Sin is failing to do what God commands or doing what He forbids. Millions of Gentiles are being taught that they can indeed ignore the laws that God gave us through the prophets in the Old Testament and still inherit eternal life. This will not happen. The leaders who teach this lie are false and will be personally responsible for every soul led into disobedience and eternal death. The Father only sends to the Son those who, with all their hearts, seek to obey all His holy commandments, just as the apostles and disciples of Jesus obeyed. | “I have revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word [the Old Testament].” John 17:6.
God’s revelations need prior authority and delegation to be valid. We know that Jesus is the Father’s envoy because He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, but there are no prophecies about the sending of other human beings with new teachings after Christ. Everything we need to know about salvation ends with Jesus. The gentile who is not satisfied with what Jesus taught and seeks comfort in teachings from men who emerged after Christ returned to the Father has already been deceived by the serpent, just like Eve in Eden. No one will ascend without following the Father’s laws in the Old Testament; laws that Jesus and His apostles themselves followed. Only fools follow the majority just because they are many. | The foreigner who joins himself to the Lord, to minister to him, and to love the name of the Lord… and holds fast my covenant, I will bring to my holy mountain. (Isaiah 56:6-7).
A significant event that occurred after Jesus returned to the Father was the conversion and baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch. Instructed by an angel of the Lord, Philip was led to this man and, in the encounter, had the opportunity to preach the message of salvation to an important gentile. If the doctrine of “unmerited favor” came from God, Philip would certainly have given all the details for the gentile to take this teaching to his land. However, the biblical account states that the study was limited to demonstrating, in the Old Testament, that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. Nothing was said about ”unmerited favor”, because Jesus never taught that there is salvation without obedience to the laws that the Father gave us in the Old Testament. Do not follow the majority just because they are many. | “Blessed are those who hear the word of God [Old Testament] and obey it.” Luke 11:28.
Gentiles who are truly serious about ascending with Jesus must follow the instructions of Jesus’ Father to the letter. This means not obeying partially or adapting. Few gentiles are this serious, and therefore few will ascend. As Jesus said, most do not even find the narrow gate, let alone enter through it. The only way to please the Father and be sent to the Son is to strictly follow the laws that the Lord gave us in the Old Testament. God watches us and, seeing our obedience, even in the face of opposition, He unites us with Israel and delivers us to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. This plan of salvation makes sense because it is true. Salvation is individual. Do not follow the majority just because they are many. | “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 4:2.
Nowhere in the Old Testament or in Jesus’ words in the Gospels is it written that men only needed to obey God’s Law until the Messiah was sent and died for sins, as some churches teach. What qualifies a soul to receive the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice is precisely the pursuit of obeying God’s Law. Without this, there would be no criterion, and all souls would be saved. What Jesus taught is that it is the Father who sends us to the Son. And the Father only sends those who follow the same laws given to the nation He set apart for Himself with a perpetual covenant. God watches us and, seeing our obedience, even in the face of opposition, He unites us with Israel and delivers us to Jesus. | “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:44.
In Jesus’ time, there was already a single valid plan of salvation for both Jews and gentiles, and this plan remains the same to this day. There has never been a different way to obtain forgiveness and salvation for gentiles. Salvation has always been, and still is, through Israel, the only nation chosen by God and confirmed with the eternal covenant of circumcision. The gentile who wishes to be saved by Christ must follow the same laws that the Father gave to Israel. The Father observes the faith and courage of this gentile, despite many challenges. 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 foreigner who joins himself to the Lord, to minister to him, and to love the name of the Lord… and holds fast my covenant, I will bring to my holy mountain. (Isaiah 56:6-7).
When God made the covenant of faithfulness with Abraham, He commanded that all the men of his house, his descendants, and the gentiles be circumcised, as a physical sign of this covenant. Whoever was not circumcised would not be part of the covenant and would be without the promised divine protection. Jesus, His relatives, friends, apostles, and disciples, all were circumcised according to this command of God. Nowhere in the Gospels did Jesus suggest that gentiles were exempt from this eternal law because the Messiah came into the world, nor did He authorize any man, within or outside the Bible, to modify this commandment for gentiles. Like Abraham, be approved in this test of faith and do not follow the majority just because they are many. | The foreigner who joins himself to the Lord, to minister to him, and to love the name of the Lord… and holds fast my covenant, I will bring to my holy mountain. (Isaiah 56:6-7).
About two thousand years before Jesus was born, God chose Abraham, his descendants, and the gentiles who lived with them, forming from this group a nation for Himself, and blessed them with the perpetual covenant of circumcision, promising never to abandon them. Jesus and His apostles came from this lineage, and it was clear that the Father sent Him to this same group: the Jews and the gentiles who are part of Israel. As it has always been, we, gentiles, achieve salvation by joining this people, obeying the same laws that God gave them. By doing this, the Father sends us to the Son for forgiveness and salvation. This is the plan of salvation that makes sense because it is true. | The foreigner who joins himself to the Lord, to minister to him, and to love the name of the Lord… and holds fast my covenant, I will bring to my holy mountain. (Isaiah 56:6-7).
Part of Satan’s attack on gentiles is to promote the idea that the God of the Old Testament was harsh and vengeful, but that with the coming of Jesus, He became more understanding, accepting what He previously did not tolerate. This view has no basis in the prophets or the Gospels. The goodness and mercy of God have never changed. He is good to those who obey Him, but He is a consuming fire to those who know the laws He gave us in the Old Testament and blatantly disobey them. Saying or singing that “God is so good” while ignoring His commandments is a serious offense. Obey and receive His blessings! | “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.” Psalm 25:10.
John the Baptist was the only messenger of God prophesied in the Old Testament and confirmed by Jesus. Besides John, there are no prophecies, neither from the Lord’s prophets nor in Jesus’ words in the Gospels, about the sending of another man, within or outside the Bible, whose teachings we should follow. The gentile who consciously ignores God’s eternal laws based on what he read or heard from some man who emerged after Jesus returned to the Father is basing himself on human teachings. Our only guarantee against the serpent’s deceptions is to faithfully follow the laws that God gave us through the prophets and His beloved Son. Any other source of doctrine is subject to human interference. | “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 4:2.
