The way of salvation according to The New Life Mission (founded by Paul C. Jong) refuted

Paul C. Jong, founder of The New Life Mission, teaches that in order to be saved a man must believe in Jesus’ baptism and in His death on the cross. Here is what he wrote: ‘To be saved from all our sins, we must believe in the gospel that states that John the Baptist passed all sins onto Jesus through the means of baptism. …. In order to be redeemed of all our sins, we have to believe in His baptism, through which John the Baptist passed all the sins of the world onto Jesus and the Cross…’ (Have you truly been born again of water and the Spirit?, e-book, page 229). However, it is important to note that when Jong affirms that John passed all sins onto Jesus ‘through the means of baptism’ he means that this happened through the laying on of the hands of John: ‘John the Baptist passed the sins of the world onto Jesus for our salvation when he laid his hands on Jesus’ head’ (from their website: http://bjnewlife.org). Jong explains us that baptism ‘means ‘to pass on to, to be buried, to be washed’ — the same as ‘the laying on of hands’ in the Old Testament’ (Ibid.,). In other words, John baptized Jesus by laying his hands on the head of Jesus.

At this point, in order to help you understand why Jong attaches so much importance to this alleged laying on of hands which took place at the Jordan river, it is necessary to say that according to Jong, John the Baptist was predestined by God to be the last High Priest because the Old Testament ended when Jesus Christ was born. The Bible, according to Jong, confirms the priesthood of John for it says that he was a descendant of Aaron the High Priest (since Zechariah, the father of John, was of the division of Abijah – Luke 1:5). And since according to the law of Moses, when the High Priest made atonement for the sins of the Israelites he had to lay his hands on the head of the live goat to put all their sins upon its head, so John the Baptist had to lay his hands on Jesus to put all the sins of the world on him. Here are the words of Jong: “Before the people, Aaron laid his hands on the second goat and confessed before God. “Lord, the people of Israel have committed murder, adultery, theft, covetousness, deceit…and they have bowed before idols. They have not kept the Sabbath holy, they have called Your name in vain, and they have broken all the articles of Your Laws and commandments.” Then he took away his hands. With this, all the sins of the people for the whole year were passed on to the sin offering. Let’s read Leviticus 16:21. “And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man.” The scapegoat would then wander around in the wilderness and die with the sins of the people of Israel on its head. The scapegoat, “Azazel” in Hebrew, means “to put out.” It means that the sin offering was cast out before the Lord, for all the people of Israel. Now, the sins of Israel were passed on to the scapegoat through the laying on of Aaron’s hands. In this way the Israelites were forgiven for their sins. When they saw the high priest laying his hands on the goat and saw it led into the wilderness, all the people of Israel who believed in the ritual of atonement were sure of the atonement for their sins. All the rituals of the Old Testament were the shadow of ‘the gospel of the being born again’ of the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the laying on of hands and the blood of the sacrifice was the gospel of salvation from sin. It remained basically the same in the New Testament’ (Ibid.,). Therefore, since the laying on of the hands of the High Priest was part of the ritual of the day of atonement through which the Israelites were forgiven, the laying on of the hands of John the Baptist is an essential part of the atonement God provided through Jesus Christ. For Jong affirms that ‘Jesus was baptized to wash away all the sins of mankind’ and that God sent ‘His own Son Jesus to this world to wash away all sins through His baptism by John the Baptist and His death at the Cross’. Therefore, anyone who wants to be saved from his sins must believe in Jesus’ baptism and His death on the cross: ‘True faith is to believe that Jesus Christ completely cleansed us of all our sins when He was baptized; it is to believe that He took the judgment for all our sins at the Cross. We have to believe in the righteous salvation of God. God loved man so much that He saved us through the baptism of Jesus and His blood at the Cross. When we believe in this gospel, we are saved from all our sins, freed from judgment and become righteous before God’ (Ibid.,). There is no salvation outside the gospel of the baptism of Jesus which is preached by Paul Jong: ‘If we don’t believe in the redemption of the baptism and the blood of Jesus, we are still sinners and not saved, no matter how faithfully we attend church …. Therefore, the belief in the baptism of Jesus and the blood on the Cross is a must for our salvation. We must believe in the water and the blood.’ (Have you truly been born again of water and the Spirit?, e-book, page 436, 442-443).

Refutation

It is true that on the Day of atonement the high priest had to lay his hands on the live goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat and he had to confess over it all the sins of the Israelites and then that goat was sent into the desert as a scapegoat, for it is written: “And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:20-22); and it is also true that this foreshadowed the fact that one day the Lamb of God would bear all our iniquities. But it is also true that on that day the High Priest did not have to lay his hands on the head of the other goat which was to be offered to make atonement for the sins of the Israelites (for on that day the High Priest had to take two male goats for a sin offering), nor did he have to confess over it the sins of the Israelites. For it is written: “Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat” (Leviticus 16:15). Therefore, the High Priest had to lay his hands on the head of the live goat alone, and he had to confess the sins of the Israelites over the live goat alone, yet the other goat also was used for making atonement for the sins of the people of Israel and foreshadowed the atonement that Christ would make, even though the High Priest did not have to lay his hands on its head nor confess over it the sins of the Israelites. And keep in mind that the first goat (that is, the one whose lot fell to the Lord) had to be slaughtered, offered upon the altar, and its blood had to be taken behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place, while the second goat (the one chosen by lot as the scapegoat) was not slaughtered but it was sent into the desert. However, even though there was this difference in the ritual of the day of atonement, we are sure that the second goat also foreshadowed the Christ who would bear all our iniquities in His own body. I have said these things to show that the first goat also was used for making atonement for the sins of the people, even though the Scripture does not say that the High Priest had to lay his hands on it or that he had to confess over it the sins of the Israelites.

How were our iniquities to be passed onto Jesus then? How was Jesus to take on Himself our sins? Maybe through the laying on of the hands of a High Priest and the confession of all our sins made over him by this High Priest? Not at all. Furthermore, even if we grant for the sake of argument that all our sins had to be passed onto Jesus through the laying on of the hands of a High Priest, without any doubt that High Priest had to be the High Priest of the temple, who was Caiaphas at the time; however such a thing did not happen. How could such a thing ever happen? However, what does Mr Jong do then? He comes out with the teaching that John the Baptist was a High Priest, or rather, the last High Priest; we can’t accept such a thing because it is not supported by the Scripture in any way, even though John was certainly a descendant of the sons of Aaron, that is, he was of priestly descent. In addition to this, I want to say this: where does the Scripture state that John the Baptist laid his hands on the head of Jesus or that he administered the baptism to Jesus through the laying on of his hands? The answer is, ‘Nowhere,’ so the teaching according to which John passed onto Jesus all sins of the world through baptism, or rather through the laying on of his hands, does not have any Scriptural basis. There is no Biblical evidence, not even a hint, that John performed that act.

Furthermore, as we have seen, the High Priest had also to confess over the live goat all the sins of the people of Israel (this is something that Mr Jong does not emphasize), therefore John would have to confess over Jesus all the sins of the world. However, where does the Scripture speak of this confession made by John the Baptist over Jesus Christ? The answer is still the same, ‘Nowhere.’ Therefore, we really don’t understand how the alleged High Priest John the Baptist passed onto Jesus all the sins of men at His baptism when the Scripture is silent on this alleged laying on of hands as well as on a confession of all the sins of the world made by John over Jesus. I ask you: ‘If these important things, which according to Mr Jong we need to know in order to be saved, had really taken place when Jesus was baptized by John, could the Scripture be silent on them?’ I firmly believe that it could not.

However, what I want to stress is that this doctrine attaches too much importance to the baptism of Jesus, that is to say, this doctrine leads believers to think that in order to be saved they must believe in the baptism of Jesus, while the Scripture never states that in order to be saved a man must believe in the baptism of Jesus. According to the Scripture, one must believe that Jesus is the Christ of God who died on the cross for our sins (that is to say, He bore our sins in His body on the cross), who was buried and the third day He rose again for our justification (cf. Romans 4:24-25). That’s the Gospel which the apostle Paul preached to both Jews and Gentiles, listen to what he wrote to the Corinthians: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). Therefore the events of the life of Jesus which a sinner must ABSOLUTELY believe in order to be saved are the atoning death of Christ and His resurrection. Even if he does not know anything about the baptism of Jesus, his faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus will certainly save him. This is confirmed by the fact that when the apostle Peter preached the Gospel to the Jews on the day of Pentecost and to the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius some time later, he did not speak of the baptism of Jesus, while he spoke of His death and His resurrection (cf. Acts 2:22-36; 10:34-43). The same thing must be said about the apostle Paul, for when Paul preached at Antioch of Pisidia he did not speak of the baptism of Jesus, but he preached His death and His resurrection (cf. Acts 13:16-41). And I would like to point out that both Peter and Paul, the former on the day of Pentecost while the latter at Antioch of Pisidia, preached the Gospel to the Jews (there were also some proselytes), thus to people who knew the ritual of the day of atonement (unlike the Gentiles who had no knowledge of these things). What a great opportunity for those apostles to explain to their hearers the meaning of Jesus’ baptism preached to us by Mr Paul Jong!! Yet they did not mention it, they said nothing about it, they did not speak of His baptism and its alleged meaning. The reason why they were silent on Jesus’ baptism is that they did not attach this great importance to Jesus’ baptism nor did they give to it the meaning given by Mr Jong.

Neither does the Scripture affirm that in order to be saved, a man must believe that when Jesus was baptized John the Baptist passed onto Him all the sins of the world through the laying on of his hands, for as we have seen such a thing did not take place. Therefore all those arguments according to which “one Man’s righteous act” (Romans 5:18 – NKJV) accomplished by Jesus to justify us includes Jesus’ baptism are vain, because that righteous act is the death of Christ, the shedding of His blood which took place for the remission of our sins, which was followed by the resurrection of Jesus which was worked by His Father. Didn’t Jesus teach this when on the night He was betrayed He took the cup and gave it to His disciples saying: “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28 – NKJV)? Of course, that cup symbolized His blood. What has the baptism of Jesus to do with the remission of sins then? Of course, Jesus’ baptism was an important event, I am not questioning its importance, Jesus had to be baptized by John; however what cleanses our conscience from dead works is the precious blood of Jesus alone which Jesus shed on the cross and not His baptism. Therefore, we were reconciled to God through His death and not through His baptism; this is something which is attested by the Scripture many times. For instance Paul says to the Romans: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:9-10), and to the Colossians: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (Colossians 1:19-22). Are not sufficiently clear the words of the apostle Paul? Therefore, the doctrine which holds that in order to obtain the remission of sins and be justified we must believe that Jesus’ baptism was an atoning act, that is, an act through which our sins were blotted out or taken away (anyhow something that, together with His death, is able to take away our sins) is a false doctrine, that is, a heretical teaching, there is no doubt about that.

We must preach the cross of Christ, as the apostles did, and not the baptism of Christ, and we must exhort men to repent and believe in the atoning death of Christ and in His resurrection as well, but we must not add the baptism of Jesus to these things as Mr Paul Jong does ignorantly, who in his books speaks more of Jesus’ baptism than of His death. In other words, we must follow the example of the apostle Paul. Obviously, with regard to the death of Christ we must preach that it was necessary because without shedding of blood there is no remission, and that the shedding of His blood was foreshadowed many times by the law of Moses, and we must preach also that Jesus Christ bore our sins in His own body on the cross, however let us see that we don’t say that John the Baptist was the last High Priest appointed by God who had to lay his hands on Jesus to pass onto Jesus all our sins because such a thing is untrue. The Scripture says that “the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6), and that “he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). The Scripture does not say that a High Priest would lay on Jesus all our sins!!! In addition to this, Jesus did not need a High Priest for He Himself was the High Priest of our confession who had to offer Himself for our sins (cf. Hebrews 7:26-28 and 3:1) and therefore he had to bear all our sins and that’s what He did on the cross. Therefore Jesus Christ was at the same time the Sacrificer and the sacrifice which had to be offered for our sins. To Him be the glory now and forever. Amen.

When did Jesus bear our sins? When and where did God lay on Him all our sins? The Scripture teaches that this took place on the cross when Jesus was crucified, for Peter says: “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24 – NKJV). This is confirmed also by Paul when he says that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 – NKJV) and also that “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13 – NKJV). Therefore it was on the cross that Jesus took on Himself all our sins, and not at His baptism! Reflect upon this: it can’t be true that Jesus Christ took on Himself all our sins at His baptism, because if it had been so He would have been made to be sin even before He began His ministry. At His baptism Jesus did not take on Himself the sins of the world, but He was anointed with the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, to sum up, I tell you that we must not interpret the baptism of Jesus in the way Mr Jong does, nor must we believe that in order to receive remission of sins it is absolutely necessary to believe that through the baptism all sins were passed onto Jesus. Take heed to yourselves, beloved, because this strange doctrine of Mr Jong has had evil consequences on the way of salvation, for according to Mr Jong in order to be saved faith in the atoning death of Christ is not sufficient, for a man must believe also that John the Baptist passed all sins onto Jesus at the Jordan River!! Indeed Mr Jong preaches a doctrine of demons and creates great confusion in the midst of the people of God. Beware of the leaven of Mr Jong. Repudiate it and expose it. Hold fast the Gospel as it is written in the Bible without adding to it this diabolical teaching of Mr. Jong, which has nothing to do with the truth which is in Christ Jesus.

Giacinto Butindaro

Son of hope: my story

May God bless everyone who is reading this message!

My name is David Berkowitz, and I am a prison inmate who has been incarcerated for more than twenty two years. I have been sentenced to prison for the rest of my life. My criminal case is well known and was called the “Son of Sam” shootings. It was eleven years ago, when I was living in a cold and lonely prison cell, that God got a hold of my life. Here is my story of Hope…

CHILD OF TORMENT

Ever since I was a small child, my life seemed to be filled with torment. I would often have seizures in which I would roll on the floor. Sometimes furniture would get knocked over. When these attacks came, it felt as if something was entering me. My mother who has long since passed away, had not control over me. I was like a wild and destructive animal. My father had to pin me to the floor until these attacks stopped.

When I was in public school, I was so violent and disruptive that a teacher, who had become so angry at me, grabbed me in a headlock and threw me out of his classroom.

I was getting into a lot of fights, too. Sometimes I started screaming for no reason. And eventually my parents were ordered by school officials to take me to a child psychologist, or else I would be expelled. I had to go to this psychologist once per week for two years. Yet the therapy sessions had no affect on my behavior.

During this period of my life I was also plagued with bouts of severe depression. When this feeling came over me, I would hide under my bed for hours. I would also lock myself in a closet and sit in total darkness from morning until afternoon. I had a craving for the darkness and I felt an urge to flee away from people.

A FORCE WAS AT WORK

Occasionally this same evil force would come upon me in the middle of the night. When this would happen I felt an urge to sneak out of the house and wander the dark streets. I roamed the neighborhood like an alley cat and would creep back into the house by climbing the fire escape. My parents would never know that I was gone.

I continually worried and frightened my parents because I behaved so strangely. At times I would go the entire day without talking to them. I would stay in my room talking to myself. My parents could not reach me, not even with all their love. Many times I saw them break down and cry because they saw that I was such a tormented person.

FIGHTING THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE

Thoughts of suicide often came into my mind. Sometimes I spent time sitting on a window ledge with my legs dangling over the side. We lived on the 6th floor of an old apartment building. When my dad saw me doing this he would yell at me to get back inside. I also felt powerful urges to step in front of moving cars or throw myself in front of subway trains. At times those urges were so strong that my body actually trembled. I remember that it was a tremendous struggle for me to hold on to my sanity. I had no idea what to do and neither did my parents. They had me talk to a rabbi, teachers and school counselors, but nothing worked.

MY MOTHER WAS DEAD

When I was fourteen my mother was stricken with cancer and within several months she was dead. I had no other brothers or sisters, and so it was just me and my dad. He had to work ten hours per day, six days per week. So we spent very little time together. For the most part, my mother was my source of stability. With her now gone, however, my life quickly went downhill. I was filled with anger at the loss of my mom. I felt hopeless and my periods of depression were more intense than ever. I also became even more rebellious and began to cut out of school.
Yet my dad tried to help as best as he could. He managed to push me through high school. The day after I graduated I went into the Army. I had just turned 18 several weeks earlier. I joined the Army, in a sense, to start a new life and get away from my problems. But even in the service I had trouble coping, though I did manage to finish my 3 year enlistment.

THE FORCE STILL HAD ME

I got out of the service in 1974 to start life again as a civilian. All my friends that I knew before had either married or moved away. So I found myself alone and living in New York City. In 1975, however, I met some guys at a party who were, I later found out, heavily involved in the occult. I had always been fascinated with witchcraft, satanism and occult things since I was a child. When I was growing up I watched countless horror and satan-type movies, one of which was Rosemary’s Baby. The movie in particular totally captivated my mind.

Now I was age 22 and this evil force was still reaching out to me. Everywhere I went there seemed to be a sign or a symbol pointing me to Satan. I felt as if something were trying to take control of my life. I began to read the Satanic Bible by the late Anton LaVey who founded the Church of Satan in San Francisco in 1966. I began, innocently, to practice various occult rituals and incantations.

I am utterly convinced that something satanic had entered into my mind and that, looking back at all that happened, I realize that I had been slowly deceived. I did not know that bad things were going to result from all this. Yet over the months the things that were wicked no longer seemed to be such. I was headed down the road to destruction and I did not know it. Maybe I was at a point where I just didn’t care.

THE HORROR BEGINS

Eventually I crossed that invisible line of no return. After years of mental torment, behavioral problems, deep inner struggles and my own rebellious ways, I became the criminal that, at the time, it seemed as if it was my destiny to become. Looking back it was all a horrible nightmare and I would do anything if I could undo everything that happened. Six people lost their lives. Many others suffered at my hand, and will continue to suffer for a lifetime. I am so sorry for that.
In 1978 I was sentenced to about 365 consecutive years, virtually burying me alive behind prison walls. When I first entered the prison system I was placed in isolation. I was then sent to a psychiatric hospital because I was declared temporarily insane. Eventually I was sent to other prisons including the infamous “Attica”.

As with many inmates, life in prison is a struggle. I have had my share of problems, hassles and fights. At one time I almost lost my life when another inmate cut my throat. Yet all through this – and I did not realize it until later – God had His loving hands on me.

HOPE WAS COMING

Ten years into my prison sentence and feeling despondent and without hope, another inmate came up to me one day as I was walking the prison yard on a cold winter’s night. He introduced himself and began to tell me that Jesus Christ loved me and wanted to forgive me. Although I knew he meant well I mocked him because I did not think that God would ever forgive me or that He would want anything to do with me.

Still this man persisted and we became friends. His name was Rick and we would walk the yard together. Little by little he would share with me about his life and what he believed Jesus had done for him. He kept reminding me that no matter what a person did, Christ stood ready to forgive if that individual would be willing to turn from the bad things they were doing and would put their full faith and trust in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross, dying for our sins.

He gave me a Gideon’s Pocket Testament and asked me to read the Psalms. I did. Every night I would read from them. And it was at this time that the Lord was quietly melting my stone cold heart.

A NEW LIFE BEGINS

One night, I was reading Psalm 34. I came upon the 6th verse, which says, “this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his troubles”. It was at that moment, in 1987, that I began to pour out my heart to God. Everything seemed to hit me at once. The guilt from what I did… the disgust at what I had become… late that night in my cold cell, I got down on my knees and I began to cry to Jesus Christ.

I told Him that I was sick and tired of doing evil. I asked Jesus to forgive me for all my sins. I spent a good while on my knees praying to Him. When I got up it felt as if a very heavy but invisible chain that had been around me for so many years was broken. A peace flooded over me. I did not understand what was happening. But in my heart I just knew that my life, somehow, was going to be different.

A DECADE OF FREEDOM

More than eleven years have gone by since I had that first talk with the Lord. So many good things have happened in my life since. Jesus Christ has allowed me to start an outreach ministry right here in the prison where I have been given permission by prison officials to work in the “Special Needs Unit” where men who have various emotional and coping problems are housed. I can pray with them as we read our Bibles together. I get the chance to show them a lot of brotherly love and compassion.

I have worked as the Chaplain’s clerk and also have a letter writing ministry. In addition, the Lord has opened ways for me to share with millions via TV programs such as Inside Edition in 1993 and A & E Investigative Reporter in 1997, what He has done in my life as well as to warn others about the dangers of getting involved in the occult.

I have also shared my testimony on several Christian TV programs such as the 700 Club in 1997, and the Coral Ridge Hour (Dr. James Kennedy) in 1999. For all these opportunities I am most thankful, and I do not feel I deserve this.

THERE’S HOPE FOR YOU TOO

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Romans 10:13. It says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Here it is clear that God has no favorites. He rejects no one, but welcomes all who call upon Him. I know that God is a God of mercy who is willing to forgive. He is perfectly able to restore and heal our hurting and broken lives. I have discovered from the Bible that Jesus Christ died for our sins. Yet He was without sin. He took our place on that cross. He shed His blood as the full and complete payment God required for our wrong doing.
The Bible also says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”. Romans 3:23. Furthermore, it says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Romans 6:23.

These passages make it clear that everyone has sinned. Yes, some like myself did so more than others. But all have done things wrong. Therefore, we must all make the decision to acknowledge our sins before God and be sorry for them. We need to turn from our lives of sin as well as believe that Christ was and is the Son of God.

You must believe that Jesus Christ died and was buried, and on the third day He rose again in victory, for death could not hold Him. Ask Christ to forgive you. Declare Him as Lord of your life and do not be ashamed to do so. To reject Jesus Christ and His work on the cross is to reject God’s perfect and only gift of salvation and eternal life.

HERE’S YOUR CHANCE

Friend, here is your chance to get things right with God. The Bible says, AIf you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and if you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart mankind believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession of salvation is made”. Romans 10:9,10. So believe in your heart that these words from the Bible are true.

Please consider what I am saying. I beg you with all my heart to place your faith in Christ right now. Tomorrow is promised to no one.

You see, I am not sharing this message to simply tell you an interesting story. Rather I want you to taste the goodness of God in my life, a man who was once a devil worshipper and a murderer, to show you that Jesus Christ is about forgiveness, hope and change.

I was involved in the occult and I got burned. I became a cruel killer and threw away my life as well as destroyed the lives of others. Now I have discovered that Christ is my answer and my hope. He broke the chains of mental confusion and depression that had me bound. Today I have placed my life in His hands. I only wish I knew Jesus before all these crimes happened – they would not have happened.

God bless you and thank you for reading this.

With Love in Christ,

David Berkowitz

March 1999

City Harvest Church singing to Lady Gaga/ Black Eyed Peas songs

CITY Harvest Church is in Singapore. Here is what happens in this Church. This is an abomination.

Flashmob among Methodists in Singapore

Here is a flashmob executed by the Young Adults Ministry among the members of Bedok Methodist Church on 19th Sept 2010. What a shame!

Morris Cerullo sells financial anointing

Here is another servant of Mammon. Beware of him.

The Lord’s Supper

As for the Lord’s Supper, Paul wrote to the saints who were at Corinth: “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew [proclaim] the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation [judgment] to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:23-32)
Now, since whenever we partake of the Lord’s Supper we proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes, that is to say, we proclaim His atoning sacrifice, I need to speak to you, first of all, about the benefits we received from the offering of the body and blood of Jesus.

What Christ did for us through the offering of the flesh of His body

● Jesus offered His flesh as a sacrifice to God to make us alive (for we all were dead in our transgressions), for Jesus said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51); and also to sanctify us, as it is written that “by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10 – NKJV). Therefore, if we are spiritually alive and sanctified before God it is because Jesus gave His body for us.
● Jesus offered His body as a sacrifice for our sins in order to put away sin in our life, for Paul says to the Romans that Jesus “condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4). Therefore, through the offering of His body we died to sin, for sin, which had dominion over us, was condemned in His flesh. Paul explains this concept to the Romans in this way: “Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Romans 7:1-4). Let me comment on these words briefly. We know that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives, because after he dies the law no longer has dominion over him. How can the law have dominion over a man who has breathed his last? Surely it can’t. Likewise we also had to die to the law, that we might be delivered from the bondage of the law, and that’s what happened when we believed in the death of Jesus. Therefore, the crucifixion of the body of Jesus Christ is of great importance for us because by faith in Him we were crucified with Him; that’s why the law no longer has dominion over us, for we died with Christ, as it is written: “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:4 – NKJV). Therefore, thanks be to God who, through the body of Christ, caused us to die to the law (that is, to what we were held by). Yes, we died with Christ to sin which had dominion over us through the law (which is the strength of sin) that we might belong to Christ and we should live for Him.
● Jesus, through the offering of His body, reconciled us to God, as Paul wrote to the saints in Colosse: “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death ….” (Colossians 1:21-22 – NKJV). Therefore, brothers, we, who once were enemies of God because we were lovers of the pleasures of sin and we loved to think evil thoughts and to do evil things, now have been reconciled to God through the body of Jesus Christ, who was sent by God into this world to die on the cross for us, in His great love that He demonstrated toward us while we were still sinners. Therefore, having been reconciled to God through the body of Jesus, we have peace in our heart for the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, as Isaiah said: “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him” (Isaiah 53:5 – NIV). Beloved, consider this: we should have been punished for all our iniquities, we should have received the due penalty for our transgressions, for we were wicked, but Jesus did nothing wrong, as it is written that Jesus “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38 – NKJV) – thus He was not deserving of death – yet He was crucified on the cross as an evildoer, they rewarded Him evil for good, and hatred for His love. But all this happened so that it might be fulfilled what God’s purpose had determined before to be done that we might be reconciled to Him and become His friends. To Him be the glory now and forever. Amen.

What Jesus did for us by the shedding of His own blood

● Jesus forgave us our sins by His blood. For on the night He was betrayed, He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to His disciples, saying: “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28 – NKJV). As you can see, the blood of Jesus is the blood of the New Covenant through which we have received the remission of our sins.
The principle according to which it is the blood that makes atonement for sins is expressed by the law in this way: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. …. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof… ” (Leviticus 17:11,14). Therefore, according to the law, it was the blood that made atonement for the sins of the people (that’s why God forbade the Israelites to eat blood). Here is what God commanded the Israelites to do when the whole congregation of Israel sinned unintentionally: “And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock’s blood to the tabernacle of the congregation: And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail. And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar. And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation” (Leviticus 4:13-21). However, the blood of those animals, which were offered for the sins of the people, could not cleanse the conscience of those who offered those atoning sacrifices because “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4 – NKJV). For the blood of those animals foreshadowed the blood that Jesus Christ would shed in the fullness of the time to make atonement for our sins, which – unlike the blood of bulls and goats – would blot out all sins from the conscience of those who would accept by faith His atoning sacrifice. Therefore, since we are of those who have believed that He died to atone for our sins, we believe and proclaim that our conscience was cleansed from dead works through the life (that is, the blood) of the body of Christ. It was necessary for Jesus, therefore, to shed His own blood because without the shedding of His blood we couldn’t have obtained the remission of sins. So now since the blood of sprinkling has been shed by Jesus, all those who believe in Him are cleansed from all their sins through His blood.
● Jesus Christ, with His blood, has redeemed us from our aimless conduct, as it is written: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ ….” (1 Peter 1:18-19 – NIV). The redemption worked by Jesus Christ is of great importance because through it our life has ceased to be a life without a purpose and above all without a reward after death, that is, a vain and empty life. For we have been delivered from vanity, which had dominion over us for a long time, and we now live for the cause of the Gospel, which is the best cause for which a human being can live because when we appear before God on that day every thing which we have done in the name of Christ to honor the Gospel will be rewarded by God.
In the law we have several examples of redemption which foreshadowed the redemption of Christ. One of these examples is the following one: “Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself” (Leviticus 25:47-49 – NKJV).
We had been sold to our aimless conduct received by tradition from our fathers, and we have been redeemed from it, but not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, so it was fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah said: “You shall be redeemed without money” (Is. 52:3 – NKJV). Therefore, the blood that Jesus shed on the cross is the ransom He had to pay to set us free; therefore, it was necessary for the Son of God to come in the likeness of men, partaking of flesh and blood.
● With His blood Jesus purchased us for God, for John says that he saw the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall down before the Lamb and they sang this song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10 – NIV). Paul also confirms that Christ purchased us with His blood, as he says: “You were bought at a price … ” (1 Corinthians 6:20 – NKJV).
Brothers, the adversary had all of us in his hands, the enemy held us in his hand (and he manipulated us so that we might hurt both ourselves and our neighbour), but Jesus Christ, our great God, redeemed us from the hand of the enemy, for it is written in the Psalms: “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 107:1-2).
Jesus Christ, in the days of His flesh, knew that He would redeem by His own blood the elect from the hand of the enemy, for He told the following parable to show that He came to redeem those who were under Satan’s dominion: “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils” (Luke 11:21-22). Therefore, in order to deliver us from the power of Satan, Jesus had to fight against the prince of this world, and as we know He triumphed over the enemy. Jesus Christ defeated the wicked one by dying on the cross for our sins and by shedding His own blood for us, as Paul says: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15 – NIV). The Son of God, through His death, destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivered us from the fear of death. Thanks be to God, through Christ Jesus, because we no longer are afraid of death: we now desire to depart from the body and be with Christ, death no longer scares us for Christ destroyed it. The devil, through death, makes those who are under his power live in fear, while Jesus makes those whom He redeemed from the power of Satan live in peace and safety because He destroyed both death and the devil. Jesus Christ overcame the devil by giving His life for us, and thus we also, who are in Christ Jesus, have overcome the devil. We have not overcome the devil by our strength or by some personal merits, but by the blood of the Lamb; our victory over the devil is the direct result of Christ’s suffering and not the reward for some good works we have done.

The meaning of the Lord’s Supper

Now I want to speak about the meaning of the Lord’s Supper. First of all I need to say something about the feast of Passover because the Holy Supper was established by Jesus on the night He ate the Passover with His disciples and He was betrayed, and because the Holy Supper draws its meaning from the Feast of Passover.
The Feast of Passover was established by God when the Israelites were still in Egypt; let us look at the circumstances on which it was established and its meaning. The Israelites dwelt in the land of Egypt as God had said to Abraham, and the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor; the Israelites groaned because of the bondage and they cried out, and God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. So He sent Moses to be a ruler and a deliverer. God brought terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who had oppressed the Israelites; the plague which forced Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go out of Egypt was that of the killing of all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. And when God foretold Moses this last plague He established the Passover. Here is what the Scripture says: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people. And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 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. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations” (Exodus 11:1-10; 12:1-42). The feast of Passover is still observed by the Jews, it is a memorial to them, they observe it every year, and through it they remember their coming out of Egypt and the fact that when God struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt He passed over the houses of the children of Israel.
Therefore, if Jesus established the Holy Supper when He ate the Passover with His disciples, this means that by the Holy Supper He wanted His disciples to remember His atoning sacrifice, through which He has obtained for us a salvation which is more important than that accomplished by God for the Israelites, for through His atoning sacrifice Jesus saved us from sin, who were slaves of it. Therefore, while the Jews, through the feast of Passover, remembered and still remember their exodus from the land of Egypt, we, through the Holy Supper, remember the death of Jesus, by which we have come out of this present evil age to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and our Lord Jesus Christ. And now we, as priests of God and of Christ, are secure: just as the Israelites felt secure in their houses for they had taken some of the blood of the Passover lamb and put it on the top and on both sides of the doorframe, so we also feel secure because we have been sprinkled by the blood of the Lamb who was slain and thus when God pours out His fiery wrath upon the world of the ungodly we will be delivered from His wrath (for He will see the blood of Jesus), as it is written: “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9 – NKJV). This is why Paul said to the Corinthians: “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7 – NKJV); for Christ is the Passover Lamb who was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was sacrificed in these last times for our sins so that by His blood we might be saved from sin and from the wrath to come. To Him be the glory now and forever. Amen.
The Lord Jesus on the same night He was betrayed, as He was eating the Passover with His disciples, took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying: “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19 – NKJV); then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying: “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood …. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me” (Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:25 – NKJV). According to the above mentioned words of Jesus and the words Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the Lord’s Supper, it is clear that whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord, we proclaim the death of Christ till He comes, that is to say, we remember the death of Jesus Christ which took place many centuries ago. To us the day on which we eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord is a memorial day which we are glad to observe to the glory of God. Not a day on which the sacrifice of Christ is repeated, as the Roman Catholic Church teaches falsely, because Jesus offered Himself once for all (Hebrews 10:10) and His sacrifice can by no means repeated but a day on which Christ’s atoning sacrifice is remembered, and in remembering this tragic event, which is the death of Christ, we have communion with the body and blood of Jesus, which are represented by the bread and the wine, as Paul says: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). Why do we have communion with His body and His blood? Because we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ and we have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus, and thus we are one spirit with Him, as it is written: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17 – NKJV). Therefore, it is clear that those who are not joined to the Lord, not being members of the body of Christ, cannot have communion with the body of Christ, which is symbolized by the bread we break; nor with His blood, which is symbolized by the wine which is in the cup of the Lord.

No foreigner shall eat it

Those who are not born of God cannot partake of the Lord’s table because they are foreigners and uncircumcised in heart. In order to show you that they have not the right to eat this bread and to drink this cup of the Lord I remind you of what God said to Moses and Aaron about the Passover: “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it …. And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover of the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it” (Exodus 12:43,48 – NKJV). Notice these words ‘no uncircumcised person shall eat it.’ In that case it was the circumcision of the flesh that was required to eat the Passover. Therefore, just as under the law the uncircumcised in the flesh did not have the right to eat the Passover, so under grace those who are uncircumcised in heart do not have the right to partake of the Lord’s Supper. As a stranger who wanted to eat the Passover had to be circumcised in the flesh; so now those who are uncircumcised in heart must be circumcised in the heart (that is to say, they must repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ) and be baptized (1) in order to have the right to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

Let us examine ourselves

Paul says that “whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27 – NKJV), and thus he “eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body” (1 Corinthians 11:29 – NKJV). That means that he who partakes of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner will be judged by the Lord. Let me expound briefly on this point.
We, as sons of God washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, have the right to eat the bread and to drink the cup of the Lord by the grace of God, not by our own merits, but only by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we recognize this and we proclaim it. However, if a son of God does not conduct himself in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ and eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord, he eats and drinks in an unworthy manner and he will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord, and surely the judgment of God will come upon him.
In the Church of Corinth there were some believers who, as they ate, despised the Church of God and humiliated those who had nothing, for Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk” (1 Corinthians 11:20-21 – NKJV). The believers of that Church came together not for the better but for the worse; first of all, because when they came together as a church there were divisions among them, and secondly because as they ate, each one of them went ahead without waiting for anybody else, and one remained hungry while another got drunk. The wrong that the Corinthians did was that they got drunk and in that state they partook of the Lord’s Supper, so they were guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord because they were not able to recognize the body of the Lord. And God judged those who did not discern the body of the Lord, for in the Church of Corinth many were sick and many had fallen asleep (that is, they had died) because they had partaken of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. The Lord has not changed, and He still judges those who partake of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. Therefore, brothers, knowing that “the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:9 – NKJV), let us take heed to ourselves lest we be judged by the Lord.
Under the law, with regard to the Passover, there was a rule which shows us that in order to eat the Passover men had to be pure. God gave this rule after certain men were defiled by a human corpse, so that they could not keep the Passover at its appointed time. God said that those men were allowed to eat the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month, that is, one month later (Numbers 9:1-11), after they had purified themselves. For according to the law, he who touched the dead body of anyone was unclean seven days, and he had to purify himself with the water of purification on the third day and on the seventh day, then he would be clean (the water of purification sanctified for the purifying of the flesh). Therefore, we who are under grace, before we eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord, ought to examine ourselves and confess our sins to God so that we may be cleansed from all unrighteousness by the blood of Jesus. Therefore brothers, before partaking of the Lord’s Supper, “let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Corinthians 7:1 – NKJV), lest we be judged by God.

(1) Keep in mind that – according to the Scripture – a person must be baptized immediately after repenting and believing in Jesus

Giacinto Butindaro

Baptist pastor burns Bibles he does not like

Here is the fruit of sectarianism. Pleare read this article of mine about the so called superiority of the KJV Bible over all the other English Versions.

The ‘glory bombs’ of Rob DeLuca

Beware of this man, he is an impostor.

Team Xtreme

Team Xtreme is a group of athletes who travel nationally and internationally preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ through these means. What a shame! These people think that the end justifies the means.

‘Christian’ Circus on the street in Italy

Here is how some so called missionaries bring the Gospel to the world here in Italy. These missionaries are followers of a ‘pastor’ woman called Roselen Boerner Faccio. What a shame!