ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ကပ်ရောဂါနှင့်အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာစာပို့လုပ်ငန်းဝန်ဆောင်မှုများပျက်ပြားခြင်းကြောင့်ကျွန်ုပ်တို့၏ 'အခမဲ့ပုံနှိပ်စာအုပ်ဝန်ဆောင်မှု' ကိုယာယီရပ်ဆိုင်းလိုက်သည်။
ဤအခြေအနေ၏အခြေအနေအရကျွန်ုပ်တို့သည်ယခုအချိန်တွင်သင့်အားစာအုပ်များမပို့နိုင်သေးပေ။
ဤကပ်ရောဂါသည်မကြာမီကုန်ဆုံးပြီးစာတိုက်လုပ်ငန်းပြန်လည်စတင်ရန်ဆုတောင်းပါ။
Subject 15 : The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the GALATIANS
[Chapter 1-2] Isn’t Your Faith Like That Of the Circumcisionists Perhaps? (Galatians 1:1-5)
“Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
During the Early Church era, the churches in Galatia were facing numerous problems. There were certain teachers in these churches who were causing a great deal of spiritual trouble. Intent on Judaizing the churches of Galatia, these people were propagating a completely false gospel among the saints, claiming that they could become God’s people only if they were physically circumcised. As a result, many in the Galatia churches who were still spiritually immature came to believe in and follow such false teachings, and the virulent effects of these teachings were so great that they posed serious threat to the Church.
The background to the teachings of the circumcisionists, who were the source of the spiritual problem in the churches in Galatia, was as the following. According to the covenant that God had established with Abraham, the descendants of Abraham were to be marked as God’s people by receiving physical circumcision. For this reason, it was firmly believed in Judaism that to be physically circumcised was to become Abraham’s descendants.
But in reality, this requirement of circumcision was actually a symbol presaging our spiritual salvation, foretelling us how Jesus Christ would come and remove all our sins from our hearts. So it is written in the Old Testament also, “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings” (Jeremiah 4:4); “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer” (Deuteronomy 10:16). When God mentioned physical circumcision in the Old Testament, He was ultimately speaking about the circumcision of our hearts—that is, the remission of our sins.
Romans 2:29 says, “Circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter.” Therefore, just because some people are physically circumcised as a matter of ritual, this does not mean that they would truly become God’s people. It was thus very important to teach that the faith of the advocates of physical circumcision was wrong. That’s because many in the churches of Galatia believed that physical circumcision played a more important role in becoming God’s people than faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That is why Paul came to testify the gospel of the water and the Spirit in which he himself believed, thus exposing the complete futility of physical circumcision, which was then prevalent in the churches of Galatia, and rebuking them for harboring such mistaken legalistic beliefs.
So, from the very beginning of the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul spoke forcefully to the advocates of physical circumcision that his faith was different from theirs: “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead” (Galatians 1:1). In other words, Paul made it clear that it was not by being physically circumcised that he had become one of God servants, but it was by believing in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit.
Such a legalistic belief of the circumcisionists is similar to the doctrine of repentance that is so prevalent in today’s Christianity; as such, I would also like to expose and rebuke the fallacious belief of Christians today and correct it. Nowadays, far too many Christians believe in the fallacious doctrine of prayers of repentance and practice it, and as a result, they are heading toward their own spiritual death. Those who have this kind of faith believe that their daily sins are washed away through their own prayers of repentance. Given the fact that such doctrines are misleading so many souls, it is now time for us, the believers in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, to correct their misplaced faith in the fallacious doctrine of prayers of repentance. Only then would they realize that absolutely no sin can ever be washed away through their own prayers of repentance, turn around, believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and thereby receive the real remission of sin.
Most Christians today mistakenly believe as the following: “When I believe in Jesus, the original sin that I was born with by nature is remitted away, and the personal sins that I commit from then on are forgiven whenever I give prayers of repentance.” This is the basic essence of the doctrine of prayers of repentance. So, many people only trust in and rely on this doctrine of prayers of repentance, rather than believing in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because their eyes are covered, they are incapable of seeing the fallacies inherent to the doctrine of prayers of repentance, one of the main doctrines of Christianity.
However, Christians who have long been giving prayers of repentance know how such prayers are all completely useless. When they were new believers, they might have felt at first that their hearts were quenched when they gave prayers of repentance to God, and they might even have been convinced that their sins were washed away; however, as time goes by and they carry on with their lives of faith for a while, they eventually see for themselves that their sins are still piled up in their hearts. Sin is not something that disappears every time one gives his prayers of repentance. On the contrary, the sins that were expected to be washed away through his prayers of repentance are still mounting in his heart, and no Christian could deny this.
Like this, most Christians still remain ignorant of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and therefore they are living their lives imprisoned by a false gospel, with their hearts filled with sin. Therefore, these Christians who had believed in the doctrine of prayers of repentance until now should turn around as soon as possible, believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and thereby receive the true remission of their sins.
Among Today’s Christian Doctrines, What Is Equivalent to the Fallacious Circumcision of the Flesh?
In the Bible, physical circumcision refers to cutting the end of the foreskin of a man’s penis. Jews have believed that they are made God’s people by being physically circumcised. However, in this age of the New Testament, whether or not we are made God’s people depends on whether or not we have clearly received the remission of our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What we must realize here beyond any doubt is that regardless of whether we have been physically circumcised or not, if we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then we are made God’s people. If the people of Israel in the Old Testament’s times had become God’s people by being circumcised in the flesh, then in the age of the New Testament, it is faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that enables us to become God’s people.
Therefore, it is a mistaken knowledge and a useless belief to think and believe that one can be washed away from his sins today just by giving prayers of repentance. Many Christians are trapped in the misconceived notion that when they first believed in Jesus, they were forgiven from their sins up until that point, but the daily sins they commit from then on are washed away by giving their own prayers of repentance. Although they consider the doctrine of prayers of repentance as a biblically sound truth, if they would just give some more thoughts to it, they would realize that it is an extremely erroneous doctrine and a teaching that actually stands against the righteousness of God.
To repeat, your own prayers of repentance are completely futile and absolutely false. No one can blot out his sins with his own prayers of repentance. For everyone and anyone, it is only when one believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit holding the righteousness of God, that he can completely wash away all his sins.
In the churches of Galatia during the Early Church era, there were those who taught dangerously mistaken doctrines. These people fallaciously claimed that the believers could become God’s people only if they were physically circumcised. Even today, there are countless Christians who believe erroneously that their sins are blotted out when they give prayers of repentance. Since they have never even imagined, not even once, that the doctrine of prayers of repentance could be wrong, they have no desire to get their mistaken faith corrected. That they are unable to be freed from such a false doctrine is precisely because they do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Since many Christians have believed in the fallacious Christian doctrines of man’s own making, they have not been able to be saved from their sins yet. You must realize here that the doctrine of prayers of repentance is a fabricated doctrine, made by the same people who are no different from you. Countless Christians all over the world are now relying on this doctrine of prayers of repentance, and this is why, far from escaping from their sins, they actually see more sins piling up in their hearts even after believing in Jesus. When people first believe in Jesus, they think that their prayers of repentance would gradually turn them into virtuous people. In other words, it seems to them as if the doctrine of prayers of repentance would somehow lead them into a life of light.
However, the more time goes by, the more they realize that this doctrine of prayers of repentance only binds their souls in sin even more tightly, even though they seek to be washed from their sins. In the end, such people actually end up committing even more sins after believing in Jesus as their Savior, and fall into even more hypocritical and legalistic beliefs. It’s precisely because of such doctrines that they are bound by sin and perishing away. Yet despite this, very few people actually know that the doctrine of prayers of repentance is fallacious. And even if someone vaguely senses that the doctrine of prayers of repentance might be wrong, since he has no other alternative to resolve the problem of his daily sins, he has no choice but to continue to lead his life of faith by relying on his own prayers of repentance.
What about you then? By any chance, are you still trying to be forgiven from your personal sins daily through prayers of repentance? If so, then you should realize the Truth that all your sins were completely blotted out once for all when you placed your faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
There is no one more wicked before God than those who are teaching the hopelessly futile doctrine of prayers of repentance. No one else but these are the very people who deceive souls and causes them to stumble, when these souls would otherwise be saved through the Word of Truth. Our Lord said, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42). They must therefore return to the gospel of the water and the Spirit as soon as possible.
Do You Know the Fact That the Doctrine of Prayers of Repentance Is Wrong?
Are you able to explain exactly why the doctrine of prayers of repentance is wrong?
The doctrine of prayers of repentance is clearly wrong. No matter how ardently one might offer prayers of repentance, his heart’s sins will never disappear. However, given the fact that more than 99.9 percent of Christians all over the world believe in this doctrine so fervently, who could dare to assert that this doctrine of prayers of repentance is wrong? Who could dare to point out its fallacy and correct it?
A while ago, I had a chance to visit a certain prison, and there, I saw so many Christians called “elders” and “deacons.” They had absolutely no idea that their sins could be washed away by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. So because of this ignorance, countless people were all devoted to their own prayers of repentance. Although most of them swear to themselves to never commit another crime, saying, “When I get out of the prison, I will never commit any crime,” in the end, they are unable to overcome the lust of sin aroused in their hearts, and so they end up committing crime once again only to return back to the prison.
Today’s ministers preach, “Everyone must be freed from sin.” Their saying itself is absolutely right. However, these ministers are completely incapable of teaching exactly how one can be freed from sin. Why? It is because they themselves have no idea on how to be freed from all their sins. Since they are spiritually blind themselves and have not received the remission of their sins yet, they cannot lead anyone else’s soul into the light of Truth. Our Lord said, “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39)
The Lord said that everyone must first be born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That’s because only then can he see the Kingdom of Heaven and enter this Kingdom. The problem, however, is that there have been few servants of God who would preach the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit to people. That is why people have no choice but to cling to their own prayers of repentance and live a legalistic life of faith, for they do not know how to be washed from all their sins and be born again.
They think, “I’m in this trouble all because I haven’t given my tithes,” or, “It’s because I haven’t given enough prayers of repentance that there are so many sins in my heart. If I would only give prayers of repentance faithfully, I’ll never be bound by sin.” Like this, people try to solve their problem of sin without any faith in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, and that is why the more times goes by since they first believed in Jesus, the worse sinners they actually become. They then look at themselves and wonder why they have changed into even filthier, more hypocritical and more wicked people, despite the fact that they have believed in Jesus for such a long time. So I admonish you all to reconsider the gospel of the water and the Spirit now and believe in it.
The Fallacies of Christian Doctrines
The reason why today’s Christian doctrines are so full of errors is because Christians all over the world believe in Jesus as their Savior without knowing the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit. First, they believe that their sins are washed away when they offer prayers of repentance. Such a fallacy is in the same vein as the false teaching that was propagated in the churches of Galatia long ago, which claimed that people could become God’s own people if they were physically circumcised. Even now, these people still do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given to the entire human race, and so they believe only in Jesus’ blood on the Cross alone, and adhere to the mistaken belief that they would somehow be forgiven from their sins if they offer prayers of repentance everyday. That is why so many Christians come to church and offer prayers of repentance in tears day after day, trying to wash away their sins in vain.
Whenever they commit sin, they always pray like this: “Lord, I’m so sorry. I repent from all the sins that I’ve committed last week. I know I shouldn’t have sinned, but I still ended up committing so many different sins again. Lord, You were crucified for me, and yet I’ve sinned like this. I’m so ashamed of myself. But Lord, You are merciful, and so I ask You to forgive these sins as well. I ask You to forgive them all. If You would wash away these sins of mine with the blood of the Cross and forgive them, I will never commit sin again. I believe that You have indeed forgiven all these sins, for You said, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ Amen.”
Since this is what Christians all over the world have learned from their ministers—that they would be washed from their sins if they just believe in Jesus as their Savior and offer prayers of repentance—they have no other choice but to understand thus and believe so. And they think that if they are faithful to their home church, devote themselves to service, and offer plenty of prayers of repentance, they would all go to Heaven. Nevertheless, is one really remitted from his sins just by offering prayers of repentance?
Of course, when someone spends 5-10 minutes confessing all the sins that he ever wanted to confess, asks God to forgive him, and thinks about the precious blood that Jesus shed on the Cross, then it may seem as if all his sins were indeed washed away. However, for those who believe like this, their sins never disappear, but only continue on piling up in their hearts.
Is there anyone among you who also thinks like this and leads such a life of faith? For those who do so, do you think that there is no problem whatsoever with your lives of faith? Far from seeing any problem, do you actually take a great pride in your faith, thinking that your belief is congruent to today’s mainstream Christian faith? This kind of faith, however, has nothing to do with the faith of believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and you have to realize this.
We must all realize that Christians throughout the whole world have fallen together into a great fallacy called the doctrine of prayers of repentance. This happened because for centuries, the Western Christian countries have sent countless missionaries who believe fervently in this doctrine to all over the world, and as a result, Christians throughout the world have alike come to believe in this doctrine of prayers of repentance. I admonish you all to remember clearly that the only way for you to escape from such a grave fallacy is to attain the born-again faith by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Paul’s Faith Did Not Come from Men
The Apostle Paul sensed the spiritual corruption that was taking place among the Galatian believers. So in his letter to the saints of Galatia, from the very opening, he had to first show what kind of faith his faith was and what kind of faith he had preached to them. He made it clear here that his faith was “not from men nor through man.” This is what he was saying, in other words: “The faith that has now made me a servant of God and saved me from all my sins neither came from men, nor was it learned from men. My faith came entirely from Jesus Christ and God the Father, and this faith is the very faith of believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is by this faith that I was able to be saved from all my sins and become one of God’s people.”
The Apostle Paul’s faith was not something that came from men. In the churches in Galatia at that time, however, a faith that had come from men was spreading wide. This faith claimed, “Even if men believe in Jesus as their Savior, they can become God’s people wholly only if they are physically circumcised.” This was a false teaching that was completely contrary to the gospel of Truth, which taught that it was only by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that people could received the remission of their sins and become God’s own people. Nevertheless, the Galatian saints at that time were swept away by the undercurrent of such false teachings, and as a result, many of them fell into spiritual death.
Even today, the same phenomenon is now prevailing all over Christianity throughout the world. That we have been born again and become God’s children is not by the works of the Law. It is solely because the true God Jesus came to this earth by the water and the blood, and remitted away all the sins of the people of the world, that God has accomplished our salvation perfectly all on His own, so that those who believe in this gospel may be born again and become God’s children. True faith is not constituted by believing in the fallacious doctrine of prayers of repentance, which has come from men’s own thoughts, but it is reached only if one believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Yet despite this, countless Christians all over the world do not follow the Truth, but they are instead following the doctrine of prayers of repentance that came from mankind itself, thus resulting in their own spiritual death.
Like this, the faith of the advocates of prayers of repentance in modern Christianity is the same as the faith of the circumcisionists at the time of the Early Church. Today’s doctrine of repentance, which claims that one is washed from his sins by offering prayers of repentance, is not a doctrine that came from God. It is a doctrine that came from men, and such humanistic doctrines still continue to flow from spiritual swindlers inside Christianity even now. These imposters claim, “Now that I offered my prayers of repentance, my heart is quenched, and I was washed from all my sins.” They are also teaching their congregation that one is sanctified to reach salvation only if he offers prayers of repentance everyday. Ultimately, however, they are no more than blind people leading other blind people, only to fall into the fire of hell together.
Do today’s Christians mistakenly believe and misconceive that their sins would somehow disappear just by giving prayers of repentance? Yes, many Christians indeed believe so. Countless Christians all over the world adhere to this fallacious belief that if they repent from their sins in their prayers, they would be able to be washed from these sins. So even during the hours of worship, it has now become a standard fixture for the congregation to devote a certain portion of time to prayers of penitence, and for the presiding minister to read a prepared text called “the confirmation of the remission of sin.” But their sins cannot disappear in this way, no matter how ardently they might offer prayers of repentance like this. All their sins are remitted away once for all only when they know and believe in the Word of Truth that our Lord has indeed blotted out all their sins once for all through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The Way to Reach Salvation from All Sins Came from God’s Just Love
The salvation that God has given us is the law of Truth accomplished by His justice and love. That is why God gave Himself up to meet the just requirements of the Law declaring the wages of sin to be death, perfecting it with His law of love. Because God is just and He is love itself, He has saved us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit that met all the requirements of His justice and love.
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This means that a sinner must infallibly be subjected to God’s just judgment and cast into hell for his sins. In other words, just because we repent only with our lips and say before God or men, “I’ve done wrong,” it does not mean that our sins would disappear. To account for our sins justly, we must be punished and die for them.
However, because God is so merciful and just, He Himself came to this earth incarnated in the flesh with a name called Jesus, all to make atonement for our sins. And because this Jesus blotted out all our sins with the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, He made it possible for us to be washed from our sins by faith.
God the Father made His only begotten Son Jesus Christ accept all the sins of mankind once for all through His baptism, and the Lord shouldered all these sins to the Cross and bore all their condemnation. Now, therefore, whoever believes in the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit, that Jesus has thus blotted out all our sins completely, is able to receive the remission of his sins freely. In other words, God has washed away all the sins of our entire lifetime with the baptism of His Son and the blood of the Cross, and He has thus saved us once for all.
Now, we can all receive the true remission of our sins when we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior who came by the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and who has blotted out all our sins once for all. And if we once receive the remission of sin by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then even if we were to still find ourselves too insufficient and committing sin again, we can still follow God with an impeccably clean spirit by once again affirming our true salvation, placing our faith in this true gospel.
I am not saying here that we would no longer commit any sin once we receive the remission of our sins. On the contrary, because we must still live in our insufficient flesh for the rest of our lives on this earth, we still continue to sin even after being born again. However, rather than giving prayers of repentance and saying to God, “Father, I’ve sinned again like this. Please forgive me,” in our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we can now make the true confession of faith to God as the following: “God, I’m so insufficient that I’ve committed such sins. But I thank You, Father, for when someone like me should have died, Your Son came to this earth, took upon my sins by being baptized, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has thus become my perfect Savior. Lord, I believe that You have completely blotted out all my sins with the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and I thank You for this. Even though I am so insufficient like this, Your accomplishments are so perfect that You have forever made me a righteous person without sin. I am so grateful that You have given me this gospel of the water and the Spirit and accepted me as Your child. Amen.”
Although those who have been born again through the gospel of the water and the Spirit still commit sin, they can make the true confession of faith like this, and with their strength renewed, they can still follow the Lord with a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21).
Can you now understand why Jesus Christ came to this earth, and why He first had to be baptized by John the Baptist before being crucified? Our Lord did not save us in just words. In actual deeds, He blotted out all the sins of the world through His ministry of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That is how, once for all, the Lord has brought just salvation to all who believe in this gospel of Truth. Although we all had to die for our sins, God the Father saved us wholly from all our sins and delivered us from destruction by sending His Son to this world. Like this, God sent His Son to this earth because He loved us; and Jesus, in turn, shouldered all the sins of the world by receiving baptism from John the representative of mankind, died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and thereby blotted out all our sins justly, thus perfectly making us into God’s people.
You must never believe only in Jesus’ blood on the Cross alone. Instead, you must realize and believe that before dying on the Cross, Jesus had justly taken upon all our sins by first being baptized by John. That is why Jesus said to John when He was about to be baptized, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
We should not just believe in Jesus as our Savior without knowing the gospel of the water and the Spirit properly. God said that He loved this world so much that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). Out of His love, He blotted out the sins of this world by sending His own Son. Therefore, the real work of salvation is the very fact that Jesus accepted mankind’s sins once for all by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, and that He has saved His believers by dying on the Cross. It’s because Jesus had accepted all the sins of mankind through His baptism that He was crucified and was condemned for all these sins in our place. As the Lord poured out all his heart’s blood on the Cross, He said, “It is finished!”—thus proclaiming the perfect completion of our salvation (John 19:30).
By believing in Jesus as our Savior blindly, we cannot be saved. If we realize that we had misbelieved in Jesus—that is, if we recognize that our sins are still remaining in our hearts even as we believe in Jesus—then we should find out from where we had believed mistakenly, turn around, and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We should never allow our faith to be uniformly placed in our own prayers of repentance in vain. You must remember that through your prayers of repentance, you can never be washed from your sins. To offer prayers of repentance obstinately is the same sin as following the teachings of the circumcisionists.
Now, therefore, for Christians all over the world to receive their perfect salvation, they must throw away the false doctrine of prayers of repentance and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. While we all believe in Jesus as our Savior, we shouldn’t just believe blindly in the blood of the Cross alone, but we must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given to all of us, and thereby receive the remission of our sins into our hearts. To be wholly saved from all our sins, we must place our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
This gospel of the water and the Spirit that is now being spread all over the world is not a gospel that came from men. It is the gospel that came from God the Father and Jesus Christ. Just as the Apostle Paul clearly declared in today’s Scripture passage, the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth that came from God. Nonetheless, the circumcisionists taught that the believers would become God’s people if they were physically circumcised. That was a doctrine that came from men, and they were thus leading the Galatian saints to death.
Likewise, today’s false prophets are teaching their followers that they can receive the remission of their sins just by believing in the blood of the Cross alone and giving their prayers of repentance everyday, and so it is imperative for Christians all over the world to realize as soon as possible just how profoundly fallacious this teaching is. And they must learn about the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the gospel that came from God Himself, believe in it, and cast aside the doctrine of prayers of repentance that they had believed in vain all this time. It is when we learn what the gospel of the water and the Spirit is, understand it and believe in it, that we can become born-again Christians and God’s own people.
Paul said here, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” This passage indicates that the peace of mind comes to the believers from Jesus Christ and God the Father as a gift of salvation through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Now, all the Christians throughout the world who had been bound under sin to this day as a result of relying on their own prayers of repentance, must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and thus receive the remission of their sins and be born again as God’s children. Only then can they taste grace and peace from God.
The doctrinal faith of repentance, which is a product of man’s own making, can never bring peace to anyone’s heart. The doctrine of prayers of repentance is nothing more than a useless, hypothetical notion stemming from mankind itself. While the words of spiritual swindlers are sweet to hear, their price is tremendously costly. If you continue to believe in their lies, then when you finally stand before the presence of Lord, you will not be able to escape from the fearful punishment of hell for your sins.
Today’s Christianity is not preaching to the congregation the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is of the Word of God, but instead it is propagating only human ethics or the man-made doctrine of prayers of repentance. This, in the end, is to only spread man’s own thoughts to people. However, the Lord has given us the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the everlasting Word of Truth. You, too, have realized from our books that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the real Truth that came from God the Father and Jesus Christ. To those of you who might still be unable to grasp the gospel of the water and the Spirit properly, I sincerely admonish them to read the first title of the Christian literature series published by our Mission. It is called Have you truly been born again of water and the Spirit? You can get this book for free through our web site.
For how long have Christians all over the world believed blindly in the doctrine of prayers of repentance as if it were the real Truth? Have they not invariably misconceived and misbelieved, thinking that they would be washed from their sins through their own prayers of repentance? Indeed, in their ignorance of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is what they should really know, they have believed in the useless creeds of Christianity and clung to them. What you must realize here is that Christians throughout the whole world have fallen into a legalistic faith much like the saints in Galatia, believing in God on a mistaken doctrine. An even grater problem of today’s Christianity, however, is the fact that so many Christians all over the world do not even realize just how fallacious the doctrine of prayers of repentance really is.
If it’s indeed your sincere desire to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and be born again, then you must first throw away the mistaken belief that one can be washed from his sins through his own prayers of repentance. We must realize that unless we acknowledge the fallacy of the doctrine of prayers of repentance and cast it aside, we cannot receive the remission of our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God has given us.
My coworkers and I alike all desire to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit all over the world. So we would like to take this opportunity to explain clearly, through these sermons on the Book of Galatians, why the doctrine of prayers of repentance is so wrong. That’s because only then can Christians be freed from the tricks of Satan, believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit properly, and attain their true salvation. Long ago, just as there had been many in the churches of Galatia who sought to undermine God’s Church and Judaize it by advocating physical circumcision, in this present age also, there are so many people who are trying to turn Christianity into a mere religion of the world, and that is the very reason why it’s so imperative to correct their mistaken faith.
Now, all of us must realize the evil influences of false prophets and teach the gospel of the water and the Spirit correctly. Now, we who were born again first, should no longer just sit idle and watch the false prophets preaching useless doctrines to countless souls and leading them all to Satan, but we should lead people to Christ with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We cannot fail to bear witness of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must proclaim this gospel far and loud, so that all those who wish to return to God and receive the remission of their sins would indeed be born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Then countless people among Christians all over the world will believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, be born again, and stand up as God’s workers. And united with us, they will become the messengers of light shining the gospel of the water and the Spirit on their people, who are oppressed by sin and suffering.
My fellow believers, to believe that one can receive the remission of his sins just by believing in the blood of the Cross alone and offering prayers of repentance is to adhere to a completely fallacious belief. You must realize that this is a false Christian doctrine that came from the same vein as the very false teachings of the circumcisionists. If, until the very end, you try to be washed from your sins by believing in and relying on the doctrine of prayers of repentance, and by giving your own prayers of repentance everyday, then you will never be able to escape from your place as sinners until the day you die. If you believe in Jesus like this, then the longer you believe in Jesus, the more sins will pile up in your hearts, and you will have no other choice but to turn into legalistic Christians who, just like the Pharisees, are godly only in outside appearance.
That we are able to proclaim the gospel of the water and the Spirit so boldly like this is simply because this gospel is the real Truth. We must testify to the whole world that the Apostle Paul’s faith and our faith alike did not come from men, nor through men, but they are the faith that is placed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The faith of the Apostle Paul was one that believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. That is why he is pointing out so keenly here just how wrong the teachings of the circumcisionists was, who claimed that people could become God’s own people through physical circumcision. And Paul is declaring that only the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth that came not from men, but through God the Father and Jesus Christ.
The Bible says, “Watchman, what of the night?” (Isaiah 21:11) It is asking us why this world has become so spiritually dark. Why is today’s Christianity unable to blossom all over the world? It’s said that in Western Christian countries in Europe and North America, the number of Buddhists is expanding rapidly. What’s the reason for this? It’s because today’s Christianity is propagating the fallacious belief that one is washed from his sins through his own prayers of repentance. It’s all because Christianity itself is spreading what is completely untrue. And it’s because such a doctrine could not blot out any sin from the believers’ hearts. That is why Christians’ faith has become so desolate, and as their faith has been rendered powerless, they are now living disheartened and discouraged, unable to be aboveboard and without any pride even before non-Christians.
Lamenting this sad reality of today’s Christians, where they are now moaning under the fallacious doctrine of prayers of repentance and unable to escape from it, I came to publish these sermons on Galatians. It is my sincerest hope and prayer that through this book, Christians all over the world would realize that the doctrine of repentance is not founded on God’s Word, but it is a legalistic teaching that runs in the same vein as the teachings of the circumcisionists, a false teaching that came from men.
Is there anyone among you who still believes in Jesus even as he remains a sinner, placing his faith in the doctrine of repentance? I admonish all of you to now know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it, and be delivered from all your sins. For everyone to find this blessing, those of us who were born again first must preach this gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world. That is because all of us are God’s servants who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If we fail to proclaim the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then everyone in this world will remain unable to receive the remission of his sins and, as a result, be cast into the everlasting fire of hell. Therefore, if people all over the world couldn’t be saved from their sins because they couldn’t hear the gospel of Truth, then it would all be our fault. Regardless of whether they would listen to the gospel of the water and the Spirit or not, it is still our responsibility to preach it. As such, we must awaken everyone in the world to realize that no remission of sin is received through any prayers of repentance, and we must preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. I pray to God that He would hold and bless all of us who are now serving the gospel.
That the gospel of the water and the Spirit given to us by the Lord is more than able to blot out all our sins, is precisely because this gospel is the perfect gospel completed by the justice of God and His love. Because our Lord is just, He took upon all our sins through His baptism in the Jordan River, leaving no sin behind whatsoever—whether committed against God or men, small or great—and paid off all the wages of these sins with His blood shed on the Cross.
Before having His Son crucified to death, in other words, God the Father had made Him first shoulder all the sins of mankind by being baptized by John the Baptist. He did this because only then could the sins of mankind be blotted out justly. In this way, our Lord was baptized to bear the sins of the world, carried them to the Cross and paid off all their wages by shedding His blood and dying, and rose from the dead again; and today, through all these works, He has now become the Savior of all of us who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
It is my sincerest hope that through this book, you would all be blessed to attain your freedom from the trap of Satan called the doctrine of repentance, receive the remission of your sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and be born again as God’s own children. Hallelujah!
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