“Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” – Colossians 1:28
THIS IS YOUR WARNING. If you have not yet trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior – not joined a church, not become religious, not turned over a new leaf, not turned from your sins, not surrendered your life to God, not invited Jesus into your heart, not made Christ your “Lord”, not committed to living a new life, not following certain religious codes and commandments, but trusted Christ alone for salvation – this may be your final warning. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. There may never be another opportunity for you to be washed in the blood of the Lamb, to be indwelt with the Holy Spirit, to have your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. “Well, I will receive Christ later,” you say, yet you have no assurance that later will never come. Nay, in place of later, you may find the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. No, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Do not trifle with eternal damnation, dear reader – now is the day of salvation, and should you perish without believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will see why such warnings as these were made.
Whom is this we preach? Christ the Lord, the only begotten, virgin-born, Son of God, Who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Christ Jesus gave Himself for your sins in His own body on the tree, paid for them with His blood, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven to sprinkle that blood on the heavenly mercy seat and propitiate the wrath of the Father. Let the Calvinist deceiver, who duplicitously claims that only those God chooses can be saved, and that Christ only died for those who believe on him, balk at these words: “And he is the propitiation of our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Because Christ is the Savior of all men (1 Timothy 4:10), He is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).
Indeed, we preach Christ crucified, Christ as God manifest in the flesh, Christ as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, Christ as Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. He is the way, the truth, the life, for no man cometh unto the Father, but by Him (John 14:6). Lest you doubt that faith in Immanuel’s blood is the only way to heaven, here are His very words: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). There are not multiple solutions to your problem of eternal damnation; there is only one, and his name is Jesus Christ. Attempt to reach heaven any other way, and you will fail, because Christ alone is qualified to save you from hell. Who else was perfect, as He was perfect? Who else had God’s very blood flowing in His veins, and shed that blood to pay the world’s sin debt, and sprinkled that blood on the heavenly mercy seat to seal the redemption of those who trust Him as Savior? Who else rose from the dead, thereby conquering sin and death? “Nobody,” is the only correct answer. Nobody but Christ balanced the scales of eternal justice which had been made unbalanced by Adam’s fall, and nobody but Christ can impute the righteousness necessary for you to enter heaven.
Do you say you have no sin? You deceive yourself in so doing. There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not (Ecclesiastes 7:20). The Bible calls Lot “just” and “that righteous man” in 2 Peter 2:7-8, not because he had any righteousness of his own to offer, but because Lot was saved, and Christ had imputed His righteousness on Lot’s behalf. Do you trust in yourself that you are righteous? You are nothing of the kind. All your righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6). They do you no good in “earning” salvation, because salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty, and a free gift can never be earned. God does not falsely advertise, dear reader. When he refers to salvation as a “gift”, that is because it is a “gift.” You have a gift simply by receiving it, just as you have salvation simply by receiving Christ as your Savior.
But perhaps you snort at the mere mention of Bible, convinced its contents are not the wonderful words of life by which God’s love is shown to man, but moronic myths, farcical fables, loutish legends concocted by cunning craftiness to oppress and control man. Then I am obliged to repeat my warning. I am not warning you of annihilation, whereby the unbelieving soul simply ceases to exist. I am not warning you of altered states of consciousness and confusion. I am not warning of you reincarnating as a flower, or a fish, or a frog. I am warning you of everlasting fire, everlasting destruction, ceaseless torment. It is written of those who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire, “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night…” (Revelation 14:10-11). They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. Woe unto them, who perish without trusting Christ, and spend eternity in burning agony “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44). You may scoff now at the Savior, but die in your sins, and He will solemnly declare unto your doomed soul, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41).
CONCLUSION
Do not be a fool, dear reader. Christ loves you. He gave Himself for you, out of this love, for He does not want you to burn in hell for eternity. Yet, His justice must be satisfied, and if you refuse to receive Him as your Savior, you shall have you part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. I therefore warn you, do not reject Jesus Christ! Do not dismiss His grace! Do not refuse His mercy! If you are to efficaciously heed my warning, you must first acknowledge you are a sinner who is guilty before God and unable to deliver yourself from the punishment you deserve. You must believe that Christ Jesus died in your place on Calvary, paid your sin debt with his blood, rose from the dead unto your justification. And if you will simply receive Him as Savior – trusting not what you can do for Him, but what He did for you – you will be saved from the wrath to come and the horrible furnace of fire so described. Rather than inherit an eternity in Hell, you will instead have your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and receive eternal life, whereby you may walk streets of gold and enjoy for eternity the paradise of God.
Alas, it is your decision to make. I urge you vehemently, to trust Christ, and leave you with these solemn words: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
This text emphasizes the urgency of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior for eternal salvation. It warns against delaying this critical decision, as life is fleeting and uncertain. The passage highlights Christ’s sacrifice and His role as the only path to redemption. It challenges the notion that salvation can be postponed, urging immediate action. What steps can one take to truly surrender their life to Christ and embrace His salvation without delay?
Thank you for your comment. However, being saved has nothing to do with “surrendering their life to Christ”. Being saved and serving God are two separate doctrines which ought never be viewed as part of a package deal for salvation. A man can be saved without serving God, and a man can be unsaved while living a religious life. Matthew 7:21-23 mentions a group of religious people who boasted of doing “many wonderful works” in Jesus’ name, yet Christ denounced them as workers of iniquity and cast them into everlasting fire because they had never actually trusted him alone for salvation. They foolishly supposed their good works would justify themselves before God, even though Galatians 2:16 makes plain “that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ”, and Romans 5:9 declares that only those who are “justified by his blood” will be saved from the wrath to come. Moreover, salvation is not a process which requires a gradual turning from sin and embrace of biblical concepts; it is an instant, irreversible miracle wrought by the Spirit of God in response to a man deciding to place his faith solely in Christ crucified, buried, risen.
Surrendering one’s life to Christ has nothing to do with receiving the free gift of eternal life. And because eternal life is a free gift, it is not necessary that the recipient first surrender himself to serving God, or follow Christ as his “Lord”, or turn from his sins, or give his heart to God. Nothing is required to be saved except to know you are a sinner who has violated God’s law and are powerless to deliver yourself from hell, and to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and was bodily resurrected three days later unto your justification (the gospel, according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Nowhere does the King James Bible command anyone to “surrender their life to Christ” in order to be saved; instead, it repeatedly urges all men to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). The moment a man receives Christ as Savior, he is pardoned from ever going to hell – no further action is necessary to ensure his salvation.
Saved men may have a desire to reform themselves and refrain from the wickedness which personified their lives before they trusted Christ, but these lifestyle changes are a matter of discipleship, not salvation. The prevalent and exceedingly hypocritical myth that every saved man will always change his life for the better after being saved is both unbiblical and unrealistic. How a man lives does not determine his eternal destiny. I will share two simple maxims of salvation: “Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it is a gift for the guilty”, and “Salvation is not a ‘give’ proposition; it is a ‘take’ proposition.” It was Christ Jesus who made the full surrender, when he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8), and submitted to die a criminal’s death, though he was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He gave himself for you, so that you, through faith in him, might have eternal life. I pray that you choose to rely solely on Jesus Christ to save you, and leave you with this blissful invitation: “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).
This passage emphasizes the urgency of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and the dire consequences of delaying this decision. It highlights the transient nature of life and the importance of not taking salvation for granted. The text stresses that trusting Christ alone is the key to eternal life, rejecting any notion of earning salvation through works. It also refutes Calvinist teachings by affirming that Christ’s sacrifice is for all, not just a select few. Why do some people procrastinate in making such a crucial decision, despite the warnings about the uncertainty of life and the finality of eternal judgment?
Well put. Jesus said that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Most people do not believe they are in danger of eternal damnation; therefore, they scoff at the warnings proffered by the holy scriptures and mock the mere mention of hellfire and the everlasting destruction therein. Men would rather have any way but Christ’s way and often resent the truth that he is the only way to heaven, as if they deserved to be able to go to heaven at all. Unfortunately for them, they will find out they were wrong only when it is too late.