Did Christ teach people begin life already LOST?

[Samie]

My answer is No. Why? Because He taught exactly the opposite, that is, people begin life NOT lost.

In the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son (Luke 15:1 – 24), Christ taught that people begin life NOT lost:

1. Before the sheep got lost, it was with its shepherd in the fold.
2. Before the coin was lost, it was with its owner.
3. Before the son went lost, he was at home with his father.

So with us all. We begin life with our Shepherd, with our Owner, with our Father. But we all sinned. Hence the command for people to repent, to overcome evil with good. The same command God made in the old covenant (Ezek 18:30); the same command God NOW wants all people to do (Acts 17:30); the same command Jesus Himself made in the Gospel that He preached (Mark 1:14, 15); the same Gospel He wanted preached to the world before He comes again (Matt 24:14).

But alas, in the brand of gospel popularly being preached to the world now, preachers teach that people are born in sin, hence born lost. No wonder Christ has not returned, because the gospel the world knows is tainted with a teaching exactly opposite to what He taught. While Christ taught people begin life NOT lost, most preachers teach people are born in sin, and to be born in sin is to be born NOT in Christ because sin separates man from God. The teaching that people have to believe first before they can be in Christ is a teaching that indirectly teach people begin life in sin, and hence born NOT in Christ.

But praise God, we begin life, that is we are born, NOT lost, as Jesus taught in the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin and lost son. And to be born NOT lost is to be born In Christ! We need to remove the wrong teaching in the gospel that we preach, so Jesus can come.

Dear Reader, is the brand of gospel you preach tainted with a teaching opposite to what Christ taught? If yes, will you decide to remove it from what you teach and instead of teaching that people are born in sin, teach that people are born in Christ?

 

[Samie]

Is it true that UNLESS people believe they cannot become part of the body of Christ?

Is it true that UNLESS people believe they cannot become part of the body of Christ?

My answer is No. Why? Because believing is a spiritual act only those ALREADY in Christ are capable of doing. Christ is the ONLY Source of POWER for doing any spiritual act. UNLESS one is PLUGGED IN to Him, he does not have any power to do anything good like believing, repenting, deciding to be baptized, etc. Christ Himself said that APART from Him, man can do NOTHING (John 15:4, 5).

But alas, most Christian preachers teach the opposite of what Christ Himself said. They teach that UNLESS a person first believes and accepts Christ as his personal Savior, he cannot become part of His Body. This is the brand of gospel popularly preached to the world. This brand of gospel is based on the premise that people are born in sin, instead of born in Christ. To be born in sin, is to be born NOT in Christ, hence born APART from Him Who said APART from Him man can do NOTHING!!!

But most preachers insist that people while yet APART from Christ can do SOMETHING – they can believe in Him and accept Him as personal Saviour – so he can be made part of His body. But this is not possible. Here’s why:

1. If people are born in sin then they are born NOT in Christ.
2. If one is NOT in Christ, he cannot bear fruit because only those in Christ can bear fruit (John 15:4, 5).
3. If one cannot bear fruit, he cannot have faith because faith is fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).
4. If one cannot have faith, he cannot believe because faith is needed to believe. Heb 11:6

Therefore , if a man is born NOT in Christ, he can NEVER be in Christ. But thanks be to God, we are born ALREADY in Christ, all because of God’s grace.

Hence, the teaching that UNLESS a person first believes he cannot become part of the body of Christ is biblically unsound.