Based on Luke 9:57 – 10:20 (New King James Version)
“Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, ‘Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’ Then He said to another, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.’ And another also said, ‘Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.’ Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Seeing the Word as a whole (as it must be taken), we can understand through the Holy Spirit that salvation, sound doctrine, consists of three fundamental things, three decisions that man must make in order to enter the kingdom of God. And if one of the three is missing, it is not possible for them to enter His kingdom. To begin, these three things or decisions are fully subject to free will, which God has granted to every being, from the angels to human beings. The enemy and his demos were once part of the kingdom of God, but because of the mystery of iniquity, they chose to rebel against God. God made man with this same free will. Each one of us has the ability to reason and choose whether we wish to submit to God or to refuse to do so. Therefore, God has established these three things for man to choose to do or not to do, because free will goes hand in hand with work.
Sound doctrine or the way to enter into the kingdom of God consists of the following: repentance and conversion of all sins; receiving by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord; and following Him as such until our physical end, and all this has its corresponding actions or works. Repentance and conversion of all sins is the first thing a person must do in order to receive God's forgiveness. Without this, there is no forgiveness, and as a consequence, Christ cannot enter into the heart of a person, no matter how much faith they profess having. The Lord will not enter a person who does not repent and convert from not only some sins, but from all of them. This is what the Word says: “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” Mark 1:14-15. “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before.” Acts 3:19-20. Therefore, this first action must happen.
The second is to receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord, which goes beyond Savior or Master, or any other way. Many speak of God generically, but believing in God generically is an incomplete faith for salvation. God does exist, and God is three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but God the Father Himself has established a very exact path to reach Him, and that is through His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5. That is why the Lord Himself said this too, which was neither an illusion of grandeur nor anything like that, but a simple reality: “…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6. God the Father Himself made this designation personally from heaven, as we read below: “And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’ Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.” Mark 9:7-8. Therefore, if any other person or being is involved, or if God is addressed generically, there is no salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ must literally be the Lord of our lives.
And the third consists of following the Lord as such, and doing the will of God, and doing or remaining in this until the end. It is written: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21. “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22. And we cannot take this salvation for granted or lightly, because free will does not end with conversion, but quite the contrary, it is even more in effect since we were made free from sin through Christ. This is what the Word says: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12. “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5-6. If you really want to enter the kingdom of God eternally, this is the Way you must follow to the end, and you must overcome in Christ so that your name remains in the Book of Life. So, do you live your life as the Word of God says, or do you continue doing things the way you want to? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel!