My Reply

"My Reply" to "my friend".

(Acts 24.-25-) discoursing about righteousness and self control, and the Judgment,

The following is an adaptation of an e-mail written and sent by the author. The cause of the e-mail was the author's heartfelt desire for a particular loved one to realize, fall convicted of, and act upon her personal need of salvation from the penalty, power, and presence of sin.

Direct address was often used in the original. In this adaptation the addressee's name, when retained, has been changed to "my friend".

The letter is marked by quotations from and modifications of evangelism resources available from Living Waters and The Way of the Master.

Permission to post this letter was granted 16 August 2005 by The Way of the Master. This letter may be copied and edited and customized to meet individual evangelistic needs. Distribute freely.

Take heart, dear Christian! Do not become discouraged! Your evangelism efforts are never without effect, never unsuccessful in the eyes of the LORD provided that your efforts speak forth the Word of God. By way of application see Isaiah 55.10-11.

Sat, Aug 13, 2005, 10:25pm

Subject: My Reply

May I be frank with you, my friend? I am concerned. I am concerned that you are much like me when I was your age. It is because of this concern that I have written this reply.

It is vital for you to receive into your mind and consider and thoroughly comprehend and positively act upon what you are about to read. Please read and reread this letter slowly, closely, and carefully.

I said in a prior e-mail that how you respond to this message will be crucial to your life. It will be. You will understand why. . . .

If you have ever told a lie, my friend, even once, you are a liar. The fate of all liars "will be in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21.8).

(Revelation 21.-8) the cowardly and faithless ones, and disgusting ones, and murderers, and fornicators, and users of magic, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

If you have ever, even once, had sexual thoughts about someone to whom you are not married, my friend, you have committed adultery or fornication in your heart (Matthew 5.28; 15.19). No adulteress or fornicatrix will inherit the kingdom of God (1Corinthians 6.9-10).

(Matthew 5.-28) I say to you, Everyone looking at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

(Matthew 15.-19-20-) out of the heart come forth evil reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnessings, blasphemies. These things are the things defiling the man.

(1Corinthians 6.-9-10) do you not know that unjust ones will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be led astray, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor boy-abusers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous ones, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor rapacious ones shall inherit the kingdom of God.

If you have ever had an evil thought, my friend, or even once been deceitful or envious or arrogant, you are impure and unclean (Mark 7.21-23). You will never enter "the great city, holy Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God" (Revelation 21.10,27).

(Mark 7.-21-23) from within, out of the heart of men go out the depraved reasonings, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, greedy desires, depravities, deceit, unbridled lusts, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, recklessness. All these evil things come out from within and defile the man."

(Revelation 21.-10,-27-) he carried me in spirit on to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God . . . [A]ll profaning may not enter into it, or any making an abomination or a lie; not ever;

If you have ever in any way done any of the things just mentioned, my friend, you have committed idolatry. You have put your wants and your will ahead of God's. You have served the god called "self." No idolatress will inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5.19-21).

(Galatians 5.-19-21) adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, fightings, jealousies, angers, intrigues, dissensions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you beforehand, even as I also said before, that the ones practicing such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

When you stand before God on Judgment Day and all the evidence of every single one of your sins comes out (Ecclesiastes 12.14), even all the evidence of your secret sins and sins committed only in your heart and mind (Jeremiah 17.10, Revelation 2.23)--- My friend, God is going to find you to be (at the very least) an impure, unclean, idolatrous, lying adulteress-at-heart! Heaven's doors will not be opened to you. You will be cast into the fiery lake, the eternal hell.

(Ecclesiastes 12.-14) God shall bring every work into judgment, with all that is hidden, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

(Jeremiah 17.10) I, Jehovah, search the heart I try the kidneys, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

(Revelation 2.-23) all the assemblies will know that I am the One searching the kidneys and hearts. And I will give to you, each one, according to your works.

Feeling and saying you're sorry and begging for forgiveness on Judgment Day will be utterly useless. Why? Think of it this way: One who is found guilty of multiple and repeated violations of civil law by a civil court is not going to have her case dismissed because she says she's sorry and begs for forgiveness from the judge. Why not? Because she should feel sorry for her crimes. She should apologize. She should beg for forgiveness. But sorrow and apologies and begging have nothing whatsoever to do with the demands of the law. The law demands punishment of the guilty, and dishing out punishment upon the guilty is precisely what any good judge does.

If you think the goodness of God will keep Him from sending you to hell, my friend, think again.

The goodness of God will be the very thing that sends you to hell.

Why? Because if God is good, if God is a good Judge, then He must and will punish all the impure, all the unclean, all the idolatrous, all the liars, all the adulterous, etc.

If you have ever in any way lied, lusted, had an evil thought, been deceitful, envious, arrogant--- My friend, you have not the slightest chance of avoiding being sentenced on Judgment Day to the Lake burning with fire and brimstone. None. This should terrify you to the extreme!

(Psalm 119.120) My flesh has shivered because of Your fear; and I have feared Your judgments.

(Matthew 10.-28) fear Him, the One being able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.

(Hebrews 10.31) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

There is only one way to avoid your certain doom:

(Romans 8.1-) There is therefore now no condemnation to the ones in Christ Jesus,

Imagine yourself guilty of multiple and repeated civil crimes. All the evidence has been presented in court and there is no doubt about your guilt. The fine for your crimes is $250,000 or imprisonment. You haven't two cents to your name, so you're sentenced to prison. As you're being led away someone you don't even know steps in and pays the fine for you. The moment that payment is applied, you're free to go. Justice has been served, the demands of the law have been satisfied, and what's more, the stranger who paid your fine showed how much he cares for you. His payment was evidence of his love.

That is what God, in the person of Jesus Christ, did for you, my friend!

You are guilty.

He stepped into the courtroom some two thousand years ago and paid your fine.

It is that simple.

The Bible puts it this way:

(Romans 5.-8) God demonstrates His love to us in that we being yet sinners, Christ died for us.

(2Corinthians 5.-20-21) Be reconciled to God. For He made the One who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

(Isaiah 53.-5-6) He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His wounds we ourselves are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have each man turned to his own way; and Jehovah made meet in Him the iniquity of all of us.

14 July I asked you,

"What would you say if your absolute very best friend seriously asked you, 'My friend, what do I need to do to go to heaven?'"

You replied,

"I'd tell them and show them that Jesus died for them. . . . I'd tell them all they had to do was to believe that they were saved and were given a place in heaven because of God's love, sending Jesus to redeem us all out of his grace. . . . Ooo, well and i think before i told them that, I'd probably show them a good law passage that told them how they have sinned and they were born with sin. How they were supposta go to hell... And theeeeen tell them its ok tho, cuz they're saved."

Really? Think of it this way:

Two teenage friends, a boy and a girl, are sitting on a plane headed across the country. Shortly into their flight each is given a parachute and told, "You are going to jump from this airplane, like it or not. This will happen at any time." Instantly, facts she's heard and learned about parachutes over the course of her life flash before the girl's eyes. She believes, she has always believed that the only hope of surviving such a jump is a parachute. Her friend, however, knows little to nothing about parachutes. He is panic-stricken. She grasps his trembling hand. "It's okay, it's okay," she assures him. "You've got a parachute," and she begins to tell him the facts she knows. Soon, belief and exhilarating relief widen his eyes. "It is going to be okay," he sighs realizingly. "Oh, thank you so very, very much for telling me these things!" The two embrace. They are comforted, ever so happy that each has a parachute. Parachutes save those in their very predicament. Both understand this now. They believe it with all their heart. Yes, everything will be okay.

The time comes.

The jumps are made. . . .

Neither survives.

How can this be?! Each understood, each had every belief their parachute was their only hope of surviving the jump. What happened?? Neither had put their parachute on.

At any time you, too, could jump from that plane, my friend. Any time could be your time for the leap called death. Knowing facts about and believing in the parachute won't save you at all. You must actually trust yourself to it by putting it on.

Perhaps you are as I once was. I had always believed in Jesus. I believed all that I had ever been taught about Jesus. I believed in Him the same way I believe in Abraham
Lincoln or World War II. What I mean by that is, I wasn't around during any of those times but I certainly had no doubt of their reality. I had always believed in Jesus. And because of that, I was sure I was going to heaven. I was sure that I had saving faith in Jesus. . . . But I was wrong. I had never put Him on! I had never been "in" Him. I didn't know it, but all I had was a steadfast belief in the historical facts.

To have in your heart and mind an oppositionless and doubtless positive agreement with the facts about Jesus and His salvation will not save you, my friend!

There is only one way to avoid being sentenced to hell:

(Romans 8.1-) There is therefore now no condemnation to the ones in Christ Jesus,

You must be in Christ Jesus. That is the only way you will avoid being cast into the fiery lake on Judgment Day.

How does one come to be "in" Christ Jesus? The same way she comes to be in a new set of clothes: by having the old removed and the new put on!

(Romans 13.-11-14) it is now the hour for you to be aroused from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is advanced, and the day has drawn near; therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the weapons of the light. Let us walk becomingly, as in the day, not in revelries and drunkenness, not in cohabitations and lustful acts, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not make forethought of the flesh, for its lusts.

(Ephesians 4.-17-32) I say this, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk even as also the rest of the nations walk, in the vanity of their mind, having been darkened in the intellect, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance which is in them because of the hardness of their heart, who, having become callous, gave themselves up to unbridled lust, to the working of all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, for you to put off the old man, as regards the former behavior, the one being corrupted according to the deceitful lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man, the one being created according to God in righteousness and holiness of truth. Therefore, putting off the lie, speak truth each with his neighbor, because we are members of one another. Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. The one stealing, let him steal no more, but rather let him labor, working what is good with the hands, that he may have something to give to the one that has need. Let not any rotten word go out of your mouth, but if any is good to building up in respect to the need, that it may give grace to the ones hearing. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed to the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and tumult, and evil speaking be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, having forgiven one another, even as also God forgave you in Christ.

(Colossians 3.-1-14) if you were raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is sitting at the right of God. Be mindful of the things above, not the things on the earth. For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. Whenever Christ our life is revealed, then also you will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion; bad lust, and covetousness, which is idolatry; on account of which things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience, among whom you also walked once when you were living in these. But now, you also, put off all these things: wrath, anger, malice, foul-speaking, shameful speech out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his practices, and having put on the new, being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of the One creating him, where there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave or free man, but Christ is all things and in all. Therefore, as elect ones of God, holy and beloved, put on bowels of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving yourselves, if anyone has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also you should forgive. But above all these, put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

When God the Father draws someone to His Son (John 6.44), when He draws someone to be clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ it results in "regeneration" (1Peter 1.3).

(John 6.44-) No one is able to come to Me if not the Father, the One having sent Me, draws him,

(1Peter 1.3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One according to His great mercy having regenerated us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

The passages you just read from Romans, Ephesians, and Colossians are unmistakable that the "regeneration" is life-changing.

You no longer think like you used to think.

You no longer talk like you used to talk.

You no longer act like you used to act.

You no longer live like you used to live.

God makes you into a whole new person (Ephesians 4.24, Colossians 3.10). The old has gone, the new has come! (2Corinthians 5.17)

(Ephesians 4.-24) put on the new man, the one being created according to God in righteousness and holiness of truth.

(Colossians 3.-10) put on the new, being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of the One creating him,

(2Corinthians 5.-17) if anyone is in Christ, that one is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have come to be new!

This new life is far different in nature than the life you used to live.

Speaking of natures, as to the nature, the essence of God, He is, among other things, "a
consuming fire."

(Deuteronomy 4.-24-) Jehovah your God is a consuming fire;

(Psalm 97.3) A fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries all around.

(Hebrews 12.-29) Our God is a consuming fire.

Imagine yourself before an open fire with a dry, dead leaf in hand. Move that leaf within reach of the flames and what happens? The fire consumes the leaf. Even if the fire did not want to, by its very nature it would still consume the leaf.

My friend, if you have not been "made alive" (Ephesians 2.4-5, Colossians 2.13), that
is to say, if you have not been regenerated, then you are that dry, dead leaf. You are "dead in deviations and sins" (Ephesians 2.1-3). And even though the LORD does not have delight in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33.10-20), by His very nature He will still consume you if you "die in your sins" (John 8.24), if you die as a dry, dead leaf.

Do you understand why it is so very urgent for you to be made alive and clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ right now? Because:

(Hebrews 9.-27) it is reserved to men once to die, and after this, Judgment;

And if you jump from that plane without having put on the parachute, my friend, if you die without having put on the Lord Jesus Christ you will not survive the day of judgment! There will be no eternal life for you, just eternal death in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone.

(Revelation 14.-13-) 'Blessed are the dead ones, the ones dying in the Lord

Because:

(Romans 8.1-) There is therefore now no condemnation to the ones in Christ Jesus,

(Revelation 21.8) But for the cowardly and faithless ones, and disgusting ones, and murderers, and fornicators, and users of magic, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Your only hope of avoiding this damnation, my friend, is for you to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and cling to Him for your very life while it is still said, "Today!"

(Hebrews 4.-7) "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

Do you hear His voice? Is God the Father drawing you to His Son?

(2Corinthians 6.-2) Behold, now is the acceptable time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!

If the Holy Spirit has opened your eyes to your sinfulness, to your guiltiness before God, don't harden your heart, my friend. Run to Christ. Lunge for and entrust yourself to Him. Be clothed with Him now. Receive the regeneration, the brand-newness of life that the Lord Jesus Christ won for you in His death, burial, and resurrection. Be saved from being sentenced to death! Be saved from being sentenced to the second death because of your sins, your crimes against God and His law!

It was the alarm that I wasn't saved at all when all my life I thought I was that bowed me to the ground, that drove me to call upon and beg the Lord to save me from being condemned to this death. . . . And that was the moment He made me alive.

I have not been the same since.

All power and glory and thanks to God!

(Psalm 145.13-20) Your kingdom is a kingdom to all ages; and Your rule in all, generation and generation. Jehovah upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all hope to You; and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Jehovah is righteous in all His ways, and a faithful One in all His works. Jehovah is near to all who call on Him, to all those who call on Him in truth. He will do the desire of the ones who fear Him; and He will hear their cry and save them. Jehovah watches over all who love Him, but He destroys all the wicked ones.

(Romans 10.-4-13) the end of the law is Christ for righteousness to everyone that believes. Moses writes of the righteousness which is of the Law: "The man doing these things shall live by them." But the righteousness of faith says this: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will go up into Heaven?'" (that is, to bring down Christ); or, "Who will go down into the abyss?" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the Word of faith which we proclaim). Because if you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Everyone believing on Him will not be put to shame." For there is no difference both of Jew and of Greek, for the same Lord of all is rich toward all the ones calling on Him. For every one, "whoever may call on the name of the Lord will be saved."

My friend, please write or call me anytime day or night if you ever have any questions or concerns about the message I have just shared with you. I promise to help in any way that I can.

With my love and utmost sincerity,

Thomas John Dexter

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The author implores checking his commentary against Scripture using the tools of biblical interpretation. Please be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker having no cause or need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

Copyright © 2005-08 by Thomas John Dexter. All rights reserved. The matter of this work may be copied and edited and customized for distribution, but it is not to be sold. The author's commentary is subject to change as he grows in knowledge and wisdom concerning the Word of God.

Scripture taken from the KJ3—Literal Translation Bible - 2005 Edition. Copyright © 2005. By Jay P. Green, Sr. All rights reserved.