Bible Study Series – Romans Chapter 6

 

Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"

 
And here we have it, the apostle Paul here is addressing people who ridicule easy believism, they ridicule the true biblical teaching of today as they did then in Paul's time.

Here we have these false teachers creeping in saying stuff like, if Salvation is a free gift from God, given to us by his grace, does that mean we can continue to sin as much as we want?

Can we then go ahead and live our lives anyway we like?

Let me answer that for you, the answer is, it's your choice but be prepared to reap what you sow.
I have explained this time and time again using the bible, so I'll keep it short here. 

When a person gets saved, they do not immediately change their outward appearance or attitudes, this becomes a process, called sanctification.

Our bodies did not change, this will happen when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, only our spirit has been quickened (made alive), we become born again of the spirit, our flesh (body) still wars against our spirit and through sanctification, we need to bring our bodies under subjection of the spirit.

Now we have a choice to live righteously, which is what the epistle to the Romans teaches, and we should serve the Lord to further the kingdom of God, we can take up our cross, forsake our father, mother, brother, sister, children, literally give up everything we have and be a disciple of the Lord, known as discipleship or, go on living like the world and face divine discipline.

The truth is, not everyone who gets saved will go on to produce fruit (another saved person), look at the apostles, they saved thousands of souls, did they (the saved) all go on producing more saved people?

No, in fact if they did, the world wouldn't be like the way it is now, full of hypocrisy and false religious institutions.

But if we do continue in sin, grace does abound, do you understand that you cannot lose your salvation you are completely covered by the blood?

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians the following:

 

Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

 
The flesh is at war with our born again spirit, think about it like this, our flesh is older or matured than our spirit (which is a babe) when we are born again, guess which one is going to win more often or have a stronger influence over what decision you are going to make in our spiritual infancy?

 
You can never reach a state of sinless perfection, Paul the Apostle says he dies daily, everyday he has to bring his body under subjection of the spirit. Have ye not read in the scriptures that they who say they have no sin deceives themselves and are a liar?

 

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Romans 6:2 "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

 
God Forbid! One of the strongest statements one can make to deny or reject something or a statement. Notice this is a question that Paul is asking, we must be careful not to base a doctrine on a question, but only by clear statements should we derive doctrine from.

So Paul here is asking a question, he is asking that as we are dead to sin, how shall we live any longer in sin?

The next verse is also a question:

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Romans 6:3 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"

 
Paul is asking a question here again, he is asking us if we knew that when we got baptised in Jesus Christ, we got baptised into his death as well.

Baptise means to immerse or submerge, it implies being "all in".

When we are baptised by the Holy Spirit, we are being immersed or put in Christ, completely covered in him. This is the baptism you receive when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a supernatural event and takes place spiritually, as you become born again.

Then after this (Salvation) happens, one should make the decision to get baptised in water, to get saved? To stay saved? No!

Being immersed in water does not save, FAITH ONLY in the Lord Jesus Christ as your saviour saves!

But water baptism is a public profession of your faith to man that you believe, it is to show the world that you are a believer in Jesus Christ!

So is baptism salvation?

The answer should be no, Salvation is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

Baptism by immersion in water is a picture of Salvation, not literal salvation. It is a picture of you going into the water dying and when you come up out of the water picturing the resurrection.
Noah on the Ark is a picture of Salvation not literal Salvation.

I'll say it again, literal Salvation is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved!

Here's another question for you baptismal regeneration believers (must be baptised to go to heaven), if you have to be water baptised like what John the Baptist did, was he baptising the people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

He couldn't have baptised in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; why?

Because the Godhead was not yet made known, so how could John the Baptist baptise people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit if the Godhead were not yet revealed?

As a matter of fact, the Godhead was not revealed until Jesus himself came to be baptised:

 

Matthew 3:16-17 "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: ¹⁷ and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 
In verse 16 we read that the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) descending on Jesus like a dove, and lighting upon him (Jesus being anointed with the Oil of Gladness): and then verse 17 tells us that a voice (The Father) from heaven can also be heard. 

This was all done as a testimony or witness to show that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. The beginning of the Lords earthly ministry!

 

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Romans 6:4 "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

 
For this reason we are buried with Jesus by baptism into death, the old man, the carnal man; sin had died: and just like Christ was raised up by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. This is saying as the old you had been buried in the likeness of his death by baptism, we now emerge as the new man, the born again spirit child of God whom should walk in the spirit; the new life.

When Jesus entered Samaria he came to a well and spoke to a Samaritan woman by Jacob's well. 

This woman says to Jesus, that the Samaritans worshipped in the mountain; but you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place you ought to worship, let's see what Jesus answers the Samaritan woman.

 

John 4:21-24 "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.²³ But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

 

In context, the woman is asking Jesus where they should be worshipping God, she is asking should they be worshipping in the mountain (most likely Mount Gerizim) or in Jerusalem (Solomon built temple).

Jesus says to her that the hour cometh (his death by crucifixion) when man will worship the Father neither in the mountains or Jerusalem.

Jesus says you don't know what you worship: but we Jews know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews, what does this mean?

Salvation is come by the way of the root and offspring of King David, of the tribe of Judah; Jesus is of the tribe of Judah, and Jesus is salvation, of the tribe of Judah; also known as the Jews of the southern kingdom of Israel.

Jesus says true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for that reason the Father seeks such to worship him.

Verse 24 is rather a smack in the face to Mormons who believe the Father is of flesh and bones like man, to deny this scripture is to call Jesus a liar.

From the mouth of Jesus himself, he says God is a Spirit: and they that worship him MUST worship him in spirit (born again) and in truth!

My friends, here is the answer to the question of how do we worship God?

Not in building made with hands, it is not the building or place of worship that matters, it is believers coming together and worshiping the Father in spirit and truth and the start of walking in newness of life!

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Romans 6:5 "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"

 
Seeing as we have been planted together in the likeness, notice the word likeness it doesn't mean literally, in the likeness of his death, we shall also be raised up in the likeness of his resurrection, meaning we shall also receive a new body at the second coming of the Lord, glorified the same manner in how Jesus Christ's body was glorified at his resurrection.

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Romans 6:6 "knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

 
Knowing that we shall be like him at the resurrection (2^nd coming) that our old man (The flesh) is crucified with him (Jesus) that the body of sin (flesh, the spirit cannot sin because it is of God) might be destroyed, that henceforth, the word henceforth means "from this time on" or "that time on" we should not serve sin. 

Notice it doesn't say "must not" it says we "should not" serve sin, as man, we are still prone to sin, whether it be wilfully or in ignorance, we will still sin.

 

Colossians 3:1-4 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. ² Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.⁴ When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."

 
As believers we should set our affections or cares on things above (Heavenly), and not of things on the earth; John says it beautifully in his 1^st epistle.

 

1 John 2:15-17 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

 
Just beautiful!

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Romans 6:7 "For he that is dead is freed from sin."

 
When the body dies, as a believer we are free in Christ, free from sin, free from bondage to sin; the Apostle Paul says the following to the Corinthians:

 

2 Corinthians 5:8 "we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

 
Paul says he is rather willing to be absent from the body, so that he could be present with the Lord. 

This scripture also punches in the face of false doctrine that teaches when you die you go to a sort of spirit prison to await the 2^nd coming and judgement, and then there's the soul sleep crowd where when you die, you stay asleep in the grave to await the 2^nd coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; these are false teachings because when we die (in Christ of course), we leave our bodies and go to be present with the Lord, and where is the Lord presently?

The Lord Jesus Christ is presently in heaven sitting at the right hand of his Father!

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Romans 6:8 "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:"

 
This verse can be taken two ways, an earthly interpretation of dying physically we believe that we will go to heaven to live with him as explained above.

And the spiritual interpretation of this verse would be because the old man has been crucified with the Lord, or the old man, the carnal man has been buried in baptism with him, then we are risen with him, as a new man of the spirit with him living in us also.

Our new life is in Christ, not in the flesh.

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Romans 6:9 "knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him."

 
Jesus was risen from the dead, he will no longer die; death itself has no dominion over him. If we die with Christ (believers) we are promised eternal life through faith in him, to never die ever again.

 

2 Timothy 1:9-10 "who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, ¹⁰ but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:"

 
And we read in 1^st Corinthians the following:

 

1 Corinthians 15:54 " So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

 
And Jesus says the following in Revelation:

 

Revelation 1:18 "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."

 
Jesus has the keys of hell and of death, they have no dominion over him.

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Romans 6:10 "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."

 
Baptism is a picture of our old man, our old self put to death, and when risen, our new self now lives for God, we should walk in the spirit and do those things that are pleasing to God.

 

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Romans 6:11 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

 
Notice how Paul hammers the same thing over and over again?

He is saying here likewise meaning in the same manner reckon that you yourselves be dead to sin, but alive to God by Jesus Christ our Lord, our saviour; by his precious blood is it made possible to live unto eternal life.

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Romans 6:12 "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."

 
Because we are now living unto God, we should not let sin reign in our mortal body, our flesh, if we let sin reign in our mortal body then we are going to more than likely obey it according to our lusts. 

James Chapter one illustrates this perfectly when we allow our lusts of the flesh reign in our bodies.

 

James 1:15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

 
What is lust? Our desires, a sense of longing for something, ultimate what the bible calls covetousness, when we desire to have something that does not belong to us.

That beautiful beach mansion, your neighbours wife or husband, heck wishing your husband or wife was more like so and so is covetous, you get the idea.

And God here is saying that when lust has conceived, when we desire something that does not belong to us in our hearts it will eventually outwardly manifest itself in the form of sin: and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.

We should walk in the spirit so that we are not tempted to walk in the lusts of the flesh.

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Romans 6:13 "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

 
God is saying here don't let sin be the master of you, don't let it control the various members or body parts that you have, don't let them be under the control of sin; rather yield or give over your members, yourself to God, as those that are alive whom are no longer dead, yield your members as instruments or tools of righteousness to God.

It is in our own power or freedom of choice to decide whether we want to yield ourselves to sin or to God, either your master is sin or the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."

 
If we yield our members over to God, sin will no longer have dominion over us: for we are NOT under the law, but under grace.

The law was never meant to save us, man could not keep the law it was impossible under the Old Testament, the law itself was holy and righteous, therefore the law cannot be broken as in James chapter 2 it says that whosoever offends in one point of the law, has offended in all. For man it was impossible and it became a curse for man.

Since it cannot help anyone to keep God's moral standard; it can only show the standard, and thus rebuke, convict and condemn those who fail to keep it.

We are under grace, by grace we are saved through faith, and it is not of our works lest any man should boast. It is by God's grace we have been saved through faith, by the goodness and righteousness of God, salvation is a free gift, it is not earned by any man. Even though we do not deserve it, God has freely given it to those who believe on his Son.

We have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ, it is Jesus' blood that washed away our sins and inequities, and he will remember them no more.

By grace when establish the law, and begin the process of sanctification.

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Romans 6:15 "What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."

 
Paul continues on in his train of thought about us being under grace and not the law, and asks the question, because we are not under the law but under grace shall we continue in sin?

Paul says God forbid!

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Romans 6:16 "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

 
Again Paul is repeating what was said before, his question he is asking is do you not know to whom you yield yourselves to obey, is your master sin which is unto death or of obedience unto righteousness?

As a believer, after salvation, if you are living for sin, in the flesh you will face divine discipline, God will scourge and punish EVERY son he receives.

And just because you sin, and nothing happens immediately don't think that recompense isn't coming.
Think not that God has not killed people and taken them home (Heaven) because they consistently refused to obey, and live according to God's will.

So chose your master, sin or God?

For believers, this can mean being removed sooner from this earthly life or living a long fruitful life in serving the Lord to further the kingdom of God.

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Romans 6:17 "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you."

 
BUT GOD BE THANKED! PRAISE THE LORD!

We believers used to be servants of sin, we read in Romans chapter 5 that all men have sinned.  

Thank God we do not have to remain in sin.  

We who believe in Christ have taken on the righteousness of Jesus Christ and no longer serve sin.

We obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, Faith on the Lord Jesus Christ who imputes his righteousness to you, a sinner who is now clothed in the righteousness of the Lord.

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Romans 6:18 "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."

 
We are made free of sin by the blood of the Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ who died for all our inequities, if it were not for the selfless sacrifice the Lord had done for us, we would all still be in bondage to sin, and we will all be appointed wrath; for there is none righteous, no not one.

But now we have been freed from our bonds, we have now become the servants of righteousness, since Christ has clothed us in his righteousness we are able to become his servant.

The Corinthian's are told the following:

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

 
On Salvation, the believers has become a new man in Christ, a new creature!

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Romans 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."

 
Paul is speaking after the manner of men or in human terms, most found it difficult in grasping divine truth so Paul would use this master/slave analogy to try to convey what he is saying with more clarity.

Our members was explained in verse 13, our different body parts that we have in our physical bodies, and that before we yielded these body parts as a slave to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity: in other words like a vicious animal when you feed it, the appetite to sin only grows when it is being fed.

Even now we should give our members over to be servants of righteousness and from righteousness to holiness.

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Romans 6:20 "For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness."

 
Notice how Paul just keeps on hammering this down hoping it hits home with everyone? 

When we were servants of sin, before Salvation we were in bondage to sin, free from righteousness. We were living in the flesh.

 

1 John 2:16 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

If we are living in the flesh, we are living in the world, and James states that if any therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

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Romans 6:21 "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death."

 
The life you lived before in sin, what fruit did you have, that fruit that you are ashamed of? 

Living in sin and iniquity only leads to death. James put it well:

 

James 1:15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

 
Sin begins with the thoughts of our hearts, our desires and when it has conceived in the heart it will manifest out in the form of sin, and when you follow through with that sin, it will bring forth death.

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Romans 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."

 
A servant obeys his master, obedience is better than sacrifice. God wants our loyalty and our love, and the very reason for creating us, for fellowship with him.

 

1 Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

 
We see here the problem is not the offerings but the disobedience of God's commands and the desire for approval of people rather than the approval of God.

We are servants of God, and our fruit unto holiness, we should be soul winners, a soul winners fruit is another soul won to the Lord. At the end everlasting life.

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Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

 
Great soul winning verse to explain after telling someone that we all fall short of the glory of God, and that there is none righteous, no not one, they have all gone out the way.

And the wages or payment for sin is death, not any death as we might know it, but the second death; but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation is a FREE gift, Amen.

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

 

Matthew 7:15-20 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. ¹⁶ Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? ¹⁷ Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. ²⁰ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

 
The subject I want to talk about today is the subject of false prophets that will come to you in sheep's clothing.

When you study the bible, there is a consistent theme that is taught throughout the New Testament that compares false prophets to evil trees; trees that produce bad fruit.

Let's go to the book of Jude which contains a similar passage:

 

Jude 1:4-5 "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵ I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not."

 
Now verse 4 says there are certain men crept in unawares – the wolves in sheep's clothing these people are ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now verse 5 is talking about how he destroyed the Israelites that did not believe after our Lord delivered them out of the land of Egypt. These false prophets are not saved people according to these verses.

 

Jude 1:12-13 "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; ¹³ raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."

 
These are unsaved, unbelieving people who are on their way to hell, who creep in amongst the sheep with the intent to beguiling and deceive with their lies and false doctrines.

 
Now it's important to understand that there are people out there who will take Matthew chapter 7 and twist it to say that this applies to all people. 


They will tell you that if you don't bring forth good fruit, you're not saved.

 
This my friends is a flat out lie, a false teaching designed to teach works salvation, designed to teach you that you have to do the works to get into heaven.

 
They take Matthew Chapter 7 out of context, what does verse 15 say?

 
He says beware of false prophets, and what is another word for prophet?

 
Another word for prophet is the word preacher.

 

He is saying beware of false preachers, beware of false teachers who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly THEY are ravenous wolves. You should know THEM by their fruits.

 
Who are you going to know by their fruits?

 
False Prophets, False Preachers, and False Teachers.

 
Is he saying you're going to know who is saved by their fruits?

 
In no way is this passage teaching that you are going to know who is saved by their fruits, this teaching is not applied to all people, and unfortunately I have heard a lot of people quote this.

 
It says you will know false prophets by their fruits. False Prophets and preachers in the bible are compared to evil trees, a good preacher or someone who preaches the gospel to the unsaved is likened to a good tree.

 
Think about this verse:

 

Proverbs 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."

 
The bible talks about us as believers, that if we are rooted and grounded in what we believe, if we were to add to our faith, charity, and to charity into temperance and all other things; we would be fruitful. And then he puts a number on it, he says some 30, some 60, and some 100.

 
Now what do you think that is when he talks about a believer bringing forth fruit, and then he puts a number on it?

 
What does it mean to be fruitful?

 
If we look at the very first time in the bible that the word Fruitful is ever mentioned in Genesis chapter 1, what is it talking about?

 
God says, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…"

 
So the first time the word fruitful is ever used, it is talking about animals and humans reproducing, and when they are fruitful and they reproduce there is a multiplication taking place.

 
This is consistent with the saying of some 30, and some 60, and some 100 fold fruit bearing.

 
Think about this, if I had an Orange, this Orange is a piece of fruit, and if this Orange where to reproduce fruit; it would produce fruit after its own kind right?

 
So the Orange will reproduce more Oranges.

 
So as Christians, if we bring forth fruit, when we win another soul, bring forth fruit means we bring forth another believer. If go out and win another soul to Christ, that me bringing forth fruit, because I have now multiplied another spiritual child for the kingdom of heaven.

 
If my wife and I are fruitful, we are going to bring forth fruit after our own kind, which means we're going to have children. We are human, so we are going to produce human children. The orange will produce the orange.

 
Let me ask you this question, what about a human who does not reproduce, does that not make them human?

 
What about an Orange that doesn't reproduce?

 
Does that make it not an Orange?

 
In fact, what percentage of Oranges do you think will actually bring forth fruit after its kind?

 
Some Oranges will be eaten by animals and insects, and some will be consumed by humans bought at the grocery store. It is only a minority of the Oranges that will fall from the tree and die, and waste away and the seed will go into the ground to produce another Orange tree.

 
So when the bible says a good tree will bring forth good fruit and a bad tree will bring forth bad fruit, and that a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit and vice versa; what the bible is teaching here is that a tree will bring forth fruit after its own kind.

 
So an apple cannot produce a banana, or an Orange cannot produce a mango fruit. But does that guarantee that every orange tree going to reproduce from every fruit?

 
Does every human being going to reproduce?

 
Does that mean that every saved person is going to bring forth other saved people?

 
The answer to the questions is No, but you are going to know what you are going to get.

 
This is what people are mistaking when the read these passages, they think that these passages is teaching that every saved person is going to bring forth fruit, but in reality the bible is teaching if a saved person brings forth fruit; it's going to be good fruit, and if an unsaved, false prophet, false preacher brings forth fruit, it is going to be evil fruit.

 
These fruits will reproduce themselves and keep producing more evil fruit, and the saved person; IF they reproduce, they will reproduce more saved people, more Christians.

 
It is impossible for an unsaved person to get somebody saved. The bible says for it is impossible for a bad tree to produce good fruit, so for example this person can be out somewhere preaching a gospel, going through the motions and even holding a KJV bible in their hands, this person is not going to save anybody.

 
To get someone saved it's a Spiritual job, it's going to take the Spirit of God dwelling inside you to get that person saved.

 
Did Judas Iscariot not go preaching and soul winning?

 
Judas Iscariot was one of the 12 that was sent out 2-by-2 into towns to preach the Word of God and win souls. Now the bible is clear that he was never saved to begin with, he never believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in the first place; from the beginning Jesus said that he was a devil from the beginning. – John 6:70


 
A lot of people who don't believe on the eternal security of the believer will use Judas Iscariot as the example that he lost his salvation, but how can that be when Jesus stated that he wasn't saved to begin with? He was a devil from the beginning and you can't lose your salvation.

 
There also people who will say that when the bible is talking about a Christian bringing forth fruit it's not talking about winning someone to Christ, it's talking about seeing changes in the Christians life…who's heard that before? I've heard it plenty and I've been ridiculed and attacked by so called Christians who think they know all there is about being a Christian.

 
They'll also mistaken it for the fruit of the Spirit as well, listen, that's not the fruit of the Christian; that's the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is what the Spirit produces, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, generous, goodness, meekness, faith, and temperance, that's what the Spirit produces, why?

 
Because he is reproducing after his own kind. The Spirit embodies all those things, because God is love; the fruit of the Spirit is love, and the bible calls the Holy Spirit the Oil of Gladness – Psalms 45:7 and Hebrews 1:9

 
Those things mentioned are spiritual qualities brought forth by the Holy Spirit, but look with common sense this is not talking about the fruit of the Spirit, because you see numbers put to the statement, it's not some produce 30 love, some produce 60 love etcetera, this is a multiplication taking place of a Christian producing fruit after his own kind, producing more saved people.

 
The fruit of believers is more believers, the fruit of the Orange is more Oranges, the fruit of my wife and I are children, and the fruit of the saved child of God is another saved child of God!

 
Another reason why people don't like this doctrine is because they don't do any soul winning, and they do not want to be a zero. But in reality when it comes to fruit bearing and if you're not winning anybody to Christ, if you never won anyone to the Lord in your life; you're at zero right now, you're not up to the 30 level yet, this doesn't mean you're not saved, you ARE saved, and you're a child of God.

 
But have you become a Tree of Life?

 
Have you become fruitful?

 
Have you become fruitful and reproduced fruit in your life?

 
Jesus said if you follow me, you might become fishers of men, Is that what he said?

 
No, he said if you follow me, I WILL make you fishers of men. So when you win somebody to the Lord that is you bringing forth fruit.

 
Now if every saved person were to bring forth fruit, then the whole world would probably be saved right now right?

 
But much like the apple tree, only a small percentage of apples ill produce more apples, not all apples will produce fruit so not all saved people will produce more fruit as well. The vast majority of Christians will not bring forth more fruit, this is what Matthew chapter 7 is teaching.

 
Want more proof?

 
So if the bible says, the evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit but according to most people they believe that the fruit of the person is about bring on the changes in their life?

 
Oh how wonderful, you quit drinking that's fruit in his life!

 
Oh look, he quit smoking, there's more fruit in his life!

 
Oh and look again, he got baptised, that's more good fruit in his life!

 
My goodness look, he's joined a church, that's more fruit in his life!

 
OK, let me ask you this question, can an unsaved person quit drinking?

 
Can an unsaved person quit smoking?

 
Can an UNSAVED PERSON get baptised?

 
CAN AN UNSAVED PERSON START DRESSING AND LOOKING DIFFERENTLY?

 
CAN AN UNSAVED PERSON, VOLUNTEER TO DO COMMUNITY WORK AND GIVE TO THE POOR!!!?

 
Look, an unsaved person can do all these things; but you know what an unsaved person can't do?

 
WIN SOMEBODY TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

 
They cannot produce a saved person, let's be smart here and really start thinking for ourselves, you can train a monkey to ride a bicycle, you can train a dog to shake hands and roll over.

 
But you know what a monkey or dog would never be able to do?

 
Bring forth Human fruit. A monkey or a dog will never be able bring forth a human because they are not human.

 
A non-Christian, or an unsaved person is NOT going to be able to bring forth a saved Christian, because they are not saved or a Christian!

 
Paul in the bible calls it "begetting them".

 
Look, this isn't saying that every person you give the gospel to is going to be saved or become a righteous living Christian, a lot of the times when you're talking to people and when you give them the gospel they'll just pretend to get saved.

 
Let's say you said you won 100 people to the Lord, I guarantee you that a handful of those people were lying and just going through the motions and going along with you, deceiving you just to get you off their backs or just deceiving you for whatever reason.

 
Don't let that discourage you, it's not the majority of them but if you are doing your soul winning thoroughly, and presenting the gospel properly most people you talk to will end up getting saved. Now that doesn't mean they are going to go on to produce fruit of their own also, the majority of the people you won to the Lord will probably not go forth to produce fruit.

 
Look, Jesus reached Judas Iscariot, but we know he was a fraud to begin anyway, was he a son of Jesus?

 
No, Judas Iscariot was not his son in the faith at all, Jesus did not make him into a wicked person; he was already a wicked person before Jesus came along.

 
We will not go out there and produce wicked false teachers, they were already out there before you came along, so remember that we did not produce these wicked people, and not everyone you preach to will be get saved, and won over to the Lord.

 
You need to understand that those passages in the bible are really important to understand, you might even ask yourself why we should even bother to learn this doctrine.

 
Because the bible tells us that THESE PEOPLE WILL BE AMONG US, AND CREEP IN AMONG US, THEREFORE WE NEED TO BE WARNED OF THEIR EXISTENCE.

 

 
We also need to make sure that we are not misinterpreting those passages and start teaching a false doctrine about salvation, that people have to quit drinking, be baptised and go to church to be saved because otherwise they didn't bring forth any fruit…YOU DON'T HAVE TO BRING FORTH ANY FRUIT TO BE SAVED.

 
There is a statement that is really similar to Matthew chapter 7 in Matthew chapter 3, let's take a look.

 

Matthew 3:10 "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

 
People will read this verse and take it out of context and say, "see! If you don't bring forth good fruit, you're going to the fire!"

 
But hold on a second, that's not what that verse is saying at all, it says every "tree" NOT every "Person". What does the bible define a tree as from Matthew to Revelation?

 
God uses the tree, to represent a good prophet and a bad prophet.

 
Now is every single person a prophet?

 
A preacher?

 
The bible is not talking about every person here.

 
Look at verse 7 of the chapter, who is John the Baptist talking to?

 

Matthew 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

 
John is talking to the religious leaders or the sects known as the Pharisees and Sadducees, he is not even preaching this to the general population!

 
Now the good tree, those who bring forth good fruit are those who are planted by the Father, then there are the evil trees, the corrupt trees which are not planted there by God, the bible calls these trees; twice dead.

 
He says they are trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.


 
What does it mean to be twice dead?

 
Now all of us, before we were saved were dead in trespasses and sins but we are not twice dead.

 
The one who is twice dead, is the one who becomes two fold more a child of hell, it is the one who becomes what the bible calls "reprobate" or rejected.

 
Let's go on over to Matthew chapter 15.

 

Matthew 15:12-14 "Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? ¹³ But he answered and said, every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. ¹⁴ Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

 
One of the funniest verses in the bible is in verse 12, here the disciples say to Jesus after he had finished preaching to the Pharisees, they say to Jesus, "Do you realise that you have offended the Pharisees?" 

hahaha, very funny because Jesus didn't care one bit, he was preaching the truth and that was all that mattered.

 
Anyway Jesus responds to his disciples by saying to them that every plant that his Father did not plant will be uprooted, leave them be, for they are the blind leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Jesus is calling the Pharisees the blind leaders, these plants that were NOT planted by his Father in heaven, these plants, these trees that withereth, with no fruit, twice dead shall be plucked up by their roots and cast into the fire.

 
Now just so you don't get me wrong on this subject, but there are pastors and preachers out there who aren't deceiving people intentionally, I agree that there are some trees out there that are sincerely ignorant about what they falsely teach because they didn't know any better for example take the Apostle Paul; remember he used to be the enemy of Christianity, the enemy of the gospel.

 
The Apostle Paul persecuted the church of God, and he says, "But I obtained mercy, because I did ignorantly in unbelief".

 
This tells me that there are preachers and pastors out there that teach false doctrines in ignorance, they don't know any better, but look the other kind of preacher who does it intentionally the bible preaches much more against this type of tree.

 
The Apostle Paul did it in ignorance and suddenly he got saved, obtained mercy from God and became what many would consider one of the greatest preachers the world has ever known.

 
There are a lot of false prophets and preachers out there that are not doing it ignorantly. The bible tells us that there will be many ravenous wolves out there that will creep in among the sheep to devour them in their lies and hypocrisies to lead them all into the pits of hell, remember these prophets and preachers are twice dead, two folds the child of hell.


You might ask the question, why would anyone want to do that?

 
Well, let's go through and list the reasons why.

 

1. They are under the power of Satan.

Satan can influence anyone, especially the unsaved to do those things that he wants, look at Judas Iscariot; Satan entered him to get him to betray the Lord, Satan was manipulating Judas into doing what he wanted. 

When it was done, Judas realised what he had done and felt bad about it and repented and brought back the money he sold out Jesus for to the Jewish rulers, they wouldn't accept the money back so Judas just threw it on the ground and ran away and killed himself.

He was under the power of Satan, and that is one reason why these false prophets do what they do.

1. Another reason why they might do such things is the bible says, teach things they ought not to, for filthy lucre's sake.

Basically, they do this for the money, they have a love for the money, they want to serve mammon.

 
These people are your TV Evangelists, your TV Preacher, you see these preachers who are multi-millionaires and they drive fancy cars, and fancy houses.

 
To sit there and think why these people do that, and you know what? A person who judges everyone by their own heart, and they think to themselves that I am a nice person, I'm a good person, which means that everybody else is good, everybody else is nice; that person is called NAÏVE.

 
And look, many people who profess themselves to be Christians are way too naïve, they think to themselves that, I would never do things like that, I could never imagine doing it; but the fact is, there are wicked evil people out there that would not stop at nothing to destroy, hurt, lie, deceive, to pervert, and to corrupt.

This is what the bible is trying to warn us about. If you don't know that these people are out there, if you don't know that these people exist; YOU WILL BE THEIR VICTIM!

 
You can be their victim in multiple ways:

 
You can fall for their false doctrines. A lot of people will sit there and listen to a preacher who is not even saved, and you point out to them that they are wrong on the gospel, they're seriously wrong; and these people listening will say, well you can still learn good stuff from this preacher.

 
No! You need to make sure, that if you're listening to anybody, that's including myself that they are biblically sound, and that what they teach is coming from the bible, the Word of God, but even more, THEY HAD BETTER BE SAVED and I've already written articles on how to be saved on my blog site.

 
You know if they're teaching Works Salvation, or they're teaching Baptismal regeneration, teaching a pre-tribulation rapture, teaching you can lose your salvation which is a deal breaker; you shouldn't be listening to anyone who believes you can lose your salvation period.

 
Heading over to the book of Jude:

 

Jude 1:4"
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

 
So in Jude, he talks about how certain men crept in unawares, he talks about how these are the evil trees, trees whose fruit withereth, twice dead and all of this.
And let's continue from verse 5:

 

Jude 1:5-7 " I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. ⁶ And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. ⁷ Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

 
Now he brings up the story of Sodom and Gomorrha, and he says they went after…strange flesh, they gave themselves over to fornication, but it was not the normal kind of fornication between a man and a woman; the actually went after strange flesh, meaning men with men or women with women, which of course we read that in the story and elsewhere in the bible that is crystal clear.

 
In verse 8 he says the word "likewise", what is the word "likewise" mean here?

 

Jude 1:8 "Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities."

 
Likewise = in the same manner or in the same way.

 
And he says, likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, what is that saying?

 
He saying THEY defile the flesh the same way as who?

 
What does that mean?

 
It means they are perverted.

 
If we keep reading, he says likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Let's go to 2 Peter 2 which is the parallel passage to what we've been reading to find out more:

 

2 Peter 2:1 "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

 
Look how Peter uses the words false prophets and false teachers, he uses these two terms interchangeably so you know what he's talking about. These false teachers will bring in damnable heresies, not might, WILL bring in these damnable heresies, these false teachers deny the Lord that bought them this is saying that even the Lord Jesus Christ bought sinners through his crucifixion, because of this they will bring upon themselves swift destruction; a very powerful warning here.

 

2 Peter 2:2 "And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."

 
What's he saying at the end of verse 2?

 
He is saying that these people are going to bring Christianity a bad name. These people will creep in, teach false doctrine, pervert and defile the flesh, and give Christianity a bad name!

 

2 Peter 2:3 "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not."

 
Feigned words, means they will use fake words, they're going to stay stuff that they don't even believe; they're going to preach things that THEY don't even believe.

 
Judas would've preached the right things when he went door to door, his companions would've thought that he was legit; but he was preaching feigned words, he was saying stuff he didn't really believe.

 

2 Peter 2:4-6 "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; ⁵ and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;"

 
Do these verses not parallel the passage sin Jude?

 
Let's just stop for a second at verse 6 for moment and let me ask you this question, is the story of Sodom and Gomorrha an outdated story, was it only just an Old Testament Story?

 
In the Old Testament that's how God was, he was Hell fire and damnation, and now the God of the New Testament is all just accepting and loving, is that how it is?

 
The God of the Old Testament IS the God of the New Testament; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, he says in Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.".


 
Verse 6 of 2 Peter 2 is saying here, is that the New Testament example of what God thinks of sodomy and homosexuality is the story of Sodom and Gomorrha in the Old Testament, that's the New testament example according to 2 Peter chapter 2!

 

2 Peter 2:7 "and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:"

 

Sound familiar from the other parallel book? Remember the filthy dreamers, the false teachers, the wolves in sheep's clothing, and the ones who creep in, he said they're the filthy dreamers, and in verse 7 here, he talks about how the sodomites are filthy.

 

2 Peter 2:8 "(for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)"

 
And jumping down to verse 13:

 

2 Peter 2:13 "and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;"

 
While they do what?

 
While they feast with you, they are with you, they are AMONGST YOU, and they creep in privily; Jesus had it in his church, every church will have people who creep in.

Unless the church is unsaved, then you wouldn't have to worry about this because they're already there!

 
But if it's a saved church, a bible believing church he says THERE WILL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU! 

He didn't say there might, he didn't say there isn't going to be any false teachers among you, look the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20 says, "I KNOW THAT AFTER MY DEPARTING, GREVIOUS WOLVES WILL COME IN; NOT SPARING THE FLOCK".

 
He said, also among your own selves shall men rise up speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. He said, I KNOW for a fact, that some of you are a fraud and will rise up and preach heresy after I am gone, and that other people will come in, that after that I'm gone; he says I know it, I know it will happen.

 
2 Peter 2 says it's a fact, Jude says it will happen, it's not something that will be a questionable thing, it's a guarantee that something like this will happen.

 
Continuing on:

 

2 Peter 2:14-15 "having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: ¹⁵ which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;"

 
Can you see all the common denominators that are coming up throughout all the passages, they do it for the love of money, or they doing it for the lusts of the flesh, or they're committing adultery, or they're beguiling the unstable souls; all these different perverted acts, these false teachers, all manner of wickedness found in the same person; this false prophet, this person who creeps in amongst the sheep.

 
Look at all the stories of these Catholic Priests and child abuse stories, and it's NOT just them, ALL false teachers will be capable of doing all these things; they're called the EVIL TREE, who will ring forth corrupt fruit.

 
You know this doesn't have to be a pastor or a preacher, this can also be a soul winner, this could be a missionary, and this could even be somebody who is leading a bible study.

 
You know there are people who creep in that are evil people.

 
Now you really need to get this in your head right now, that not everyone who goes to church is automatically saved. 

Not everyone who goes to ANY church is automatically saved. 

NOT EVERYONE WHO GOES TO CHURCH, TALKS THE RIGHT TALK, AND EVEN GOES SOULWINNING IS SAVED!

 
There are evil people out there who wilfully will try to deceive you, if you buy into their deceit you will become their fruit, do you get it? You will start to believe their lies, you will start to preach their lies to other unsuspecting people!

 
Jesus is sending us a strong message here, the message is that I have these evil trees (Speaking of Judas Iscariot) in my church, what makes you think that you don't have these evil trees in your church?

 
Just because someone is from church doesn't make them automatically a genuine nice person, agreed? Heck not even a saved person is going to be automatically nice!

 
Here's a bit of advice for parents attending a church with their young kids, ALWAYS keep an eye on your kids, I'm serious, keep an eye on your kids at all times, just because you are in a church doesn't mean you're in a safe environment, if you know that there are evil trees in your church, and the bible says there WILL be evil trees in your church, and God is telling you there evil trees in your church, YOU HAD BETTER KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR KIDS AT ALL TIMES!

 
So what, if the church does background checks?

 
Let me explain something to you, every criminal, every paedophile, and every pervert at one point had a clean record; cos there's always the first offence right?

 
And by the way, they usually don't get caught on the first offence right? I've even heard that many of these creeps will get away with it for many years, 20 years even before they're ever busted.

 
In my opinion, to sit there and say, oh we do background checks has to be the most stupid thing I have ever heard in the world! To sit there and so, oh don't worry about a thing, we did a background check on this person; that doesn't tell me anything unless you could look into the future!

 
Background checks shouldn't even exist, they are just another way for the authorities to squeeze money out you. In a matter of fact, background checks wouldn't be needed if the penalties of the bible were still in force today, because the bible says these types of people deserve death. 

Don't be offended that I wrote this, in fact, don't get angry at me, get angry at God if you will, he said it, I agree with it.

 
In fact this next section of my article may very well offend you or make you feel uncomfortable but I need to say this because this is the truth!

If you stop reading my articles from this point on, then you don't have a love for the truth, go find a liberal church, preacher or writer who gives you the smooth talk!

 
If our Justice system was truly just, then child molesters and murderers, along with the sodomites would be put to death according to God's punishment.

 
In Australia, 1967 was the last time the death penalty was used. In America, about 7-8 years ago, the Supreme Court made a ruling that paedophiles are no longer to be put to death.

 
Look at the world we live in now, everything is backwards on how God wants us to deal with things of life, we are living in a world that no longer does what God wants us to do.

 
To be honest, I would rather be murdered than touched by a sodomite pervert. If someone were to point a gun at me and say we're going to physically abuse me and touch me, molest me, and kill me; I would tell them to just pull the trigger right away.

 
I would rather be killed than to be molested and tortured by some sodomite.

 
I would teach my children this, seriously if someone was pointing a gun at them and told them to get in the car with them. 

I would always tell them to no matter what, to just scream and run in the opposite direction as fast as they can to safety.

 
I would rather them take the chance of being shot, or killed than them getting into and disappearing into a car with a stranger. They would more than likely suffer a fate worse than death if they got into that car.

 
Tell your children to always run screaming in the operate direction. You may not agree with me here but, I believe this is the best option to take.

 
What I'm saying is that you shouldn't just assume that because you are in church, it doesn't mean it is a safe place. 

Don't just let your kids wander off on their own; especially the young ones always make sure they are with the older kids if you have them.

 
When it comes to your young kids, the best attitude to have is to suspect no one, trust no one.

 
God says we are living in perilous times, he said that in the last days, perilous times shall come; look we are living those dangerous times right now where you cannot be too careful with your children.

 
Look I'm not saying that everyone in the church is this evil wicked tree, but look there could be 100 people in the church, 99 of them are godly righteous people, but what about that 1 Judas, that filthy dreamer, that 1 evil corrupt tree, that pervert, that defiler of the flesh that the bible says will exist in your church; where the church is giving unfettered access to your child that you should be worried about; it isn't worth it, I would rather teach with the kids around myself where they can hear the complete Word of God being preached, not some watered down version of the Gospel!

 
I'm not trying to teach that you should not allow other people to look after your young children, what I am teaching you is to be very cautious of whom you leave your children with, we are living in perilous times people! It has even come to the point it is so perilous that even family members and extended family members cannot be trusted!!!

 
Please, for your children's sake just be very cautious. We should strive to not be a magnet to these wicked people, now I'm not saying we should avoid all unsaved people, we should give the Gospel to them so that they too can come to the saving grace and mercy of our Lord; what we should be doing though is to try to identify those reprobates (God rejected) people, and to be honest, they do stick out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the unsaved.

 
The Word of God is our defence, and will help us to discern truth.

 
Now, the bible is teaching that these people that teach perverted doctrine will also pervert the flesh; it's that simple, perverted doctrine = perverted person, not talking about nit-picky doctrines in general, but major doctrines.

 
You may not like what you are reading, you may not agree with what is being talked about and taught, but the 1 thing that I would really like you to take from this article is this, please, I sincerely hope you take this into account that you should not blindly trust people from your church (I don't need to say strangers here, that's a no brainer) because you don't know who the Judas is, and typically by the time you find out, it's already too late.

 
I'm not saying that you should be suspicious of all people, I don't want you giving people the evil stare, looking at them up and down making them feel all uncomfortable, and I just want to advise you to be vigilant and cautious when it comes to your kids; the best way to start is to always watch your kids, especially the very young ones you might have.

 
That 1 Judas, may not be in your church right now, or you might have an entire church full of Judas' (In which case get out as fast as you can!) but that 1 Judas may not be there now in your church, doesn't mean there isn't going to be 1 at the next service and so on.

 
Remember, the bible says they will be there, so be on your guard for these false prophets and teachers.

 
I am going to leave this article with the following verse, turn to 1 John 2.

 

1 John 2:18 "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."

 

 
John is telling us that we have heard that there will be the ANTICHRIST (singular), and that he is coming, but even now there are many antichrists (plural), whereby that we know it is the last time.

 
Doesn't this verse tell you that as we get near to the end, the last day; there's going to be more antichrists?

 
And what is an antichrist?

 
The bible says in 1 John 2:22 "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."


 
So basically it is this unsaved person, who will creep in amongst us.

 
How do we know that they are amongst us?

 
It says in verse 19,

 

1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

 
It says "they went out from us", now were these people amongst them?

 
It says they went out from us, but they were NOT of us, now some people will misapply this verse to say that this applies to ALL believers, and they'll say, "If they don't continue with us, they're not saved".

 
Um no, but when it comes to a preacher, a false teacher, these antichrists, these false prophets he says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

 
Now look, John had sent out false prophets in his day, what makes you think that we ourselves cannot be fooled also? Maybe when you receive that knock on the front door by that well-dressed person, speaking smooth things, saying all the right things that tickle your ears, would you be fooled?

 
All the disciples were fooled by Judas Iscariot, Jesus said to his disciples, one of you is going to betray me, and they responded, "is it I?"

 
None of them had any suspicions about each other, they all thought it might be themselves rather than Judas, they said, is it I?

 
Jesus even said to them, it is the guy who I hand the sup to after I've dipped it, Jesus dips the sup, hands it to Judas and he says to Judas, "That thou doest, do it quickly"; AND NOT ONE OF THEM UNDERSTOOD!

 
EVERYONE AT THE TABLE THOUGHT THAT JESUS WAS SENDING JUDAS TO GO BUY SOMETHING, because he had the bag with the money in it.

 
Your enemy, could be that person you would least expect to be your enemy, you know most gun clubs will tell you, that most people who get killed in a gun fight is the result of them being killed by someone they know; even the world is teaching this!

 
This may not be a fun, positive, uplifting message, but it's the truth, and this could save your life, your children's life, and perhaps someone that you love.

 
Grace and peace to you, and all glory be to our Father in heaven, who is most blessed and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 
Amen.