Program 121: Salvation is an individual gift, not a group gift

No one is saved through membership in or affiliation with a church. Salvation is based on the individual’s acceptance by faith of the gift of salvation.

Welcome to WLC Radio, a subsidiary of World’s Last Chance Ministries, an online ministry dedicated to learning how to live in constant readiness for the Savior's return.

For two thousand years, believers of every generation have longed to be the last generation. Contrary to popular belief, though, Christ did not give believers “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, he repeatedly warned that his coming would take even the faithful by surprise. Yahushua urgently warned believers to be ready because, he said, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Part 1: (Miles & Dave)

Miles Robey: Hello and welcome! This is Miles Robey—

Dave Wright: And I’m Dave Wright.

Miles: And we want to welcome you to World’s Last Chance Radio.

Today, Dave’s going to be talking about a trap a lot of Christians fall into. I don’t think it’s something they’re even really aware of doing, but it happens. A lot.

Dave: I don’t think most people are aware of it either, but let’s back up a minute.

Have you ever had a fight with your wife over a breakdown in communication?

Miles: Well … I’m not sure it escalated into a fight, but there were some hurt feelings until we figured out just what had happened and where the miscommunication had occurred.

Dave: Miscommunication can cause some really big problems, not just between spouses, but friends, work colleagues and even countries. Did you ever hear of the biggest miscommunication of the Cold War?

Miles: You mean when Nikita Khrushchev told America that the Soviets would outlast the United States and Americans freaked out because they thought he said, “We will bury you”? That miscommunication?

Dave laughs: No, but that’s a memorable one, too. I’m thinking of one that was even worse.

Miles: Worse?! This, I’ve got to hear. Do tell.

Dave: Well, in 1977, American president, Jimmy Carter, took a trip to Poland. Now, remember: 1977. This was at the height of the Cold War. It was going to be the first time a US president held a press conference in a communist country. He would be answering questions from real, live, honest-to-goodness Communists!

Miles and Dave: Ooooo!

Miles: Scary! So. What happened?

Dave: Well, the U.S. State Department hired this translator by the name of Steven Seymour to translate for the president.

Miles: Right. Can’t trust the commies to correctly translate the president’s speech. So, what happened?

Dave chuckles: Well, I think they’d have been better off if they had let the Polish government provide a translator.

When President Carter referred to having left the United States that morning, Seymour translated it as the President saying that he had abandoned the US forever.

When the president said he’d come to learn the Poles’ desires for the future, Seymour translated the president as saying he desired the Poles … carnally.

Miles: Oh, that’s bad!

Dave: It gets worse! When President Carter said he was happy to be in Poland, what the listening Poles heard was that he was happy to “grasp at Poland’s private parts.”

Miles: Oh, no! And everyone wondered why the “Cold War” suddenly turned hot.

Dave: Well … it didn’t go that far, but it certainly made President Carter the punchline of a lot of jokes.

But you can see, can’t you, how miscommunication—either through words or ideas—can create some real problems and often the consequences can be far more serious than an embarrassed political leader.

Miles: Oh, yeah. And when it comes to spiritual realities, the consequences can be even more devastating. A wrong idea, clung to, can lead to the loss of eternal life. It’s a really serious issue.

Dave: That’s the trap I see too many Christians falling into.

Miles: What do you mean? Can you get more specific?

Dave: What I see happening over, and over, and over again, is Christians surrendering responsibility for their own salvation to their priest, or pastor, or some other spiritual leader.

Miles: In what way? How do you see that happening?

Dave: I see it happening a number of ways.

Have you ever tried to share a new concept, a new spiritual truth with someone, maybe a different interpretation of prophecy, and he rejected it because you don’t have, say, a doctorate of divinity degree? You’re not a minister?

Miles: Mmmm, not quite as blatant as that. But I’ve had friends who will listen … then the very first thing they do is run share it with their pastor to get his opinion on it. Next thing I know, they come back telling me their pastor says it’s wrong.

It’s very clear they haven’t studied the concept for themselves. They’re just repeating verbatim the arguments their pastor used—and frequently, it’s very clear that their pastor hasn’t studied it either, because he uses arguments that would have been answered if either of them had bothered to actually take a look at the evidence presented!

Dave: I’ve encountered that, too. In fact, a couple of times, people I know have gone so far as to say that if there is something they need to know, their pastor will tell them.

Miles: I had someone tell me that if there were some new development of truth, he’d be able to read about it in their denominational magazine that comes out once a month.

Dave: That’s just sad. Recently, my wife shared with me a frustrating conversation she’d had with a friend. She was trying to share a beautiful concept she’d learned recently, but the other woman didn’t want to hear it. She said, “You should really share this with my husband. You know, he’s a barrister and men are just so much more logical about this sort of thing.”

Miles: Incredible. She basically said she wasn’t as smart as her husband. That’s her excuse for not thinking or studying for herself?

Dave: Well, that’s no different than letting your pastor do your thinking for you. Whether it’s your priest, pastor, spouse, or even your parent, it is still giving over responsibility for your own salvation to someone else and that is something we are never to do.

Turn over to Ezekiel 14. Let’s see what Scripture has to say about this. In this passage, Yahuwah is warning Israel about the consequences for persistent unfaithfulness, but the warning holds true for those who are all too ready to let their pastors take responsibility for their own salvation.

You have it? Go ahead and start reading at verse 12.

Miles:

The word of Yahuwah came again to me, saying: “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says Yahuwah Elohim. [Verses 12-14.]

Dave: In Scripture, “bread” is a symbol for truth. When people reject truth, there is a “famine” in the land for truth. Now, if you are trusting the editors of your church paper to keep you informed of the latest development of truth, what’s going to happen if they don’t publish it because they themselves have rejected it?

Miles: You’re going to stay ignorant.

Dave: Or you’re going to reject something that actually is the truth for no other reason than you didn’t read about it in your church paper. Are you really willing to make that gamble—that someone you don’t know, will accept the truth and decide to write about it in the church journal?

Miles: That’s quite the gamble—especially if the new truth contradicts the statement of beliefs of the denomination that hires that editor and publishes the magazine.

Dave: Right. Okay, go on, uh … verses 15 and 16.

Miles:

“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says Yahuwah Elohim, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.”

Dave: In prophecy, “beasts” symbolize governments. Ravening beasts—beasts that rend and devour like the ones described here—symbolize governments that are persecuting powers against Yah’s people.

Now, leave your finger there in Ezekiel 14 and turn really quickly to Romans 13 and read the first two verses. What does it say?

Miles: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from Yahuwah, and the authorities that exist are appointed by Yahuwah. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of Yah, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”

Dave: Now. Most Christians are—rightfully so—leery of government oppression. We know our history. We’ve heard the stories of brave souls who were martyred for standing for the truth when the state religion declared it illegal.

Miles: Well, it’s still happening. There are countries where Christians, even now, are oppressed; where converts must go into hiding or their relatives will kill them for forsaking the state religion.

Dave: And it could happen again in the days ahead. Think about it: we know that this passage in Romans has already been used by governments in the past to compel the consciences of their citizens.

So, any time there is governmental oppression of religion, I think it’s a pretty good guess that religious leaders will preach from this passage. They’ve been compromising on various points of truth all along. Why wouldn’t they urge their parishioners to conform with the law of the land, even though it breaks the divine law?

In times of danger or chaos, religious liberty is always sacrificed for the so-called “greater good.”

Miles: Yep. When everything’s in chaos, governments insist on conformity, not independence. So when your family, friends, and neighbors go along with the new laws, are you going to have the courage to stand on the word of Yah, and the word of Yah alone, and refuse to conform?

Dave: That’s a question we all need to ask ourselves. And what Yahuwah is saying through the prophet Ezekiel, is that you can’t trust your soul to governments any more than you can trust them to religious leaders. Everyone must stand alone before Yah and choose to accept salvation for himself or herself. You can’t accept salvation for someone else. And they can’t accept it for you.

Okay. Go on. Verses 17 to 20, of Ezekiel 14.

Miles:

“Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I cut off man and beast from it, even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says Yahuwah Elohim, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.

“Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says Yahuwah Elohim, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

Dave: Notice that the point Yahuwah keeps repeating over, and over, and over again is: “Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job—three righteous individuals—were in the land, they could not save anyone else but themselves.”

Parents: you can’t save your grown kids. You can influence them to make the right choice by godly parenting, but ultimately it will be their own choice. Same with pastors, priests, imams, gurus, rabbis … whatever. No one can choose to accept salvation for someone else.

Miles: What does it mean where it says “they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” We don’t have our own righteousness.

Dave: No, but all who accept it may have the righteousness of Christ credited to their accounts. That’s what it means. Noah, Daniel, and Job were righteous men in the sense that they made choices for Yah. But they were still sinners. Their “righteousness” was the righteousness of Christ, retroactively applied to their lives.

But no one can accept the righteousness of Christ for someone else. This is the point Yahuwah is making here. I can’t accept it for you. You can’t accept it for your wife. A priest or pastor cannot accept it for their church members.

And yet, sadly, that is the mistake the vast majority of Christians are making when they stop studying and thinking independently for themselves. When they trust their religious leaders or their church paper to tell them the truth, they are, in effect, making their church leaders, the editors of their church paper, responsible for their salvation. And that is a very serious trap to fall into.

Miles: It really is. We’re going to take a quick break but when we return, let’s talk about that some more.

We’ll be right back.

* * *

Advertisement* * *Part 2: (Miles & Dave)

Dave: Salvation is a gift. But, it’s a gift that each one of us must choose to accept for ourselves. I can’t accept for my wife; you can’t accept for your kids; your pastor can’t accept for … anybody! Only himself.

Miles: It seems so simple; so obvious: one person accepts salvation for someone else.

And yet that’s exactly what happens when a person refuses to accept anything that his religious leader hasn’t accepted.

Dave: I don’t want anyone to go away from today’s program and say, “Oh, Dave says that all religious leaders are charlatans and infidels that are headed to hell.”

I don’t believe that. I think there are some that are very sincere. You don’t go into the ministry to get rich. Many go into the ministry from a sincere desire to work for Yah, to lead souls to Him. They feel “called” to the ministry.

Miles: I’ve known some very sincere men and women who have dedicated their lives in ministry to Yah and I think Yahuwah has used them.

But …

Dave: But … the problem is: priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, Bible teachers, even missionaries … they’re all employed by religious organizations that, to one degree or another, have rejected some points of truth.

If your ability to provide food for your family, shoes for your kids … clothes, schooling … is connected to an organization that has a specific set of beliefs—

Miles: And you are expected to support and teach those specific beliefs …

Dave: –You’re going to have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. It’s probably subconscious, but if you start preaching on points of doctrine that your organization rejects as error, it doesn’t matter how may Biblical proofs you have to back you up, you’re not going to last long as an employee of that denomination.

Miles: Well, let’s face it: Christianity is a religion of exclusion. You might agree on 99 points of doctrine, but if you disagree on a single point, that’s cause for splitting off and establishing a new denomination!

Dave: Happens all the time. This is why you never want to make anyone your own personal religious guru.

Miles: Guru?

Dave: Gurus are personal religious leaders in Hinduism. They provide spiritual guidance. And there’s nothing wrong with learning from someone. The balance, though, is to study with an open mind and let the spirit of Yah be your instructor. You can listen to what someone has to say, but then take it to the word of Yah. Compare Scripture with Scripture and decide for yourself.

It concerns me when believers don’t do this. I see many Christians making their pastor or priest their de facto guru. They refuse to consider new light with an open mind. They assume that if there is anything more they need to know, their pastor will tell them.

Miles: And if their pastor-guru tells them some idea is wrong, they’ll reject it without even studying it out for themselves.

Dave: That’s the danger of trusting someone else to decide for you what is truth. Let’s take a look at Revelation 3. Could you turn there?

In Revelation 2 and 3 we have the messages to the seven churches. Most of the churches are praised while, at the same time, a weakness or failing on their part is pointed out.

Not so with the message to the church of Laodicea. This church is unique. Let’s read it! Revelation 3, verses 14 to 17.

Miles:

And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of Yah: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

Dave: The sin of the Laodiceans is spiritual pride. They’re know-it-alls! They think they know everything necessary for salvation.

Miles: I’ve met plenty of people like that. Hey, I used to be like that myself! And it takes a concentrated effort to not slip back into that mentality.

Dave: I hear you. The problem with such an attitude, though, is that it makes everything you don’t currently believe, wrong by default.

So, you can run to your pastor or spiritual advisor all you want. You can ask him (or her) “Is this true?” But if his pay cheque is dependent upon publicly supporting the stated beliefs of the organization that hires him, chances are he’s not even going to really give this new idea or doctrine a fair study. He’s going to reject it automatically because if he doesn’t, his job is on the line. And I don’t think people take that into account when they present new ideas to their ministers, and then just accept as gospel truth whatever the minister says.

That’s the danger of trusting someone else to decide for you what is truth. Let’s read the rest of the message to the Laodiceans. What’s the cure? Read verses … uh, 18 and 19.

Miles:

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Dave: This warning is given because Yahuwah loves us and wants to save as many as possible. Each one of us needs to repent of placing others in the position of being our consciences. We do need to know what is truth, and what is error, but we need to get that knowledge directly from Yah.

Miles: That all-important spiritual discernment of the eye salve.

Dave: Exactly. Turn, now, to John chapter 16. You see, when you study for yourself, Yahuwah becomes your personal teacher. You want a guru? Make Yahuwah your guru! You don’t need a human. You need Yah.

Yahushua understood the way we’re to learn more truth.

Miles: I like that: “more truth.” It’s so easy to forget that truth is always advancing. It’s that Laodicean condition, I’m sure. But truth is always advancing and if you think you know it all, that’s a sure sign of being Laodicean: wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked and in need of everything.

Dave: John 13 is John’s account of the Last Supper. John 18 is the story of Yahushua’s betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane. So, John 16 occurred between the last supper and when he was arrested. You can read those few, intervening chapters and it’s as though Yahushua was trying to cram every last bit of information he could into the disciples before it was too late.

Now, read verses 7 to 11 of John 16. What does he say?

Miles:

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

Dave: The “Comforter” of course is the spirit of Yah, or the “holy spirit” as most Christians think of it. Yahushua is saying that the Comforter will come to them after he is gone.

Earlier, in John 14, he said the same thing. Verses 16 to 18, he said, quote:

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Okay. So in John 16, the Saviour is still talking about this Comforter. It was a tremendous gift and he knew it. Now read verses 12 and 13 of John 16.

Miles:

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Dave: Here, Christ is saying he’s got a lot more to teach them, but they’re not ready for it. So, he’s going to ask the Father to send them the holy spirit to be their personal instructor.

Miles: That’s a gift I don’t think most of us appreciate fully. We’re all at different points in our spiritual journeys. We all start at different points and we all have individual baggage. To have an individualized instructor that can teach us in ways that we, individually, can understand, is a real blessing.

Dave: It is! What does Psalm 119, verse 105 say? “Thy word is …”

Miles: “A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

Dave: Right. Yah’s word is what is to enlighten our way, not some other human. You can’t rely on others to tell you what to believe. You have to take responsibility and study for yourself.

Miles: I think a lot of people are afraid of studying for themselves. What if they get “off”? What if they don’t understand, or can’t understand, what they’re reading?

Dave: Those fears are from Satan. And he implants these fears a lot because they work! The more sincere the Christian, the more concerned he or she will be to do Yah’s will, to not get “off” in their understanding.

So, the devil plays on their fears. He tells them the Bible is difficult to understand, that only scholars with advanced degrees are capable of understanding it, and that if you don’t have a doctorate of divinity degree, you’d better listen to those that do.

Miles: Yeah. It’s easy to get feeling insecure and like you need to let them interpret the Bible for you.

Dave: But this is one of Satan’s most effective lies! Listen: The Bible was written for the common person. Therefore, your average person is more likely to understand it in the sense in which it was written.

Miles: That’s true. One thing I’ve noticed, and maybe you have, too, is that Bible scholars can actually be infidels. They can be like the Pharisees of Christ’s day, quibbling over the meaning of this jot or that tittle to the point that they lose the primary meaning of the passage.

Dave: It is the solemn responsibility of every believer to study for him- or herself. This isn’t something you can just shrug off onto someone else.

Miles: Okay, now what about someone that is just coming into the truth? We broadcast around the world, and even in countries where our signal isn’t heard, we’ve got people listening to our broadcasts on YouTube. Is it wrong to have Bible studies with someone and learn what they have to say?

Dave: Not at all. But do your own studying. If you don’t have your own Bible, there are websites online where you can read the Bible for yourself.

In Acts 17, we have an excellent example of what every believer is to do. Paul and Silas traveled from Thessalonica to Berea where they, well, held Bible studies. They shared the truth with the Bereans.

I see you turned there. Would you read verses 10 and 11? What did the Bereans do after hearing what Paul and Silas had to say?

Miles:

And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Dave: The Bereans were “more noble” than the Thessalonians for two reasons:

Number one: they listened with an open mind. To keep an open mind means that you’re willing to accept it as truth if the holy spirit convicts you that it is. You’re not just sitting there coming up with reasons why it must be false. You’re actually considering it with a heart that is willing to accept what is being said if the holy spirit convicts you that it’s true.

The second reason the Bereans were more noble is that they didn’t just take the apostles word for it. They listened with an open mind … then they went to the Scriptures and studied it out for themselves to see “whether those things were so.”

Miles: That’s always so important. I just want to put out there to our listeners: we never want you to take our word for it. Don’t take Dave’s word for it; don’t take my word for it. Don’t put WLC on such a high pedestal that you accept without question everything we present.

We want you to study for yourself. Sure, listen to what we have to say. But don’t just accept it because we said so. Go back to Scripture and study it out for yourself. That’s vital. It really is.

Dave: Well, the problem with accepting some teaching just because someone you respect said so, is that when you do that, you aren’t grounded into the truth for yourself. It’s just a surface conviction.

The danger, then, is that someone else may come along who is even more eloquent and can convince you to give up your former beliefs and embrace something new. This is what being blown about by every wind of doctrine means. When you take someone else’s word for what you “should” believe, you’re not grounded. Beliefs that are easily adopted can be just as easily set aside.

Miles: It’s true. When you go to Yah, on your own, and ask Him to be your teacher, He’ll take on the responsibility of getting you ready, of teaching you what you need to know. That is how you become settled into the truth so you can’t be shaken. And when that happens, not only are you stronger in your beliefs, but since you know the truth, you are safe from Satan’s end time delusions.

I like Yah’s invitation in Isaiah 1. He says, “Come now, let us reason together.” [Isaiah 1:18] He’s not afraid of your questions, folks! Any evidence you need to be convinced of the truth, He is willing to provide.

Dave: One last verse. Could you read 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 15 for us?

This is Paul’s advice to a young Timothy.

Miles: All right, it says, quote: “Study to show thyself approved unto Yah, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Dave: Paul’s not telling him to seek out the world’s best teacher, or sit at the feet of some pastor. Paul personalized it: each one of us is to study for ourselves, “rightly dividing the word of truth” and trusting in Yahuwah to lead us into all truth.

Don’t trust your salvation to anyone else: not your pastor, your priest, or a spouse.

Salvation is a gift that you must accept for yourself.

Miles: Amen.

Stay tuned, folks! Up next is our Daily Mailbag.

Be right back.

* * *

You are listening to World's Last Chance Radio.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

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In 2015, Christianity was the world’s largest religion, with 2.3 billion believers, or 31.2% of the world’s population. Sadly, the vast majority of Christians believe in a triune godhead, consisting a “God the Father,” “God the Son,” and “God the Holy Spirit.”

This doctrine is so wide-spread, that the few denominations who reject it are typically shunned as cults by everyone else!

The doctrine of a triune godhead, however, is not taught in Scripture. It is a heathen teaching that destroys the unique closeness Yahuwah wants to share with each individual.

In fact, the one passage of Scripture that refers to a triune godhead is a clear addition to the original text made nearly 1,000 years after Christ!

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Learn the truth and see how very much Yahuwah loves you.

* * *Daily Mailbag (Miles & Dave)

Miles: Hey! This is great! Our question from today’s Daily Mailbag comes from Cho in Yangon, Myanmar! Never had a question from there before.

Cho’s question is: “How can I know if I’m good enough to be saved?”

Dave: Well, that’s easy enough. The answer is: You’re not.

Miles: Well, wow! Thanks for such an encouraging answer!

Dave: Eh, don’t worry. You’re not alone. I’m not good enough to be saved, either. Neither are you. None of us are.

There’s nothing any of us can do to be “good enough.” To be “good enough” means that we somehow can earn salvation, so then it becomes something we deserve. And the only thing any of us deserve is the punishment for sin, which is eternal death.

Miles: Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of Yah is eternal life through Yahushua, the Christ, our Lord.”

Dave: That’s right. Salvation is now, and will always be, a gift. There’s nothing you can do to earn it or deserve it. You certainly can’t be “good enough.”

In fact, this is the issue that the book of Romans deals with. Can a person become good enough to be saved by keeping the divine law?

Miles: Well, no. Because even if you begin, right now, to keep the law perfectly, it doesn’t absolve your past sins.

Dave: Right. Let’s take a quick look at Romans. Would you turn to Romans 3, and read verses 21 through 26, please.

Miles: All right … let’s see. It says:

But now the righteousness of Yahuwah apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of Yahuwah, through faith in Yahushua the Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Yah—

Dave: How many have sinned?

Miles: All.

Dave: All right. Go on.

Miles:

… For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Yah, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Yahushua, whom Yahuwah set forth as a propitiation by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance Yahuwah had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Yahushua.

Dave: Now turn to Romans 5 and read verses 6 to 8.

Miles:

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But Yahuwah demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Dave: It is a lie of Satan that there is anything we can do to make ourselves worthy of salvation. Now, obviously, those who love Yah will want to do His will.

John 14, verse 15 says: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Miles: And he’s not talking about just the 10 Commandment law here, is he? In the very next chapter, in this same time period between the last supper and his betrayal in Gethsemane, Yahushua is linking obedience to love. In John 15, verses 12 and 13, he says: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

Dave: When we start focusing on what we’re doing, and equally on what we’re not doing (even though, secretly, we really wish Christians could do it) we’re missing the point entirely.

Someone who loves Yahuwah will want to live in agreement with His will. But what’s Yah’s will?

Miles: “For He has shown thee, O man, what is good. And what doth Yahuwah require of thee? But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

Dave: Micah 6:8. That’s right. And what we’re getting down to is heart work. We can’t cleanse ourselves. That’s something only Yahuwah can do for us. Fortunately, it’s something He’s ready and willing to do for us.

Let’s turn to Ezekiel 36. I know I’ve been quoting this a lot lately, but it’s one of my favorite passages of Scripture. It encapsulates the gospel message like few other passages do.

Ezekiel 36, verses 25 to 27.

Miles:

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.

Dave: Notice that Yahuwah is the one that is doing all the work. He knows we can’t do it, but He will do it for us, if we ask Him.

Miles: One thing I got from Cho’s question, though, is heart-searching. No, none of us will ever be “good enough” to be saved. But we are to search our hearts. Is there some way we can know, something to watch for to know whether we’re on the right path or not?

Dave: Yes. Ask yourself: “What do I like to think about? On which topics do I like to dwell?”

Is your mind consumed with the latest stock market reports? The latest movie or gaming release? Are your thoughts taken up with sports teams and celebrity gossip?

Or, do you find joy in spiritual devotions? Do you enjoy spending time in Yah’s word, meditating on His character? This, more than anything else, will reveal what’s in your heart.

And, if you find yourself focused on the wrong things, it’s all right. Just go to Him and ask Him to give you that new heart He promised.

Miles: We can’t get ourselves ready, but He can.

Dave: That’s right.

Miles: Well, keep sending us any questions you may have. Go to WorldsLastChance.com and click on Contact Us. We always enjoy reading your messages.

* * *Daily Promise

Hello! This is Elise O’Brien with today’s Daily Promise.

The weather was cold, but the lake was beautiful the afternoon Denise Meyer, her parents, and her two children set out in a boat. The family had rented a cottage by the water and were looking forward to fun adventures on their vacation.

The boat was no more than 50 yards from shore when all of a sudden, it began rocking back and forth violently. Denise whipped around to see her dad, groaning in pain, struggling to stretch out his badly cramping leg.

All of a sudden, the boat tipped too far and flipped over, dumping Denise, her parents, her four-year old daughter, and two-year old son, into the icy waters.

Moments later, Denise burst out of the water, gasping for breath. She saw her parents, but where were the children? Her father couldn’t swim, having lost an arm in a car accident years before. Denise and her mother began frantically looking for the children. The water was frigid and murky. With her body shaking violently from the cold, Denise stayed under water as long as possible, only to surface long enough to grab a lungful of air before submerging again in a desperate search for her children.

“Please, Father!” She prayed. “Help us! Don’t let my children die!”

Finally, her hand struck something soft. She couldn’t tell which child it was, but the life vest was pushing up, keeping the child trapped under the boat. Denise tried to pull the child to her, but the body wouldn’t budge. She was out of air, so she burst to the surface once more.

Her mother suddenly called out: “I have her! I have Emily! I have her foot!”

With her daughter now safe, Denise knew the child trapped under the boat was her two-year old son, Tim. She dove under water again. Again, she tried to pull him free, but something was keeping him trapped under the boat. It had to have been at least 90 seconds since the boat capsized. Denise knew if her baby was still alive, he was fast running out of time.

“Please, Father! Help me get him out!” She was desperate. Suddenly something gave way and his little body popped to the surface. He was choking and screaming, but he was alive. They were all alive. A miracle.

Denise looked toward shore. She saw her brother-in-law leap into a boat tied to the pier. He pulled away so fast, he took part of the pier with him, but soon they were all back on shore. Denise was hurrying her children back to the cabin when suddenly someone cried, “Somebody call an ambulance! This woman is having a heart attack!”

Looking back, Denise saw her mother, lying on the pier. Despite the urgency, Denise knew she was looking at a second miracle. Had the heart attack occurred in the water, her mom—and possibly even her daughter—may have drowned.

Hours later, at the hospital, as the family gathered around the hospital bed, the talk turned to the incident earlier on the lake. Denise’s mother reached out to her little granddaughter: “Oh, Emily! I was so afraid when you were in the water. I looked and looked but couldn’t find you! Then I reached out, and grabbed you, and pulled you up!”

Emily was confused: “But Grandma,” she said. “Didn’t you see the man?”

“What man?”

“The man under the water,” Emily explained with a serious look on her face. “He grabbed my foot and put it in your hand.”

Her grandmother didn’t understand. “There was no one else in the water with us, sweetie.”

“Yes, there was!” Emily insisted. “He found me and gave my foot to you!”

Deuteronomy chapter 33, verse 12 declares: “The beloved of Yahuwah shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders.”

We have been given great and precious promises. Go and start claiming!

* * *Part 3: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: So, let me ask you, Dave: how did this idea get started that people have to have some religious leader confirm for them what is truth, and if their pastor denounces it, then it must be wrong?

Dave: Well … I think it starts innocently enough. Parents teach their children that Jesus loves them; in parochial school, or Sunday school, youth are indoctrinated into the same denomination of which their parents are members. And so, from early childhood, they are taught what to believe.

Now, I’m not saying that’s entirely wrong. Parents do have a Yah-given responsibility to bring their children up in the fear of the Lord; to teach them what is right, and what is wrong.

That said, I think parents, and teachers, and pastors should also be teaching that: 1. Truth is always advancing; 2. That we have a responsibility to study out truth for ourselves.

Miles: And I’m going to add a third point: That we can trust Yahuwah to keep our minds safe as we study the truth out for ourselves.

Dave: Yeah, that’s good.

Don’t buy into Satan’s lies that you have to be instructed by another human with an advanced degree in theology. Let Yahuwah be your teacher.

Miles: I can really see how this carries over into adulthood. There is something like 2.4 billion Christians in the world today. Every Sunday (or Saturday), the majority of them sit in church, being indoctrinated in their particular brand of Christianity, trusting their priest or pastor to tell them what they need to know to be saved.

Dave: And the problem is, they’re surrendering their own individual, spiritual responsibility to their pastor. As I said earlier, many pastors and priests do indeed love Yahuwah, but subconsciously their first loyalty is going to be to the denominational organization that pays their salaries.

This is why so many of the pastors reject new ideas without even studying the evidence for themselves. The organizational creed which is based on the Bible, takes precedence over the Bible itself. So, then, they view as automatically false anything that contradicts the doctrines of their denomination.

Miles: This just underscores Yah’s command in Revelation 18 where John says: “And I heard another voice from heaven say, Go out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins are come up into heaven, and Yahuwah hath remembered her iniquities.” [Revelation 18:4-5]

Dave: That’s a command. It’s not an invitation to come join me in my denomination. It’s an imperial edict to leave all denominations and organized religions. No church is exempt. That command is for everyone.

Miles: We’re too close to the end to be playing around with salvation. This is why Paul’s wish for the Ephesians was that they be settled into the truth so they couldn’t be shaken.

Let me look it up really quickly. It’s Ephesians 4:14. It says, quote: “That we henceforth be no more children, wavering and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the deceit of men, and with craftiness, whereby they lay in wait to deceive.” Unquote.

Notice that Paul is linking “every wind of doctrine” to purposeful deceit. We’ve got to watch out for that. The only thing that can be trusted is the word of Yah, and what His spirit sinks home to our own hearts.

Dave: This is really true. You know, we hear from people all over the world. And what we’re hearing is that as people start studying the truth for themselves, as they go to their pastors to ask them what to think and the pastors reject it, what often happens is that the pastors can’t prove that it is wrong from Scripture.

The proof for the new light is right there in Scripture! Pastors can try all they want but they can’t prove from the Bible that it’s wrong. So what is happening is that, often, these people keep studying. They keep digging. And what they’re finding is that some of these concepts, such as the Biblical calendar, have actually been known by the leaders of their church for generations, but they’ve worked hard to cover it up.

Miles: It’s shocking, it really is. And what it gets back to, over and over, is: go to Yahuwah for yourself. Listen when someone has something to share. Listen with an open mind. You don’t have to be afraid that you’ll be deceived against your will. Yahuwah will keep your mind safe as you study, but you do need to study.

Make Yahuwah your personal guru. He will never lead you astray. He will give you His own spirit to lead you into all truth.

Well, that’s all we’ve time for today, but we hope you can join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

* * *

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This program and past episodes of WLC Radio are available for downloading on our website. They're great for sharing with friends and for use in Bible studies! They're also an excellent resource for those worshipping Yahuwah alone at home. To listen to previously aired programs, visit our website at WorldsLastChance.com. Click on the WLC Radio icon displayed on our homepage.

In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.