Is There Peace?

“They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying , Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14). Those referred to as ‘they’ in this passage were the misguided prophets among God’s people who collectively defied the words of Jeremiah, who said that unless God’s people surrendered to the Babylonians, God was going to destroy them and the city where he had chosen to place his name (Jer. 16:3-5; Jer. 21:8-10). The other prophets said that God would never destroy his own people or the city where he had placed his name (Jer. 14:13). You can see where the unified message of the promise of peace would have had far more appeal to the people than Jeremiah’s message of doom. After all, they WERE God’s people, chosen among all the people of the earth to be in covenant with God. It would make a supposed messenger of the Lord very much honored among God’s people to promise them peace, especially when there was one radical prophet who was promising them destruction unless they surrendered to the king of Babylon. So just exactly what was the reason that God sent Jeremiah with this kind of message? God gave Jeremiah an answer for that question: “And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God? Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me: Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour” (Jer. 16:10-13). The answer was sin, disobedience, continued transgression without repentance; and the refusal to hearken unto the voice of God’s prophets that he sent to reform them (Jer. 25:4). If only God’s people of today could learn from this example that we have of God’s dealings with his old covenant people and their dealings with him. What nobody cares to see is that nothing has changed, and that history has repeated itself.

God’s people today have been universally taught by errant teachers whose doctrines promise salvation and eternal life, regardless of whether or not true holiness is the condition of their lives. The 'Gospel’ of modern day Christianity teaches that one receives salvation at the beginning of their faith, even before and apart from being baptized with the holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongues; which in reality is the only new birth experience set forth in the scriptures (Jn. 3:5,6; Jn. 16:7; Acts 1:4,5; Acts 2:4; II Cor. 5:17; I Cor. 12:13). In truth, salvation is the reward of those who have CONTINUED in faithfulness and obedience to God’s will until they leave this world (Mat. 24:12,13; II Tim. 2:10; Heb. 12:14; I Pet. 1:7,9; I Jn. 3:3). The wayward teachers of Christianity teach that “we are all sinners saved by grace.” Yet the scriptures give us an entirely different view of the grace of God: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Tit. 2:11,12). So why do we have to live “soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world?” Well, because, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mat. 5:8). And because, “Blessed and HOLY is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power” (Rev. 20:6). Also because of what the apostle Paul said; “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (I Cor. 9:27). We might like to look at this telling verse as well: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom. 8:13). So the truth is my friend, that those who teach that you are 'saved’ before and apart from the Spirit baptism, and that you have 'eternal security’ by means of this false salvation; are simply carrying on the work of the misguided prophets who defied Jeremiah, saying that the people would be saved simply on the merits of being God’s people. And those who teach that the holy Ghost baptism is the only new birth and remission of sins, and that one must be literally without sin when they finish their course here in order to be saved; they are continuing the message of Jeremiah, who made it clear that God is no respecter of persons, including the persons of his people (I Pet. 1:17). Amen.