The Lord's Prayer 

1.6  Did Jesus Give Us the Pattern to Pray? Or We Should Use His Words?

​

You may be thinking, "Surely God did not want us to recite these exact same words every day?" And you want to use your own creative wording? Why? You think you can do better than Jesus? Forget what your church said. The Bible said, God does not want your creative prayers. Because they are rubbish to Him. He wants this prayer, which fills you with the Holy Spirit. Then He could hear you!

​

When you fully understand the meaning of each word, you wouldn't want to say it any other way!

​

• As you can see, the prayer is loaded with precious meanings directed to God. Every word in this prayer is perfectly worded by Jesus, so that "He remains in us and we remain in Him". Without these exact prayer-words we'd be leaves on the Vine that wither and die (spiritually), as Jesus explained in His parable. We need to learn that Christianity is not "be creative" and "anything goes". God demands respect. He commanded to pray this prayer. You ignore it and get creative, shows arrogance - makes you the opposite of the humble person God is interested in.

​

• Which of the words do you want to modify? Or find synonyms for and say differently? Or which part of the prayer do you want to omit today?

​

• You see, you cannot receive God's Kingdom (the Holy Spirit) for today, unless your sins have been forgiven through the Bread of life!

​

• And you will not be forgiven of your sins and receive God's blessings, unless you forgive others!

​

• How do YOU prefer to say it? Anything you answer this question with, will make you an arrogant person not genuinely seeking God. But rather seeking to look sophisticated & different, so people admire you. The focus is on God, not on you! And God loves the prayer exactly as He said it.

​​

ou may also be thinking, what about all those beautifully worded Psalms, from King David for example, are they not good? Answer: What most people don't realize, is that David and the whole Jewish nation before the cross, were diligently obeying God's sacrificial commandment by presenting daily sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins. King David having wholeheartedly obeyed this daily commandment of the Lord, became filled with the Holy Spirit as a result, and became enabled to prophesy and write Psalms. The equivalent of this for today's Christians, is to prayer Jesus's prayer daily for the forgiveness of their sins. THEN God WILL hear their other creative words.

​

We need not think of this prayer as a legal requirement, as in the law of Moses. It is rather a "pure love" prayer, and "proper new-covenant worship" directed to our heavenly Father. It is the minimum we should do, springing from within as a true believer, to obey Jesus' commands.

​

​

The Lord's Prayer prayed once a day is not a repetitive "babbling on" prayer. Look at what Jesus said:

​

Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

​

Those who tell you it is repetitive and against Bible teaching are still trying to defend their Protestant church!! This format of the Lord’s Prayer once a day, is 100% consistent with the Bible teaching and God’s previous plan for the Jews, which was sacrifices daily, that they also had to eat for the forgiveness of their sins. For thousands of years, every day, God had the Jews repeat this same process daily. For what? For the forgiveness of their sins. And they did it! Without complaining!! And now, for us, Jesus' sacrifice is final; no more daily sacrifices, instead we have the same daily prayer.

​

Jesus said in the Bible (not me), that His sacrifice turned into a Bread of life that we ask for daily. Then how did the people of today receive this amazing news? They don't want it! I keep getting emails from people complaining about it!! - "Do I have to keep saying the same words every day?!" and "Are you basing your whole website on the Lord's Prayer? Really?" Listen to me. God in the Bible is correlating His whole new-covenant redemption to the Lord's Prayer!! I hear His words and I explain them, to those who have ears that hear.

​

Regardless of whether we use King James Bible version that says, "...in this manner you should pray...", or NIV Bible version that says, "... this is how you should pray...", the "daily" requirement to pray is still Jesus's command. He said "daily", you want to change it to "monthly" because King James said "in this manner"???!!! Who is even preaching to pray the Lord's Prayer in any manner today? It is completely ignored!!! No one is even close to praying it "in this manner". This is Christ's prayer, are we Christians??!!

​

By the way, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus used a different term when He started this prayer, more in line with "use these exact words". He said in Luke 11:2, "When you pray, say: Our Father …"​​

​

​

1.7  The Overlooked Commandment​

​

What do you want to say? "Why did Jesus do it this way? using tricky terms etc..."  Why so perplexed? Jesus used this method of speaking throughout the Bible. There are parables He told that are still not fully understood!

​

​

God in His infinite wisdom did not give us a simple fully explained Bible written in precise chronology etc. Instead, He purposely kept it vague - Jesus spoke in parables giving hints of what He meant without giving the full message. Old Testament prophets embedded crucial messages within long chapters of prophesying. Example Isaiah would include 2 sentences about the Messiah in a completely unrelated paragraph (example, they pierced His hands). God chose to make us work for it:

Proverbs 8:17

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

​

And Jesus gave us enough hints to interpret the Lord's Prayer properly!! We must forget the years of church brainwashing. Set that aside for a moment and look close at all the undisputable Bible references I provided here. Your church did not go there because it contradicts their theology and business-agenda!! Act wisely before you send yourself to hell.

​

Jesus commanded us to pray this prayer daily as God's new covenant. It does not matter when He did it or to whom He gave it. THIS IS GOD! telling us what to do to be reconciled to Him on a daily basis, and truly be saved!!

​

​

1.8  The Catholic Eucharist is not the Way to Forgiveness - The Lord's Prayer Daily Is

​

The Eucharist is not the requirement for forgiveness of sins, it is a commemorating activity. The Lord's Prayer daily, is required for forgiveness of sins.

​

The "Eucharist" was based on the Bible reference below from Luke. Although Matthew and Mark also reported similar scripture from the "last supper," Luke further clarified what Jesus said about this being a commemorating event: 

​

Luke 22:14-19

14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

​

Jesus meant the "breaking of bread and drinking of wine" as a commemorating event for generations to come. He specifically said, "...do this in remembrance of me." It is to be similar to Passover and Christmas. It is not THE required steps for forgiveness of sins! But the Catholic church misunderstood as always, like they did with the Purgatory and "Mary mother of God" doctrines. 

​

How do I know the Eucharist is not the requirement for forgiveness of sins?  3 reasons:

​

1. God's new covenant is 100% faith-based - He would not re-introduce a physical requirement, Moses-law-style!! As in, you must find a priest to give you bread to chew-on to become forgiven!! What if the priest got stuck in traffic and did not arrive in time to give that dying man his last communion?! Will that man then go to hell as a result of a traffic jam?!!!

2. Because it is not in line with the Lord's Prayer - Jesus instructed us to ask for the Bread of life for forgiveness of sins daily, spiritually by faith. And daily is the method consistent with God's previous covenant. And consistent with other scripture from Paul, example, "renewed day by day."

3. Because God's condition for forgiveness is, you have to repent & forgive others. Not the penalty the priest gives you at confessions - of reciting Hail Mary 20 times. The Lord's Prayer words are the key to daily renewal, sin-forgiveness, and receiving the Holy Spirit.

​

Commemorating the last supper as Jesus asked, is a Holy event that we should all do. Although Paul seemed to do it with the early church on Sundays to keep them focused on the newly learned Gospel, Jesus did not give any guidance on how often. I believe a commemorating activity can be yearly - at Easter celebration for example, is the perfect time for it. And we can do it in our own gatherings as explained in How to Be True Christians, just as Jesus did with His disciples. Someone in the group can read the Luke 22:14-19 scripture, break bread and divide among the rest and have a cup of red wine with it, in remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice. But it is to be understood as such, not the requirement for sin-cleansing.

The Catholic church confused people about this whole subject, monopolized the Bread of life, and made it a requirement to come to church to receive it through their "mysterious" Eucharist, to boost donations. But Jesus offered it freely in His prayer! The proper way to receive the spiritual Bread of life is daily; DAILY is the exact frequency Jesus commanded. You don't need to chew on anything to become forgiven!

​

​

1.9  Closing Notes

​

Are you thinking "this interpretation of the Lord's Prayer can't possibly be right; could it possibly be that churches and millions of people have missed this truth for hundreds of years?"  Yes, it is very possible. Don't look at people around you; look at God in the Bible. It is not about how many intelligent people were involved. The question is, who had wisdom from God?

​

If you're waiting for your church to see this and approve and declare it the truth, it will never happen!!

​

Why? No one wants to admit they've been wrong all these years!! They've preached it wrong to your parents, grandparents, and everyone up the line! They will never admit they've been wrong!! You have to look after your own salvation and eternity!

Here is a nice, related story about Elijah in this link on my website. And also consider this reference:

​

Matthew 7:13-4

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

​

What is the "narrow gate that leads to life"? It means only a small percentage of people are truly seeking God, and will make it into heaven. Are you in that number? Don't be angry with me for pointing this out. All I'm doing is poke everybody to look again. Herd mentality is the "wide gate", it is not the way to God.​

​

Related Subjects:

Bible Summary

Jesus for Jews & Paul for Gentiles?

​

​

1.10  Bible references supporting this clarification of the "daily Bread"

“Bread” = "Bread of life" = "the sacrifice of Jesus"

​

1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:17 Paul said:
… there is one Loaf… we all share the one Loaf.

​

2 Corinthians 4:16
Paul said: …our inner person is being renewed day by day.

​

Notes: Paul did not reference the Lord's Prayer verbatim because the New Testament was not written yet in his days. But had strong references about it in his follow up letters. Example in these 2 verses above.

I reluctantly highlighted the above verses from Paul; I know some would not accept it unless Paul said it. So sad that people allowed their Protestant church to brainwash them like this. Don't they know that Jesus is God and Paul is His apostle? And not the other way around?!!

​

John 6:57
Jesus: …the one who “feeds” on me…

Notes: Using the term “feeds” implying continual. As in [… give us this day our daily Bread…]

​

John 6:32-33,  John 6:51

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” “For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.

​

Notes: "my Father gives you the true bread from heaven." and "The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh", the world, not just to His Jewish disciples as Protestant churches teach!

​

John 15:5
Jesus said: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Notes: The branch is continually nourished by the Vine. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. Without the Lord’s Prayer daily, a branch will wither and die. 

​

Luke 11:13

Jesus said: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Notes: Jesus said this right after he taught them His prayer, in Luke 11:2-4. 

​

John 6:26-27

(After the miracle of feeding the 5000)

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

​

Notes: Jesus said this after they had been looking for Him all day because they were hungry, then found Him. Another big evidence that the "earthly bread", is not it in the Lord's prayer.

​

John 6

(The entire second half of Chapter 6 from John is all about this. And this was before His death on the cross. Example verses here.)

"51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me."

Notes: The Jews did not get it then. Jesus knowing they did not get it, kept drilling it in with more of actual eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood throughout the chapter. And today you'd think we got it! But most churches and people still don't understand it. At best some churches just call it: "basically He died for our sins..." or some other high-level statement like that to shut those who keep asking. But no one knew to link it to the "daily Bread" in the Lord's prayer! You see, God requires that we eat the substitution-sacrifice in order to be forgiven - see my page on Christianity & Judaism - A parallel. Jesus said, "real flesh" and "real blood", meaning representing His physical suffering and death, which then became "the Bread of life" that we eat when we pray the Lord's Prayer and mean it correctly. 

If you can't understand what Jesus said in John chapter 6, and you can't follow this explanation of it, then you're not capable of true Christian faith. This is so big, a crucial Biblical scripture that now has become correctly interpreted, not to be taken lightly.​

​

The above references in John and Luke were all before Jesus' death on the cross. So, Jesus before the cross was clearly already using the term "Bread" to mean His sacrifice in all these references, and therefore also in His Prayer.

​​

​

2. What Does "Believe In Jesus" Really Mean?

​

- It means believe in everything He said; study His parables and understand them.

​

- It means learn His commands and keep them!

​​

Please listen to me. I am not making this up! This is directly from the Bible! Forget what your church told you. Here is what the Bible says:

​

‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬-‭18‬

“He [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation... And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.””

​​

How many people do you know can place their hands on sick people and heal them? Or exhibit any of these signs? And how many therefore are true believers? And please do not tell me about people who speak in tongues, because if they are true they'd also be performing other miracles!

​

1 John‬ ‭2:4‬

“The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and yet doesn’t keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

​

John 14:15-16

[Jesus:] If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever

​

​

If you are only following the "high-level" verses that Protestant churches preach, you are not saved!! You did not look at the details. "Believe in His name and you shall be saved" is a loaded statement. You missed the details of "how to."

​Notice Jesus said in John 14:15-16 above, only when we keep His commands, He will then ask the Father to give us "another advocate", the Holy Spirit! Not everybody receives the Holy Spirit - we must keep His commands first!

​

Who is keeping Jesus' commands today? And who therefore has the Holy Spirit? People are going by "faith alone" the Protestant churches' way, not "by faith alone" the biblical way!! Going by what Paul said, not by what Jesus said!! Singing hymns in church and reading from Paul's chapters!! So many good people are spiritually lost due to their church stubbornness. I'm extremely sad to the point of crying. And the rest of other churchgoers are even worse. Praying to Mary and saints, or "God already decided we have no say"!

​

"Accept Jesus as your personal savior?" is meaningless if you don't obey Jesus' commands! And if you don't forgive others! 

​

Before declaring belief in Jesus you have to learn what Jesus said. Do you know all what He said? Do you know all His commands, teachings, parables, and their meanings? 

​

If you're a lip-service believer, God has a verse just for you:

​

Matthew 15:8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

​

What does believe in Jesus mean? Keep His commands. What are His commands? They're all spiritual and attitudinal; no "works of the law" commands. They're scattered throughout the New Testament. A number of them are in the Sermon on the Mount, examples seek God always, the Lord's Prayer, and the good-hearted shall see God... Then there were other commands embedded in His parables, which mostly reiterated the need to mature spiritually by continually increasing our knowledge of God, and make sure our sins are forgiven daily through receiving the daily Bread of life.

​

​

2.1 Some of Jesus' Commands:

​

In addition to the 10 commandments of the old-testament, Jesus had specific commands based on the new-covenant of God, which are the basis for obtaining forgiveness of sins from Jesus' sacrifice. Jesus' commands are all spiritual, no "works of the law". Here are some of them:

​

• Seek God and His righteousness  - Matthew 6:33. God and His ways and personality are in the Bible. He shines through both the New and Old Testaments. We can learn so much about Him by reading the scripture, including the parts contradicting to your Church's theology!!

​

​

• The Lord's Prayer - Matthew 6:9-13. Prayed daily to receive the daily Bread of life for forgiveness, receive the Holy Spirit, and remain "Righteous" in the eyes of God.

​

​

• Forgive others so God forgives you. Matthew 6:12. This one was stressed several times by Jesus. It is in the Lord's Prayer, and Jesus kept stressing it further in several other parts of the New Testament. The key message is, don't expect to receive God's blessings and salvation if you're holding hate and grudge against any other human because they wronged you. God sees our innermost self - Forgive them all!

​

​

• Become born again in the spirit -  Baptists, Evangelicals, and the rest of the protestants only follow this command and ignore the rest of this list!

​

​

• Continue to mature in the knowledge of God or face spiritual death - By diligently studying the whole Bible. Many parables from Jesus explain this clearly, examples, John 15:6 "branches that wither and die", Luke 13:6 "cut the fig tree down", and Matthew 25:30 "cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness".

​

​

• Enter through the narrow gate... Matthew 7:13-14. Details here: The Narrow Gate.

​

​

• Love God and all people on earth including your enemies - Matthew 22:34-40 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

​

​

• Don't be hypocrites - Example shooting arrows at abortion doctors and homosexuals, ignoring how big of a sinner you yourself are!! God knows the hearts. Matthew 7:4-5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 

​

​

• The good-hearted shall see God - Matthew 5:8

​

• And many other commands embedded in Jesus' parables, that most people don't know nor understand!

​

2.2 And Here is What "Believe in Jesus" Does Not Mean:

​

1. It does not mean pray to Mary and saints. The whole Bible stresses to pray to God only!! 

2. It does not mean God already mysteriously picked from the humans for His pleasure!! He gave us freedom to choose; He doesn't want robots!

3. It does not mean ignore Jesus' commands and directly skip to singing hymns, loud Christian music, and waving of arms. “By faith alone” means you still have to obey His commands!!

No, I'm not overreacting, and everything is not ok! Devil-worshippers drive latest model SUVs too, and live in nice homes!! The question to ask in this post-Jesus time is, "will I be in the I-never-knew-you line at judgement?" I beg you to re-examine the scriptures, and not just rely on your church.

​

​

2.3 Continuously Shouting "I Love You Jesus", Is not Good Enough?

​

NO IT IS NOT!! It is meaningless if you don't obey Jesus' commands!

​

I listen to church sermons, podcasts, and social media quotes all over the internet. A popular pastor shouting for example "give me an 'I love you Jesus'". And all people shout it out loud... I have bad news for you. God can't hear you!! For these reasons:

​

• Who is this Jesus you're shouting for? What did He teach? What are His commands for you? Do you think He likes this and wants you to keep doing it? Then your Jesus is different than our Jesus Christ of the Bible!

​

• You say "all I need to know is He died on the cross for my sins". Did you also bother to look at what He wants from you?

​

• Jesus specifically said “If you love me, keep my commands." John 14:15.  Are you keeping His commands? If not, then all your shouting is landing on deaf ears!!! It is meaningless. It is just lip service. 

​​​​

Here is a similar situation from the Bible that confirms what I'm saying:

​

Acts 16:17-18

A woman followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

​

This woman is exactly the same as today's Protestant, and particularly Pentecostal churches. Kept repeating words that seemed right, but were empty words and a disgrace to God; it is not God's ways!! Paul had to drive a demon out of her!!

​

If you only believe in Jesus as in "the existence of Jesus as the son of God", then even the devil himself believes that much:

​

Mark 3:11

Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 

​

Mark 5:6-8

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

​

Acts 19:15

But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

​

James 2:19

You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that— and shudder.

​

Notes: James here takes it a step further and mocks those who are giving lip-service declaration of belief.

​

​

3. By Faith Alone?

​

There is no question, Christians are saved "by faith alone". But let’s examine a couple of different interpretations of the term:

​

#1 The Protestant churches' way.

#2 The Bible's way.

​

#1 By Faith Alone - The Protestant churches’ way:

(Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Baptists, etc.)

​

• Do nothing

• Read Bible passages not contradicting to the church's theology.

• Be creative with your prayers. Which is rubbish to God! He can’t hear it unless you're filled with the Holy Spirit!

• Tithe 10% based on the obsolete Leviticus law of Moses (Hebrews 7:5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people - that is, from their fellow Israelites), which now in the new covenant is considered "works".

• And sing hymns & wave arms.

• Basically similar to believing in Santa Claus!

#2 By Faith Alone - The biblical way:

​

• Learn Jesus’ commands and keep them, John 14:15, 1 John‬ 2:4‬. Examples:

- Pray the Lord’s Prayer once a day as Jesus instructed based on the new covenant of God. So you become filled with the Holy Spirit. 

- Forgive others so God forgives you.

- Study the whole Bible, including the parts contradicting to your church's agenda.

• First become filled with the Holy Spirit, then He can hear your other prayers and requests.

• No works of the flesh, and no salvation-by-good-deeds. See my James article.

• Donation? Any gift is good per the apostle Paul, Philippians 4:16-18. No need for 10%, Hosea 6:6 I don’t want your sacrifices - I want your love; I don’t want your offerings - I want you to know me.

• Singing hymns is good, after following the above points.

​

Which “by faith alone” is the right one?

​

#2 does not contradict the principle of "by faith alone" in any way! What’s wrong with worshipping God once a day as precisely specified in Jesus' Prayer?!  Church members are good people. But church leaders, seminary college professors, and decision makers are to blame!

​

"By faith alone" meant no added works of the law of Moses. It is in the Bible but your church missed it:

​

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭16

“know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

​

So, "by faith alone" is not "do nothing" - Learning Jesus' commands and keeping them is not "works of the law"! 

​

Paul introduced Jesus to the Gentiles. But Protestants ran with the "intro" as the complete message!! ​

​​

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 Paul said: 

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

​

Today's Evangelicals, Baptists, and the rest of Protestant churches, remained forever "milk, not solid food", aka "by faith alone".

​

If they could collect 10% tithing with that, why complicate it? But the innocent church-members are the duped victims!!

​

Protestant churches and their people MEMORIZED verse 13 in this passage, but have no idea that verse 14 even existed!! 

​

Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ Paul: 

13 “for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”‭‭

​

👉 Verse 14 - How can they call on His name without knowing Him??!! Do they know His commands? No. Do they understand His parables? No. Their church convinced them these were meant for the Jews!!!

​

Do you have a favorite verse? Please stop that!

​

- Romans 10:13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”​

​

- Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven...

​

​The Bible is contradicting? No!!! You have to read the whole Bible to understand. You can't pick and choose your favorite verses and run with them! If anybody asks you this popular question, "what is your favorite verse in the Bible?" Start running the other way. No one understands!! No one cares to truly seek God!!

​

A guy emailed me recently asking, how is it that the criminal on the cross next to Jesus was saved instantly, and we have to go through a different process to be saved? I answered, "that criminal had minutes to live. He declared belief in Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus granted him salvation. Had the criminal lived a full life after that, he would have been required to be renewed day by day like the rest of us."   I never heard back from him.

Are you a "Do Nothing" Believer?

​

Please stop the "do nothing", because you've become spiritually dead; "did not mature". A big difference between "Works of the flesh" and "Spiritual Activities":

​

Works of the law: Also called "works of the flesh", means earthly efforts or still trying to apply the Jewish law - Circumcision, tithe 10%, animal sacrifices, refrain from certain foods, dress a certain way, do a lot of good deeds to offset the bad, etc.

​

Not works of the law / flesh: Spiritual activities like seek God, study the Bible, obey Jesus commands, and pray the Lord's Prayer daily.

​

Going to church every Sunday and singing hymns is only the icing on the cake; you've ignored the cake and focused on the icing!

Or you may be in a Christian band, singing or writing songs titled something like "the blood of Jesus". Belonging to a big church with thousands of members, and making a lot of noise on Sundays... and thinking "what's this one guy here talking about?" Despite the grand picture you're in, the fact remains, unless you keep Jesus' commands, your sins are not forgiven. Again, what you're doing is icing on the cake; Jesus did not command any of this. He gave us simple commands like pray the Lord's Prayer daily and seek God always to keep learning about Him and mature spiritually. Are you doing these? If yes, you're on the right path. If no, you're not reconciled with God because you're doing things your way, not His way, not as He commanded. I'm not judging; I'm only pointing out God's view in relation to what I see going on in the Christian world today. Only He knows the hearts.

​

True Christianity is not "be creative" and "anything goes." First obey Jesus' commands. Then do your other creative fluff. You're ignoring Jesus' commands, the most essential part of salvation! 

​

Declaring belief in Jesus is the beginning of a relationship with Him; a journey of getting to know Him. It goes in this order:

  1. Birth of the flesh - first birth.

  2. Birth of the spirit - born-again.

  3. Spiritual growth - maturing with more knowledge of God/Jesus

​

It is the 3rd item that most churches and people ignore. If you declare you believe in Jesus and then move on with your life, and just keep telling everybody "I'm covered by the blood", you're not!! Because all you know about Jesus is that sentence. The Bible says you're spiritually dead; did not mature in the knowledge of God, like one of these people in the verse below, "choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures":

​

Luke 8:14

"The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature."

​

==> "they do not mature"  <== 

Spiritual maturity, is more of an attitude. Being a true born-again believer would result in interest springing from within for wanting to grow that relationship with God.

​

Mark 16:17-18 Jesus said: 

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”

​

John 14:12-14

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.