“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple” (v.33). You may have to forsake all you
have for Christ’s sake, but you need not forsake all you have for any preacher’s sake. You must not become disciples of the
preacher—you must become disciples of Jesus Christ. Cult leaders will just talk you into giving up more and more of your hard-earned
cash for their causes. Then when you are in so deep you are unable to escape without suffering stress and great emotional, personal,
and financial loss—you have been hooked. They have you by the nape of your neck. This is not the way of Christ! Do not allow yourself to fall into this kind of a trap. These “nice” corrupted people use bad theology and worse philosophy
to separate you from your “worldly” friends, your family, and finally, your goods and your money. The Lord tells believers that
they may have to give up certain conveniences, and they may, at some point, need to let the “dead” bury the “dead” (Matt.8:19-22). God’s plan of salvation is abundantly evident throughout the pages of the Bible. The plan of salvation is the means by which
God saves repentant mankind individually, one heart at a time, and offers eternal life to believers who are also overcomers. The process includes an internal calling via an initial regeneration of the heart and an external universal calling in which people
are commanded to repent (Acts
The
“call” by the Father is at two levels, personally internal and universally external. This study, a sowing of seed, is an external call. Make no mistake. Once a person has received the promise of salvation, it is indeed possible for him to lose salvation. You cannot sit back thinking you have forever gained salvation through Christ by the use of a few magic words of a “sinner’s prayer,”
kind of like saying “I do” during a wedding ceremony—once those words are uttered, the bride or groom is stuck in the marriage. The “once saved, always saved” doctrine, as it is generally portrayed, is a deception born of man's religion. To be ultimately saved
(third stage) the believer has to be obedient to God (Heb.6:3-6). Salvation does not depend upon doctrinal purity. Further,
you are saved by grace through God’s faith, and not through your “inner” faith (Eph.2:8) but your ultimate salvation is dependent
upon your loyal obedience to God (Heb.5:9). Yet, you have to be careful lest you fall (1Cor.10:12). A professor of the
faith may not be a possessor of the faith. If a believer has no growth, he will die in his ignorance (Lk.8:14). It is
with much tribulation that we enter the
Natural man is under the power of darkness. Natural man is guilty before God (Rom.1:18ff). Without a renewing and a regenerating of the mind, which precedes a deliverance from spiritual sin, no one is able to come to Christ,
because in coming to Christ, it is necessary to be convinced and persuaded that he is the Christ, and just what is the will of God. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom.12:2). [Repent and be converted (Acts
