Subject 15 : The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the GALATIANS
[Chapter 1-2] Isn’t Your Faith Like That Of the Circumcisionists Perhaps? (Galatians 1:1-5)
(Galatians 1:1-5)
“Paul,
an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and
God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who
are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace
to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who
gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present
evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen.”
During
the Early Church era, the churches in Galatia were facing numerous
problems. There were certain teachers in these churches who were causing
a great deal of spiritual trouble. Intent on Judaizing the churches of
Galatia, these people were propagating a completely false gospel among
the saints, claiming that they could become God’s people only if they
were physically circumcised. As a result, many in the Galatia churches
who were still spiritually immature came to believe in and follow such
false teachings, and the virulent effects of these teachings were so
great that they posed serious threat to the Church.
The
background to the teachings of the circumcisionists, who were the
source of the spiritual problem in the churches in Galatia, was as the
following. According to the covenant that God had established with
Abraham, the descendants of Abraham were to be marked as God’s people by
receiving physical circumcision. For this reason, it was firmly
believed in Judaism that to be physically circumcised was to become
Abraham’s descendants.
But
in reality, this requirement of circumcision was actually a symbol
presaging our spiritual salvation, foretelling us how Jesus Christ would
come and remove all our sins from our hearts. So it is written in the
Old Testament also, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away
the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one
can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings” (Jeremiah 4:4);
“Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no
longer” (Deuteronomy 10:16). When God mentioned physical circumcision
in the Old Testament, He was ultimately speaking about the circumcision
of our hearts—that is, the remission of our sins.
Romans
2:29 says, “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in
the letter.” Therefore, just because some people are physically
circumcised as a matter of ritual, this does not mean that they would
truly become God’s people. It was thus very important to teach that the
faith of the advocates of physical circumcision was wrong. That’s
because many in the churches of Galatia believed that physical
circumcision played a more important role in becoming God’s people than
faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That is why Paul came
to testify the gospel of the water and the Spirit in which he himself
believed, thus exposing the complete futility of physical circumcision,
which was then prevalent in the churches of Galatia, and rebuking them
for harboring such mistaken legalistic beliefs.
So,
from the very beginning of the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul
spoke forcefully to the advocates of physical circumcision that his
faith was different from theirs: “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor
through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him
from the dead” (Galatians 1:1). In other words, Paul made it clear that
it was not by being physically circumcised that he had become one of God
servants, but it was by believing in the gospel Truth of the water and
the Spirit.
Such
a legalistic belief of the circumcisionists is similar to the doctrine
of repentance that is so prevalent in today’s Christianity; as such, I
would also like to expose and rebuke the fallacious belief of Christians
today and correct it. Nowadays, far too many Christians believe in the
fallacious doctrine of prayers of repentance and practice it, and as a
result, they are heading toward their own spiritual death. Those who
have this kind of faith believe that their daily sins are washed away
through their own prayers of repentance. Given the fact that such
doctrines are misleading so many souls, it is now time for us, the
believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, to correct their
misplaced faith in the fallacious doctrine of prayers of repentance.
Only then would they realize that absolutely no sin can ever be washed
away through their own prayers of repentance, turn around, believe in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and thereby receive the real
remission of sin.
Most
Christians today mistakenly believe as the following: “When I believe
in Jesus, the original sin that I was born with by nature is remitted
away, and the personal sins that I commit from then on are forgiven
whenever I give prayers of repentance.” This is the basic essence of the
doctrine of prayers of repentance. So, many people only trust in and
rely on this doctrine of prayers of repentance, rather than believing in
the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because their eyes
are covered, they are incapable of seeing the fallacies inherent to the
doctrine of prayers of repentance, one of the main doctrines of
Christianity.
However,
Christians who have long been giving prayers of repentance know how
such prayers are all completely useless. When they were new believers,
they might have felt at first that their hearts were quenched when they
gave prayers of repentance to God, and they might even have been
convinced that their sins were washed away; however, as time goes by and
they carry on with their lives of faith for a while, they eventually
see for themselves that their sins are still piled up in their hearts.
Sin is not something that disappears every time one gives his prayers of
repentance. On the contrary, the sins that were expected to be washed
away through his prayers of repentance are still mounting in his heart,
and no Christian could deny this.
Like
this, most Christians still remain ignorant of the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, and therefore they are living their lives imprisoned by a
false gospel, with their hearts filled with sin. Therefore, these
Christians who had believed in the doctrine of prayers of repentance
until now should turn around as soon as possible, believe in the gospel
of the water and the Spirit, and thereby receive the true remission of
their sins.
Among Today’s Christian Doctrines, What Is Equivalent to the Fallacious Circumcision of the Flesh?
In
the Bible, physical circumcision refers to cutting the end of the
foreskin of a man’s penis. Jews have believed that they are made God’s
people by being physically circumcised. However, in this age of the New
Testament, whether or not we are made God’s people depends on whether or
not we have clearly received the remission of our sins by believing in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What we must realize here beyond
any doubt is that regardless of whether we have been physically
circumcised or not, if we believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, then we are made God’s people. If the people of Israel in the
Old Testament’s times had become God’s people by being circumcised in
the flesh, then in the age of the New Testament, it is faith in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit that enables us to become God’s
people.
Therefore,
it is a mistaken knowledge and a useless belief to think and believe
that one can be washed away from his sins today just by giving prayers
of repentance. Many Christians are trapped in the misconceived notion
that when they first believed in Jesus, they were forgiven from their
sins up until that point, but the daily sins they commit from then on
are washed away by giving their own prayers of repentance. Although they
consider the doctrine of prayers of repentance as a biblically sound
truth, if they would just give some more thoughts to it, they would
realize that it is an extremely erroneous doctrine and a teaching that
actually stands against the righteousness of God.
To
repeat, your own prayers of repentance are completely futile and
absolutely false. No one can blot out his sins with his own prayers of
repentance. For everyone and anyone, it is only when one believes in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit holding the righteousness of God,
that he can completely wash away all his sins.
In
the churches of Galatia during the Early Church era, there were those
who taught dangerously mistaken doctrines. These people fallaciously
claimed that the believers could become God’s people only if they were
physically circumcised. Even today, there are countless Christians who
believe erroneously that their sins are blotted out when they give
prayers of repentance. Since they have never even imagined, not even
once, that the doctrine of prayers of repentance could be wrong, they
have no desire to get their mistaken faith corrected. That they are
unable to be freed from such a false doctrine is precisely because they
do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Since
many Christians have believed in the fallacious Christian doctrines of
man’s own making, they have not been able to be saved from their sins
yet. You must realize here that the doctrine of prayers of repentance is
a fabricated doctrine, made by the same people who are no different
from you. Countless Christians all over the world are now relying on
this doctrine of prayers of repentance, and this is why, far from
escaping from their sins, they actually see more sins piling up in their
hearts even after believing in Jesus. When people first believe in
Jesus, they think that their prayers of repentance would gradually turn
them into virtuous people. In other words, it seems to them as if the
doctrine of prayers of repentance would somehow lead them into a life of
light.
However,
the more time goes by, the more they realize that this doctrine of
prayers of repentance only binds their souls in sin even more tightly,
even though they seek to be washed from their sins. In the end, such
people actually end up committing even more sins after believing in
Jesus as their Savior, and fall into even more hypocritical and
legalistic beliefs. It’s precisely because of such doctrines that they
are bound by sin and perishing away. Yet despite this, very few people
actually know that the doctrine of prayers of repentance is fallacious.
And even if someone vaguely senses that the doctrine of prayers of
repentance might be wrong, since he has no other alternative to resolve
the problem of his daily sins, he has no choice but to continue to lead
his life of faith by relying on his own prayers of repentance.
What
about you then? By any chance, are you still trying to be forgiven from
your personal sins daily through prayers of repentance? If so, then you
should realize the Truth that all your sins were completely blotted out
once for all when you placed your faith in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit.
There
is no one more wicked before God than those who are teaching the
hopelessly futile doctrine of prayers of repentance. No one else but
these are the very people who deceive souls and causes them to stumble,
when these souls would otherwise be saved through the Word of Truth. Our
Lord said, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in
Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung
around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42). They must
therefore return to the gospel of the water and the Spirit as soon as
possible.
Do You Know the Fact That the Doctrine of Prayers of Repentance Is Wrong?
Are you able to explain exactly why the doctrine of prayers of repentance is wrong?
The
doctrine of prayers of repentance is clearly wrong. No matter how
ardently one might offer prayers of repentance, his heart’s sins will
never disappear. However, given the fact that more than 99.9 percent of
Christians all over the world believe in this doctrine so fervently, who
could dare to assert that this doctrine of prayers of repentance is
wrong? Who could dare to point out its fallacy and correct it?
A
while ago, I had a chance to visit a certain prison, and there, I saw
so many Christians called “elders” and “deacons.” They had absolutely no
idea that their sins could be washed away by believing in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit. So because of this ignorance, countless
people were all devoted to their own prayers of repentance. Although
most of them swear to themselves to never commit another crime, saying,
“When I get out of the prison, I will never commit any crime,” in the
end, they are unable to overcome the lust of sin aroused in their
hearts, and so they end up committing crime once again only to return
back to the prison.
Today’s
ministers preach, “Everyone must be freed from sin.” Their saying
itself is absolutely right. However, these ministers are completely
incapable of teaching exactly how one can be freed from sin. Why? It is
because they themselves have no idea on how to be freed from all their
sins. Since they are spiritually blind themselves and have not received
the remission of their sins yet, they cannot lead anyone else’s soul
into the light of Truth. Our Lord said, “Can the blind lead the blind?
Will they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39)
The
Lord said that everyone must first be born again by believing in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. That’s because only then can he see
the Kingdom of Heaven and enter this Kingdom. The problem, however, is
that there have been few servants of God who would preach the gospel
Truth of the water and the Spirit to people. That is why people have no
choice but to cling to their own prayers of repentance and live a
legalistic life of faith, for they do not know how to be washed from all
their sins and be born again.
They
think, “I’m in this trouble all because I haven’t given my tithes,” or,
“It’s because I haven’t given enough prayers of repentance that there
are so many sins in my heart. If I would only give prayers of repentance
faithfully, I’ll never be bound by sin.” Like this, people try to solve
their problem of sin without any faith in the gospel Truth of the water
and the Spirit, and that is why the more times goes by since they first
believed in Jesus, the worse sinners they actually become. They then
look at themselves and wonder why they have changed into even filthier,
more hypocritical and more wicked people, despite the fact that they
have believed in Jesus for such a long time. So I admonish you all to
reconsider the gospel of the water and the Spirit now and believe in it.
The Fallacies of Christian Doctrines
The
reason why today’s Christian doctrines are so full of errors is because
Christians all over the world believe in Jesus as their Savior without
knowing the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. First, they
believe that their sins are washed away when they offer prayers of
repentance. Such a fallacy is in the same vein as the false teaching
that was propagated in the churches of Galatia long ago, which claimed
that people could become God’s own people if they were physically
circumcised. Even now, these people still do not know the gospel of the
water and the Spirit that God has given to the entire human race, and so
they believe only in Jesus’ blood on the Cross alone, and adhere to the
mistaken belief that they would somehow be forgiven from their sins if
they offer prayers of repentance everyday. That is why so many
Christians come to church and offer prayers of repentance in tears day
after day, trying to wash away their sins in vain.
Whenever
they commit sin, they always pray like this: “Lord, I’m so sorry. I
repent from all the sins that I’ve committed last week. I know I
shouldn’t have sinned, but I still ended up committing so many different
sins again. Lord, You were crucified for me, and yet I’ve sinned like
this. I’m so ashamed of myself. But Lord, You are merciful, and so I ask
You to forgive these sins as well. I ask You to forgive them all. If
You would wash away these sins of mine with the blood of the Cross and
forgive them, I will never commit sin again. I believe that You have
indeed forgiven all these sins, for You said, ‘If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.’ Amen.”
Since
this is what Christians all over the world have learned from their
ministers—that they would be washed from their sins if they just believe
in Jesus as their Savior and offer prayers of repentance—they have no
other choice but to understand thus and believe so. And they think that
if they are faithful to their home church, devote themselves to service,
and offer plenty of prayers of repentance, they would all go to Heaven.
Nevertheless, is one really remitted from his sins just by offering
prayers of repentance?
Of
course, when someone spends 5-10 minutes confessing all the sins that
he ever wanted to confess, asks God to forgive him, and thinks about the
precious blood that Jesus shed on the Cross, then it may seem as if all
his sins were indeed washed away. However, for those who believe like
this, their sins never disappear, but only continue on piling up in
their hearts.
Is
there anyone among you who also thinks like this and leads such a life
of faith? For those who do so, do you think that there is no problem
whatsoever with your lives of faith? Far from seeing any problem, do you
actually take a great pride in your faith, thinking that your belief is
congruent to today’s mainstream Christian faith? This kind of faith,
however, has nothing to do with the faith of believing in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, and you have to realize this.
We
must all realize that Christians throughout the whole world have fallen
together into a great fallacy called the doctrine of prayers of
repentance. This happened because for centuries, the Western Christian
countries have sent countless missionaries who believe fervently in this
doctrine to all over the world, and as a result, Christians throughout
the world have alike come to believe in this doctrine of prayers of
repentance. I admonish you all to remember clearly that the only way for
you to escape from such a grave fallacy is to attain the born-again
faith by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Paul’s Faith Did Not Come from Men
The
Apostle Paul sensed the spiritual corruption that was taking place
among the Galatian believers. So in his letter to the saints of Galatia,
from the very opening, he had to first show what kind of faith his
faith was and what kind of faith he had preached to them. He made it
clear here that his faith was “not from men nor through man.” This is
what he was saying, in other words: “The faith that has now made me a
servant of God and saved me from all my sins neither came from men, nor
was it learned from men. My faith came entirely from Jesus Christ and
God the Father, and this faith is the very faith of believing in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is by this faith that I was able
to be saved from all my sins and become one of God’s people.”
The
Apostle Paul’s faith was not something that came from men. In the
churches in Galatia at that time, however, a faith that had come from
men was spreading wide. This faith claimed, “Even if men believe in
Jesus as their Savior, they can become God’s people wholly only if they
are physically circumcised.” This was a false teaching that was
completely contrary to the gospel of Truth, which taught that it was
only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that people
could received the remission of their sins and become God’s own people.
Nevertheless, the Galatian saints at that time were swept away by the
undercurrent of such false teachings, and as a result, many of them fell
into spiritual death.
Even
today, the same phenomenon is now prevailing all over Christianity
throughout the world. That we have been born again and become God’s
children is not by the works of the Law. It is solely because the true
God Jesus came to this earth by the water and the blood, and remitted
away all the sins of the people of the world, that God has accomplished
our salvation perfectly all on His own, so that those who believe in
this gospel may be born again and become God’s children. True faith is
not constituted by believing in the fallacious doctrine of prayers of
repentance, which has come from men’s own thoughts, but it is reached
only if one believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Yet
despite this, countless Christians all over the world do not follow the
Truth, but they are instead following the doctrine of prayers of
repentance that came from mankind itself, thus resulting in their own
spiritual death.
Like
this, the faith of the advocates of prayers of repentance in modern
Christianity is the same as the faith of the circumcisionists at the
time of the Early Church. Today’s doctrine of repentance, which claims
that one is washed from his sins by offering prayers of repentance, is
not a doctrine that came from God. It is a doctrine that came from men,
and such humanistic doctrines still continue to flow from spiritual
swindlers inside Christianity even now. These imposters claim, “Now that
I offered my prayers of repentance, my heart is quenched, and I was
washed from all my sins.” They are also teaching their congregation that
one is sanctified to reach salvation only if he offers prayers of
repentance everyday. Ultimately, however, they are no more than blind
people leading other blind people, only to fall into the fire of hell
together.
Do
today’s Christians mistakenly believe and misconceive that their sins
would somehow disappear just by giving prayers of repentance? Yes, many
Christians indeed believe so. Countless Christians all over the world
adhere to this fallacious belief that if they repent from their sins in
their prayers, they would be able to be washed from these sins. So even
during the hours of worship, it has now become a standard fixture for
the congregation to devote a certain portion of time to prayers of
penitence, and for the presiding minister to read a prepared text called
“the confirmation of the remission of sin.” But their sins cannot
disappear in this way, no matter how ardently they might offer prayers
of repentance like this. All their sins are remitted away once for all
only when they know and believe in the Word of Truth that our Lord has
indeed blotted out all their sins once for all through the gospel of the
water and the Spirit.
The Way to Reach Salvation from All Sins Came from God’s Just Love
The
salvation that God has given us is the law of Truth accomplished by His
justice and love. That is why God gave Himself up to meet the just
requirements of the Law declaring the wages of sin to be death,
perfecting it with His law of love. Because God is just and He is love
itself, He has saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit
that met all the requirements of His justice and love.
The
wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This means that a sinner must
infallibly be subjected to God’s just judgment and cast into hell for
his sins. In other words, just because we repent only with our lips and
say before God or men, “I’ve done wrong,” it does not mean that our sins
would disappear. To account for our sins justly, we must be punished
and die for them.
However,
because God is so merciful and just, He Himself came to this earth
incarnated in the flesh with a name called Jesus, all to make atonement
for our sins. And because this Jesus blotted out all our sins with the
gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, He made it possible for us to
be washed from our sins by faith.
God
the Father made His only begotten Son Jesus Christ accept all the sins
of mankind once for all through His baptism, and the Lord shouldered all
these sins to the Cross and bore all their condemnation. Now,
therefore, whoever believes in the gospel Truth of the water and the
Spirit, that Jesus has thus blotted out all our sins completely, is able
to receive the remission of his sins freely. In other words, God has
washed away all the sins of our entire lifetime with the baptism of His
Son and the blood of the Cross, and He has thus saved us once for all.
Now,
we can all receive the true remission of our sins when we believe in
Jesus Christ as our Savior who came by the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, and who has blotted out all our sins once for all. And if we
once receive the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, then even if we were to still find ourselves too
insufficient and committing sin again, we can still follow God with an
impeccably clean spirit by once again affirming our true salvation,
placing our faith in this true gospel.
I
am not saying here that we would no longer commit any sin once we
receive the remission of our sins. On the contrary, because we must
still live in our insufficient flesh for the rest of our lives on this
earth, we still continue to sin even after being born again. However,
rather than giving prayers of repentance and saying to God, “Father,
I’ve sinned again like this. Please forgive me,” in our faith in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, we can now make the true confession
of faith to God as the following: “God, I’m so insufficient that I’ve
committed such sins. But I thank You, Father, for when someone like me
should have died, Your Son came to this earth, took upon my sins by
being baptized, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has
thus become my perfect Savior. Lord, I believe that You have completely
blotted out all my sins with the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and
I thank You for this. Even though I am so insufficient like this, Your
accomplishments are so perfect that You have forever made me a righteous
person without sin. I am so grateful that You have given me this gospel
of the water and the Spirit and accepted me as Your child. Amen.”
Although
those who have been born again through the gospel of the water and the
Spirit still commit sin, they can make the true confession of faith like
this, and with their strength renewed, they can still follow the Lord
with a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21).
Can
you now understand why Jesus Christ came to this earth, and why He
first had to be baptized by John the Baptist before being crucified? Our
Lord did not save us in just words. In actual deeds, He blotted out all
the sins of the world through His ministry of the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. That is how, once for all, the Lord has brought just
salvation to all who believe in this gospel of Truth. Although we all
had to die for our sins, God the Father saved us wholly from all our
sins and delivered us from destruction by sending His Son to this world.
Like this, God sent His Son to this earth because He loved us; and
Jesus, in turn, shouldered all the sins of the world by receiving
baptism from John the representative of mankind, died on the Cross, rose
from the dead again, and thereby blotted out all our sins justly, thus
perfectly making us into God’s people.
You
must never believe only in Jesus’ blood on the Cross alone. Instead,
you must realize and believe that before dying on the Cross, Jesus had
justly taken upon all our sins by first being baptized by John. That is
why Jesus said to John when He was about to be baptized, “Permit it to
be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness”
(Matthew 3:15).
We
should not just believe in Jesus as our Savior without knowing the
gospel of the water and the Spirit properly. God said that He loved this
world so much that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). Out of
His love, He blotted out the sins of this world by sending His own Son.
Therefore, the real work of salvation is the very fact that Jesus
accepted mankind’s sins once for all by being baptized by John the
Baptist in the Jordan River, and that He has saved His believers by
dying on the Cross. It’s because Jesus had accepted all the sins of
mankind through His baptism that He was crucified and was condemned for
all these sins in our place. As the Lord poured out all his heart’s
blood on the Cross, He said, “It is finished!”—thus proclaiming the
perfect completion of our salvation (John 19:30).
By
believing in Jesus as our Savior blindly, we cannot be saved. If we
realize that we had misbelieved in Jesus—that is, if we recognize that
our sins are still remaining in our hearts even as we believe in
Jesus—then we should find out from where we had believed mistakenly,
turn around, and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We
should never allow our faith to be uniformly placed in our own prayers
of repentance in vain. You must remember that through your prayers of
repentance, you can never be washed from your sins. To offer prayers of
repentance obstinately is the same sin as following the teachings of the
circumcisionists.
Now,
therefore, for Christians all over the world to receive their perfect
salvation, they must throw away the false doctrine of prayers of
repentance and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. While
we all believe in Jesus as our Savior, we shouldn’t just believe blindly
in the blood of the Cross alone, but we must believe in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit that God has given to all of us, and thereby
receive the remission of our sins into our hearts. To be wholly saved
from all our sins, we must place our faith in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit.
This
gospel of the water and the Spirit that is now being spread all over
the world is not a gospel that came from men. It is the gospel that came
from God the Father and Jesus Christ. Just as the Apostle Paul clearly
declared in today’s Scripture passage, the gospel of the water and the
Spirit is the Truth that came from God. Nonetheless, the
circumcisionists taught that the believers would become God’s people if
they were physically circumcised. That was a doctrine that came from
men, and they were thus leading the Galatian saints to death.
Likewise,
today’s false prophets are teaching their followers that they can
receive the remission of their sins just by believing in the blood of
the Cross alone and giving their prayers of repentance everyday, and so
it is imperative for Christians all over the world to realize as soon as
possible just how profoundly fallacious this teaching is. And they must
learn about the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the gospel that
came from God Himself, believe in it, and cast aside the doctrine of
prayers of repentance that they had believed in vain all this time. It
is when we learn what the gospel of the water and the Spirit is,
understand it and believe in it, that we can become born-again
Christians and God’s own people.
Paul
said here, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ.” This passage indicates that the peace of mind comes to
the believers from Jesus Christ and God the Father as a gift of
salvation through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Now, all the
Christians throughout the world who had been bound under sin to this day
as a result of relying on their own prayers of repentance, must believe
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and thus receive the
remission of their sins and be born again as God’s children. Only then
can they taste grace and peace from God.
The
doctrinal faith of repentance, which is a product of man’s own making,
can never bring peace to anyone’s heart. The doctrine of prayers of
repentance is nothing more than a useless, hypothetical notion stemming
from mankind itself. While the words of spiritual swindlers are sweet to
hear, their price is tremendously costly. If you continue to believe in
their lies, then when you finally stand before the presence of Lord,
you will not be able to escape from the fearful punishment of hell for
your sins.
Today’s
Christianity is not preaching to the congregation the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, which is of the Word of God, but instead it is
propagating only human ethics or the man-made doctrine of prayers of
repentance. This, in the end, is to only spread man’s own thoughts to
people. However, the Lord has given us the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, the everlasting Word of Truth. You, too, have realized from our
books that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the real Truth that
came from God the Father and Jesus Christ. To those of you who might
still be unable to grasp the gospel of the water and the Spirit
properly, I sincerely admonish them to read the first title of the
Christian literature series published by our Mission. It is called Have
you truly been born again of water and the Spirit? You can get this book
for free through our web site.
For
how long have Christians all over the world believed blindly in the
doctrine of prayers of repentance as if it were the real Truth? Have
they not invariably misconceived and misbelieved, thinking that they
would be washed from their sins through their own prayers of repentance?
Indeed, in their ignorance of the gospel of the water and the Spirit,
which is what they should really know, they have believed in the useless
creeds of Christianity and clung to them. What you must realize here is
that Christians throughout the whole world have fallen into a
legalistic faith much like the saints in Galatia, believing in God on a
mistaken doctrine. An even grater problem of today’s Christianity,
however, is the fact that so many Christians all over the world do not
even realize just how fallacious the doctrine of prayers of repentance
really is.
If
it’s indeed your sincere desire to believe in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit and be born again, then you must first throw away the
mistaken belief that one can be washed from his sins through his own
prayers of repentance. We must realize that unless we acknowledge the
fallacy of the doctrine of prayers of repentance and cast it aside, we
cannot receive the remission of our sins by believing in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit that God has given us.
My
coworkers and I alike all desire to spread the gospel of the water and
the Spirit all over the world. So we would like to take this opportunity
to explain clearly, through these sermons on the Book of Galatians, why
the doctrine of prayers of repentance is so wrong. That’s because only
then can Christians be freed from the tricks of Satan, believe in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit properly, and attain their true
salvation. Long ago, just as there had been many in the churches of
Galatia who sought to undermine God’s Church and Judaize it by
advocating physical circumcision, in this present age also, there are so
many people who are trying to turn Christianity into a mere religion of
the world, and that is the very reason why it’s so imperative to
correct their mistaken faith.
Now,
all of us must realize the evil influences of false prophets and teach
the gospel of the water and the Spirit correctly. Now, we who were born
again first, should no longer just sit idle and watch the false prophets
preaching useless doctrines to countless souls and leading them all to
Satan, but we should lead people to Christ with the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. We cannot fail to bear witness of the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. We must proclaim this gospel far and loud, so that
all those who wish to return to God and receive the remission of their
sins would indeed be born again by believing in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. Then countless people among Christians all over the
world will believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, be born
again, and stand up as God’s workers. And united with us, they will
become the messengers of light shining the gospel of the water and the
Spirit on their people, who are oppressed by sin and suffering.
My
fellow believers, to believe that one can receive the remission of his
sins just by believing in the blood of the Cross alone and offering
prayers of repentance is to adhere to a completely fallacious belief.
You must realize that this is a false Christian doctrine that came from
the same vein as the very false teachings of the circumcisionists. If,
until the very end, you try to be washed from your sins by believing in
and relying on the doctrine of prayers of repentance, and by giving your
own prayers of repentance everyday, then you will never be able to
escape from your place as sinners until the day you die. If you believe
in Jesus like this, then the longer you believe in Jesus, the more sins
will pile up in your hearts, and you will have no other choice but to
turn into legalistic Christians who, just like the Pharisees, are godly
only in outside appearance.
That
we are able to proclaim the gospel of the water and the Spirit so
boldly like this is simply because this gospel is the real Truth. We
must testify to the whole world that the Apostle Paul’s faith and our
faith alike did not come from men, nor through men, but they are the
faith that is placed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The
faith of the Apostle Paul was one that believed in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. That is why he is pointing out so keenly here just
how wrong the teachings of the circumcisionists was, who claimed that
people could become God’s own people through physical circumcision. And
Paul is declaring that only the gospel of the water and the Spirit is
the Truth that came not from men, but through God the Father and Jesus
Christ.
The
Bible says, “Watchman, what of the night?” (Isaiah 21:11) It is asking
us why this world has become so spiritually dark. Why is today’s
Christianity unable to blossom all over the world? It’s said that in
Western Christian countries in Europe and North America, the number of
Buddhists is expanding rapidly. What’s the reason for this? It’s because
today’s Christianity is propagating the fallacious belief that one is
washed from his sins through his own prayers of repentance. It’s all
because Christianity itself is spreading what is completely untrue. And
it’s because such a doctrine could not blot out any sin from the
believers’ hearts. That is why Christians’ faith has become so desolate,
and as their faith has been rendered powerless, they are now living
disheartened and discouraged, unable to be aboveboard and without any
pride even before non-Christians.
Lamenting
this sad reality of today’s Christians, where they are now moaning
under the fallacious doctrine of prayers of repentance and unable to
escape from it, I came to publish these sermons on Galatians. It is my
sincerest hope and prayer that through this book, Christians all over
the world would realize that the doctrine of repentance is not founded
on God’s Word, but it is a legalistic teaching that runs in the same
vein as the teachings of the circumcisionists, a false teaching that
came from men.
Is
there anyone among you who still believes in Jesus even as he remains a
sinner, placing his faith in the doctrine of repentance? I admonish all
of you to now know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe
in it, and be delivered from all your sins. For everyone to find this
blessing, those of us who were born again first must preach this gospel
of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world. That is because
all of us are God’s servants who believe in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit. If we fail to proclaim the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, then everyone in this world will remain unable to receive the
remission of his sins and, as a result, be cast into the everlasting
fire of hell. Therefore, if people all over the world couldn’t be saved
from their sins because they couldn’t hear the gospel of Truth, then it
would all be our fault. Regardless of whether they would listen to the
gospel of the water and the Spirit or not, it is still our
responsibility to preach it. As such, we must awaken everyone in the
world to realize that no remission of sin is received through any
prayers of repentance, and we must preach the gospel of the water and
the Spirit. I pray to God that He would hold and bless all of us who are
now serving the gospel.
That
the gospel of the water and the Spirit given to us by the Lord is more
than able to blot out all our sins, is precisely because this gospel is
the perfect gospel completed by the justice of God and His love. Because
our Lord is just, He took upon all our sins through His baptism in the
Jordan River, leaving no sin behind whatsoever—whether committed against
God or men, small or great—and paid off all the wages of these sins
with His blood shed on the Cross.
Before
having His Son crucified to death, in other words, God the Father had
made Him first shoulder all the sins of mankind by being baptized by
John the Baptist. He did this because only then could the sins of
mankind be blotted out justly. In this way, our Lord was baptized to
bear the sins of the world, carried them to the Cross and paid off all
their wages by shedding His blood and dying, and rose from the dead
again; and today, through all these works, He has now become the Savior
of all of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
It
is my sincerest hope that through this book, you would all be blessed
to attain your freedom from the trap of Satan called the doctrine of
repentance, receive the remission of your sins through the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, and be born again as God’s own children.
Hallelujah!
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