Salvation is not easy

Whoever tells you that salvation is easy either does not
know what he is talking about or he is trying to deceive you. It is difficult
to be saved, it is difficult to enter the kingdom of God. Peter wrote in 1
Peter 4:18 “IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS
IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?” It’s not an easy road.

 Jesus said to the Pharisees “For I say to you that unless
your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
not enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:20.

 Jesus never told anybody that it was an easy road, neither
did he beg anybody to follow Him. He Himself was a man of sorrows and of pain.
He suffered excruciating torture and pain for the sin of the world. He will not
excuse sin in anybody. He said: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must
deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever
wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake,
he is the one who will save it.
25 “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or
forfeits himself? 26 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son
of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory
of the Father and of the holy angels” Luke 9:23-26.

 Many people say you only need to believe in Jesus to be
saved. That is not true. If you do not live a righteous life you will not enter
the kingdom of heaven. God requires righteous deeds. If you believe in Jesus
you will live a totally righteous life. It doesn’t mean that you will be
perfect, you will make mistakes but you will repent immediately and correct
your mistakes when you do slip up.

 We read in Matthew 13:41-43 “The Son of Man will send
forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks,
and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace
of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE
SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has
ears let him hear.”

 It’s not good enough to belong to a church, it’s not good
enough just to believe. We must live righteous life’s in the sight of God. God
sees and He knows what goes on inside of our hearts. Jesus said to the
Pharisees and the scribes “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but
inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 “So you,
too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy
and lawlessness” Matthew 23:27-28.

 We need to examine ourselves and we should live in
righteousness before God every day, every moment. It is written in Hebrews 10:38
“BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE
SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK,
MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.”

 We need to run this race with endurance. There are many
people that say we are saved by grace, that’s true. We read in Romans 3:23-25
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being
justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood
through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the
forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;” 
Not the sins of the future. There are people that say I am saved past,
present and future, you are DECEIVED my friends you are LIED to. GOD PASSED
OVER THE SINS PREVIOUSLY COMMITTED not what you commit in the
future. What happens about the sins in the future we read about that in Hebrews
10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the
knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL
CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.the
testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do
you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has
regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and
has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE
LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.”
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on

 We are saved by GRACE THROUGH FAITH that is a GIFT. If we
DESPISE THAT GIFT and GO ON SINNING AFTER WE CAME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH
WE LOSE IT!

 JESUS CALLED US TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, GOOD WORKS. We read it in
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no
one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

 We are NOT SAVED BY GOOD WORKS we are SAVED FOR
GOOD WORKS, God saved us to walk in good works that He prepared for us. FAITH
WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD.

 JESUS SAID in Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me on
that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast
out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will
declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM
ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE
LAWLESSNESS.’

 We read in 1 John 3:4-10 “Everyone who practices sin also
practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that He appeared
in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who
abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little
children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is
righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the
devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for
this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of
God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because
he is born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the
devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God,
nor the one who does not love his brother.”

 Walking in RIGHTEOUSNESS is DIFFICULT. You can sing and
preach and read your Bible, you can pray all day, you can sing in tongues, you
can give up your body to be burned, you can die for your faith. But if you
don’t PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS you will NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

 People say they will DIE FOR CHRIST, they cannot even LIVE
FOR HIM. They cannot STAND UP FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, they APPROVE OF SIN, they
APPROVE OF MURDER, ABORTION OF BABIES, the APPROVE OF WAR and KILLING of other
people.

Don’t call yourself a Christian. Don’t hope on salvation if
you don’t  DO RIGHTEOUSNESS.

 JESUS, whom you hoped in, is the One who will say to you: “DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS”

Jesus said: “Strive to enter through the narrow
door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” Luke
13:24. Jesus is clear there is only ONE WAY, depart from sin, depart
from unrighteousness and OBEY JESUS CHRIST. Strive to enter through
the narrow door for many, many will seek to enter and few will be able.