements. The Bible says in
Ephesians 2:8-9, “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.” Just as you would accept a birthday gift, you accept
God's free gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sins simply by
receiving Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins,
believing that He raised up from the dead three days later. Our
omniscient (all-knowing) God can read your mind and heart, and the very
moment that He sees you've believed, He saves you! That's all you must
do to be born-again into God's family. Isn't that beautiful? God is so
good! My friend, it's not what YOU DO that saves you, but what CHRIST
HAS ALREADY DONE on the cross to pay
our debt of sin.
Please visit,
GetGodsGift. Dr. Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008) is 100% correct
explaining “How To Get Into Heaven.” Here is a wonderful MP3 sermon by
Dr. Lindstrom titled, “How
Permanent Is Your Salvation,” which I hope you'll listen to. If you're not saved forever, you're not saved! That is, if you
are truly saved, then you understand that salvation can never be lost,
because salvation is of the Lord, not man. If you think you can lose it,
then there's something you believe must be done to keep it, and that is
human effort.
Also, please read, “Do
You Know The Way To Heaven?” by my dear friend, Pastor Max D. Younce. Please don't put off another moment
getting born-again if you've never done so, because today could be the
last day of your life. John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God.” Also, Dr. Younce taught a wonderful 24-part
radio Bible study series in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, clarifying the
simplicity of the Gospel, called, “SO
GREAT SALVATION.” If you have any questions about salvation, this
series will answer them I am confident.
“There is power in this
Gospel message. Most people just don't know how to present it...
The clarity of the Gospel is what makes it easy for them to
believe.”
—Pastor Yankee Arnold, a quote from the excellent MP3 sermon titled,
“WHY
GRACE CAN SAVE THE WORST MAN!”
The Simplicity That is in Christ
2nd Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds
should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
That “simplicity” is the Gospel as
defined in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 (i.e., Christ's death, burial and
resurrection). In fact, salvation is so simple that most people pass right
over it, missing Heaven, because instead they're trying to get to Heaven
through religion, good works, dedication to God, church membership, water
baptism, turning away from sins, inviting Christ into their life, following
Jesus, making Jesus their “Lord,” surrendering all to Jesus, asking Jesus
into their heart, and a bunch of other theological garbage that CANNOT SAVE!
None of the things I just mentioned constitute “the Gospel.” Please read, “What
Is The Gospel?” by Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951). You can be religious
and go straight to Hell. Salvation is in the person of Jesus, and when you
trust Him, He saves you!
Let me stress the importance that no one ADD
or SUBTRACT from the Gospel, for to do so is a sure road to the Lake of
Fire. The Gospel cannot be changed nor altered in any way to be valid.
You're either trusting Jesus Christ completely, or else you're adding human
effort to God's gift of eternal life. Those
who add “making Jesus Lord” of one's life are propagating a false plan of
salvation
that cannot save. Those who add water baptism are propagating a false plan
of salvation. Those who add “turning away from sins” to be saved are adding
works (keeping the law) to faith. To remain a genuine free gift, salvation
must be free of any human effort. I am far from perfect, but by God's grace
with His help, I want to please God by obeying Him as His child. I try to
live right because I AM SAVED, not TO BE SAVED. That's the big difference.
If you try to live right to be saved, then you are not saved. Biblical
salvation MUST be a gift to be valid. Eternal life and forgiveness of sins
are freely offered and freely received. It is a gift.
Some people errantly teach that to be saved a
person must surrender to Christ as “Lord.” That is not the Gospel. The very
moment that you believe the Gospel, Jesus
automatically becomes your Lord! This is not a part of the Gospel according
to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. You
believe on Jesus as your Savior to get saved, and then He becomes your Lord
(Master) from that moment on. Whether you obey Him or not is entirely a matter of
discipleship, and not salvation. Salvation is completely free, but
discipleship costs us a price. Discipleship is not a requirement to receive
the gift of God. To serve God we must forsake the world, but
to be saved we must only believe on Jesus Christ despite any unbelief we may
have. Faith is not the absence of doubt, but the presence of trust.
Salvation is totally without works of any kind. John 6:28-29, “Then said
they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus
answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on
him whom he hath sent.” We are saved simply by believing the Gospel
when we hear it preached. Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you,
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith?” Faith, that is how we are saved... faith in the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ!
In the following helpful quote, Pastor M.R.
DeHaan (1891-1965) differentiates between salvation verses discipleship . .
.
“There is a vast
difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for
service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ
makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer
one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the
challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes
through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of
self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but
discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't
be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be
lost because it depends upon our faithfulness.”
—Pastor M.R. DeHaan; Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing
House, 1959 (p. 117)
More Quotes
Eternal life is receiving, not giving. It is a
free gift. We are saved by trusting, not by trying. Jesus paid the price for our redemption with His precious blood. 1st Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Those who require water baptism, the keeping of
sacraments, church membership, amending one's ways, ceasing from sinful bad
habits, or committing one's life to God in order to be saved are teaching a
false Gospel that only leads to Hell. The Biblical Gospel is that Jesus
died on the cross for our sins, He was buried and rose again the third day. The Gospel is the power of God unto
salvation to whosoever believes on Christ. Romans 1:16, “For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek.”
Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and the work
is done...
-
John 5:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is
passed from death unto life.”
-
John 6:28-29, “Then said
they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye
believe on him whom he hath sent.”
-
John 20:31, “But these are written,
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
-
Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
-
Acts 10:43, “To him give all the
prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins.”
It's not what you're doing that gets you to
Heaven, it's where you're looking.
Look to Jesus!
We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS; and all these things shall be
added unto you.” This speaks of the
imputed righteousness of Jesus
Christ, which comes only by faith. Romans 4:6, “Even as David also
describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works.” 2nd Corinthians 5:21 further explains
this Biblical truth, “For He [God the Father] hath made Him
[God the Son] to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus is precious!
Religion tries to fit us all with glasses, but
the Lord wants to open our eyes with the truth of His Word. Religion and
Christianity have nothing in common. Religion is the worst thing that ever
happened to this world. A demon's favorite activity is making an unsaved
person feel religious, giving them false hope. Satan's greatest weapon is to
con people into living the Christian life, without ever being born again. You need Jesus Christ my friend. Your faith plus the
Gospel equals eternal life (Hebrews 4:2). The Gospel excludes all forms of
self-righteousness (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 11:6). We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, that is, the imputed
righteousness of Jesus Christ (Romans 4:6; 2nd Corinthians 5:21 - note again that
all Scriptures are quoted only from the faithful, King James Bible).
We have no righteousness of our own to offer
God (Isaiah 64:6). No matter how hard we may try to do good, and to right our
past wrongs, even one sin is enough to keep us out of Heaven (James 2:10). That
is why we ALL need a Savior. God has made that blessed provision for us in
Jesus Christ, the precious Lamb of God.
My friend, if you believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the only begotten Son of God—Who died on the cross for your sins, was buried and
raised up the third day—and you've made that your only hope for Heaven, then you are a born-again child of God. Welcome to the family!
A Word of Admonition to Christians
I love the steel guitar! I love music. Albeit,
I love God first and foremost. I am saddened when I hear famous musicians
saying that their goal in life is to promote the steel guitar. What about
God? What about the Gospel of Jesus Christ? There will be many tears in
eternity, when men and women stand before God (2nd Corinthians 5:9-11). The
following quote applies to Christians only, because you don't get saved by
serving God, as the unsaved religious folks in Matthew 7:21-23 found out the
hard way, and went to Hell. You get saved by trusting Jesus Christ, but once
you are saved, then the life that you live will determine your eternal
rewards...
“Only
one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last; And
when I am dying, how happy I’ll be, If the lamp of my life has been burned
out for Thee.”
—Charles
T. Studd (1860-1931)
What happiness will a Christian have in Heaven,
realizing that you spent your life playing steel guitar, without ever
leading any lost sinners to Jesus Christ, by the saving power of the Gospel
(Romans 1:16)? The only true happiness in life is winning souls to Jesus
Christ. Of course, only God can save someone (1st Corinthians 3:7-8). Dwight L. Moody said that, and I agree wholeheartedly. Psalm
126:5 tells us, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that
goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Amen and amen.
Proverb 11:30, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that
winneth souls is wise.” The Seed is God's Word (1st Peter 1:23). We
are saved by obeying the Gospel, by simply believing on Jesus as the Christ,
the Son of God, Who came into the world to SAVE SINNERS
(Matthew 18:11; John 3:17-18; 1st Timothy 1:15).
The steel guitar is the most beautiful music
this side of Heaven as far as I'm concerned. Albeit, the only true
Paradise that I think of when hearing and performing Hawaiian steel
guitar is in Heaven with Jesus. I look forward to performing pedal steel
guitar in eternity. Romans 8:32, “He that spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us
all things?” Born-again Christians will have eternity to play music
together, but now we need to mainly be busy about the Master's business
preaching the Gospel to reach the lost for Christ.
A Final Word to All My Web Visitors
Please don't let my boldness for Jesus Christ
intimidate you. I'm just an average Joe who believes that the Bible is God's
Word. I don't like to consider myself religious. In fact, religion is the
worst thing that ever happened to this world. Religion wants to fit us with
glasses, but the Lord wants to open our eyes! A lot of people have
churchianity, but they don't have Christianity. There's a big difference—the difference is between Heaven and Hell. I
am no better than anybody else. I'm just as much a big sinner as anybody. I just know what I believe, and am resting all my hope and trust in the Lamb
of God. John 1:29, “The next day John [John the
Baptist] seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” I decided years ago
that I wanted to be real in my Christian faith. I don't want to do anything
without including my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. After all the Lord has
done for me, paying for my many sins and setting me free from the curse of
sin and death, I am so grateful to God for the gift of eternal life through His dear Son. I am not
worthy.
I want to see you in Heaven with me when
this life is over, and it will be soon, rest assured my friend. Salvation is
so simple: We are SINNERS and Jesus is the SAVIOR! If we acknowledge our
hopeless
debt of sin before God the Father, and come to Him for forgiveness by way of
the cross upon which Christ bled and died for our sins, believing that He is
risen, we will be saved
immediately, eternally and
permanently. Christ is bodily risen! We are saved by grace through faith. To get to Heaven, we need
God's righteousness, because we have no self-righteousness to offer God.
Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith.” God is so good!
Here's a great quote from Jerry Byrd (1920-2005)...
“I thank the Lord every night I
go to bed, for what I've had. I'm 68 this year. And I still got all my
faculties. I, at least, can remember a few things if I want to. Most of them
I don't want to (laughter).”
—Jerry Byrd, 1993, Hawaiian Steel
Guitar Convention | Part 2
Thank you for allowing me to share my
Christian faith with you. I completely respect the rights of
others to disagree with me, and everyone is welcome at my website, regardless
of who you are or what you believe. That is what makes America great!
