I was reading The Strand Study Bible which I bought recently. I love it! However, I am disappointed with some of the things that Pastor Strand says and promotes. For example: On page 1967 (the year I was born...lol), Strand shares some contents of a religious tract published by the EvanTell tract company titled, "What Are You Depending On?" Here it is, which you can read...
As you can see for yourself, there is NO GOSPEL. Trusting in Jesus alone is not enough to be saved, unless you understand the facts that Christ died on a cross for YOUR sins, was buried and three days later He miraculously resurrected from the dead. This is "the gospel" as defined by 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. You must first have the FACTS, before you can put your FAITH in those facts to be saved. Dr. Hyles explains this important Bible truth.
Pastor Max Younce wrote a helpful article to refute Dr. Bob Wilkin's heresy that you can be saved by trusting Jesus without the Gospel.
The Bible says when Jesus saw that all the Messianic prophesies concerning Him had been fulfilled, He said “I thirst” which was the last prophesy to be fulfilled (this one from Psalms 69:21). Upon making that last statement, only then did Jesus say, “It is finished.” So you see, redemption couldn't have been finished, for Jesus hadn't even died yet, let alone being buried and resurrected three days later. This is “the gospel” after all according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4.
Jesus Made Full Payment At The Mercy Seat In Heaven, Not On The Cross
I love and appreciate Brother Strand and his work. I must admit that I am surprised he missed this truth in his study Bible. Redemption was not finished on the cross, which is what infidel Dr. John MacArthur teaches—that we are saved by the pouring out of Jesus' blood on the cross, by His death, and not by Jesus sprinkling His actual liquid blood upon the heavenly Mercy Seat. Pastor MacArthur is very WRONG!!! Just as the Old Testament high priest was required by God to sprinkle the blood of the slain lamb upon the mercy seat (Exodus 29:16), so also did Jesus need to sprinkled His shed blood upon the heavenly Mercy Seat.
On their "About" page at EvanTell ministries, they state:
"EvanTell empowers Christians worldwide to share their faith through training, outreaches, tools, and ʀᴇꜱᴏᴜʀᴄᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏꜱᴘᴇʟ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ, ʙɪʙʟɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴀᴄᴄᴜʀᴀᴛᴇ, and encouraging way."
Really? How accurate is the tract in question? It does not contain Jesus' death, burial or resurrection!!! So, in fact, it is not clear or biblically accurate. Our churches are in trouble folks! We've got a bunch of unlearned and ignorant pastors, missionaries, evangelists and Bible professors today, who are arrogant dummies!
“There is power in this Gospel message. Most people just don't know how to present it... The clarity of the Gospel is what makes it easy for them to believe.” —Pastor Yankee Arnold, “WHY GRACE CAN SAVE THE WORST MAN!”
Jesus' Work Of Redemption Was Not Finished On The Cross
On page 1967 Pastor Strand says: "On the cross He said, 'It is finished' (John 19:30). He did not make a downpayment for your sins; He made full payment." This is not true! Sadly, 90% of preachers misinterpret the Bible when Jesus said, 'It is finished.' To accurately interpret the Scripture, we should always make a habit of including the verses before and after any particular text, lest we lift that 𝓉𝑒𝓍𝓉 out of 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓍𝓉 and create a new 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓍𝓉.
John 19:28-30, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”
Jesus Made Full Payment At The Mercy Seat In Heaven, Not On The Cross
Also, full payment wasn't made upon the cross for our sins, it was made at the Mercy Seat in Heaven, when Jesus sprinkled His literal liquid blood upon the Mercy Seat in the Holy Place in the presence of God the Father (Hebrews 9:12, 22-24; 12:24). Christ did this once to pay for the sins of all mankind (Hebrews 9:28). Christ made full-payment at the Mercy Seat in Heaven. That was the place (Hebrews 9:12). The price was Jesus' precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19).
I love and appreciate Brother Strand and his work. I must admit that I am surprised he missed this truth in his study Bible. Redemption was not finished on the cross, which is what infidel Dr. John MacArthur teaches—that we are saved by the pouring out of Jesus' blood on the cross, by His death, and not by Jesus sprinkling His actual liquid blood upon the heavenly Mercy Seat. Pastor MacArthur is very WRONG!!! Just as the Old Testament high priest was required by God to sprinkle the blood of the slain lamb upon the mercy seat (Exodus 29:16), so also did Jesus need to sprinkled His shed blood upon the heavenly Mercy Seat.
The Passover in Egypt was when the death angel passed upon the land of Egypt, killing all the firstborn (which was God's tenth and final plague upon the land through the rod of Moses). There was only one way of deliverance for the Hebrews, which was to take the blood of a slain lamb and paint it upon the door posts and lintel (the board above the door that kept bricks from falling on your head). Exodus 12:13, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” The death angel was not looking for the dead lamb in the backyard. The death angel was looking for the blood applied! If Jesus' blood had soaked into the ground at Calvary as John MacArthur foolishly claims, then no one could ever be saved. Jesus' blood had to be applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven, in the Holy of Holies in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle.
We know everything that happened during the Old Testament tabernacle, holy of holies and work of the high priest was a SHADOW of good things to come in Heaven. That is, they were a prototype of the real ones in Heaven (Hebrews 10:1). Jesus is our eternal High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16; Romans 8:34). Jesus died as our sacrificial lamb, but He raised up as our heavenly High Priest. If Christ Be Not Risen, Then We Have A Sacrifice But No High Priest Or Salvation (by Pastor Jack Hyles).
Dear reader, I challenge you to start paying closer attention to the religious tracts that you find, receive, distribute and read, to make sure that they are doctrinally sound. Tragically, nearly all Gospel tracts are completely missing of the Gospel. I read many tracts that don't mention Jesus resurrection from the dead. Other tracts don't mention that you must admit being a guilty sinner before you can be saved and go to Heaven. You need to know what you are being saved from, the wages of sin, which is death. That includes the second death in hell, fire and brimstone for all eternity, without hope or rest, tormented day and night (Revelation 21:8).
Romans 1:16 is very clear that the gospel, nothing else, is the POWER of God unto salvation, to them who BELIEVE IT. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” The unfortunate popular embellishment of the Gospel nowadays to “turn from your sinful ways” is not only NOT a part of the Gospel, it is a perversion of God's grace. Nowhere in the inspired Holy Scriptures are we taught to give up our desire to sin, forsake the world, leave the old sinful life, or to commit to reform our behavior to be saved.
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