Articles by: Kenneth J. Ester
The Truth of Salvation
According to most churches today, it is our unforgiven sins that send us to hell, and Jesus died on the cross so we can be forgiven for our sins. Before I address these teachings however, I want to show you a few scriptures. They may seem to have little to do with the subject of salvation, but I want you to read them anyway.
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John 3:13 NASB
13 No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
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Now most of us would agree that there are people in heaven today. When Jesus rose from the dead, He liberated Paradise and opened heaven to all Believers. But at the time he said this, He had not died yet. Everyone who had ever died from the days of Adam all the way to the time Jesus said this went to Hades. Nobody went to heaven. Jesus states this pretty clearly here, would you agree?
Then we have a scripture where the paralytic is lowered through the roof to be healed...
-------
Mark 2-5 NASB
3 And some people came, bringing to Him a man who was paralyzed, carried by four men. 4 And when they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
-------
Finally we have the woman who washed His feet with her tears and perfume, and dried them with her hair. Simon was not particularly happy with it, but when He mentioned it, Jesus had this to say...
-------
Luke 7:46-49 NASB
46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” 49 And then those who were reclining at the table with Him began saying to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
-------
So there we have three fairly clearly written scriptures. It doesn't take a great scholar to understand these verses. Now I will present you with some questions....
1) There was around 4,000 years between Adam and Jesus. During that time, there were countless newborn babies who died at birth. Babies who have never even had a chance to contemplate a sin much less actually commit a sin. Think of how many there must have been of those days who died at birth. ..... Why didn't they go directly to heaven?
Think about that for a moment. If it is unforgiven sin that keeps us out of heaven, then a newborn baby who had never sinned should have gone right to heaven right? But Jesus clearly tells us nobody had ever ascended to heaven at that time. That means not one of those innocent newborns who never committed a sin went to heaven. Even though they didn't even have a sin to be forgiven for, they all went to Hades with everyone else. Clearly it is not just unforgiven sin that keeps us out of heaven. There must be something else. Right? Do you know what it is? Why dont churches teach what it is?
2) If Jesus died on the cross so we can be forgiven for our sins. How was He able to forgive the sins of two people before He ever died on the cross?
Now think about this one as well. Jesus died a very horribly agonizing death. If Salvation is truly the forgiveness of sin, and Jesus had the authority to forgive sins before he died, doesn't that mean He died that terrible death needlessly?
Logically that is exactly what we believe and it simply doesn't work. If salvation was truly the forgiveness of our sins, and Jesus had to die a horrible death to save us, then logically He should not have been able to forgive sins before He died on the cross. If Jesus was able to forgive sins before He died on the cross, then there was no reason He needed to die that horrible death to save us!
Do you see what I just did? With three simple scriptures and a little simple logic, I just proved beyond any doubt, that what most churches are teaching about salvation is wrong. Not only wrong, but impossible!
Right now, you are wanting to deny that those teachings are wrong. That is perfectly natural because we have been taught this same doctrine our entire lives. Nearly every church and every pastor, and certainly every priest teaches the same things. How can nearly every Christian be wrong?
Now go back and read it again if you like. Show me where my logic is flawed. I gave you what most churches are truly teaching about salvation. I gave you three scriptures. There is no chance that I am twisting anything. It is all plainly placed right in front of you. And clearly those teachings simply do not add up!
So now my question is, what will you do?
Me? When I realized this was all wrong, I chose to dig in and learn what the truth of salvation was. Now I am going to teach it to you. You however, have a decision to make. Do you hold onto what you have always been taught just because you do not want to accept that it is wrong? Or will you accept it is obviously wrong and read what I teach with an open mind? I truly hope you will read the rest of this with an open mind, and not just accept it as lie, or even blindly as the truth. It is the truth, but I dont want you to accept it so. I want you to read it and use it as direction to do your own homework and learn the truth for yourself. Study it and let your studies prove what I teach is true.
The Truth of Salvation
The mistake that most everyone is making is to mix up two different doctrines as being one. When Jesus died on the cross, He died for two reasons. Not just one.
1) Jesus died so we can be forgiven for our sins without the need of animal sacrifices to atone for our sins.
This is not what saves us. This is about our personal relationship with God. If you look up the word "atone" in the Old Testament, you find that God often demanded that His people were to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins. Leviticus 4:20 even tells us plainly that God says He will forgive them. Yet as I already pointed out, Jesus said nobody had ever ascended to heaven in the OT days. So clearly the forgiveness of their sins did not save them.
Imagine a man and his son having an argument over the dad telling him he cant go to a party. His kid, in his early teens gets really angry and screams at him "I hate you!" and runs out the door and goes to the party anyway. Should that dad change the locks and kick the kid out to the streets and let him die for breaking his rules? Of course not. A good loving dad would continue to love the kid. However, later on when that kid comes home, in the very least, their relationship will be strained. If the dad jumps on the kid when he walks in, it will likely only cause the kid to storm out again. Nothing would be accomplished. Yet the relationship is damaged. Now if the kid breaks down and shows a repentant heart and tells him he is sorry. Then they can return to getting past what the kid did and they can mend their relationship and even work on growing closer for it.
It is no different with us and God. When we sin, that sin is an act of rebellion against God. He is not going to throw us away because we break His rules. He loves us. God is a loving and forgiving God. Not a tyrant God who is waiting for us to screw up so He can cast us into hell. He wont throw us away because of sin. But we still need to ask Him for forgiveness so that He can wipe the slate clean and we can move forward with our personal relationship with Him. The forgiveness of sin is not about salvation. It is about our relationship with God.
2) We are washed clean by His blood.
The way I like to describe it is that sin is sort of a spiritual cancer. It corrupts what it touches and does not heal on its own. When someone sins, it corrupts their soul. It stains their soul with sin.
When Moses was on the mountain, he asked God to show him His glory. Part of Gods response was that mankind could not see His face and live. That is because God is so perfect and holy, that when He is in His full glory, His presence would literally destroy a corrupted soul. So when Adam sinned, God removed him from the garden. To make it worse, when a man who has a corrupted soul brings forth a child through His seed, that child is born with a soul that is already stained by sin. So basically, the moment Adam sinned, it meant all of mankind would be born with a soul already stained by sin. So God had to block mankind from entering heaven or their souls would be destroyed.
Contrary to many teachings, God does not cast us into hell because we break His rules. God bars us from heaven because He loves us and will not let His presence destroy the souls of those who love Him.
Throughout the Old Testament, God allowed men to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins. Those sacrifices were enough to allow God to forgive the sins they committed, but no animal could ever be pure or holy enough to wash the stain of sin from their souls. Jesus however was God in the flesh and he was born of a virgin. This means that He had no earthly father. He was not born with a soul already stained by sin. His soul was perfect and pure.
---------
Revelation 7:14 (NASB)
14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
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They had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Here is another verse you will be familiar with I think....
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1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NASB)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
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Many use this scripture to prove that these sins send them to hell. The problem is Paul doesnt mention a bunch of different sins here. He mentions different types of "sinners". A Sinner is not used as a noun in the Bible very often. It is a Title for those who are enslaved to sin. The Unbelievers. Too often we use this scripture and ignore the ley verse that explains it.
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11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
----------
You see, Paul wasn't telling us those sins send us to hell. He was telling his church that they used to be those types of sinners, but they are no longer. He doesn't say they aren't because they were forgiven for those sins. He says they are no longer these sinners because they were washed in the name of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus died on the cross, it did more than just allow God to forgive our sins. His blood washes us clean. We are cleansed from the corruption of sin. That is what saves us. Having our souls cleansed from the stain of sin. With our souls cleansed from sins corruption, God is free to allow us entrance into heaven and we will not be destroyed by His presence.
Think about it. The teaching that it is our sins that send us to hell, says God sits up in heaven like some tyrant, just waiting for us to break one of His rules, no matter how small, and if we dont come begging for His forgiveness, He will cast us into a lake of fire to burn forever. That's not the God I serve. God is a loving and patient God. He is a forgiving God. He didn't block us from heaven out of anger. He blocks us out of love so we will not be destroyed by His presence. He became man and died for us. The forgiveness of sin is about reconciling us to Him in our personal relationship. The washing clean of our sin corrupted souls is what saves us.
Now the thing about salvation is that it is not by anything we can possibly do intentionally for ourselves. It is a free gift from God that is offered to everyone.
---------
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
---------
For it to be a gift, it must be completely free to us. If we have to pay any price for it, it becomes a purchase and not a gift. If we have to do anything for it, it is no longer a gift but it is a reward. To be a gift, it must be completely free to us. Because of this, it is offered to everyone.
However, the washing of a soul is not a physical gift. It is a spiritual gift. We cannot simply reach out and take it. There is only one logical way we can possibly accept a gift that is spiritual. We must believe with all our heart that it is real.
This is why the Bible has 19 Primary salvation scriptures that tell us very plainly 'how' we are saved. And all 19 of them clearly states that we are saved by believing in Jesus. When you break down those 19 scriptures, these are the technical rules to being saved....
1) You must believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.
2) You must believe that Jesus died to save us.
3) You must believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.
4) You must believe those three things enough that you can turn to someone and say "Jesus is Lord" and mean it.
That is the truth of Salvation. First we are saved by believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Anyone who truly believes that is washed clean and going to heaven. Everything after, including asking God to forgive our sins, is about our personal relationship with God.
False Doctrines on Salvation:
Saved by Works
Saved by Water Baptism
Saved by Repenting of Sin
-------
John 3:13 NASB
13 No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
-------
Now most of us would agree that there are people in heaven today. When Jesus rose from the dead, He liberated Paradise and opened heaven to all Believers. But at the time he said this, He had not died yet. Everyone who had ever died from the days of Adam all the way to the time Jesus said this went to Hades. Nobody went to heaven. Jesus states this pretty clearly here, would you agree?
Then we have a scripture where the paralytic is lowered through the roof to be healed...
-------
Mark 2-5 NASB
3 And some people came, bringing to Him a man who was paralyzed, carried by four men. 4 And when they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and after digging an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
-------
Finally we have the woman who washed His feet with her tears and perfume, and dried them with her hair. Simon was not particularly happy with it, but when He mentioned it, Jesus had this to say...
-------
Luke 7:46-49 NASB
46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” 49 And then those who were reclining at the table with Him began saying to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
-------
So there we have three fairly clearly written scriptures. It doesn't take a great scholar to understand these verses. Now I will present you with some questions....
1) There was around 4,000 years between Adam and Jesus. During that time, there were countless newborn babies who died at birth. Babies who have never even had a chance to contemplate a sin much less actually commit a sin. Think of how many there must have been of those days who died at birth. ..... Why didn't they go directly to heaven?
Think about that for a moment. If it is unforgiven sin that keeps us out of heaven, then a newborn baby who had never sinned should have gone right to heaven right? But Jesus clearly tells us nobody had ever ascended to heaven at that time. That means not one of those innocent newborns who never committed a sin went to heaven. Even though they didn't even have a sin to be forgiven for, they all went to Hades with everyone else. Clearly it is not just unforgiven sin that keeps us out of heaven. There must be something else. Right? Do you know what it is? Why dont churches teach what it is?
2) If Jesus died on the cross so we can be forgiven for our sins. How was He able to forgive the sins of two people before He ever died on the cross?
Now think about this one as well. Jesus died a very horribly agonizing death. If Salvation is truly the forgiveness of sin, and Jesus had the authority to forgive sins before he died, doesn't that mean He died that terrible death needlessly?
Logically that is exactly what we believe and it simply doesn't work. If salvation was truly the forgiveness of our sins, and Jesus had to die a horrible death to save us, then logically He should not have been able to forgive sins before He died on the cross. If Jesus was able to forgive sins before He died on the cross, then there was no reason He needed to die that horrible death to save us!
Do you see what I just did? With three simple scriptures and a little simple logic, I just proved beyond any doubt, that what most churches are teaching about salvation is wrong. Not only wrong, but impossible!
Right now, you are wanting to deny that those teachings are wrong. That is perfectly natural because we have been taught this same doctrine our entire lives. Nearly every church and every pastor, and certainly every priest teaches the same things. How can nearly every Christian be wrong?
Now go back and read it again if you like. Show me where my logic is flawed. I gave you what most churches are truly teaching about salvation. I gave you three scriptures. There is no chance that I am twisting anything. It is all plainly placed right in front of you. And clearly those teachings simply do not add up!
So now my question is, what will you do?
Me? When I realized this was all wrong, I chose to dig in and learn what the truth of salvation was. Now I am going to teach it to you. You however, have a decision to make. Do you hold onto what you have always been taught just because you do not want to accept that it is wrong? Or will you accept it is obviously wrong and read what I teach with an open mind? I truly hope you will read the rest of this with an open mind, and not just accept it as lie, or even blindly as the truth. It is the truth, but I dont want you to accept it so. I want you to read it and use it as direction to do your own homework and learn the truth for yourself. Study it and let your studies prove what I teach is true.
The Truth of Salvation
The mistake that most everyone is making is to mix up two different doctrines as being one. When Jesus died on the cross, He died for two reasons. Not just one.
1) Jesus died so we can be forgiven for our sins without the need of animal sacrifices to atone for our sins.
This is not what saves us. This is about our personal relationship with God. If you look up the word "atone" in the Old Testament, you find that God often demanded that His people were to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins. Leviticus 4:20 even tells us plainly that God says He will forgive them. Yet as I already pointed out, Jesus said nobody had ever ascended to heaven in the OT days. So clearly the forgiveness of their sins did not save them.
Imagine a man and his son having an argument over the dad telling him he cant go to a party. His kid, in his early teens gets really angry and screams at him "I hate you!" and runs out the door and goes to the party anyway. Should that dad change the locks and kick the kid out to the streets and let him die for breaking his rules? Of course not. A good loving dad would continue to love the kid. However, later on when that kid comes home, in the very least, their relationship will be strained. If the dad jumps on the kid when he walks in, it will likely only cause the kid to storm out again. Nothing would be accomplished. Yet the relationship is damaged. Now if the kid breaks down and shows a repentant heart and tells him he is sorry. Then they can return to getting past what the kid did and they can mend their relationship and even work on growing closer for it.
It is no different with us and God. When we sin, that sin is an act of rebellion against God. He is not going to throw us away because we break His rules. He loves us. God is a loving and forgiving God. Not a tyrant God who is waiting for us to screw up so He can cast us into hell. He wont throw us away because of sin. But we still need to ask Him for forgiveness so that He can wipe the slate clean and we can move forward with our personal relationship with Him. The forgiveness of sin is not about salvation. It is about our relationship with God.
2) We are washed clean by His blood.
The way I like to describe it is that sin is sort of a spiritual cancer. It corrupts what it touches and does not heal on its own. When someone sins, it corrupts their soul. It stains their soul with sin.
When Moses was on the mountain, he asked God to show him His glory. Part of Gods response was that mankind could not see His face and live. That is because God is so perfect and holy, that when He is in His full glory, His presence would literally destroy a corrupted soul. So when Adam sinned, God removed him from the garden. To make it worse, when a man who has a corrupted soul brings forth a child through His seed, that child is born with a soul that is already stained by sin. So basically, the moment Adam sinned, it meant all of mankind would be born with a soul already stained by sin. So God had to block mankind from entering heaven or their souls would be destroyed.
Contrary to many teachings, God does not cast us into hell because we break His rules. God bars us from heaven because He loves us and will not let His presence destroy the souls of those who love Him.
Throughout the Old Testament, God allowed men to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins. Those sacrifices were enough to allow God to forgive the sins they committed, but no animal could ever be pure or holy enough to wash the stain of sin from their souls. Jesus however was God in the flesh and he was born of a virgin. This means that He had no earthly father. He was not born with a soul already stained by sin. His soul was perfect and pure.
---------
Revelation 7:14 (NASB)
14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
----------
They had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Here is another verse you will be familiar with I think....
----------
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NASB)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
----------
Many use this scripture to prove that these sins send them to hell. The problem is Paul doesnt mention a bunch of different sins here. He mentions different types of "sinners". A Sinner is not used as a noun in the Bible very often. It is a Title for those who are enslaved to sin. The Unbelievers. Too often we use this scripture and ignore the ley verse that explains it.
----------
11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
----------
You see, Paul wasn't telling us those sins send us to hell. He was telling his church that they used to be those types of sinners, but they are no longer. He doesn't say they aren't because they were forgiven for those sins. He says they are no longer these sinners because they were washed in the name of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus died on the cross, it did more than just allow God to forgive our sins. His blood washes us clean. We are cleansed from the corruption of sin. That is what saves us. Having our souls cleansed from the stain of sin. With our souls cleansed from sins corruption, God is free to allow us entrance into heaven and we will not be destroyed by His presence.
Think about it. The teaching that it is our sins that send us to hell, says God sits up in heaven like some tyrant, just waiting for us to break one of His rules, no matter how small, and if we dont come begging for His forgiveness, He will cast us into a lake of fire to burn forever. That's not the God I serve. God is a loving and patient God. He is a forgiving God. He didn't block us from heaven out of anger. He blocks us out of love so we will not be destroyed by His presence. He became man and died for us. The forgiveness of sin is about reconciling us to Him in our personal relationship. The washing clean of our sin corrupted souls is what saves us.
Now the thing about salvation is that it is not by anything we can possibly do intentionally for ourselves. It is a free gift from God that is offered to everyone.
---------
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
---------
For it to be a gift, it must be completely free to us. If we have to pay any price for it, it becomes a purchase and not a gift. If we have to do anything for it, it is no longer a gift but it is a reward. To be a gift, it must be completely free to us. Because of this, it is offered to everyone.
However, the washing of a soul is not a physical gift. It is a spiritual gift. We cannot simply reach out and take it. There is only one logical way we can possibly accept a gift that is spiritual. We must believe with all our heart that it is real.
This is why the Bible has 19 Primary salvation scriptures that tell us very plainly 'how' we are saved. And all 19 of them clearly states that we are saved by believing in Jesus. When you break down those 19 scriptures, these are the technical rules to being saved....
1) You must believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.
2) You must believe that Jesus died to save us.
3) You must believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.
4) You must believe those three things enough that you can turn to someone and say "Jesus is Lord" and mean it.
That is the truth of Salvation. First we are saved by believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Anyone who truly believes that is washed clean and going to heaven. Everything after, including asking God to forgive our sins, is about our personal relationship with God.
False Doctrines on Salvation:
Saved by Works
Saved by Water Baptism
Saved by Repenting of Sin
