Salvation

If you're...

• Having issues understanding salvation: confused with all of the contradictory information out there and not sure if "you're saved"


• Wanting to know more about salvation; perhaps you understand but need more information on some verses (i.e. the constant repetition of "works without faith")


• Wanting "to be saved" but want more information, or isn't sure how (or thinks they can't because of X Y Z)

This article attempts to cover all of those questions and more. It's fairly long and somewhat complex due to the fact in almost every instant Christians will take arbitrary verses covering complex topics and conflate them all as being for works salvation or some effort on our part.

Salvation is not...

First and foremost:

1. Salvation is not... a 'process' comprised of multiple steps


2. Salvation is not... something that can be lost, in any circumstance (even if you stop believing)


3. Salvation is not... something requiring 'works'


4. Salvation is not... something obtained by a long and confusing prayer (you can only 'pray' after you are saved)


5. Salvation is not... something that transforms your life instantly (change takes time, so does learning the Bible)


6. Salvation is not... an experience that you can feel (people often get emotional, but everything that happens is independent of biology)


7. Salvation is not... something where you will hear God physically talk or see visions
   
   
8. Salvation is not... believing [and] repenting, for believing *is* the act of repentance (metanoia in the Greek). Separating the two is a tactic of works salvation.

Keep reading and we'll cover why each is the case.

How to be Saved (the first and only step)

Step #1 believe that Christ paid for your sins. Done. That's the first and last step.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are you saved through faith belief; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, in case any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον· οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων, ἵνα μή τις καυχήσηται.

Acts 16:27-31 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open; he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice saying: 'do yourself no harm: for we are all here'. Then he called for a light and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And they said: "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved and your house".

Acts 16:27-31 ἔξυπνος δὲ γενόμενος ὁ δεσμοφύλαξ καὶ ἰδὼν ἀνεῳγμένας τὰς θύρας τῆς φυλακῆς, σπασάμενος μάχαιραν ἤμελλεν ἑαυτὸν ἀναιρεῖν, νομίζων ἐκπεφευγέναι τοὺς δεσμίους. ἐφώνησεν δὲ φωνῇ μεγάλῃ Παῦλος λέγων, μηδὲν πράξῃς σεαυτῷ κακόν, ἅπαντες γάρ ἐσμεν ἐνθάδε. αἰτήσας δὲ φῶτα εἰσεπήδησεν, καὶ ἔντρομος γενόμενος προσέπεσεν τῷ Παύλῳ καὶ τῷ Σιλᾷ, καὶ προαγαγὼν αὐτοὺς ἔξω ἔφη, κύριοι, τί με δεῖ ποιεῖν ἵνα σωθῶ; οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· πίστευσον ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν, καὶ σωθήσῃ σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκός σου.

Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.

Romans 4:3 Τί γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ λέγει; Ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην.

Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Galatians 3:6 καθὼς Ἀβραὰμ ἐπίστευσεν τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην.

James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which says: Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the Friend of God.

James 2:23 καὶ ἐπληρώθη ἡ γραφὴ ἡ λέγουσα· ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην, καὶ φίλος θεοῦ ἐκλήθη.

You are saved by a second of belief; and once you are saved you cannot become 'un-saved' even if you stop believing, give up or have problems understanding it.

When we believe Christ paid for our sins we get His righteousness-- that's how the mechanic was set up because we have no righteousness of our own. That's the whole point. If ANYTHING has to be done other than 'belief' to get Christ's righteousness for salvation, there is no point of His death. This is also why 'our' righteousenss is equal to one another's, for we all share Christ's and it is not of our own doing:

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference

Romans 3:22 δικαιοσύνη δὲ θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολή·

Salvation by ZERO

This diagram illustrates the relationship of belief and anything else. Since belief is the absolute 'lowest', absolutely nothing can be added otherwise Salvation isn't free, and Christ is no longer responsible for the work: which is a problem as that's what the Cross was for.

If someone 'feels' that belief is NOT enough, they won't be saved as they aren't BELIEVING that CHRIST paid for their sins, they are voiding it with Belief + something else. As we'll see later, the people in Matthew 7:21-23 never 'believed' that Christ paid for their sins-- perfectly explaining this relationship.

Of course the predominant idea in Christianity is that salvation is still by 'faith through grace', but spun around 180 degrees stating it must be authentic / genuine and contain works (which is still the same as saying works are required in a more subtle way).

The faith that saves is not alone? (word games)

A common and incorrect introduction to salvation is the following statement: "you're saved by faith alone BUT the faith that saves is not alone". This is a word game to keep the statement "faith alone" but change the underlying meaning to also require works (belief + 1), and that without those works you cannot be saved with the cross alone. Next up faith is a poor synonym and doesn't always have the same connotation as 'belief', yet faith is always used in place of believing with people of this mentality.

The model generally explained of the 'faith that saves is not alone' is as follows:

faith = salvation + works

Since 'works' has been added to the equation it demands some kind of human effort: so this means that the cross is not enough. The counter argument is that there must be 'evidence' of your salvation; however this is still mandating some sort of human effort to be performed PRIOR to salvation (despite if they try to claim it isn't). Anything that happens AFTER salvation that's a result of salvation is still not required for salvation nor is there any such thing as 'sustaining your salvation'. Here's a diagram outlining this problem more in depth:

As you can see, before salvation we can have individual 'A' having no faith and having no works. But, individual 'B' could potentially have no faith AND works if we are to assume that faith and works must be done at the point of salvation via faith = salvation AND works. The problem here is that 'works' are not unique to the believer (but belief in Christ IS what's unique), anyone can do them. So WHY include them as a part of salvation? Again, someone could make the argument that they're from God and not yourself, but then if that's the case: A) why doesn't God tack on these "works" to everyone if we're not actually doing them and B) since they're REQUIRED for the point of salvation, that means you MUST be able to do them in a state just before your unbelief-- for you cannot have 'faith' without 'works' prior to salvation.

Here's the correct equation which follows the principle of belief + 0:

salvation = belief + nothing

The confusion with "your faith must have works for salvation" word games stems primarily from the inability to distinguish pre-salvation from post-salvation and from a misreading of James 2 (where James is addressing a congregation of already saved believers-- explained later on in the article in more detail).

Why Salvation is PERMANENT

We have the same 'A' and 'B'individuals as before, however individual 'C' (Matthew 7:21-23, explained later on in the article) is someone who does 'faith + works' voiding out faith; for they have not BELIEVED that Christ paid for their sins exclusively. This is one of the most dangerous types of individuals to be as you're role-playing what (you) think a "Christian" is, and yet avoiding grace entirely. In the center we have salvation which is belief + NO works. And then finally we have the three outcomes and the corresponding types Luke 8:11-6. We'll take a look at some verses as to why salvation is permanent and the four types of mental states (types) Christ outlines:

Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God.

Luke 8:11 ἔστιν δὲ αὕτη ἡ παραβολή. ὁ σπόρος ἐστὶν ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ.

Luke 8:12 (Type 1) Those by the road side are they that hear; then comes the devil, and takes away the Word out of their hearts, in case they should believe and be saved.

Luke 8:12 (Type 1) οἱ δὲ παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν εἰσίν οἱ ἀκούσαντες, εἶτα ἔρχεται ὁ διάβολος καὶ αἴρει τὸν λόγον ἀπὸ τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ πιστεύσαντες σωθῶσιν.

Luke 8:13 (Type 2) They on the rock are they which when they hear, receive the Word with joy; and these have no root which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Luke 8:13 (Type 2) οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν οἳ ὅταν ἀκούσωσιν μετὰ χαρᾶς δέχονται τὸν λόγον, καὶ οὗτοι ῥίζαν οὐκ ἔχουσιν, οἳ πρὸς καιρὸν πιστεύουσιν καὶ ἐν καιρῷ πειρασμοῦ ἀφίστανται.

Luke 8:14 (Type 3) And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

Luke 8:14 (Type 3) τὸ δὲ εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας πεσόν, οὗτοί εἰσίν οἱ ἀκούσαντες, καὶ ὑπὸ μεριμνῶν καὶ πλούτου καὶ ἡδονῶν τοῦ βίου πορευόμενοι συνπνίγονται καὶ οὐ τελεσφοροῦσιν..

Luke 8:15 (Type 4) But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Luke 8:15 (Type 4) τὸ δὲ ἐν τῇ καλῇ γῇ, οὗτοί εἰσίν οἵτινες ἐν καρδίᾳ καλῇ καὶ ἀγαθῇ ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον κατέχουσιν καὶ καρποφοροῦσιν ἐν ὑπομονῇ.

Luke 8:16 No man, when he has lit a candle, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but sets it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

Luke 8:16 Οὐδεὶς δὲ λύχνον ἅψας καλύπτει αὐτὸν σκεύει ἢ ὑποκάτω κλίνης τίθησιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ λυχνίας τίθησιν, ἵνα οἱ εἰσπορευόμενοι βλέπωσιν τὸ φῶς.

Christ has identified FOUR scenarios that occur when hearing the word of God for the first time and the end result of that hearing. I've labeled each one Type 1 through 4. Near the end there's a mention of 'see the light', we'll cover that later in the article to see how it ties everything to the 'big picture'. For now let's break down the meaning of each one:

When the Bible uses the word 'fruit', this is in relation to doctrine or knowledge. When translations typically use 'perfection' this is actually referring to maturity. Continuing with Christ's analogy of the seed and trees, only a mature tree can produce fruit. We can further see the use of this analogy in Hebrews 13:15, as well as with the lips which are not meant literally:

Hebrews 13:15 by Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit (doctrine) of our lips giving thanks to His name.

Hebrews 13:15 Δι᾽ αὐτοῦ οὖν ἀναφέρωμεν θυσίαν αἰνέσεως διαπαντὸς τῷ θεῷ, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν καρπὸν χειλέων ὁμολογούντων τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ.

To recap:

'fruit' (KARPOS) = Bible Doctrine / Knowledge

'perfect' (TELESPHOREO) = to maturity, ripe

It's worth noting that only Luke 8:14 uses TELESPHOREO for maturity specifically, it's not used anywhere else in the Bible (even though similar words are used in its place).

One could argue that salvation is still obtained by works without believing or works AND believing. But works are never mentioned in Christ's parable (as pointed out, FRUIT does not equal WORKS). Also if we were to assume that salvation had to be earned (with works), the four types of individuals Christ identified would lose the unique dynamics: in that we would only have Type 4 being saved-- the other three types would considered to be 'unsaved' therefore redundant and no point to explain the file details. Whereas, soon as we understand that it's actually Type 2, 3 and 4 that are saved, we can 'see' the variances of what will happen to each believer.

Here is another clarification on 'fruits':

Matthew 7:20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Matthew 7:20 ἄραγε ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς.

In context Christ is referring to pastors or teachers: because a mature believer's 'fruit' is purely by consequence of the Bible Doctrine they've learned, this also coincides with the metaphor in and of itself... a mature tree produces fruit! Therefore by analogy a new believer or someone who refuses to learn the Bible is a sapling producing nothing. This also helps us understand why 'fruit' is used and not 'works', for it's the Bible in you that you've learned to a point of maturity. So we would read it as such:

Matthew 7:20 Therefore (teachers) by their fruits (doctrines) you will know them.

Notice now we can place the concept of being able to determine a 'teacher' by what they teach. It's mildly ironic that the Christians screaming "YOU MUST HAVE FRUIT" are the ones who are the most immature, childish, completely devoid of all maturity, and they fail to understand the metaphor for maturity.

If someone were to make the argument that this is not the case, and it indeed refers to 'works', it wouldn't make sense as a tree that is not mature cannot produce fruit, breaking the analogy. The next problem we have is that not all verses stating fruit can easily have their context changed to works (unlike Matthew 7:20). And the final problem entirely different words are being used in the underlying Greek: English speakers get too comfortable from combinding vocabulary together.

Invite Jesus into your heart?

You'll often hear the statement 'invite Jesus into your heart' and you'll be saved. Now this statement is nowhere to be found in the Bible but is typically rationalized from Revelation 3:20:

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door; I will come in to him, and will sup (DEIPNEO) with him and he with me.

Revelation 3:20 ἰδοὺ ἕστηκα ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν καὶ κρούω· ἐάν τις ἀκούσῃ τῆς φωνῆς μου καὶ ἀνοίξῃ τὴν θύραν, καὶ εἰσελεύσομαι πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ δειπνήσω μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ αὐτὸς μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ.

There are a few questions we need to ask and few things we have to know beforehand. Firstly, what is the 'door' (why is Christ knocking on it) and what does the 'supping' mean and why was that term chosen specifically? Next up it's important to know Christ was addressing this to the Laodiceans.

One missing piece of the puzzle is we need to know the dynamics behind 'carnality' (Greek is SARX and SARKIKOS). Paul writes:

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law (NOMOS) is spiritual (PNEUMATIKOS): but I am carnal (SARKIKOS), sold under sin.

Romans 7:14 οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστιν· ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι, πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν.

Rather surprising to see Paul write about being carnal and sold under sin. But what does it mean? Well after salvation you get the Holy Spirit:

Ephesians 1:13 In Whom you trusted heard the Word of the Truth, the gospel of your salvation in Whom (after) you believed, (you were) sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13 ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς σωτηρίας ὑμῶν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ πιστεύσαντες ἐσφραγίσθητε τῷ πνεύματι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῷ ἁγίῳ,

...but you still have the ability to sin after salvation (since sin is part of the human biology and NO ONE is "perfect"). So what exactly happens when you sin after you're saved? Well the analogy the Bible uses is a 'house' or a 'temple'.

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:19 ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι τὸ σῶμα ὑμῶν ναὸς τοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν ἁγίου πνεύματός ἐστιν, οὗ ἔχετε ἀπὸ θεοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἑαυτῶν;

The Holy Spirit dwells in the 'house' or 'temple', but soon as you sin, the Holy Spirit comes out-- requiring another 'filling'.

Ephesians 5:18 and don't be drunk with wine where there's debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit

Ephesians 5:18 καὶ μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἐστιν ἀσωτία, ἀλλὰ πληροῦσθε ἐν πνεύματι

How are you re-filled? By stating you've sinned and then (optionally) stating what you've done for self-diagnostics to keep track of where you're going wrong:

1 John 1:9 If we confess state our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν, πιστός ἐστιν καὶ δίκαιος ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ καθαρίσῃ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας.

Psalm 32:5 (Psalm 31:5) I acknowledged my sin to you, and my iniquity I have not hid. I said, I will confess name my transgressions to the LORD; and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Psalm 32:5 (Psalm 31:5) חַטָּאתִ֙י אוֹדִ֪יעֲךָ֡ וַעֲוֹ֨נִ֤י לֹֽא־כִסִּ֗יתִי אָמַ֗רְתִּי אוֹדֶ֤ה עֲלֵ֣י פְ֭שָׁעַי לַיהוָ֑ה וְאַתָּ֙ה נָ֨שָׂ֤אתָ עֲוֹ֖ן חַטָּאתִ֣י סֶֽלָה׃

One problem to this is that if you DON'T utilize the 1 John 1:9 mechanic, you won't be in fellowship with God and thus carnal, going straight back to what Paul was explaining on. So, if you're not in fellowship with God lacking the re-filling, God also won't "hear" your prayers as a result:

Psalm 66:18 (65:18) If I exhibit sin in my heart (mind), the Lord will not hear me

Psalm 66:18 (65:18) אָ֭וֶן אִם־רָאִ֣יתִי בְלִבִּ֑י לֹ֖א יִשְׁמַ֣ע׀ אֲדֹנָֽי׃

This system solves a lot of un-explained problems / verses and acts as a cohesive to many other systems explained in the Bible, including: sinning after salvation, explanations to Christ's analogies, Paul's statements regarding carnality, etc. It's also highly observable in those who are carnal, as carnal Christians start to behave oddly as they try to digest spiritual information without the Holy Spirit (saved but lacking a re-filling).

Here is a diagram outlining the process from the point of salvation to being re-filled:

Taking a look back at Revelation 3:20, Christ was telling the Laodiceans-- who were carnal / unfilled-- to GET re-filled. The 'knocking' is the reminder for 1 John 1:9, once done then Christ's in and you're in fellowship, or "supping". The supping is going straight to 1 Corinthians 10:21 in which when you're re-filled you're drinking from the Lord's cup, when you're un-filled you're drinking from the demons' cup. This is also why Paul makes a drinking reference in Ephesians 5:18 as a 'physical' play on the drinking analogy.

1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of demons.

1 Corinthians 10:21 οὐ δύνασθε ποτήριον κυρίου πίνειν καὶ ποτήριον δαιμονίων· οὐ δύνασθε τραπέζης κυρίου μετέχειν καὶ τραπέζης δαιμονίων.

Therefore you cannot be re-filled or un-filled at the same time, only one or the other at any given moment. In the case of Revelation 3:20 Christ wanted the Laodiceans to drink "from the cup of the Lord". As we can see, there's no 'inviting' (you have no business to "invite" Christ anywhere) and there's no 'heart' involved with Revelation 3:20.

For a more complete in-depth explanation on the re-filling mechanic, please click here and read the 1 John 1:9 article.

Light vs. Darkness

Now let's elaborate more on what Christ (and many other verses) mean when they are using the analogies of light vs. darkness; simply because Christians will say if you're 'in the darkness' you're not saved.

Let's go all the way back to Luke 8:16:

Luke 8:16 No man, when he has lit a candle, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but sets it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

Luke 8:16 Οὐδεὶς δὲ λύχνον ἅψας καλύπτει αὐτὸν σκεύει ἢ ὑποκάτω κλίνης τίθησιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ λυχνίας τίθησιν, ἵνα οἱ εἰσπορευόμενοι βλέπωσιν τὸ φῶς.

When you're not 're-filled' you won't be able to see the light, or rather the light of doctrine. Referring back to Luke 8, individuals in categories Type 2 and Type 3 stopped being re-filled with the Holy Spirit (so they entered from light into darkness--from having doctrine to not being able to discern doctrine). This caused Type 2 to eventually stop believing, and caused Type 3 to not continue or grow. Which is why if we read Luke 8:14 again:

Luke 8:14 (Type 3) And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit (Bible doctrine) to perfection (maturity).

Luke 8:14 (Type 3) τὸ δὲ εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας πεσόν, οὗτοί εἰσίν οἱ ἀκούσαντες, καὶ ὑπὸ μεριμνῶν καὶ πλούτου καὶ ἡδονῶν τοῦ βίου πορευόμενοι συνπνίγονται καὶ οὐ τελεσφοροῦσιν.

They had no Bible in their minds, therefore no maturity. Can't mature if you're not thinking on the Word (aka 'the Seed' in the parable). And that's why the whole 'plant' analogy was used. Here's a chart outlining the two differences when being re-filled / un-filled, and the corresponding analogies of light and darkness annexed:

To recap:

Being in the light means you can discern doctrine per being re-filled. Being in darkness means you CANNOT discern doctrine per being un-filled.

Faith without works is dead?

A common phrase used in conjunction with salvation is "faith without works is dead", and it is derived from James 2:17:

James 2:17 Even so faith belief, if it has no (divine) works, is dead being alone.

However, this verse doesn't directly have anything to do with salvation, it's post-salvation. Here are the corresponding Greek words highlighted:

James 2:17 οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις, ἐὰν μὴ ἔργα, νεκρά ἐστιν καθ᾽ ἑαυτήν.

Monadic = uniqueness, Anarthrous = quality

Monadic means that the word has its appropriate article (per conjugation), Anarthrous means that the word is MISSING its article. The word 'ergon' in James 2:17 does not have the appropriate article that it's supposed to. This assigns a 'divine' quality to the word, so that would equate to divine works. One could argue that the missing articles mean nothing; but in terms of *context* it makes sense for every single article that James removes on which words he wants to assign a divine quality or stress the uniqueness. Not to mention James appropriately adds articles where they need to be, only in these unique areas is this done-- which coincidentally are the very verses Christians misuse.

So then, belief without God's DIVINE work is dead-- because you're not re-filled, and therefore aren't in God's system-- which again has nothing to do with salvation, this is entirely post-salvation. If we were to consider the "faith without works is dead and therefore salvation is lost" argument, here are a few problems:

#1 James is addressing this to believers the whole time. He's not telling them on how to 'get saved', but that they were 'standby' believers not doing anything-- remaining in a carnal / unfilled state:

James 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

James 2:1 Αδελφοί μου, μὴ ἐν προσωπολημψίαις ἔχετε τὴν πίστιν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς δόξης.

#2 The 'works' mentioned in James 2:17 refer to God's DIVINE work in your post-salvation-- this can only function when you're re-filled per 1 John 1:9. If this was something required for salvation, it would be impossible to achieve for you can only have divine works AFTER you're saved and AFTER you've believed.

#3 Works still have nothing to do with salvation. Just because your belief is in a dead state or you're a standby believer does not mean you've lost your salvation-- or that you're not saved.

Paul brushes on the same problem James was talking about:

2 Corinthians 13:5 Audit yourselves, if you're in the faith the Word (what's believed): prove yourselves. Don't you know yourselves, that Jesus Christ's in you, unless if you're failing the test (auditing)?

2 Corinthians 13:5 ἑαυτοὺς πειράζετε εἰ ἐστὲ ἐν τῇ πίστει, ἑαυτοὺς δοκιμάζετε· ἢ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ἑαυτοὺς ὅτι Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ἐν ὑμῖν; εἰ μήτι ἀδόκιμοί ἐστε.

The auditing (sometimes translated as examining) has to do with whether or not you're questioning what's believed through God's System (Right pastor-teacher + 1 John 1:9 + talking to God + asking God if something isn't understood + actually thinking about what you've learned + applying what you've learned to your real life situations 24/7), otherwise you'll be susceptible to learning a lot of replacement theology from Satan: one clue is if it's parallel to a lot of his religions like Hinduism or Islam. The believers James was addressing (James 1 & 2) were un-filled claiming their own works had merit and didn't understand that it wasn't about the works, but about the believing and God's divine work in you as a result of said belief -- which again, has nothing to do with *salvation*.

Please read the: James 1 'faith without works' and James 2 'faith without works' articles. Due to the sheer amount of information and the fact you need James 1 to further understand James 2, it cannot be covered thoroughly here.

The demons believe also?

Yet another infamous argument made to loophole the concept of "only believe" is that if the demons 'believe' then belief is not enough and that you also must have works (you know despite the fact the demons already have their own works):

James 2:19 You believe that God is (like) one; you do well 🙄: the demons also believe (God is like one) and tremble.

James 2:19 σὺ πιστεύεις ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ θεός; καλῶς ποιεῖς 🙄· καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια πιστεύουσιν καὶ φρίσσουσιν.

(rolling eyes emoji added to emphasize James' sarcasm)

Notice however that in context it simply refers to that the demons believe in the doctrine that God is like one (three distinct Gods with one identical essence). It does NOT state the demons also believe that Christ paid for their sins, are we to assume every time the Bible uses "πιστεύω" it's unequivocally for salvation?! For the sake of argument, let's say the demons DID believe that Christ paid for their sins, it would not be any more difficult for them to do "works", and in fact, demons are the most vehement on works:

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 And no wonder for Satan himself is masquerading as an angel of light. Therefore it's not surprising if his agents are also masquerading as the agents of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 καὶ οὐ θαῦμα· αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ σατανᾶς μετασχηματίζεται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός. οὐ μέγα οὖν εἰ καὶ οἱ διάκονοι αὐτοῦ μετασχηματίζονται ὡς διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης· ὧν τὸ τέλος ἔσται κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν

Like an 'angel of light', Satan plays the good guy and emphasizes good deeds over God's deeds. The thing he WON'T do of course, is believe that Christ paid for his sins -- as it stands, belief is still the only unique facet between someone with unbelief and belief. ANYONE can do works. What James was getting at specifically was when the Israelites were repeating 'God is (like) one' endlessly, but they didn't believe it-- they just mouthed it thinking that the action of mouthing it had merit instead of... believing the concept and utilizing it:

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, Oh Israel: The LORD our God is (like) one LORD

Deuteronomy 6:4 שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד׃

To recap: James was emphasizing divine works (being re-filled) over human works (useless and indicative of being un-filled). Believers were [A] not being re-filled (drinking with demons), and [B] considering their own works to be of divine quality (walking in darkness); anyone who claims their works are the doing of God or have merit cannot discern the truth. That's the whole point.

One could make an argument that the 'works' needed for salvation with your 'faith' *are* the divine works mentioned, but we still run into problems:

1. The Bible still distinguishes those who are saved & un-filled:

2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

2 Timothy 3:5 ἔχοντες μόρφωσιν εὐσεβείας τὴν δὲ δύναμιν αὐτῆς ἠρνημένοι· καὶ τούτους ἀποτρέπου.

2. We would have to forcefully disregard all of the verses in Luke 8:11-16 to being all monolithic (in that everyone 'wasn't saved' making the distinguishings between the four redundant).


3. Works (divine or not) are still not stipulated to be required for salvation anywhere in the Bible.


4. Divine works cannot occur if you believe in the faith + works model, because that very school of thought is carnal.

Not Everyone that Says Lord Lord Will ENTER Into Heaven?

Another common argument presented from works salvation people is that 'not everyone who says lord lord will enter' into heaven. However, there's a few key items that are skipped:

1. What is the Will of the Father?
2. Why are the people who are rejected from entering specifically the ones claiming to have done all of these amazing works apart from only belief?
• They're so adamant about their works in fact that the Greek stresses them as virtually miracles (δυνάμεις) and totally convinced they were doing God's work their entire lives.

That doesn't sound like a casual who believes in Christ for salvation apart from works. Let's take a look:

Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day: "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in YOUR NAME and in YOUR NAME cast out demons and in YOUR NAME perform many super-miracles?" Then I will profess to them: "I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work the lawlessness"

Matthew 7:21-23 Οὐ πᾶς ὁ λέγων μοι, κύριε κύριε, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. πολλοὶ ἐροῦσίν μοι ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, κύριε κύριε, οὐ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐπροφητεύσαμεν, καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν, καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δυνάμεις πολλὰς ἐποιήσαμεν; καὶ τότε ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς ὅτι οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς· ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν.

In order to find out what the 'Will of the Father' is, we'll have to jump over to John where Christ explains it and also reiterates on some of the key phrases terms at in Matthew 7-21-23:

John 6:40 This is the will of my Father that sent me, that everyone who perceives the Son and believes in Him, will have eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:40 τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ θεωρῶν τὸν υἱὸν καὶ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον καὶ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐγὼ ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.

And there we have our answer right in John 6:40. The 'Will of the Father' is to simply BELIEVE, there is no elaborate process of changing your lifestyle or repenting from sins. Jumping back to Matthew 7:21, we have individuals who did NOT believe (failed to do the Will of the Father) yet are claiming to have done all of these amazing works under God's name instead. This is also violating the third commandment because all of the hot air they spent their entire lives they branded it as being God's (which affects God's reputation, look at how many crazy Christians say things that atheists immediately recognize as nonsense), so there's a direct parallel with "σῷ ὀνόματι" and "אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לַשָּׁ֑וְא".

Exodus 20:7 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God: for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless that takes his name in vain."

Exodus 20:7 לֹ֥א תִשָּׂ֛א אֶת־שֵֽׁם־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לַשָּׁ֑וְא כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יְנַקֶּה֙ יְהוָ֔ה אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־יִשָּׂ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ לַשָּֽׁוְא׃ פ

The Hebrew is actually pretty strong about this, as it's emphasizing if you tear down God's reputation, you're going to be held accountable for all of that misinformation, lying, bludgeoning... and you yourself will be bitter and hateful in your life.

• Now one could argue "oh they're simply 'false' Christians", but here is where we run into a problem -- they didn't believe for a second that Christ paid for their sins, instead being 'so sure' their works and actions were their ticket into heaven. Therefore because the issue was they never believed, it cannot be argued against Christians who HAVE believed... as that's what the 'Will of the Father' is.
• And God is adamant that He never discards or throws anyone out (despite how 'excited' and happy some Christians get when they wish ill on others, as if Christ an infinite being would ever be childish like that):

John 6:37 All who the Father gives me will come to me; and whoever that comes to me I will never throw out.

John 6:37 πᾶν ὃ δίδωσίν μοι ὁ πατὴρ πρὸς ἐμὲ ἥξει, καὶ τὸν ἐρχόμενον πρὸς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ ἐκβάλω ἔξω,



• Another (rather basic) translation-centric argument could be in John 6:40 where in English with the KJV it's translated to 'may have' everlasting life -- therefore because it says 'may have' salvation is questioned (according to the AV1611 English it was never meant as fulcrum of challenge anyways, as it can be in modern English). However the Greek word for 'may have' is simply one word in Greek which is ECHO, which isn't questioning it. You can take a look at the NASB or NIV where ECHO is translated as 'will have / shall'.

John 6:40 (KJV) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day..

Questioning John 6:40 also contradicts the preceding John 6:37, as nobody gets thrown out after you believe.

The unrighteous will not INHERIT the kingdom of God?

Very often 1 Corinthians 6:9 will be brought up to show that if you 'sin' you can't enter into heaven, well let's take a look:

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit (KLERONOMEO) the kingdom of God? Don't be deceived: neither fornicators, or idolaters, or adulterers, or effeminate, or abusers of themselves with mankind, or thieves, or covetous, or drunkards, or revilers, or extortioners will inherit (KLERONOMEO) the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ἄδικοι θεοῦ βασιλείαν οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν; μὴ πλανᾶσθε· οὔτε πόρνοι οὔτε εἰδωλολάτραι οὔτε μοιχοὶ οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται 10 οὔτε κλέπται οὔτε πλεονέκται, οὐ μέθυσοι, οὐ λοίδοροι, οὐχ ἅρπαγες βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομήσουσιν.

Cross comparing to Matthew 7:23 yet again:

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter (EISERCHOMAI) into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven."

Matthew 7:21 καὶ τότε ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς ὅτι οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς· ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν.

At this point it's very clear that *inherit* (KLERONOMEO) and *enter* (EISERCHOMAI) are two completely different words in both English and Greek. So what does inherit mean then? Let's take a look at some more verses for clarification:

Colossians 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance (KLERONOMIA): for you serve the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:24 εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπὸ κυρίου ἀπολήμψεσθε τὴν ἀνταπόδοσιν τῆς κληρονομίας. τῷ κυρίῳ Χριστῷ δουλεύετε·

Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance (KLERONOMIA) of the saints in light

Colossians 1:12 εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί·

So the 'inheritances' are based upon how much maturity and Bible Doctrine you get in your mind. This also is a post-salvation subject not pertaining to salvation itself.

And now we have another reference back to the 'light'. The reason why the believers (translated as saints) in heaven had the degree of inheritances that they did, is because they -- studied the Bible. So, again we see it tying back to Luke 8:15 and Luke 8:16:

Luke 8:14-16 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. No man, when he has lit a candle, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but sets it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

Luke 8:14-16 τὸ δὲ εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας πεσόν, οὗτοί εἰσίν οἱ ἀκούσαντες, καὶ ὑπὸ μεριμνῶν καὶ πλούτου καὶ ἡδονῶν τοῦ βίου πορευόμενοι συνπνίγονται καὶ οὐ τελεσφοροῦσιν. 15 τὸ δὲ ἐν τῇ καλῇ γῇ, οὗτοί εἰσίν οἵτινες ἐν καρδίᾳ καλῇ καὶ ἀγαθῇ ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον κατέχουσιν καὶ καρποφοροῦσιν ἐν ὑπομονῇ. 16 Οὐδεὶς δὲ λύχνον ἅψας καλύπτει αὐτὸν σκεύει ἢ ὑποκάτω κλίνης τίθησιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ λυχνίας τίθησιν, ἵνα οἱ εἰσπορευόμενοι βλέπωσιν τὸ φῶς.

Therefore 'light' (Bible Doctrine / Knowledge) equates to maturity and the inheritances. 'no light' (no doctrine) 'no inheritances', well there's varying degrees of inheritances but the Bible clarifies the differences in other passages.

And now we can more fully analyze the Type 4 and Type 3 groups of people Christ mentioned:

Type 4 = 'believed' for salvation + 're-filling' of the Holy Spirit + fruit = maturity = 'in the light' = inheritances

Type 3 = 'believed' for salvation + 'no-filling' of the Holy Spirit + no fruit = no maturity = 'in the darkness' = no inheritances

Paul clarifies further on the 'inheritance' mechanic and says a physical body can't 'inherit' the Kingdom of God either (due to the fact physical biology can't withstand the environment). And then makes a slight joke that corruption cannot inherit corruption in that they both cancel themselves out:

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit (KLERONOMEO) the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

1 Corinthians 15:50 Τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται, οὐδὲ ἡ φθορὰ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν κληρονομεῖ.

To conclude this, the reason why the 'unrighteous' don't inherit anything is because only Christ is righteous, we are not. Therefore, the more of His thinking we get in ours, the more righteous we become, and therefore the greater the inheritances we receive. A king-sized soul gets complimented with king-sized inheritances.

Many are called, but few are chosen?

Matthew 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:13 Οὐαὶ δὲ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι κλείετε τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὑμεῖς γὰρ οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθε, οὐδὲ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους ἀφίετε εἰσελθεῖν.

Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Matthew 22:14 πολλοὶ γάρ εἰσιν κλητοὶ ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.

This is actually again a reference partly to the inheritances -- in that only some will be chosen as 'kings' or receive rewards from God. It's not a salvation passage and the context doesn't state this having anything to do with salvation (for starters salvation passages are never in parables, you'd think that would be obvious to people?). In regards to the parable's statement on 'outer darkness' and 'gnashing of teeth', it's not a hell reference (since when are flames and darkness related); when people isolate themselves it's almost a form of outer darkness, and grinding and clentching your teeth is indicative of anxiety or nervousness. Interestingly enough, crying isn't a sin (John 11:35) so it's very possible for many to express dismay once they realize that they've wasted their life in religion, or didn't opt for growing their souls to experience a larger gradient of happiness, forever with God.

The kingship (reaching Pleroma) is also likened to a race that we're all in. And so only some recieve the prize (inheritances).

1 Corinthians 9:24 Don't you know that in a stadium all run in the race, but only one receives the prize? Therefore run in order (that you) seize the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24 οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ ἐν σταδίῳ τρέχοντες πάντες μὲν τρέχουσιν, εἷς δὲ λαμβάνει τὸ βραβεῖον; οὕτως τρέχετε ἵνα καταλάβητε.

Of course once again works salvation and lordship salvation types will conflate this as being related to salvation just as they conflate EVERYTHING in the Bible pertaining to earning salvation and strip it of its nuance. Salvation is not a 'prize' that we earn, it's a gift... inheritances and pleroma on the other hand are something that we're graded on. How interested were you in God over yourself? How interested were you in learning the words Christ spoke?

Repent *From Sin?*

Christians may say that you must 'repent', or more commonly 'repent from sin'. First let's take a look at repent and what it means in conjunction with salvation, then we'll anaylze the phrase 'repent from sin'. Here are a few verses to start out with:

Luke 13:3 I tell you, no: but except you repent, you will all likewise die.

Luke 13:3 οὐχί λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν μὴ μετανοῆτε, πάντες ὁμοίως ἀπολεῖσθε.

Acts 3:19 Therefore repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord

Acts 3:19 μετανοήσατε οὖν καὶ ἐπιστρέψατε προς τὸ ἐξαλειφθῆναι ὑμῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας, ὅπως ἂν ἔλθωσιν καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου

The Greek word, METANOIA, translated to repent is a conditioner inferring to change your state of mind (as it's also a deritivative of nous). So changing your mind from unbelief TO belief is what repentance is, in the case of salvation. In Luke 13:3 if we were to say except you CHANGE YOUR STATE OF MIND (from unbelief to belief), you'll die, figuratively in the lake of fire. Or, change your state of mind (from unbelief to belief) so that your sins may be blotted out, it starts to make a lot more sense.

Does 'repent FROM SIN' exist as a statement? Well if we look at Acts 3:19, the act of changing your state of mind from unbelief TO belief is what causes your sins to be wiped away. But repent *from sin* does not exist anywhere as far as the Bible is concerned; as that would mean changing your mind from sinfulness to sinlessness: the flesh always sins (1 John 1:8). For the sake of argument if "repent from sin" did exist, it would violate a lot verses: especially since *believing* is the key, not an action that's indepent from Christ's death on the cross, and also due to the fact METANOIA between people who *already* believe and are Christians.

What about Christians who separate believing and repentance as a separate process from simply believing? Taking a look at Mark 1:15 we can see where METANOIA -- changing your state of mind -- is combined with to BELIEVE (and again the phrase 'repent from sin' is nonexistent):

Mark 1:15 And saying: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel".

Mark 1:15 ι πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ· μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ.

Therefore in order to believe you must change your mind, change your mind and believe (μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε), reversing it to make repentance into some lifestyle changing system no longer has any relevance to believing... the whole point is TO believe you need to repent, not that you believe AND THEN follow some bizarre "repentance" system.

Here we can see the meaning of 'changing your state of mind' clearly when it does not concern salvation or believing:

Luke 17:3 Pay attention to yourselves: if your brother sins against you, warn him; and when he changes his mind (repent/metanoia), forgive him.

Luke 17:3 καὶ ἐὰν ἑπτάκις τῆς ἡμέρας ἁμαρτήσῃ εἰς σὲ καὶ ἑπτάκις ἐπιστρέψῃ πρὸς σὲ λέγων· μετανοῶ, ἀφήσεις αὐτῷ.

So your brother is given an ultimatum of changing their mind ("repent") through your warning, but whether they want to or not is ultimately up to them. Of course as previously stated, this is a post-salvation scenario. This has nothing to do with salvation nor the weird systems and redefinitions Christianity has build around "repentance".

Finally we can see how 'repent' (METANOIA) is used when it refers to God Himself:

Hebrews 7:21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said to him: "The Lord sware and will not repent, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec")

Hebrews 7:21 ὁ δὲ μετὰ ὁρκωμοσίας διὰ τοῦ λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτόν, ὤμοσεν κύριος, καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται, σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα,

IS *GOD* to 'repent from sin' or to engage in some weird repentance process? Obviously God does not 'repent' since... He was the one who died on the Cross. There's no other way but to interpret it as God 'will not change the state of His mind' in that context... or really any context as a modifier. I do not know why Christianity cherry picks what metanoia should be, but "repentance" isn't what it's been redefined to.

To conclude, the word 'repent' is an English word that carries a lot of religious meanings not associated to the original Greek word METANOIA (which is actually neutral). It used to, but it has been deformed so much therefore I just prefer using the alliterative metanoia or change of mind. Therefore, we shouldn't use statements that do not exist anywhere in the Bible (even in translation!) Repent from sin and a 'process' of repentance is not Biblical.

Genuine Repentance?

You'll often hear the statement "you need to have signs of a GENUINE repentance", accompanied by a long list of various items which varies from Christian to Christian. The phrase 'genuine repentance' is nonexistent in the Bible and has been created for those who 'feel' believing is not enough. Let's review some of the common things Christians say you are to do for 'genuine repentance':

1. "Grieveing / feeling sorry for your sin" (emotion!) - this has nothing to do with salvation, doesn't exist anywhere in the Bible, and playing with your emotions has no effect over what Christ did on the cross for you.


2. "Changing your ways" - change (potentially) comes AFTER salvation. It does not affect whether you are saved or not. Furthermore, all of our righteousness is the same as we have Christ's: if we had to forcefully change our life by ourselves and accredit it to God, we would have variating righteousness. The work that God does in your life is INDEPENDENT from what YOU do, and will only occur through belief.


3. "Admitting you've sinned" - this is a clever distortion of 1 John 1:9. It waters down the 'state your sin' aspect by instead of making you just admit you have 'sinned', and makes it a one-time action. So you'll never name your sins after that point: which means perpetual carnality.


4. "Evidence of your Salvation" - nowhere in the Bible does it state we must have external 'evidence' of our salvation. In fact, the opposite is true in Matthew 23:5, the Pharisees and legalistic individuals outwardly showed "their salvation" (what they thought was salvation). And this is also brushing on 2 Corinthians 11:14 again; Satan is one of the first to play the 'outward Christian' instead of focusing on the Bible itself and learning it. The "Angel of Light" wants to trap you in what you THINK is 'the light', and people always respond the eaisest to outward works and emotion.


5. "Changing your lifestyle" - again this has nothing to do with *salvation*, it does have a lot to do with the quality of your life. But not salvation.
   

Here's the 'genuine repentance' model paired against the belief + nothing else model:

As we can see, there's no consistency with the 'genuine repentance' model, random tasks and actions are randomly thrown-- and it's never clear just how far you have to go with what, and at what point you 'lose' salvation, at what point you 'get' salvation and so forth. Another problem is that all of these 'required' actions vary from Christian to Christian, so it's complete chaos-- this is expected as the Bible never mentions any of these odd steps and stages for salvation, so naturally those who parrot these statements randomly mix them up in a blender and there's no consistency. In the model to the right we see that BELIEF is the point of salvation, and anything afterwards is accredited to POST-Salvation (and does NOT affect salvation; sure it affects your life, but never your salvation). It's insane to bring yourself down and "feel sorry", or to enforce that you're unworthy. This can lead to depression and causes Christ's work on the cross to be ignored while you're focused 'being sorry' for something that's ALREADY paid for.

You Must Have Evidence of Your Salvation / Genuine Saving Faith?

Moving back to 2 Corinthians 13:5 (again), this verse is misconstrued to infer that you must have evidence for your authentic faith:

2 Corinthians 13:5 Audit yourselves, if you're in the faith the Word (what's believed): test yourselves. Don't you know yourselves, that Jesus Christ's in you, unless if you're failing the test (auditing)?

2 Corinthians 13:5 ἑαυτοὺς πειράζετε εἰ ἐστὲ ἐν τῇ πίστει, ἑαυτοὺς δοκιμάζετε· ἢ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ἑαυτοὺς ὅτι Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ἐν ὑμῖν; εἰ μήτι ἀδόκιμοί ἐστε.

1 John 4:1 My beloved, don't believe every spirit but test the spirits if (they) were from the God: because many pseudo prophets go out into the world.

1 John 4:1 Αγαπητοί, μὴ παντὶ πνεύματι πιστεύετε, ἀλλὰ δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα εἰ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν, ὅτι πολλοὶ ψευδοπροφῆται ἐξεληλύθασιν εἰς τὸν κόσμον.

1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 Don't disregard prophecies, but test them all, retaining what's useful.

1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 προφητείας μὴ ἐξουθενεῖτε· πάντα δὲ δοκιμάζετε, τὸ καλὸν κατέχετε,

You're auditing what you believe, not auditing your salvation 🙄 (salvation isn't even mentioned!!!). This isn't for salvation but post-salvation: is the Word-believed in you passing or failing the audit? If it's failing the audit you're either ignoring some part of God's System -- especially 1 John 1:9 -- or you just don't care about nuance and don't want to think. We all make mistakes as we learn the Word so obviously auditing is essential, you can't learn anything in life without cross-referencing and checking everything.

Nothing mentioned about 'repenting from sins' or 'authentic faith' or 'saving genuine faith' or 'genuine changed lifestyle', and of course nothing about salvation... this is all post-salvation hence ἀδόκιμοί, the unbeliever has nothing to do with learning the Word nor cares about it.

Regarding the 'testing' (δοκιμάζετε), the Bible actually has three categories for this, if Christians weren't obsessed with redefining EVERY VERSE and EVERY ANALOGY in the Bible for something to do with losing salvation, they'd be able to stop and think and start to notice the nuance and concepts:

1. [2 Corinthians 13:5] ἑαυτοὺς δοκιμάζετε: test ourselves
• What we have believed, is it consistent with everything, does it make sense, did we ask God, are we in God's System? etc.


2. [1 John 4:1] δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα: test the spirits (is it from the Holy Spirit or from demons?)
• Does the presented information have a satanic thumbprint? Do you know God, because if you do you can easily identify His thumbprint vs. Satan's.


3. [1 Thessalonians 5:20-21] προφητείας μὴ ἐξουθενεῖτε, πάντα δὲ δοκιμάζετε: test the prophecies
• Are the claimed prophecies valid with the poetic meter and consistent with everything the Bible has established, especially in Daniel 9, or is it general misinformation? Prophecy isn't to be conflated with the unknown date of the pre-tribulation rapture. The biggest thumbprint of this is when a pastor-teacher or believer starts salivating or claiming we're in the end times, this has been claimed since the dawn of Christianity, avoid everyone who makes claims of the end times. This is something we are not to know, and its biggest hallmark is that interest in Bible becomes almost net zero. We are not in a 'net zero' timeline and won't be for a long time yet.

An argument against this might be "well Paul is explicitly stating this as a present and not past event". That's correct, since salvation is ALREADY done (through belief), the present (post-salvation) mechanic is that you have to diagnose yourself so that you know you're re-filled and not un-filled and learning Satan's replacement theology which he's all to eager to feed you (2 Corinthians 11:14, 1 Timothy 4:1). Since this has nothing to do with pre-salvation, it SHOULD NOT be a past event, and it isn't: the spiritual life is about 24/7 thinking towards God and 24/7 auditing of your beliefs and 24/7 usage of 1 John 1:9. Obviously it's insanely exhausting thinking all of the time, which is why many don't bother for the spiritual life and would rather have physical things instead.

For a case scenario: what happened if you did need signs and outward 'evidence' that you needed to show off for salvation? Let's review what the Pharisees were doing:

Matthew 23:4-10 For they chain heavy loads and lay them on people's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all of their works they do for to be seen of men: they widen their phylacteries and magnify the edges of their garments. They also love (being seated at) the head of the table at dinner, and the prime seats in the synagogues. And greetings in the markets and to be called of men: "Rabbi, Rabbi." But don't be called Rabbi for one is your teacher, Christ, and all of you are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be called masters for one is your master, Christ.

Matthew 23:4-10 δεσμεύουσιν δὲ φορτία βαρέα καὶ ἐπιτιθέασιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους τῶν ἀνθρώπων, αὐτοὶ δὲ τῷ δακτύλῳ αὐτῶν οὐ θέλουσιν κινῆσαι αὐτά. πάντα δὲ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν ποιοῦσιν πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· πλατύνουσιν γὰρ τὰ φυλακτήρια αὐτῶν καὶ μεγαλύνουσιν τὰ κράσπεδα, φιλοῦσιν δὲ τὴν πρωτοκλισίαν ἐν τοῖς δείπνοις καὶ τὰς πρωτοκαθεδρίας ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ τοὺς ἀσπασμοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς καὶ καλεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ῥαββεί. ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ κληθῆτε, ῥαββεί, εἷς γάρ ἐστιν ὑμῶν ὁ διδάσκαλος, πάντες δὲ ὑμεῖς ἀδελφοί ἐστε. καὶ πατέρα μὴ καλέσητε ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· εἷς γάρ ἐστιν ὑμῶν ὁ πατὴρ ὁ οὐράνιος. μηδὲ κληθῆτε καθηγηταί, ὅτι καθηγητὴς ὑμῶν ἐστιν εἷς ὁ Χριστός.

1. They were placing heavy burdens on people (can be physical or mental), but hypocritically did nothing of themselves (very selfish)


2. They were ensuring they had 'evidence' of their works (publicly displaying them to others, and ensuring they announce this to everyone, much like Christians who when feel threatened must announce to you "I'M PRAYING FOR YOU"). Is this not identical to Christians who scream "you must have evidence?" They're a spitting image of the Pharisees.


3. They had a title which placed a mental importance on them instead of Christ (this is something Catholics and Orthodox are famous for: as they call all priests 'father' and then use loophole logic by saying you call your biological father, father... so then it must be okay! Well it's not okay if you're glorifying a man above Christ regardless of the title being father, rabbi, master, etc. Obviously none of us glorify our biological parents above Christ)

The Pharisees were addicted to religious attributes that are extremely common in most Christian denominations, which is why Christ placed so much emphasis on this as anyone can fall victim to it; humans love religion after all. So why are we saying that you NEED "evidence" and why do we have priests with fancy titles so that people place a mental importance on the priest instead of Christ? Divine works from God are done behind the scenes contoured to each believer: which makes it UNIQUE from the 'evidence' works that Christians and the religious as a whole get confused in.

None of the people that Christ admonishes are 'casual believers' either, a common argument from Christians who lie and say they believe salvation is a gift then also claim you can't be outwardly casual. Oh really? Then why are all the ones who have beef with God always the loudest and most religious?

Matthew 23:33 You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?

Matthew 23:33 ὄφεις, γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, πῶς φύγητε ἀπὸ τῆς κρίσεως τῆς γεέννης;

And why was Christ questioning the fact if they could escape hell or not? Let's take a look earlier in Matthew:

Matthew 5:20 For I say to you, that except your righteousness will exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:20 λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ὑμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη πλεῖον τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.

In other words they didn't have Christ's righteousness through believing, and that brings us back to:

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith belief of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference

Romans 3:22 δικαιοσύνη δὲ θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολή·

Romans 10:3-4 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes.

Romans 10:3-4 ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν δικαιοσύνην ζητοῦντες στῆσαι, τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν· τέλος γὰρ νόμου Χριστὸς εἰς δικαιοσύνην παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι.

Someone might argue that the scenario of the Pharisees doesn't apply to them because the Pharisees 'believed in salvation through the Law' or some other excuse. However, the same mental state of 'works salvation' is linked to that (belief + 1), believing in the law for salvation is no different from believing in works for salvation.

The "Fruit" of Repentance?

Followed by Christians stating you must "repent" or have a "genuine repentance", they'll also say you must have "fruits worthy of repentance", which is generally taken from this verse:

Luke 3:8 Therefore bring forth fruits worthy of repentance the changed state of your mind

Luke 3:8 ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας· καὶ μὴ ἄρξησθε λέγειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν Ἀβραάμ· λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι δύναται ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῶν λίθων τούτων ἐγεῖραι τέκνα τῷ Ἀβραάμ.

Woah, wait a second-- that's not the full verse. Let's read everything in context instead of cherry picking:

Luke 3:2-8 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance changing the state of your mind for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet saying: "the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God". Then he said to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him: "Oh generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruits (doctrines) worthy of repentance the changed state of your mind, and do not begin to say within yourselves: "We have Abraham to our father", for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham".

Luke 3:2-8 ἐπὶ ἀρχιερέως Ἅννα καὶ Καϊάφα, ἐγένετο ῥῆμα θεοῦ ἐπὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν Ζαχαρίου υἱὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν περίχωρον τοῦ Ἰορδάνου κηρύσσων βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, ὡς γέγραπται ἐν βίβλῳ λόγων Ἠσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου· φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν κυρίου, εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ· πᾶσα φάραγξ πληρωθήσεται καὶ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ βουνὸς ταπεινωθήσεται, καὶ ἔσται τὰ σκολιὰ εἰς εὐθείας καὶ αἱ τραχεῖαι εἰς ὁδοὺς λείας· καὶ ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἔλεγεν οὖν τοῖς ἐκπορευομένοις ὄχλοις βαπτισθῆναι ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ· γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς; ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας· καὶ μὴ ἄρξησθε λέγειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν Ἀβραάμ· λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι δύναται ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῶν λίθων τούτων ἐγεῖραι τέκνα τῷ Ἀβραάμ.

John was communicating this specifically to those who were either Pharisees (generation of vipers) or playing the legalistic game placing Abraham above Christ. This is why John was specifying 'fruits' (doctrines) of their changed mind: saying that "we have Abraham to our father" is NOT a fruit (doctrine) from a changed mind.

This is not some sort of weird 'repent' command to believers required for their 'genuine repentance'. Also this (again) has nothing to do with salvation, neither the audience or the context of this whole passage. Notice how Christians who demand something more than 'only believe' for salvation are so analogous to the Pharisees, but choose to ignore this glaringly obvious problem?

The Confused Christian's Vocabulary

As we've established, Christians who state that you need works (or anything) besides belief, use a bunch of religious words and tend to coagulate everything into a huge (confusing) mess-- nothing is ever clear. Let's take a better look at these words:

Repent: this word has obvious issues with the context of many verses when you replace it with METANOIA (to change the state of your mind, from one state to another, or as I like to abbreviate it to: mind-change). When most Christians use 'repent', they mean it in a state of penance and not whichever context the specified verse carries -- or in many cases they use repent as a stand-alone word and affix whatever term they 'feel' is necessary, such as 'repent from sin'. Spurgeon famously redefines repent as well as Peter into a completely different meaning never found in the original language text. "Repent" as Christianity uses today is far removed from the original succinct meaning. METANOIA is a *conditioner* describing your state of mind and isolated by itself has nothing to do with salvation inherently, the ancient Greeks would have used it in casual conversation outside of theology.

Evidence: not found anywhere in the Bible (i.e. 'you must have evidence'), it's just convenient go-to vocabulary for those who believe in works salvation. Hebrews 11:1 does have 'evidence' (however this verse has absolutely nothing to do with salvation and may win the award for being the most mistranslated verse in the Bible).

Fruit: often used as a synonym for 'works', however in context (especially Luke 3:2-8 as previously seen) fruit refers to your Biblical knowledge -- the doctrines you understand. And following Christ's analogy, only a mature tree produces fruit, therefore new believers can't have fruit as they're like newborn babies or saplings.

Heart: Used extremely frequently to describe some sort of 'emotional' aura or ether by works salvation individuals, something that they can claim they 'feel'. The way the Bible uses KARDIA is to refer to a specific part of your mind (which you CANNOT feel). That's it. And in context this makes a lot more sense, since 'heart' when taken too far out of its figurative context starts to create nonsensical ideas. This word is a personal favourite with works salvation Christians.

Works: When used, divine vs. human works is never specified, and works shouldn't be used in context for salvation to begin with as we've established.

Commitment: Doesn't exist anywhere in the Bible: and is a horrible word to instill the notion that you have to 'do' something for God, despite the fact HE did everything on the cross already. This is an identifier of someone who is ADOKIMOS (un-filled). God bought your salvation, so why are YOU trying to give back something you've never had in the first place?

Authentic / Genuine: Prependisms that are tacked on to 'repent', 'fruit', 'faith', 'commitment' etc so works salvation Christians can artificially distinguish between two groups that don't exist in the first place ('authentic' Christians vs regular 'Christians'). You're a Christian the moment you believe for a microsecond and it cannot be undone.

Obedience: this one appears to slip into the vocabulary a lot. Demanding it from anyone ('you MUST have obedience') is flawed because the old sin nature causes us to be unreliable, so we'll never be 100% as long as we have our physical bodies. Furthermore, God doesn't want mindless drooling 'obedient puppets', He wants sons* that can think and know Bible Doctrine in the Greek and Hebrew, not the English language. If you want to learn the Word and learn Christ, then yeah you'll have obedience, but guess what! Salivating over works salvation means you're disobeying, and God is perfectly happy to allow anyone involved with religion to continue disobeying Him for this is necessary to maintain FREEDOM.

*'sons' is not meant to take on a specific sex, it's just a call back to Genesis 1:26, for, we share what God has in that we're alive and can think with volition. It applies to both male and female.

Bad Salvation Volcabulary and Prependisms

When you hear someone say that you must believe, they'll often say, "oh well you need to truly believe" or "you must have genuine faith". Other times they'll say you need a sincere confession, you need to earnestly pray, etc. Here's a rather complete list of some of the common prependisms:

The problem with all of these words is that they are never used in conjunction with 'believe' or 'faith' (which should always be translated as believe-- translations will vary between the two even though the Greek word PISTIS remains the same).

Jesus never said you need to truly believe, sincerely believe... or have genuine faith. The issue is that Prependisms have been created when people feel that 'believing' is not enough; and that's a real issue as: believing + works does not equal believing-- because you're adding works and have not believed Christ PAID for your sins; rather you 'feel' that the extra works are still required for that payment.

Here are some words that some individuals use to replace 'believe' entirely:

There's no such thing as: 'admitting' in Jesus for salvation, 'accepting' Jesus for salvation, 'acknowledging' Jesus for salvation, 'commiting' Jesus for salvation, 'inviting' Jesus for salvation, 'trusting' Jesus for salvation -- it's BELIEVING in Jesus for salvation.

An argument to this might be that Ephesians 1:13 lists 'trusted' (depending on your translation):

Ephesians 1:13 (KJV) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 1:13 In Whom you trusted heard the Word of the Truth, the gospel of your salvation in Whom (after) you believed, (you were) sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13 ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς σωτηρίας ὑμῶν, ἐν ᾧ καὶ πιστεύσαντες ἐσφραγίσθητε τῷ πνεύματι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῷ ἁγίῳ,

However, trusted (ἀκούσαντες) is better translated as 'to hear / heard', and in context of the verse this makes sense; because in order to believe in the gospel you first must HEAR it.

Lukewarm Christianity?

Works salvation Christianity has a bad habit of conflating everything as being works or salvation related. They don't realize that all of the terms and analogies don't make sense when you melt everything as being for works salvation, but they're unable to read the Bible any other way... and really... they don't want to read the Bible any other way.

Revelation 3:15-16 I know your works, that you are neither cold or hot: I would you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold or hot, I will spue you out of my mouth.

Revelation 3:15-16 οἶδά σου τὰ ἔργα, ὅτι οὔτε ψυχρὸς εἶ οὔτε ζεστός. ὄφελον ψυχρὸς ἦς ἢ ζεστός. 16 οὕτως, ὅτι χλιαρὸς εἶ καὶ οὔτε ζεστὸς οὔτε ψυχρός, μέλλω σε ἐμέσαι ἐκ τοῦ στόματός μου.

A few considerations:

1. This is being addressed to the Church of Laodicea, so we know they're already saved and they're already believers.


2. Christ places preferential treatment to being 'cold' over being lukewarm, so we know that being cold is a valid option alongside being hot, anything but being lukewarm.


3. Satan's flavour of 'lukewarm' spiritualy is his specialty, and this revolves around religion both casual and extreme: giving you replacement doctrines about God.

If it's better to be cold than lukewarm, this actually shows the dangers of learning the Bible without God's System, because you're being subjected to so much misinformation and reversals of everything: ultimately Satan's system (likewarm spirituality) will make you grow in hatred and you'll start to desire to hurt others. For God to say it's preferred that you remain cold, shows the extremity of religion and what it does to a person. And of course... believing that salvation has strings or requires some sort of effort on our part is also a function of being lukewarm!

Wrong Salvation Phrases (Review)

With all of the above in mind, let's review some very common phrases that are used for providing how to 'be saved':

Would it surprise you to know that *every single* one of those statements is incorrect for salvation? None of them address the fact to just 'believe'. One phenomenon you'll notice is how they emphasize 'the self'; count how many times you see the words 'you' and 'your'. It's common for people in this mindset to place the emphasis and work of salvation on themselves instead of Christ.

Let's review each one:

"I can do anything I want and still be saved?"

That's correct because God honours freedom, to claim otherwise is rejecting the notion that salvation is through belief in Christ alone without works. It's necessary to have volition in order to be a free-thinking soul while also having the free gift of salvation. In fact our ability to sin gives us unlimited freedom than if we were unable to sin (which is why the angels observe us as they choose not to sin and need a reference). But this rhetorical question is designed to conveniently ignore a lot of important caveats of what it does affect:

1. You don't escape punishment or divine discipline. It should be very obvious that God allows you to believe whatever you want, and so we're all responsible for what we believe and will be held accountable: this includes all atheists and every flavour of theist.
• He's the universal judge after all, God would be both unjust to ignore and never repay... but this still has nothing to do with the gift of salvation.


2. If you're interested in learning the Word, eventually you are thinking towards Christ and thinking Bible Doctrine so much that "sin-binging" becomes less and less envigorating. In fact, the increased awareness to sin and mistakes can be really biting to you (2 Corinthians 12:10).
• Of course as a 'baby Christian' your very disposition of assuming self-righteousness that salvation can be permanently lost through certain actions is a sin in itself: for you couldn't be bothered to learn the Word or use 1 John 1:9. Continue down that path and you'll become such a nasty person nobody will want to be in the same room as you.


3. Doing 'anything you want' (which including believing in works salvation) and neglecting to learn the Bible has eternal consequences for it will permanently stage where you are with God. If you lived a complete life of selfishness or religion, you won't be very close or interested in God.


4. God balances out and uses all the good and the bad. If you want to look at all of the horrors in the world like 9/11, the holocaust, (which were all religiously motivated), they're not wasted even if we don't understand it until later or perhaps some of it not until we're dead.
• It's actually Satan's argument to point out and scream about all of the evils in the world (which he himself is largely responsible for kickstarting) and skew God as unjust and evil.


5. King David and the Apostle Paul were both murderers and committed some of the worst sins anyone ever has. Why Christians can't see this I'll never know. Both of them never lost salvation and took great enjoyment (at the time!) in 'doing anything they wanted'. Once again, God used the bad for good and it allowed them to grow more than if they hadn't done as they pleased.
• Of course God could impute perfect knowledge and experiences to all of us in a microsecond, but then it would both defy our freedom of choice and also be a lie: giving you knowledge of an experience that never happened isn't a real experience.


6. Your inheritances get affected (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), and it's unlikely you'll ever reach Pleroma if you do as you please forever without applying Bible Doctrine, this also applies to all Christians who claim you can't do whatever you want, because they've not learned any Bible Doctrine to understand why salvation is a gift.


7. We constantly sin until the day we die, and every sin is in violation of God. So to claim we can't do anything and still be saved by proxy means we'd have to completely stop sinning which is impossible (1 John 1:8).

The consequences of 'doing anything I want' don't affect your salvation but may have eternal ramifications on your life with God which is more frightening. So yes, you can do anything you want and still be saved (even in the cases of very few people who take "doing anything" to the next level of extreme which is not many): with the 'potential' to screw up your life on earth and eternally with God. You'll be wearing an eternal DUNCE cap but still saved, congratulations 🥰. In my opinion that may actually be a worse fate.

Being a 'good person' also has no merit (Romans 3:22). Anyone can be a 'good person' even someone who doesn't believe, and in fact it could be argued atheists are far better people since Christians become so intolerable. It doesn't matter what you do as you'll keep doing it regardless until you mature which takes time. Anyone who claims change is instant proves that they can't read the Bible or comprehend basic logic for this isn't a thing in nature. And change still isn't relevant for salvation. People who say they have changed in a microsecond for salvation simply gaslit their mindset to what they think God wants them to do, or what they think they're reading through their Bible.

It's actually another one of Satan's arguments that we should have merit for what we do rather than relying on Christ's righteousness: which means us trying to prevent ourselves from doing what we think are 'the worst sins ever' also has no merit and is meaningless. Christ only cares about how much of His thinking you get in your own mind, living and learning the Bible 24/7. If you don't inevitably end up using 1 John 1:9 in your dreams or thinking about God and talking to God daily, you're not really interested in God (which again has no bearing on salvation but your relationship with Him).

Faith-Keeping?

It's arrogant for Christianity to claim God discards anyone, this is the result of mandating that you have to perpetually keep faith, or even when judging others. God loves everyone equally and wouldn't have created us if He 'hated' specific individuals over others (John 3:16). To say otherwise is to place God in a small box who behaves like a small child and not a responsible creator, or really like a giant bully.

List of reasons why 'faith' isn't used to maintain salvation once a microsecond of belief is used:

1. We're permanently sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), there are no verses that claim this can be undone, only that it's permanent.


2. The 'Will of the Father' (John 6:40) is never mentioned as being temporary or reliant on your persistence of perpetually believing.


3. This excludes those who no longer have the ability to 'continue believing' or are mentally incapable. Like a lot of superfluous caveats added to salvation, these turn God into a monster and gatekeep what's meant to be a gift and not a loan.


4. The Bible acknowledges our lapse in fellowship with the very principle of 1 John 1:9, if we're allowed to be in a state where God can't hear our requests (Psalm 66:18 (65:18)), this means there isn't a loss of salvation but of fellowship. There would be no other reason for Christ to 'knock' if faith-keeping was mandated (Revelation 3:20).


5. Peter lost faith when he began rebuking Christ (Matthew 16:22-23), or when he started to sink in the water (Matthew 14:30).


6. Christ never throws us away, even when we throw Him away (John 6:37).


7. You can mouth "Christ is Lord/Christ is King" and still be far away from Christ (Matthew 15:8). Therefore faith-keeping can even be argued to be pointless if you're buying into Satan's replacement options for Christ (Revelation 17).


8. Everyone who demands faith-keeping predictably believes in a lot of replacement doctrines that Satan has planted everywhere: works salvation, prolife, denial of pre-tribulation rapture, KJV-onlyism, postmillennialism, denial of right pastor-teacher, etc. Therefore with this commonality of 'thumbprint' they're more interested in themselves and a replacement Christ than actually being interested in God.

Works Salvation in Other Religions

I hate to say it, but Christians are often an unlearned people. They read a few verses in English translation (without God's System) creating an elaborate bogus system of "transformed lifestyles" despite the original language texts being clear Christ paid for it, you just believe once, that's it. And even when things are translated plainly in English like the fact salvation is a gift, they still want to believe it's actually a loan you need to earn.

The gift of salvation being totally free is what actually makes Christianity unique. In other religions we find endless verses that employ some kind of system of works that send you straight to hell; of course this is what the majority of Christendom claims being ignorant it's also claimed in: Islam, Hinduism, Buhddism, etc. Let's compare what both the Bhagavad Gita/Srimad Bhagavatam and Qur'an say about going to hell and salvation.

According to Hindusim, if you commit evil deeds such as destroying family traditions and all the standard stuff you hear from works Christians, 'it sends you to hell' indefinitely. Exactly like Christians who say you need a "genuine repentance and change of lifestyle" else you go straight to hell.

The Qur'an could not be more plain with its requirement of good deeds that the majority of Christianity gets excited over, in fact the classic phrase "the faith that saves is not alone" could be extracted directly from the Qur'an! Look at how Surah Al-Jathiya 45: Ayah 30 is literally an inversion of Romans 4:5-6!

Judas Iscariot Wasn't Saved?

Another problem with works salvation Christians (while they lie and say: "I believe the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone, not of works"), they'll claim that Judas' believing was not enough, or they'll claim that Judas never repented, Judas "repented" the moment he believed in Christ: he wouldn't have been able to become an apostle if he was an atheist. If Judas wasn't an atheist AND salvation is only belief, then he was saved. To claim otherwise means you believe in works salvation, and/or you're drunk and have redefined "repent" as a religious process of works, along with nonsense like "true saving faith", there are no prependisms to believing Christ paid for you.

There's an overlooked doctrine involved with Judas betraying Christ, and that is: God uses everything, including all bad for good. Christ wanted to go to the cross, so if Judas didn't betray Christ, He would have been betrayed another way. Therefore the 'bad' of the betrayal was also used for the 'good' of achieving Christ's goal of going to the cross as well as doubling as a spiritual test for Judas. Was Judas going to do a 180 and use 1 John 1:9 to get back into learning Bible Doctrine and ask God how he should use the 30 pieces of silver, or is he going to cave and let his emotions get to him and commit suicide? Unfortunately he chose the path of least resistance (option suicide) instead of getting back into God's System. This is how most of us respond to similar situations, Christianity likes to choose the path of least resistance:

• It's easier to commit suicide instead of using 1 John 1:9 to get back into learning Bible and asking God what you should do with the 30 pieces of silver
• Judas never asked God what to do with the 30 pieces of silver and instead tried to give them back to the Pharisees since his eyes were fixated on himself; it's possible God had a contingency plan as to what those pieces of silver could be used for in the Plan of God.
• It's easier to believe (and want) salvation to be a loan rather than a gift
• It's easier to reverse the spiritual life as something that requires physical actions or physical objects instead of pure mental thinking and processing towards God
• It's easier to place God in a finite box and inject your personal thoughts and desires onto Him
• It's easier to paint Satan as obviously evil rather than being the good guy who dwells in most churches encouraging Christianity to "do something" for God such as feigned "lifestyle changes" or "transformed living" or "feeling the Holy Spirit"

If Judas was an atheist he also wouldn't have had such a strong reaction to betraying Christ once the whole situation sunk in (often the ramifications of what we don't aren't realized until after the fact, it's easy to sin big when you aren't aware of or don't see the outcome immediately), Christ would have just been another regular person.

There's great emphasis placed on our believing. If you succumb into thinking that salvation can be lost (either through sin or losing belief), that salvation requires a changed lifestyle, or that Judas was never saved: you haven't conquered the world and remain in religious thinking. And unfortunately this is how the majority of Christianity along with Islam and Hinduism will always be. While Judas committed physical suicide, we commit spiritual (mental) suicide by buying into Satan's religious thinking.

1 John 5:4-5 That all who are birthed out of of God conquer the world, and this is the victory: the conquering (of) the world (from) the believing (of) ours. But who is (it) that conquers the world? Not if they don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God

1 John 5:4-5 ὅτι πᾶν τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ νικᾷ τὸν κόσμον· καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ νίκη ἡ νικήσασα τὸν κόσμον, ἡ πίστις ἡμῶν. τίς ἐστιν ὁ νικῶν τὸν κόσμον εἰ μὴ ὁ πιστεύων ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ;

Works salvation Christians will use this verse to rationalize that Judas wasn't saved:

Matthew 26:23-24 And He answered saying: "the (one) who dips their hand in the bowl with mine: he betrays me. Nevertheless, the Son of man (will) depart as it's written concerning Him. But woe to that man who through which the Son of man (is) betrayed. Better it would be if he was never born."

Matthew 26:23-24 ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· ὁ ἐμβάψας μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὴν χεῖρα ἐν τῷ τρυβλίῳ, οὗτός με παραδώσει. ὁ μὲν υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑπάγει καθὼς γέγραπται περὶ αὐτοῦ. οὐαὶ δὲ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐκείνῳ δι᾽ οὗ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται· καλὸν ἦν αὐτῷ εἰ οὐκ ἐγεννήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος.

Okay... this doesn't say anywhere that Judas wasn't saved. You can still be saved and royally screw up your life (1 John 5:16) and dampen the ratio of happiness you have with God in eternity (Revelation 22:19), wearing an eternal dunce cap. We're all created because God loves everyone equally, so when Christ said it would be better if Judas wasn't born, it's playing into the same concept of Matthew 18:6. If you waste your life living on earth with religion your soul shrinkage becomes critical, but that doesn't change the fact God loves you and salvation is free.

For it's more productive to commit suicide BEFORE you become a religious mess (AKA not to be born at all) than continuing in unproductivity on earth: shrinking your soul, ensuring zero inheritances, affecting others in your vicinity, ruining your happiness with God and bringing others down with you etc. If your life on earth results in legalism, such as tearing away the existing belief of Christ in children: telling them they need to have a "changed lifestyle" or a "true saving faith" or that "Christ doesn't exist at all" rather than leaving it as believing in Him, your goose is cooked but not regarding salvation:

Matthew 18:6 "Now (if) whoever destroys (the belief) of these little children that believe in Me, it's more profitable for him that (he) hangs a LARGE millstone around the neck (of) himself and drown in the depths (of the) sea."

Matthew 18:6 ὃς δ᾽ ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, συμφέρει αὐτῷ ἵνα κρεμασθῇ μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ καταποντισθῇ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης.

Here's the scary and problematic thing: Christians who believe Judas wasn't saved by buying into works salvation are already on a trajectory worse than Judas', for they haven't even learned the basics, and have no hope (or interest) in ever using 1 John 1:9 or ultimately knowing God.

1 Corinthians 3:15 If someone's work of theirs (is) burned up: (they'll be) suffering a loss, but himself saved, but in this way through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:15 εἴ τινος τὸ ἔργον κατακαήσεται, ζημιωθήσεται, αὐτὸς δὲ σωθήσεται, οὕτως δὲ ὡς διὰ πυρός.

Being Permanently Blotted (Book of Life)?

If salvation is permanent then logically it would follow that there's nothing you can do to remove/blot your name from the Book of Life.

Revelation 22:19 is sometimes cited as a reference for it being possible for your name to be blotted from the Book of Life... except there's big problem, the Greek (even in the Byzantine texts) doesn't refer to the Book of Life, they refer to the TREE of life which is quite different and results in different ramifications. The earliest manuscript I could find containing this odd error was the Beza manuscript, but I'm assuming the 'patient zero' was the Textus Receptus as it contains this error and was used by many early translations:

Revelation 22:19 (Textus Receptus) καὶ ἐάν τις ἀφαιρῇ ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων τοῦ βίβλου τῆς προφητείας ταύτης, ἀφαιρήσει ὁ θεὸς τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ βίβλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἁγίας, καὶ τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ.

Earlier English translations, including the 1534 Tyndale New Testament, 1582 Douay-Rheims, 1599 Geneva Bible, 1611 AV, all follow suit with repeating this error. I'm guessing this was a scribal assumption or mistake rather than something deliberately malicious, if it was malicious then that's kind of ironic as they'd be excluded from the Tree of Life from the very text warning about this (lol), but don't confuse academics and textual criticism with malicious intent.

Revelation 22:19 (KJV) And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Revelation 22:19 And if someone takes away word(s) from this book of prophecy, the God takes away his part from the Tree of Life and from the holy city, which are written (about) in this book here

Revelation 22:19 καὶ ἐάν τις ἀφέλῃ ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων τοῦ βιβλίου τῆς προφητείας ταύτης, ἀφελεῖ ὁ θεὸς τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἁγίας, τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ.

This is also consistent with what is mentioned earlier in verse 14 (in order to enter the city you can't be excluded from the Tree of Life), so basically you're saved but lose the right to enter the city, eternally sitting outside the gates with your dunce cap on, and everyone who ever lived and all the angels will know. You won't be in the lake of fire because your name is still in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15), but playing with sticks outside the gates might get boring after a few trillion years.

Revelation 22:14 They're blessed washing their robes themselves, in order that they have the right on the Tree of Life, and may go through the gates into the city.

Revelation 22:14 μακάριοι οἱ πλύνοντες τὰς στολὰς αὐτῶν, ἵνα ἔσται ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν εἰσέλθωσιν εἰς τὴν πόλιν.

And if you're wondering why the whole "Tree of Life" thing is even established as a concept, I think it's due to 1 Peter 2:24 which deliberately swaps cross for tree (ξύλον); therefore those who maliciously play with God's texts spit on the cross (tree) and by proxy are removed from the actual Tree of Life. So there's definitely a connection with trivializing how you view Christ and therefore the cross and therefore the Tree of Life. If I'm wrong about the cross/tree (of Life) concept I'll update this later.

Here's a chart of all classes of believers and unbelievers regarding the various outcomes of each attribute. Those who modify the original language texts with malicious (i.e. to deliberately violate Revelation 22:19) intent are labeled with 'malicious':

	Book of Life	Book of Works	Tree of Life	Inheriting (the Kingdom)	Inheritances	Entering (the Kingdom)	Entering (the Holy City)	Lake of Fire
Believer, pleroma	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Believer, never matured	Yes	No	Yes	No	Maybe	Yes	Yes	No
(Unbelieving) Believer	Yes	No	Yes	No	Maybe	Yes	Yes	No
Believer, religious	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Believer, malicious	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Unbeliever, not saved	No	Yes	N/A	No	No	No	No	Yes
Unbeliever, religious	No	Yes	N/A	No	No	No	No	Yes
Unbeliever, malicious	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes

What about when it says those who are already blotted or blotted from sin? Well this is the same situation as the "unforgiveable sin", which is unbelief. We all start out with unbelief in God and our names being blotted once we sin (which we do even when we're babies). Only through a microsecond believing Christ paid for our sins do we move past the unforgiveable sin and have our name added to the Book of Life.

Exodus 32:33 The LORD said to Moses: "whoever has sinned against me, them I will blot out of my book"

Exodus 32:33 וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה מִ֚י אֲשֶׁ֣ר חָֽטָא־לִ֔י אֶמְחֶ֖נּוּ מִסִּפְרִֽי׃

You're blotted because you've never believed, once! Therefore any sins will indeed keep you being blotted from the Book of Life.

Conclusion

The dangers of works salvation include: depression, pettiness, addiction to judging, addiction to activism, temporary 'emotional high' wanting to do change (once the gaslighting wears out you become a jaded miserable person), wanting to be a part of a 'group' with like-minded people, damaging your relationship with others, isolating yourself from reality, using God's name for things He never said (branding things YOU say that are supposedly 'Christ's' when they're not).

• Salvation is through belief and nothing else added. Saying your belief (or faith) is not alone is adding to grace, nullifying it. There are no verses saying we can lose the Holy Spirit or have our names removed from the Book of Life.
• Fruit is not synonomous to works and is something that new believers do not yet have (for it takes time to digest the Bible)
• Walking in the light is not synonomous to 'salvation'; it means you can interpret Bible Doctrine as per being re-filled
• Walking in darkness is not synonomous to 'lacking salvation', it means you CANNOT interpret Bible Doctrine as per being un-filled
• METANOIA ("repent") is a caution to change the state of your mind (nous) from UNBELIEF to BELIEF. The English word 'repent' (a derivative of penance and related to flagellation) is NOT appropriate for METANOIA.
• Cup of the Lord: state of being re-filled
• Cup of demons: state of being un-filled (carnal)
• Lukewarm spirituality: means you're taking a bite out of Satan's religion in some form or another
• Inheriting the kingdom: is not to be conflated with entering the kingdom, Bible is very clear with the differences of entering and inheriting.
• Christ knocking: is designed for Him to let you know once you've prolonged ignoring 1 John 1:9
• Repent *from sin*: this statement is foreign to the Bible and exists in no verses anywhere because of 1 John 1:8, it's only ever repent FROM UNBELIEF.

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