Welcome to Truth Time, where you'll get a shot of the truth with no chaser.
And now, your Truth Time host, Trey Searcy.
Ok, our next question comes from Jasmine, Olive Branch, Mississippi.
Lately, it has gotten to the point to where I cannot listen to several of the grace preachers that I used to enjoy.
I thought they knew the truth of Paul's gospel, but now I hear them teaching that you cannot be forgiven until you're saved.
Do we have to be saved to be forgiven?
I've always thought the world was forgiven when Christ died on the cross.
If that is true, then I was forgiven before I was born.
Me, my husband, and daughter are learning and growing so much from the Truth Time ministry and telling everyone we know about you.
Yes, you are correct, Jasmine.
You were forgiven before you were even born.
Anyone teaching anything other than that does not know Paul's gospel as well as they may think.
They can call themselves a grace teacher if they want, but they really need to learn what it is to be a minister of reconciliation.
You do not have to believe to be forgiven.
Forgiveness does not depend on anything we can do to earn it.
According to Paul's gospel, we can't be forgiven because we already are.
In Colossians chapter 1 verse 20, Paul tells us that peace was made through the blood of his cross.
Not by our belief.
Oh no, think about that.
If words mean anything to you, then we know that peace was made through the blood of the cross, and it cannot be earned by our belief.
In Romans chapter 5 verse 10, Paul says we were reconciled to God by the death of his
son.
When we believed the gospel?
No, if you've been hoodwinked into believing that, you better look at it again.
It doesn't say that.
It says we were reconciled to God by the death of his son when we were enemies.
See that?
When we were enemies.
Believers aren't enemies.
Don't fall for that nonsense.
Again, according to Paul's gospel, being forgiven does not depend on something we can do.
And believing is doing.
Believing is doing.
Just read Acts chapter 16 verse 31.
There's where the jailer asked Paul and Silas, he said, Sirs, what must I do?
And they gave him what he asked for.
They said, believe.
They didn't say, oh, you don't have to do anything.
No, he said, what must I do, and they said believe.
That means believing is doing.
So, for those who are telling others that they have to believe the gospel before they get their sins forgiven, you're telling them that they must do something for forgiveness.
That's ludicrous.
For forgiveness, Christ has already done all the doing that we'll ever need.
What must I do to be saved?
We believe for salvation, not for forgiveness.
We believe on the finished work of Christ.
If we had to believe to get forgiveness, then that would make us a part of the process.
But salvation is believing that the process was finished on our behalf.
The gospel of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 makes no mention of our belief being necessary to appropriate forgiveness.
1 Corinthians is a statement of fact, a proclamation of something that has already been completed and not something that can be completed if you believe it.
We mustn't equate forgiveness with salvation.
Forgiveness is not salvation.
It's what makes salvation possible.
Oh, grasping this truth will change how effective you are in dealing with the unbeliever.
Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
But the religious minded grace teachers, they say, you're forgiven only when you DO know what you're doing.
When you know and believe the gospel.
They refuse to believe the very apostle they claim to follow.
Paul plainly stated that God stopped imputing sins to the world, but they insist that Paul really meant to say believers, those that are in Christ.
Satan is the god of this world and has a way of blinding the masses.
What many can't see is that nowhere in Paul's 13 letters did he give us a method, a way, to get our sins forgiven.
Nowhere.
That bit of information is totally absent, even though some insist on inserting it.
Years ago, we put out a challenge asking someone to show us in Paul's writings just one place where he tells us how to get our sins forgiven.
Crickets.
No one has been able to do it.
And they won't.
You see, the issue of when did God forgive sins is really inarguable.
Forgiveness doesn't equal salvation.
It's what makes salvation possible.
Sadly, due to the lack of understanding of what is the ministry of reconciliation, people remain estranged from God simply because they think he is against them and wants nothing to do with them because of their sins.
What a travesty.
I thank God on a daily basis for his forgiveness, but my thankfulness, my acknowledgement, my belief in it doesn't make it so.
My forgiveness was in place before I was even born.
My forgiveness was God's idea, not mine.
Understanding this spectacular aspect of God's love for me was what truly changed my life.
In Luke chapter 7, Jesus said, There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence and the other 50.
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.
Look at the takeaway.
Notice they didn't have to ask for it.
They didn't have to believe for it.
No, the lender forgave their debts before they did anything, regardless of whether they did anything.
It should be pretty simple to see how forgiveness works, but today we have those who have a pharisaical mindset, which has led them to muddy the waters a bit.
Second Corinthians 5:19, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.
Those that don't have their sins charged to them are the world, not the believers.
Just like the two that Jesus spoke of in Luke 7.
Today, God is not on standby, waiting to see how the world will react before he can forgive them.
Is it really that difficult to grasp that God forgave sin without any action from you?
That he doesn't need your help?
That Christ's shed blood was enough?
Christ came to die on the cross not to make it possible for us to be forgiven if we do this or if we do that, but to forgive the world by his shed blood.
Remember, believing is doing, and our forgiveness is not predicated on anything we can do.
There is no "if" in the equation.
God was proactive in forgiving us.
I realize that this word of reconciliation is almost incomprehensible to some, but it
is truth nonetheless.
Listen, just for a moment, turn off all the noise and consider some Bible facts.
Think about it.
Before Christ, Adam's sin affected everyone whether they believed it or not.
Think about that.
Before Christ, Adam's sin affected everyone whether they believed it or not.
Well, likewise, after Christ, his finished cross work also affected everyone whether
they believed it or not.
Think about it.
Before Christ, Adam's sin affected everyone whether they believed it or not.
After Christ, his shed blood also affected everyone whether they believed it or not.
Christ is the final, the last Adam.
The same way the first Adam's sin put everyone in sin debt, the second Adam, Christ, shed his blood and cleared their sin debt.
Totally clearing their account to bring it back to zero.
No more debt.
And no more debt means nothing more owed.
Think of it this way.
By Adam's sin, the relationship between God and the world was severed.
But by the cross of Christ, the world was forgiven, making relationship possible again.
The sin barrier was removed.
This had to happen before God could even consider saving someone.
These two, forgiveness and salvation, do not take place at the same time.
I don't know where this clear message got lost with some of our religious grace teachers, but sadly it did.
Forgiveness and salvation have two different calendar dates.
One happened more than 2,000 years ago.
The other at the moment someone believes the gospel.
Before we move on, I know I keep using the term religious grace teachers, which, well, is an oxymoron and really makes no sense, but that's the point.
I call them that because it makes no sense to call yourself a grace teacher yet teach
that you have to do something to get your sins forgiven.
No one needs to get in Christ to get forgiveness.
The world is forgiven already.
Just believe the Bible.
You need to get in Christ so that you can receive the resurrection unto eternal life.
Salvation is not getting your sins forgiven, it's believing they already are.
To be saved, one must have the righteousness of Christ, something that can only be accomplished by believing the gospel, by placing your faith in Christ.
The world owed a sin debt, Christ paid it with his shed blood.
That brought the world's account back to zero.
But no one goes to heaven with an empty account, an account showing zero.
You must have the righteousness of Christ showing up on your behalf.
It comes by believing the gospel, trusting Christ.
Stop trying to do something to get your sins forgiven.
Believe that Christ died for your sins, he was buried, and he has risen.
By your faith in this, you can stand before God justified.
Having the righteousness of Christ applied to your account.
Having his righteousness show up for you.
A person is saved when they decide to surrender their salvation to the Lord.
Hear me now, salvation is when you decide to take your hands off of it, and surrender
it to him.
That's salvation.
This is Paul's gospel, and the only gospel that can save today.
It's a truth that must be told.
And don't be surprised if you're forsaken for truth-telling, it'll happen.
The religious-minded denominationalists can't stand it, and neither can the religious-minded grace teachers.
Forsaken for truth-telling is nothing new.
If you've experienced it, you're in good company.
Our Apostle, the Apostle Paul, tells us in 2 Timothy 4:16, At my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known.
So don't worry about it, keep making it fully known.
Those of you out there who are faithful to the ministry of reconciliation, I encourage you to remain steadfast and unmovable.
Keep proclaiming the pure and true, unperverted gospel.
The only gospel that can save today is not, God will forgive you if you believe, but instead, it is God has forgiven you.
Now believe it.
It's your trust in that and His eternal life-giving resurrection that will save you.
As ministers of reconciliation, we should be shouting out this good news, this word
of reconciliation, that God isn't counting your sins against you, so be reconciled to
Him through Jesus.
OK, Jasmine, hope this helps.
Hey, when you base your position on facts, this is what you get.
No mess, no fuss, no noise, no grandstanding.
Just clear-cut, rightly divided truth.
You see, some people will say they love truth, but they really just want to believe that what they love is truth.
Got a Bible question?
Call toll-free 1-888-988-9562.
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Until next time, remember, when a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest.
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