Romans 10:13, Not Part Of The Gospel

Romans 10:13-14, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 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? 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!”

The Bible plainly says in Romans 10:14 that no one can call upon the name of the LORD until they first BELIEVE. So, those people in verse 14 are ALREADY SAVED, because they have already BELIEVED.

Many churches today are teaching a falsehood that you must pray to ask God to save you. They say that it is impossible to believe without also asking in prayer, but this is simply not true. Throughout the Bible we learn that lost sinners were saved by simply believing the GOOD NEWS (Gospel) of Christ. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” This Bible verse clearly refutes Dr. Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016) and his wacky followers (e.g. William P. Grady and Robert Breaker) who falsely teach that people were saved by works in the Old Testament. Acts 10:43 plainly teaches that ALL THE PROPHETS preached salvation by faith alone in Christ. Beware of Ruckmanites!!!

Granted, there is nothing wrong with accompanying one's faith with a prayer to call upon the Lord, but it is very important to understand that it is not necessary to pray to be saved. It is common for people to pray at the time of salvation, and even to ask God to save them, but it is not required. God is already freely offering every human being His free gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life through simple childlike faith in His only begotten Son, Jesus. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I get frustrated when New IFB pastors use Romans 10:13 in a foolish attempt to teach that you cannot be saved unless you say a prayer. BELIEVING is enough to be saved. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Verse 15 says, “How shall they preach”? You CANNOT preach (give testimony of) unless you first have a message to tell. The Scripture tells us, beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace! ONLY THOSE that give out the right gospel message ARE BEAUTIFUL in the eyes of the Lord. Those who preach the lies of Lordship Salvation and Wrong Repentance are preaching ANOTHER GOSPEL (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4).

The Gospel is simply this…

Here is the gospel: God says that we are sinners and that no amount of good works or behavioral changes on our part could ever make us holy enough to enter heaven. God sent His Son to pay for all of our sins. Jesus paid for our crimes by dying on the cross for us all. His dead body was buried in a grave. On the third day, Jesus arose from the dead. The instant you believe this, He knows it and He saves you. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). The free gift is based solely upon your trust in what Jesus did for you and has nothing at all to do with what you do for Him. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

SOURCE: Michael P. Bowen, “I Never Knew You,” p. xii

Romans 10:13 is simply NOT a part of the Gospel of free grace, because you get saved the moment you believe, not if and when you pray. Prayer is not necessary to be saved. The Bible is full of people who just BELIEVED and were saved. For example: Abram in Genesis 15:6, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

IT IS THAT SIMPLE – THE GOSPEL TRUTH

1st Timothy 5:22, Laying On Of Hands

1st Timothy 5:22, “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure.”

This passage refers to the ordination of a man to be a minister. Certainly, one does not need to be officially ordained to preach the Gospel or serve the Lord. Ordination is appropriate for any man who will be entrusted with a position of leadership within the local church.

The ceremony of ordination and laying on of hands is the Bible way of a local body of ministers giving their approval to a man who is entering the role of being a Christian leader. This shows authenticity. Understandably then, this process should never be taken lightly or done without due consideration of the candidate. In 1st Timothy 5:22, the inspired Holy Bible is simply cautioning a church against quickly ordaining a man without taking the time to observe his character to see who he is, and to properly ask him questions to make sure that he is sound doctrinally on the fundamentals of the Christian faith, which many Christian leaders today sadly are not. Be careful churches who you ordain.

For centuries, the process of ordination has been made a mockery of by wicked people who sell ordination credentials for money. Some people have even had their dog ordained, just to show the sad state of religion in America and Europe. I humbly believe that it is sinful and unethical to send someone ordination credentials in exchange for money. When considering a man for ministry leadership, it should be a slow and thorough process. If the man has already proven himself over time, then that is a different situation and he may be ordained sooner.

There are many pastors today who have no earthly business standing behind any pulpit, for various reasons. One reason is a pastor who woefully lacks love for people, which is true in my humble opinion of Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College. In my humble opinion their shameful pastors are cold-hearted yuppie types, theologically incompetent, and should all be fired. the sooner the better. I do not recommend PCC to anyone!

Thank you for reading my ministry blog dear reader. Jesus is precious!!!

Galatians 2:20

Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

I cherish this passage of Scripture, because it reveals one of the great truths of living the Christian life, and that is simple that no one can do it. You read right dear friend, no one is able to live the Christian life. If you try, you will fail. It is common for baby believers to attempt to live the Christian life, but they still wallow in their sinful bad habits and struggle to no avail to live right. Many become discouraged and quit church, accepting failure.

But dear reader I have great news for you! We don't have to live the Christian life, because Jesus wants to live through us. The Bible calls this WALKING IN THE SPIRIT. That is, yielding to the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT (Galatians 5:22-25). At the moment of salvation (the new birth when we rely completely upon Jesus for what He did through Calvary's cross to pay our debt of sin), God gives us the free gift of His Holy Spirit to live inside our spirit, soul and body (1st Corinthians 3:16-17; 1st John 3:24).

May I say, no one has ever turned away from their sins!!! All you can do is clean up your life somewhat, quit some sinful bad habits and put on a good show for others, but you're still a dirty sinner and so am I (Romans 3:10-23). You can take a pig and give him a nice bath. Then you can put perfume on him and groom his hair very nicely. But the moment that you set that pig down on the ground on the farm, he's going to head for the nearest mudhole to wallow in it, because he is a pig.

Likewise, there is no such thing as a “good Christian.” At best, all we can achieve is to be a struggling redeemed sinner who is yielding to the indwelling Spirit of Christ to live the Christian life through us (Romans 8:9; Galatians 2:20). Throughout human civilization religion has been attempting to groom the pig in mankind, tidy us sinners up a bit to make us look and feel better, but we are still filthy sinners deserving of eternal damnation in Hell, fire and brimstone for our sins. Remember, a demon's favorite activity is to make religious people comfortable in their lost condition. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born again. That is what's wrong with 99% of churches and religion today.

The way that we walk in the indwelling Holy Spirit is to abide in the written Word of God (John 17:17), which I believe to be the inspired KING JAMES BIBLE in the English language. All modern English Bible revisions have been corrupted horribly by the Devil.

Psalms 119:9-11

Psalms 119:9-11, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?  by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

I am often reminded of this helpful passage of Scripture. These Bible verses teach us how to overcome sin and live a holy life for God. It has been 23 years this April since I started my Jesus-is-Savior.com ministry back in 2002 by God's grace. Throughout those blessed years I have received tens of thousands of emails from web visitors. Many people have confided in me about their constant struggle with sin. I always share these Bible versus with them, which teach us that the way to handle sin is to saturate our soul with the written Word of God.

Psalms 1:1-3, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” I love this Scripture passage. The Bible tells us that if we will continually live in God's inspired Word, we will grow deep and strong roots, just like a mighty tree that is planted alongside a river that nourishes the tree's roots. No Christian believer can be strong in the Lord who is weak in the Scriptures!

What saith the Scripture? John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” How do you overcome temptation and sin in your life? You abide in the Holy Bible. That is, you read, study, memorize and apply the principles of the King James Bible to your daily life. Psalms 119:9-11, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The psalmist David is talking about memorizing God's Word.

Everyone has a Skelton Closet of dark sinful unpleasant secrets. The biblical way to deal with sin is to memorize the Holy Bible, which is your ammunition when the battle comes. In Matthew and again in Luke, in chapter 4, we read about the Devil coming to Jesus to tempt him for 40 days and nights. Three times Satan tempted the only begotten Son of God. In all three incidents, our dear Savior quoted the inspired Word of God to defeat the Devil. If the very Son of God needed to use the Holy Bible to overcome temptation, then SO DO WE!!!

Jesus said that we become clean through His Words. John 17:17 says that we are sanctified by the Word, which is truth. The old adage is very true: Either sin will keep you from the Bible, or else the Bible will keep you from sin.

Jeremiah 25:11

Jeremiah 25:11, “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.”

Yes, absolutely correct! God requirement for the Old Testament Jews who lived in Palestine to keep the ceremonial laws was a matter of obeying the Lord to avoid national judgment. It has nothing to do with going to Heaven. Case in point, when the Jews failed to keep the Sabbath Day for 490 years, God punished them by sending Israel into Babylonian captivity for 70 years (1 year for every 7 years they had failed to keep the Sabbath). Nobody lost God's free gift of eternal life. Acts 10:43 makes it plain that ALL THE PROPHETS preached salvation by God's grace through faith alone in the Messiah.

Beware of any false teacher (e.g., Peter S. Ruckman, William P. Grady and Robert Breaker) who foolishly teach that people were saved by WORKS in the Old Testament under Mosaic law. The three aforementioned names all preach heresy, by claiming that people needed to maintain a life of GOOD WORKS to remain in a state of salvation.

The inspired King James Bible adamantly teaches that lost sinners have always been saved by God's grace through childlike faith in Jesus Christ. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Psalms 90:12

Psalms 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

For many years I mistakenly attributed Psalms chapter 90 to King David, but in fact dear reader it was Moses who penned this wonderful passage of Scripture, writing under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit (2nd Timothy 3:16).

Moses was a remarkable servant of God. I am so thankful that God gave us a large handful of biographies of saints in the Old Testament, allowing us the privilege of seeing their lives before, during and after their time upon the earth. Romans 15:4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” By reading the biographies of Old Testament saints, it gives us patience and comfort through our own sufferings and hardships, knowing that ultimately everything worked out good for them in the end (from an eternal perspective).

I humbly believe that God created time as a way of letting us know that He is always in control, not us. Regardless of the decisions we make or the circumstances of our life, we cannot stop the train of time from moving forward. We all have an appointment with death (Hebrews 9:27). 

Moses was wise in the Lord, who around 1500 BC wrote in Psalms 90:10-12, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” I love this passage of Scripture.

The average human lifespan since the flood has been 70 years. The Bible says if you are lucky you might live to see age 80. I went at the CVS pharmacy today to pick up some of my prescriptions medications. There was an elderly lady in front of me who was picking up medications for her aunt. She gave her aunt's birthdate and I heard the year 1921. Wowza! Her aunt is at least 103 years old. No doubt her remaining days are very few!

Dear reader, we don't know how many years we have left to live. Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” We don't know if we have one day remaining to live. Hollywood actor Tom Sizemore died in 2023 at age 61 from a sudden brain aneurism. Death does not discriminate. Moses realized that our days on earth are numbered. Therefore, as believers we must learn to wisely number our days, TO APPLY OUR HEARTS UNTO WISDOM.

The vast majority of the human population are fools who squander their time on earth. Tragically, most people are going straight to Hell when they die according to Jesus Himself (Matthew 7:13-15; Luke 13:34-34). The path to Heaven is not difficult or hard, it is so simple that most people miss it. Most lost people (including lost religious people) wrongly think that we have a part in saving ourselves. Good works never saved anybody (Romans 3:19-20).

I have dedicated my remaining time on earth to serving God. My earnest desire is to preach the Gospel accurately, because a counterfeit gospel cannot produce the new birth. Jesus warned in John 3:3b that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” A false plan of salvation is being preached from nearly every pulpit, website, radio station and venue today, which cannot produce the new birth. Only faith alone in Jesus alone saves a lost sinner (John 6:40). The Gospel is the GOOD NEWS of Christ's death on the cross, burial and physical resurrection from the dead the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

Any needy sinner who receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for their sins, believing that Jesus was buried, but then raised up from the dead three days later, is saved instantly, irrevocably and permanently. I cannot think of a better way to apply our hearts unto wisdom than to share the true Gospel with lost sinners, and earnestly contend for the faith by exposing false gospels (Jude 1:3).

Haggai 1:9

Haggai 1:9, “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.  Why?  saith the LORD of hosts.  Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.”

In his excellent, “The Strand Study Bible,” on page 1410, Pastor Brad Strand comments on this verse:

“Because Israel cared more about her work than God's work, God 'blew' upon the little that Israel was able to reap. Sadly, God's eternal work of redemption, which was pictured through the sacrifices within the Temple, had become secondary to Israel's own personal comfort.” The Strand Study Bible, p. 1410

The prophet Haggai was a prophet to the remnant in Jerusalem 16 years after the captivity ended (536 BC). Haggai was a contemporary of Zechariah.

Both Haggai and Zechariah were among the 49,897 Jews to return to Jerusalem after the 70 years of captivity ended. As soon as the Jews returned, Zerubbabel (the governor) and the Jewish people began to rebuild the Temple. Unfortunately, due to persecution by enemies, they only finished the Temple's foundation and the work stopped for 15 years. God later sent Haggai and Zechariah to warn and motivate the people to finish the Temple.

There are some beautiful prophecies in the book of Haggai concerning The Promise of Israel's Future Restoration (Haggai 2:9), The Promise of Wrath When Christ Returns (Haggai 2:6-7, 21-23), and The Promise of a Kingdom When Christ Will Reign (Haggai 2:9, 23).