by Will Kinney
The word Hell in the King James Bible
The Doctrine of Hell in the King James Bible
Hell or Hades or Sheol or the Grave?
The doctrine of Hell is getting a lot cooler in the modern versions.
In fact, a lot of theologically important words in the Holy Bible are being toned down or even lost entirely. As examples, here is a partial list of the frequency of certain words comparing the King James Bible Old Testament, with the NKJV, the NASB, ESV and the NIV Old Testament.
TRUTH KJB – 118 times; NKJV – about same; NASB – 92; ESV – 44; NIV – 41
GRACE KJB -38 times; NKJV – 20; NASB – 9; ESV – 7; NIV – 8
MERCY, MERCIFUL KJB – 288 times; NKJV -same; NASB – 51; ESV – 132; NIV – 85
SOUL KJB – 478 times; NKJV – same; NASB – 255; NIV – 110
LUCIFER KJB – 1 time; NKJV – 1 time; NASB – 0; ESV – 0; NIV – 0
JEHOVAH KJB – 7 times; NKJV – 0; NASB – 0; ESV – 0; NIV – 0
HELL KJB – 31 times; NKJV – 19; NASB – 0; ESV – 0; NIV – 0
Examples of other words in the whole Bible, both testaments.
DOCTRINE KJB – 56 times; NKJV – 42; NASB – 14; ESV – 13; NIV – 7
SAINTS KJB – 98 times; NKJV – 98; NASB – 68; ESV – 82; NIV 2011 – 0
FORNICATION KJB – 44 times; NKJV – 21; NASB – 8; ESV – 0; NIV – 0
DAMNATION, DAMNED KJB – 9 times; NKJV – 0; NASB – 0; ESV – 0; NIV – 0
HELL (whole Bible) KJB – 53 times; NKJV – 32; NASB -13; ESV – 14; NIV – 13
HUMAN – The word “human” is the gender-neutral, New Age, Evolutionary Buzz-word.
How many times does it appear?
In the King James Bible, Geneva Bible, ASV 1901 – ZERO times.
In the NKJV – 15 times
(a few examples)
Leviticus 5:3 – Or if he touches HUMAN uncleanness—whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.
John 16:21 – A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a HUMAN being has been born into the world.
Romans 6:19 – I speak in HUMAN terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
1 Corinthians 2:4 – And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of HUMAN wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
1 Corinthians 4:3 – But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a HUMAN court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
Hebrews 12:9 – Furthermore, we have had HUMAN fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
NASB – 39 times
ESV – 65 times
Holman Christian Standard – 141 times
NIV – 214 times
Examples from Genesis 6 – “When HUMAN beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of HUMANS were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with HUMANS forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
Dan Wallace’s NET version – 233 times
One Bible Critic, named Reese Currie, posts at his site this ignorant criticism of the KJB saying –
“Luke 16:23 KJV: And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
NKJV: “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
The Greek word is hades, which means, “the abode of the dead.” Here, the NKJV transliterates the Greek word hades to differentiate “Hades,” the abode of the dead, from “Gehenna,” the lake of fire. It is much more accurate to do so, since Hades is going to be thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 20:14. The wording is Jesus’ wording and I have no issues with it. The NKJV is more accurate.” (End of his comments)
First, all this Bible Rummager and unbeliever in the inerrancy of ANY Bible is giving us, is his own personal opinion. Many others disagree with him.
And secondly, the word Gehenna is never translated as the “lake of fire” and he cannot prove from Scripture his assertion that Gehenna and the lake of fire are the same thing. He just made that up and gave us his opinion. That’s all he did, and his personal opinion cannot be backed up from the Bible.
Hell in the Modern Versions – hades, geenna and tartaros = A very mixed up and inconsistent mess
The words still translated as hell in the N.T. of these modern versions (NKJV, NIV, NASB, ESV) are geenna 12 times (Matthew 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5 and James 3:6) and tartaros 1 time (2 Pet. 2:4).
The 2001 – 2011 ESVs still translate hades as “hell” in Matthew 16:18 “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The NIV editions of 1973 and 1984 translated hades as “hell” in Luke 16:23 “in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments”, but the 2011 “new” New International Version now has “hades”.
The ISV (International Standard Version) has translated hades as “hell” in Matthew 16:18 “the gates of hell”.
Petterson’s 2002 The Message has translated hades as “hell” in Matthew 16:18, Luke 16:23, Revelation 6:8, and Revelation 20:13 and 14.
Dan Wallace’s NET version 2006 is a study in confusion. He has “gehenna” as hell and “tartaros” as hell, but when it comes to “hades” most of the time he has the transliteration “hades” but in Luke 16:23 he goes with “hell” saying – “And in HELL, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.”
And then he twice “translates” a word that is not hell as hell. He does this in Galatians 1:8 and 9 –
“But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to HELL! As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to HELL!”
The Catholic Connection
It is interesting to compare and contrast the ever changing Catholic bible versions. The other Greek word that is often translated as “hell” in the King James Bible and many others is hades. In the older Catholic Douay-Rheims version, every time the KJB has hades as “hell”, so did this older Catholic bible – See Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27,31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8 and 20:13 and 14.
But the New Jerusalem bible (catholic) of 1985 has translated the Greek word hades as “hell” in Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15, as “the underworld” in Mat. 16:18, and as Hades in Mat. 11:23; Luke 16:23, Acts 2:27,31, and in Rev.1:18; 6:8 and 20:13,14. So we see that all these modern versions are consistently inconsistent.
This particular study will focus on the word Hell and how it is being air conditioned by degrees in many modern versions. There are many who criticize the King James Bible as being wrong for translating certain Hebrew and Greek words as Hell.
In the King James Old Testament the Hebrew word Sheol is variously translated as HELL – 31 times; THE GRAVE – 31 times, and as THE PIT – 3 times.
The modern versions disagree among themselves and have little room in which to criticize the KJB.
The NKJV transliterates this same word as Sheol 18 times, but then translates it as HELL 19 times, rather than the 31 times as in the KJB. It also has translated the word as the GRAVE and the PIT.
The NIV never translates it as hell or even as Sheol, but instead has the GRAVE 55 times, DEATH 6 times, the DEPTHS 2 times, the DEPTHS OF THE GRAVE 2 times, and as THE REALM OF DEATH once.
The NASB and the ESV on the other hand, transliterate rather than translate this word every single time as SHEOL. How many Christians know what Sheol is? It strikes fear in the heart, doesn’t it?
What we see here is that the very scholars who criticize the King James Bible for translating the word at times as HELL can’t seem to agree even among themselves as to what the word means in various contexts.
Let’s look at a few examples.
Psalm 9:17
King James Bible – “The wicked shall be turned into HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”
NIV – “The wicked RETURN TO THE GRAVE, all the nations that forget God.”
There are two big problems with the NIV rendering here. First, you can only RETURN TO someplace you have already been before. Does the NIV teach reincarnation? You can teach it using the NIV, but you cannot get the doctrine of reincarnation from the King James Bible.
Second, most everyone, the wicked and the righteous, go to the grave. So what else is new? The context is the fate of the wicked, and it is not the same as that of the righteous. The NIV rendering is silly at best, and diabolical at worst.
NASB, ESV 2001 – “The wicked will RETURN TO SHEOL, even all the nations who forget God.”
The NASB, ESV have two similar problems. How do people return to someplace if they have not been there before? Also what in the world is Sheol? Many criticize the KJB for being hard to understand, but how many of them know what Sheol is?
And again there is no distinction between the wicked and the righteous in the NASB rendering. The liberal RSV has: “The wicked shall depart to Sheol”, the ESV 2011 is similar with “the wicked shall RETURN to Sheol” and the Catholic New Jerusalem bible of 1985 has: “May the wicked turn away to Sheol.”
The Jewish translations differ among themselves as well. The 1917 JPS (Jewish Publication Society) says: “The wicked shall return to THE NETHER-WORLD, even all the nations that forget God.” The Jewish Family Bible 1864 – “Wicked ones shall return unto the GRAVE, and all nations that forget God.”
The Ancient Hebrew Bible 1907 and the 1936 The Holy Scriptures, Hebrew Publishing Company, say: “The wicked shall be turned into HELL” and the Complete Jewish Bible 1998 says: “The wicked will return to SH’OL, all the nations that forget God.”
Psalms 9:17 – “The wicked shall be turned into HELL”
The NKJV – “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” = the KJB here. Also agreeing with the King James Bible are Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishops’ Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1587, the Douay-Rheims Bible of 1610, the Bill Bible 1671, The Longman Version 1841, The Boothroyd Bible 1853, the Lesser Bible 1853, The Revised English Bible 1877, The Sharpe Bible 1883, the Douay of 1950 (Though the 1970 St. Joseph NAB says “to the NETHER WORLD” and the New Jerusalem bible 1985 says “turn away to SHEOL”) The Word of Yah 1993, the KJV 21st Century Version 1994, the Third Millennium Bible 1998, God’s First Truth 1999, The Revised Geneva Bible 2005, the Bond Slave Version 2009, the Catholic Public Domain Version of 2009, The Work of God’s Children Illustrated Bible 2011 and A Conservative Bible 2011 – “The wicked shall be turned into HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”, The Revised Douay-Rheims Bible 2012, the BRG Bible 2012.
In 1395 Wycliffe wrote: “Synneris be turned togidere in to HELLE; alle folkis, that foryeten God.”
And the 2002 Message paraphrases it in this way: “The wicked bought a one-way ticket to HELL.”
This online Hebrew Interlinear Old Testament – “shall be turned The wicked into HELL, all the nations that forget God.”
Jewish Virtual Library The Tanakh [Full Text] 1998
“The wicked shall be TURNED INTO HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”
Foreign Language Bibles
The Portuguese de Almeida of 1681, and the Portuguese La Biblia Sagrada and the 2000 O Livro all read exactly like the KJB saying: “Os ímpios seräo lançados no INFERNO, e todas as naçöes que se esquecem de Deus.” , as does the French Ostervald of 1996 – “Les méchants reculeront jusqu’aux ENFERS, et toutes les nations qui oublient Dieu.”, the Italian Diodati of 1649 – ” Andranno in volta NELL’INFERNO.” and the Conferenza Episcopale Italiana Bible – “ornino gli empi negli INFERI”, and the Spanish Cipriano de Valera of 1602, 1865, 1909 and the 2010 Reina-Valera Gomez Bible – “Los malos serán trasladados al INFIERNO.”, The Romanian Fidela Bible 2014 – “Cei stricaţi vor fi întorşi în iad împreună cu toate naţiunile care uită pe Dumnezeu.” = “the wicked shall be turned into HELL, and all the nations that forget God.”
Likewise Baptist Bible commentator John Gill states: “The wicked shall be turned into hell,…. Some render it, “shall return to the grave”, to the earth, the original dust from whence they came; but this is common to all men, to the righteous as well as the wicked; rather lwav here signifies the place of torment, commonly called HELL, where devils and damned spirits are; hither the souls of the wicked go immediately upon their departure from their bodies, Luke 16:23; and after the judgment is over, they will be remanded thither in soul and body; and their damnation is called the destruction of soul and body in HELL;… this is true of all the wicked, the beast and false prophet, who shall be cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone, Revelation 19:20″
The Hebrew word Sheol communicates nothing to us in the English language. There are many different views among the scholars themselves as to what this word signifies and it seems to vary with different contexts. Many Hebrew and Greek words have multiple meanings which change their sense according to the context and scholars argue over them all the time.
The 1987 Amplified Bible (Lockman Foundation) translates Psalms 9:17 as: “The wicked shall be turned back [headlong into premature death] into Sheol (the place of the departed spirits of the wicked), even all the nations that forget or are forgetful of God.” But we know from the New Testament that the place of the departed spirits of the wicked is called HELL!
The 2012 ISV (International Standard Version) translates Psalms 9:17 differently than most, saying: “The wicked will turn back TO WHERE THE DEAD ARE.”
There are times when the word simply means the GRAVE, as in Genesis 42:38 where Jacob says: “My son shall not go down with you (into Egypt)…if mischief befall him…then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to THE GRAVE.”
At other times the word means HELL, as the place of the dead in the heart of the earth. Scripture tells us in both the Old and New Testaments that there are compartments or degrees of hell. Both Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 86 speak of THE LOWEST HELL.
In Deuteronomy 32:22 God says: “For a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell”, and in Psalm 86:13 David says to God: “For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from THE LOWEST HELL.”
Shoel as HELL in the Old Testament
Among the various Bible versions that sometimes translate the Hebrew word sheol as “hell” are the following: Wycliffe 1395, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishop’s Bible 1568, the Geneva Bible 1599, Douay-Rheims 1610, the Bill Bible 1671, Webster’s 1833 translation, Living Oracles 1835, The Longman Version 1841, the Lesser Bible 1853, The Boothroyd Bible 1853, The Revised English Bible 1877, The Sharpe Bible 1883, the Revised Version 1881, The Ancient Hebrew Bible 1907, the Jewish 1936 Hebrew Publishing Company translation by Alexander Harkavy into English, Luther’s German Bible 1545, Brenton’s translation of the Septuagint 1851, the Spanish Reina Valera 1569, 1602, 1909, the Italian Diodati 1602, the Portuguese de Almeida 1681, Portuguese O Livro of 2000, Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible 1902, the Douay 1950, the Bible in Basic English 1961 (2 Sam.22:6; Psalm 18:5), New Life Version 1969 (Pro. 5:5, 7:27, 19:18, 15:24,23:14), God’s Word Translation 1995, the KJV 21st Century Version 1994, New Living Translation, the NKJV 1982, Third Millennium Bible 1998, and the 2002 version called The Message in 2 Samuel 22:6; Job 26:6, Psalm 9:17, 16:10, 18:5, 31:17, 49:14, 55:15, 88:3, 89:68, 116:3, 141:7, Proverbs 5:5, 7:27, 9:18, 15:24, 27:20, and Isaiah 57:9!!!
Other Bible translations that have HELL in places like Deuteronomy 32:22 – “For a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto THE LOWEST HELL” are The Jewish Family Bible 1864 – “shall burn unto the lowest HELL”, The Word of Yah 1993, God’s First Truth 1999, J.P. Green’s ‘literal’ 2005, The Apostolic Bible 2006, Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, Jubilee Bible 2010 – “For it is a fire that consumes unto HELL and would root out all my increase.” (Job 31:12; Psalm 88:11; Proverbs 15:11; 17:20), Conservative Bible 2011, The Work of God’s Children Illustrated Bible 2011, Names of God Bible 2011 – “My anger has started a fire that will burn to the depths of HELL.” (12 times in O.T. See Ps. 139:8; Job 11:8; Ps. 49:14,15; 83:13; 139:8; Pro. 5:5 “Her steps lead straight to HELL”, Pro. 9:18; 15:24; 27:20 – “HELL and decay are never satisfied”, the Biblos Interlinear Bible 2011 – “the lowest HELL”, The Revised Douay-Rheims Bible 2012, The New Brenton Translation 2012 – “shall burn unto the lowest HELL”, The Biblos Bible 2013, the Modern English Version 2014 – “Yet you shall be brought down to HELL, to the sides of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:9,15; 28:15; 28:18)
Hades or HELL in the New Testament
In the New Testament the same confusion among the various bible versions is seen in the manner in which they translate or not the word Hades. There are many Bible critics who tell us the King James Bible is in error for translating the word Hades as Hell. Yet, as we shall see, the “scholars” are in total disagreement among themselves regarding this.
Luke 16:19-31 is the classic case showing the division that existed in hell before the resurrection of Christ from the dead. There we see the beggar Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom being comforted and in contrast we see the rich man IN HELL being tormented. There was a great gulf fixed between the two sections dividing the righteous from the wicked.
The Greek word used here is hades – αδης. The King James Bible translated it as hell, while the NKJV and NASB have Hades.
A simple visit to the “Oxford Compact English Dictionary” would clear it up for all but the most rabid of ”scholars”! “Hades” is a proper noun for A MYTH!
The NIV is interesting in that it has variously translated this same word as “Hades -5 times, depths – 2 times, grave – 1 time; and as Hell only once and that is here in Luke 16:23!
Oh, but wait. Apparently that one time as “hell” in Luke 16:23 in the NIVs of 1973 and 1984 was one time too many. Now the late$t NIV revi$ion of 2011 has come out and they have now decided that this should “Hades”.
The ESV likewise translates Luke 16:23 as “and in HADES, being in torment”, yet they have inconsistently translated this same word as HELL in Matthew 16:18 – “the gates of HELL shall not prevail against it.”
Hell itself is not the final state of the wicked. After the great white throne judgment we are told in Revelation 20:14 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
Those who complain about this word being translated as “hell” should check out some other bible versions to see what others, who have just as much education as they do, have done with these passages.
Hades – αδης – as HELL in the New Testament
Even today in the modern Greek language, the word αδης (hades) means HELL. I have a hard copy of Divry’s Modern English-Greek and Greek-English Dictionary. If you look up the word “hell” is says αδης, and if you go to the Greek to English side of the dictionary and look up αδης it defines it as HELL; Hades. Hades is a transliteration and Hell is a translation into English of what the word means.
Online Greek Dictionary
Type in the word άδης and the first definition is “hell”
άδης
hell (proper) – in various religions, the place where sinners are said to go after death.
underworld – world of the dead
hades (noun)
inferno (noun)
Not only does the King James Bible translate the Greek word hades (αδης) as “hell” but so do the following Bible versions: Wycliffe 1395, Tyndale 1525, Coverdale 1535, the Great Bible 1540, Matthew’s Bible 1549, the Bishop’s Bible 1568, Geneva Bible 1599, The Beza New Testament 1599, The Bill Bible 1671, John Wesley’s N.T. 1755, Worsley Version 1770, Thomas Haweis N.T. 1795, The Clarke N.T. 1795, The Revised Translation 1815, Webster’s 1833 translation, The Longman Version 1841, The Hewett N.T. 1850, The Commonly Received Version 1851, The Revised N.T. 1862, The Alford N.T. 1870, the Smith Bible 1876, The Revised English Bible 1877, The Sharpe Bible 1883, The Clarke N.T. 1913, the Douay 1950, The Basic English Bible 1965, The New Life Version 1969, the New Living Translation 1996 (Mat. 16:18), Today’s English Version 1992 (Mat.11:23, Luke 10:15), Good News Bible 1992 (Mat. 11:23; Luke 10:15), Bible in Basic English 1961 (Mat. 11:23; 16:18, Luke 10:15, 16:23, Acts 2:27,31, and the 4 in Revelation), Living Bible 1971- “His soul went INTO HELL”, Contemporary English Version 1995 – “He went TO HELL and was suffering terribly”, God’s Word Translation 1995 – “He went TO HELL, where he was constantly tortured”, (Mat. 11:23, 16:18, Luke 10:15, 16:23, Rev.1:18, 6:8, 20:13-14), KJV 21st Century 1994, Third Millennium Bible 1998, and The Message of 2002 (Mat. 16:18, Luke 10:15, 16:23, Rev. 1:18, 6:6, 20:13-14), ESV 2011 (Matthew 16:18) Dan Wallace’s NET version 2006 in Luke 16:23, New Heart English Bible 2010 – “In HELL he lifted up his eyes, being in torment”, and the Names of God Bible 2012 – “He went to HELL, where he was constantly tortured.”
Other English Bibles that have the word HELL in places like Luke 16:23 – “and in HELL he lift up his eyes, being in torments” are The Word of Yah 1993, Lawrie Translation 1998, God’s First Truth 1999, Last Days Bible 1999, The Evidence Bible 2003, Bond Slave Version 2009, The Public Domain Version 2009, The Hebraic Transliteration Scripture 2010, The Work of God’s Children Illustrated Bible 2011, Conservative Bible 2010 – “And he reopened his eyes in Hell, being in torment there”
Many foreign language Bible translate the Greek word hades as HELL. These include Luther’s German Bible 1545 (Luke 16:23) -“in der Hölle”, the Spanish Sagradas Escrituras 1569, Cipriano de Valera 1602 – “en EL INFIERNO, alzó sus ojos, estando en tormentos, y ve a Abraham lejos, y a Lázaro en su seno.”, Reina Valera 1909, and 2004 Reina Valera Gomez Bible (infierno), the NIV Spanish edition Nueva Versión Internacional 1999 – “ En EL INFIERNO, en medio de sus torments” = “in HELL, in the midst of his torments”, the Portuguese de Almeida 1681 “E no INFERNO, ergueu os olhos estando em tormentos” – “and in HELL, he lift up his eyes, being in torments””, the Italian Diodati of 1649 and the New Diodati of 1991 and the 2006 La Biblia della Gioia – “essendo tra i tormenti nell’INFERNO”, the French Martin 1744 and the French Ostervald of 1996 – “Et étant en ENFER.”, the Maori Bible – “A i te reinga ka titiro ake ia, i a ia e whakamamaetia ana” = “and in HELL he looked up in torments”, the Chinese Union Traditional Bible – 他 在 陰 間 受 痛 苦 – “IN HELL”, the Hungarian Karoli Bible – “És a pokolban felemelé az õ szemeit” = “IN HELL he lift up his eyes”, the Polish Updated Gdansk Bible 2013 – “A będąc w piekle i cierpiąc męki” = “and being IN HELL and suffering torment”, the Romanian Cornilescu Bible – “ Pe cînd era el în Locuinţa morţilor, în chinuri” = “while he was IN HELL in torment”, the 2006 Russian Slovo Zhizny Bible – “В аду, где богач терпел мучения” = “the rich man, IN HELL, being in torment”, the Afrikaans Bible 1953 – “En toe hy in die doderyk sy oë ophef” = “And IN HELL he lift up his eyes, being in torment”, the Danish Bible Det Gamle Testamente 1931 – “Og da han slog sine Øjne op i Dødsriget” = “IN HELL he lift up his eyes”, the Czech Kralicka Bible – “Potom v pekle pozdvih očí svých” = “IN HELL he lift up his eyes in torments”, the Swahili N.T. – “Huyo tajiri, alikuwa na mateso makali huko kuzimu” = “Rich man, he was IN HELL torments”, the Ukranian N.T. – “І в пеклї зняв він очі свої, бувши в муках” = “IN HELL he lift up his eyes being in torment”.
Wordsmyth Dictionary defines Hades as:
- in Greek mythology, the underworld inhabited by the dead, or the god who rules there; Pluto. 2. in the New Testament, the state or home of the dead. 3. the place of punishment for the wicked after death; HELL.
The American Heritage Dictionary 2000 defines Hades as:
- Greek Mythology a. The god of the netherworld and dispenser of earthly riches. b. This netherworld kingdom, the abode of the shades of the dead. 2. also hades HELL.
Notice that the first definitions given refer to Hades as myth, or merely as the place of the dead, without any reference to suffering or torment. For a preacher to say: “Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or you will go to Hades” seems to lack the visceral impact of “or you will go to Hell.” What do you think?
The American Heritage dictionary defines hell as: 1. Hell – The abode of condemned souls and devils in some religions; the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death. b. A state of separation from God; exclusion from God’s presence. 2. The abode of the dead, identified with the Hebrew Sheol and the Greek Hades; the underworld.
The New KJV is not the same as the King James Bible. Here are some examples:
Matthew 16:18
KJV: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of HELL shall not prevail against it.”
NKJV: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of HADES shall not prevail against it.” Luke 16:23
KJV: “And in HELL he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
NKJV: “And being in torments in HADES, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
The New KJV is inconsistent in the Old Testament in that it does render the word sheol as “hell” 19 times, yet it transliterates this same word as Shoel 18 times to match the NASB rendering. The word Hell is removed in 2 Samuel 22:6, Job 11:8, 26:6, Psalm 16:10, 18:5, 86:13, 116:3, Isaiah 5:14, 14:15, 28:15,18, 57:9, Jonah 2:2, Matt. 11:23, 16:18, Luke 10:15, 16:23, Acts 2:27, 31, Rev. 1:18, 6:8, 20:13,14.
Some Bible critics, mockers and others who would try in vain to do away with the doctrine of hell appeal to the book of Jonah where Jonah prays to God from the whale’s belly saying: “out of the belly of HELL cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” “See”, they say, “Jonah wasn’t literally in HELL, so no such place really exists. It is just a figure of speech.”
Well, in part, they are right. It is a figure of speech here. Most older and more correct Bibles have the word “hell” here, like Wycliffe, Coverdale, Great Bible, Matthew’s Bible, the Bishops’ Bible, the Geneva Bible and even the Douay Rheims bible. Newer versions like the RSV, NKJV, ESV, NASB have “Sheol” while the NIV has “the grave”, but Jonah was not literally in Sheol (the realm of the dead) nor in a literal grave.
The story of Jonah (real history, not an allegory) is a type or prophetic picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jonah the “type” is figurative, but in the anti-type or the fulfilled reality, the language is literal. Jonah pre-figured the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself tells us in Matthew 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Jesus Christ did literally die, spent three days and nights in the heart of the earth and was then literally raised from the dead. “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in HELL, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.” Acts 2:31-32.
It seems that our Lord visited both sections of this realm of the dead. He told the dying thief on the cross who believed in Him – “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43 It appears that the section referred to as “Abraham’s bosom” is the region of the Old Testament saints who had faith in God, and was also referred to as “paradise”.
But it appears from Scripture that our Lord also visited the section called “hell”, but we are not told how long He stayed there. This seems to be alluded to in 1 Peter 3:18-20 where we read: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”
It does appear that our Lord did go to the “prison” side called Hell where he perhaps announced His victory over death and hell. Bible commentators have lots of different opinions about where He went and what He did when he got there, but as I presently understand the Scriptures, I think this explanation makes sense.
Hell | Is ‘Hell’ Missing from Your “Bible”? | Soul Sleep Exposed | Fake Bibles Exposed
Abiding
The Lying Vanity of “Eternal Security” [podcast]
WHY was Satan expelled from God’s presence, from Heaven? What happened the last time sin was found in Heaven? Did God coddle it or kick it out? Jesus told us:
“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10:18
Oh and will we lose the ability to choose in Heaven? One man recently stated: “Even if you are in Heaven you do not have eternal security.” Interesting and apparently true…. because as I am sure you were alluding to, lucifer and a third of the angels still had choice in Heaven, they chose sin and were expelled (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:13-19; Luke 10:18).
Those who deal with the eternal securists know that it’s observable that these self-serving idolaters, counterfeits, want the assurance of salvation via lies instead of obedience. They campaign, promote, and defend their “eternal security” idol doctrine. If they spent the same time and energy seeking and obeying the LORD they claim to serve, there would be great fruit born.
No one is going to walk in peace and assurance just because they speak of it, claim it, or because they desire to have peace and assurance. No, it’s only when we obey the Word of God that His peace and assurance flood our being. There’s no short cut to obedience (1 John 3:16-18).
The assurance of salvation, of eternal glory with Christ, abides only in those who obey God. The OSAS wolves speak nothing of obeying the LORD. No, instead they spend all their time indoctrinating people with the heresy that they are eternally secure no matter what they do after being saved. Those who give more than cliche’s and lip service to God, enjoy the assurance of His salvation.
“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby (by obedience) we know that we are of the truth, and shall ASSURE our hearts before him. 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” 1 John 3:18-21
Assurance of salvation in our hearts comes from abiding in and with Christ, from obeying Him – not sitting around convincing ourselves and others that we are “eternally secure” (John 14-15). Such is the occupation of moral coward counterfeits who are lost hell-bound souls.
Convincing people who aren’t abiding in Christ that they are eternally secure is criminal, sinful, and perpetrated by the grace-perverting “ungodly men” Jude warned us about (Jude 3-4). Instead of teaching them that God requires that they love and obey Him, they sidestep this unpopular truth and evilly, insidiously tickle the ears of their prey (2 Timothy 4:2-4).
Of 1 John 3:19, Adam Clarke writes:
“Hereby we know that we are of the truth – That we have the true religion of the Lord Jesus, and shall assure our hearts – be persuaded in our consciences, that we have the truth as it is in Jesus; as no man can impose upon himself by imagining he loves when he does not: he may make empty professions to others, but if he loves either God or man, he knows it because he feels it; and love unfelt is not love, it is word or tongue. This the apostle lays down as a test of a man’s Christianity, and it is the strongest and most infallible test that can be given. He that loves feels that he does love; and he who feels that he loves God and man has true religion; and he who is careful to show the fruits of this love, in obedience to God and humane acts to man, gives others the fullest proof that he has the loving mind that was in Jesus.”
The crux concerning the eternal security counterfeits is that they simply refuse to die – to deny self, take up the cross daily, and follow the Savior they claim is their Savior.
Believing that God requires man to participate in an abiding relationship with Him is not works salvation, it’s Bible 101. The only people who call an abiding walk with Christ “works salvation” are those who are vainly thinking they’re going to use Jesus to get them to Heaven, out of hell, without engaging in a relationship with the Great Bridegroom. These are antichrists. They teach contrary to Christ. Read John 15:1-6. Doesn’t their reasoning, their doctrine sound like the foolish virgins who were shut out of Christ’s kingdom? Yep. Read Matthew 25:1-13.
Instead of using that energy to lay down their lives, to be truly crucified with Christ, the OSAS defenders have endless energy to argue to justify sinning. Why? They simply do not love the LORD. They love self and they love their life in this world and will perish with it (1 Corinthians 2:9b; 1 John 2:15-17).
Eternal securists preach “grace, grace, grace” and yet they have more faith in sin, in sinning, than they do in God’s grace to keep them…. free from sin. They are “(…the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things)” (Philippians 3:18-19).
“For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Romans 6:7
Let me get this straight …… Jesus’ grace was enough to save you but is not strong enough to keep you from the sin He died and rose again to deliver you from?
MESSAGE RECEIVED:
“Romans 14:1-3. This post (exposing the heresy of OSAS) continues division among God’s people. God has chosen not to reveal all of Himself to any person. We are all in a broken state of incomplete revelation.”
REPLY:
Not true. You are quoting Romans 14 which is speaking of NON-essentials, not essential doctrine of the original Gospel given to us by Christ and His holy apostles. Those who do not continue in sound doctrine, in the teaching of Christ and His apostles, “hath NOT God” and are to be exposed (2 John 7-11).
The only one causing division is you – a false teacher who is perpetrating the same lie of Satan himself from the Garden of Eden, the original doctrine of devils (1 Timothy 4:1).
Believers are specifically mandated to “earnestly contend” against “ungodly men” who are “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness” such as Satan’s first lie, his first teaching – OSAS/eternal security.
Jude 1:3-5
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 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. 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.”
Divisions are needed – the divining between the truth-loving remnant of Christ and the counterfeits who espouse falsehoods (Romans 16:17-18). See also Matthew 10:34.
God has clearly, plainly revealed to us the OSAS/eternal security is a lie from His arch enemy and actually led to the fall of mankind in the Garden (Proverbs 22:17-21; Genesis 2:17; 3:4). The warnings against this heresy exist throughout His Word. You may wish to cease using the cop-out position.
Brother Raphael King writes:
“If once saved always saved is correct, then why does Satan tempt saved Christians? What is the aim of the tempter if not to entice the saved ones to sin?
If once saved always saved is correct, why did Jesus tell the man he healed of his infirmity to go and SIN NO MORE? John 5:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
I need your views on these if you think once saved always saved is correct, or you have believed a lie all long!”
According to man’s school of thought, eternal security (also known as “once saved, always saved”) is the belief that from the moment anyone becomes a Christian they will be saved from hell and will not lose their salvation.
But according to the Bible, someone that was once saved can still fall into sin, die in their sins and go to hell!
2 Peter 2:20-22: “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
Let’s analyze some examples:
Judas was once saved! One cannot fall away from a place he has never been. So, accepting this falling away as truth, the conclusion is that one can be saved and then “fall away” or lose his salvation. How can a fallen man fall again if he was never saved at first?
Acts 1:25: “That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”
Judas Iscariot was standing in the Lord, and a follower of Christ before he fell into transgression.
Demas was once saved…
Colossians 4:14: “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.”
Philemon 1:24: “Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers…” These are saved laborers that Paul referred to.
But Demas later backslid to love the world….
2 Timothy 4:10: “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.”
1 Corinthians 5 was written to believers who had fallen into fornication. “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.” Paul would not be preaching like this to those that are not yet saved.
The seven churches in Revelation were saved believers before they fell. The Bible recorded their good works. The remedy for them was repentance. Mind you these happened after Pentecost. The church at Ephesus backslid and left its first love. God out of His infinite mercy, sent a message of warning to them. Can you then say that these Churches are not truly saved at first? Then read Revelation 2:1-5 and see their stand before they fell.
Revelation 2:5: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
David once fell into sin, Saul once fell into sin, Solomon once fell into sin, Ananias and Sapphira once fell into sin, Lucifer once fell into sin! The lists are endless. These people were saved but somewhere along the line they fell into sin. Some had the grace to repent and utilized it while others wasted it, some didn’t have the grace to repent.
Those that said these people were not truly saved at first should bring evidence from the Bible and not self-assumption. You don’t assume the Bible, you believe it!
If once saved forever saved is true, why did the apostles write to believers that they should not commit sin and warned them to flee from fornication? The Bible talks about repentance in various chapters.
Eternal salvation is for those who always obey God. Once you disobey God, you will lose it just like King Saul in the Bible. The only way to reclaim it is through repentance.
Hebrews 5:9: “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;”
Saved by Grace to Obey God
The OSAS counterfeits want to say that any obedience or good works for Jesus mean you are seeking to earn your own salvation. But the Bible tells us that we are saved by grace through faith which will always produce the fruit of good works. In fact we are created in Christ to do them!
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10
He saved us by His grace to be “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Any questions?
Jesus requires that we overcome in order to reign with Him.
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:” Revelation 2:26
Those who keep His works to the end are those who trust and worship Christ and not self – He is their “first love.” (Revelation 2:4-5) Their works do not save them and yet they clearly prove they are His.
“Unto the end” is a requirement for eternal glory, otherwise you will be vanquished into the bowels of eternal damnation irrevocably. Faith is required by God to receive Christ’s salvation, and true saving faith always produces good works (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Isn’t our obedience to Jesus our LORD an expression of our love for Him?
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
What did Jesus say concerning our lights shining and “good works”?
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
“Be careful to maintain good works”
“This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” Titus 3:8
O the endless stream of cowards who seek to evade personal accountability ….. In dealing with yet another heretic, I recently wrote concerning a man who believes he has no personal responsibility to worship, walk with, obey, and engage in an intimate abiding relationship with the Savior He claims saved him (John 15:1-6). He assumes no accountability because he seeks to use Jesus to get him to Heaven but has no interest in the cross Jesus says one must take up daily to truly follow Him-otherwise such a counterfeit is not following Him (Luke 9:23-24). Repent now sinner.
Moral cowards migrate to the “eternal security” heresy because they simply do not want to genuinely repent, to change. They want the crown but not the cross. They vainly believe they are going to use the Savior to get them out of hell yet want nothing to do with a worship-filled, engaged, abiding, fruit-bearing, obedient relationship with the Son of God while on earth. These are the rebels who will hear the LORD declare to them “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Matthew 25:4. Read John 15.)
In the biblical model of salvation, you’re not free to sin, you’ve been saved from sin, blessed to live free from sin.
“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14
You are now the servant of God, not sin.
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Romans 6:22
Those who go back to sin after being saved, are in danger of hell fire – unless they repent and return to the LORD:
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is STILL death (Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23). God’s grace never changed His definition of sin. God will judge, will damn the souls of every person who dies in sin – whether they were saved in the past or not (Ezekiel 33:12-13; Revelation 22:11, etc.).
Lawless Workers of Iniquity
This warning below from Christ clearly tells us that “MANY” today who call Jesus “Lord”, who claim they are saved, are not.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (lawlessness).” Matthew 7:21-23
Joe Mann writes:
“When a person does what CHRIST JESUS HIMSELF tells them to not do or do…. it’s not their own work’s…..is it???
Besides a person is not in the PROCESS of being SAVED BY & until BELIEF in WHO & WHAT?
Luke 6:46-49
46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”
Simply put, those who teach OSAS/eternal security/Calvinism, are sin-justifying, grace-perverting heretics.
The 5 points of Calvinism are utterly false, each and every one of them. Personally, I wear the scorn of the wicked eternal security and calvinist hereticks, as a badge of honor. According to the Holy Spirit’s warning through Jude, these have perverted the faith of the original Gospel of Christ and call it “the doctrines of grace” while they specifically pervert the grace of God. These are “ungodly men” who are “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness” (license for sin) (Jude 4). We are to “earnestly contend” against them (Jude 3).
You could openly curse the Son of God and they’d say little or nothing. Yet, soon as you expose the lying falsehoods they hide behind and use to justify their sins, those devils behind those “doctrines of devils” manifest (1 Timothy 4:1-2).
Calvinist/osas heretics insist that one is devaluing the perfect payment of Christ on the cross for our sins…. are they?
Jesus’ work was perfect and this same JESUS gave conditions for man to appropriate His salvation. To say otherwise would be to say that everyone is going to Heaven, not matter what which is the heresy we call universalism. Yet some wish to ignore those conditions, those things God requires of anyone who will know and walk with Him. Many have bought lies, half-truths and aren’t being honest with the whole counsel of God’s Word. Jesus told His own 12 they had to “endure to the end” to be “saved” (Matthew 10:22; 24:13).
“Saved by grace through faith. Lets break this down for those who don’t understand… Its by Gods grace we’re offered the gift of salvation; yet that gift of salvation is activated through faith!! Without faith no man can please God. And if people think for one second they’re forced to abide or remain in the faith, they better get back in the word. Jesus even said that he is the true vine, and if we don’t remain in him, we are cut off… OSAS teaching is a lie! We must work out our salvation in fear and trembling before the Lord daily!! Endure unto the end!” Cristina
Specifically speaking to HIS own, Jesus says they must “abide” in Him or they will be cast into the fire (John 15:6).
“If a man abide not in me (does not remain with me), he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:6
Response to a proponent of OSAS:
Please explain to all of us why EVERY person in the world isn’t automatically saved…. after all, Jesus paid the full price for their sin…. And, show us all in God’s Word how men don’t have free will. “Doctrines of grace” to you are actually the corruption of God’s saving grace and Jude warned us about vile wolves, “ungodly men” like you who turn the saving grace of God in Christ into a license for sin.
“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 (license to sin), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 4
Here’s a Scripture text on true saving grace that you are allergic to and that your phony “grace teachers” never mentioned….
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” Titus 2:11-12
Every false teacher is going to hell (2 Peter 2:1-3).
Calvinists speak of “doctrines of grace” while intentionally ignoring and evading Bible passages on grace such as Titus 2:11-12. Calvinists are con men. They are fulfilling the Holy Spirit’s prophecy through Jude as they over emphasize grace while deliberately evading certain grace Scriptures and mountains of truth (Jude 4). What about holiness – God’s holiness, and the truth that He said “Be ye holy for I am holy”? See 1 Peter 1:15-16. You purposely ignore it because you simply don’t want to die, to lay down your life in this fleeting world, to be crucified with Christ. Counterfeit. | Grace vs Holiness
Much more explosive truth on the topic of the mythical “eternal security” |
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Apostasy
The Goal of the Ungodly Eternal Security Teachers [podcast]
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 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 (license to sin), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude 3-4
“This is AWESOME! You got all over it. It really flowed. Excellent! In the delivery, your excitement and passion for this subject are unmistakable. How can ANYONE listen to this and not want to check out the Word of God for themselves?” Debbie L.
“Thy prophets (false leaders) have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered (exposed) thine iniquity (have not uncovered your sin), to turn away thy captivity (to get you set free from it); but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment (ultimate termination into hell).” Lamentations 2:14
COUNTERFEITS who hide behind their OSAS fairy tale HATE this biblical reality and are willing to call the LORD a liar in order to retain this heresy – “And he that overcometh, and KEEPETH my works UNTO THE END, to him will I give power over the nations:” (Revelation 2:26)
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Apostasy
How is God’s Money to be Spent by His Church? [podcast]
Have you ever noticed when volunteers go to the mission field on a short term mission trip….
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” Ephesians 4:11-12
The highest paid position, calling in the church is what?
“the elders that rule well”
“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. 18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.” 1 Timothy 5:17-18
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:13-15
The love offerings of Christ’s saints are to be spent equiping His saints to spread His Word, His Gospel to the end of the earth. This is the Great Commission mandate Jesus gave us. Are you living it out?
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15
“Don’t bother me” with the needs of others is the crass, cold, calloused response of those who don’t step forward to contribute. Darkness consumes their life and Jesus is calling them out of that darkness and into His marvellous light! They are totally consumed in their own life—and that’s the problem, the sin. Repentance needed. Divine refreshing will only come after true repentance (Acts 3:19). God will never bless a selfish person (Matthew 20:20-28; Philippians 2:3-5). The LORD will always bless those who are given to Him and therefore giving to His work (Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11).
When we spend all our money on self, who does that reveal we are serving—the Savior or self?
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24
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