hell and lake of fire – 333 Words of Grace

A Life That Will Please

Sunday, January 4, 2026

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 KJV).

Today’s Scripture tells us who alone can live a life pleasing in God’s sight!

Everyone does “good” deeds. Yet, doing “good” is not necessarily good. For instance, people often do “good” just to receive praise/reward, make up for their wrongs, feel good, et cetera. Furthermore, despite our “good” deeds, we have plenty more bad ones! Pride, lying, evil thoughts, being a false witness, and being contentious are some of the things the LORD hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Mankind cannot even keep 10 simple rules from God. However, religion continues to urge us to keep seven sacraments, utter various prayers, give assorted offerings and “tithes,” attend numerous feasts and festivals, and perform sundry other tasks to “hopefully” please God and avoid hellfire. Whether we attempt to keep a church’s laws, our laws, or God’s laws, our flesh is far too weak to ever measure up. Just look at what God’s religion did to Israel—how much worse some man-made religion does to us!

As Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee, a religious leader of Israel. He was a nitpicker concerning Law-keeping, and yet, after his soul salvation, he admitted that all of his religion was “but dung” compared to Jesus Christ’s righteousness (Philippians 3:3-11). Even for the Christian, to live a perfect life is impossible (read of Paul’s miserable existence in Romans chapter 7). Paul had to forsake his vain religion and learn today’s Scripture: the Christian life is NOT the performance of the Christian, but the Lord Jesus Christ living and working in the Christian, as the Christian walks in an intelligent understanding of God’s Word to him or her!

If we trust a Saviour who will save—the Lord Jesus Christ—and trust a Book that will teach—the King James Bible—we can redeem the year for the great God and our Saviour, “who loved [us], and gave himself for [us]!” 🙂

Saints, please remember this work of the ministry requires monthly financial support to operate (Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:16-17; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7). Those who prefer electronic giving can donate securely here: https://www.paypal.me/ShawnBrasseaux. Anyone who wishes to donate by regular mail can visit https://333wordsofgrace.org/contact-us-mailing-address-for-donations/ for details. Thanks to all who give to and pray for us! Unfortunately, since our ministry audience is so large and our ministry staff is so small, I can no longer personally respond to everyone. Thanks so much for understanding in this regard. 🙂

For What Saith the Scriptures?

Monday, December 15, 2025

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3 KJV).

Today, our Bible Q&A website, “For What Saith the Scriptures?,” celebrates its 12^th anniversary!

A question rarely asked in Christian circles, “What saith the scripture?” is found twice in the Bible—today’s Scripture, and Galatians 4:30, “Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.”

God’s will for our lives is summed up in 1 Timothy 2:4, “[God our Saviour] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” There are two issues here—soul salvation from sins and everlasting hellfire, and soul salvation from false teaching unto sound Bible doctrine. Firstly, God wants everyone to become Christians by trusting in and relying exclusively on His Son Jesus Christ and His finished crosswork at Calvary as sufficient payment for their sins. Secondly, God wants Christians to trust in and rely on the grace doctrines found in Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon.

Amazingly, both occurrences of “What saith the scripture?” have a special application to us—each instance correlates to one of the issues in 1 Timothy 2:4! The question “What saith the scripture?” in today’s Scripture uses the Bible to answer the question of soul salvation from sins and everlasting hellfire (faith instead of works, “all men to be saved;” 1 Timothy 2:4). The question “What saith the scripture?” in Galatians 4:30 uses the Bible to answer the question of soul salvation from false teaching unto sound Bible doctrine (grace instead of legalism, “come unto the knowledge of the truth;” 1 Timothy 2:4).

For these past 12 years, we desired you to have a clear understanding of how to have forgiveness of sins and justification unto eternal life, and for you to have a clear understanding of what God’s Word has to say about issues in your Christian life. We were honored to serve you in this additional capacity; thank you for the prayer and support this past year. As always, we welcome your Bible questions, and hope to serve you in that way for years to come! 🙂

NOTE: Though no new articles are currently being added, there are 1,000 studies still archived at https://ForWhatSaithTheScriptures.org/.

In Every Thing Give Thanks

Thursday, November 27, 2025

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV).

Dear saints, take a moment this Thanksgiving to learn a valuable lesson from the Holy Scriptures!

God wants “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). To be “saved” here means you have been rescued from the penalty of sin (hell and the lake of fire), and that you have a home in heaven, because you have trusted the death, shed blood, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as sufficient payment for your sins. To “come unto the knowledge of the truth” is when a person who has trusted Christ, begins to understand why God saved him or her, and how God will use him or her for His glory. Although soul salvation is instantaneous, spiritual maturity is a life-long process (that is especially true regarding handling difficulties, the grace way!).

It is human nature to avoid difficulties and stress, to flee them, rather than confront them. This self-preservation is advantageous, particularly in “life or death” situations. However, running from troubling circumstances is not the way God has designed our life in Christ to function. Today’s Scripture says, “In every thing give thanks,” not “For every thing give thanks.” We do not thank God for our troubles; we thank God while we are enduring those troubles. This is tough, I know, but it takes time for us to learn it. Even the Apostle Paul had to learn this.

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

Be thankful in every thing. God’s grace is sufficient for you, dear saint, in all of life’s circumstances. When you learn this, you are “[coming] unto the knowledge of the truth.”

*Excerpted from our Thanksgiving 2012 Bible study with the same name. That study can be read here or watched here.

You may also see, “What are our spiritual blessings in Christ?”

Convenient Season #8

Saturday, November 8, 2025

“And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24:25 KJV).

According to the Bible, when is the “convenient season?”

Paul and Felix indeed met countless times again (verses 26,27), but nothing in Scripture indicates the Governor ever trusted Christ. In fact, covetous Felix twice exhibited unbelief. He wanted a bribe from Paul, and he kept the Apostle in Roman prison to pacify lost Jews!

“Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Corporately or globally, our “convenient season” to believe this Gospel of Grace, the Good News at the heart of the Dispensation of the Grace of God, is the length of time (2,000 years!) that we the world—especially the “Christian world”—have had Paul’s epistles, Romans to Philemon. Individually or personally, our “convenient season” to believe the Gospel of Grace is the span of time that we have breath while this Age of Grace is in effect. Not only should lost people immediately believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved unto eternal life, Christian people should immediately believe sound Bible doctrine to come unto the knowledge of the truth (see 1 Timothy 2:3,4). As Romans makes quite clear, the Christian life starts only by Christ’s finished crosswork and is maintained only by Christ’s finished crosswork.

Proverbs 29:1 declares: “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” With the passage of time, any person failing to believe God’s words to him or her becomes more callous or insensitive to the Holy Spirit’s ministry. This stubborn, “hardened heart” has formed repeatedly throughout human history (see, for example, 1 Samuel 6:6; 2 Chronicles 36:13; Psalm 95:7,8; Mark 3:5; Mark 6:52; Mark 8:17; Mark 16:14; John 12:40; Romans 2:5; Hebrews 3:7,8-13,15; Hebrews 4:7). The topic of “deathbed confessions” is somewhat fascinating. While we hope all trust Christ as Saviour before physical death comes upon them, unfortunately, the likelihood of such faith decreases with time. Remember, where death finds us, eternity keeps us—and eternity is a long time to be wrong. Friend, do not delay; trust Christ alone today!

Convenient Season #7

Friday, November 7, 2025

According to the Bible, when is the “convenient season?”

Foolish Felix had a “convenient season” to believe the precise moment he heard and understood Paul’s sermon. There was no legitimate reason to seek another “convenient season.” Here was an Apostle of Jesus Christ standing right before him to answer any questions, but the Governor “lingered in Adam” and dismissed that preacher from the meeting until they could rendezvous at some later date. Such is reminiscent of Paul’s visit to “intellectual” Athens years prior.

The Athenians at first listened to this “itinerant speechmaker” or “amateur philosopher,” but these lovers of man’s wisdom could tolerate God’s wisdom for only so long. Hearing about bodily resurrection—which Greek philosophy denied—some proceeded to “mock” while others told Paul, “We will hear thee again of this matter” (Acts 17:32). In contrast to the ridiculers (“no, thanks!”) as well as the procrastinators (“maybe later!”), praise the Lord there were some immediate believers in verse 34 (“we believe now!”)!

Earthly life is fragile, as there are myriads of ways to end it. It is “wind,” fleeting away (Job 7:7). “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah” (Psalm 39:5). “For my days are consumed like smoke…” (Psalm 102:3). “Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away” (Psalm 144:4). “Go to [James challenges them to ‘come’] now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:13-15).

To have life as the Dispensation of Grace is in effect, is truly our “convenient season” to believe God’s words to and about us….

Convenient Season #6

Thursday, November 6, 2025

According to the Bible, when is the “convenient season?”

One religious teenager, a member of a “Christian” denomination, heard the Gospel of Grace—but did not believe it. For six months, he tarried… worrying about dying and going to Hell (fearing he would “fry like a sausage,” he later recounted). Finally, he trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. He later became a pastor, whom I met!

A 21-year-old lady once heard a few words of spiritual value from a mostly-ignorant preacher: he warned about God’s judgment coming on this evil world. Yet, he never actually gave her a clear Gospel message she could trust. She was left to dread the future! Recently, she told me how it took four more years before a Christian soul-winner would lead her to put her faith exclusively in the Lord Jesus’ finished crosswork (and stop depending on her water baptism!).

Only age six, a schoolboy asked a works-religion leader of the community (and clergyman of his denomination) what he had to do to go to Heaven. “Keep the commandments!,” that priest thundered. The young man spent another 27 years unsaved and confused in denominationalism until he heard a pure Gospel message (salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, without works). Speaking to me now as an 88-year-old man (55 years in Christ), he expressed concern as to how risky his life was, how close to Hell he came—nearly going the way his relatives had for centuries in the “family religion.”

True, as the old saying states, “Better late than never.” However, when dealing with soul salvation, we never really know precisely when “late” will turn into “too late!” Unfortunately, the vast majority of church members worldwide are still not hearing a clear Gospel message from the pulpits. They are leaving this world by as many as 100,000 to 150,000 every single day—religious, but as lost as lost can be. Where death finds them (in Adam), eternity shall keep them (in Adam); Hell and the Lake of Fire are their only fate, but it did not have to be this way. That was their choice….

Convenient Season #5

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

According to the Bible, when is the “convenient season?”

God and man never agree on definitions. Felix assumed his “convenient season” to believe the Gospel would come once he dawdled some more in his fellowshipping with this present evil world system. The Governor had no spiritual insight into the fact physical death might come upon him at any moment—and he as a lost man most definitely would face an holy, offended, angry God unprepared. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:…” (Hebrews 9:27).

We can be certain countless people have put off trusting Christ as their personal Saviour. They hung on to their sin a bit more, promising, “I will believe the Gospel tomorrow.” For some, tomorrow never came—they died in an accident, lost in their sins, and now, “tomorrow” will never come. For others, they delayed to trust Christ on multiple occasions. Life became busier and busier, and they were distracted by this or that for years and years until it was too late. Time passed by faster than they ever anticipated.

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” (2 Corinthians 6:1,2). Originally, Isaiah (49:8) was writing about how God the Father had heard Messiah Jesus (God the Son), particularly how Messiah would send salvation and blessing to the world through redeemed Israel rising to kingdom glory. The “accepted time” and “the day of salvation” of Isaiah point to the Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth.

However, Paul sees a parallel in our mystery program. With his ministry in effect, now is the day of salvation and now is the accepted time for Gentiles; the Age of Grace is the “convenient [suitable] season.” Furthermore, the exact moment we realize this, we should believe the Gospel of Grace valid during that Age of Grace….

Convenient Season #4

Tuesday, November 4, 2025

According to the Bible, when is the “convenient season?”

Read today’s Scripture again: “And as he [Paul] reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” Echoing Felix’s ridiculous sentiments, millions and millions and millions throughout history have responded to the Gospel message with, “I will trust Jesus later. When I am ready, when I have had my fill of sin, when I have had my good time, when I have ‘lived it up in the fast lane,’ then I will believe.” This present evil world and all its temporal pleasures are far more attractive to them than the Lord is. Felix knew it well himself, so he procrastinated too.

Mark it well. The biblical record states how the Governor had a “Jewess” for a wife, her name being Drusilla (Acts 24:24). If Felix were to trust Jesus Christ, there would certainly be “trouble at home!” His unbelieving wife would have never let him have any peace thereafter. This was another factor working against Felix’s believing the Word of God. Even now, a non-Christian spouse (or other lost relative or friend) often discourages an individual from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour. “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42,43). Rest assured, many souls are in Hell this precise moment because they preferred to reject Christ than have loved ones reject them.

Currently, the souls of lost people are indeed dangling over the flames of eternal judgment—suspended by an extremely thin, delicate line that physical death easily severs. For a few brief moments, Felix came to recognize this sin problem was true of himself. Truly horrified, he quivered, but proceeded to deliberately shut out the light of God’s words, having “better” topics to think about….

Convenient Season #3

Monday, November 3, 2025

According to the Bible, when is the “convenient season?”

Paul’s sermon in today’s Scripture was meant to reason with Governor Felix, to communicate to that lost man some spiritual common sense that he so desperately needed. After all, Satan’s evil world system—heathen Roman religion—had hidden the truth of the Gospel of Grace from Felix by blinding his mind (2 Corinthians 4:3,4). Thus, the Apostle delivered a three-point message for the Governor to know what God desired him to know.

Firstly, Paul laid out the truth of “righteousness.” In other words, Felix was a sinner, fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). By his very nature, he failed to meet God’s standard of rightness—the righteousness found not in Adam but exclusively in Christ. Secondly, the Apostle presented to Felix the subject of “temperance.” To wit, the Governor had had no self-control: he was unrestrained in his behavior. According to historians, Felix was a corrupt, brutal politician—whom the Emperor removed and summoned back to Rome within two years. You can see Felix wanting a bribe from Paul, but receiving nothing, in Acts 24:26. Thirdly, Paul outlined the fact of how there was “judgment to come.” That is to say, with his sinful state unresolved, Felix was destined to face God’s justice in Hell and the Lake of Fire. The Bible informs us of how Felix “trembled,” alarmed at his dire predicament to such a degree that he physically shuddered!

It was at this critical point that the Governor could have most easily believed how Christ died for his sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Alas, he delayed and subsequently dismissed Paul from his presence! “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” Felix backed off, as he did not deem it a suitable moment to come to faith in Jesus Christ alone as his personal Saviour. He would wait for a “more appropriate” time, another day, another hour….

I Just Wanted to Get Away! #26

Sunday, October 5, 2025

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 KJV).

Will sinners “get away” from accountability before God?

According to the Holy Bible, there will be one final assessment of all thoughts and deeds. We and everyone else will learn, once and for all, what is right and what is wrong—what was worship of God and what was worship of Satan, what was done in the energy of the flesh and what was the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Each person’s worldview will be examined, shown to be true or false. All lives will be reviewed, to be either commended by the Lord or by the Devil. People might, and often do, escape justice in human courts. Insufficient or faulty evidence, corrupt judges and lawyers, and poor memory of witnesses are just some of the unfortunate factors that contribute to this. God’s court has no such hindrances.

Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The greatest fool is he who has fooled himself. “Payday, someday” never seems to cross the mind and heart of the sinner. In today’s Scripture, Adam and Eve certainly fooled themselves numerous times… but they could not run away from the LORD or the truth forever. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7,8). God’s justice is a long time coming, even painfully slow, but, just as sure as the Bible itself stands, His justice will be meted out at some time.

Thankfully, the Bible says “Christ was made sin for us,” “being made a curse for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13). We need not be hopelessly doomed to an eternal Hell or everlasting Lake of Fire. Christ took our place (substitutionary/vicarious atonement) by dying for our sins, being buried, and being raised again (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). God’s justice against our sin debt was satisfied there, so we need to believe this Gospel of Grace in our heart before it is too late.

-FINIS!-

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