Many people accuse us of being hate-filled bigots, radicals, religious fundamentalists, extermists, cultists and the like. This is regrettable, but not altogether unexpected. We are more than willing to answer any questions you may have. Please do us the courtesy of listening to our side of the story too.

It is a sad reflection of the times we live in, that when a person says that (s)he believes the Bible (s)he is looked upon as being in a weird cult. While it is true that people should protect themselves and their families and friends from weird religious cults and brainwashing organisations, it must equally be pointed out that not all Bible quoters are cultists. Certainly, there are groups who claim to believe the Bible, but twist in beyond all recognition, so that traditional Christian beliefs are denied. Examples of those groups would be Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. We are neither. Unlike JWs we believe in the Trinity, we believe in an afterlife. Please be open-minded enough to examine what we believe and compare it with the cultists. You will find that we are poles apart.

The ''religion'' that we teach is simple, historic Protestantism. We do not agree with the teachings of Roman Catholicism. That is because we have studied them, we have compared them with the Bible, and found inconsistencies. Out of a reverence for the Bible, which even the Roman Catholic Church calls the Word of God [they add on other things and count them as equally authoritative too] we reject the additions of Roman Catholicism. It is not cultist to read the Bible.

We believe that all Christians have the right and responsibility to read and apply the Bible to their own lives. We do not go beyond the Bible. We believe that what God has inspired [the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible] is what we are to believe, teach and obey.

Remember, it is by the Word of God that we are to be judged one day.

Jesus Christ said this:

''He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day'' [The Gospel of John, chapter 12 verse 48]

Now, I am not going to get into the negative, but proclaim the positive.

You may ask yourself, what exactly do these people believe and teach?

The simple answer is: the Gospel, which means GOOD NEWS. The good news that there is forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus; the good news that, although we are so very unworthy and our sins have forfeited us all chances with God, He is the author and finisher of salvation; the good news that I need not wonder what is going to happen in the future, for I know that God is sovereign, in control, and that He cares for His people, whom He has chosen to save by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

You see, most people today [the ones who confess to being religious] believe a different Gospel. I am not thinking about the atheists and scoffers at religion, but the sincere religious folk who go about trying to please God by their efforts at being good and kind. The Gospel believed by many today is simply this, Salvation is wholly or partially to be accomplished by works. Some believe in grace, and add works; some mix grace and works together, and some believe in works alone.

It appeals to man's pride to think that he has something to do with his own salvation, but it is a lie, a very old lie, a very popular lie, a very dangerous lie. If we didn't think it so serious, we would not be writing this, and risking offending you and making you more opposed to us than you are now.

Please remember,however, that we are not telling you our opinion, we am telling you what the Bible says. If you don't believe us, read it for yourself, look up the passages we mention, and you will see, that we are not making it up. Be a Berean.

This is what the people from Berea did: '' . . they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed' (Acts chapter 17 verse 11 & 12)

You probably believe, correct me if I am wrong, that you are basically a good person, unpright, decent. I am sure you are, in man's eyes. You work hard, you pay taxes, you hurt no-one, you are not a criminal in the eyes of the law of the country in which you live; you probably do acts of kindness, give to charity, love your family, that kind of thing. All of that is fine, and to be encouraged.

But we are all (yes, we include ourselves!) criminals in the eyes of another Judge, He is a Judge whose law is more exacting, more precise, more detailed than any human law. He is God Himself. He is Holy, Just, and Righteous. He cannot just accept partial obedience, He cannot overlook sin, be it in our eyes ever so small. He has given us commandments (and since He created us all, He has a right to legislate for us all), to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbour as ourselves. He has commanded us to keep ten commandments. They include no lying, no swearing, no idolatry, no adultery, no murder, no stealing and no coveting. (Look them up for yourself in Exodus chapter 20).

Now, many people look at those commands and think they have done a pretty good job at obeying, but we must remember that God judges the heart as well as the actions themselves, He sees the attitude. For example, under adultery God includes lustful thoughts and impure motives; under murder God includes spite, malice and unrighteous anger. (see Matthew chapter 5 verses 20 to 28 for Jesus' teachings on those matters).

If we truly understand the Law of God, we must see ourselves as guilty, guilty, guilty before a Holy God. (Notice again, we include ourselves.)

''For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all'' (James chapter 2 verse 10)

''For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them'' (Galatians ch 3 v 10)

What that is saying is, the only way we can keep the law of God well enough is by a complete, perfect, life-long obedience to every letter of the law. One lie and we stand under condemnation; one time taking the Lord's name in vain (a common sin today) or one rash word in anger and we are guilty; one impure thought and the law becomes our death warrant.

Now, perhaps you think that God is being unreasonable. After all, no living person can accomplish such perfect obedience to the Law. That is true, but that is not God's fault. Our inability comes from our deliberate sinning against Him. He is perfectly within His rights to demand obedience and we have no right to refuse, or to expect mercy from Him.

But do our good works count for nothing? The answer is, NO! The Bible is very clear on that, and that is why people are offended by the Bible's message:

''But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags'' (Isaiah 64 v 6)

''As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understands, none that seeks after God, they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one'' (Romans ch 3 v 10-12)

''For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast'' (Ephesians ch 2 v 8-9)

''Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us'' (Titus 3 v 5)

So, you see, as much as we would like to flatter ourselves and tell ourselves that we done something to deserve salvation and nothing to deserve hell, the Bible attacks our pride, and God, when He applies His Word, reveals to us our sin, and misery and need of salvation. That is the message of the Bible, and people by nature (because we are like to think of ourselves as better than the Bible describes us) hate it.

The good news is that the Bible does not leave us like that. God, as a master Physician, first diagnoses the illness, and then announces the cure. That is the BEST NEWS there is, and sadly, the news which so few want to hear. That some do hear is God's doing, for you see, God does everything in salvation. We do nothing.

The Gospel is all about what Jesus Christ did for His People to accomplish salvation for them. It is not about what they do for Him. It is what He has done. The apostle Paul summarises the Gospel thus:

''For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures'' (1 Corinthians 15 v 3-4)

When Jesus Christ came to earth about 2000 yrs ago, He had a definite purpose in mind, there was something specific which He came to do, and that was this:

''You shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21)

Jesus Himself says:

''For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all that He has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son and believes on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day'' (John 6:38-40)

Jesus came to rescue sinners, certain sinners. He calls them the ones ''He hath given me'', ''my sheep'', ''my people''. These were the ones that the Father had set His love upon from all eternity, and the ones God had elected to salvation.

Now, we come to the most offensive doctrine in the Bible, but one which we must speak about, lest we be guilty of holding back some of God's truth. The Bible, as we have seen, places all of us in a position where we are hopelessly and helplessly lost, where we are deserving of death (remember we are talking about everyone, including us!. Even the Apostles included themselves in that category, see Ephesians ch 2 verses 1-3 where Paul says that even he and his fellows were ''by nature, children of wrath, even as others''), where we have nowhere to stand, nothing to offer God, nothing to bargain with, no plea to make. That means that if somebody is to be saved, God Himself must do it.

Now, the Bible makes it very clear, painfully obvious, that not all will be saved. There will be a great number, the Bible says, who will be sent to hell for their sins, and nobody will be able to accuse God of being unjust. After all, we have seen that all sinners without exception deserve death, judgment and punishment. No sinner deserves mercy. To ''deserve mercy'' is a contradiction in terms. Mercy is free and God can give it or withhold it, as He pleases.

''For He [God] said unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy'' (Romans 9 v 15)

''Therefore He [God] has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He wills He hardens'' (Romans 9 v 18)

That God shows mercy at all is amazing; that He shows mercy to such wretched sinners as the ones who are writing this is doubly amazing. Every child of God [adopted by grace] has reason to praise God for electing mercy. Those who are convinced in their own minds that they are just as good as everybody else [I would point out that they are just as bad too] despise mercy. They hate it, and they hate those who proclaim it. They hated Christ, and they have not changed. Jesus Himself warned about it.

'Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glory, wherein He has made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace'' (Ephesians 1 v 3-7)

Every child of God, born again by the will of God, and the mercy of God, forgiven because of the blood of Christ shed to blot out his sins, says a hearty amen! to the above passage. Self-righteous haters of God's grace are offended, and will not believe such a passage. They will twist it so that the reason for God's choosing some is because of something in them, but the Bible says God chose some for no other reason than that was his choice, based upon [and this is important] NO worthiness in them, no foreseen or potential goodness in them. They are NOT better than anyone else.

But, how can God forgive sinners, if He is holy? Does He just overlook sin, and forgive it as an indulgent grandfather figure in the sky? No, God takes sin seriously, He sees it is a pollutant, He abhors it, He cannot abide it, He cannot allow it, He cannot tolerate it, God has ZERO TOLERANCE for sin.

But, I am a sinner, how can I hope for forgiveness? The answer is in Christ. God sent Jesus Christ to take the sins of His people, to actually make a payment for them. He took upon Himself all of the sins of all of the elect. He paid the punishment due to each sin, a heavy burden which no sinner could bear. His work of redemption was more than enough to satisfy God's justice. In that way He could be righteous and also forgive sinners, because at the cross where Jesus died, mercy and justice met, and were reconciled to one another, and sinners were reconciled to God.

The cross is the centre piece of the Christian faith. The cross guarantees the salvation of all of God's people. Christ died for a specific number of people, and their salvation has been accomplished. Their souls have been redeemed from the curse.

''Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree'' (Galatians 3 v 13)

''Now once in the end of the world He [Christ] has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself; and as it is appointed unto men, once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once for many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation'' (Hebrews 9 v 26-28)

''But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe'' Romans 3:21-22

The only ground of acceptance with God is the imputed righteousness of Christ. The only way to God is through Christ, not Mary, not saints, not Mohammed, not Buddah, not anyone else. The atonement of Christ completely paid for all the sins of His people, leaving them no punishment to endure, neither penance, nor purgatory, nor anything else which they need to contribute to the salvation equation. To add anything to what Jesus has done as a requirement to salvation is to throw contempt on the cross, as if His sufferings were not enough to deal completely with sin. Sadly, that is what many professing Christians do.

If a person believes this, that is proof that God has been working in him or her, for not even faith itself can be attributed to us. We cannot take credit for faith. Faith is part of salvation which God gives to sinners. Before God gives faith, a sinner can not believe the message of the Gospel, it is foolishness to him, and he hates it. Before God opens the eyes and the heart of a sinner, that sinner loves his sin, loves himself, and has no time for God. Only God can change that, and He has done so in our lives, to the praise of His glory.

It is our prayer that you will believe the message of the Bible too. if you have any questions, and are willing to discuss calmly, rationally and without prejudice, please contact us at any time.

If you find you cannot accept this message, please remember that we mean you and your family no harm. We do not mean to offend you. We are convinced that the message itself, which should be received as good news, is offensive to the sinful heart (it was to ours when we first were confronted with it, and we have only Christ to thank for the change of attitude, which the Bible calls repentance, which we see in our hearts). It is not the message which is at fault, but the human heart, which God calls, ''deceitful above all things and desperately wicked''. However, if by our manner or tone we have caused unncessary offence, we apologise. We know all too well our weaknesses and failings as messengers of God's Word. We do not, however, apologise for the message itself, which is the ''power of God unto salvation unto every one which believes''. May it be the power of God to your salvation too.

Yours sincerely with Christian love