Does It Matter Which Bible I Get?

When you have a few minutes take some time and read over the chart that is in the link.  It might just help you the next time someone says "Any Bible will do!"

http://www.texasgracechurches.com/Which_Bible/BibleChart.pdf

Are You Saved?

Are you saved, and do you have a Saviour? What is the gospel? Do you know where you are going? The bible says that saved people go to Heaven and lost people go to Hell. The bible says that the gospel is the good news that if you trust Jesus Christ as your Lord andSaviour that God will save you. The bible says that there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.

A ransom is the price that has to be paid to redeem someone. The bible says that we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Have you committed sins? Then the bible says you need a Redeemer. What is the gospel? The gospel is that Christ died for your sins. He was delivered for your offenses and was raised again for your justification.

The gospel is not to keep the commandments. Nobody ever has. Then what are the commandments for? The Law was given to show you that you need a Saviour. By the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, the bible says, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law makes you know what sin is. Adam sinned. By one act of one man, sin entered the world and death by sin. So death passed to all men for that all have sinned. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Hence, all need a Saviour to save them from their sins.

The gospel is not to ask Jesus into your heart. The gospel is to trust that Christ died for your sins. The gospel is not to walk the aisle for Jesus but to acknowledge that Jesus Christ walked up Calvary’s hill and was nailed to the cross in your place. Crosses are for criminals and you are the criminal. Your crimes are against a holy and righteous God. So Christ took your place, and died in your stead on the cross. You need, not only A saviour, but THE SAVIOUR, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you saved, or are you just religious but LOST?

Salvation is not to pray through at the alter but to simply trust that Christ got through to God for you, in your behalf. You don’t have to go to the alter to be saved, you have to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviourto be saved. There is no other name given under Heaven among men whereby we must be saved. Not Mary, not the Pope, not the Preacher, not a religious leader with a big following, but ONLY Jesus Christ. He alone died for your sins and rose again for your justification.

Salvation is not to repent of your sins and clean up your act. The bible says that there are none that are good and none that doeth good. So you are no good and you don’t do good and you can’t be good, you still need a Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is the only way. Christ say I AM the way, the truth and the life. Do you want life? Then get Christ and you will have life. The bible says to a saved individual that when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in glory.

Salvation is not in joining the church or shaking the preacher’s hand. Salvation is in Jesus Christ. If you want life, get Christ as yourSaviour, believe on him and trust in him and God will save you. You don’t have to go to a religious meeting in order to find salvation. You can be saved right now without lifting a finger or going anywhere. Salvation is not in going, or doing, or saying, but in trusting. Are you trusting Jesus Christ alone for salvation?

Salvation is not in water baptism. Salvation is in the baptism Christ was baptized with. He was baptized into death and it was your death he was identified with. The wages of sin is death, and Christ died for your sins. He took the payoff. God made him to be sin for you. The issue is not getting wet but getting saved and you can’t get saved in water, but only in Christ. Trust Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will do the baptizing INTO the body of Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. There is one Lord, one faith and one baptism. The Holy Spirit does the baptizing today, not men. If you aretrusting your baptism for salvation then you are not trusting Jesus Christ to have done the work of salvation. Getting water baptized might be a sign…that somebody is trusting in his own efforts and not in Christ’s work on the cross. He said, “it is finished.”

Salvation is not goose bumps. The bible never says “feel on the Lord Jesus Christ,” it says BELIEVE on him.  People say, “well I know what I felt.” Yes, but do you know who you are trusting? Salvation is a faith issue, not a feeling issue. When your faith follows the facts then the feelings fall in line. But when your faith starts following your feelings and ignores the facts then what you really have is an emotional upheaval, not salvation. Salvation is in the FACT that Christ died for your sins, all of your sins, and by trusting those facts, God will receive you, no matter what.

Salvation is not in water, or wafers, or Wesley or Calvin or Allah orBudda or Mary or a holy cow. Salvation is in Jesus Christ. Salvation is not by works but by faith. Faith in what Christ did for you, not in what you are doing, or are going to do for him. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.

Deliverance is not salvation and healing is not salvation. Just because you cured a bad habit doesn’t mean that you are saved. Just because you were sick and got well doesn’t mean you are saved. Salvation is only by trusting Jesus Christ and what he did, on the cross, for you. When you trust the Lord alone for salvation then you are saved. The bible says that the word of God standeth sure and hath this seal: The Lord knoweth them that are his. In other words a saved person is a sealed person. Sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. The Lord will never say to a saved person, “depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you.” The bible says he DOES know you and that he has sealed you unto the day of redemption. So a sealed person is a saved person. Are you sealed?

What is the evidence of your salvation? The evidence of salvation is not speaking in tongues. You can’t look at a person, or watch a person and tell whether or not he is saved. Saved people look just like lost people. They all look the same, and sometimes they all act the same. So how can you tell if a person is saved? By his testimony.By the words that come out of his mouth. You shall know them by their fruits. Fruits are words. They are not physical actions. Jesus said “by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.” Jesus said the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. So what is your heart full of?

Could you stand up somewhere and give a testimony of your salvation. If somebody asked you, are you saved, what would you say? A salvation testimony is not a colorful account of all the bad things and horrible experiences you have had in your life. A salvation testimony would be something along these lines. I was a lost, doomed and damned sinner, lost, on my way to Hell, without God. I am the criminal. I am the thief, the drunk, the murderer, the backstabber, the fornicator, the gossiper. I am no good. I don’t do any good. I can’t do any good. But somebody shared the gospel with me. The word of truth, the gospel of my salvation, and I realized that it’s not about me. It’s about Jesus Christ. And I realized that all that I was,all that I am and all that I ever will be, sinful, ungodly and the enemy of God, that God made Christ to be all of that for me. Christ died for me and all that I am. Christ died because I am a sinner and I commit sins. Sinful I was born and sinful I will be. But Christ died for all my sins, and the proof that God has forgiven me is that he raised Christ from the dead. I trust Jesus Christ as my Saviour, my only Saviour. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

Comparing Scripture

The Apostle Paul wrote, in 1 Corinthians 2:13, "we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." What then are "spiritual things?" Well, the bible tells us that spiritual things are words. Jesus said, in John 6:63. "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." With that in mind, let's just compare some spiritual things, comparing words with words, spiritual things with spiritual.

What Jesus said on the earth: 

(Mat 6:14 KJV)  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

(Mat 6:15 KJV)  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

According to that passage then, in the earthly ministry of Christ, as he went about teaching in all their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, he taught that their forgiveness would be based on something they did. In other words, based on their forgiving other men. This doctrine was a part of the gospel of the Kingdom which was preached at that time.

What the risen Christ said through Paul:

(Col 2:10 KJV)  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

(Col 2:11 KJV)  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

(Col 2:12 KJV)  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

(Col 2:13 KJV)  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES;

So in the passage above we obviously see different information. Paul calls it "hidden wisdom." Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:7 that "we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery." He says that it was hidden wisdom, that God ordained before the world unto our glory. In other words there was a MYSTERY pertaining to your salvation which was not made known until it was revealed to Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles.

Is it law: 

(Mat 19:16 KJV)  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

(Mat 19:17 KJV)  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Or is it grace?

(Gal 5:4 KJV)  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

(1 Cor 15:3 KJV)  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

(1 Cor 15:4 KJV)  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

In the book of Acts you don't see Peter preaching that do you? The reason being that Peter didn't know that. Peter preached the "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" just as John the Baptist had earlier. The remission of sins looked forward to a future day of atonement for Israel at the second coming of Christ. The last recorded preaching of Peter is in Acts chapter ten.      
                      
 What Peter said: 

(Acts 10:34 KJV)  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

(Acts 10:35 KJV)  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

What Paul said:

(Titus 3:4 KJV)  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

(Titus 3:5 KJV)  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Is salvation by grace or is it by works?

(Rom 11:6 KJV)  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

There is no work, no religious activity involved today where your salvation is concerned. Jesus Christ did ALL the work and the work is finished. He suffered your punishment, he died your death. God made him to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM. So all that is necessary for salvation today is to put your trust in the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.

Now, did something change?

2 Timothy 2: 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

You will find that Paul defines the "word of truth" as being the "gospel of YOUR salvation" in Ephesians 1:13. The gospel of YOUR salvation is not the gospel of the Kingdom committed to the 12 Apostles, which includes Peter. It is the salvation message committed to Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles.

Fact Check

Only two men in your bible refer to THEMSELVES as APOSTLES of the Lord Jesus Christ: Peter and Paul.

Only Paul claims to be THE APOSTLE appointed by the ascended Lord Jesus Christ TO THE GENTILES:

Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

1 Timothy 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.

Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

Galatians 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

Galatians 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The gospel that Paul preached is that Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again the third day.

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Peter preached the Gospel of the Kingdom to Israel, and in the book of Acts he OFFERS the restored Kingdom to Israel if they will "repent and be baptized." He preaches the second coming of Christ.

Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Acts 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

The Day of Pentecost is STRICTLY JEWISH and the only people in town that day were Jews (and some Jewish converts from Rome called "proselytes") Acts 2:5 and 10

Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

Acts 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, never, NOT ONCE, told anyone, anywhere to repent and be baptized. Paul said "teach no other doctrine" and Paul's doctrine does not include water baptism

1 Timothy 1:3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

To "follow the Lord in water baptism" is NOT something that you can do! The reason the Lord was baptized was for a MANIFESTATION to ISRAEL. (John 1:31) You and I have NOTHING that we can manifest to Israel.

John 1:31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

Paul said Christ sent me NOT TO BAPTIZE, but to PREACH THE GOSPEL...not with wisdom of words (1 Corinthians 1:17) The word "primarily" is not in the verse, somebody made it up.

1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

"Walking the aisle for Jesus" and "praying through at the alter" are made up things. Nobody in the bible ever did anything like that nor was anyone ever told to do that.

So today, your salvation is based totally on the fact that Christ died for your sins and he was raised again for your justification. 

Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

There is nothing you can add to that. Just simply believe it and be saved.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

A Jewish Holy Day 1

Contrary to the opinion, and in fact, the teaching of most of fundamental religion today, the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two was NOT a world-wide church festival. It was also NOT the beginning of the church, the body of Christ. As a matter of fact NOTHING began on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. Instead, Old Testament prophecy was FULFILLED on that day.

When Peter and the twelve apostles were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak in tongues that day, they were speaking in the NATIVE languages of all the people who had gathered for the occasion. They were even accused of being drunk.

Acts 2:12 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

Acts 2:13 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Now Peter, who had said “Not so Lord” when the Lord told him about his impending death. Peter who thought the women’s report of the empty tomb sounded like IDLE TALES. Peter who heard the two disciples from Emmaeus tell about seeing the Lord and didn’t believe them EITHER. Peter who NOW believes the Lord is risenfrom the dead and is now ascended into heaven, says:

Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

Acts 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

Acts 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

So what is happening on the Day of Pentecost is not the beginning of something new. It is the fulfillment of prophecy. To understand just what Peter means it would be good to go back and read the book of Joel. It is a short book, but Joel chapter two is what Peter refers to. As a matter of fact he quotes from it. The book of Joel talks about wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood, fire and vapors of smoke, and the book ends with these words:

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and inJerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

The prophecy says that in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance. It speaks of a remnant. A remnant of who? Israel. The whole context of Acts chapter two is about judgment, about tribulation, and about the salvation of a remnant of Israel.

Peter has a message for the men of Israel in Acts chapter two, but for them it is not good news. Acts chapter two is also not good news for you either. Acts chapter two is about a MURDER CHARGE against Israel.

A Jewish Holy Day 2

Many people today believe that Acts chapter two is the gospel for today and that the salvation message for today is in Acts 2:38. Billboards and signs on church buildings proclaim “Obey Acts 2:38.” Well, Acts 2:38 is NOT the gospel to you, and here’s why.
The Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two is a Jewish Holy Day. It comes fifty days after the Passover. The very word PENTE literally means fifty. The Jews were to number seven Sabbaths, or in other words, 49 days, and then the FIFTIETH day, the morrow after the Sabbath was the Day of Pentecost. It was a high day, a Jewish feast day. It was one of the three days of each year that all Jewish men were required to show up. Look at what the bible says:
Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now you can see a list of nations that all those devout Jews were from in verses nine, ten and eleven. They are all Jews and they are all there because it is a Jewish feast day according to the Law of Moses, as in:
Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Now the feast of weeks in the verse is the feast of Pentecost and notice it says they shall not appear before the LORD empty. That means they were to bring gifts. These men were under the Law of Moses, they were keeping the Law and were zealous of the Law,otherwise they wouldn’t have been there. No Gentiles are they on the day of Pentecost. They are all Jews. Peter is a Jew observing the Law on the Day of Pentecost and all the people he addresses are Jews. Listen to his words:
Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
So what happened in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost is not good news for you. It was about Israel, for Israel and to Israel. Instead of the news being good, it is pretty grim. Peter accuses his listeners of murdering their King. The good news is that GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, according to Peter, to SIT ON DAVID’S THRONE. Nothing at all about Christ dying for your sins.Nothing at all about Gentile salvation. Nothing at all about the church, the body of Christ.

A Jewish Holy Day 3

The Apostle Peter has emerged as the spokesman, so to speak, of the 12 Apostles on a Jewish feast day called Pentecost in Acts chapter two. The Pentecostal ministry and message continues all the way up through Acts chapter seven. The entire ministry of Peter is basically Acts chapter one through Acts chapter twelve. In Acts chapter twelve, Peter goes to another place, he cannot be found, and they all wonder what became of Peter. You might wonder too, because he simply disappears out of the book and the ONLY thing you ever know about Peter is that he wrote two books with a total of eight chapters with 166 verses. Not near the supposed far flung world wide evangelism that popular religion teaches. The truth is Peter’s whole ministry AND MESSAGE was confined to the CIRCUMCIZED JEWS except for one occasion he reluctantly went to the home of a Gentile. The only time in the bible Peter EVER preaches to a Gentile is in Acts chapter ten.

But Peter’s Pentecostal message is not the good news that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures and that he was raised again for our justification, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Peter said nothing of the sort, although thousands, perhaps millions of people believe he did.

In the book of Acts, Peter’s message is SHAME ON ISRAEL. It is a message of gloom and doom and blood, fire and smoke. It is a JEWISH tribulation message, but the good news is that Christ has been raised from the dead, he is coming again and he that endures to the end will be saved, IF he meets the conditions.

Take up your bible and check this out. Read what Peter really said. It is not good. Peter DOES NOT glory in the cross. Instead he preaches the death of Christ as a shame….not as good news. It is a MURDER CHARGE against Israel. Let’s just read:

Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Acts 3:14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

Acts 3:15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

Acts 4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

Did you know that Peter does not glory in the cross in the book of Acts? Peter doesn’t know the WHY of the cross in the book of Acts. It is a shame and a murder. The shed blood of Christ is only mentioned ONE TIME in all of Peter’s ministry in the book of Acts and it is NOT mentioned by Peter. It is viewed in a negative light by the people Peter preaches against:

Acts 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

Now finally, look at Stephen’s message in Acts chapter seven:

Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Now was Christ MURDERED for your sins, or did CHRIST DIE FOR YOUR SINS? Jesus said:

John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

After his resurrection, Christ appeared to Peter and the twelve, not once but on three occasions. He also appeared to the women, to the two disciples on the road, and the bible says to over five hundred people at once. But for all that it was only Paul who said:

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

It was Paul who received the message of the WHY of the cross.