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)
Millions of gentiles claim to follow Jesus, yet, if asked, almost none of them identify as part of Israel, but rather as part of another religion. The problem is that in no Gospel did Jesus call gentiles to found a new religion, separate from the religion of His ancestors. The idea of a religion outside of Israel is of human origin, started soon after Jesus returned to the Father. 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. These are the laws that Jesus Himself and His apostles followed. When we obey, the Father sees our faith and courage, unites us with Israel, and leads us to Jesus. This plan of salvation makes sense, for it is the true one. | 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)
One of the most disastrous aspects of the doctrine of “unmerited favor” is the idea that no one can contribute to their salvation and therefore does not need to obey the laws that God gave in the Old Testament. This teaching has no basis in the words of Jesus and leads millions of gentiles in churches to the grave error of living in open disobedience to God’s laws. The Lord was clear when He gave His laws: they are for Jews and gentiles. There is no salvation in disobedience. Salvation comes when the Father sends souls to the Son for the forgiveness of sins, but He will never send those who know His Law but intentionally choose not to follow it. Obey while you are alive! | “One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you; it is a statute for ever in your generations.” (Numbers 15:15)
The plan of salvation taught to us gentiles is a human creation. It aligns with nothing in the Old Testament, let alone with the words of Jesus in the Gospels, and therefore is false from beginning to end. At no point did the prophets or Jesus teach that disobeying the laws that God gave to Israel does not affect forgiveness and salvation. Gentiles who wish to be saved by Jesus must follow the same laws that the Father gave to the nation set apart by God with an eternal covenant, of which Jesus was a part. The Father sees our faith and courage, despite great opposition. He then unites us with Israel and sends us to the Son. This is the plan of salvation that makes sense because it is true. | “And this is the will of him that sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he hath given me, but should raise it up at the last day.” (John 6:39)
Jesus stated that He only spoke what the Father commanded Him to say – nothing more, nothing less. And if Jesus, being one with the Father, did not dare to teach anything different, where did the idea come from that, in the epistles, the apostles were allowed to create a plan of salvation for the gentiles that even includes the cancellation of God’s laws? Something of this magnitude would need several detailed passages in the Old Testament and in the words of Jesus to prove that it comes from God! But there are none! Those who wish to continue in this fatal error may do so, but the truth that saves is to believe and obey: to believe that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and to obey the laws that God gave to Israel, laws that Jesus Himself and all the apostles followed. | “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” John 12:48-49
As Creator, God takes care of all humanity, but as a Father, He only cares for Israel, the people He chose for Himself with an everlasting covenant. A gentile seeking liberation and blessings outside of Israel is asking as someone who is not part of God’s people, and therefore their prayers are rarely answered. The good news is that any gentile can join Israel and be blessed by God, as long as they follow the same laws that the Lord gave to Israel, laws that all the apostles followed. The Father sees the faith and courage of this gentile, despite the difficulties. 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)
