Do you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? After hearing this being said time and time again by pastors, I prayerfully sought its biblical foundation in justification for these life altering words, and found them not in scripture. Friends, do not be mistaken, for the knowledge of Jesus is not a truth we simply accept. We accept the rain falling or the wind blowing as a fact and carry on with our day. I accept the things I cannot change. However, Jesus is not somebody we just accept or acknowledge- Jesus is somebody we spiritually receive. Faith is a gift. Its supernatural. God's Word comes from above in Spirit. It is of Almighty God; an eternally sovereign Truth cast upon our newly opened eyes and received for what it is, The Way in which we ought to now walk. I accept Jesus as Lord after it has been received of Him by Holy Spirit. Let's stop sugar coating like wormwood how men are saved by God's perfect will, for it establishes another way and another door outside of how God's Word speaks about His inheritance in men and how we are bound to His will and purpose. It's not just misleading, it's a lie that must be exposed and resolved scripturally.
"Friends, I believe if you said this prayer you've been saved..." Joel Osteen closes every sermon with these words, and then urges those who recite this phrase to find a bible based church. Ironically, a bible based church will not teach this as the foundation of Christ's church - His Body, as the way we enter into His Kingdom and rest. Listen carefully to what Jesus said about how exactly His Church was to be built:
Matthew 16: 17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The rock His church was built upon was not Peter himself, but the fact that flesh and blood did not reveal to Peter who Jesus was; His Father revealed it to Him from heaven. Here we see again, Jesus was not just accepted by Peter, the truth was received by him from above. It was not some immutable fact he had to accept. It was divinely revealed and Peter received it from The Father in heaven
The false church led by false Christ's will teach another way that is not the voice of the Shepherd being received spiritually. It causes men to not personally seek Jesus, but to use another mediator than Holy Spirit. These receive another spirit- a religious one. They teach a doctrine unto themselves that says 'just say this prayer' or 'accept Jesus as your Lord and you are saved', but God's Kingdom is built like the winds that blow, unseen like the air but it's presence manifest spiritually to those with eyes and ears opened by Truth. It will remain hidden to those who seek it for personal gain, who gather riches in God's name or who say some magic little prayer and boom, you got saved. It is a choosing or calling that began long before your existence; foreknown by God and ordained into the hearts of those chosen from before the founding of the world.
If the church you attend is teaching grace over repentance, accepting Jesus over receiving Him, or prosperity over piety, you may be in a lifeless building led by someone who is still as blind as the men they lead into a pit. Come out of her my people. The plagues and promises are real. Many...most organized denominations within Christianity are failing miserably. Period. They have positioned themselves as mediator, for know this, there is but one teacher, and His name is not pastor, it is Jesus.
We receive Christ Jesus and The Father accepts us because of His Son, not because of our acknowledgement of the facts, but as a calling to himself to those foreknown individuals He calls out of this world by divinely inspired spiritual revelation. This truth will remove the false churches from their sandy foundations, leaving behind those who have built their house upon The Rock that remains after the storm.
Do we accept Jesus as Lord? In truth, we receive His Lordship, and this faith and these truths and God's amazing grace are gifts from above.
To be saved is more than words. It's and act of God and is not initiated by reciting words or prayers that incite a response from heaven. It's initiated in heaven and incites a response from men.
Brick by brick His church is built with souls who by God's will and grace alone who have been called out and saved from this world passing away. God's purpose in salvation is made perfect through the humble hearts of those chosen from the sea of mankind to represent His Kingdom here and now as ambassadors of the Holy Spirit driven Gospel to whom we are led.
To whom do we, really belong?
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