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Salvation is a gift, but it is the responsibility of the individual to accept it. No one can accept salvation for another; no one can surrender for someone else.
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Miscommunication can do more than cause a spat between a husband and a wife. It can have disastrous consequences. In 2011, English was adopted as the language to be used world-wide by pilots and air traffic controllers on all international flights. However, according to Dr. Dominique Estival, an Australian university linguist who is also a pilot and flight instructor, miscommunication has “contributed to the deaths of more than 2000 people who have been killed in plane crashes since the mid-1970s.”1
As tragic as these consequences are, many people are, unknowingly, making a similar—if not worse—mistake in their spiritual lives. They are surrendering responsibility for their own salvation to their priests, pastors, and other spiritual leaders.
It starts innocently enough. A young child is taught by her parents that Jesus loves her; a youth is instructed at parochial school in the doctrines of his family’s particular denomination. From early childhood, they are taught what to believe rather than the privilege and responsibility of studying out truth for themselves. This carries over into adulthood. Every Sunday or Saturday, the majority of the world’s 2.4 billion Christians sit in church, being indoctrinated in their particular brand of Christianity, trusting their priest or pastor to tell them what they need to know to be saved.
The problem is, they are surrendering their own individual, spiritual responsibility to another. Many pastors and priests do indeed love Yahuwah, but subconsciously their first loyalty is to the denominational organization that pays their salaries. Thus, many reject truth when it contradicts the doctrines of their denomination.
John declared: “And I heard another voice from heaven say, Go out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins are come up into heaven, and Yahuwah hath remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:4-5, 1599 Geneva Bible) This solemn command is to everyone. No denomination is exempt.
Through the prophet Ezekiel, Yahuwah gave a stern warning about the dangers of surrendering one’s individual spiritual responsibility to someone else.
The word of Yahuwah came again to me, saying: “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness … I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says Yahuwah Elohim.
“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, … even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says Yahuwah Elohim, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.
“Or if I bring a sword on that land … and I cut off man and beast from it, even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says Yahuwah Elohim, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.
“Or if I send a pestilence into that land … and cut off from it man and beast, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says Yahuwah Elohim, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” (Ezekiel 14:12-20, NKJV)
One person cannot make a full surrender for someone else. Salvation is a gift, but it is a gift each one must accept for himself. A husband cannot accept salvation for his wife; a parent cannot accept salvation for a grown child. What is more, a pastor or a priest cannot accept salvation for anyone else except himself.
Gurus are personal religious leaders in Hinduism. Sadly, many Christians effectually turn their pastor or priest into their own personal guru. They refuse to consider new light with an open mind. They assume that if there is anything more they need to know, their guru will tell them. If their religious leader denounces a new idea or concept, they do, too, without even studying it out for themselves. That is the danger of trusting someone else to decide for you what is truth.
Making your pastor into your spiritual guru does not absolve you of your own personal responsibility before Yahuwah to study for yourself. You cannot rely on Bible teachers, priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, or gurus to tell you what to believe. You have to study it out for yourself.
When you study for yourself, the spirit of Yah becomes your teacher. Just before his death, Yahushua said: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:12-13, NKJV)
When the spirit of Yah is your teacher, you become settled into the truth so that you cannot be shaken. You are much stronger in your beliefs and, consequently, are safe from Satan’s end time delusions. By contrast, if you believe simply because someone else has told you what to believe, you are much more vulnerable. Anyone else can come along and, if he is eloquent enough, he can change your beliefs.
Study for yourself!Satan tries to frighten people away from studying for themselves. He tells them that the Bible is difficult to understand and only scholars with advanced degrees are truly capable of understanding it. But this is a lie! The Bible was written for the common man!
Paul urged Timothy: “Study to shew thyself approved unto Yah, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV) He did not say to seek out the world’s best teacher, or sit at the feet of a pastor. Paul personalized it: each one of us is to study for ourselves, “rightly dividing the word of truth” and trusting in Yahuwah to lead us into all truth.
Through Isaiah, Yahuwah extended an amazing invitation: “Come now, and let us reason together.” (Isaiah 1:18, NKJV) This is Yahuwah’s pledge that whatever assistance or evidence you need to understand the truth, He will provide.
Don’t trust your salvation to anyone else: not your pastor, your priest, or a spouse.
Salvation is a gift that you must accept for yourself.
1 “Fatal consequences of miscommunication between pilots and air traffic controllers,” retrieved August 12, 2019.