So This Is Peace?

By Frederick Grossman

As an old hippie, Jesus freak, I cannot help but question authority. I have done so with established beliefs of major denominations. I compare what denominations teach as sound doctrine and compare them to what the Biblethe sole authorityteaches in reality. For example, hell is accepted and taught as literal fire and eternal torment when Scripture actually reveals something opposite and totally different.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490834245

Frederick Grossman

Frederick S. Grossman is the author of Think about War a Little More and has written around two thousand poems. In addition to this his second book, he is currently compiling poems for a volume of poetry and is writing a commentary on the writings of the apostle Paul. Frederick Grossman is a graduate of Nazarene Bible College and International Seminary, and attended Bemidji State University for two-and-a-half years. He is also a Vietnam veteran and is currently a coowner of First Choice Specialized Services, Inc., providing services for developmentally disabled adults.

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Chapter 1

How to be saved

John the Baptist saw a dove and believed. James Whittaker saw a seagull and believed. Who’s to say the one who sent the first didn’t send the second? James Whittaker was a member of the handpicked crew that flew the B-17 Flying Fortress captained by Eddie Rickenbacker. Anybody who remembers October of 1942 remembers the day Rickenbacker and his crew were reported lost at sea. Somewhere over the Pacific, out of radio range, the plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean. The nine men spent the next month floating in three rafts. They battled the heat, the storms, and the water. Sharks, some ten feet long, would ram their nine-foot boats. After only eight days their rations were eaten or destroyed by saltwater. It would take a miracle to survive. One morning after their daily devotions, Rickenbacker leaned his head back against the raft and pulled his hat over his eyes. A bird landed on his head. He peered out under his hat. Every eye was on him. He instinctively knew it was a sea gull. Rickenbacker caught it, and the crew ate it. The bird’s intestines were used for bait to catch fish…and the crew survived to tell the story. A story about prayer’s offered and prayers answered. A story about a visitor from an unknown land traveling a great distance to give his life as a sacrifice. A story of salvation. A story much like our own. Weren’t we like the crew praying? And weren’t we like the crew, rescued by a visitor we never seen through a sacrifice we’ll never forget? You may have heard the Rickenbacker story before. You may have even heard it from me. You may have read it in one of my books. Corren Schwenk did. She was engaged to the only crew member who did not survive, young Sgt. Alex Kacymarcyck. As a result of a 1985 reunion of the crew, Mrs. Schwenk learned that the widow of James Whittaker lived only eighty miles from her house. The two women met and shared their stories. After reading this story in my book In the Eye of the Storm, Mrs. Schwenk felt compelled to write me. The real miracle, she informed me, was not a bird on the head of Eddie Rickenbacker but a change in the heart of James Whittaker. The greatest event of that day was not the rescue of a crew but the rescue of a soul. James Whittaker was an unbeliever. The plane crash did not change his unbelief. The days facing death didn’t cause him to reconsider his destiny. In fact, Mrs., Whittaker said her husband grew irritated with John Bartak, a crew member who continually read his Bible privately and aloud. But his protests didn’t stop Bartak from reading. Nor did Whittaker’s resistance stop the Word from penetrating his soul. Unknown to Whittaker, the soil of his heart was being plowed. For it was one morning after a Bible reading that the sea gull landed on Captain Rickenbacker’s head. And at that moment Jim became a believer. I chuckled when I read the letter. Not at the letter; I believe every word of it. Nor at James Whittaker. I have every reason to believe his conversion was real. But I had to chuckle at…please excuse me…I had to chuckle at God. Isn’t that just like him? Who would go to such extremes to save a soul? Such an effort to get a guy’s attention. The rest of the world is occupied with Germany and Hitler. Every headline is reporting the actions of Roosevelt and Churchill. The globe is locked in a battle for freedom…and the Father is in the Pacific sending missionary pigeon to save a soul. Oh, the lengths to which God will go to get our attention and win our affection; (From a Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado).(1. The Devotional Bible, 2003 Thomas Nelson, Inc.; page 869-871). This true story shows the great lengths God goes to in saving one individual soul. It also shows the timing and circumstances required for a heart to be receptive to God’s extended hand of love.

In the 60’s everyone wanted peace. We grew up with the threat of Communism and a Nuclear Attack. Perhaps you have seen film footage of Teachers and classrooms having bomb drills. Americans had a car in every driveway and a chicken in every pot; but we had no peace. Most of us went to Church, and we were all religious but we had no peace. The hippie movement was a demand for peace; yes, the Viet Nam war was going on and there were many anti-war rallies, protests and marches against the war, and this was a part of the peace we wanted. But what we really wanted deep down inside was inner peace and nothing offered it.

Sex and drugs, instead of giving peace, brought guilt, shame and problems separating us farther from that peace we longed for. Within the hippie movement, arose another movement; the Jesus freak movement and it provided the answers we were looking for; but the greatest thing we surprisingly found was peace. Real peace! To know where you are going when you die is worth more than gold and rubies; and to know God is truly in control and He is your Father; brings great peace. Psalms 85:8 says, I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. Abundant, supernatural peace (Shalom) awaits all those who will believe; but a word of caution; do not turn again to folly. To go back into a life of sin is to suppress peace. Sin brings condemnation and guilt. It has been said that the majority of people in mental institutions are there because of guilt. When you really believe that Jesus paid for all of your sins and has buried them in the depths of the sea of his forgetfulness, you will have peace. Unrepentant sin in the lives of believers brings chastening and guilt. You must turn from your sins (make a decision to believe), turn to God in faith for peace. Fellowship with God brings peace. I want the reader to understand that an unsaved person cannot turn from sin because he is a slave to sin; so it is faith in Christ alone that saves. After we are saved we have the power and ability to say no to sin; but if we do not; though still saved, we rob ourselves of peace and loving communion with God; not to mention the painful chastening from our loving Heavenly Father; and natural consequences that may result from our stiff-necked ways.

Everyone knows that Cain slew Abel, What many don’t see in the accounting in Genesis 4, is that Cain was scared to death. He thought everyone was as he was and that every one that findeth me shall slay me (Gen.4:14). Cain was sorrowful that he would no longer be able to behold God’s face. Like his father Adam, he was not allowed in the garden, and because of sin Adam and his children no longer walked with God side by side in the cool of the day. The world was dark and scary, and he was sure people would find him and kill him. But God is a God of love. He reaches out to all sinners, even murderers. So God spoke words of comfort to Cain that no one would be allowed to slay him, and as proof, put a mark upon Cain. The mark was not to identify a murderer, but a mark of love; and warning to others; hands off. Here we see a compassionate and loving God, who cares about the worst of sinners. This fact was proved when God sent his Son to shed his blood as the payment for sin, so that all who believe on him might be saved.

Most American’s have heard about being saved, about being born-again and other Christian terminology; but I don’t think most understand what it truly means to be saved. Even religious Christians are often confused because they have a religion without a relationship with God. They have confessed Jesus as their savior, but they do not believe on him. What do Churches and people mean by being saved? The question should be; What does God mean when he says we must be saved? To be saved means to be rescued. Strongs Concordance says saved means (safe); to save, i.e. Deliver or protect", (2. Strongs Exhaustive Concordance 4982) but rescued or deliver from what? Safe, from what?

Saved from what? Protected from what? Evangelicals, and mainstream Christianity would say, Saved from hell. Some would say join our Church and we can help you escape this hell. We shall look at the Christian doctrine of hell in another chapter, but being saved is more than this. Being saved is to be saved from something, and unquestionably, it is saved from eternal separation from God, but it is more. It is being saved from the slavery to sin in this life, and the consequences and awful problems that arise from many sins. Of course the first and foremost meaning of saved is to be rescued from death and eternal separation from God. The very meaning of the word saved or rescued implies a guarantee that we have been delivered from something dangerous.

As a teenager, I was swimming across a small lake with a teen-age girl, my friend Judy. In the middle of the lake my strength failed me and I went under. I fought with all of my might but was drowning. I could not make it 10 more feet, let alone to either shore. My friend, Judy, put her arm around my neck and rescued me, and brought me to the shore. She saved me from death! She was in the process of saving me as she swam to shore with me, but I was not saved until my feet touched land. As soon as my feet touched land I was saved. Some religious people view being saved as a process in the making and teach they will never be saved until their feet are in heaven on golden streets. That is not being saved, that is a process. They teach that yes, Jesus is in the process of saving them, but they can lose their grip or let go. When I was being saved from drowning my rescuer had a death grip on me, and I didn’t have a grip on her, she had a grip on me! And the last thing on my mind was letting go…but I had no hold on my savior; she had a hold of me. When the Bible speaks of saving it means saved! It means we are already rescued! We are already delivered! My physical feet my not be planted on golden streets, but my spiritual feet are! Once you are saved or rescued, you cannot be unsaved, or un-rescued, or undelivered! How could I, once being saved from drowning, have been un-rescued? You are either rescued or you are not, there is no in-between!

The Bible says in Ezekiel 18:20The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Before anyone can be saved they must realize the need to be saved. If you have sinned then you will die. Churches often teach that because of sin we all die physically, but deserve to die spiritually, as if spiritual death has not taken place yet. This is wrong; we die spiritually, instantly… the moment we commit our first sin, and this is the reason we need to be resurrected, or born again. Death has two aspects; physical death, and spiritual death. All mankind has died or will die physically. Even in the Rapture (to be discussed in a later chapter), the bodies will die and be changed instantly, In the twinkling of an eye (I Corinthians 15:52).

The Rabbis have identified 613 commandments, and breaking only one convicts a person as breaking the law (sinning). James 2:10 says, For whosoever keepeth the whole law, and yet offendeth in one point, he is guilty of all. The moment you first committed a sin you died spiritually, and you will die physically. There is no escaping physical death, but there is escaping spiritual death, and once you have escaped spiritual death it is a done deal! You are rescued; all your sins (past, present and future are paid in full)! That is the good news (the gospel), and if anyone preaches any other gospel they are under God’s curse. God thinks it very important that we get the gospel right. There is only one way to be saved and you had better not add to that way, or take away from it. Well-meaning Christians who teach you can be un-rescued are in grave danger. It is possible to be saved and mixed up, or confused about the gospel. I was one of those people. I believed what my Church taught over what the Bible taught. Peer pressure is a powerful force! If you are one of the confused believers, you need to repent (change your mind) and believe God over your own opinions, feelings, and Church doctrine. We also believe wrongly because we were taught wrongly and dare not question Mom, Dad, Grandparents and Ministers! Who are we to doubt what we have been taught?

Some Churches are guilty of using the hope of salvation as a means of increasing membership. They teach salvation only comes through their Church and that they alone can rightly interpret the scriptures, thus if you want grace, if you want to be saved, then you must join their Church. How dreadful will be judgment day for those Churches!

Many Churches confuse service to and for God with salvation. They mingle service (good works) and faith, thus salvation becomes a product of faith and works, which is to say that Messiah’s death on the cross was not sufficient alone. The Bible clearly says otherwise; For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness (Romans 4:3). That no works of man is acceptable is shown in Galatians 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Ephesians 2:8, 9 also agrees; 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.

There are various degrees of faith. We read in the Bible of little faith, faith and great faith. God freely gives everyone the ability to believe Him (a measure of faith) and thus be saved. As we read the Bible and become more dependent on God, our faith grows, but it is still a gift from God. That man does indeed boast, and is full of pride is evident; and God felt it had to be addressed. Grace does not come through a Church like some religions teach. It is undeserved favor that is obtained through faith! And the faith is a gift from God. Your responsibility is to use the faith He has given you. Make a decision to believe God. What did He say that I should believe? Jesus said in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have (possess right now) everlasting life" (Parenthesis mine). Do you believe Him at face value? Then you are saved; now drink from the milk of the Word (read the Bible) and grow thereby!

Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and He is Lord. One confusing aspect in Christian terminology is Lordship salvation. Many saved, well-meaning Preachers teach that before being saved a person must make Jesus Lord of their life. Think about this statement…they are saying an un-regenerate person must begin living holy (or be willing). How is this (or the desire) possible, before the Holy Spirit enters a person? As desirable as this is it is only possible after salvation, and thus has no bearing on salvation. Some will say fine, but if a saved person does not make Jesus Lord, he, or she, is not saved. What is the criterion of measurement in determining if a person has made Jesus Lord of their life? Do we compare their works with our own? Do we compare their lives with those believers in the Bible? Perhaps with the man who was having sexual relations with his mother? (I Corinthians 5:1). Or shall we compare them with the Corinthian Church whose members were getting drunk at Passover (or the Lord’s Supper), or with King David who committed adultery and murder?

I contend that what Lordship salvation teaches is to judge others, which is forbidden Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth (Romans 14:4); see also Romans 2:1-6; James 4:12; I Corinthians 11:31 and seek out cross-references about judging. The point being, that we as mere men, cannot judge fairly. We do not see what is in a person’s heart (mind), and thus cannot discern if a person has made Christ Lord of his/her life. Once a person believes on Christ they are then, and only then, filled with the Holy Spirit and capable of letting Christ be Lord of their lives, in addition to being their savior. Lordship involves service, and has nothing to do with how to be saved.

All believers in Christ receive the Holy Spirit. Now if any have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (Romans 8:9). The moment a person believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for their sin, and there is nothing that can be added to his sacrifice, and that He arose from the dead or was resurrected from the dead, that person is saved and has the guarantee of going to heaven. Ephesians 1:13 says, after that ye believed, ye were also sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (We will look more at being sealed in a later chapter).

So, how exactly do we get saved? Jesus told us very clearly. What He said is not difficult to understand, but it is difficult for some to believe, for example, the self-reliant, and proud have a very hard time believing Jesus. Let us examine the words from Jesus’ own mouth: John 3:14-16. Jesus said, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. Almost every Jew knows the story of the snakes in the wilderness, and many Christians do as well. Number 21:5-9 tells of God’s instruction to make a fiery serpent and place it on a pole, and the Jews being bitten would not die. We have been bitten by the poisonous serpent of sin and died spiritually, instantly, and will die physically one day. Jesus said in the same way, he had to be lifted up on the cross. Now let’s finish the verses in John. The reason, Jesus continued, was because of God’s love for you. 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 (John 3:16). If life could have been given any other way Jesus would not have to have been tortured to death on the cross.

Probably the most important questioned asked in the Bible was asked by the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:30, …Sirs, what must I do to be saved? The Apostles were direct and to the point in their answer in verse 31: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Why then does mankind get the answer wrong so many times? Why so many answers (and none from the Bible, although some twist scriptures to make them try to say what they feel or believe)? It is within mankind to earn everything in life. We start as babies. If we cry we will get the reward of a bottle, diaper changed or needed hug. No baby seems to lay there expecting or knowing its needs and wants will be met. The baby must earn the bottle by being quiet when he receives it. He does something to get a bottle, get diaper changed, fed, etc., he cries! As we grow into children we earn praise from others.

In school we earn good grades by the hard work of studying. All of life reinforces good behavior and hard work brings rewards. People tend to bring that thinking into a relationship with God. They feel if they keep the 10 commandments God will be pleased and will accept them, or since they know they don’t keep the 10 commandments and in fact don’t even know them, much less, the 613 commandments that there actually are, they feel if they do their best, God will save them. Wrong! One sin brings spiritual death and it takes one act of faith to bring eternal life, to be resurrected from spiritual death. We are either spiritually dead or eternally alive…there is no in-between!

Why alter calls if all you have to do to be saved, is to believe on Christ Jesus? Alter calls are an American invention and popularized by Billy Sunday and Preachers of his day. Can God use an alter call? Yes, in spite of the alter call. The trouble with alter calls (when people go forward with music playing) is that it is not an act of faith. To be saved you must believe Jesus paid for your sins on the cross, and nothing you can do can add to that. I have been in meetings when alter calls were made and the Preacher went on and on about if you were too timid to come forward, if you lacked the courage to come forward, then God will deny you, because you are denying him. This is wrong. Did Jesus say anything when teaching how to be saved about alter calls? No, He said that whosoever believeth in him should have everlasting life. Believe He paid for your sins and you receive eternal life right now!

If you have to have courage to be saved, then it becomes something you do and not faith, or it becomes faith and works (what you do). This is wrong! I remember being too shy to go forward in an alter call. By not going forward I was told I was denying Christ. If such is the case then Jesus was wrong, and only the bold and courageous can be saved! Thank God, such is not the case. I believe Jesus and His Word over these evangelists. Do you?

Paul taught much about salvation. In Romans he said, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). He went on to say in Romans 10: 13, For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. In other words, all you have to do is call out to God to save you. Some may be confused, (do I believe or call out?) but calling out to God involves faith. How can I call out to Jesus if I do not believe he is the payment for my sin? Salvation is a gift Ro. 6:23 says, and as such cannot be earned. A gift is not contingent upon being courageous enough to go forward and receive it, or upon my steadfastness or enduring unto the end. A gift is a gift and it’s free with no conditions attached. If I were to give the reader an expensive watch with the condition that you take it to a jeweler twice a year for cleaning, and to promise you would wear it every day without fail. And give the time of day to anyone who asks, would that be a free gift? Would you even want that watch with such conditions attached? I would not want such a free gift, because it’s not free. When I was drowning in the middle of the lake I called out to my friend Judy that I could not make it. I was hoping that she could help. Being saved from eternal separation from God is much the same way. I know I need saving, and He promised to save me if I believe He paid for my sin on the cross. All I need to do is believe He will. You may or may not voice the two words, save me, but God knows your inner thoughts, and He knows if you want to be saved or not.

There is not a formula for being saved (repeating a prayer, etc.). All you must do is believe on Christ and instantly you are resurrected from the dead and possess everlasting life that will carry you through physical death into Christ’s presence. Jesus called this being born again (Jo.3:3). In other places he called it quickened, (made alive).

Before I was saved I tried to turn from my sins to Jesus. An impossible task for an unregenerate man! Turning over a new leaf only seemed to make matters worse. I tried to be the best person I could. I went forward during the alter call and was patted on the back and told to pray through brother, just pray through. I didn’t know how to pray through (and still don’t, as there is nothing in the Bible about it). The person should have given me the gospel! Someone else said put your all on the alter, (how do you even do that?) and someone else said feel sorry for your sins, repent. I really tied this too, many times. There are two things wrong in such a statement. First, repentance is not feeling sorry; it is a change of mind. A person may feel sorrow over sins committed, but that is not repentance. To repent is to turn from your unbelief, and believe God. The second problem is that an unregenerate (unsaved) person is incapable of sorrow over his sins against a holy God. He does not know a holy God as yet. He may feel remorse for some sin or sins, that causes him guilt and shame, but that is not a Godly sorrow. Someone else said let Jesus come into your heart. I didn’t know how that would work, but asked him in…yet remained unsaved until someone gave me a Bible and underlined some key verses in John. I read what Jesus said, and believed him and was saved instantly. It was too easy! Just believing Jesus paid for my sins seemed too easy! And it is! Although he gave no conditions that I must serve him and make Him the Lord of my life, I have been serving him for over 40 years and yes, He is the Lord of my life…but that’s not what saved me that is a result of my faith, and of reading the Bible.

Many believers don’t read the Bible and do not grow spiritually, and so do not make Jesus the Lord of their life, and they never serve Him. Does that mean they were never saved or become un-rescued? No, it means they will go to heaven as spiritual babies. Desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you might grow thereby, (I Peter 2:2). Reading the Bible will bring spiritual growth, but faith in Christ alone saves, or recues, not faith and service, or faith plus anything else. To summarize this great important fact: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:30-31). Confessing Jesus does not mean we are saved; countless millions confess Jesus and are very religious, and are not saved; but, it is believing on Christ Jesus that saves. One simple sentence (believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved) is what changes lives forever when believed!

The Roman’s road to salvation is a very useful compilation of scripture that has helped many people understand the need for salvation; I would like to present it now briefly in case someone is not quite understanding the need for salvation, or how to be saved. Romans 3:10 says; As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. Reading Holy Scripture reveals quickly, that God is a holy God, and mankind is very unholy. No one is righteous, God said. Most people see and understand this. They know they are unworthy to enter heaven. Some people become so puffed up with pride that they truly cannot see that they are not better than most people. It goes against their whole being to admit that they too, like everyone else, are sinners and unrighteous; but God declares through Isaiah that all are unrighteous, and point of fact; the best of man is as filthy rags (literally, used sanitary napkins). The next verse in the romans road example is Romans 3:23. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. So many people just want to be left alone. They do not want to hear the gospel. I have been told that I will have to answer to God for always preaching at people. Let me say in my defense; I do not preach at any one person, and I do not preach against people’s sins; that is God’s job, which he does very well. My responsibility is to give a clear gospel message; i.e., how to be saved. When I quote God’s Word; that all have sinned, that includes especially me. To be saved, a person must first see their lost condition and the need to be saved. Romans 3:23 leaves no room for self-righteousness; because we have all sinned when we reach the age of accountability before God and he holds us responsible; we die spiritually and will die physically. The next verse in the romans road is 5:12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. The world was Paradise before Adam and Eve sinned. The Bible doesn’t say how many years Adam and Eve lived in this Paradise before sinning. The Bible says Adam lived a total of 930 years. He was 130 years old when he had Seth, which was after the fall; and Cain and Able were born right after the fall into sin. I think it’s safe to assume Adam and Eve may have lived one hundred years in Paradise before sinning. During this time before the fall Adam (and Eve) would go for walks with God in the evenings; that alone would be Paradise! But since the fall all have sinned, and die as a result. All will die physically and spiritually because we all sin. But God knew this would happen and had a plan; Christ would pay for sin and give everlasting life to all who believe on him. Even though the body would die because of sin, the spirit would live because of faith in Christ. Someone may be thinking, "Do you mean they knew the Messiah would come way back then?" That’s what the Bible says. Genesis 3:15 when God spoke to Satan He said; And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. The children of Satan (those who follow evil) and the children of Eve (believers in God) are at war with each other to this very day. The Messiah is promised in this verse, and God told long before it came to pass that the Messiah (of the seed of woman) would crush the head of Satan and would have his foot bruised in the process. This is what happened on the cross. The cross, as painful as it was could not defeat Christ, it bruised his heel; but at the cross Christ crushed Satan’s head. Satan no longer has power that he once had. When we believe on Christ we are empowered by the Holy Spirit who now lives within us, and we have power to stop doing drugs or living in sin.

We are not sin free because we still give into our old, carnal nature, but there is no sin we do not have power to resist if we want to. We sin because we want to, not because we have to as a slave.

Genesis 3:21 says, Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. God killed an animal (most likely a sheep) and provided and showed how to make a sin offering. The Bible doesn’t give us details of their conversation but I am sure God explained how the animal offering represented the coming seed of the woman, Christ Jesus. This is why when Cain offered God fruit and vegetables (Genesis 4:3) that God was not pleased. Cain knew a blood atonement was required, but instead of trading his brother vegetables for a firstling of the flock to offer, he sought to give what he thought was good enough.

Cain represents religious man who believes giving his best is good enough. God demands a blood offering because sin is exceedingly sinful; even small sins. There is no reason to be religious if you have no intentions on coming to God on his terms. His only terms are; Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, you and your house; (Acts 16:31).

The next verse in the Romans road is 5:8; But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God does not wait until we straighten up our lives or turn over a new leaf; but in love he seeks us out; having paid for our sins on the cross. So many people get it wrong when they seek to be saved. They join a Church; get Baptized, start giving money to God and living the best they can. The problem is; they are still dead. They are religious dead people without eternal life. All God wants from us is to believe Christ is his only begotten Son, and to believe God paid for our sins because we cannot; and Christ, having been resurrected from the dead 3 days after dying, now lives and imparts eternal life to all who believe on Christ Jesus. Some people I have known cannot believe Christ died for them when they were such sinners. Some of you reading this may have a problem believing Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; maybe because you are homophobic, or can’t believe God would love a child molester, or some other sin that you hate; but one little sin causes death, and it must take one act of faith to be saved, or resurrected. If Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners; if he had that much love to die for us anyway, think how much he loves us now! No sin can ever separate us from the love of God; nor can anything else.

Romans 6:23 says; For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. A wage is something everyone understands; Even the developmentally disabled. We work and receive what is due us. God is saying death is what we deserve for sinning. We earned it; it’s what is justly coming to us. But God didn’t stop there; he said BUT the gift of God is eternal life. We all are familiar with gifts as well as wages. I prefer a gift. It is the Christmas season, Chanukah as well, and some Jewish people give a small gift each day and a large gift on the last day of Chanukah. God has given us the best gift possible; everlasting life through his Son, Yeshua the Messiah. All we have to do is receive it. I cannot see eternal life so how can I receive it? By faith! Believe God’s witness; that Jesus is His Son, the Messiah, and that Yeshua (Jesus) paid for your sins on the cross, taking them to the grave and leaving them there. Our sins were paid for 2000 years ago; so which sins were paid for and left in the grave? All of them; past, present and future sins!

Romans road’s next verse is Romans 10:13; For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever means you too! Some religious people who have no relationship with God would tell us that if we don’t use Jesus’ real name (Yeshua) we are calling on a Roman god or another person besides Yeshua. This legalism drives me crazy!

God is big enough to handle me calling His Son Jesus, rather than Yeshua. My Jewish name is Eleazar. My American name is Frederick Stanley Grossman, Jr. and people call me Fred, or Fritz, and close friends and family call me Fritzie. I answer to all of them. I usually won’t answer to Freddy or Junior; only a few of my closest family are permitted to call me those names.

All people are children of God, even the lost; and God is big enough to accept us calling his Son Jesus instead of Yeshua. Get over it people! The name of the Lord is not what Pauls’ point is here; the point is; no matter what you have done; no matter what race you are; no matter what religion; if you call on Jesus Christ (you have to believe on him if you are calling on him) you will be saved.

Romans 3:20 is our next verse; Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Many religious people say they agree with this verse and then turn around and say if we don’t keep the law (or try to) we are not saved. They mingle service to and for God, with grace; and therefore preach another gospel. Their gospel condemns, and offers no hope and puffs up with pride; and Paul said let them be accursed. The gospel, or good news, is that we are saved by believing on Christ, plus…nothing! When a person believes on Christ they never have to set foot in Church, read the Bible, do any good work; and are still saved…because they already have passed from death unto life; they already have everlasting life and cannot die ever again (although the body must pay the penalty of sin, and die). And the death of the body is temporary for God is preparing new, glorified bodies that will swallow up the old bodies. Never having to do good works or go to Church, or read the Bible does not mean that God doesn’t want us to do these things; he does; but it is not required (or accepted) for salvation. Faith in Christ’s payment for sin is all that is required and the only thing He will accept.

The last passage in the Romans road to salvation is Romans 10:9-10; 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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. This passage may at first appear confusing; but upon close examination it is very simple. Paul has already established the fact that Abraham was saved by faith and nothing else; and by that faith was counted righteous in God’s sight (Romans 4:1-6). Paul now goes on to clarify that salvation; Confess means to acknowledge, so the believer is to acknowledge that Christ’s death on the cross is all-sufficient as payment for all sin; that He alone, is the only way to be saved. The second point Paul makes here is about righteousness. Again,