Proverbs 3:3, “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.”
Repeatedly throughout the Old Testament we find the words “mercy” and
“truth” mentioned together. They are in fact, inseparable terms. You cannot
have one without the other. ...
Proverbs 3:3, “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.”
Psalms 25:10, “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.”
Proverbs 20:28, “Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.”
God's mercy is encompassed in the Gospel. Jesus died on a cross to pay our massive debt of sin. He was buried, and then three days later Christ resurrected from the dead. These THREE things comprise the Gospel: Jesus' death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). The Gospel is THE TRUTH. You only get your sins forgiven if you believe THE TRUTH. A counterfeit plan of salvation cannot produce the new birth!
Tragically, in hundreds of thousands of churches all across the world today, a false plan of salvation is being preached. Here is a list of 22 unbiblical things that foolish preachers are commonly adding to God's simple plan of salvation, thus corrupting the Word of God and casting stumbling blocks before the people:
- Be willing to turn away from sin
- Live a lifestyle of repentance
- Turn from your sins (reformation)
- Be sorry for your sins (penitence)
- Make a men for your sins (penance)
- Forsake a lifestyle of sin
- Repent of your sins
- Have a change of behavior
- Get water baptized to wash away sins
- Invite Christ into your life
- Ask Jesus to come into your heart
- Follow Christ
- Surrender to Christ
- Make Jesus “Lord” of your life
- Live for Christ the rest of your life
- Give up the old ways
- Faithfully run the race until the end of life
- Count the cost and pay the price
- Confess the name of Jesus publicly
- Pray a sinner's prayer
- Pray the Jesus prayer
- Walk down a church aisle to learn how to be saved
Dear reader, you may have done ALL THESE THINGS and yet never be born-again. What saith the Scripture? John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” You get to Heaven as a guilty sinner by placing your trust in the crucified, buried and risen Savior (I Corinthians 15:1-4). Nothing more is required or allowed by God.
