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Vol. 14 / Issue 51 / June 30 2011

Contents of this issue

Editorial

John MacArthur is Wrong! - False Gospel - Part 14

A Very Special E-card for 4th of July

Join us in Facebook



News Items (Common to all issues) :

Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

Download Articles in Handheld Computers

Please Join us in "Peace Prayer Room"

Your Spam Folder

Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online

Through the Valley of Death

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God? Book

Free E-Cards

Online Games for you!



Editorial

By Sherly Isaac

4th of July the independence of America! This was the day on July 4th, 1776 when independence was declared from the Kingdom of Great Britain. More than two centuries have passed since this celebration, but the joy never ceases because it was the joyous and proud moment for America when USA found freedom from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Freedom always brings great joy in one's life, in one's country or in one's community. But behind these celebrations and joy there is a painful past where you can see the sacrifice of those young men and women who had given their lives and had shed their blood in order to purchase this freedom. If we are rejoicing today, if we are celebrating today, if we are enjoying freedom today, it is because someone has paid the price for our freedom. Yes, freedom is not cheap though we take it for granted and does not care much about it.

Similarly every person is in the bondage of sin and sin separates us from God. As long as we are in the bondage of sin we cannot enjoy the freedom and peace of God. Jesus understood it very well and said in Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And also we read in John 8:34-36, "Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

When we sin and when we live in sin we are slave of sin and we need deliverance from our sins. But no matter how much we try, our efforts cannot help us to save us from our sins and we need a Savior who could make us free and give us a bondage free life. For this very reason Jesus came in this world and gave His precious life on the cruel cross so that we could come out of our sins and live a holy life. He paid the ultimate price for our redemption. Jesus went to the cross for your redemption and for my redemption. Jesus suffered pain and sorrow even unto death for you and for me so that we could enjoy freedom from sins and freedom from eternal death that would lead us to hell.

Before His death on the cross, (in Mat 26:27-28), "Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Today, Remission of sins are available for us by the shed blood of Jesus and with this comes a life free from sin and guilt. More than that, He gives eternal life - A life that never fades away, a life eternally in heaven.

Jesus did everything for you and me for our salvation. If your sins have not yet been forgiven, then you need to come to Jesus and accept Him as your Lord and Savior and receive the freedom from your sins and join in the celebration along with those who have been redeemed.



John MacArthur is Wrong! - False Gospel - Part 14

By Sherly Isaac

To read previous or next parts please click on these links:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29

John MacArthur writes in his book titled, "Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus" (Chapter 1, page 13-15, under the title, "The Narrow Gate"), that, "But if Christians don't acknowledge and preach the fact that salvation is through Christ alone, they are herding unwitting people through the wide gate that leads to destruction. That's not my opinion; that's the Word of God. People are breezing through those wide, comfortable, inviting gates with all their baggage, their self needs, their self-esteem, and their desire for fulfillment and self-satisfaction. And the most horrible thing about it is they think they're going to heaven. And somebody thinks he's done them a big favor by coming up with a consumer-friendly gospel about which everybody feels good.

But that gospel is a false gospel, a treacherous lie. That easy access gate doesn't go to heaven. It says "Heaven" but it ends up in hell."


It is true that salvation is through Christ alone but John MacArthur never tells his readers how a person can get salvation in their lives. If the salvation of Jesus is not preached and if a preacher never tells them how their sins could be forgiven by the precious blood of Jesus, then there is no use of preaching the message whether it is consumer-friendly or non-consumer friendly. More than that, salvation is an experience of encountering God which cannot be achieved by our own efforts or by self denial. A person can deny everything worldly and sit on a mountain top and yet he/she cannot get forgiveness of his/her sins unless they repent and turn to God.

But John MacArthur has replaced the true Gospel of Jesus Christ with just self denial and that of course is a false Gospel, a treacherous lie.

Jesus said in John 10:9-10 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Notice in the statement of Jesus that He never said, "If you deny yourself then only you will be SAVED.... go and cut yourself.... go and sit in mountains having no food or clothes... No, Jesus never said that. But Jesus simply said, "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." And He further said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

By saying this Jesus clearly spoke that there is no use of cutting yourself and torturing yourself but just enter by Me and you will be saved. And also Jesus made it clear that He came to give us abundant life and not a miserable life just as John MacArthur thinks and says. He thinks that those who are having no want, those who are living a comfortable life, and those who are having high esteem and a blessed life are all going through the wide gate. But he is wrong again. If a person gives up his worldly possessions, worldly positions yet he cannot achieve salvation because our good works, self denial etc. does not give us salvation but only the blood of Jesus alone can save us from our sins.

Further John MacArthur says "Because narrow is the gate," Jesus said in Matthew 7:14, "and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." I agree that we have a hard time finding it, especially today. You could go to church after church after church and never find it. It's a very narrow gate."

The same teaching appears in Luke 13:23-24: "Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them, Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.'" It's hard to find, and it's hard to get through.

Why is it so hard to find today, and why is it so hard to get through? It's hard to find because so many churches have strayed from teaching the truth of the gospel. And it's even harder, once we've heard the truth, to submit to it. Man worships himself. He's his own god. What we need to tell people is not "Come to Christ and you'll feel better about yourself," or "Jesus wants to meet whatever your needs are." Jesus doesn't want to meet our needs--our worldly, earthly, human needs. He wants us to be willing to say, "I will abandon all the things I think I need for the sake of Christ."


In the above paragraph, John MacArthur spoke entirely opposite of the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. Jesus said in Mat 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." and MacArthur is saying that we should not tell people to come to Jesus and find rest of their souls!

Jesus again and again promised that He is willing to meet all our needs as we read in Mat 6:26-29, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"

But surprisingly enough John MacArthur says that, "Jesus doesn't want to meet our needs--our worldly, earthly, human needs." And by saying this he is preaching another gospel which is forbidden throughout the Bible.

Further he writes, "It's hard to get through the narrow gate because it's so hard for us to deny ourselves. Jesus' first requirement in Luke 9 was for Christians to deny themselves, but that's just above impossible to do. Self-importance is the reigning reality in human fallenness: man is the master of his own soul, captain of his own fate, the monarch of his own world."

Luke 9 says like this:
Luke 9:1, Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
Luke 9:2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 9:3 And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.
Luke 9:4 "Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.
Luke 9:5 "And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."
Luke 9:6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.


Jesus was talking to His disciples who were already saved and were ready for the ministry. Jesus was not talking to people who needed salvation of their sins. Neither Jesus said that you have to give up all your belongings but He simply said that they did not need to worry about their journey because everything they needed would be provided wherever they will go. And again it is not necessary for salvation of our souls.

This is from the blog of John MacArthur titled, "Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It!" written on Wednesday, April 06, 2011, "Sin is a cruel tyrant. It is the most devastating and degenerating power ever to afflict the human race, such that the entire creation “groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now” (Rom. 8:22). It corrupts the entire person – infecting the soul, polluting the mind, defiling the conscience, contaminating the affections, and poisoning the will. It is the life-destroying, soul-condemning cancer that festers and grows in every unredeemed human heart like an incurable gangrene. (pp. 120-21)

The Bible tells us the truth: we were not only infected by sin, it owned us. Sin was our master and we had no choice but to serve.

And that’s the good news: Jesus redeemed us from the slave market of sin—that’s the doctrine of redemption. Redemption is Jesus Christ paying a price we could never pay to deliver us from our bondage to sin through His death on the cross."


Though this blog gives a clear picture of man being slave to sin but fails to provide a solution for sin or how a person can be redeemed and how a person can be saved from his/her sins. The author in John MacArthur' blog quotes Romans 8:16-18 which is applicable only for those who are already redeemed and tries to confuse his readers.

Rom 6:18, "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.


Again it is confusion between discipleship and getting saved. Paul is addressing his audience who were already saved probably to the disciples themselves and so he is not telling here how to get salvation of our souls. These things come after getting salvation through the blood of Jesus when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

It is true that we are born in sin and as slave of sin, but self-denial does not save us from our sins or slavery. Only when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior then only we are saved. Jesus Himself said in John 3:15-18, "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

So the very first thing is to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and to give our lives to Him. All else comes after it.



A Very Special E-card for 4th of July

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Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

As the Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it." And also the Bible says in Numbers 16:48, "And he (Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped." We have fasting prayer every second Tuesday of each month. Our next fasting prayer meeting will be conducted on 16th Nov. 2015

Download Articles in Handheld Computers

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Hindi / Malayalam/Tamil Bible Online

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Through the Valley of Death

As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.

This book is available for purchase at JasmineCorp Store

Free Tutorials for your Kids!

Now you can learn Graphics and web designing online. These tutorials are free but you may need to get login ID by registering yourslef. Currently tutorials for Paint Shop Pro, HTML and Dreamweaver/Fireworks are available but in future more tutorials will be added.

Check the tutorials at:http://jasminecorp.net/tutorial

Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God? Book

Now available "Allah and Elohim - Are they the same God" Available at JasmineCorp Store, and "Is Jesus God?" Available at JasmineCorp Store,

Both books compares the Bible and the Quran and read eye opening facts about Jesus, God of the Bible, Allah and Islamic faith. I am sure that you want to read this.

Also read:
Book Title: Is Jesus God?
Author: Sherly Isaac
ISBN: 0759628092
http://insearchofpeace.org/books.htm

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