Saved Through His Name or by Paul's Gospel?

Welcome to Truth Time, where you'll get a shot of the truth with no chaser.
And now, your Truth Time host, Trey Searcy.
We recently did a podcast on man-made methods being taught in church and how they can send you to hell.
I mentioned how the Baptist church got their name from John the Baptist, who was an Old Testament prophet.
And regardless of what some say, our salvation gospel, the gospel of the finished cross work and the resurrection of Christ, on our behalf, is not found in the book of John.
Well, Crystal wrote us, and let's just say she's not very happy about what we said.
Which is what happens when man-made traditions meets truth.
It's off-putting and somewhat bitter at first.
A rather lengthy response, but we'll cut in here to this.
She says, Go read John 3:14 and 15. There is your cross work.
Okay, so let's check out Crystal's claim.
John chapter 3.
She said we can go there and find the cross work.
Let's put that to the test.
In a court of law, it all comes down to the evidence.
I submit that this belief derives from a false conclusion that comes from sloppy Bible study.
But it's nothing new.
She's just parroting what she's heard.
Not a wise thing to do, but it happens.
Search the scriptures for yourself.
Twistianity has propagated this false narrative for many years.
Okay, John chapter 3, verse 14, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Verse 15, That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Forgive me, but I don't see the cross work here.
Let's read it again, but this time, let's include the verse before.
Verse 14.
So let's start there.
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven.
Ah, I bet some of you just caught it.
See that?
This is about going up to heaven, not up on a cross.
Nothing here about the cross.
That's just churchianity.
So we put it all together, verses 13 and 14, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Her claim lacks evidence.
She did not meet the burden of proof that would suggest that this is speaking of Jesus Christ dying on the cross.
It's just not there.
What would the serpent of Moses have to do with the cross?
Nothing.
The serpent did not hang from a cross, but the serpent was lifted up.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up.
Up to where?
On the cross?
No.
The verse is plain when you don't allow your traditional prejudice to creep in.
This goes right along with Acts chapter 1.
When you compare Scripture with Scripture, you'll find the truth.
Acts chapter 1.
That's what this is.
This isn't about the cross work of Christ.
Acts chapter 1 is Jesus talking with his disciples.
Verse 9, And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
That's not the cross.
Verse 10, And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two
men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up into heaven? The same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven.
There you go.
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent, Jesus was taken up right before these men's eyes.
It's right here in Acts chapter 1.
This correlates perfectly with what John was talking about.
Compare Scripture with Scripture, not preacher to preacher.
Not mama said, daddy said, preacher said, but what thus saith the Lord?
So, your honor, let the evidence show there is no cross work here in the book of John.
It's about the Lord ascending up to heaven.
And hey, where's the resurrection here in John chapter 3?
Where is it?
This famous verse that's supposed to save everyone, John 3:16, well, where's the resurrection?
You can't be saved without it.
Furthermore, where is the quote, Christ died for our sins?
Oh, that's found in Paul's gospel, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, but it's not here.
You see, your salvation gospel is not here.
No cross, no death for all your sins, no bloodshed, and no resurrection.
Ignorance writes itself.
All you've got to do is be alert to it, pay attention, be a critical thinker.
Now, that's not to say Crystal is ignorant, no, but what she's allowed herself to believe.
And quite frankly, it's something we've all done at one time or the other, guilty as charged.
But Paul helps us with this.
He helps us to avoid ignorance.
He said, quote, I would not have you to be ignorant.
Crystal's just like many others today.
She's not aware of the fellowship of the mystery.
When you're not aware of that, yeah, you're going to think that the gospel of your salvation is found in the book of John somewhere.
Or Hebrews, Matthew, Mark, or Luke, or James.
Jerry, a listener who is growing quickly in this, but still attends a denominational church, he said his pastor just preached on our gospel being in the book of James.
Well, if it is, he left out the blood.
He never mentioned the cross of Christ, the resurrection for our justification, not there.
I once challenged someone to find the cross work and the resurrection in the book of James.
I told him, when he found it, be sure to call me back.
You know, usually when you put out a challenge to someone like that, after they figure out that they were wrong, they won't call you.
But this gentleman, oh yeah, he actually did, called back and admitted that it's not there.
Imagine now, how mainstream Christianity has for all these years taught their members to go to the book of John for their gospel, even though it's not there.
Think of that.
The little g, the god of this world, has blinded their minds.
James speaks of wealth and oppression, how material things will vanish away, about the law, Godly speech, how favoritism is wrong, and so forth.
When he tells his audience, which by the way isn't you, James chapter 1, verse 1, it's the 12 tribes of Israel, well, he tells them how they need works with their faith in order to be saved.
But our gospel, faith alone in Christ alone, sealed until the day of redemption, be honest, just face it, it's not there.
That's a part of the unsearchable riches that are not found outside of the letters of Paul.
And it's not in John either.
It wasn't about resting your faith in Christ and his performance.
For Israel, it was about believing through his name, through his name.
When you get to chapter 20 of the book of John, you're almost at the end of the book,
John says, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Not through the finished cross work, dying for our sins, by grace through faith alone, but through his name.
Unbelieving Israel was in need of belief that Christ was their Messiah, the Son of the living God.
In Matthew 26, the high priest said unto Jesus, I adjure you by the living God, tell us, are you the Christ, the Son of God?
Look quickly at 1 John chapter 5, 1 John chapter 5, I want to show you just what John was trying to get across.
Verse 13, These things have I written unto you, that ye believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
See that?
So 1 John sounds just like the gospel of John, says the same thing.
And don't forget about John 3:18, He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he
that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed, what?
Paul's gospel?
First Corinthians chapter 15?
That's not what John said, because that's not John's gospel.
He said, he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name, in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
You see, this had to come first, belief in the name.
That kicked off Israel's faith plus works gospel.
First thing, belief in the name, that's all, nothing else.
But to continue on, to maintain their position, their belief had to be followed by good works.
Now, we do good works, but we do good works because we're saved.
They did good works to maintain being saved.
Eternal life was conditional, conditional on their performance.
Folks, the book of John was never meant for us to read as if it contains our salvation instructions.
The book of John is about Christ, the Messiah, coming to his own and his own receiving him not, John 1:11.
I don't care how skillful you think you are in navigating through the scriptures, in the book of John, you're not going to find one shred of evidence of how we're to glory in the death of Christ.
Why not?
Because at that time it hadn't been revealed yet.
It was still hidden wisdom.
First Corinthians chapter 2, Paul wrote, We speak of the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world and to our glory.
Oh yeah, and watch, verse 8, Which none of the princes of this world knew for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Oh my, aren't you thankful that this good news for we who, who at that time in history were afar off without Christ, aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, we had no hope, we were without God in the world, this finished cross work, God in Christ on the cross, ceasing to impute our sins, hey, it was hidden, hidden wisdom, a mystery that was unsearchable until we get to the letters of Paul, amen?
John's gospel was the gospel of the name, the gospel of the name of Jesus.
In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus asked the question that revealed just how successful the disciples were in their preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
He looked over to them and said, whom do men say that I am?
Notice he did not say how many men have trusted the finished cross work and resurrection, which would have been in vain since it hadn't occurred yet, no, he asked whom do men say that I am?
Some said John the Baptist and Jeremiah and so forth, he said, yeah, but who do you say I am?
About that time Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God, and bells went off, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.
Jesus answered Peter and said, blessed art thou, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
You see, that kingdom church was being built on the foundation of him, of Jesus being who he said he was, the Christ, the son of the living God.
This is the gospel of his name, the gospel of the kingdom.
His name equaled authority, the king of Israel.
But there's good news and there's bad news.
Bad news first, for Israel, it didn't happen.
They never got their kingdom.
Jesus was rejected as Messiah, the son of the living God.
Only a few, a remnant, received him.
The good news, we're glad, oh yeah, we're thankful they rejected him.
At that time, we were considered dogs and without hope.
But their rejection, it made the way clear for a man named Saul, who later got converted on the road to Damascus and become our apostle, our pattern.
We didn't have an apostle before that.
Are you kidding me?
Peter, James, and John wouldn't have had anything to do with the likes of us.
Oh, but Peter went to Cornelius.
Listen, I don't care.
Cornelius wasn't outside and without hope.
He had attached himself to Israel as one who gave alms, a blesser of Israel.
Luke described him as a devout man and one that feared God with all his house, which
gave much alms to the people.
That's Israel.
If you and your family approached one of the disciples back there, they would have said, Send them away, for they crieth after us.
Matthew 15:23.
Yeah, but after the cross, didn't those disciples start preaching faith in the finished crosswork alone for salvation?
The Bible answers this.
Acts chapter 4, verse 12.
It would beg to differ.
Luke here wrote, Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Not saved by the finished cross work, saved by the name.
The things happening in the book of John were never about you.
At that time, Paul tells us, and I quote, That at that time you were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Oh, do you see how these dots connect?
When we simply follow God's command to rightly divide the word of truth.
And then we have some in institutionalized religion who, well, by chance they did actually get saved, heard a clear presentation of the gospel, yet they were never taught these dispensational divisions.
These divisions that God placed right here in scripture, hidden in plain sight.
What they were taught to do is read Paul's gospel back into the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
How to read his gospel into the book of James, where it's not.
Read it into Hebrews, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, Peter, Jude, Revelation.
It's not there.
As a matter of fact, in the book of Revelation, you'll find another gospel.
One that's called, the everlasting gospel.
Go over there and read it.
I think it's in chapter 14.
See if it matches 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verses 1 to 4.
See if it looks anything like 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verses 18 and on.
The fellowship of the mystery is not in a religious denominational setting.
You're not going to find it there, so don't go looking for it.
Even though some will do a fair job at giving you bits and pieces of your unsearchable riches, the full and complete revelation of the mystery is just not there.
Which leaves you incomplete.
Paul's gospel is not in the book of John, and John is not your pattern.
Had a guy talking to me about Calvinism or Arminianism, and I said I'm not either or,
I'm neither nor.
You see, some are not aware that there are more than two choices.
There's something else.
There's God's choice for you.
The fellowship of the mystery.
It's not old covenant or new covenant.
It's not Arminianism or Calvinism.
It's the fellowship of the mystery.
The instructions that come under the dispensation of the grace of God.
The fellowship of the mystery, neither Jew or Gentile, but both, Jew and Gentile.
Neither male or female, but both, male and female.
Neither old covenant or new covenant, but the fellowship of the mystery, something distinct and apart from both of those, a body of information found in a parenthesis, a parenthetical but now time period in your Bible.
It was written to and about you, the books of Romans through Philemon.
And ironically, Crystal ended her message with, Paul says to be followers of him as
he is of Christ.
How can you imitate or follow Christ if you don't obey his commands?
She said that as if I don't agree, but she made my point for me.
We're to follow Paul as he followed Christ.
This isn't about John or anyone else and how they followed Christ, but how Paul followed him.
And it's why he said in 1 Corinthians 14:37, the things I write are indeed the commandments of the Lord.
Where can we learn from our pattern?
The apostle Paul, in his letters, not in the book of John.
Do we read other books?
You better believe it.
That's absolute truth.
All scripture is profitable, 2 Timothy 3:16.
But in the chapter previous, chapter 2, we're told we must rightly divide the word of truth.
So, the only way that all scripture can be profitable is if it be rightly divided.
You better turn off, oh reverend elect Cornholio, and find you someone who's teaching the 1 Corinthians 15 gospel of Christ.
It alone is the power of God into salvation.
And beware of all the different varieties out there, choosing the gospel of your salvation isn't like when you were a child and the snowball truck come rolling through the neighborhood.
It's not about choosing flavors.
There's only one flavor today.
Be discerning and ready to identify the counterfeits.
Watch for the subtleties, listen closely and you'll be able to spot the teachers who are in disguise teaching another gospel.
We just looked at one today.
The, "Believe in his name," gospel.
Believing in Jesus' name instead of believing in what Jesus did.
It's not a false gospel.
It's a misplaced gospel.
It's not a false gospel because John preached it.
John never preached anything false.
John's gospel was perfect for precisely the time it was meant for.
But it's not sufficient for salvation today.
Our gospel goes beyond belief in his name.
That's why when Aquila and Priscilla, when they heard about a Jew from Africa named Apollos, an eloquent man who was mighty in the scriptures, well, they heard how he was fervent in the spirit and in the synagogue he was speaking boldly and teaching the way of the Lord.
But what did they do?
They took him aside and the Bible says, Expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
From then on, Apollos, after convincing them with the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, he was able to, the Bible says, Help them much which had believed through grace.
The more perfect way was Paul's gospel of grace.
Priscilla and Aquila had equipped him with the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation.
The word of truth is defined as, quote, The gospel of your salvation.
That's what the Bible calls the word of truth in Ephesians 1:13.
There's where the definition is.
So think, John's belief in his name gospel was the word of truth.
Today, Paul's 1 Corinthians 15 gospel is the word of truth.
Hence the reason God tells us to rightly divide the word of truth, so we don't get confused.
John's gospel was, quote, The gospel of the circumcision.
Paul's gospel was the gospel of the uncircumcision, Galatians 2:7.
If words mean anything, the two are clearly different.
I don't care how often Tim Tebow displays John 3:16, it won't save a soul today.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Believe what?
If you asked John that question, he would have said, in his name.
Believe that he is the Christ, the son of the living God.
Nothing about believing Paul's gospel, no.
People have to force it back into John because it's not there.
John's gospel was of the circumcision, Galatians 2:7, because salvation was of the Jews, John 4:22.
The only way a Gentile could get in was through the Jews.
But now that Israel has fallen, the script is flipped.
Today, the only way a circumcised Jew can get in is through the Gentile, through the
Gentile gospel of uncircumcision.
Oh, it's nice to have an understanding of the fellowship of the mystery, of the change of administration.
This is the key to understanding what you're reading.
We came to the knowledge of rightly dividing.
It was liberating.
I mean, it was just, to be able to see the word for what it says, and not what we believe that it says, or not what we think that it says, but for what it actually says, and see Paul's letters.
Those are the letters that are written directly to us, and those are our marching orders, our commission.
You know, we find our commission, our great commission in Paul's letters, and not in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, or Hebrews through Revelation.
We find our marching orders in Paul's letters, because he wrote to us as Gentiles.
And I thank God for that, and I thank Him for the understanding of His word, to get
in His word, and to read it, and to see it.
It helps me to fall more in love with Him.
I mean, you know, the more that I understand His word, and the more that I see it, and that I rightly divide it, the more I fall in love with Him.
And I fall in love with Him because He loved me, because of what He did for the world.
He did it for everybody.
He died on the cross for our sins.
To see that, and to acknowledge that, you know, I grew up as a Baptist, is what I grew up as.
It was always taught, you know, Christ died for our sins on the cross.
But, it was always added that you had to ask for the forgiveness of your sins, and you had to repent, and you had to, you know, be baptized to join that organization.
And you know what?
Christ, when He died on the cross, He died for your sins.
He died for my sins then.
I don't have to ask for that forgiveness.
It's already there.
I acknowledged it.
And with that acknowledgment, it gives me the peace, and gives me the love that I have for Christ now.
Just being able to see the word for what it says, and understand it for what it says,
just helps me to fall more and more in love with Him.
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