Salvation and Assurance of Salvation (Edited by ChatGPT)

  

There are critical questions about salvation in this age. Who is saved? Is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ enough to be saved? Do I have to preserve my salvation, and how? Can I lose my salvation?

 

Since I am not a caricature of theological and denominational bounds, these issues are not hard for me to understand. The Bible is clear, and there is no doubt about those questions — biblically speaking. Theological boxes of schools and denominational chains are binding, boxing, and chaining the Bible by human ignorance to blind people. But these issues are simple and not complex at all — we are blinded only by theology and denominational dirt in our eyes.

 

Is faith in Jesus enough? It depends on the nature of the faith: if it is real faith or wrong faith. It has to be the faith, not just any faith in Jesus. Simon the sorcerer believed in Jesus and was baptized in water. But the good book says he did not focus on the Word of God but on miracles. The people listened to the Word of God and saw the miracles to believe Jesus is Lord, whom they must obey. Simon did not focus on the Word of God to have the faith, but on miracles — and his desire was not obedience of faith but power he could buy and sell. His faith was not the faith, and he was not saved despite his “faith.” This is why Jesus drove out many by saying, “Eat my body and drink my blood,” because they were there for food rather than for the right faith — the faith.

 

When the abomination of desolation is revealed to the world, two kinds of people will follow him. One group are those who reject the love of truth — the love of Jesus Christ to accept Him as Lord and Savior. The second are those who claim to have faith in Jesus but who delight in sin and rebellion. These are the Simons who are earthly and sinful but say “Jesus, Jesus” without a heart to obey Him toward holiness.

 

Therefore, all who say “Jesus is Lord” are not saved. The faith has to be real and should lead to obedience of faith that produces spiritual growth until the image of Jesus is imprinted on the face of every faithful one.

 

The next issue is: if we are saved, do we have to preserve our salvation? Yes. Because our faith is the faith of obedience, as we believe in the Lord, so we must obey the Lord. We are given the Holy Spirit, and we need to die so God can take over. What this means must be defined clearly, since many religious customs are wrong on this issue. Even the “right” ones are often wrong. They tell you: attend church, have the basic behavior of the faithful — don’t smoke, pray, don’t drink, preach the Word, don’t listen to music, don’t curse, and so on — which creates an appearance of faith, and pay 10% (or more), and then you have nothing to fear. They tell you that. But I tell you the truth: your guarantee is spiritual growth, not following norms.

 

Smoking has to stop, drinking has to stop, prayer has to increase, earthly music must be avoided, you must attend church, give back to God, preach the Word, save souls, and so on. But always grow. The decline of faith is the lack of spiritual growth, which generates spiritual decline up to death. They fix standards of faith and good manners, and they think they are saved. So now they focus on judging tax collectors and prostitutes out there. They never grow, and their faith and behavior do not become more and more like Jesus. In fact, they run fast back to the world. This process kills not only the faithful but their assemblies.

 

Compared to your life from 10 years ago, your kindness should increase, your love should increase, your dedication to God should increase, and you should be more and more like Jesus over time. That is the guarantee of our salvation. If we obey God, God is there to grow us. But if we corner God out, then who knows what our end will be?

 

Even those who try to warn you about protecting your salvation are cheating you. They say: do this and do that and you have nothing to fear. But I tell you, dear, grow — and you have nothing to fear. If God is occupying you, and what you drink, breathe, and live is God and the Word of God — by the Spirit of God — you will grow into God. That is the only guarantee of salvation: growth after second birth. Your growth and your growing spiritual fruit are actually the guarantee of your second birth.

 

I know many denominations, theologians, and immature infants will not love this. But who cares about their desires? What matters is the truth. This is the truth, and it is biblical. I did not open an amusement park for profit; I accepted Jesus as Lord to obey Him. Your amusement and approval are not the goal — after all, I pay my bills. The goal is to save you from your slow death. What is important is the approval of God and consistency with the Word of God, not your amusement. So I tell you: grow into the image of Jesus. That is your assurance, and it starts with second birth.

 

There is no growth without second birth. But growth is the indicator of second birth, because the Spirit has fruit and the flesh has fruit. Look at your life and look at others — from the world and from the faith — and ask: how is your growth? The first growth is the love of God. Is God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — the air you breathe, the life you live for, and the firm foundation that keeps you strong? Do you grow closer and closer to Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, or to the world with its power, money, and respect?

 

Is your joy God or money? Is your hunger power, or transformation by the Holy Spirit? Is your lord the flesh and self-interest, or Jesus? How is your life? Are you becoming addicted to God or to the world? Do you have idols? What if God took your job, your income, your health, your children, your home, and your sight or hearing — would He still be your God, the One you love without reservation? How is your dedication to the cause of God? How much time and energy do you give to God, and how much of your life do you allocate to Him? Are those things growing?

 

The second issue is your attitude and life toward the faithful, your neighbors, and even your enemies. Do you love those who hate you, hunt you, and persecute you? Are those things growing over time? Are you strongly established and being established in the first and second laws of love? Is Jesus growing in you? This is the real issue. This is your guarantee of salvation. Growth — spiritual growth after second birth — is your guarantee.

 

Many people take salvation as given and then give God a routine: pray, give money, witness, and have basic manners of the faithful. Then afterward, they run after the world — power, money, and respect. Slowly they become more earthly and fade away into cultural religion, dying from faith. The real faithful take the earth as given, and they focus on God. God will give them what He wills, and He will add their wishes to complete their happiness. So they take the world as given — as God wills — and focus on Him. These grow into God, and they may live happily by God or they may suffer and die for God, as He wills. What matters is not the world but God.

 

The next question is: can we lose salvation? Yes. Not only here, but even in the afterlife. If we become devils, God will cast us into hellfire. We are His children, and our childhood is almost guaranteed as long as we remain children of God. In infancy, we sin a lot, but God does not care — He just changes our diapers, washes us, kisses us, and gives us milk with love. We are infants. Then, as we grow, more is expected, and the stick follows here and there. God punishes us and rebukes us to keep us in line. We are given more and more responsibility as we grow, but again our judgment and expectations become more serious.

 

Can a father cast out a mature son or daughter because of mistakes and folly — even major ones? Even human parents are tolerant. But is it an open check that you can write whatever you want on? People will focus on homosexuals and abortion as sin. But what about being the devil’s horse, destroying love and harmony in the assembly of the faithful? I have heard people say God hates pride. True — but it is not at the top of the list. Creating fights between brothers is top, followed by false witness, having an evil heart, and being bloodthirsty … then finally pride comes. So what about elders who destroy the faith and growth of the young by being what God hates? Are those minor sins? You will be disciplined, but at some point, if your sins become major and you are not self-correcting, you will be kicked out. Where is the verse to support this? Read the Bible — the answer is the whole Bible.

 

God sent messages to the seven assemblies for what purpose? Why was the Bible written? The Bible was written to make sure we keep our salvation before we lose it. Can an angel of God be cast out for sin? Not all sins, but I am sure there are sins that lead to death. The reason you cannot understand this is because you are denominational and theological caricatures, not educated by God. The best faithful are educated by God, but most in this age are not. Those not educated by God fade away, just as a branch cut from its tree cannot live.

 

Paul said the Holy Spirit is teaching you and nobody needs to teach you — so I am only reminding you of what you know. Peter said the Holy Books are not written by humans to be interpreted by humans, but by the Holy Spirit. Yet this age is funny — theology is bottom-up, not top-down. We use human methods, and that is fine if you are only human (like almost all theologians). But it is evil to deny that the best knowledge of the Bible comes from God.

 

Because many false teachings come in the name of God, and many evil interpretations of the Bible are the work of demons, we want the Bible interpreted only by human systems. If someone says “God taught me,” we call him evil and wrong. We even say, “Who are you to know better than those who came before you?” Dear ones, because of self-adopted “children of God” who mock the Spirit of God by giving us evil interpretations, we are not in a position to say God cannot teach His truth by His own will. Rather than asking, “Is it true?” we ask, “Where is the method?” The method is God — the Writer who opens our minds to know the Bible. After all, it is written that God hid the truth from the wise and revealed it to children. It is also written that Jesus opened their minds to understand Scripture. And it is written that the children of God will be taught by God. But who is the Bible to contradict second-grade theologians of various denominations, right!?

 

We want those who learned at the feet of Gamaliel to interpret the Bible, not those educated by the Lord. We cannot accept Paul but only Saul. We like theological killers, not spiritual saviors. We say many came before Jesus pretending to be God-sent, so Jesus must also be a lie because He had no theological degree or the approval of the high priest. Can you imagine faith leaders who do not accept the Spirit, angels, or the afterlife? What about theologians who do not believe the children of God are taught by God? Because there is the work of the devil, does that mean the work of God is void?

 

Yet the church is becoming a caricature of (born-again) denominations and (born-again) theology, because God has been cornered by our ignorance. Just observe: many denominations and theologians are sorry to say that many old dead religions (Orthodox and Catholic) are not saved — though they may allow that “faithful” within them could be saved — but they are quick to judge the born-again faithful.

 

If you are Protestant, Evangelical, or Reformed Evangelical (as I propose), and they think you make a mistake, sin, teach falsely, or prophesy falsely, they rush to judge you harshly. “You are not born again, you are dead, you are a false prophet,” and so on. It may be true, or it may not. I know even the chosen will be deceived into being judgmental against the born-again faithful. My focus is on their sin and the need for correction, not their salvation. They may be the devil’s own, or a child of God deceived. Let us remove them from sin so the devil’s own may be saved and the child of God may correct his or her path. Denominations and theologians, however, are funny and shallow — pointing fingers at the dirt of others while ignoring the wood in their own eyes.

 

Yet when Catholic and Orthodox follow and teach major heresies, replace Jesus with idols that compete with Him, bow to pictures and statues, and follow endless abominations and their books, many accept them as saved. Some may correct their sins, but they are careful not to question their salvation. Why? Because we are becoming religious rather than faithful. Our hypocrisy is a direct result of our association with Pharisaic growth. We strain out insects but swallow the Catholic and Orthodox camel with ease. Hypocrites!

 

The reason those dead religions lost God is because they became worldly and traditional rather than biblical and Holy Spirit-led. And now as Protestants and Evangelicals begin to fall out of grace, instead of turning to the Bible and the Holy Spirit to self-reform, we want Samaria to join Judah so we can stand as one people with two kings fighting atheism. It does not trouble us that they worship idols and kill billions by theology of demons — what we care about is not true faith but any “Christian” faith, so we can preserve our culture and tradition, not necessarily God in our lives. But I tell you: the atheists and agnostics who reject God are holier than those old and modern prostitutes of faith. Samaria, after all, is holier than Judah — as it is written.

 

This is why, if anyone who comes last is going to be first, he or she needs to rise above the theological and denominational chains of the born-again faithful and stand far — far — from dead religions. There is a time to drink milk — so grow under your theology and denominations as long as they are born-again and Evangelical. But at some point, those denominations and theologies will not grow you into Jesus, but will keep you from Him. You outgrow them. By standing on the shoulders of those who came before you, you see Jesus better. Rise up toward Jesus until His life and His way are imprinted on yours. This is the only way to rise above those who came before you — to be the first from the last.

 

You are nobody, but you are somebody in Jesus, because the One who matters — Jesus — chose you. Kill your “nobody” — you, your education, your philosophy, national pride, ethnic pride, any work of the flesh, and the world itself — and let Jesus grow in you. Let your speech, life, walk, talk, service, suffering, and death be made in the image of Jesus — like Paul, Peter, and John — and you have a chance to be the first from the last.

 

So if you have the right mind, right faith, right spirit, and right identity, your core problem is not salvation by faith or the question of whether you can lose this or that. Your core problem is whether you are growing well. Besides, just imagine that Jesus does not accept you and considers you a worthless dog or pig, not worthy of salvation — is it a loss to worship Jesus? Is it a loss to live like Jesus, to sing about Jesus, to preach the Word of God, to help others know Jesus even if you are not worthy? Is it a loss? No — it is gain to live for Jesus, to preach Jesus, to die for Jesus, and to suffer for Jesus, even if you are not allowed to join the chosen. God has a choice, and I also have a choice.

 

How many study science for money? How many die for nation and ideology, and is it for money and comfort? Why do people give all they have for human goals? Why do people sacrifice themselves for worthless human goals — truly worthless goals? Could a man who knows God live for anything but God? Can you worship a stream after watching the Nile? Can you worship a candle after watching the sun? Can you live for anything after knowing God, whose name is Jesus Christ? Even if there were no heaven and hell, even if we were not meant to go to heaven, still what we preach and live for is Jesus Christ. Can a drug addict live without his drug? Jesus is our drug. Even if we are the dogs and pigs of heaven, it is our joy to help the worthy ones reach heaven. Why? Because it is just, it is good, and it is holy.

 

Even if Jesus said, “You dogs and pigs are not worthy,” we would still run after Him saying, “Jesus, Jesus,” because He is light from light, and we love light. The only thing we cannot accept is a processed Jesus — 10%, 25%, 50% Jesus of Judeo-Christian culture. We want 100% Jesus, because our faith is Jesus, not religion. If we are not saved for not being part of Judeo-Christian culture, sorry — that is not our faith. Our faith is Jesus. For Jesus, we will worship Him even as pigs and dogs — those not worthy of heaven — but we will never follow Judeo-Christian culture, even as kings with guaranteed salvation. Our thing is Jesus’ thing, not religion’s thing.

 

Now they ask, “Who approves you?” God. Even if we are not the sheep of God, what is written? Those who do not gather with Jesus are His enemies, but those who gather with Him are with Him — even if they are not His sheep. Even if we are dogs and pigs, worthless ones, but trying to preach Jesus — gathering with Him — we are His friends, even if we work without the payoff of salvation.

 

What if people do not accept you as faithful? I love them, because my Master commands me so, and I will pray for them. That is it. This is life — Jesus’ life — not religion. Faith is life, and that life includes love for brothers and sisters, but it is not a cultural or social thing. We love brothers and sisters to please God, but our God is not defined by the approval of brothers and sisters. The reason I have to explain these things is funny to me — but it is because faith is becoming religion, and I have to explain the basics of our faith to the so-called “faithful.” How far we have fallen from grace is clear from this.