”For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” -John 3:16

God's love is above and beyond anything we could ever imagine. His longsuffering and mercy are core aspects of His character. God is Love. We have all heard this truth thousands of times since we were able to understand spoken language. We have all read these facts hundreds of times since we were able to read. And these are vital and necessary for us all to know, as it is God's love that draws us all to Him and brings us to repentance (Romans 2:4).

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. -2 Peter 3:9

But what is missing from the pulpits, and most all of modern Christianity, is the rest of the truth (and a half truth is a whole lie). Just like the false prophets of old who proclaimed “peace, peace, when there was no peace" (Jer. 6:13-15), we find the pastors and preachers doing the same thing today. God's love and mercy, as true and boundless as they be, are only a portion of His character:

Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, IF you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. -Romans 11:22

Today we barely ever hear the truth about God's severity. Today's “God is love” gospel has removed the convicting work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8) and redefined Repentance, the entry way into eternal life, and as a result have made a new gospel; one that is not able to save anyone.

God fashioned us in our mother's womb, fully capable of obeying and loving Him (Zechariah 12:1), and this principle in our beings has never been removed, as many falsely claim it has been. Right from the very beginning of this Gospel age, repentance has been the key element in attaining right-standing with God and entrance into eternal life.

John the Baptist came preaching repentance, preparing the way for the Lord to come into our hearts, making the “paths straight” by us turning from our sins (Matthew 3:3). This is done by breaking up the hard soil of our hearts (Jeremiah 4:3-4) and making it good and healthy soil so as to receive the Word of Christ and allow it to flourish and bring forth fruits of righteousness (Luke 8:15), of which if none is produced, we will be cast into the fire (Matthew 7:19).

Christ's Gospel has been destroyed and replaced with False Gospels of theology and doctrine of men and demons (1 Tim. 4:1), and it has been this way for hundreds of years. So, the questions really need to be:  “What did Christ preach” and “What is His Gospel”?

Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” -Mark 1:14-15

Christ says “Repent and Believe in the Gospel”. Many are not taught that we can believe in vain (1 Cor. 15:2), that we can receive God's grace in vain (2 Cor. 6:1), or that we can deceive ourselves by being hearers of the Word, but not doers or keepers thereof (James 1:22). Today we have a vast array of false messages coming from the pulpits, street preachers, home studies, websites, airwaves, televisions, tracts, books, DVD's, music, mouths of professing “Christians” and any other way that knowledge can be passed. Sure, most of these will say “repent” and “believe” just like Christ did... but what do they really mean? Today repent means only to “change your mind” or to “agree with God”, or to “admit that you're a sinner”. They don't teach the true repentance of the Bible, which means “repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20). Repentance means “turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that [you] may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18). And even if someone does truly repent and stop their wickedness, it is not a given that God will automatically forgive them; they need to seek His mercy and He will be the judge if indeed their repentance is sincere and true (Acts 8:22; Joel 2:12-14; Jonah 3:7-10).

Repentance is a commandment, not something to be taken lightly! (Acts 17:30). Christ commands us to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance and if we don't we will be cast into the fire! (Luke 3:8-9). What are the fruits of repentance (or “works” see: Revelation 2:5)?

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world [false repentance] produces death [because it doesn't purify the soul]. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear [pure] n this matter. -2 Corinthians 7:10-11

Here we find that it is “godly sorrow” that produces repentance (“worketh repentance” KJV). Let me ask: How is anyone going to be brought to a godly sorrow for their sin when the message they hear is “God loves you and understands and will accept you how you are”? They wont. And thus, they will not experience true repentance and thus no true conversion or cleansing happens in their heart; but they will be told they are saved and a child of God! Again, the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8). His work is, by the implementation of the Word of God, to bring conviction and faith, which will cause, if received on a good heart prepared for the seed of the Word, a godly sorrow and the diligent clearing oneself of wrongdoing, or the stopping of their sins against God. God will not save someone who is currently at war with Him! He will not have mercy on those who persist in wickedness, even though they seek it.

“The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.” -Nahum 1:3

“Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” -Amos 3:3

“There is no peace,” Says my God, “for the wicked.” -Isaiah 57:21

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Proverbs 28:13

“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD." -Proverbs 17:15

"Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked." -Exodus 23:7

"Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." -Exodus 34:7

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” -Psalm 66:18

Do you feel that? That's conviction! The Lord's Holy Spirit wants to do some work with you. Where can we go to hear a message that brings this true conviction today? Nowhere really. Your Bible and a handful of scattered voices across the world is the only places you will hear the truth anymore. The pulpits and modern message is void of this vital, heart changing truth. The way is not being made straight for Christ to come into the hearts of the people who are hearing and responding to the false gospels today. The hard ground of their hearts are not being broken up by conviction, sorrow and fear of God and thus are not being made ready for the seed of His Word to grow and produce fruit. Not to mention they aren't even really preaching HIS Word (although it resembles it in some ways). Again, a half truth is a whole lie and there is not truth in a lie (1 John 2:21)!

Repentance is more than just admitting we are a sinner, and having a change of mind or a couple tears of guilt. We are fully capable of stopping our self-centered ways of lust, greed, arrogance, hate, lies and pride, and God fully expects us to stop those things if we are to come to Him and find mercy. We need to get ourselves a new heart (Ezekiel 18:31), cleanse our souls and minds (Isaiah 55:7), forsake our wickedness and lust, turn to God and away from the world (Acts 26:18). We cannot face two gods simultaneously! Biblical repentance is an offense to the sinful soul and is not being proclaimed today, as it was in the days of old. Those who carried this message would be stoned, cut in half, burned, fed to lions, hung, torn apart and throw in prisons! They were hated, scorned, called evil and driven out of the land. Where do we hear this anymore?

"And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them." -Ezekiel 11:18-21

“He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” -1 Peter 3:10-12

“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” -James 1:21-22

Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” -1 Samuel 7:3

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” -2 Chronicles 7:14

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” -Proverbs 28:13

"Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." -Isaiah 55:6-7

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? -Jeremiah 4:14

“Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’” -Jeremiah 26:3

"Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you." -Jeremiah 26:13

“Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.” -Ezekiel 18:27-28

Now that we have sufficiently covered what true repentance is, what did Christ come preaching as His Gospel? Here are a few examples:

And the list goes on and on. Where in modern Christianity do you find someone who is truly teaching the realities behind all these vital statements? Sure, they may quote the passages and make little sermons that lightly touch on them, but are they truly teaching the realities behind these words of Christ, the Lord, who was killed for these very words? I don't see it anywhere, but this is Christ's Gospel and it needs to be obeyed, not just spoken of or resembled in some insincere fashion. We need to do more than accept these teachings of Christ as truth, but we need to love and obey them! (2 Thessalonians 2:10; Romans 2:8; 1 Peter 1:22). Christ's Gospel must be obeyed or you will remain under the wrath of God (Col. 3:5-7; Eph. 5:5-7; Rom. 2:5; John 3:36)!

“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” -1 Peter 4:17

“... in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, AND on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power...” -2 Thessalonians 1:8-9

Most of the commandments and truths of Christ's Gospel are pretty straight forward and clearly understood. But something that is widely misunderstood and rarely even mentioned today is Christ's words of:

“...he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” -Matthew 10:38-39

What does Christ mean when He says that those who do not lose their life for His sake by taking up their cross and following Him are not worthy of Him? This is VERY important, and has everything to do with repentance, the new birth, and eternal life, but it is not being taught barely anywhere today! There is a State of Emergency in the Churches, because the true Gospel is not being proclaimed! You need to hear this, and if you have never understood this before, please really study this and make any adjustments in your heart that may need to happen.

By cross examining Christ's words with His other teachings and those of His Apostles, we can clearly discover what He meant by saying that if we are to be worthy of Him, we must take up our cross, deny ourselves and lose our lives. What the Lord meant by this is that we must DIE with Him! This is the crucifixion of the “old man” that happens through that godly sorrow and repentance, where we clear ourselves and diligently remove all defiled thoughts and behaviors out of our soul and life. This must happen in initial repentance before we even come to Christ for mercy! If the “old man” doesn't die with Christ in repentance, he NEVER will and you will not be born again! This is not being taught barely anywhere on the earth today! This death of the old man is the “baptism of death”, aka the “baptism of repentance”, or the “new birth”, where the passions and desires of our flesh are crucified (put to death)! God will not come into our hearts and forgive us and cleanse us of our former sins if we do not die with Him! The Holy Spirit will not come into the heart of someone who continues in disobedience to Christ (John 14:15-16: Acts 5:32; James 4:8; 2 Chronicles 30:18-20). Let's look at some passages to consider:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” -Matthew 16:24

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man WAS CRUCIFIED with Him, that the body of sin might be DONE AWAY with, that we should NO LONGER be slaves of sin. For he who has DIED has been FREED FROM SIN. Now if we DIED with Christ, we believe that we shall also LIVE with Him.” -Romans 6:5-8

"For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. LIKEWISE you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts." -Romans 6:10-12

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” -Galatians 2:20

“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” -Galatians 5:24

"In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead." -Colossians 2:11-12

“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” -2 Corinthians 5:14-15

“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” -Colossians 3:3

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” -Galatians 6:14

The old man MUST die in the baptism of repentance if we ever expect to experience true salvation or eternal life (Acts 19:4). If the old man remains and we try to reform him (Colossians 2:23), this would be us "serving two masters" (Matthew 6:24), being "double minded" (James 4:8), "cleansing the outside of the cup before the inside" (Matthew 23:25-26), thinking we are serving God while we are really serving Satan, and we can only serve one (Acts 26:18) or having our light in us really being darkness (Matthew 6:22-24). We cannot abide in light and darkness and be righteous and lawless at the same time (2 Cor. 6:14-16). We can only serve one master and are a slave to who we obey (Romans 6:16). A person with a carnal mind is an enemy of God (Romans 8:7) and the double minded cannot receive anything from Him (James 1:7-8)! This is “having a form of godliness, but denying the power” (2 Timothy 3:5). God's power that is avilable to us, if not denied by us continuing in disobedience (Titus 1:16), will purify our souls by our "obedience to the truth" of Christ's Gospel (1 Peter 1:22), by a "faith that works by love" (Galatians 5:6). When we first experience conviction and then choose to work repentance (Acts 26:20), we then "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (2 Cor. 7:1), and "lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save our souls" (James 1:21) and this is when "ALL things become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). We must become as newborn babies, desiring the pure milk of the Word (1 Peter 2:2), as innocent little children (Luke 18:17)!  If we truly, sincerly repent and stop waging war with God by our defiance to His standards of right and wrong and humbly come before God seeking mercy, He will cleans our souls by the Blood of Christ and give us a clean slate! Thanks to God for His mercy!
Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,
And his life to the executioners.
“If there is a messenger for him,
A mediator, one among a thousand,
To show man His uprightness,
Then He is gracious to him, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom’;
His flesh shall be young like a child’s,
He shall return to the days of his youth.
He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him,
He shall see His face with joy,
For He restores to man His righteousness.
-Job 33:22-26

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation!" -Galatians 6:15

"But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you [were to] put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you [were to] put on the new man which was created according to God, in TRUE righteousness and holiness." -Ephesians 4:20-24

"Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him." -Colossians 3:9-10

"You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons." -1 Corinthians 10:21

"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" -Romans 6:16

"Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin'." -John 8:34

"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness." -Luke 11:34

“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” -Romans 8:6-8

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” -1 John 2:15-17

Please, even if this all strikes you as new or strange, or even offensive, go through it again, checking all the passages in their context with your Bible, praying to God for understanding and guidance and to show you if maybe what you have been taught is wrong and could cost you your soul on Judgment Day. I don't expect too many people to understand these things because they have been rejected and trampled for so long by false converts and and false teachers who by far and wide run the show in modern Chrisitanity. But please seek these things out, and don't just brush it off as nonsense.  What happens if I am right and you never really did truly repent? Will you have an excuse when you are looking into God's Eyes of Fire on Judgment Day? God knows all your thoughts and intentions in the depth of your mind and soul, so even if you can fool yourself, you cannot fool Him.

If you do take the time to look into these things and find that they are true, you may find yourself needing to “count the cost”. Do you have what it takes?

"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." -Luke 14:27-33
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