Jesus Christ is my God!
Issued 18.12.2004
Conform yourself to the Gospel
We become Christians by the hearing of the gospel. Many things can make us slow to hear the gospel that is "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes". If our gospel resisting attitudes go away from our mind, we are able to conform ourselves to the will of God.
Which gospel?
God became man in Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah, the Son of God. He suffered on the cross the punishment of our sins. God raised Him from the dead and gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth
The receiving of the gospel is easy on the intellectual level, because its message is so simple. The adopting of its content is not as easy, because it offends to our pride. However if someone humbles oneself and is reconciled to God, he is called to live in harmony with the gospel. If we don't comply with God's gospel in our daily life, it is taken away from us.
Jesus emphasizes the importance of our compliance with the words of God we heard by saying: "Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." Mark 4:25 Who observes the gospel he really has the gospel and therefore God speaks more to him. Who offends against the gospel actually has not the gospel, and therefore what he has of it, is taken away from him.
God has said He will take away the gospel from many in End Times, because they have so badly violated it. "The days are coming, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I will send a famine through the land - not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD." Amos 8:11 When God stops preaching the gospel nobody can be saved.
God became man in Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah, the Son of God. He suffered on the cross the punishment of our sins. God raised Him from the dead and gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth
The receiving of the gospel is easy on the intellectual level, because its message is so simple. The adopting of its content is not as easy, because it offends to our pride. However if someone humbles oneself and is reconciled to God, he is called to live in harmony with the gospel. If we don't comply with God's gospel in our daily life, it is taken away from us.
Jesus emphasizes the importance of our compliance with the words of God we heard by saying: "Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." Mark 4:25 Who observes the gospel he really has the gospel and therefore God speaks more to him. Who offends against the gospel actually has not the gospel, and therefore what he has of it, is taken away from him.
God has said He will take away the gospel from many in End Times, because they have so badly violated it. "The days are coming, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I will send a famine through the land - not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD." Amos 8:11 When God stops preaching the gospel nobody can be saved.
Have a share of the salvation
Being reconciled with God is the moment of our salvation. The Bible speaks about the salvation through faith. It also tells how we get the saving faith. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Rom.10:17 Thus the salvation is the event that we experience at the moment when we believe the God's gospel that we heard. It is not any good news, but the message that tells who Jesus is and what He has done for us on Golgotha for about 2000 years ago.
We react to a message we hear with thoughts. What did you say in your heart, when you heard the message? It is a fateful moment! Did you change your thoughts and attitudes according to the message you heard?
Changing your mind conformable to God's gospel is a deed of your spirit, for which God gives you strength - if you yield before His message. Paul urges us to notice that in practice God works in us "by the hearing of faith". "Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?" Gal.3:5
Through the ages people have doubted if it is enough for the salvation what they experienced when they heard in faith. They have thought that they must do something more through which they make it sure that they are saved. These checkings are crimes against the gospel.
Being reconciled with God is the moment of our salvation. The Bible speaks about the salvation through faith. It also tells how we get the saving faith. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Rom.10:17 Thus the salvation is the event that we experience at the moment when we believe the God's gospel that we heard. It is not any good news, but the message that tells who Jesus is and what He has done for us on Golgotha for about 2000 years ago.
We react to a message we hear with thoughts. What did you say in your heart, when you heard the message? It is a fateful moment! Did you change your thoughts and attitudes according to the message you heard?
Changing your mind conformable to God's gospel is a deed of your spirit, for which God gives you strength - if you yield before His message. Paul urges us to notice that in practice God works in us "by the hearing of faith". "Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?" Gal.3:5
Through the ages people have doubted if it is enough for the salvation what they experienced when they heard in faith. They have thought that they must do something more through which they make it sure that they are saved. These checkings are crimes against the gospel.
Crimes against the gospel
Some Jews who had received Jesus as their Messiah, said to the Gentile believers who had became Jesus' own: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." Acts 15:1
Paul opposed strictly the previous message, because hearing it threatened to take away the faith that the gospel had given. He said: "We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you." Gal.2:5
Notice that the motive of a deed decides if it is a crime against the gospel or not. They did it because they believed that this deed would make it sure that they are saved. Paul circumcised Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess, but from a different motive. "Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek." Acts 16:3 Thus Paul didn't oppose the circumcision itself but he was against the attitude that considered it a matter of the salvation.
Only one deed done from a wrong motive is able to move a person out of God's grace. "I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Gal.5:2,4
Notice that instead of the circumcision there can be any deed, if it is done with that same attitude. Thus do not obey this kind of speaking: "Unless you have done that deed, according to the custom, you cannot be saved."
A very common sermon of the law is heard like this: "Unless you have been baptized, you cannot be saved." Many have taken a baptism with the same wrong attitude as Paul mentioned about the people who let themselves be circumcised. What a pity! Many had a share in Jesus when they received the gospel and they fell away from Him by taking a baptism. A baptism must be taken with the attitude that God approves.
Paul feared that religiousness makes the Galatian believers backsliders. "You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." Gal.4:10-11 Also nowadays many are observing the Christian feasts but not the gospel. They think that God accepts them as true Christians because they celebrate the Christian feasts. Woe to them! Through this they refuse to have a share in God's grace.
The real crime against the gospel is always first done in the thoughts of heart. Peter couldn't possibly receive the fact that Jesus died for all the people. He thought that Jesus atoned only the sins of the Jews. Therefore he fell into the deed for which Paul rebuked him. If you first thought wrong things you will certainly sooner or later also do wrong deeds. If the truth of the gospel doesn't live in the thoughts of your heart, your deeds cannot remain compatible with it.
The hearing of the gospel gives you the full peace and the assurance of your salvation. You do not need any other deeds than your thoughts to receive God's grace. One becomes a Christian by the hearing of Christ. You can do nothing to atone your sins, but when you have got the atonement from God, everything you do, do it because you already have got the atonement.
Some Jews who had received Jesus as their Messiah, said to the Gentile believers who had became Jesus' own: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." Acts 15:1
Paul opposed strictly the previous message, because hearing it threatened to take away the faith that the gospel had given. He said: "We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you." Gal.2:5
Notice that the motive of a deed decides if it is a crime against the gospel or not. They did it because they believed that this deed would make it sure that they are saved. Paul circumcised Timothy, whose mother was a Jewess, but from a different motive. "Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek." Acts 16:3 Thus Paul didn't oppose the circumcision itself but he was against the attitude that considered it a matter of the salvation.
Only one deed done from a wrong motive is able to move a person out of God's grace. "I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Gal.5:2,4
Notice that instead of the circumcision there can be any deed, if it is done with that same attitude. Thus do not obey this kind of speaking: "Unless you have done that deed, according to the custom, you cannot be saved."
A very common sermon of the law is heard like this: "Unless you have been baptized, you cannot be saved." Many have taken a baptism with the same wrong attitude as Paul mentioned about the people who let themselves be circumcised. What a pity! Many had a share in Jesus when they received the gospel and they fell away from Him by taking a baptism. A baptism must be taken with the attitude that God approves.
Paul feared that religiousness makes the Galatian believers backsliders. "You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." Gal.4:10-11 Also nowadays many are observing the Christian feasts but not the gospel. They think that God accepts them as true Christians because they celebrate the Christian feasts. Woe to them! Through this they refuse to have a share in God's grace.
The real crime against the gospel is always first done in the thoughts of heart. Peter couldn't possibly receive the fact that Jesus died for all the people. He thought that Jesus atoned only the sins of the Jews. Therefore he fell into the deed for which Paul rebuked him. If you first thought wrong things you will certainly sooner or later also do wrong deeds. If the truth of the gospel doesn't live in the thoughts of your heart, your deeds cannot remain compatible with it.
The hearing of the gospel gives you the full peace and the assurance of your salvation. You do not need any other deeds than your thoughts to receive God's grace. One becomes a Christian by the hearing of Christ. You can do nothing to atone your sins, but when you have got the atonement from God, everything you do, do it because you already have got the atonement.
Conforming to the gospel opposing spirit
Although Peter himself didn't preach the gospel of the circumcision, yet he had a share in it, because he obeyed it in his daily life. He ate the Lord's Supper with the believers who preached this gospel opposing message. They didn't consider the uncircumcised believers true believers and therefore they didn't eat with them. Peter feared and honoured them so much that also he didn't eat any more with the gentile believers. When he excluded a part of the believers out from the same supper he did a crime against the gospel.
When Paul saw, "that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel", he opposed them to their face. Gal.2:14. It is shocking how easily, and by a little deed, a believer can fall away from the faith of the gospel. This is a very serious thing because only by remaining with the gospel one can remain with Jesus. Thus the losing of the gospel is the beginning of the apostasy.
"Now He has reconciled you by Christ physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel that you heard." Col.1:22-23
The temptation to obey a wrong gospel comes from the man's tendency to boast about his religion. Jesus doesn't cause that in us. "That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you." Gal.5:8 The religious pride of our sinful nature is like yeast that easily works through the whole church. "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." Gal.5:9
Many Christian congregations require that the participants of the Lord's Supper are baptized. When doing this they are as Peter, who for the fear of the Jews didn't eat with the gentile believers. The Lord's Supper declares the share in Jesus that means the share in the salvation. Bread and wine describe the content of the gospel one heard. Eating the message means internalizing it.
The only condition of the participation in the Lord's Supper is to have a share in Jesus by hearing the gospel. The Lord's Supper describes the wedding meal of God's Lamb that once will be once at God's place. If someone now is worthy of participating in that heavenly meal, he is now also worthy of participating in the Lord's Supper.
The disobedience to the teachings of Jesus is a different thing from the disobedience to the gospel. Don't mix them. God expects us to follow the teachings of Jesus as fruit of the gospel and not as a condition of the salvation. After you have believed the gospel you can feel secure. He accepts you as His own perfectly. Be not afraid of the authoritative brothers who want to bind you to the chains of religiousness.
Paul told what the reason for the gospel of the circumcision is: "Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh." Gal.6:12-13 This boasting can be described with the often heard sentence: "Also he is one of us."
The same people who make the baptism a condition for participating in the Lord's Supper, demand the person who wants to be baptized also to become a member of their church. If somebody wants only to be baptized into the name of Jesus, they refuse to baptize him. In this way they give us an evidence of their gospel opposing "sourness".
They demand everybody in the Lord's Supper to be baptized so that they could boast about them. They wrong the gospel, although among them there are in other way good brothers as was Peter. God will oppose them to their face, whoever they are!
Although Peter himself didn't preach the gospel of the circumcision, yet he had a share in it, because he obeyed it in his daily life. He ate the Lord's Supper with the believers who preached this gospel opposing message. They didn't consider the uncircumcised believers true believers and therefore they didn't eat with them. Peter feared and honoured them so much that also he didn't eat any more with the gentile believers. When he excluded a part of the believers out from the same supper he did a crime against the gospel.
When Paul saw, "that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel", he opposed them to their face. Gal.2:14. It is shocking how easily, and by a little deed, a believer can fall away from the faith of the gospel. This is a very serious thing because only by remaining with the gospel one can remain with Jesus. Thus the losing of the gospel is the beginning of the apostasy.
"Now He has reconciled you by Christ physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel that you heard." Col.1:22-23
The temptation to obey a wrong gospel comes from the man's tendency to boast about his religion. Jesus doesn't cause that in us. "That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you." Gal.5:8 The religious pride of our sinful nature is like yeast that easily works through the whole church. "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." Gal.5:9
Many Christian congregations require that the participants of the Lord's Supper are baptized. When doing this they are as Peter, who for the fear of the Jews didn't eat with the gentile believers. The Lord's Supper declares the share in Jesus that means the share in the salvation. Bread and wine describe the content of the gospel one heard. Eating the message means internalizing it.
The only condition of the participation in the Lord's Supper is to have a share in Jesus by hearing the gospel. The Lord's Supper describes the wedding meal of God's Lamb that once will be once at God's place. If someone now is worthy of participating in that heavenly meal, he is now also worthy of participating in the Lord's Supper.
The disobedience to the teachings of Jesus is a different thing from the disobedience to the gospel. Don't mix them. God expects us to follow the teachings of Jesus as fruit of the gospel and not as a condition of the salvation. After you have believed the gospel you can feel secure. He accepts you as His own perfectly. Be not afraid of the authoritative brothers who want to bind you to the chains of religiousness.
Paul told what the reason for the gospel of the circumcision is: "Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh." Gal.6:12-13 This boasting can be described with the often heard sentence: "Also he is one of us."
The same people who make the baptism a condition for participating in the Lord's Supper, demand the person who wants to be baptized also to become a member of their church. If somebody wants only to be baptized into the name of Jesus, they refuse to baptize him. In this way they give us an evidence of their gospel opposing "sourness".
They demand everybody in the Lord's Supper to be baptized so that they could boast about them. They wrong the gospel, although among them there are in other way good brothers as was Peter. God will oppose them to their face, whoever they are!
Conform yourself to the fact that Jesus died for everybody
The essential part of the content of the gospel is the fact that God gave Jesus as a sacrifice for all people. Through this sacrifice I see all people have a same value. Showing favouritism is a crime against the gospel. When you think about any person, think that Jesus has died for him/her so that he/she would not perish but he/she had eternal life.
This has the effect in daily matters. If I despise a person in my thoughts I am not acting in line with the truth of the gospel. I am not better than him/her, because Jesus died for the both of us. If my thoughts differ from the truth of the gospel, it certainly will show in some way in my deeds. For example a believer is able to wage war for his father land only because he has lost the truth of the gospel which says that Jesus has died for everybody.
If I hope for a punishment to a person in my heart, I don't live according to the truth of the gospel. The punishment I deserve was once upon Jesus as was also the punishment of the person that I want to punish! Also I have wronged and therefore I am not worthy of judging others. Only Jesus is worthy of judging because He has never wronged and He has suffered the punishment for everybody. Who lives in the truth of the gospel never summons anybody before the court. He rather allows himself to be wronged than fights for his rights.
If I fear and honour a person so much that I worship him/her with the thoughts of my heart, I do not live in the truth of the gospel. Nobody is so good that God didn't need to give His sacrifice for him/her. If I think that someone is accepted by God for one's good deeds, one's descent or one's religion, I mock God's gospel.
Many Christians have done crimes against the gospel for instance in how they have taken a view of the Israeli. They have treated them like God would accept them without receiving Jesus as the Messiah. It is not love to the Jews, but love to the Jewishness which very soon will receive the Anti-Christ as the Messiah.
The essential part of the content of the gospel is the fact that God gave Jesus as a sacrifice for all people. Through this sacrifice I see all people have a same value. Showing favouritism is a crime against the gospel. When you think about any person, think that Jesus has died for him/her so that he/she would not perish but he/she had eternal life.
This has the effect in daily matters. If I despise a person in my thoughts I am not acting in line with the truth of the gospel. I am not better than him/her, because Jesus died for the both of us. If my thoughts differ from the truth of the gospel, it certainly will show in some way in my deeds. For example a believer is able to wage war for his father land only because he has lost the truth of the gospel which says that Jesus has died for everybody.
If I hope for a punishment to a person in my heart, I don't live according to the truth of the gospel. The punishment I deserve was once upon Jesus as was also the punishment of the person that I want to punish! Also I have wronged and therefore I am not worthy of judging others. Only Jesus is worthy of judging because He has never wronged and He has suffered the punishment for everybody. Who lives in the truth of the gospel never summons anybody before the court. He rather allows himself to be wronged than fights for his rights.
If I fear and honour a person so much that I worship him/her with the thoughts of my heart, I do not live in the truth of the gospel. Nobody is so good that God didn't need to give His sacrifice for him/her. If I think that someone is accepted by God for one's good deeds, one's descent or one's religion, I mock God's gospel.
Many Christians have done crimes against the gospel for instance in how they have taken a view of the Israeli. They have treated them like God would accept them without receiving Jesus as the Messiah. It is not love to the Jews, but love to the Jewishness which very soon will receive the Anti-Christ as the Messiah.
Conform yourself to the fact that Jesus destroyed death
The essential part of the content of the gospel is the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted Him on His throne. If God the Father has given Jesus all authority, who am I to keep to myself any power? So for the sake of the gospel I am not any more my own lord, but Jesus Christ is my Lord and my God!
If we think that God raised Jesus from the dead, then we also think that the Spirit of God is able to affect also in our life. Instead if we trust ourselves we do a crime against this fact of the gospel. If I think that I can be independent of Jesus in my daily tasks, then I don't think according to the gospel. If I want to live so that I only please myself, then I do not live according to the fact that my Redeemer has been exalted on the throne of God.
Paul declares that the hearts circumcised by the gospel serve God with the deeds caused by the Spirit of God, and not by those demanded by the letter of the Bible. "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh." Phil.3:3
The essential part of the content of the gospel is the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted Him on His throne. If God the Father has given Jesus all authority, who am I to keep to myself any power? So for the sake of the gospel I am not any more my own lord, but Jesus Christ is my Lord and my God!
If we think that God raised Jesus from the dead, then we also think that the Spirit of God is able to affect also in our life. Instead if we trust ourselves we do a crime against this fact of the gospel. If I think that I can be independent of Jesus in my daily tasks, then I don't think according to the gospel. If I want to live so that I only please myself, then I do not live according to the fact that my Redeemer has been exalted on the throne of God.
Paul declares that the hearts circumcised by the gospel serve God with the deeds caused by the Spirit of God, and not by those demanded by the letter of the Bible. "For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh." Phil.3:3
Conform yourself to the fact who Jesus is
God's gospel about Jesus proclaims that Jesus Christ is Lord! "He is the true God and eternal life." 1John 5:20 How do you act in line with this word of the gospel? If He is your Lord, you submit yourself to Him. His words are spirit and life to you. You really want to obey Him more than other lords. Democracy and majority decisions are against of the supreme power of Jesus.
If a believer votes in an election, he has violated the fact who Jesus is. If someone does a deed aiming to reach through it the acceptance of God, he has violated what Jesus once did on Golgotha.
We submit ourselves to the governing authorities in the same way as Jesus submitted Himself to Herod, to Pilate and to the Emperor of Rome. Although these earthly authorities are appointed by the devil, we say as Paul said, "there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Rom.13:1 In practice he was speaking about the Caesar Nero. God fully sets limits to what the devil is allowed to do. Therefore we don't confess the devil having any real authority.
Thus the politicizing believers don't act in line with the truth of the gospel that Jesus has all authority. We will not reign together with Jesus until He comes here. Now we are to follow the Lamb of God and not trying to govern godless people.
God's gospel about Jesus proclaims that Jesus Christ is Lord! "He is the true God and eternal life." 1John 5:20 How do you act in line with this word of the gospel? If He is your Lord, you submit yourself to Him. His words are spirit and life to you. You really want to obey Him more than other lords. Democracy and majority decisions are against of the supreme power of Jesus.
If a believer votes in an election, he has violated the fact who Jesus is. If someone does a deed aiming to reach through it the acceptance of God, he has violated what Jesus once did on Golgotha.
We submit ourselves to the governing authorities in the same way as Jesus submitted Himself to Herod, to Pilate and to the Emperor of Rome. Although these earthly authorities are appointed by the devil, we say as Paul said, "there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Rom.13:1 In practice he was speaking about the Caesar Nero. God fully sets limits to what the devil is allowed to do. Therefore we don't confess the devil having any real authority.
Thus the politicizing believers don't act in line with the truth of the gospel that Jesus has all authority. We will not reign together with Jesus until He comes here. Now we are to follow the Lamb of God and not trying to govern godless people.
Thoughts and deeds compatible with the gospel
Thinking it right is already half doing it right. We can try to hide our real motives from other people, but God knows all our thoughts. Condemning our own wrong thoughts is the conversion that God is expecting from all people. Don't worry, He will certainly notice, if your thoughts are changing!
God observes the thoughts of all the people. You need not speak to Him so that He would hear you. Whatever you say in the thoughts of your heart it is recorded at God's. According to these documents we are judged one day.
Think about this, God sacrificed His only Son for you! What did you think about this word? It has already been recorded into a heavenly file.
The thoughts compatible with the gospel cause unavoidably deeds compatible with the gospel. Thoughts can be read from deeds, although they cannot be read from words. Many confess their faith to Jesus with their mouth, but they deny Him with their deeds. I am confident of better things in your case. Therefore check your attitudes, if they are compatible with the gospel? If you want to be changed, continuously listen to Jesus. Be not discouraged by how you see yourself.
If you don't turn away from hearing Jesus, nothing can take the salvation from you, not your own evilness, not the devil, not the world nor people. If you give up hearing Jesus, you certainly will perish, no matter how strong your faith is or how authoritative the preachers are who comfort you.
I am reconciled to God only and purely through the sacrifice of Jesus. Before God I have no other merits that I could plead. If I have lived according to the teachings of Jesus, I have only done what I have to do. Thus when I have conformed myself to the teachings of Jesus I have done nothing special or praiseworthy, but I am an unworthy servant. I am satisfied with God's grace in Jesus. I have got peace with God by hearing the sermon of Jesus. Let people say about me whatever they want but what really matters is what Jesus says. So let's hear His voice!
Thinking it right is already half doing it right. We can try to hide our real motives from other people, but God knows all our thoughts. Condemning our own wrong thoughts is the conversion that God is expecting from all people. Don't worry, He will certainly notice, if your thoughts are changing!
God observes the thoughts of all the people. You need not speak to Him so that He would hear you. Whatever you say in the thoughts of your heart it is recorded at God's. According to these documents we are judged one day.
Think about this, God sacrificed His only Son for you! What did you think about this word? It has already been recorded into a heavenly file.
The thoughts compatible with the gospel cause unavoidably deeds compatible with the gospel. Thoughts can be read from deeds, although they cannot be read from words. Many confess their faith to Jesus with their mouth, but they deny Him with their deeds. I am confident of better things in your case. Therefore check your attitudes, if they are compatible with the gospel? If you want to be changed, continuously listen to Jesus. Be not discouraged by how you see yourself.
If you don't turn away from hearing Jesus, nothing can take the salvation from you, not your own evilness, not the devil, not the world nor people. If you give up hearing Jesus, you certainly will perish, no matter how strong your faith is or how authoritative the preachers are who comfort you.
I am reconciled to God only and purely through the sacrifice of Jesus. Before God I have no other merits that I could plead. If I have lived according to the teachings of Jesus, I have only done what I have to do. Thus when I have conformed myself to the teachings of Jesus I have done nothing special or praiseworthy, but I am an unworthy servant. I am satisfied with God's grace in Jesus. I have got peace with God by hearing the sermon of Jesus. Let people say about me whatever they want but what really matters is what Jesus says. So let's hear His voice!
The Bible version used in references is NIV