The promoters of the doctrine of “unmerited favor” like to say that this teaching comes from the Holy Spirit, but that is a lie. Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit would remind us of everything He Himself taught and no one else. He also told us that the Spirit would convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. How does this work of God’s Spirit align with disobedience to God’s Law, as practiced by churches that accept this doctrine? Jesus never taught that His death would exempt gentiles from following the laws that the Father gave us in the Old Testament, laws that He, His relatives, friends, and apostles faithfully followed. Salvation is individual. Do not follow the majority just because they are many. Obey God’s Law while you are alive. | “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.” Psalms 119:4
The only way to reach the Son of God is through Israel, the people chosen by God. All of God’s promises, delivered by the prophets in the Old Testament and by Jesus in the Gospels, were made to the Jews and to the gentiles who joined Israel. In His wisdom, God chose one nation to carry out the plan of salvation. As He Himself declared, Israel was not chosen because it was great and strong, but because it was small and weak, so that His name might be exalted. Jesus did not create a new religion for the gentiles, but maintained the plan of salvation that always existed. Any gentile can join Israel and be saved by Jesus, simply by following the same laws that God gave to Israel. | The gentile who joins himself to the Lord, to serve Him, being in this way His servant… and who keeps My covenant, I will also bring them to My holy mountain. (Isaiah 56:6-7)
At birth, Jesus was already part of the religion of His parents and many generations before them. As He grew, Jesus remained faithful to Israel and never suggested that He would found another religion for the gentiles. Indeed, the reality in the Gospels is that there were few times Jesus even spoke with gentiles. The possibility of a gentile being saved by Jesus, outside of Jesus’ religion, is nonexistent. Like it or not, in His ministry, He was clear in saying that He came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The gentile who wishes to be saved by Christ must follow the same laws that the Father gave to the nation chosen for His honor and glory, laws that Jesus Himself and His apostles followed. This is the plan of salvation that makes sense, because it is true. | “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 10:5–6
The most desperate people at the final judgment will be those who expected to be saved; those who heard the numerous warnings about obeying God’s laws and yet chose not to obey. It will not be the wicked, for they already know beforehand what awaits them, but rather those who knew the commandments of the Most High in the Old Testament, but chose to follow the majority, because it was more convenient. But there is still a little time. The gentile who wishes to be saved by Christ must follow the same laws that the Father gave to the nation chosen for His honor and glory, laws that Jesus Himself and His apostles followed. Salvation is individual. Do not follow the majority just because they are many. Obey God’s Law while you are alive. | “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44
The idea that gentiles belong to God’s people simply because they use God’s name when they pray and sing is an illusion. Whenever the Old Testament or the words of Jesus refer to God’s people, the mention is clearly to Israel, the nation chosen by God through the eternal covenant of circumcision. The only way to become part of God’s people is by joining Israel, as God never called other nations His people. Any gentile can join Israel, as long as they follow the same laws that the Lord gave to Israel. The Father sees the faith and courage of this gentile; He pours out His love on him, unites him with Israel, and leads him to the Son for forgiveness and salvation. This is the plan of salvation that makes sense, because it is true. | The gentile who joins himself to the Lord, to serve Him, being in this way His servant… and who keeps My covenant, I will also bring to My holy mountain. (Isaiah 56:6-7)
Our access to the spiritual world is limited, and therefore it is difficult to know if we are being deceived by some lie of the devil. That is why God left us His holy Law and instructed us through His Son. With all our strength and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we must strive never to deviate from the laws that the Lord gave us in the Old Testament. Moreover, Jesus never prophesied about any man, within or outside the Bible, who would have authorization to change even a jot or tittle of His Father’s Law. Do not be deceived: we are saved by pleasing the Father and being sent to the Son, and the Father is pleased with the gentile who follows the same laws that Jesus and His apostles followed. | “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.” Psalms 119:4
If the doctrine of “unmerited favor” were true, none of God’s commandments would make sense: why would God demand anything from us if, to Him, obedience makes no difference at all? This common teaching in churches has no support in the Old Testament, and even less in the words of Jesus in the Gospels. Merit is something for God to decide, as He searches the hearts and knows the motivation of each one. It is up to us to seek to obey all of God’s laws. If we do this with dedication, the Lord will see our effort, bless us, and lead us to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. Do not follow the majority just because they are many. Obey the Lord’s laws while you are alive. | “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 4:2
Merit is something that belongs to the Lord to decide. God judged that Noah deserved to be saved from the flood, that Enoch and Elijah were to be taken to heaven without passing through death, and that Moses did not need to await the final judgment. He thought that David deserved Saul’s throne and that Mary deserved to be the mother of the Messiah. The doctrine that no one deserves anything from God is a human invention, inspired by the serpent. People like this phrase because it seems like a demonstration of humility, but in reality, they are avoiding obeying God’s laws, which both Jews and gentiles were called to fulfill. The Father does not send the disobedient to the Son. | “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.” Psalms 119:4
To claim that any human being, within or outside the Bible, has the authority to alter or abolish God’s laws from the Old Testament is an affront to divine supremacy. Those who believe in this error are rejecting the immutability of God’s Voice. No created being has such authority, unless it were expressly given by God. But nowhere in the Old Testament or the Gospels do we find prophecies announcing men with this authority after the Messiah. In matters of salvation, we must be faithful only to what God revealed before Jesus and through Jesus Himself, so as not to be deceived by the serpent. Salvation is individual. Obey God’s Law while you are alive. | “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 4:2
After Eden, the serpent’s greatest success was to create an independent religion for the gentiles, separating them from the religion of Jesus and His ancestors, which extends back to Abraham. Nothing in the words of Jesus suggests that gentiles should have their own religion, with their own doctrines and traditions, and, most seriously, without the need to obey the laws of His Father for salvation. The devil achieved his purpose, as almost no one obeys God’s laws. This is possibly the last opportunity to reverse this tragic history, at least in your life. The gentile who wishes to be saved must follow the same laws that the Father gave to the nation chosen for His honor and glory. The Father sees the faith and courage of this gentile and leads him to the Son for forgiveness and salvation. | The gentile who joins himself to the Lord, to serve Him, being in this way His servant… and who keeps My covenant, I will also bring them to My holy mountain. (Isaiah 56:6-7)
