Simple Salvation Church of God

LAW VS. GRACE
by Jimmie Warren

When you read your Bible, have you ever noticed that Jesus never condemns anyone except the religious leaders of the time?
When they came to him and asked why he ate with tax collectors and whores, Jesus told them "That the well do not need a doctor."(Matt.9:12 and Luke 5:31)

Jesus was trying to tell them that those who did not know the word of God needed to hear God's plan to save the world. He preached, that if they would only believe what he was telling them, then they would be saved.

Now one young man came to ask Jesus what else he needed to do to be saved. He had kept the law all his life and did not want to miss out on salvation, so he asked again what he must do to be saved. (Matt.19:16-20) Jesus' reply was shocking to the pharisees. He said, he who believes in me and the one who sent me shall be saved. (Romans 10:9)
Where is all the law stuff??

Yes, the New Testament does talk about keeping the Ten Commandments, but Jesus goes even farther saying that if you even look on a woman and lust, you have committed adultery. (Matt. 5:28)

The Jews of that time did not get it. Everything had to be by the book. They even killed Jesus using the Law of Moses.
A lot of churches today go by the letter of the law ,not by the spirit of the law.

Which one do you think God judges you by?
Look in the Bible yourself in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
They all have the message of salvation there.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so you and I could be saved. (John 3:16)

That's GRACE folks, not LAW.
Jesus' death means nothing if we can save ourselves by keeping some written law. Jesus even tells the people that the law is a curse to man and that no man can keep the law, not even the priests in the temple.

Today some churches are still trying to get us back into bondage by keeping the old laws. They want us to keep special holy days, to eat or not eat certain foods, to wear what they deem fit, to drive the appropriate car, to wear our hair at just the right length, etc. Where does the Bible say, tell my people what to wear? Where does it say , lord it over my people until I get back?

Why do some ministers insist on preaching about giving money to this cause or that cause? The Bible clearly says what you receive freely, give freely, doesn't it? (Matt. 10:8)

Now, everyone knows, or should know, that it takes a certain amount of money to run a church, so everyone should give as God has blessed them to give.

Paul says, "we should give from our heart.
God loves a generous heart, and it is true that you cannot out give God." (II. Cor. 9:7)
Come on people, where is your heart? If you think, "Do I have to give my hard-earned money to that church ," then you don't get it!God does not need your grubby money. God loves a giving heart. Take someone like the little old woman who gave her last penny to help others. (Mark 12:42-44)
Next time you give to God ask yourself, "Am I giving this because I want to, or because I feel I have to?".

Our churches want us to give from the bottom of our pockets, but God wants your gift to come from the bottom of your heart.
If all people would give this way, God would bless them hundreds of times over. Our churches would be debt-free. Our country would be debt-free. If all, rich and poor alike, would pay 10 percent of what they make, then we would owe nothing.

The churches of today are always trying to out do the other churches down the street, so they plead for more money.
If every saint would help his fellow man, we could reach the world with the message of Christ.

Too many ministers want to build their own ministries to be world famous. Then they get so wrapped up in doing the work that they forget who they are working for. JESUS is our boss,and if he wants you to do bigger things, HE will provide for your needs without pleading the money out of people who don't want to give it anyway. Remember this if God is behind you, then you will get the job done with all the money you need or not.

I don't understand all these churches preaching about old laws that Jesus took to the cross with him. He did this so it wouldn't be hard to make it into God's kingdom. He said he did not come to do away with the law but to complete it. (Matt. 5:17)

Jesus is the only man who could keep the law perfectly.
We need to stop here and think..."Why would the Son of God come here to hang on a tree and bleed to death, so we could live forever.? "Why would he make laws so hard to keep that if we even try, we fail. (Gal.3) Is this a loving Father?

Does any of this make sense, People wake up. Read what your Bible says about salvation yourself.Jesus says over and over that he who believes in me shall be saved, not he who works his way up the ladder.(Eph.2:8-9).

Remember what Paul said in I Cor.{13:1-13.} "If you keep all these things and don't have love, you may not even be in the kingdom of God."

Jesus said he gives two new commandments.These are to love God with all your heart and to love your fellow man as you love yourself. (Matt.22:37-40) This is all the law we need to keep.

Don't let your pastor bring you back under the old law. Read what Paul says in these books of the Bible:Ephesians, Galatians, and Colossians. These are three books of your own Bible that you need to read to be truly free in Christ Jesus.

I hope in some small way that the truth is here for all of you.
Get your Bibles out, wipe off the dust, and read how simple salvation really is for you and me. Amen

A BIG LIE ABOUT EVER BURNING HELL!

Pastor/Chaplain Jimmie Warren

A BIG LIE ABOUT EVER BURNING HELL!

by Jimmie W. Warren

I want you to read this and read each scripture so you can see we have all been taught� A BIG LIE ABOUT EVER BURNING HELL!
�Let me explain why I picked this title. I was studying a few scriptures about the second death and thought this subject would make an excellent article to read, so here it is.

First of all, and most importantly, is the fact that most churches don't preach about this message because they are not taught about it. Conventional churches preach about an ever-burning Hell and going to Heaven. If they were to go to some of the scriptures I will give you to look up, then they would have to change the way they were taught at their ministerial schools.

I don't want to upset anyone with the facts, but they are clearly there. After you read THESE SCRIPTURES for yourself, I will show you what God's word says to his children. Then you will have to ask yourself some new questions about the hereafter.

Now I want to ask you to think about the many scriptures telling us about our all-loving Father God. He is a God who gave his only begotten son, (JOHN 3:16) Jesus Christ, who died for us so we could live and be with Him forever. Don't you think that our God would do everything so that all mankind could make it to His kingdom? ( II Peter 3:9)READ "ALL MAN SAVED) by James Gerke
Bottomline #1 and #2 here on our site

Most people have been taught that if you mess up in this life then you will be thrown into a fiery hell and burn forever and ever. This is a satanic idea if I ever heard one, and believe me I have heard it a lot. Some will be praying that I go there right after they read this article, but wrong is wrong.Check out what� the Bible really say's about life after death and the second death!

Almost every church I have attended over the last forty-five years has taught the message of an ever-burning hell because they have all been taught this false doctrine of men passed down from generation to generation. The message about a hell that burns forever and ever was brought down from the early Catholic teaching, which they adopted from the writings of a man named Dante. Dante Alighierie wrote a book called "Dante's Inferno" which he himself said was a dream. Dante wrote a play from his book to insult the pope of the time because he and the pope didn't like each other. Check out the book and read about the story yourself. The Catholic Church later adopted this ever-burning hell idea to scare the people into listening to its teachings and later to receive monies from its flock.

After many years of study they found that to keep people in church you must hold sway over them, and by preaching ever-burning hell, they had them.

Now ask yourself, could you ever be happy in a kingdom where day and night all you heard were the screams of your loved ones who didn't make it into that kingdom?
What an horrible idea to put into someone's mind!
Yet this is what you hear from the pulpit every Sunday.

I will give you scripture after scripture to read for your own benefit and you can make up your own mind.Now before you decide to not read this message, please see what the three totally different meanings of the English word "hell" are.
All three are translated into the King James and Catholic translations of the Bible.

1)--(tartaros) which refers only to the present condition of darkness, or perversion, and restraint, of fallen angels, or demons.( 2 Peter:2:4)

2)--(gehenna) which is a place at the bottom of a high ledge at the south end of Jerusalem, where trash, refuse, bodies of dead animals, and the bodies of the worst criminals were dumped over this ledge to be burned up. Down below this dump, fires were kept burning day and night to consume all things until they were turned into ashes or gone. This is the word used by Jesus when he spoke of being finally destroyed in hell fire. (John 15:1-6)

3)--(Hades) which means the grave-- a place of burial in the ground! This is the most common Greek word used today.

When the King James translation of the Bible was made, the Englishmen spoke commonly of "putting their potatoes in hell for winter keeping." These farmers put their potatoes into the ground to last ,for eating until spring. This is the "hell" Jesus was buried in. His soul was not left in the grave, or tomb, from which He was resurrected!

This" hades" was also the "hell" in which the rich man was buried! Read Luke Chapter16. Many preachers use this one parable to teach that we are all going to hell to be burned forever and ever, ONE SCRIPTURE!
See Strongs Concordence---Parable a story told by Jesus to teach the Jews)

NO WHERE does JESUS CHRIST say that we will burn in hell forever and ever. Read your own Bible. Look for it; you will not find going to a hell where you burn forever and ever.

Let's read what happened to the rich man in (Luke 16:22)?
Jesus did not say the rich man was taken immediately at that time to an eternally-burning hell. He said the rich man died, and the rich man was buried. One is not buried unless he is covered up. People are buried in a grave and covered up with dirt, or put in a vault or cave and sealed in a tomb as Jesus was.Remember this is a Parable--a made up story,an example, it is not real!

The imaginary hell that was invented by Dante Alighieri,and accepted by the Roman Catholic Church,then even later by most Protestant churches, is never pictured as a burial! The rich man in (Luke 16:23- 25) died and was buried. See where Jesus said that the rich man was buried.Read it in your own Bible. Later on I will show verses in Revelation showing where the rich man and the rest of evil people will be put.

This parable has been used by many preachers to scare the heck out of people, to make them "come to the Lord."

Well brethren I've got news for those of you who go to church just to keep from burning in hell ;your there for the wrong reason. God doesn't want anyone who doesn't love Him because of who He is�or because of who Jesus is. God wants you there to be His loving sons and daughters. Amen!

(Matthew 13:30) speaks of the wicked being gathered into bundles to be burned up. What happens to weeds and branches when cast into fire;they burn up! The human body will not burn forever; when cast into fire it will burn up.This is the second death in�the book of Revelation chapter 20:14,21:8

In (Matthew 3:12), John the Baptist warned the Pharisees that they would be burned up as chaff if they didn't repent and change their ways. They shall perish and not be anymore."Into smoke shall they consume away."(Psalms 37:20)Where do you see anyone burning forever and ever?????

(Malachi 4:1-3) says, "For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yes and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of host, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. And you shall tread down this wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this."

This is talking about the end time. Get out your own Bible and read these scriptures yourself. Don't just take what you have heard all your life for granted. READ THE BIBLE YOURSELF!

This is too important a matter to sluff off. (Psalm37:20) "Into smoke shall they consume away." They shall perish and be no more.

The wages of sin is death, not endless torment as most preachers teach. Read ( Romans 6:23.)
Eternal-burning hell and the torture of Dante's fabled hell is unreal IT IS A STORY MADE UP BY MENS DOCTRINES.

Jesus illustrates death and a resurrection from the dead and restoration of consciousness. Finally, the second death is the lake of fire that burns forever where both body and soul are burned up.
Read IT in (Matthew 10:28) This is the second death spoken of in (Revelation 20:14,REV 21:8).

Beloved of Christ your eternal life is too important to be wrongly taught. Read the Bible yourself, find out what is coming soon, and know for sure where you will be for eternity.

�For you will live twice, or die a second time forever.

If you have not turned your life over to Jesus, take the time to do it now. Just say this simple prayer.
" Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. I believe you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross for my sins. Come into my life, save me from all wrong, so I may live again with you and our Heavenly Father forever Amen !"

Beloved if you said this prayer, you are saved. Find a good Bible-reading church and be baptized in Jesus name.

Jesus is coming soon, and we are going to live with Him forever and ever!I WANT TO SEE YOU ALL THERE.�Amen

A WAY TO ANSWER AND PROCLAIM JESUS TO MORMONS AND JW'S

Posted by Jim Warren

An easy way to witness to Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses

The following method of witnessing to Cultists is non_offensive and powerful. It focuses on Jesus, the gospel, and uses Scripture. This is important for three reasons:

1) Jesus draws all men to Himself (John 12:32)

2) the Gospel is powerful for salvation (Rom. 1:16)

3)God’s Word accomplishes what God wants it to (Isaiah 55:11).

If someone puts his faith in the Jesus of Mormonism or Jehovah’s Witnesses, or any other cult, then his faith is useless. The validity of faith does not rest in itself, but in its object. The greatest faith in someone false is the same as no faith at all.

That is the case with the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Each group believes in a Jesus, but not in the Jesus of the Bible, and because they each have a false Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4), they each preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:8-9). They may be sincere, but they are sincerely wrong – dead wrong.

The official theologies of the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses do not permit prayer to nor the worship of Jesus. They also deny that He can be called their God.

But the Bible permits, even encourages, these things for the true believer. The true Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, is prayed to, worshiped, and called God. And, this is where we must begin.

If you can prove a Cultist wrong in a minor point of theology, he is still a Cultist. But, if you show him that the Jesus he believes in is not the same one found in the Bible, then you have undermined his entire theology.

In brief, you should introduce the Cultist to the real Jesus: the one of the Bible who is prayed to (Acts 7:59; 1 Cor. 1:1-2), worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6), and called God (John 20:28 - Heb. 1:8).

The hope is that once the Cultist sees that he is without the Jesus of the Bible, he will realize he doesn’t have the true God. Then, hopefully, he will accept Christ and leave his cult. If not, at least the seeds of truth will have been planted and he will have been exposed to the true Jesus. The "approach" is simple.

Establish a common ground: the need to know the Father.

Establish that the only way to the Father is through Jesus: the Jesus of the Bible.
Show the need for having the correct Jesus, the one of historical (and Biblical) Christianity.
Establish that the Jesus of the Bible is prayed to, worshiped, and called God.

Ask the Cultist if he prays to, worships, and calls Jesus God. Ask the Cultist why he is right and you are wrong if you do what the scriptures teach and he doesn’t.
Present the gospel

Remember, a false Jesus cannot save. Sincerity and false messiahs do not bridge the gap of sin between God and man, only the Jesus of the Bible does that.
Here is a sample dialogue between a Christian and a Cultist.

Christian: Would you agree with me that we both want to know the Father and do what He wants us to do?"

Cultist: Yes.

Christian: How, then, do we get to know the Father?

Cultist: Through prayer and reading the Bible.

Christian: Well, that’s not a bad answer. But Jesus said that he was the One who revealed the Father to us (Matt. 11:27 and Luke 10:22). So, to know the true Father we must first know the true Jesus, right?

Cultist: Yes, that seems reasonable.
(You are not attacking his doctrine, you are appealing to his desires which, on the surface, are identical to yours: to serve and love God. You can catch more bees with honey than with a hammer.)

Christian: Well, let me ask you another question. Will a false Jesus reveal the true God?

Cultist: No. I suppose not.

Christian: That’s right. The real issue then, isn’t that we are going to church or are nice people. It’s whether or not we know the true Jesus so that He can reveal to us the true God. Right?

Cultist: Right?
Christian: The question is, "How do we find the true Jesus?" The only way I can think of is if we go to the Bible. That is where the true Jesus is, right?

Cultist: Right. But you could also pray and ask God to reveal Him to you.

Christian: I see what you mean. But how could you pray to God if the only way to get to Him is through Jesus, and you don’t have the right Jesus? Wouldn’t prayer, then be useless?

Cultist: Not if you’re sincere.

Christian: But then you are saying that if you are sincere, you don’t need Jesus. Do you see the problem with that? Sincerity doesn’t make access to God possible. Only Jesus does that. Remember, Jesus said that no one comes to the Father, except by Him (John 14:6).

Cultist: But doesn’t James 1:5 say if you lack wisdom to ask of God and He will give it to you? So couldn’t you ask God for wisdom about what is true?

Christian: James was written to those who were already believers; they already had the true Jesus and, therefore, the true Father. Also, wisdom is the proper use of knowledge. It isn’t the gaining of knowledge, nor is it gaining access to God. Do you see that you still have to have the true Jesus. Because if you were to pray to God for wisdom, and you served a false Jesus, then who is going to answer your prayers? It wouldn’t be God would it?

Cultist: I see your point.

Christian: Good. Now let me ask you a couple of questions to get things started. If you were to say, "Father receive my spirit," who would you be praying to?

Cultist: I would be praying to the Father.

Christian: Right. If you were to say, "Jesus receive my spirit," who would you be praying to?

Cultist: I wouldn’t pray to Jesus. I would only pray to the Father. That is what He said to do in Matt. 6. He said to pray, "Our Father who art in heaven..."

Christian: Yes, that’s true. But if you believe it do you do it? Do you pray that way all the time?

Cultist: Of course I do.

Christian: No, what I mean is. Do you pray that prayer. If you believe that is what you are to pray, then you could only pray that particular prayer. You would have to repeat it every time you prayed. But that isn’t what Jesus intended. It was a model prayer. It is what we are to follow. May we continue? You’ll see what I’m getting at in a moment.Cultist: Sure. Go ahead

Cultist: I would be praying to Jesus.

Christian: Right. Now, in Acts 7:55-60, Stephen, while full of the Holy Spirit, prayed to Jesus. It says, "And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’" (See also, Acts 9:14; Rom. 10:13.) Stephen prayed to Jesus, not just through Him. If it is acceptable for him then it should be alright for you. The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to. I pray to Jesus. Do you? If yes, good. If not, why not?
(If you are talking to a Mormon, you may want to mention that in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 19:18, Jesus is prayed to -- not just through!)

Cultist: Jesus said to pray to the Father. So, I do.

Christian: Yes, I agree. I do too. But I also pray to Jesus as Stephen did. If the church is only to pray to the Father, then why did Stephen, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, address Jesus in His prayer? Was he wrong?

Cultist: I don’t have an answer.

Christian: Also, what does it mean to call upon the name of the Lord?

Cultists: I don’t know. What does it mean?

Christian: It means to seek God, even to pray to God. For example, in Psalm 116:4 it says, "Then I called on the name of the LORD: ‘O LORD, save me!’" In 1 Cor. 1:1-2 the church calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus. That is, they prayed to Jesus. Now, if Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, could pray to Jesus, and the church in 1 Cor. 1:1-2 could too, then shouldn’t you be able to do the same thing?

Cultist: Well, I’m not sure. I’ve never really considered this before.

Christian: Glad to see you’re honest. Let’s continue. Jesus was also worshiped. The verses for these are: "And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are certainly God’s son!’" (Matt. 14:33). "And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him" (Matt. 28:9). (See also Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6.) Do you do what His disciples did? Do you worship Jesus?

(Mormon theology does not allow worship of Jesus. However, some Mormons do anyway. They just don’t know that their church has, and still does, teach against doing so. If the person says he worships Jesus, ask him how he can do that without praying to Him. If, on the other hand, the Mormon has said he does pray to Jesus and that he does worship Jesus, then encourage him to continue and remind him that it is Jesus who has the authority (Matt. 28:18) to forgive sins (Luke 5:20-24; 7:48-49); He judges (John 5:22,27); He gives eternal life (John 10:28; 5:40), etc. -- See 100 Truths About Jesus. The whole point is to try to get him to ask the true Jesus to forgive him of his sins and reveal the Father to him.)

(All Jehovah’s Witnesses say no to worshiping Jesus. They have their own Bible where they have mistranslated the word ‘worship’, wherever it refers to Jesus, to the words ‘do obeisance’ which means to show respect or honor to someone. Because of this, using the verse about worship will not carry much weight. In that case, you will want to substitute this...)

Christian: Do you honor Him equally with the Father as Jesus said to do in John 5:23?

Cultist:: Not equally. The Father is greater than Jesus.

Christian: The Father was greater in position. Remember, Jesus was made for a little while lower than the angels (Heb. 2:9). It was in this humbled state that He said the Father was greater than He. He didn’t say different or better, only greater. You must understand that Jesus was fully man as well as fully God and as a man was in a lesser position. Still though, Scripture requires that you honor Him equally with the Father as Jesus said. If you don‘t, then why not?

Cultist: I don’t have an answer.

Christian: Alright. There is just one more issue to address. Do you call Jesus your Lord and your God?

Cultist: No, I don’t.

Christian: After Jesus’ resurrection He showed Himself to many people. One of them was Thomas. John 20:28 says, "Thomas answered and said to Him [Jesus], ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed?’"
In addition, God calls Jesus God in Heb. 1:8, "But of the Son He [the Father] says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever..." The Father calls Jesus God. Thomas called Him his Lord and God. Do you call Jesus your Lord and your God?

Cultist: No. I don’t call Jesus my Lord and God.
(Jehovah’s Witnesses will say that Thomas was swearing. Ask them why Jesus didn’t rebuke Thomas for swearing? Besides, in the Greek, Thomas literally said, "The Lord of me and the God of me.")

(With a Mormon, you can again mention the reference in the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 19:18 where Jesus is also called Lord and God.)

Christian: My question to you is this. If I have the wrong Jesus, and therefore I serve the wrong God, then why do I pray to Jesus, worship Him, and call Him my Lord and God as the Scriptures teach? But, if you have the true Jesus, why is it you don’t do those things?

Cultist: (Silence!)

Christian: It seems clear that if you want your sins forgiven then you need to go to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you. Remember, the true Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, is prayed to, worshiped, and called God. That is the same Jesus I serve. Which one do you serve?
Christian: Since Jesus is the one who forgives sins, then I go to Him. You can too. All you have to do is pray to Him and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. You already know you are a sinner. So simply go to Him, the real Jesus, and receive the forgiveness of sins through faith in Him.

This brief approach is powerful because it brings the Cultist face-to-face with the Jesus of the Bible. Though the Cultist won’t respond by dropping to his knees, at least you will have exposed him or her to the real Jesus.

Also, remember that the Word of God will accomplish what God wishes it to: "So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire," (Isaiah 55:11).

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