“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12 NASB1995)
I am a minister of the gospel of Christ who shares the message of the gospel daily in the writings that the Lord gives me to share each day. But the gospel message that I share is presently under attack, and it is being knocked down and misrepresented and falsely accused of it being “works salvation,” which it is not. And so I am also being attacked and falsely accused of teaching “works salvation.” And some of these personal attacks are to my face, and some of them are possibly behind my back where I cannot see them.
And it doesn’t matter how much I quote the words of Jesus Christ and of his New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context, this is largely being ignored in favor of a very popular “gospel” message which teaches that we can make a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ and that is enough to secure for us salvation of all sin and eternal life with God in heaven, no works required at all. And they will usually quote the Scriptures out of their biblical context in order to try to prove their point.
And many people are buying into this “no works,” “no obedience,” “no repentance” gospel message because it makes no requirements of them that they must die to sin and obey God and do the works God prepared in advance that they should do, in obedience to him, as his workmanship, and in order to have genuine salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. For all of God’s promises have conditions we must meet in order for us to be recipients of those promises. And his gospel is not unrestricted.
Nonetheless, it appears that the dominant “gospel” being taught and received and accepted in the USA today, and perhaps in other nations, is a diluted, altered, and twisted “gospel” message which takes Scriptures out of their original context, and then twists them to say what they do not say if taught in the appropriate context, and which makes no requirements of its adherents that they must die to sin, obey God, and do the works God prepared in advance that we should walk in them, as his followers.
But are we saved by our own fleshly works? No! We can do nothing in our own flesh to earn or to deserve our own salvation. It is only by the grace of God, and only by God-persuaded faith in the Lord Jesus, and not of our own doing, that any of us have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught that we must die to sin and obey God in practice or we do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. If sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, but we will face the wrath of God, instead.
And this is because faith in Jesus Christ is not lip service only. Faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, and which is persuaded of God, will be persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with Christ to sin and to now walk in obedience to his commands, in daily practice, or it is not biblical faith which saves. Faith = obedience, and disobedience = unbelief (see Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; etc.).
So, yes, we do not work to earn our own salvation. But our salvation from sin, which comes from God, requires that we obey God, in practice, and that we not continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, for us to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. Jesus taught it. Paul taught it. And the other New Testament apostles taught it. But this obedience is not of our own flesh, but it is empowered by God, as is our death to sin by the grace of God, in his power. Bottom line, we must surrender all to God!!!
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
My Sheep
Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.
So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…
They know my voice, so they follow me.
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Lies Spread Against You
An Original Work / July 31, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love