The Heart of the Matter!

Does a person have to stop sinning to receive Jesus?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,  For they shall be filled. Matt. 5:8
  
   What’s the difference between someone who has truly encountered God and your average church goers who got saved by ‘Receiving’ Jesus? It’s simply the difference between answering the hunger within by seeking out God and finding Him or relying on someone else to assure you that you've been 'saved in your sins'.

   Jesus said: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."  Matt. 7:7-8

   Most people are satisfied with a nominal recognition of God and the false assurance that comes with attaching yourself to the church where everyone has accepted a standard fashion of religion they call Christian and no one challenges it. Whatever the Pastor says is Gospel and the Church itself is just a security blanket where you feel good about yourself and have fun with others. In some respects you may try to reform your behavior accordingly for appearances, but inside you remain the same: ‘Cold, empty, dry and dead to God!’

   What has happened to put our churches into this present state of decay? Why can’t you find anyone anywhere who REALLY has a handle on God other than some notion of doctrine handed down to them by tradition? Why is it that everyone who professes to be a Christian is somewhere between dead and lukewarm, including the pastors? Personalities aside here, I know that some forms of Christianity are more attractive than others and the teachers more charismatic and interesting. But aside from the hype and show in some churches, what is there really to sink your teeth into?

   Present-day Christianity is a joke for a reason. They haven’t become the laughingstock of hell by accident! The JOKE is WHAT they teach as the Gospel and expect people to actually BELIEVE they are getting saved in their sins by RECEIVING Jesus! When in reality they are doing nothing more than trusting in a System of LIES that numbs their minds to truth. The sad part is that MOST of them THINK they have found a great light while they remain in great darkness. Matt. 6:23

   Making the assumption that you will find the right path to God within the established system is one of the most significant errors a person can make.  NOTHING they are teaching in any of these churches has ANYTHING to do with the bible or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By the time these teachers get done convincing you they know what they are talking about, you will have already succumbed to the STRONG delusion of error. 2Thess. 2:3-10 That’s why it’s so important to escape this delusion before it takes hold of your mind and seek out God on His terms, not according to some doctrinal system.

   This must begin on the solid foundation of truth;  'Those who name the name of Christ must depart from iniquity!' 2Tim. 2:19 You're not going to find this in the Church System that teaches human inability and magic covers for sin. The way to Christ is through repentance and faith proven by deeds. Acts 26:18-21. This is the only way you can come from darkness to light from the power of Satan to God. Truth is found by those who diligently seek it out, and HUNGER for it! Heb. 11:6 Not by those who make a 'profession' of faith that does not affect the condition of their heart.

   In the Churches the cry is, "not of works, no one is perfect, and judge not." However, in the bible, it's 'produce deeds worthy of repentance, be perfect and righteous judgment!' Matt. 3:8, 5:48, Jh. 7:24. The difference is night and day! People who 'receive' Jesus never stop sinning and are taught they can't stop due to their inbred corrupted nature. They have no real incentive to keep themselves pure or pursue righteousness. Personal righteousness is considered 'Self-righteousness' in their minds. And putting forth any effort to obey God and do what is right is 'saving yourself' according to the pastors. Righteousness supposedly is transferred to them when they 'received' Jesus, the 'magic' cover in which God pretends they're not sinning when they sin daily in thought, word, and deed.

   The Church System always mistakes conviction for conversion. If a person feels remorse for their sins and responds to an invitation to confess it, they are pronounced 'saved' and welcomed to the fold.  Further conviction for their ongoing wrongdoings following this supposed 'conversion,' is said to be the 'devil trying to make them doubt their salvation'. So the natural function of human conscience to accuse wrongdoing Rom. 2:14, is stifled before it has time to lead anyone to a real repentance! Rom. 2:4 In this 1Tim. 4;1 quickly takes place, the conscience is seared with the hot iron of deceit and the person learns to ignore further conviction and finally grieves away the Holy Spirit altogether, who will not 'strive with you forever, unless you STRIVE with Him!

   "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able." Luke 13:24

   This is the reason so FEW are ever really saved because the preachers have been telling them for so long to 'receive', not STRIVE. The way to eternal life is narrow and difficult not wide and easy! Have you ever heard a Church pastor preach this: 

    "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matt. 7:13-14

   This is why no one is hungering for righteousness, only fulfilling the lust of their flesh yet to be crucified in Christ. Gal. 5:24. As Jesus warned in the very next verse; "Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, you shall know them by their fruits." Matt. 7:15. These false prophets are standing on the platforms in your Church, dressed up as 'sheep' and preaching a message of death.

   Of course, you are 100% convinced they are of God and preaching the truth, but examine the fruit produced in your church. It's rotten to the core, by admission every convert is Roman's wretch, chief of sinners with a desperately wicked heart. And if anyone says otherwise they are liars and the truth is not in them! There is no one hungering after God, zealous for His truth, pure in heart and obedient to the Word. It's all 'filthy rags' and dead works.

   A real encounter with God BEGINS with the person AMENDING the evil of his doings and coming clean with God in repentance. 2Cor. 7:10-11 In scripture it's repentance for remission, Lk. 24:47.  Not remission first and then 'maybe' you repent or more likely 'confess' that you can't do anything worthy of repentance. Obedience is the first act of faith, Rom. 6:16.  Faith is never alone.  When Abraham 'believed God' Gen. 15:6, it meant he was FIRM and faithful with God and went forth walking in the steps of a faith that produced a lifetime pattern of obedience. Rom. 4:12, 19-21. Faith is synonymous with obedience, one in the same thing, as Abraham was 'justified by what he did and not by faith alone.' Js 2:24, so faith not accompanied by deeds is dead, inoperative, and in vain. We are 'workers together' with God in the process of repentance proven by deeds, Js. 2:22, 2Cor. 6:1, otherwise grace is received without purpose and to no effect.

   The Churches are preaching a different Gospel and producing rotten fruit. They do not preach for righteousness but for effectiveness. Their phony converts do not desire purity of heart or righteousness of life. If you have a hunger for God STAY as far away from the Churches as possible! Reject their messengers and all they stand for. Don't get caught up in the hype and glitter and don't fall for the fake platitudes and friendly-looking faces. Your soul is at stake, take the narrow path to life and leave them behind in their sins.

_______________________________________________________