For those of you who have not had the privilege of hearing Paul Washer, I highly recommend watching these two videos. Paul Washer is a missionary in Peru and started an organization called HeartCry Missionary Society @ www.heartcrymissionary.com. The first video is Paul being interviewed on Way of the Master by Kirk Cameron, which airs on TBN (of all places, which is awesome) and on the radio. I post it just because its an intro to the second video, which is much harder to hear, but so good. In the second video, Paul preaches to a group of about 5000 students at a youth conference. He does not hold back. It is a shockingly true message, and does not just apply to students, but really all Americans who claim Christ as Savior and have succumbed to the heresy known as, “Easy-believism.” It is hard to hear, and grates against our flesh, but we all need to hear it. For me, the sermon shows me my utter inability to rescue myself from my sin, and calls loudly for me to throw myself at the feet of Christ for cleansing by His blood. I am nothing before Him. He is everything, my all in all. I cannot just think good thoughts or work myself up into an emotional love for God. He alone has to come in and do a mighty work within me, or I am lost.

There are many who claim to be Christians and look so indistinguishable from the world, it is hard to escape the conviction, based on Scripture, that they may not and probably are not saved. Most American Christians who cannot handle the difficulty of this sermon will cry out, “legalist!” But Jesus’ words are inescapable. Salvation is indeed by faith alone, as shown by Paul in Romans, Galatians and elsewhere. But the conclusion of Jesus, James, Paul and other writers in other passages, is that faith is never alone, but always produces a hatred of sin, and strong affections for Jesus, to honor him with words, deeds, and actions. A good tree produces good fruit, as Jesus says; a bad tree produces bad fruit. A bad tree does not produce good fruit, nor does a good tree produce bad fruit. What is the fruit? Works that honor God or do not, good or bad fruit. The nature of the object determines what comes from it. An apple tree does not produce oranges, nor can it force itself to, and vice versa. So also, a believer, regenerated by the supernatural power of God, will always produce fruit honoring to God, albeit imperfectly. Jesus then says later on in the passage, thus you will know them by their fruit. The Scriptural nature of the sermon is inescapable. Please watch these and throw yourself at the mercy of Christ!