“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.“ (Ephesians 2:13)

What does it mean to be “in Christ Jesus”? The Apostle Paul places a special emphasis on this phrase which denotes a saved Christian. Logically speaking, if there is an “in” there is also an “out”. So those unsaved in this context would be “outside of Christ Jesus”.

Despite many churches taking the name of Jesus in their pomp and circumstance, they are always wrong to denote a saved Christian as being “outside” or a state where they were “in Christ” and now “outside of Christ” based on something they did. Scripture is clear, all sinners are outside of Christ until He saved them and placed them in Christ. Once placed in Christ, there is no more being outside because eternal means forever, it is not a temporary condition.

In Eph 2:13, Paul says “you who once were far off”, or “far outside”, have been brought to salvation by the blood of Jesus. They didn’t bring themselves, God brought them, for those in the Pelagain heresy who believe in a choice in order to be saved. If we go back to Eph 2:8-9, this is made clear that “by grace through faith” one has been saved (past tense), not of works.

Upon the new birth, by the regenerating grace of being born-again, God places the saved sinner in His Son Jesus Christ. It is at that point you bear the eternal name of a “Christian”. You have been adopted into God’s family! The “in Christ Jesus” is VERY important to understand from the Gospel, the Good News. It is when your sins have been forgiven, you are now credited or imputed the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is at this very point, God sees you as perfected as Jesus is perfect. You bear Jesus’ very name in righteousness and perfection now and are now able to live eternally with God. This is a rather profound event! It is not a process as some false religions would have you think!

God declares the sinner SAVED, FORGIVEN, and places them in Jesus as His very family. Only those where this was actually done fully realize the tremendous price Jesus paid on their behalf. And they realize now being in Jesus means much more than a silly hymn sung or a vain declaration of a creed. They know who He is, what He has done, and who they were in God’s sight and who they are now in His sight by Jesus’ redemption. While those outside of Christ will continue to deceive themselves and allow a world religion to blind them.

Ephesians 2:8 or by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

A question I often ask Roman Catholics or those in a works-based salvation false system is “what work can you personally add to the completed perfect work of Jesus Christ?” Or can logical reasoning presume that perfection be perfected?

If I do get an answer, which is rarely, to that question, it is met with stern objection. Despite the fact that Scripture teaches us that there is absolutely nothing a sinner can do to save themselves by their works, those caught up in these works based false gospels will continue to try to be saved by their works.

It not only diminishes but tarnishes, spits on, the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and His ressurrection to presume you can use ANY work of your own to be saved. It is saying “Your work is NOT sufficient Jesus, so I will use some of my own to complete what you foolishly and haphazardly left unfinished”. It also says about the one moronically trying to add a work to Jesus Christ’s, “I don’t have faith in YOU”. The attempt to steal ANY glory from Jesus Christ by adding YOURSELF and your works to His is sheer lunacy.

Now Roman Catholics for example will try to bend the argument. They will claim “the works are wrought by grace” to get around the problem. But it doesn’t get around the problem, because it then says God is the issue here because He left Jesus’ work incomplete and now will use sinners to save themselves by a nonexistent grace which powers works to salvation. Scripture NEVER teaches this sheer nonsense. So a Roman Catholic for example thinks that their church attendance and scarament participation is somehow helping Jesus save them, since His work alone cannot save them.

THE CARROT TRICK

Every false religious system such Roman Catholicism will teach their congregation to do good works in order to be saved, NOT as the result of salvation, again with the false idea that Jesus left His work incomplete. So they employ a carrot trick by this, always keeping salvation out of the grasp of the sinner, they keep control over that sinner’s salvation. “Did you do enough to be saved” is the general sentiment. Whereas Christianity clearly teaches JESUS DID ENOUGH ON YOUR BEHALF, SO PLACE YOUR FAITH ALONE IN HIM.

Why Can’t a Saved Sinner Boast?

Answer, no one saved can boast if Jesus did it all! You can’t say “well God, look at my perfect church attendance” or “look at what I did for the poor” or “look how much I tried to keep the commandments” or “look how much morally superior I am compared to other sinners”. Those boasts do NOT fly with God! Those boasts and those works are indeed filthy smelly rottenous rags as the sinner in vain tries to steal an ounce of glory from His only Son Jesus Christ. A foul stench in His nose.

Jesus paid it all, His work was perfect! Perfection cannot be perfected! So place your faith alone in Him and you shall be saved just as God promised!

Roman 3:10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

I often share Romans 3:10-19 to those who either do not understand man’s depraved condition or just flat out reject that condition. I do this, because the passage makes it oh so clear. Man is not inherently “good” as is the presumption, and when Jesus speaks of a new creation, one being born-again, in John 3:3-8 it only validates the reason why this is absolutely necessary for one to be saved.

An answer I give to those who ask “how do YOU know you have been born-again”. My reply begins with because before that point, I had NO IDEA that I was rotten to the core before God! Before that point I viewed myself as a good church going boy. I viewed my religious involvement as the weight which washed my very bad side of sin. I never viewed myself as a decrepit wicked sinner though.

When God opened my eyes, He showed me who He was, absolutely perfect! And then because God was intolerant of sin, NOT tolerant as the world would have it, I realized that Jesus left His eternal throne to die on a Cross for me and my wicked self. With this, I viewed myself as a dirty stain in God’s view before that point, ungodly in every way. The lust, the lying, the profanity, the cheating, the breaking of the Lord’s commandments with ease were all indications of that rotten wicked heart of which I had no realization of possessing before I was born-again. Again, I somehow viewed God by that wicked heart as being tolerant of sin rather than intolerant. So if He was tolerant, I fully realized, Jesus would of stayed on His throne, He wouldn’t of subjected Himself to our fallen world where He was crucified.

If you want a point of discernment of those who claim Christianity, listen to their testimony. If you aren’t hearing of they being a sinner, most likely they are in the same state I once was, which is deceiving themselves.

Christ in Our Place
Romans 5:6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Paul uses the word “ungodly” in Romans 5, which I view as “Rotten to the core”. The Good News is, God SAVES those who are rotten to the core! We are ALL rotten to the core, and those who have been saved will confess, admit to that condition as they trust and see Jesus Christ as their Savior from that rotten condition. Outside of Christ, all are ROTTEN, WICKED, SINFUL, in God’s eyes. In Christ, all are righteous, pure, perfect in His righteousness and perfection alone. If in Christ, God sees you as Christ, there is no more being rotten to the core when you are placed in His family.

What better news is this? And how humbling it is to know what God has done by His grace and mercy for you! God saves a sinner DESPITE their rotten condition, they did nothing to deserve salvation, and Jesus died for them!

Hebrews 12:2 “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.“

Despite many world religions teaching otherwise, there is a straight line directly to Jesus Christ. You don’t need permission from any earthly soul to go straight to Him. A pastor or teacher is not the direct line, another Christian is not that direct line either. They are merely guides showing you the way by the saving Gospel.

If the church you attend or attended put up a roadblock or obstacle in that straight line to Jesus, discernment is reached, that church was NOT built by Jesus. It doesn’t matter how many hymns they sing or religious pomp and circumstance they can come up with, they are blocking your path to Him.

With that unimpeded path, you can at any time approach Jesus by faith alone on His throne. Know that He hears you! If saved, the Holy Spirit who is in FULL communion with Jesus, indwells you. His throne room is not guarded by gatekeepers, you can enter any time you wish. This is the Good News.

Before Jesus arrived via His incarnation on earth, the sinner could only access God by the temple and the appointed high priest. They could not go into the throne room without that foreshadow of Jesus. And that foreshadow was God’s revelation of what the Good News is, His name is Jesus Christ! Jesus, being the perfect High Priest forever did away with the temple and earthly priests who now are no longer needed for access.

Look at Roman Catholicism for example, it is basically a continuation of the OLD way. They lie to their congregation and say access can only be reached to God NOT by Jesus Christ, but by their sinner priests or Mary or a RCC deemed “saint”. It is telling the Catholic “do NOT place your faith alone in Jesus, but our way”.

The Good News is that there is a straight open line to Jesus which is always open! Place your faith alone in Him, read Scripture carefully, and that direct path to Him is shown constantly all throughout.

Safetyism is a phenomenon commonly seen in all generations of a fallen world. The most recent example showed itself in the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the natural tendency to see mankind as not depraved and the grasping onto the fallen same mankind for the answers.

Safetyism comes in many forms, and will prop up a human figure to be its spokesperson. Dr. Anthony Fauci is that figure in this particular religion. Whatever he says, his followers see as infallible and not to be questioned just as every false religion. People will double mask and vaccinate without questioning or discerning, if Fauci says so. And any resistance to this cult leader will be met with shunning and censorship along with constant demonization by his followers.

The religion of safetyism will have a key component where the goal posts can move at will by the infallible cult leader, again the followers will not raise an eyebrow but follow any edict in strict obedience. Since there is no faith in God in safetyism, the cult leader is the god. Albeit the cult leader can change his mind daily, reverse his earlier edicts at will and this would cause no problem to his religious following.

At the core of safetyism is humanism. Its innate desire is to survive death since it sees death as not sin dependent but human will dependent. So in this religion since God is not involved, the follower of safetyism sees it as their duty to produce their own death date which they know is coming, but can move the date based on what they do or do not do. The follower of this religion does not see mankind as fallen but good in nature.

So they may take an extra dose of vitamins per day, work out a little more, take a hundred prescription drugs per day for example all in the effort to try and cheat death. As I heard one pastor say, do all those things and you cans still get hit by a bus tomorrow. Now I am NOT saying it is not good to take care of yourself and do what is recommended by a doctor, what I am saying is if you are crossing into safetyism it usually is accompanied with obsession and an anxiety.

A safetyism which would involve a church, Roman Catholicism comes to mind. They prop up a pope, the cult following of this pope will do and practice anything the pope edicts. Scripture alone cannot be used in safetyism because it usually discards the cult leader’s edicts which cannot be found there or cannot be tested out through it. So you will always see a subtle attack on the sufficiency of Scripture by one who is practicing safetyism. Scripture can never trump the mankind or its cult leader in safetyism.

Again, the innate fallen desire is to grasp onto humanism and by that a religion of safetyism. It would explain why so many ran out and bought up a 10 year supply of toilet paper upon the start of the pandemic. It would explain why many on social media would fight you to the death over the edicts of Dr. Fauci and the degenerates that moderate the platforms eager to censor ANY discernment.

In the end, the adherents to safetyism will face a Judgment from an Almighty God of which they were not expecting. It will be SIN which will cause an eternal separation from Him by which Jesus says there will be much moaning and groaning and gnashing of teeth. Unlike safetyism, the promises of God never change!

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:24-25

As I see it, there are two kinds of “hope” people use as a definition. There is worldly hope, which really isn’t hope, and biblical hope. The world uses the word “hope” as does the church, but in different ways and totally different definitions.

Worldly hope encompasses doubt. It is a superstitious hope which uses chance and luck. The sinner with this kind of hope crosses their fingers, clings to a rabbit foot in an expectation of a future event or circumstance. They’ll say for example “I hope it rains tomorrow” as a question, not in faith. Or when asked a question, the answer will be “I hope so?” This definition of hope is absurd, but it is the most common use of the word.

Biblical hope, one who believes God exists, encompasses assurance. It is an assured expectation which has no doubt attached. In the Bible it is defined in the Old Testament as a “cord” which has a tension.

The Hebrew word “ṯiq-wā-ṯî;” is generally defined as “to expect”, and it is related to the Hebrew word “qiw-wî-ṯî”, which means to wait for, to expect. or a past tense to look eagerly. Job 17:15 for example states “Where then is my hope (ṯiq-wā-ṯî;) ? And who looks at my hope (ṯiq-wā-ṯî;)?” Genesis 49:18 states “I have waited (qiw-wî-ṯî) for your salvation, O LORD!”

In both circumstances the hope we see is an assurance. There isn’t a doubt attached or wondering. It is simply knowing by faith that the Lord will provide according to His will and to His promises.

In the New Testament, the Greek word used is “elpiousin” as the word for “hope”. We read in Matthew 12:21 “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE. (elpiousin)”. Hope here encompasses a trust in what the Lord has promised in the past and the full assured expectation of what was to come in the future. The word “elpizomenōn” is the past tense as in “hoped’ or “trusted”. Hebrews 11:1 states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

So we see in Hebrews 11:1 a key component of biblical hope, which is FAITH. The saved sinner with faith will hope in assurance of things to come, the future promises God has revealed for them. There can be NO DOUBT in this type of hope or you discard your faith. So it is quite important as you read the Bible and you see the word “hope” that you do not presuppose worldly hope, which isn’t hope but doubt, into that reading.

Born fallen sinners, we naturally doubt. Thus, I believe every human being who begun to use the word “hope” in their lingo, encompassed doubt and superstition as that definition. We did not trust there was a God and because of not having faith, we used that word in vain. We used the word more as a question than an answer.

Hebrews 6:18-19 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain

So hope which encompasses faith will always have full assurance in the hope. You are not doubting God’s provision or His will or His existence. You believe His promises for your future! This would mean if you have been saved, the hope for eternal life as you read in Scripture always comes with a full assurance. You live in this hope!

Every false gospel and church will use the word “hope” in its worldly sense. The teach doubt in Jesus Christ, doubt yourself, doubt His salvation, and work harder. This is NOT hope but doubt! Pure hope will always trust in faith.

Like faith, we grow in hope. A newborn sinner’s hope will be different than a Christian who has been saved for decades. The hope, the assurance grows stronger as your faith grows. If you are doubting God’s promises and are still in the crossing your fingers stages, you are not hoping in faith. You simply are not saved and most likely part of a false church which perverts the word “hope”.

Lastly, in 43 years as a Roman Catholic I was never taught the biblical meaning as I described as “hope”. It was always a doubt, and unknown, which never exuded faith, but a superstitious expectation of what may or may not happen upon my judgment day. Now as a Christian, my hope encompasses FULL assurance in every promise God has granted to me.

Are you hoping in faith, or are you still doubting? That should be the discipline in the HONEST examination of everyone’s faith.

Hebrews 6: ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Today I write about something very personal. March 21, 2020 was a day where God had answered a prayer. My dog Leo who was in the midst with a tremendous fight against cancer was given a prognosis by his oncologist of “full remission”.

Those who fought cancer or who have had a loved one fighting cancer know those two words well, “full remission”. It is when it is shown that the patient is showing no signs of the cancer. The tumors have subsided and the general health is shown to be normalized.

I treasured that email which came that day, because Leo’s battle was something to behold. I prayed each day during that time to God for his full remission which seemed fleeting. Now being in remission does not mean the cancer has been cured, it is basically a much needed break from the cancer. It had been about 4 months of waiting for this sign, which did come by what I could only reason being by the hand of God.

Leo’s illness was a roller coaster, lots of ups and downs, but he took everything in stride. The pandemic shut downs were just starting to show itself to the world, but I was more worried about Leo’s access to his chemotherapy which was being broadcasted now as restricted. So many questions which were not being answered, so I turned to God alone. That remission announcement came at this time, God answered me.

God granted Leo an extension on his life for my behalf, and I thank Him for this. It was just 9 days later, Leo was gone. However, with his full remission, his last days for the most part were normal. God granted me a gift of seeing Leo again before the illness one last time. A blessing which did not go unnoticed.

While I grieved tremendously Leo’s passing, I knew God was with me. As I wrote in a book after the loss of him, I had to look back to see and realize many blessings God had granted, and a huge one occurred on March 21, 2020. There was no other explanation other than God’s gracious provision which granted Leo’s remission from his cancer.

To those faced with hardship, sadness, tremendous adversity, turn to God! The prayers are not being ignored. And because of the fog caused by our emotions, sometimes we miss those blessings from Him. So look back, and you shall see God’s hand in everything. It might be the smallest mundane thing or something huge, but BELIEVE that the Almighty God is constantly working for the good of those who love Him.

What a great God He is! A three word prayer we should always be praying is “THANK YOU GOD!”

2 Corinthians 1:18-20
“But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

The other day my one year old puppy, Joby, immediately came to me after getting into some burrs. He meekly looked at me to help him out, to get these burrs off since he couldn’t. His personality has been always been like this, each time he needs help or if there is something he does not quite understand, he turns to me for this help. The thought occurred to me as to how we as Christians should have our own relationship with God, trusting that He is always faithful.

When Scripture said that “faith pleases God”, I am sure you can relate to this if you too own a dog or have children or others who depend on you alone for everything. It does please us if we have this faithfulness in our own lives. Take a scary situation or troubling circumstance, and being the sole person being turned to in faith to help them through it. It pleases you.

We can’t see God, but He is here. He isn’t up in some room being waited on by angels as the societal depiction. God is omnipresent. So by turning to Him alone, walking by faith alone and not by sight, it pleases Him. Logic then says it does NOT please Him if you turn to others, or half-heartedly have some faith He exists. No, you aren’t delusional for believing God is always present as an unbeliever might scoff and mock.

We must grow in this faith! This all powerful force has always been present, the God Almighty, and it is only by faith He can be accessed. We are born fallen, degenerate, and have no faith present in us. When God gives a rebirth, faith is the gift to make the blind sinner now believe by that faith. Before that point, we may punch in the air flailing about, looking for physical evidence of God. Roman Catholics for example litter their homes with statues because they do not have this faith. And the test comes if those statues were completely taken away, could they believe God exists? I’d say many would become immediate atheists.

A Christian granted faith from God does not need anymore signs or physical evidence, to believe in God’s presence. Now I am not saying this faith does not need to grow, because it does! And the evidence of a rebirth will show this growth each day, as each day God is revealing more of Himself through His word. The Christian is weaned off the world, and becomes dependent on God for everything just like my example of Joby. And I mean EVERYTHING. The good, the bad, the indifferent, the mundane, in all things you know and realize God is always present.

You stop thinking as a Christian “where are You, God?” and start believing He is right there with you always! Because of the faith which has been granted by Him, you no longer in futility punch the air. Turn to Him always, He is FAITHFUL as our God, His promises do not change! Whatever it is, speak to Him as if He is right beside you, because He is! If reborn, He lives in you now!

If you live long enough on this fallen earth, you will realize heart break, sadness, and terrible things from time to time. It is a continuance of the darkness resulting from the fall of Adam and Eve, when the whole world fell into sin. Christians are not exempt from human hardship, even though Joel Osteen stands in front of his pulpit each week and relays the opposite with Satan, the serpent from the Garden, cheering it on.

So when your life shatters, the question is who are you going to turn to. Is it the Almighty God who will see you through or will it be the world and its fallen messages. I believe these hardships are a definite test of our faith. We saw this occur with Job, one of the oldest books in the Bible.

Satan thought Job would crack under the pressure, that his faith was self generated and that he would rid himself of God once he experienced absolute hardship and all his earthly possessions were taken away. God took Satan up on his prediction and allowed Satan to work on Job. But Job didn’t crack up. He definitely questioned things, but did not lose his faith that God had granted despite losing his family, his health, his estate in a very short period of time.

Job was tested, he passed that test of faith. Why? Because it was God who granted him that endurance. Job turned to God with his questions and to get answers, although his friends thought they had these answers. Satan’s futile hope was that Job would listen only to his friends and dismiss God. He was wrong, and will always be wrong with a child of God, but it doesn’t mean he will continue to try.

If you are a child of God, the examination of your faith comes when your life shatters. Sure, it is easy to have faith when things are great in your life, but when the bottom drops out, discernment WILL come to show whether you were just play acting or you clearly had genuine faith granted from God. Are you immediately turning to God, or are you dismissing Him for the world when those difficult trying times show themselves.

One example comes to mind. A few years ago I recall a woman claiming to be a Christian, a child of God, and any questioning of her faith would be met with a stern rebuke. Her family then experienced some hardship, so I asked her to turn to God for the answers. She replied “don’t give me that crap, (other profane expletives), we need to figure this out”. She failed the test of faith right then and there, the mask came off. I had known this beforehand by her lack of repentance, but if there was a time when there was a clear and undeniable example, this was it. It was when her life was shattered. And it wasn’t like she regretted reading me the riot act later on either for telling her to turn to God.

When your life shatters, turn to God in FAITH! Trust in Him alone. Nothing is impossible with Him. And more importantly pray to God that you PASS that test of faith when the time comes!

Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.

Discerning the modern churches is easy for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. The church which impedes the direct access to Jesus Christ in any way is NOT His church. His church provides and encourages sinners to seek that direct access only.

A simple question to ask those caught up in a false church where they impede direct access is, “if I went to Jesus Christ and humbly pleaded for the forgiveness of ALL of my sins, would He forgive me?”. Only the ultra cult-like impeders would say “no” to that question. So if the answer is yes, then the next question is simple, “why are you proposing to impede my path to Him by your religion?”

Some will say you “need to do this first” or “you need to say this prayer” or “do these good works and then just maybe Jesus will forgive you”. But the TRUTH of the Good News is that Jesus required absolutely nothing from sinners to go to the Cross and die for them for that forgiveness. Paul writes in Romans 5:8 “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us“. By this, Jesus did not wait for you to clean up your act before He would forgive you, or that you would do something to be counted worthy by Him.

From Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox to many many churches calling themselves “Christian” put up what I call that roadblock to forgiveness while claiming they are the gateway at the same time. The sinner caught up in these systems die someday in uncertainty, “did I do enough to be saved?” is the question they die with. Having believed the roadblock and NOT placing their faith alone in Jesus Christ by that direct unimpeded access, they will someday wake up to a grim reality. That their religion put them on the path to hell and Judgment Day is too late to have figured that out.

Impeders to Jesus Christ will say “you need to have perfect Sunday church attendance, participate in our sacraments, do enough works, do enough good things as opposed to bad things, keep those commandments, and then Jesus might, just maybe will save you”. Whereas the the BIBLICAL Good News teaches DIRECT salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is FINISHED! Salvation is NOT A PROCESS, no matter what these false teachers manning the roadblocks to Jesus try to say.

About every debate I have had with an unbeliever caught up in a roadblock world religion has the same argument. The sinner defends the roadblock and mocks the direct access. It is like a store with a “free water” sign in front, and the person dying of dehydration because they cannot believe the water is free. Because none of their friends and family will drink that water or they were told they cannot drink free water, they die. Total depravity produces an evasion of all logic and all common sense.

Some will sadly die defending that roadblock which they will learn sent them to hell, because by pride they could not go directly to Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins. Discern your church! Is it impeding any access by rituals, and negating God’s grace of salvation? If so, LEAVE that church, believe the GOOD NEWS, that Jesus has provided (past tense) for the forgiveness of ALL your sins! If God is drawing you to His Kingdom, you will heed that message. If not, you will stay blind behind a religious roadblock which ends in agony and sadness.