What is True Christianity?

Signs of the really converted vs the fake religions of this world!

Fred R. Coulter—June 27, 2020

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This is the last of the Elder's Conference for this year. We couldn't get back to Florence, Kentucky, which is the greater Cincinnati Airport area and have our conference because of the Wuhan virus.

We hope that maybe next year, but I think if they keep going the way that they are going, and keeping the thing moving the way it's moving, they're going to want to shut us down again. But the increased number of cases does not indicate that there are more people ready to go to the hospital. There are fewer people going to the hospital and there are fewer deaths. When the virus replicates from person to person it reduces in its strength and gets weaker and weaker just like with the flu.

We haven't shut down for the flu, so I think that we need to understand that there may be some sinister forces wanting more things that they want to bring upon us. I saw Birx, Fauci, Pence and a couple of others on stage with their dutiful masks on. Please remember that when you have a mask on and you cover your nose you're breathing carbon dioxide and every breath diminishes the amount of oxygen that you have. Which then, long term that will lead to your being more susceptible to sickness and more susceptible to lack of energy, and even come to dizziness and things like this. You need a good supply of oxygen to live.

It's kind of like holding your breath halfway. The masks are overdone. I went into the bank the other day and the gal said to put the mask over your nose. I pulled it down and said, I have to breathe through my mouth! She didn't have anything to say.

I think under the circumstances we have had a very good conference, especially considering that my wife recently passed and it's going to take me some time to really get through that; like everyone else…  We were married 56½ years. Every time you go through it you have to remember that God wants you to go forward! So, we'll do that!

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What is True Christianity? Or as our registered motto is: Original Christianity for Today! Why is that different than the Christianity in the world? Remember what Jesus told one of the disciples; the very first thing after He told them that the temple would be destroyed: Many shall come in My name saying that I am the Christ and deceive many!

If you want to know what fake Christianity is like, all you have to do is go to TBN. The sign or the mark of fake Christianity is Sunday-keeping and holiday-keeping vs the signs of true Christianity:

• the true Christ
• the love of God
• keeping the Sabbath Day
• keeping the Holy Days

And most importantly, counteracting the Judaism that is coming through Messianic Jews:

• the Passover Day on the 14th day the 1st month, the day that Jesus kept His last Passover

That's the day that we were to do and remember.

Those are the keys! That's important because those in fake Christianity like to read Scriptures as well, but if you follow along and pay close attention, you will see that they never, never talk about keeping the Sabbath!

They always talk about if you believe in Jesus—and we'll talk about that today, because you need to—and confess His name. They take those two Scriptures and say that's all you need! Then your sins are forgiven and your soul is going to go to heaven, and there's nothing else you need to do.

• fake Christianity will not keep the commandments of God the way God said!
• true Christianity will keep all ten commandments

Let's see what Jesus had to say about fakeChristianity. We will see that it's not a matter of what you say or think you say, if you are not right with God. This is quite astounding:

Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven…"

The only way you enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is not a soul going to heaven, but the resurrection after you've been put in the grave, or for the few who are still alive at that time, they will be transformed instantaneously.

"…but the one who is doing the will of My Father, Who is in heaven" (v 21).

When you read the Gospel of John what do you find that Jesus said?

• I do what the Father commanded Me to do
• I speak the words that He said to speak
• I teach the things that He said to teach
• I do the works of the Father

That's the same way with us!

They will answer back, v 22: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name?….'"

Using the name of Jesus without love and obedience to God is not true Christianity! It's a profession, but not a belief in the way of life that true Christianity really is.

"'…And did we not cast out demons through Your name? And did we not perform many works of power through Your name?'" (v 22).

I was watching TBN and they had this great movement that they're doing in Africa, thousands and thousands, and it's all Pentecostal stuff. I'm sure that the people doing it are sincere to the point that they're really wanting to help. But you have to have the whole package of what God wants, not what you agree with.

Notice that Jesus will not say, 'I'm so glad you did those things, I'm so glad that you used My name.' That's what they will expect, but notice what Jesus is going to say:

Verse 23: "And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.'"

Anyone who says that the Law has been done away is preaching lawlessness—'anomia'—against Law! That's how you identify them. Here is an overall description of how those who are true Christians will be:

Verse 24: "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and practices them…"—live by! What else did Jesus say about living and the Word of God? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God! That a hallmark of true Christianity.

"…I will compare him to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock" (v 24).

Christianity is not just a belief one time, but it is a way of life and a way of life of building Godly character through the commandments and Truth of God coupled with His Spirit!

Verse 26: "And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not practice them…" Does not all of those preachers—every one of them—have the Bible? Of course they do; they read from it!

• Have you ever heard them read where Jesus said that He was Lord of the Sabbath Day?
• Why was He Lord of the Sabbath Day?
• Who gave the Sabbath Day? God did!
• When? The very first thing He revealed to man after creation!

The very first thing!

"…and does not practice them shall be compared to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (vs 26-27). That's what's going to happen to fake Christianity!

Here's something that they're all excited about with all the trouble going on, different churches are preaching 'the rapture is just around the corner.' One of the greatest lies possible!

Who was Jesus? In John 1 we have an outline, or a summary, of true Christianity! This is one of the most important verses in the Bible, but surprise, surprise, one that too many people misconstrue or do not understand.

John 1:1: "In the beginning… [that goes clear back to Gen. 1:1] …was the Word…" Another name for Christ; because He brought the Word of God, and the Word of God only!

"…and the Word was with God… [another mark of true Christianity] …and the Word was God" (v 1). This is telling us that there are two in the Godhead, identified in the New Testament as the Father and the Son!

What is the hallmark of fake Christianity? A trinity! We have lots of written material and messages covering that at:

• truthofGod.org
• churchathome.org

We have 140 Transcript books with CDs, and you can take those and study the Word of God in detail. The thing that has to be with true Christianity is the Truth of God and the true Word of God. What did Jesus say of himself?

• I am the Way—the way of life
• I am the Truth—the Truth of God, the true Savior
• I am the Life
• and no one comes to the Father except through Me!

It can't be any other way! All the other religions of the world are not of God!

They may be 'spiritual' because there are Satan the devil and demons that are spiritual, and there may be manifestations and things like this that keeps them in deception. But unless they believe in the Word of God, and believe in the true Jesus Christ the way God says to do so, they're not of God.

Verse 2: "He was in the beginning with God. All things… [everything that there is] …came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him" (vs 2-3).

When God spoke, it was! That's why it's His Word!

Verse 4: "In Him was life, and the Life was the Light of men."

In other words, every human being—because of God—has their life; they live and move because God gave it to them, whether they know God or not. He's provided the earth with everything in it for air, for food, for water, for building, for doing the things that we have. He gave it all to us!

Verse 10: "He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, but the world did not know Him." That's quite a thing! Think about that!

If you buy a car you know who made it. You know the name of the man who started it if you buy a Ford; it still says Ford.

But here the Creator of everything came to the earth, and they didn't know Him. As a matter of fact, they hated Him!

Verse 11: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him."

Now here the whole key of the whole Gospel contained in v 12. One statement, but there are a lot more detail to go with it. That's the way God does many things. He gives a statement and then He gives the details.

Verse 12: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name."

Notice that the goal is to become "…the children of God…" by the authority of God the Father!

So, all true Christians have their lives centered around God the Father and Jesus Christ and the way that live, act and behave.

Verse 14: "And the Word became flesh…" That's the astonishing thing! This tells us that the second One Who was God—the Word—became flesh, human just like us! How did that take place?

"…and tabernacled among us… [He was only here for 33 years] …(and we ourselves beheld His glory… [John is writing of when they saw the transfiguration on the Mt. of Transfiguration] …the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and truth" (v 14).

Those verses right here in the beginning of John is a summary of the whole plan of God. But now let's focus on what is said about Jesus. This also gives us a good indication of what it's going to be with us.

Philip. 2 is another very basic part of true Christianity; it has to do with the true Christ. You have to have the true God, the true Christ, the true Word of God so that you can believe, because there are no lies in the Truth. This also tells us the whole goal.

• What is it that God wants from us?
• How does He want us to think?
• What does He want us to do?

That can only be done through Jesus Christ!

Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, although He existed in the form of God… [He was God] …did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself" (vs 5-7).

Here's God in all of His glory. We're made in the image of God. We look like God and He looks like us in bodily form. What did He do? He became a human being! But in order to that He had to "…empty Himself…" from being full spirit God to becoming a pinpoint of life.

"…and was made in the likeness of men…" (v 7)—the same!

Because men became sinners, He had to take on human nature. When He gave His life, that would be the perfect life for all men and women. It couldn't be anybody else! It had to be the Creator! It couldn't be just a man who came along who was a 'good' man. Only a man can die for a man, but only the Creator of all mankind can die for all mankind!

He also gave His word so we know the difference between right and wrong.

Verse 8: "And being found in the manner of man…"

Everything that we do as physical human beings, He did, so no one can say, 'God, You don't understand.' That's why He was born the way that He was born, as a baby so that no one could say, 'You're God up there and You don't know what it's like to be a human being.' So, He came as a human being!

"…He humbled Himself… [the great exalted God] …and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (v 8). That's why the Bible says that Jesus died for our sins…

Peter writes that when Jesus was on the cross—because He was sinless and the sacrifice but because He had human nature and never sinned—He was bearing our sins within Himself so the sacrifice would be complete!

Verse 9: "Therefore, God has also highly exalted Him and bestowed upon Him a name, which is above every name"—resurrected from the dead!

True Christianity believes in the death of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that He was in the grave, and we see, know and can prove:

• when He died
• when He was put in the grave
• when He was resurrected
• when He ascended to heaven

It was three days and three nights!

Fake Christianity has Friday to Sunday morning. I'll pay anybody any amount of money you want if you can figure three full days and three full nights from Friday at sunset to Sunday at sunrise. Get out your calendar and look at it.

Jesus died in the middle of the week and was in the grave three days and three nights and resurrected right toward the end of the Sabbath and then in the morning He ascended to the Father to be accepted as the sin offering for the whole world. That's the true belief! True Christianity! What is it that God wants us to do?

Since the world is under the rulership of Satan the devil—which it is—Jesus as a man had to go out and meet Satan the devil and overcome him completely. This was quite a thing that took place.

Right after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. When you get to know about the Holy Days and everything like that, this temptation began on the Day of Atonement, a fast day commanded in the Bible that we should keep. It was for 40 days and 40 nights.

This is also a model for us for the world, living in the world. How do we live in the world today? Jesus told us!

Matthew 4:1: "Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit in order to be tempted by the devil."

Shortly after Adam and Eve were created—we don't know how long it was—the serpent was released:

• to see if they would obey God or not
• to see if they would believe the Truth or not

They failed the test! Then they were given human nature, which is called in the Bible the law of sin and death.

Right after Jesus was baptized and received the power of the Holy Spirit for His ministry, what did He have to do? He had to face Satan the devil!

Verse 2: "And when He had fasted for forty days and forty nights… [completely weak] …afterwards He was famished. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'" (vs 2-3). Probably a lot of other 'nice' words! He probably said,

Just think how nice it would be; look at those stones, just think about them as being bread in the oven and the smell of it and how good it is. Think about how hungry You are. Just one bite; You know that You have the power to do it.

What was Jesus' answer?

Verse 4: "But He answered and said, 'It is written…" He's the Word! Who gave the word? The One Who became Jesus! The Word of God is here for us to know, and God has protected it and provided it for us.

Every error of men against the Word of God is fully known and can be eliminated. That's why we have The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version!

"'…"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God"'" (v 4). There is true Christianity stated by Jesus Christ Himself! Every Word of God!

Why? Because we were created and made deficient! That's why we need the Word of God to know:

• what to do
• how to live
• Who God is

When you're out there in the world you don't know! That's why the world is in the mess that it is in.

Jeremiah 10:23: "…the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his steps."

Get a history book and start reading. What happens to every country, every empire, every person? Even though they build great and wonderful works, without God it all comes to an end!

The Bible brings that history to us so that we know. We cannot rely on ourselves to live the way God wants us to. We will see that we also need the Holy Spirit of God to lead us in the way that we need to go.

One other thing on the Word of God: it's written down!Someone will surely say, 'How can I know what the Word of God is? Get the Faithful Version and you'll find out! It's all written down there! God wanted it preserved!

The Greek classics of Homer are just several copies. Yet, the whole philosophy of the world is based upon Greek philosophy, which came from Babylon.

The Bible is everywhere, billions! Now if you want to have the Faithful Version on your smart phone, go to afaithfulversion.org and you can download the whole Bible as well as the reading the whole Bible. It's there!

Think about the saturation of the Word of God in the end-time with all of these devices, plus all of the Bibles that are in print. Is that not a witness?

Someone will surely say, 'Lord, I never knew.' Jesus is going to say, Did you have a Bible in your house? 'Oh yes, my grandma gave me one.' Did you ever read it? 'No!' Well, is that My fault or your fault? I sent it to you through your grandma! That's why it's written down!

Then the devil tempted Jesus even more; this next one is very important:

Matthew 4:5: "Then the devil took Him to the Holy city and set Him upon the edge of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down; for it is written, "He shall give His angels charge concerning You, and they shall bear You up in their hands, lest You strike Your foot against a stone"'" (vs 5-6).

What does this reveal to us? First, it is written—Satan loves to quote Scripture to misapply it.

You'll find out a little later that there are some difficult Scriptures in the New Testament to understand, but when you understand the Truth you'll begin to understand those.

Verse 7: Jesus said to him, 'Again, it is written, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."' After that, the devil took Him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory" (vs 7-8)—and Luke says in a moment of time!

Like a giant television screen! All the civilizations of the world coming past. That's what people want; they want power, authority, money, dominion, all of this sort of thing. Where does it come from? Satan the devil! Think about those who are the super rich and the elite of the world.

• Do they love God and keep His commandments?

If they don't

• Who is giving them their wealth?
• Who is giving them their power?

Think about what Satan said, and why, if you want to become a trueChristian, the things you need to do.

Verse 9: and said to Him, 'All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me.'" This is against the first commandment! This means to worship him as 'God!' Satan is called 'the god of this world' (2-Cor. 4:4). That's why there's fakeChristianity, because they don't take the Word of God—every Word of God—but they add to it.

Verse 10: Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve."'"

He wasn't quoting this to Satan, because Satan will never worship God. This He was quoting to Himself as a person, the command of God, to Him as a man.

(go to the next track)

We'll look at two Scriptures that even false Christianity knows.

#1—Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

• they all know that and say that you need to repent of your sins
• they all say that Jesus is your Savior

But let's see that unless you do what God says, you have a false conversion and a false savior!

What is sin? I heard Franklin Graham give his 'wonderful little thing' that he's been giving. He's very sanctimonious and says, 'Say this little prayer, Lord, forgive my sins and I believe in You, then you're saved for all eternity.' Fake!

He may be a nice man, but niceness doesn't mean that you're a Christian. God expects all people to be nice. Being a true Christian is an entirely different matter. We're going to see the outline of that.

1-John 3:4: "Everyone who practices… [living] …sin is also practicing lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness."

That's the full translation! The King James says, 'sin is the transgression of the Law.' That is a true statement, but the fuller one is: "…sin is lawlessness."

If you choose to keep certain commandments and not other ones, you are lawless, though you're not out there as an anarchist. Maybe you never thought of it that way. All those who think that they're such 'good' Christians because they go to church on Sunday, they're in the category of Matt. 7:21.

Verse 5: "And you know that He appeared in order that He might take away our sins; and in Him is no sin."

Now let's look at the next Scripture that they really love to quote; they really, really like this one. The KJV says 'should' that is close to 'shall.' But let's read what it really says:

#2—John 3:15: "…so that everyone who believes in Him…" What does believe mean in the Bible? You believe to obey!

If you believe that Jesus exists, if you believe that He came to take away our sins, that's not enough! You must obey!

"…may not perish…" (v 15). In the Greek that is in the subjunctive, which means that there are conditions attached. It's not going to be automatic.

• What are the conditions?

"…but may have everlasting life. For God so loved the world…" (vs 15-16). That's what they want, they want the love of God to themselves!

• What does God expect in return?

"…that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish… [we'll see the conditions] …but may have everlasting life" (v 16).

Do you think that God is going to give everlasting life to lawless people? No! There's such a thing in the Bible called Gehenna or the Lake of Fire for sinners!

Let's see what our requirement is back to God. You want the love of God, let's see what is required. It is a command, and it's in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.

At this time there were always 'religious experts' coming along trying to trip-up Jesus. One of the doctors of the Law came to Him and asked, 'Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?'

Mark 12:29: "Then Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is, "Hear, O Israel…."'"

People read that and think that's just for the Jews. NO! Put your name there, because that's for every person!

"…Our one God is the Lord, the Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…" (vs 29-30).

If you consider yourself a Christian, do you do this? Notice the effort that required:

"…with all your heart…"—the innermost thoughts of your being and emotions! All, not just cut off a little part and give it to God.

"…and with all your soul…"—your whole physical life! That includes following the laws that God says which meat we should eat and not eat for our health.

"…and with all your mind…"—we'll see later what that means!

• How do you love God with all you're mind?
• What are your thoughts on?
• What is the main thing that you're thinking of?

"…and with all your strength…."—not a little bit of strength, not a little bit of effort—not once a week on a Sunday—but by every word of God every day!

"...This is the first commandment. And the second is like this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'…." (vs 28-30).

You're not to go around and be a self-righteous nerd beating everybody over the head.

• Do you return God's love that He gives to you back to Him?
• How do you express that love?

So, we've got sin on one side, that's what we do; we have love on the other side, that's what we must come to do. Let's see what that is. We will see that loving God comes in the form that is the exact diametric opposite of lawlessness or sin. This is plain and easy to understand, written by the Apostle John who is the one whom Jesus loved, and he wrote more on love than any of the other apostles.

1-John 5:3: "For this is the love of God: that we keep…"—practice! Where did we begin? If you profess God, but don't practice what the Father says, God doesn't recognize it!

"…His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome" (v 3).

Verse 2: "By this standard we know…"

• Do you know that you love God?
• How many songs are there about loving the self?

"…that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments" (v 2).

In both verses!

If you're coming across this for the first time, I want you to go to Exo. 20 where the Ten Commandments are listed and read each one and think about each one. Find out why God wants you to keep them. Remember that sin is the transgression of the Law or lawlessness!

You will find, in fact—if you really think about it—that if everyone today in America kept the Ten Commandments we would not have any of the trouble that we have. NONE! NOT ANY!

Look out see what's going on in the world, and this is why Christ is coming to bring the Kingdom of God.

• What do we do when we find ourselves sinners?
• What do we do when we find that Christ died for our sins?
• What are we to do?

That's why when you really come to God, and you come to understand:

• the truth about God
• the truth about His commandments
• the truth about His love
• the truth about His Word

And you understand the degree and severity of your sins, and you're on your knees before God alone… You don't confess them to a priest; he can't forgive anything!

It's like one man who went into the confession booth to confess his sins and the priest comes in and opens up the little sliding door and says, 'My son, are you ready to confess your sins?' He said, 'Yes, let's begin with yours!'

Whatever sins you have you confess to God!

Acts 2—There were a lot there on the Day of Pentecost, I want you to understand something very important, because this is a major part of true Christianity. God sent the Holy Spirit from heaven!

Think on that! It didn't come from the temple. Previously, a presence of God was in the temple, but now God wants to give His Spirit to everyone who repents and believes in Jesus Christ. But:

• you have to repent of your sins
• you have to learn to love God
• you have to keep the commandments of God

That's the way that the Bible teaches it!

Fake Christianity is just like the prophecy, they steal some of the words of God so that it looks authentic! But they're not willing to keep the commandments of God.

In the ministry of Jesus Christ for three and a half years:

• all the miracles
• all the healing
• all the feeding of the thousands
• the witness that Jesus gave before the religious authorities and so forth

Then He was arrested and crucified! Even the disciples were dismayed when they saw Him dying on the cross. The people thought the Messiah would come and unite with the leaders of Judea. The disciples were separated from that, but they still didn't understand it. Even Thomas didn't believe that He was raised from the dead.

In this big crowd that was there on the Day of Pentecost, were those who were out there shouting previously, 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him!' So, Peter gives this message, the Spirit of God comes, all the apostles are speaking in their own language, but it goes out in the language of everyone who is there. The reverse of the Tower of Babel! So, they could hear the Truth of God, that God came in the flesh and died for their sins.

Acts 2:36—Peter ends his message by saying: "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know… [you put your name there] …with full assurance that God has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.'" They understood what that meant!

Verse 37: "Now, after hearing this, they were cut to the heart; and they said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'"

This is a terrible thing! We were there saying, 'Crucify Him!'

Verse 38: "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent and be baptized…'"

You must have the right baptism. Today, hardly anyone in fake Christianity does baptism. Baptism is essential, because if you are not baptized properly, you don't belong to God!

"…each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…" (v 38)—to have your sins blotted out!

Under the Old Covenant, they would come and offer a sacrifice at the temple. That ended it there. Now God is dealing directly with those who repent so they can receive the Holy Spirit from heaven, from God! That's the Truth!

• not a religion
• not a club

But from God! That's true Christianity!

"…and you yourselves… [individually from God the Father] …shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (v 38).

• there's no ritual you can do to earn it
• there's no money you can give to buy it

It's the gift of God for eternal life!

Verse 39: "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those who are afar off… [to everyone that the message goes to] …as many as the Lord our God may call."

True Christianity involves God and His Spirit, the Father and Christ together in your life! The Holy Spirit comes from the Father, but there are two aspects to it:

• you are begotten again (1-Pet. 1)

Your mind is now impregnated with the Spirit of God, just as your mother was impregnated to bring you into the world. So, you are impregnated with the Spirit of God so that you can have eternal life at the time Jesus returns, whether you're alive and transformed or you're dead and resurrected.

• the mind of Christ

God doesn't want us to stay in the carnal human way that we are! We must change and be converted by God's Spirit inside out! Remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees: You cleanse the outside so that it's beautiful, but inside you're wicked and full of sin and corruption! That's what God wants to get rid of through conversion.

Rom. 3:19 in the KJV is the hardest thing in the world to understand. It says in John to keep the commandments and it says in the KJV 'without law.' There is no contradiction because here is the correct translation:

Romans 3:19: "Now then, we know that whatever the Law says… [that's why you have to know the Law of God] …it speaks to those who are under the Law… [everybody in the world] …so that every mouth may be stopped… [every word against God may be stopped] …and all the world… [everybody everywhere: every nation, country] …may become guilty before God." We receive this sinful nature through birth!

• only God can change that
• only His Spirit can convert that
• only His Laws and commandments can give us the way that we need to live

Verse 20: "Therefore, by works of law…"—those ritual works of the temple and those traditional works of the Jews! You can add in there the traditional works of Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, Islam and fake Christianity. The greatest work that they have and do every week with viciousness is keep Sunday and reject the Sabbath!

Verse 20: "Therefore, by works of law there shall no flesh be justified before Him…"

Why? Because only God can justify you to Himself through the sacrifice of Christ! That eliminates any work that you do. That's not against keeping the commandments, because we're to keep them, that's the love of God!

"…for through the Law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God that is separate from law…" (vs 20-21)—separate and above law! It comes from God!

• it's not coming to a temple
• it's not coming to a man

Verse 21: "But now the righteousness of God that is separate from law has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets"—all the prophecies!

{note our booklet: Prophecies of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament by James Meister} We have to have the New Testament to fill it out. God starts with a proposition and the details come later.

It is, v 22: "…toward all and upon all those who believe… [so you have repentance and belief] …for there is no difference." No Jew, no Gentile, no whatever!

Verse 23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

Why does this justification have to come from God in heaven above? Because Christ was our Sacrifice and He ascended to the right hand of the Father! He sends His Spirit from heaven to you!

Think about that! I'll show you that you have direct connection to God the Father and Jesus Christ through prayer any day, any time. But you must love Him, you must keep His commandments after you repent and are baptized.

Verse 22: "Even the righteousness of God…" You believe! You can't see Christ or the Father, but you believe and God knows that you believe!

Verse 23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; but are being justified freely by His grace…" (vs 23-24). God's grace and goodness to forgive your sins!

Also, He is a propitiation for us to come to Him daily. Remember the daily prayer—Matt. 6—'Our Father Who is in heaven…' You're praying to God the Father in heaven!

If you have a smart phone and it works, think about this: God's Spirit and your connection and prayer to Him is better than the smart phone, though it works much like it.

• you can't see the Spirit
• you can't necessarily feel the Spirit (sometimes you can)

But God is the One Who leads you and guides you IF you're seeking Him! That's true Christianity!

"…through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; Whom God has openly manifested to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, in respect to the remission of sins that are past" (vs 24-25).

Stop right here and think a minute. God looks at sin this way: We're sinful, but we don't know what we're going to do tomorrow or next week. So, we can't go to God and do like the Catholics do and put down so much cash and buy an 'indulgence' to cover your sins that you're going to do in the future.

Only the sins that are past! When you sin, the next instant it's in the past! That's why part of the daily prayer is 'forgive us our sins' because we have things that we need to repent of every day. That's the part of conversion!

Now let's talk about the sacrifice of Christ and baptism. This is all part of true Christianity. I'm talking about the beginning of it. I'm not talking about once you do this it's done forever. NO!

• we have to grow in grace and knowledge
• we have to overcome
• we have to live by the Word of God
• we have to be faithful to God
• we've got to love God

This is a way of life!

• with fakeChristianity you can go to any church on Sunday.
• with true Christianity you live by every word of God
  • you keep the Sabbath
  • you keep the Passover
  • you keep the Holy Days of God

Because I defy anyone to find a good word about Christmas, Easter, New Years or Halloween in the Bible! As a matter of fact, it does speak about them in condemnation of occult, satanic days!

Once you've been baptized and have had your sins forgiven and receive the Holy Spirit, what is the meaning of baptism?

Christ died and you accept His sacrifice and blood. He died for your sins—the sin of the whole world—what sacrifice do you give?

The Bible shows that when you receive the Holy Spirit of God after baptism, you have entered into a covenant. Both parties of a covenant must have a sacrifice. Christ's sacrifice covers His part for all people, because He's the Creator of all people.

What is our part in that covenant situation? Right here we have it!

Romans 6:1: "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?" You can't continue to live in sin!That's the whole thing; meaning you cannot continue living and breaking the commandments of God!

• have no other gods before you
• have no idols that you make and bow down and worship
• not taking the name of God in vain
• keep the Sabbath Day, which God say to remember

But what do most people do in fake Christianity? They forget it, and they lie about it! They say that Sunday is the Lord's day. Well, I'll tell you who is the lord of Sunday: Satan the devil because it's sun-worship and Baal!

You cannot crossbreed Baalism with Truth! That's the whole lesson of the Old Testament!

Paul says, v 2: "MAY IT NEVER BE!…. [don't even think of it] …We who died to sin, how shall we live any longer therein? Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?" (vs 2-3). What does that mean?

Verse 4: "Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism into the death…"

When you're baptized that full emersion in water. What would happen if you weren't brought up out of the water? You die! So, this is a symbolic death. That's your sacrifice, the baptism. You're giving your life to God, burying the old carnal self in the watery grave and receiving the Spirit of God.

"…so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life" (v 4). Here it is, this explains baptism!

Verse 5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death…"—symbolically placing your body on the sacrificial body of Christ through the operation of baptism, which is your symbolic death so that you don't live in the world in sin any longer. You live by loving God and keeping His commandments!

"…so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection" (v 5). That's the ultimate goal when Christ returns!

Verse 6: "Knowing this… [here's what we need to understand out of this]: …that our old man… [the way we lived before we repented and were baptized] …was co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed…" The body of sin is in your mind! How is that destroyed?

"…so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin…" (v 6). It doesn't say that you won't sin again! If you do you can repent; but you're not enslaved to it, chained to it, addicted to it.

"…because the one who has died to sin… [that's what baptism is all about] …has been justified from sin" (v 6).

What is God going to do? He's going to help you grow in grace and knowledge as you study His Word! We know that study and prayer is what true Christianity is all about.

We will see the ultimate result of this covenant baptism, joined as if you laid your body right across the body of the scourged Jesus Christ, conjoined to His death to be raised in newness of life! You can walk in God's way!

Hebrews 10:12: "But He, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever…"His sacrifice as Creator of all mankind covers everyone, every sin of every human being, upon repentance!

"…sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time, He is waiting until His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has obtained eternal perfection…" (vs 12-14)—from God!

That means perfection through the Spirit of God; it's not done all at once. It is a process; being made perfect!

"…for those who are sanctified" (v 14). If you have the Spirit of God you're sanctified!Jesus prayed that God would sanctify us by His Truth and His Word is Truth!

Verse 15: And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after He had previously said, '"This is the covenant…"'"

The death of Christ is one-half of the covenant; your death in the watery grave of baptism is the second half of the covenant. Now you're in covenant with God!A covenant cannot be broken! If it is, it is eternal death! God will not break it, so we have to remain faithful!

Verse 16: "'This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,' says the Lord… [after the days of Christ's ministry] …'I will give My Laws into their hearts…'"

How can these fake ministers say that the Law is done away and say they belong to Christ? They're nothing but liars!

"…and I will inscribe them in their minds" (v 16). Write them in our mind so that we think with the Word of God, and have our actions by the Word of God!

Here's the promise, v 17: "And their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again."

That's the whole basis of true Christianity vs fake Christianity! There's a whole lot more to it; what we covered today was just the very first part!

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 7: 21-24, 26-27
• John 1:1-4, 10-12, 14
• Philippians 2:6-9
• Matthew 4:1-4
• Jeremiah 10:23
• Matthew 4:5-10
• Romans 3:23
• 1 John 3:4-5
• John 3:15-16
• Mark 12:29-30
• 1 John 5:3, 2
• Acts 2:26-39
• Romans 3:19-25
• Romans 6:1-6
• Hebrews 10:12-17

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 1:1
• 2 Corinthians 4:4
• Exodus 20
• 1 Peter 1
• Matthew 6

Also referenced: Booklet:
Prophecies of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament by James Meister

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 7/1/20

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