God sent His Son, Jesus, to turn us away from our sins. If an individual who is about to die receives Christ, his many sins are forgiven. But in his heart he must have truly repented of his sins if he is to obtain salvation.

The Gospel of Christ is a Gospel of repentance. It is a false preaching that indicates all we must do is make a profession of Christ as our Savior. We must also receive Christ as our personal Lord, repenting diligently of our sins and worldly ways, in order to be saved in the Day of Wrath.

The second destructive lie, and it has penetrated deeply into Christian thinking, is the idea that God will not judge Christians; that it no longer is necessary for the saints to work out their salvation with "fear and trembling"; that there is no need for any saint to fear the Judgment Seat of Christ because no believer in Jesus will receive the evil he has done in his body (II Corinthians 5:10).

The truth is that all people are judged in terms of what they have done while living on the earth. Some judgment occurs now and some after we die.

Judgment begins with the household of God. Those who are not of the family of God will be judged at a later time.

The closer we are to God the sooner we are judged. It is possible to go through the Judgment Seat of Christ now. If we will be diligent in cooperating with the Holy Spirit He will lead us to confess our sins. Then God will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is an eternal judgment. The sin that has been forgiven and put to death in us will not be mentioned at a later time.

The third widely held error is the concept that the purpose of the resurrection and ascension of the saints is that they may not be exposed to persecution and suffering in the world.

The concept of "escape by rapture" is taught persistently; yet it is not stated even one time in the Scriptures that the resurrection and catching up of the saints are for the purpose of escaping tribulation and suffering. Imagine—one of the most commonly believed Christian teachings of our day is not found anywhere in the entire Scriptures!

Neither Jesus nor the Apostles ever suggested a removal from the earth in order to escape exposure to tribulation. The Lord does give special direction to the elect during periods of danger. The Spirit of God on numerous occasions has delivered the saints from destruction.

Every Christian is to live in unceasing prayer. If he does, the Lord will warn him of danger to come and give him wisdom and guidance. This is why Christ exhorted us to "watch and pray." But the foolish, careless, worldly Christians will not know when trouble is coming and will be destroyed.

The resurrection and ascension of the saints are not for the purpose of fleeing Antichrist or the great tribulation. Rather, they are stupendous acts of Kingdom power that will provide the most effective witness of Christ's resurrection and Divinity ever to confront the peoples of the earth. Every eye will behold Christ when He appears in glory with His saints. At that time the world will believe that God has sent Christ and multitudes will be saved.

To be continued.