Essentials of the Second Coming

It is an undeniable, indisputable fact that Jesus Christ is coming again. Neither your belief in that fact nor your unbelief in that fact will alter it in the least. Jesus Christ is coming again. He is coming for His church, His people who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.

When it comes to the prophecy regarding the end of time, there are differences of opinion concerning various aspects. I do not expect everyone to agree with me on every prophetic detail. There are sound, solid ministers of the gospel who differ with my opinions as to the details of prophecy. When it comes to defining the beast, identifying the false prophet, the details of the tribulation period, and other discussions within the prophetic realm, it is certain that we will not all agree on each of these subjects.

BUT…There are some aspects of Christ’s second coming upon which we must agree. As to these aspects, to disagree is to preach absolute falsehood. Let me briefly discuss these aspects.

Christ Will Return Literally

When Jesus Christ returns for His church, it will be literal. Look with me at I Thessalonians 4:16-18 –

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

The apostle plainly says, “The Lord Himself shall descend.” The coming of the Lord for His church is NOT the death of a believer. When a believer dies, He goes to be with the Lord. When Christ returns, He comes to gather His saints. Paul is talking plainly about Christ Himself descending to this literal earth to literally gather together the saints of God to ever be with Him. This is a literal event that we call the rapture. Yes, it is true that the word “rapture” is not in the Bible. But its meaning is found in the above verses – “we which are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP…” This is rapture – it is the literal descent of the Son of God, followed by the literal resurrection of those who are dead in Christ, followed then by the living saints being “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air. If you do not preach that Christ is coming literally for His church, you are not preaching the Bible.

Christ Will Return Bodily

After Christ rose from the dead, He rose with a body. He had flesh and blood. He could be touched and handled. Notice what Christ spoke after He resurrected from the dead in Luke 24:39 –

“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”

After He arose, Christ was not a “spirit body” as the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. Christ plainly stated, after His resurrection, “A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Jesus was resurrected with a literal body, and will return the same way He ascended to heaven – with a literal body! Notice –

Acts 1:11 – “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

Christ is coming as He departed – with a literal body!

Date-Setting is Against Biblical Teaching

In this present day, many attempts have been made to set dates for the Lord’s return. I have already pointed out that the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ resurrected from the dead with a “spirit body” as opposed to a literal body. They believe this for a good reason.

Twice in the 1800s, the Jehovah’s Witnesses set a date for the Lord’s return. Both predictions were wrong. Then, a third prediction was made. The Lord was to return to earth in 1914. That was wrong also. To compensate for their false teaching, the Witnesses claim that Christ DID return in 1914 – He returned invisibly, in “spirit.” Christ is not returning for His church in “spirit;” but literally, and the church will LITERALLY rise to meet Him in the air.

Date-setting has been attempted many times by many people throughout the years. Since this fact is undeniable, and has been wrong 100% of the time, many people have been turned off by the preaching of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Know this – every individual who has ever set a date for the coming of Jesus Christ is doing so IN OPPOSITION TO Biblical teaching. Look with me at Christ’s words in Mark 13:32 –

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”

Christ plainly taught that the day and hour of His return are known to no man, no angel, not even the Son of God, but the Father only. If a man tells you that he knows when the return of Christ will occur, he is a bold-faced liar.

Harold Camping has predicted that the end of the world will begin on Judgment Day, which will occur on May 21, 2011. His advertisements have been on billboards throughout the United States. Know this – the man has made predictions concerning the end of the world before – and was dead wrong.

If you are proclaiming a date for the Lord’s return, you are not preaching the Bible.

The Bible Admonishes the Church to Be Ready for the Lord’s Coming

The last point I will make is a simple one, but the most important one. What you teach concerning the coming of the Lord should cause people to be ready for the Lord’s coming.

As I previously stated, Christians may disagree on various aspects of His return. But here is a point that we must all stress – “Be ready for His coming.”

Not once in the New Testament is the church ever admonished to “be ready for the tribulation,” “watch for the coming of the antichrist,” “wait for the wrath of God,” or “look for the man of sin.” We are, however, many times commanded to “wait for,” “watch for,” “look for,” and “be ready for” the coming of our Lord. If your doctrine has people stirred about the coming of anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ, you need to re-examine your doctrine. Look at the following verses, none of which need comment –

Matthew 24:42 – “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

Matthew 24:44 – “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

Matthew 24:46 – “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”

Matthew 24:50 – “The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.”

Matthew 25:13 – “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

Mark 13:33 – “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”

Mark 13:35-37 – “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Luke 12:35-37 – “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.”

Luke 12:39, 40 – “And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

Luke 12:43 – “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”

I Corinthians 1:4-7 – “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Philippians 3:20 – “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I Thessalonians 1:9, 10 – “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

Titus 2:13 – “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 9:28 – “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

Hebrews 10:37 – “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”

James 5:8, 9 – “Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”

I Peter 4:7 – “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

II Peter 3:12 – “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heaven being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat.”

Are you “looking for,” “waiting for,” “watching for,” and “ready for” the Lord’s coming? Or are you anticipating the coming of something or someone else? May every lost reader pray today for the Lord to save him; and may every Christian pray with honesty and earnestness – “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”

The Second Coming - How To Be Ready

Christ is sure to return to earth again to take His own unto Himself, that we may ever be with the Lord. He promised this, and will certainly perform it.

John 14:3 – “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Many preachers with whom I associate emphasize that one must be ready to meet Jesus when He comes, but they very seldom explain how to be ready. The Bible is not silent on this. You can know that you are ready to meet Jesus Christ at His coming.

Sinners – Be Saved!

James 4:8 states, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

Before all else, you need to be saved by placing ALL of your faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is by faith (Ephesians 2:8, 9), and it is by faith IN HIS BLOOD (Romans 3:25). This means that you have called upon the name of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13), trusting only in His finished work upon the cross. It means that you are not trusting in baptism to save you; you are not relying on “standards” to keep you; you are not leaning upon sacraments to rescue you; but you have rather turned loose of every sorry attempt to save yourself, and you have fallen solely upon Christ, putting all of your weight upon Him, trusting Him fully to save you. This is what the Bible calls “believing,” and at that very moment, Christ saves you! “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Let me ask you – in what are you trusting to save you? If the Lord were to come at this very moment, would be taken, or would you be left? It will happen just like that! Notice,

Matthew 24:40, 41 – “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

Christ, when He comes for His church, is coming as a thief in the night. What does a thief do? He comes to take something! A thief breaks in suddenly, at an unannounced and unexpected time, and takes that which is not his! Christ will come AS a thief. Now, listen carefully. Christ is not a thief! The thief takes what does not belong to him. However, when Christ comes for His church, He will not take one thing that is not His! If you do not belong to Jesus Christ, He will not take you with Him when He comes. You will be left! Christ is coming to take only what belongs to Him. How can you know if you belong to Him? Note the scripture –

John 1:12 – “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

As I have stated in previous blog posts, this verse shows clearly that you are a son – that is, you belong to Him – by believing on His name! When you ask Him to save you, “believing on” Him, or trusting only in Him to save you, He does so at that instant, and you belong to Him! You immediately become a son!

If you are lost and without Christ today, you WILL be saved by trusting solely in Him to do so, or else you will be lost forever when He comes!

Those Who Are Saved Need to Prepare!

Now, what about those who are saved? The reader may say, “I’ve already been saved. There’s nothing else for me to do to prepare for His coming!” I say, “No, you are dead wrong.” If you are saved, and you are love the Lord, and you are striving to please Him by living by the Bible, there is still preparation you need to make!

I would like to draw your attention to a verse in I John –

I John 2:28 – “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”

Now, in this verse, He is not making reference to those who are lost when He comes. Notice – “…that, when He shall appear, we  may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at his coming.”

The first thing you should note is the phrase, “We may have confidence.” John includes himself in this group. I believe in the verbal inspiration of the Bible. No word in scripture is wasted. In the past, referring to only myself, I have stood behind the pulpit, and said, “WE are so glad to be here.” But, there was no “we.” I traveled alone. Sometimes, I use the word, “we” referring to just myself.

In the Bible, however, when it says “we,” it means “we.” John included himself in the “we” in this verse. John says, “I am intending to be taken when He comes, and I don’t want to be ashamed at that time!”

Notice another phrase – “…and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” Who is going to be “before Him?” Not the lost. They will be left. The ones who are taken will be “before Him.” Notice:

Luke 21:36 – “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

In this verse, Christ admonished His disciples to pray that they might escape the things coming upon the earth, and to stand before the Son of man. The ones who will be before Him at His coming are those who are saved – the ones who will be taken with Him – not the lost.

So, going back to our verse, I John 2:28 – “…that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming,” we see that there will some who will be taken in the rapture, who will be ashamed when they see the face of Jesus! I want to be ready – I do not just want to be taken; I want to be able to look Him in the eye with no shame!

Understanding this, I want to look at a couple of things that will make a Christian ashamed when Christ comes for His church.

PAST IMPURITIES WILL MAKE SOME ASHAMED

Notice the scriptures in the third chapter of I John –

I John 3:2, 3 – “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

When we look for His appearing, this passage shows us that we will purify ourselves, even as He is pure. Looking for the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ will cause one to live in a holy, pure manner. When Christ comes, and we see the scars in His hands and feet, I think every Christian present will experience at least some shame, for it was our sins that placed those scars upon the Saviour. I will see those scars, and I will admit – I did that! I put those there! Even since I have been saved, I have sinned and had to ask the Lord to forgive me. There’ll be some shame when I think of that at the moment of His coming. I want to live pure and holy for my Lord. Even if, after I sin, I become genuinely sorry, and obtain forgiveness from the Lord, I still do not want to sin – I do not wish to be ashamed before Him when He comes.

THE FAILURE OF CHRISTIANS TO LABOR WILL MAKE SOME ASHAMED

Notice Christ’s words regarding His servants at His coming –

Luke 12:42, 43 – “And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find SO DOING.”

When Christ returns, He wants to see His servants SO DOING. This means He wants to see His servants WORKING. Now, please listen carefully. I am not mad at anyone. But our churches are full of people who shout and speak in tongues, yet have not lifted a finger to get a soul saved. I’m talking about people who have been saved, and supposedly “Holy Ghost filled” for years, and are not responsible for the first soul being saved. Days, weeks, and months go by before some Christians get the slightest burden for anyone’s condition other than their own.

Now, I am not saying that if that is your case, that you are not saved. If you are washed in the blood of Jesus when He comes, you will surely meet Him in the air! There will be those who will meet Jesus in the air, who have been washed in the blood of Jesus. They have striven to live to please God. They have been separated from the world. But they have done so little for the kingdom of God. I do not write this as though I am the prime example of a man building the kingdom of God. Know this – I will be first to say that I need to do more for the cause of soul-winning, and building the church of Jesus Christ. I do not want to be ashamed when I stand before Him at His coming. When I look at the scars upon His hands where, at the cross, He put His hands in the fires of hell to pull men out, then I will look at my own hands. How will my hands look? Scarred from reaching for souls? Bloody from being ashamed to warn the lost? So many will hang their heads in shame when they see the glorified Son of God who gave His all for the lost, and yet we give so little.

Yes, those of us who are saved need to be ready for His coming. We need to be prepared so that we are not ashamed when He comes!

God’s Ways – Higher than Ours!

Isaiah 55:9 – “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Proverbs 3:5 – “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

In the above verses, the first explicitly states that the ways of God Almighty far surpass the ways of mankind; and the second teaches us to lean not unto our own understanding. This truth is clearly illustrated in a story told by B.H. Carroll:

“An old man, a very pious, true Christian, was deeply concerned because his two boys were infidels, and all through his life he had tried to illustrate the truth and power of the Christian religion before those boys, and it seemed to have no effect on them. They would not heed his precepts, nor follow his example. Finally, he got the idea in his head that he ought to pray God to make his death powerful in leading these boys to Christ, so when the time came for him to die, to his surprise, instead of everything being bright and he as happy as an angel and singing like a lark, he was in the most awful distress of mind. It was all dark to him. Promises, which, when he was well, seemed as bright as stars, were now darkness, and instead of being able to show his children the triumphant glory of a dying saint, he was showing his children that he was groping as he came to pass away, and so he died. The boys observed it very carefully. They had expected the old man to die a very happy death. They thought he was entitled to it. But when they saw a man that lived as righteously as he had, who when he came to pass away, had to go through deep water, one said to the other, ‘Tom, if our father had such a time as that, what kind of a time do you reckon we are going to have?’  And it influenced their conversion.”*

Here, we have an old man, whose own understanding led him to believe that his happy, peaceful death would influence his heathen sons in the best manner. God, however, whose ways are higher than ours, worked out the conversion of those sons a different way. This may surprise you, but God Almighty does not need your help in explaining to Him how something ought to be done! Whatever it is you face today, God’s got unlimited ways to fix it – ways of which you have neither thought nor dreamed. So, when you go to prayer, bring your cares to Jesus and let Him fix it His way. His ways are higher than ours!

*Carroll, B.H. The Pastoral Epistles of Paul and I and II Peter, Jude, and I, II, and III John. Fleming H. Revell Company. New York, NY. ©1915.

I'm Not "Barely Saved"

I hope I have made it clear that I do not believe in salvation by works - AT ALL. Any type of a works-based salvation is an insult to Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. If I can be made righteous, be kept righteous, or be more righteous because of any work of my own, then Jesus suffered, bled, and died in vain. It is the blood and the blood alone that cleanses from sin. After I get through writing about salvation by grace, my intentions are to write about works. Works do have a place in the Christian walk. That place is not in salvation. I will show as plainly as I can where works fit in the Christian walk.

But for now, I am still stirred concerning the simplicity of salvation. There are those in Holiness churches who wish to make salvation hard. It is the spirit of religion that wants to do this. There is a vast difference between "God's plan of salvation" and "religion." Religion always has a long list of things to do in order to be saved. God's plan of salvation, however, is different. Yes, God the Father has a long list of demands as well. Just read Genesis through Deuteronomy if you don't believe me. The Father hates sin and demands righteousness and holiness. The law of Moses proved that man could not keep the demands of God the Father. The Bible says that the law was given "that the whole world might become guilty before God." The law shows us just how lost we are. Even though God the Father has very high demands, when man couldn't fulfil them, He sent His Son Jesus Christ, and Jesus fulfilled every demand of the Father. Now, to be saved, all that is necessary on our part, is to place our faith in Christ. This is God's plan of salvation - that the Father has high demands of holiness, and Jesus fulfilled every one of them to perfection. We just trust Christ to be saved. This is different than religion. Religion pulls out a list of rules, gives them to you, and expects you live every last one of them without fault in order to be saved. The religious man chokes at the thought of Christ fulfilling every law of God, and consequently, we just trust Him to be saved.

However, there are religious, Holiness folks who are ready to chain you up with demands, rules, and standards. Then, they make those standards the plan of salvation. Those who believe in a "hard" salvation that can only be attained by the skin of our teeth use a few scriptures to show how "hard" salvation is. One of those scriptures is found in I Peter 4:18 - "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" I have heard this preached this way - "If those who are righteous (i.e. keep a very long list of holiness standards) are just BARELY saved, where does that put those who don't keep all those standards?" The thrust of the message was this: If you live by every commandment in the Bible, you're just barely saved. I don't want to be critical, but there's a lot wrong with that.

First off, I am not saved by keeping any standards; I am saved by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ! Secondly, the word, "scarcely" does not mean "barely." It means, according to Noah Webster, "with difficulty." When you exchange the word, "scarcely" for "barely," you do a serious injustice to the passage, as well as to the blood of Jesus Christ. If the blood saves me (and it does, according to I John 1:7), and I'm just "barely" saved, then the blood just "barely works." The One doing the cleansing, Jesus Christ, did a shoddy job, if I'm just barely saved. To be "barely saved" means that the work that Jesus did on the cross just "barely" pleased the Father. Is that what the Bible teaches? Absolutely not! In Matthew 3:17, the Father said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am WELL PLEASED!" Dear friend, when I trust in the cross of Christ to save me, there's no way I can be "barely saved." The Father is extremely pleased with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. By the blood of Christ, I am extremely saved! By His grace, I am saved through and through. I can say this because I am not trusting in my works to save me. As for people who use this verse to say that they're "barely" saved, someone needs to let them know - if you're trusting in your standards to "barely" save you, you're not "barely saved" either - you're not saved at all! Standards, rules, and works can't lift a finger to save you!

So, what does this verse mean? To understand it, you need to throw the word, "barely" out of the picture. Let's look at the verse piece by piece - "If the righteous..." Now, that does not mean, "If those who keep a bunch of standards." Standards do not make righteous; the blood of Jesus does. "The righteous" in this verse are those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb.

"...scarcely be saved..." The word scarcely means, "with difficulty." When someone is confronted with the message of the gospel, there are always difficulties present. You may say, "Wait a minute! I thought you said salvation was easy!" Yes, you're right. Thanks for paying close attention. The difficulties do not lie in the plan of salvation; they lie within the one hearing the message of salvation. When the gospel is preached, those who hear it will always think of many reasons to put it off. Circumstances in their life may make it easier (in their thinking) to stay lost. They may think, "I work around a lot of filth," or children may think, "No one in my house is saved and I may not be received at home if I get saved," and so forth. Others may let the crowd they hang around keep them from getting saved. These are the difficulties one must overcome to make up their mind to serve the Lord. "If the righteous scarcely be saved..." Those who have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ had to overcome these difficulties to be saved.

The rest of the verse states, "...where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Now, the point of the verse is this: The ungodly and sinner will present their inconvenient circumstances as excuses on the Day of Judgment. However, they will not be excused. Those who are saved had to overcome the same difficulties. When a man stands before God and says, "Lord, I would've served you, but I worked around so many people who were sinners," a man from the same workplace may rise and testify against him, and say, "Lord, I worked at the same place, but I served you." The man offering his circumstance as an excuse will be inexcusable. Whatever reason you give for not being saved - you've had a hard life, you've been mistreated, you've been sexually assaulted as a child, you were raised in a non-Christian home, etc. - do you really think these circumstances will serve as valid reasons when you stand before God? These circumstances are all horrible, and I'm not minimizing any of them. But, dear friend, do you think you're the only one that's ever went through these things? You're absolutely not the only one! As a matter of fact, every saved person in the world who has ever been saved had to overcome difficulties just like these to be saved. "If the righteous scarcely be saved," where does that put those who let these circumstances keep them from getting saved? LOST for ETERNITY!

The Simplicity of Salvation

II 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."

I have made several statements in recent blog posts concerning the simplicity of the gospel, and I may repeat a few of them for emphasis. However, I want to "zero in" on how simple it really is to be saved.

I stated previously that some preachers, especially in the Holiness ranks, have gloried in how difficult they make salvation. It feeds the flesh to think first, that salvation is extremely difficult; and second, I GOT IT! It feeds one's pride to think that salvation is so hard that only a scant few will receive it; and you just happen to be in that small elite!

Let me say, first, that there is great difficulty regarding our salvation. God the Father required a great deal to save us. However, when the Father sent Jesus Christ to this world, He fulfilled every requirement of the Father. The Father required perfection; Jesus was perfect. The Father required keeping the moral law; Jesus kept it. The Father required a sacrifice to pay for our sins; Jesus carried the cross to Calvary, willing lay upon it, and paid our sin debt in full. Yes, there is a hard part to salvation, but Jesus fulfilled the hard part.

All that is left for us to do is the easy part - that is, to believe on Christ, trusting Him to save us. That's it! Salvation is easy for us to attain, because Christ took the hard part out of it! If you think that salvation is hard, you need a fresh look at Calvary. You missed something. Jesus did not come to be whipped, mocked, scorned, beaten, and nailed to rough, rugged, tree to make it hard on us! If the Father wanted a plan that was for US to carry out, don't you think He would have just left us under the law? The law was so hard that man couldn't keep it. No man has ever kept it in its entirety. If a man tells you he has kept the whole law, I wouldn't believe anything else he says.

To show you how easy it is to be saved, let's look at the plainest chapter in the Bible regarding salvation - Romans 10. Let's start with verse 5 -

"For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them."

This simply means that if you're going to be justified by the law, or by works, you must keep every single law, without exception, to perfection. You are not allowed to pick and choose which laws you want to keep and which laws you want to leave off. I am amazed at the number of preachers who will preach Deuteronomy 22:5 - "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a man..." but they refuse to preach Deuteronomy 22:11 - "Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together." They are both part of the law, and even in the same chapter! Yet people pick and choose which part of the law is going to bind us. But Paul makes it clear that if you're going to be righteous by the law, you must keep every law, without exception. Galatians 5:3 states this same truth.

Well, since I couldn't keep the entire law, the good news is this - there is another way to obtain righteousness. That brings us to verse 6 -

"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above)"

If we can't be justified by the law (and we cannot, according to Galatians 2), then we must be justified by FAITH. If you are going to saved through faith, Paul says here, "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?" Friend, some people have salvation so high that no one can reach it! Some preachers preach a salvation so complicated that someone would have to ascend into heaven and bring it down. Friend, the salvation that I preach is not so high that you can't reach it. I preached a few weeks ago that if a person is drowning, you may have a lifeline. But if you don't get the lifeline to them, they're still going to die. God not only provided a great plan of salvation at the cross of Calvary, but He also put it within our reach! He made it simple enough that "whosoever will" can be saved! It's not so high that we can't get to it. When preachers present a salvation that is so complicated they can barely attain it themselves - that is not the salvation of the Bible!

Now, let's look at verse 7 -

"Or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead)"

Friend, Paul first shows that salvation is not so high we can't reach it. But here, he tells us that it's not so low and so dead that it can't change a man's life. Yes, some men preach it so high that people can't reach it. Others, however, have got it so low that if you did get it, you'd have to resurrect Christ from the dead. That's how dead some people's salvation is. THAT'S NOT SALVATION EITHER. Some people preach a salvation so dead that it has no power. This dead salvation is introduced by "saying a sinner's prayer." But it produces no change. Friend, there is a Biblical salvation that is within reach, yet has power to change a wicked man's heart.

So, where is this salvation? It's not in heaven - so high we can't reach it. It's not in the grave - so low that it's dead and buried. Let's look at verse 8 -

"But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach."

Where is salvation? It's in your mouth and in your heart! If you have a mouth that can confess and a heart that can believe what God says, you can be saved right now! You don't have to climb into heaven and get it! It's not so powerless that you have to raise it from the dead! So, how do you get it? Look at verses 9-13 -

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Two things to do to be saved: Confess and believe. Confess Jesus to be Lord of your life, and believe Him to do it. If you ask Jesus to save you, believing that He will, you will be saved in that instant. Biblical salvation is THAT SIMPLE. If anyone makes it harder than that - RUN!