All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We need salvation because we are sinners. We must recognize what it is that we are lacking and what it is that we need in order to know what salvation is. The Bible thoroughly explains what salvation is. It is forgiveness, justification, redemption, restoration, peace, and much more. These things restore us to what God intended humanity and His creation to be. These things correct us spiritually and they are provided by God. God is the Saviour all throughout the Bible. Within the Old Testament, God prophesied of a Christ that would come. This Christ would be the Saviour for all mankind. This Christ, the only begotten Son, was made sin for you and me. God the Son, Jesus Christ, can save you from your sins. One does not need to rightly divide the Bible in order to understand why we need salvation, what salvation is, or who the Saviour is. That information was not a mystery kept hidden at any time within the Bible.
The fact of the matter is that many people in the Bible did not understand how salvation worked. They knew that God would provide it. They knew that God could do it. They, however, did not know how He could do it. Thus, men of faith responded to God saying, “we believe you God that you will do it, we just don’t know how you are going to do it.” That information was kept a mystery. It was a mystery that was first revealed to the apostle Paul. How salvation works, Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, after Israel was fallen, was revealed to the apostle Paul and it was now offered freely to all after his conversion in Acts chapter 9. The mystery of Christ – salvation without Israel, without covenants, and without the Law – has to do with the terms of salvation. It has to do with when salvation is delivered.
The “when” aspect of salvation for us is now, the moment you believe the gospel, because there is no covenant that needs to be fulfilled in the future for the Christian. There is no Law that has to be kept. There is no city, in this case Jerusalem, that one has to take a pilgrimage to in order to give a sacrifice to a priest. There is no place for us to go to for salvation today. Unfortunately, many Christians are confused enough to believe that they have to go within the four walls of a church or a cathedral in order to receive salvation. Salvation is found in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and one can be saved no matter where they are at when they trust what He did on the cross.
How salvation works, where the gospel, the offer of salvation, is found, and when salvation actually happens are all aspects of salvation that will be misunderstood if a person does not rightly divide the Bible. These misunderstandings have led to confusion and dire consequences for many. If one does not rightly divide the Scriptures, if one takes the Hebrew epistles in as their doctrine, for example, it will lead that person to see a future promise of salvation instead of a present possession. It will affect their walk, what happens after salvation, and it will lead that person to believe that they can lose their salvation.
Salvation of all men is found in Paul’s epistles alone[1]. Without Paul’s epistles, one cannot understand how they got saved. They cannot understand how a person receives salvation freely by grace alone. The mystery is not revealed outside of Paul’s epistles. The doctrine for the Church, the body of Christ, is found in Paul’s epistles alone. That doctrine tells a person living within this dispensation, once they are saved, what it is that they need to learn in order to understand who they are, what they need to do, what their walk should look like, what their position is, and what their destiny is. These things come after a person’s salvation and it is information that is found within Paul’s writings alone.
True salvation is often confused with what happens after salvation. This is a result of putting things that happen after salvation before salvation itself. It is also a result of making the things that happen after salvation the definition of salvation. Examples abound of denominations and churches that do not rightly divide the word of truth, and thus salvation, and therefore confuse what follows salvation for being actual salvation. Salvation is going to be a struggle for those caught up in denominationalism because they are following a system that confuses salvation with what comes after salvation. Some examples include “name it and claim it” theology, saying a prayer for salvation, Pentecostalism and Charismania, baptism, works righteousness, miracles, the “sign of belief,” and the Holiness movement. Let’s look at each of these perversions of Christianity briefly:
Name It and Claim It Theology
Most Christians realize that their “decree and declare” actions don’t often result in anything, but this false teaching actually comes from Scripture. John 15:16 and 16:23 state, “whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” That sounds very enticing. Why is there not a Ferrari in my garage yet? The answer is simple – the four Gospels were not written to you, a Christian, they were written to the nation Israel. Jesus’ statement will happen one day yet future, it just doesn’t apply to you, living in the dispensation of the grace of God. This error of not rightly dividing the word of truth will affect your walk after you are saved and it will certainly have tragic consequences for those who are not saved, think that they can “decree and declare” their salvation, and do not understand or identify the gospel, the terms, of their salvation.
Saying a Prayer for Salvation
We’ve all heard or witnessed first-hand a church service or event where the speaker encourages the crowd to “come down front, trust Jesus Christ, and say a prayer.” That sounds harmless enough and no doubt the intentions are good in those who respond. The problem is that people often confuse the prayer for how it is that they got saved. “I said a prayer, now I’m saved.” No! How you got saved was by Christ’s finished work on the cross. When you trusted that, that is when you received it. Is it bad to pray? Of course not, we are told to pray without ceasing[2]. Prayer is something that you do, and you do it after you are saved[3].
Speaking in Tongues
Often associated with Pentecostalism or the Charismatic church, this false teaching states that one must speak in tongues as evidence of their salvation. While skipping the fact that “tongues” in the Bible is a reference to languages, our focus here is on salvation and how it is a perversion of Christianity to teach that one must provide proof of one’s salvation, in this case through the gift of speaking in tongues, to demonstrate that they are truly saved.
The gift of tongues was given on the Day of Pentecost as the Holy Spirit came to indwell the Jewish followers of Christ that were assembled there. The gift manifested itself in the ability to speak foreign languages without learning them, and the Kingdom church used this gift to preach Jesus Christ as Israel’s Messiah[4]. It is the Jews that require a sign[5] and tongues were a miraculous sign[6] that God used to authenticate His message. Whenever you read about signs and miracles within the Bible, well over nine times out of ten, Israel is in the context.
Some today associate the gift of tongues with ecstatic, unintelligible utterances and “heavenly” or unknown languages, but that is not what the Bible teaches. The gift of tongues, or languages, was meant to communicate a message and served as a sign to unbelievers. The gift of tongues ceased within the apostolic age, as the apostle Paul stated that it would[7] and were in no way intended to be evidence of one’s salvation.
Baptism
How many countless churches teach that one has to be baptized, immersed in water, in order to be saved? Why is this? After all, water baptism is taught in the Scriptures, is it not:
John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Mark 1:4
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Matthew 28:19
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Mark 16:16
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Acts 8:36
Realize that seeking out baptism, something that you physically do, is a work. That goes against what the apostle Paul taught[8]. The verses above make a very compelling case for water baptism being part of a believer’s salvation. The issue here is that all of the reference verses above are outside of the 13 Pauline epistles. They are not being rightly divided and they apply and are speaking to the nation Israel. The Christian must look to the apostle Paul and his teaching on this subject and when they do that, they will properly identify that Paul taught that there is “one baptism”[9] and that it is the baptism of the Holy Spirit[10]. Thus, a Christian can humorously wear the label “Dry Baptist” if they rightly divide the word of truth.
If one seeks out baptism, water immersion or sprinkling, in order for them to get saved, they are doing a work and they are attempting to add to their salvation. That will result in tragic consequences since there is nothing we can add to Christ’s finished work. If one seeks out baptism after they are saved, as an outward expression of their belief in the gospel and their trusting Jesus Christ and His finished work, then they are engaging in something that is well intentioned, but unnecessary and not commanded in Scripture. To do so would be to follow tradition more than to follow what is taught in the Bible.
Works Righteousness
The book of James is a popular place that some pastors, preachers, and teachers will go to when speaking about what needs to be seen in a person after they get saved:
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
James 2:14
The verse above is an example that they associate with salvation because after all, as James makes the point, without works, you cannot be justified. But wait, does salvation not include justification? For those who actually read the Bible discerningly, this should stand as a huge issue. It is a glaring contradiction. We’ve defined salvation as including justification, which means the declaration of righteousness, sanctification, forgiveness and such. James 2 states that you can’t be justified without works. There is no reconciling what Paul teaches against that of what James teaches on the subject of faith and works. Don’t even try to reconcile them. Both are preachers from Christ offering different gospels, different terms, and a different faith. They are both preaching what God communicated to them.
What many teachers within Christendom do in order to get around this most glaring contrast is that they say the justification here in James 2 is not the same type of justification that Paul talks about. They teach that they are different types of justification. They teach that Paul is talking about justification before God and James is talking about justification before your fellow man. But that argument still does not make any sense. How would you know that I am saved? The only way you are going to know if I am saved or not is if I do works. That would be the measurement that you would use.
The way that I am saved is Christ’s death on a cross and by no works of my own. In James 2:14, James asks this question rhetorically, “can faith save him?” James’ answer, rhetorically, is no, faith alone cannot save a person. What does that do to the gospel of the grace of God, received by faith only? It kicks it to the curb. “Faith alone is dead,” states one of the twelve apostles to Israel. This is the exact argument that Roman Catholics make. Roman Catholics have James chapter 2 in their Bibles. Simply put, from a lack of understanding concerning rightly dividing the Scriptures, they teach falsely and have led and are leading millions to the flames of Hell.
Miracles
It is not uncommon to read the words of a professing Christian and to ascertain that they are basing their conversion to Christianity through personal experience or a testimony that states that some type of event occurred that “tells them” that they are now saved. “I’ve not had an experience yet” is a tragic answer to the questions, “are you a Christian” and “how do you know you are a Christian?” Some will reference a “burning in the bosom” as an indication of their salvation. Some will state that they heard a voice, got an answer to prayer, or were healed of a disease. If there is anything that leads a person to say “that’s how I know I got saved” instead of knowing that Jesus Christ died on a cross, He was buried, He rose from the dead, and He is offering salvation to mankind freely, then that person is a false convert and is not saved.
The “Sign of Belief”
This concept actually comes from the Bible and has made for a lot of confusion within Christendom:
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Mark 16:16-18
Having previously discussed baptism and verse 16 above, we must take note of verses 17 and 18 that follow the believer’s water immersed baptism. What happens if someone becomes a believer, is baptized, and then does not manifest these signs? It is reasonable to conclude that they do not have the salvation mentioned in verse 16 if they do not manifest the signs in verses 17 and 18. The Bible states that after salvation, one will be able to take up serpents, heal the sick, cast out devils, drink any poison, and speak in foreign languages. Does that describe you and what you’ve experienced after your salvation? If not, why not?
You cannot do any of those things because the Gospel of Mark does not contain the mystery revealed to the apostle Paul. It is not doctrine written to or for you. For the people, Israel in this case, that the four Gospels were actually written to, there are differences in what happens once they believe. After they believe, these signs are going to follow. After you believe, these signs are not going to follow. There is a different thing that happens after a Christian believes the gospel of the grace of God during our current dispensation.
Also, a word of caution … if any pastor, preacher, or teacher attempts to tell you that the last eight to twelve verses of the Gospel of Mark are not supposed to be in our Bibles, turn and run the other way. That pastor, preacher, or teacher has just demonstrated to you that they do not rightly divide the word of truth and that they are looking for a way to dismiss the obvious teaching of Scripture[11].
The Holiness Movement
The Holiness movement is an influence within Christianity that teaches that a person can achieve perfect holiness, or sinless perfection, while on earth. This doctrine teaches “entire sanctification,” which usually comes via a spiritual experience that those in the Holiness movement refer to as the “second work of grace” or the “second blessing.” Holiness adherents are typically interested in obedience to the Law and see their obedience as a way to gain closeness to God and greater spirituality[12].
We have thoroughly established that you needed a Saviour because you are a sinner. If you could stop sinning, why would you need Jesus? Sin is present. If you think that now that you’ve changed your mind about sin, that you don’t sin anymore, then you need to read a few books of the Old Testament, because the Law shows the knowledge of sin. The laws aren’t just, don’t kill your neighbor, and don’t commit adultery, and serve the one true God. The laws include every thought in your mind, every desire in your heart, every misrepresentation that you make. Sin is present in you and will be until you are face to face with the Lord.
“Turn From Your Sin” Theology
We need God’s grace every day. To teach “turn from your sin or else you will burn” is to deny that one needs salvation in the first place. Turning from one’s sin is nothing more than a self-help, clean-yourself-up religion. There is no indication of salvation if a person believes that they can get saved by turning away from their sin. The Bible labels this whited sepulchres[13]. He made you a new creature, but to think that you washed up and cleaned up and made yourself look nice and that is contributing to your salvation or what makes you a Christian, is entirely putting backwards what needs to happen. Jesus crucified is the gospel that saves us, not what one wears on their body. You put on the new man. The new man is Jesus Christ. The new man is not you. Attempting to clean yourself up and to clean up your actions or your behavior, as if that brings you salvation, is self-improvement, it is not salvation. Salvation is when you need God’s finished work and you trust in what He did for you. You can’t contribute to that. Your self-improvement has no bearing in your salvation.
Within the Bible, when one gets saved, they are considered a saint. It comes by imputation. You are identified as a saint the moment you believe the gospel of your salvation. Once saved, the motivation for why you should do good has now changed from a requirement of the Law to who you are in Christ. That’s how we walk after our salvation.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
The Christian is saved by grace through faith and not of works. Paul continues, however, and he states now that we are saved, we are His workmanship. He did the work to create us in Christ Jesus for the purpose of doing good works, which God before ordained that we should walk in them. The verse does not say that we are going to walk in them or that we are required to. It says that we should walk in them. You should pay for a speeding ticket. You don’t have to, but if you don’t, there will be ramifications. Similarly, if we do not walk in the good works that God has ordained for us, there will be ramifications. Those ramifications come for the Christian in the form of lost rewards.
When we are saved, we trust the gospel of Christ and it changes our purpose in our mind. Before we were saved, we had no place or power to do good works. Why can’t a person do good works before salvation? One can, but they can’t do them with the right heart. Before you got saved, you didn’t trust the gospel, you didn’t put your faith in Jesus Christ, and you weren’t performing good works because you were saved by Christ. You were doing good works in order to get saved or you were doing them just to puff yourself up by self-improvement or a desire to be noticed by others. That is doing it the wrong way. The Bible says the sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord[14]. God requires sacrifices, but He says, “if you are wicked, I don’t want them.” He looks at your heart. It’s not just the good works that you do, it is why you are doing the good works that matter. Grace changes the motivation of why you do it.
When the terms of the gospel are, “in order to receive salvation, you must endure to the end,” your motivation for doing good works is different. If you must endure to the end, why would you do a good work? The answer is, “in order to receive salvation.” A person endures to the end in order to receive that which God has promised them. Why would a Christian endure another day on this planet doing God’s will? The Christian already has salvation – it is a present possession and they do not have to endure until Christ’s Second Coming. All of this requires a heart change. There is no other reason why you should continue doing good if you have a present possession of salvation. It is done, there is nothing to earn. A realization of the assuredness of one’s salvation requires a change of heart in order to do good works. Your heart must change in order for you to do good works in service to our Lord once you are saved.
When Christians don’t do the right thing, a heart issue is what is being exposed. It boils down to a spiritual issue in the end. You can’t do good works as God instructs you should do before you are saved because you have no power to do them. You don’t possess the right motivation to do them. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians tells us:
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Galatians 3:3
Recognize that you did not have the Holy Spirit before you were saved. Because of that, you couldn’t produce the fruit of the Spirit before you were saved. The Galatians were trying to perfect themselves with their flesh even after their salvation. What they were attempting to do was an a la cart approach to Christianity. They wanted to take Christ for salvation, and now that they had Christ, they wanted to do the Law in order to perfect themselves. The obvious issue with that is that the motivation under the Law is compliance and doing things because one is required to do them. The apostle Paul states that that is an abomination and that it makes Christ of none effect. For the Christian, the motivation for doing good works is not the Law, it is grace:
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:3-4
Paul continues in Galatians 5 to talk about the Spirit and the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. The motivation for the Christian to do good comes through their different position. After your salvation, you are no longer who you were. Your desires and your motivation changes. Your understanding of God’s grace makes you want to serve our Lord and to do the things He says we should do. This was not and will not be the motivation for Israel. Israel was offered their position in a New Covenant. A covenantal relationship is very different from a relationship that is based upon grace.
What was Israel’s position? They were in a covenant relationship with God and it is a covenant that will allow them access to a kingdom and to a promise. An Israelite was walking with a Second John mentality:
And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
2 John 1:6
A Christian’s walk involves putting on a new man. They are created in Christ Jesus and they walk after the Spirit by faith[15]. This is what a Christian does. John was an apostle to the 12 tribes of Israel and he wrote in 2 John 1:6 how it was that a Jew was to walk. They are to walk after His commandments. That’s how Israel walks – “do the commandments.” The apostle Paul stated that you need to walk in a way that renews your mind and changes who you think you are. We are to walk according to what the Spirit has revealed about who we are and the position that we now have. That is what motivates the Christian.
As a Christian, you are no longer a sinner. You are no longer without hope. You are an ambassador of the Lord, a servant of righteousness. That’s who you are in Christ. What you do in the short time that you have left on this planet should follow that understanding. Grace received is not work for the recipient. Grace received doesn’t require any work from you. Grace given, however, does take work and it is more work than usual because in order to give grace, one cannot expect receiving a payment back for what they provide. God has done that for you and recognizing that, it should change your heart and your motivations.
We’ve received abundant grace from God. God has instructed us to tell a lost and dying world of His grace and how they too, through the gospel, can receive that grace. For you to do that, it requires work. The difference is that this “work” is performed after you are saved. You can’t correctly communicate the message of grace before you are saved. The Christian’s ministry is one of sharing God’s grace through the preaching of God’s word rightly divided. We are called to do the work of the ministry and to be Christ’s hands and feet. Our work is to make all men see the mystery of the ministry[16] and it begins with our common salvation, united in Christ.
What is the work of the ministry for Israel? What were they supposed to do?
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Hebrews 10:35-36
The Messiah came. Israel’s Messiah died on a cross. Israel’s Messiah rose to everlasting life three days later. Jesus is the Christ. Israel’s salvation is going to come in the future when their Messiah returns. Israel is promised a New Covenant. The New Covenant will be instituted at Christ’s Second Coming. Knowing this, we must ask, “what is Israel to do until Christ’s return?” Hebrews 10:36 tells us that they are to have patience and that there is a promise to be fulfilled in the future. That promise involves a kingdom, a land, salvation, and an indwelling Holy Spirit. That is what Israel has been promised. Notice, however, that Hebrews 10:36 states, “after you have done the will of God, you will receive the promise.” That is the exact opposite of the Christian’s position. The Christian has a present possession of salvation and thus we conclude that the people that the book of Hebrews was written to were not saved individuals. The recipients of the book of Hebrews are instructed to do works that will lead them to a position in a future kingdom. That is when salvation will come to them, in their future kingdom. For now, and in order to enter the kingdom, they must do the will of God. That is the condition that has been placed on them. If they do not do the will of God, they will not receive the promise.
Where do Christians get the idea that one must do good works in order to obtain salvation? They get it from Hebrews chapter 10 and many other places within the Bible. They do not get it from the 13 Pauline epistles. As a Christian, you have the promise fulfilled in Christ, now possessed through grace. Hebrews goes on to tell us:
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Hebrews 10:37-39
What you just read is not “faith alone,” it is faith with work. What is the work? The work is patience. The Gospel of Luke states[17], “In your patience possess ye your souls.” Luke goes on to state[18], “your redemption draweth nigh” and that redemption comes after they have been patient and have endured. If a Jew, living through Daniel’s 70th Week, is not patient and does something like taking the mark of the beast[19], Jesus will look at them as being a sellout. Jesus will recognize that they did not endure to the end, they did not follow His instructions, and they will therefore not receive the promise. They will not enter the kingdom and they will not receive salvation.
The Christian lives by faith alone. Our doing God’s will comes after we are saved. The nation Israel’s salvation will come in their kingdom and it will come after they have patiently endured what God has prophesied they must endure[20]. The nation Israel, outside of the dispensation of the grace of God, lives by faith and works. We must avoid confusing these two programs of salvation. Rightly dividing the word of truth makes this distinction clear and it assists us with understanding God’s will:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Ephesians 1:10-11
God has predestined and purposed that two things, those things in heaven and those things on earth, be brought together in Christ at the end of God’s majestic timeline revealed within the Bible. As God’s heavenly people[21], the things in heaven includes the Church, the body of Christ. The things on the earth includes the nation Israel, the believing remnant that will enter the kingdom to receive their salvation. God obtains glory based on two things that He has predestined according to His purpose:
I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.
Isaiah 46:13
The glory of God on earth is found in the nation Israel and their salvation. Israel’s future salvation is accomplished by Christ’s work on the cross, but it is fulfilled when it is actually realized and possessed on the earth. Israel will rise in glory within their kingdom and it will be God’s glory. The second part of God’s glory is found in Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians:
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
The body of Christ has been placed in heavenly places for God’s glory. That glory comes from what Christ has done for them, but also through the work that they should do after their salvation. That work is done in order to build up the body of Christ so that the body of Christ is edified and strengthened for God’s glory in all of eternity.
Israel will be doing the good works of God forever, once they are established in their kingdom of salvation. There will be no more sin. They will be doing good while following the statutes perfectly, through the indwelling Holy Spirit. As a Christian, you have the privilege of performing good works now. You will be rewarded for it. Your motivation has changed and they are considered good works after your salvation. There will be glory to God in Israel. There is glory to God in the Church. Glory to God will be established in all things once gathered together in one, in Christ. One will be according to the new creature and one will be according to the New Covenant. Both will happen because of Christ and what He did. Glory to God in the highest!
[1] 1 Timothy 2:3-4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
[2] 1 Thessalonians 5:17
[3] (See Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 59:2, John 9:31, 1 Peter 3:12, Psalm 34:17) Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
[4] Acts 2:4-12
[5] 1 Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
[6] 1 Corinthians 14:21-22, Isaiah 28:11-12
[7] 1 Corinthians 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
[8] Romans 4:4-5 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
[9] Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
[10] 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
[11] Though speaking specifically about the book of Revelation, a very stern warning is provided in Revelation 22:18-19 for those who attempt to add to or take away from God’s word. It is a warning that Christians should apply to their walk.
[12] What is the Holiness movement / church? GotQuestions.org https://www.gotquestions.org/Holiness-movement.html
[13] Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
[14] Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
[15] 2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight: )
[16] Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
[17] Luke 21:19
[18] Luke 21:28
[19] Revelation 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
[20] Luke 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
[21] Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Quite honestly, this seems a little bit confusing Paul, although I will say you make some very intriguing points. I’m just struggling to grasp the fact that after hundreds of years since the KJV has been in print, The Holy Spirit didn’t think to bring about this revelation of the books “differences” and then separate them accordingly.
I’m not sure if I’m even stating what I’m thinking correctly; it just seems very…convoluted and complicated now, based upon your writings. And the apostle Paul didn’t seem to complicate salvation when he wrote in Romans, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Rom 10:9
Am I missing something?