Jan Boshoff is a man from South Africa who, for more than 10 years, has been uploading videos on Youtube on his perception of following Jesus, believing in God, and dealing with The Bible. He has Youtube account called finalcall07 with thousands of followers, a Facebook profile with thousands of sympathizers around the world, a blog with dozens of writings or personal testimonies, and thousands of short videos where he challenges common beliefs and practices in the world of Christianity nowadays.
Jan, a widower, claims to hear the voice of Jesus everyday, he says he had been a church-going Christian for years, until he had a near-death experience in which he was going to hell but was given a second chance by Jesus. Ever since he says he realized that it wasn't enough to be a Christian to be saved and go to heaven. He says God changed his name to "Justice Boshoff" and he also claims he has received many dreams and some prophecies.
When I started believing in The Bible, some 10 years ago, I found Jan Boshoff's videos and believed in what he taught FOR YEARS. I was in the process of seeking God, 'cause I did not want to go to hell. I had started caring about God and reading the Bible a year before, and I had decided to go to a Christian church for the first time in my life, but after a period of time, I rapidly became disappointed for what I saw, as I compared what they were doing in the Bible, and what they were doing there, and saw two different worlds. Jesus' teachings were not being preached and judgment over sin was not being preached. Instead, self-growth and personal success were being justified with verses taken out of context from the Bible. I had come from a background of self-help and metaphysics, so I didn't want any more of that, 'cause I knew it was false and wrong in many senses. I knew my soul needed God and I needed to know him and do what he says.
"What do I need to do not to go to hell?..." This was a constant question in my head and I was trying to search for answers. I stopped going to church, and instead, I became a consumer of conspiracy theories, videos and blogs, and I would spend most of my time learning about end-time prophecies, reading the book of Revelation, and making videos, blogs and articles exposing the Illuminati celebrities in the mainstream media, especially in music. My Youtube channel was called "ExposedBands" and it had thousands of followers. I did not want people to go to hell, so I reasoned that they need to stop listening to that deceptive music and they need to stop believing in those things famous people were doing in movies or TV.
Still, in my heart, there was a burden upon me. Several people would write me about that, but I wouldn't want to accept it. They would tell me that I was not doing things right. I was judging and condemning, when Jesus told us not to do so. I was obsessed with the sins of others and focusing more on "exposing" darkness, accusing others, talking about the lies of the devil, talking about deception and falsehood, etc... than showing the light of Christ and talking about him, His Gospel, what he said, and helping people follow him practically.
I later had to admit they were right. I actually repented from that and removed my channel and videos... which I had spent months doing. And I was trying to seek God more, but I didn't know how to. I didn't know where to start. So I turned to what I knew: the Internet. There, I found many preachers, many beliefs, and many "methods" to salvation. Some would talk about deep things, like repentance from sin, holiness, true salvation, knowing God, etc. Others would talk about churchianity and its perspectives: the sinner's prayer, belonging to a church, spending lots of time reading the Bible. There was still then a constant question in my head: "What do I need to do to get to heaven?".
At that time, I had no idea about the differences between baptists or pentecostals, calvinists or arminianists, religious people or disciples, salvation by faith and salvation by works, etc. I thought I already knew many things 'cause I was devouring the Bible, but I didn't really see the truth and the difference behind many things. I was still looking for the answer to the question: "What do I need to do to be saved!?". I started listening to preachers and channels on Youtube and my favorite preachers became, at that time, Paul Washer, David Wilkerson, and you JAN BOSHOFF. Those videos introduced me to the idea of Christianity vs. Churchianity, being a true Christian or being a true believer vs. being a false teacher or deceived "Christian". I was introduced to the idea of "self-deception". No doubt there are many people out there in this situation.
But, as I said, I didn't know anything from the background, and knew very little of the different doctrines from the world of Christianity they were preaching. What I saw, however, was a common teaching: it is necessary to truly REPENT, it is necessary to call upon God, it is necessary to stop living in sin, to be HOLY, and it is necessary to STOP FOLLOWING THE RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS, RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES AND HYPOCRISY OF THE MODERN CHURCH and come to truly know Jesus and do what He really commanded us to do. Everything sounded good.
II just wanted to get to know Jesus and a true life led by Him, and Jan Boshoff was my leading "preacher", so-to speak. I never really questioned his teachings because I can say that, like him, I detested the modern Church system (which he constantly attacked) and, to me, his teachings made sense and were in line with what I knew about The Bible and about Jesus at that time.
After years of watching his videos and listening to him, I think I can describe or summarize Boshoff's main beliefs or teachings as follows:
Jan, a widower, claims to hear the voice of Jesus everyday, he says he had been a church-going Christian for years, until he had a near-death experience in which he was going to hell but was given a second chance by Jesus. Ever since he says he realized that it wasn't enough to be a Christian to be saved and go to heaven. He says God changed his name to "Justice Boshoff" and he also claims he has received many dreams and some prophecies.
When I started believing in The Bible, some 10 years ago, I found Jan Boshoff's videos and believed in what he taught FOR YEARS. I was in the process of seeking God, 'cause I did not want to go to hell. I had started caring about God and reading the Bible a year before, and I had decided to go to a Christian church for the first time in my life, but after a period of time, I rapidly became disappointed for what I saw, as I compared what they were doing in the Bible, and what they were doing there, and saw two different worlds. Jesus' teachings were not being preached and judgment over sin was not being preached. Instead, self-growth and personal success were being justified with verses taken out of context from the Bible. I had come from a background of self-help and metaphysics, so I didn't want any more of that, 'cause I knew it was false and wrong in many senses. I knew my soul needed God and I needed to know him and do what he says.
"What do I need to do not to go to hell?..." This was a constant question in my head and I was trying to search for answers. I stopped going to church, and instead, I became a consumer of conspiracy theories, videos and blogs, and I would spend most of my time learning about end-time prophecies, reading the book of Revelation, and making videos, blogs and articles exposing the Illuminati celebrities in the mainstream media, especially in music. My Youtube channel was called "ExposedBands" and it had thousands of followers. I did not want people to go to hell, so I reasoned that they need to stop listening to that deceptive music and they need to stop believing in those things famous people were doing in movies or TV.
Still, in my heart, there was a burden upon me. Several people would write me about that, but I wouldn't want to accept it. They would tell me that I was not doing things right. I was judging and condemning, when Jesus told us not to do so. I was obsessed with the sins of others and focusing more on "exposing" darkness, accusing others, talking about the lies of the devil, talking about deception and falsehood, etc... than showing the light of Christ and talking about him, His Gospel, what he said, and helping people follow him practically.
I later had to admit they were right. I actually repented from that and removed my channel and videos... which I had spent months doing. And I was trying to seek God more, but I didn't know how to. I didn't know where to start. So I turned to what I knew: the Internet. There, I found many preachers, many beliefs, and many "methods" to salvation. Some would talk about deep things, like repentance from sin, holiness, true salvation, knowing God, etc. Others would talk about churchianity and its perspectives: the sinner's prayer, belonging to a church, spending lots of time reading the Bible. There was still then a constant question in my head: "What do I need to do to get to heaven?".
At that time, I had no idea about the differences between baptists or pentecostals, calvinists or arminianists, religious people or disciples, salvation by faith and salvation by works, etc. I thought I already knew many things 'cause I was devouring the Bible, but I didn't really see the truth and the difference behind many things. I was still looking for the answer to the question: "What do I need to do to be saved!?". I started listening to preachers and channels on Youtube and my favorite preachers became, at that time, Paul Washer, David Wilkerson, and you JAN BOSHOFF. Those videos introduced me to the idea of Christianity vs. Churchianity, being a true Christian or being a true believer vs. being a false teacher or deceived "Christian". I was introduced to the idea of "self-deception". No doubt there are many people out there in this situation.
But, as I said, I didn't know anything from the background, and knew very little of the different doctrines from the world of Christianity they were preaching. What I saw, however, was a common teaching: it is necessary to truly REPENT, it is necessary to call upon God, it is necessary to stop living in sin, to be HOLY, and it is necessary to STOP FOLLOWING THE RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS, RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES AND HYPOCRISY OF THE MODERN CHURCH and come to truly know Jesus and do what He really commanded us to do. Everything sounded good.
After years of watching his videos and listening to him, I think I can describe or summarize Boshoff's main beliefs or teachings as follows:
1) The Bible itself is not the word of God; though most of it contains the words of God, the living Word of God is JESUS CHRIST. Extreme emphasis on the Bible is idolatry and extremely deceptive for most Christians.
2) Many Christians are deceived, thinking they'll go to heaven, when in reality, they're on their way to hell. Many people know a lot about Jesus, but very few know Jesus.
3) Jesus did not call us to go to Church or build a Church system, but He called us to DO the words He stated in the Gospels. Period.
4) We are not saved by faith alone, cause faith without works is dead: if you truly believe, you will DO what he commanded us to do
5) Jesus speaks to His sheep and His sheep hear His voice. His sheep won't listen to strangers. If you don't listen to Jesus daily, or if you listen to strangers, you are not His sheep.
6) The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey all the words of Jesus. If you aren't lead by the Spirit, you are not God's child, but a disobedient devil's child who is lost, even though you think you are God's child.
7) We must stop sinning: if you continue sinning, you are in your way to hell, 'cause one "little" single sin can lead you to hell.
8) O.S.A.S. is a lie: It doesn't matter if you met Jesus once: you are going to go to hell if you sin again
9) The system of Churchianity with its religious control and man-made traditions and doctrines is FAR from what Jesus envisioned for the real disciples.
10) If you want to meet God, you need to pray and wait on Him to answer you, obey the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel, including baptism in water, and absolutely everything He said there
11) You don't need to read the Bible to know God; the Holy Spirit will teach you what to do and many times He will remind you the words written in the Bible, but you first need to meet God
12) Jesus still speaks today the same way he did with the patriarchs, prophets, and disciples, and He speaks personally, audibly, in the spirit, or in dreams, in visions, or even through circumstances, personal tragedies or natural disasters
13) It is not enough to say that we believe in order to get to heaven. We must do the works Jesus said if we want to get to heaven.
In a way, the teachings I heard from Jan (and his followers and sympathizers) challenged me for years to seek God, and want more of Him. I believe there are many people with sound doctrine following him, because many of them haven't seen all of their videos in which he said certain things. The videos he makes often contain A LOT of truths and a lot of hard sayings that need to be said, and almost everything he said sounded right to me at that time, since I didn't know the Scripture so well and its doctrines so well (though I had already read the Bible once).
Jan had stated that the reason his sayings were so hard and controversial sometimes was because He wanted to challenge people to examine themselves and seek God deeper and cry out to him, and meet him personally, not to go to hell.
It's all good in his intentions, but in my case, it wasn't until recently that I realized that fear was leading me, rather than deep love and faith. Following Jan's teachings, I wanted to find God, but I didn't know how to. After all, I didn't hear Jesus' audible voice, so that made me question almost everything. Following Jan Boshoff's advice, I looked to Jesus' words in the Gospels and strived to put them into practice and "work out my salvation". I made a list of all of Jesus' teachings and I was trying hard to go through them and try to obey them. And every time I would listen to those videos, I would hear Bible teachings, so I questioned his critics all the time or I wrote against those who said he is a false teacher or an online "cult" leader, because I thought they were just exaggerating and they just didn't understand and were blind to the truth he was saying.
Jan had stated that the reason his sayings were so hard and controversial sometimes was because He wanted to challenge people to examine themselves and seek God deeper and cry out to him, and meet him personally, not to go to hell.
It's all good in his intentions, but in my case, it wasn't until recently that I realized that fear was leading me, rather than deep love and faith. Following Jan's teachings, I wanted to find God, but I didn't know how to. After all, I didn't hear Jesus' audible voice, so that made me question almost everything. Following Jan Boshoff's advice, I looked to Jesus' words in the Gospels and strived to put them into practice and "work out my salvation". I made a list of all of Jesus' teachings and I was trying hard to go through them and try to obey them. And every time I would listen to those videos, I would hear Bible teachings, so I questioned his critics all the time or I wrote against those who said he is a false teacher or an online "cult" leader, because I thought they were just exaggerating and they just didn't understand and were blind to the truth he was saying.
But in another way, Jan's teachings made examine myself and question myself more than you can imagine, feeling beyond repair. I questioned everything from the world of Christianity and I doubted so much, that I could hardly believe something would happen with me, and I questioned more than needed.
Now I realize that the direct result was that I struggled in my faith for years. When I got sick, many times I thought I would die or I would get sicker and God wouldn't want to help me. All because I was not experiencing many of the things this man said, and I was not living like this man. I wanted to live like that man, but I had stumbled after giving my life to Jesus, I did not speak in tongues at that time, and I was not doing certain things that I was meant to do. I would doubt God's work in me and his love for me, MORE than you can imagine for someone calling himself a Christian. Even though some servants of God came to me and told me that I was lacking faith and just needed to believe and receive in faith, I would secretly keep Boshoff's teachings in my head. In my head, I reasoned that unless I finally received what I was seeking to get from God, I wouldn't be able to change.
Now I realize that the direct result was that I struggled in my faith for years. When I got sick, many times I thought I would die or I would get sicker and God wouldn't want to help me. All because I was not experiencing many of the things this man said, and I was not living like this man. I wanted to live like that man, but I had stumbled after giving my life to Jesus, I did not speak in tongues at that time, and I was not doing certain things that I was meant to do. I would doubt God's work in me and his love for me, MORE than you can imagine for someone calling himself a Christian. Even though some servants of God came to me and told me that I was lacking faith and just needed to believe and receive in faith, I would secretly keep Boshoff's teachings in my head. In my head, I reasoned that unless I finally received what I was seeking to get from God, I wouldn't be able to change.
I actually had NO FAITH in God, following his doctrines. No genuine faith. Though I was looking for Jesus, and hoping to find him, and hoping He would reach out His hands, I did not have FAITH that He would answer me. Why would He? I was taught it would never be enough. I would constantly ask God for forgiveness for not being good enough, I humbled myself and cried many times and I repented thousands of times begging God to look to me, and forgive me for not being able to be good enough and for stumbling so much (many times, I didn't even know what was wrong, but I just felt I was not perfect), and most of my prayers would be in desperation for not being good enough, wondering when God would answer and when I would be perfect for God to hear me, listen to me or speak to me personally.
Jesus answered me many times, but I wouldn't believe it because I thought I needed to be perfect and I needed to hear Jesus' audible voice, to get it right. I would doubt He would hear me because I wasn't perfect. I would doubt He would give me His spirit because I hadn't finished doing everything he commanded to do. I would doubt He would love me because I hadn't obeyed in everything He said. I would doubt He would heal me because I wasn't deserving. I would doubt He would talk to me because I hadn't completed His list of "do's". I would doubt I could obey Him because I thought I didn't have His Holy Spirit. He and the others teach that we cannot be heard God if we don't obey Him. But Jesus also said that we can't do anything without Him. So if I couldn't have Him without obeying Him, and I couldn't obey him without having him, how could I find Him? It seemed to me that I was almost hopeless, if not for Jesus' mercy. I was FULL of ANXIETY and NERVOUSNESS and was even under psychiatric treatment, in part because all of the physical, phsychological and physiological effects these beliefs in my life
I want to think that Jan's intentions were/are good and I'm no man to question what God has done or is working in his life and the lives of many people around him or his sympathizers. I know many good Christians who are truly convinced he is truly speaking from God. I know many other Christians who say he is a false teacher and kind of cult leader. I don't dare to say who is saved and who is not because I don't know them all. But even though I think a lot of what he says is true, I think the subtle lies I learned from him and the focus and emphasis he made on some controversial sayings and things he has said, led me to have a DOUBTS towards God and a FEAR I could hardly bear.
I don't want to judge him or anybody else, but now I see that just listened to him more than necessary and many points of His doctrine did not help me at all but worsened my walk with God. Did I misunderstood it or misinterpreted it, or is it what He teaches? God knows. But, today, I can say that believing some of his doctrines that way was one of the reasons why I could not have genuine FAITH in God.
I began to realize that some of Jan Boshoff's statements were going too far and statements were getting really extreme in his online movement. The Gospel that I was listening to in those videos was too far from what the disciples and Jesus himself had taught in the Gospels. For example, some of his most controversial claims were that:
I looked into history. I looked into the Bible. I heard many messages and read a lot and waited for confirmation. Eventually, God made me aware of the fact that Satan was the accuser of God's children. When Jesus was baptized, God said He was pleased with Him and "this is my beloved son". After that, Satan tempted Him in the desert, and the first thing he said, was to question His identity as a son of God. "If you are the son of God...", he said, "...throw yourself." Satan was looking outwardly and demanding some kind of tempting evidence and outward sign that God really had done what He had already stated he had done. The same was with me under Boshoff's teachings. I had already repented of my sins. I had already believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior. I had already received the Holy Spirit. Jesus had already forgiven me and taken my burden of sin away. But I became fearful again because this man would made me doubt I was a child of God, he made me doubt God was with me, he made me doubt God would help me or hearken to the voice of my prayer, and he made me doubt He would fill me with His Holy Spirit.
Satan used what I had been taught in order to make me doubt more than you can imagine. But I did not respond like Jesus. I had stopped studying the Bible and was unarmed. I wanted to hear from God in prayer, but it would be like a spiritual agony sometimes, 'cause God didn't answer the way I was told He would answer. And I thought that, if He didn't answer as I was told, the problem was always in me. As far as I remember I never doubted God's goodness. I doubted my insufficiency to be "good enough" for him. I had forgotten the words of Jesus in the Scripture, which states: "Be not faithless, but believing...; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). In my head, I reasoned I hadn't repented enough. I hadn't obeyed enough. I hadn't prayed enough. I called myself a Christ seeker, not a born again Christian, not a disciple, because I felt I could never "reach" Jesus, and I could not born again until I hear from Jesus' audible voice or had supernatural revelations or encounters, like Boshoff's teachings made me think.
I don't want to judge him or anybody else, but now I see that just listened to him more than necessary and many points of His doctrine did not help me at all but worsened my walk with God. Did I misunderstood it or misinterpreted it, or is it what He teaches? God knows. But, today, I can say that believing some of his doctrines that way was one of the reasons why I could not have genuine FAITH in God.
I began to realize that some of Jan Boshoff's statements were going too far and statements were getting really extreme in his online movement. The Gospel that I was listening to in those videos was too far from what the disciples and Jesus himself had taught in the Gospels. For example, some of his most controversial claims were that:
1) We don't need to be biblical in everything we teach or say. It is NOT necessary to test everything against the scripture, 'cause the personal revelation the Holy Spirit gives you is more important. He mad video about it saying "God is not biblical", and he also stated that "The Bible is dead", "the Bible is poison", "you can throw out 70% of the Bible", and that not everything revealed there was inspired by God.
2) No one can be sure of his salvation. No one has been saved yet. We will only know that we die. We shouldn't be living thinking we are going to heaven, 'cause it is up to God to say that in the end. We must work for our salvation and endure until the end to see if we will be saved.
3) Not only we shouldn't, but we "must not" go to any Church. If we are in a church, we might be so deceived, that we are lost. Since almost all modern churches and Christians nowadays are deceived, at the end, only about 1% percent of them will be saved. He said that no one is serving God in America by uploading a video called "There are no Christians in America", where he taught that one could count true followers of Jesus with your hand in the United States. He also taught that CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) belonged to the devil.
4) We've got to work FOR our salvation, 'cause faith alone can never saving faith. We must do works in order to be acceptable before God.
5) Jesus has to speak to you daily and if you can't hear him, you are lost and do not belong to Him but to Satan.
6) If you truly received the Holy Spirit, you should have had the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues is the only proof that you received the Holy Spirit. If you don't do so, you have not received the Spirit of God, you haven't born again, and you do not belong to Him.
7) Jesus' blood does not cover our future sins and it is a "lie" from the devil that Christ's righteousness is imputed on a soul. If you happen to sin for whatever reason, there is no more sacrifice to you. In a previous channel he had and was removed from Youtube, he made videos stating "The Righteousness of Christ is a lie from Satan"; "Your own Righteousness will save you", "We must save ourselves", "Bible Study is Satan's Favourite", "Using the Bible Against Satan Is Witchcraft", "Bible Verses about being in Christ make me want to vomit".
8) You cannot be repenting over and over and God is not going to forgive you if you do that because it means you are not serious and you haven't gotten to the point where you life is pure, righteous and spotless.
9) Christianity in general is far from what Christ meant for us to live. It is better if we just stop having communion with other Christians who are not perfect. We don't even have to talk to them or dine with them or participate in their sins.
10) If we want to meet God, it might take us a lot of time, sweat, obedience, seriousness, crying out and praying to Him. We should be kneeling down before Him until He answers and tells us what to do, until He personally reveals Himself to us.
11) All of the Scriptures were written by men, what Paul wrote is not the Gospel of Christ, and The Bible has mistakes too and is not an infallible or ultimate authority. However, Jan Boshoff claims that God revealed him this: if He (God) speaks to Jan and gives him words to speak to people on a video, and people reject him, those people are already "judged" because they are rejecting Jesus when they reject Jan.
12) All of the people who have accepted Jesus become "gods" or "little gods". If we reach perfect obedience, only then we can become part of the Kingdom of God. Also, "Jesus himself became the first born again man in the Kingdom of God".
13) We must work to get saved at the end. If we are not good enough, we will be cut off and send to hell fire, no matter how far we've gone with Jesus.I heard all of these doctrines with Bible verses being quoted by Jan Boshoff. I never dared to believe them wholeheartedly the way he or his group of sympathizers were teaching them because I was always unsure whether they were right or not, and I kept wondering whether things were being misinterpreted. Deep inside of me, I felt there was something wrong with those teachings. But, at the same time, I didn't dare to question them because I was afraid that God would judge me for not believing in Jan Boshoff. I secretly followed these teachings or this man (neither my family nor my Church friends knew about them because I knew they were controversial). However, inside of me, they implanted TOO MUCH DOUBT, TOO MUCH GUILT and TOO MUCH FEAR upon me. Jan Boshoff, who says we should not study Scripture, would often quote from Scripture to prove the doctrines above and justify what he was saying. I would be unsure of how I was meant to react. Would I have to believe him and his circle? Would I believe the normal Evangelical theology instead? I was really confused sometimes, trying to walk in the middle of the two extremes, 'cause I was unsure. I would only ask and beg God to clarify it all to me and help me see clearer and understand better.
I looked into history. I looked into the Bible. I heard many messages and read a lot and waited for confirmation. Eventually, God made me aware of the fact that Satan was the accuser of God's children. When Jesus was baptized, God said He was pleased with Him and "this is my beloved son". After that, Satan tempted Him in the desert, and the first thing he said, was to question His identity as a son of God. "If you are the son of God...", he said, "...throw yourself." Satan was looking outwardly and demanding some kind of tempting evidence and outward sign that God really had done what He had already stated he had done. The same was with me under Boshoff's teachings. I had already repented of my sins. I had already believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior. I had already received the Holy Spirit. Jesus had already forgiven me and taken my burden of sin away. But I became fearful again because this man would made me doubt I was a child of God, he made me doubt God was with me, he made me doubt God would help me or hearken to the voice of my prayer, and he made me doubt He would fill me with His Holy Spirit.
Satan used what I had been taught in order to make me doubt more than you can imagine. But I did not respond like Jesus. I had stopped studying the Bible and was unarmed. I wanted to hear from God in prayer, but it would be like a spiritual agony sometimes, 'cause God didn't answer the way I was told He would answer. And I thought that, if He didn't answer as I was told, the problem was always in me. As far as I remember I never doubted God's goodness. I doubted my insufficiency to be "good enough" for him. I had forgotten the words of Jesus in the Scripture, which states: "Be not faithless, but believing...; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). In my head, I reasoned I hadn't repented enough. I hadn't obeyed enough. I hadn't prayed enough. I called myself a Christ seeker, not a born again Christian, not a disciple, because I felt I could never "reach" Jesus, and I could not born again until I hear from Jesus' audible voice or had supernatural revelations or encounters, like Boshoff's teachings made me think.
When I started to pay more attention to the Scripture again, I started seeing that Jesus had taught many things VERY differently in the Gospels. First of all, He didn't choose perfect people, and his disciples made many mistakes and stumbled many times, and yet, He called them children of God, He assured them God was their heavenly Father, and He said He would be with them until the end. Jesus was never a man who was always accusing everyone, or questioning their faith in God, or condemning most of the Jews. He would rather tell those who believed: "Your faith has saved you, go in peace". Jesus did not demand perfect holiness for people to be healed or delivered. He first did the second, and then preached the first with mercy and forgiveness like no one else. He wouldn't say people "You're a bunch of sinners and you're lost". Instead he would say to some, knowing their past, "Your sins are forgiven; For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?".
Yes, Jesus was truly against man-made religious traditions of His time, against the few in the religious positions and powerful institutions, against the scribes who studied the law, and against the Pharisees who claimed to obey the law. But it wasn't because they were in temples. It was mainly BECAUSE they were obsessed with obeying the laws and doing the right things but they had NO love (and without love we are nothing and our works would be in vain without true love). They did NOT have the heart of God; though they were doing the right things, they did NOT have mercy, they did NOT have compassion, and they did NOT have kindness, they just had the DEMANDS. They were SO self-righteous, thinking they knew God perfectly, that they wouldn't even consider accepting they had made mistakes too, they wouldn't listen to advice or they wouldn't examine themselves, because they were ASSURED they were 100% perfect, sinless, and were doing everything right, that did not care to listen a person having something against them. Jesus said "if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift and go first reconcile". But they did not ALLOW anyone enter to heaven with their doctrine, AND they wouldn't either allow themselves to do so with such teaching! There was a lot of unbelief and doubt that The LORD rebuked. He commanded people to BELIEVE and have FAITH. The Pharisees and scribes would try to steal people's FAITH and make them think they were unworthy, hopeless, condemned and beyond repair for not being "perfect" in their definition. Jesus was EXTREMELY opposed to their doctrine and teachings for those reasons. When Jesus would sit with sinners to preach to them forgiveness and freedom in God, cleansing from their sin and a born-again experience, THEY would only point fingers, judge, condemn and accuse others of the worst things. No wonder Jesus called them sons of the devil! The killed the truth, they destroyed the forgiveness, the stole the joy. And The Bible says Satan is the accuser of God's people (Rev. 10:12).
The burden of sin Satan puts over us with his accusations brings DOUBT and FEAR, increasing UNBELIEF, and DEPRESSION in your life. It makes you question that God's promises can be applied to you specifically. It makes you question your own identity in Christ and that makes you unable to walk. The burden is too heavy to carry, and he sometimes uses the Bible to make you believe the worst things. I was attacked many times by a thought in my head that was trying to convince me that I had blasphemed the Holy Spirit for having criticized or thought wrong of religious leaders. The devil would constantly use this to discourage me and make me think I was lost and hopeless forever, and I was not of God. I was attacked many times by the thought of not being on God's side, since I had failed many times. I knew the duty of holiness, but the burden of my past wouldn't let my walk. I have been attacked by self-righteous people who told me I'm a "pig", I'm "lost", "I don't know Jesus", "you're a false Christian", "you're not real" or they wouldn't even want to talk to me because I "didn't have" the Holy Spirit in their understanding. They didn't even know me or knew what Jesus had done in me, but they were quick to judge me and condemn me. And the worst part is that I BELIEVED THEM almost every time.
How not to? I had been led to believe that I needed to hear from Jesus' audible voice in order to be sure that I was saved, to be sure I was a child of God and that I needed to speak in tongues in order to be sure that I had really received the Holy Spirit.
How not to? I had been led to believe that I needed to hear from Jesus' audible voice in order to be sure that I was saved, to be sure I was a child of God and that I needed to speak in tongues in order to be sure that I had really received the Holy Spirit.
And for years, it was easy for me to believe that God would forgive others, I would be open and willing to believe that, I would easily believe that He would do miracles for others, or that He would truly show affection and hear other people of they cried out... EXCEPT ME: because I wasn't perfect. I reasoned that, since I wasn't spotless, I couldn't get close to Him, even though I desired Him more than anything.
THANK GOD the Gospels showed me a different way. The sinners and the sick would try to touch Jesus, 'cause He said that the healthy don't need God; the sick ones are the ones in need of a doctor. You don't get in the shower when you're clean, but dirty.
THANK GOD the Gospels showed me a different way. The sinners and the sick would try to touch Jesus, 'cause He said that the healthy don't need God; the sick ones are the ones in need of a doctor. You don't get in the shower when you're clean, but dirty.
All of us need grace sometimes. Sadly, we humans make many intellectual mistakes, we might hurt people without wanting, we might be sinning without knowing out of ignorance, we may stumble without planning or wanting and hurt ourselves or someone else, we may not have the strength or the knowledge to do things we should be doing. It should not be like that, but God knows AND FORGIVES. One time, even Jan Boshoff and his contact Andrew from the channel WarningThePeople confessed themselves they stumbled into sin at least once. Jan once uploaded a video where he said he got mad at a worker of him, and he shouted and said things he shouldn't have said. His friend/follower Andrew said he had allowed to feel evil thoughts about a woman while being with his wife. Both realized they had sinned later, and they repented soon after, testifying they had been forgiven by Jesus. Why? Because Jesus forgives. But why would they tell others He wouldn't forgive others, if they testified Jesus forgave them!?
When The Bible says God will forgive our sins if we repent and confess them, He MEANT IT and He wasn't lying. When the Bible says we have a lawyer and defender, Christ the righteous, it's NOT a lie. When Paul wrote that God imparts righteousness to a sinner through the sacrifice of Christ, it was the Holy Spirit speaking and it's the WHOLE truth. The blood of Jesus DOES cover our sins if we happened to stumble. We do not have to live in FEAR 'cause perfect love casts out fear and love covers a multitude of sins. Past sins, present sins, and EVEN future sins. He sets us free from slavery and bondage to sin, and we must still be careful not to fall, but it is in HIS strength NOT in ours. We can ENTER HIS REST!
Let's be careful with what we say. The same measure we demand from others will be the same one God will measure us with. Of course we must NEVER stumble willingly. But if it happened that we stumbled in the past for some reason OR if it were to happen in the future, our sins can and WILL be forgiven if we go to Jesus. Jesus said "if your brother sins, go and rebuke him and if he repents, you will have won a brother". Didn't he mean that he would still be a brother if he repents? Of course! Jesus said, "if you, being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your father give the Holy Spirit in you to those who ask?". Wasn't he saying that the Holy Spirit was going to be given to even people who were "evil", like his disciples? (After all, He said no one is good, but God, and all men are liars, but God is truthful). Didn't Paul say to the Galatians that the Spirit is received by faith and not by works?
Let's be careful with what we say. The same measure we demand from others will be the same one God will measure us with. Of course we must NEVER stumble willingly. But if it happened that we stumbled in the past for some reason OR if it were to happen in the future, our sins can and WILL be forgiven if we go to Jesus. Jesus said "if your brother sins, go and rebuke him and if he repents, you will have won a brother". Didn't he mean that he would still be a brother if he repents? Of course! Jesus said, "if you, being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your father give the Holy Spirit in you to those who ask?". Wasn't he saying that the Holy Spirit was going to be given to even people who were "evil", like his disciples? (After all, He said no one is good, but God, and all men are liars, but God is truthful). Didn't Paul say to the Galatians that the Spirit is received by faith and not by works?
And yes, Jesus speaks to His sheep daily through the Holy Spirit. But it isn't always in a supernatural way like hearing God's voice like Samuel. In fact, most Christians and most disciples don't hear it like that. Does that mean they're lost? Even Jan Boshoff has testified that there was a very long time in his life when God tested him and He wouldn't speak anything to him. It was in order to test his faith, he reasoned. His contact Andrew says that the way the Holy Spirit is speaks is often with an inner desire or urge, or thought to do something for the Kingdom, and he only realizes it is the Holy Spirit if he does that and sees the result. Alexey from Russia, another friend of them who preaches the same doctrine and defends Jan Boshoff, says the same: Jesus could speak to you audibly, but most of the times it is in the spirit and your conscience that He will speak to you, not audibly. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him, worship Him in Spirit and truth.
Apart from those things, I realized that the Scripture has indeed an important role in the life of a follower of Jesus. All Scripture in context would have more credibility that all of Jan Boshoff's videos or mine together. It wouldn't matter if he had a thousand near death-experiences that were real or if he claimed to hear from Jesus all the time. Even the prophets in the Old Testament who heard God and even the disciples who were personally following Jesus made mistakes and said things they shouldn't have said, because they did not understand what was happening. However, in the Book of Deuteronomy it says that we would recognize any prophet not hearing from God when their prophecies are unfulfilled. Boshoff gave different prophecies that he said would be fulfilled in specific years, like, for example:
In March 15 2009, he declared that South Africa would be washed awayIn the year 2009 he stated that it would be the year of judgement and punishmentIn September 9 2010, he claimed God had given him a message that it was the year of punishment and it would be a sign to usIn 2011 he declared that it was the year of punishment and it would start in Nevada
Jesus also taught us that Him and the Bible wouldn't contradict themselves. Jesus showed the way. He fought Satan's accusations by praying in faith, following the Holy Spirit and quoting the Scripture. So I realized The Bible was telling me a different story:(Among others...)
1) The Bible does contain the words of God and all of it was inspired and revealed by the Holy Spirit. Yes, Jesus said "Scripture cannot be broken" and gave it a role and importance eternally above all of man's opinions. In the Parable of Lazarus and the rich man, he stated that if a man doesn't believe in the prophets and patriarchs (from the Scripture), he wouldn't either believe if a man raised from the dead. Yes, Jesus is indeed the living Word of God. And He also said in the Book of Revelation that whosoever removes or cuts from the words of that Book will also be cut off and removed from God's people. And whosoever adds up words into it, will also receive plagues from God. Besides, Paul said that we should never hear anyone (not even an angel) teaching a different Gospel or a different vision of Jesus from the one that was taught in the Bible (Galatians 1:8), and remember the foundation is in the doctrines and practices of the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the Head (Eph. 2:20, 4:11-15, 2 Thes. 2:1-15, 3:2-15, 2 Cor. 11:2-4, 1 Tim. 6:3-12; 21, 2 Tim. 2:15-17, Titus 1:10; 1:13-16; 2:1, Acts 20:29-31, 2 John 1:5-11, Fil. 1:15).
2) Yes, many Christians are deceived, thinking they'll go to heaven, when in reality they really won't. BUT everyone who is TRULY in Christ and truly born again, not only can, but MUST TRUST GOD HAS SAVED HIM and WILL SAVE HIM to take him or her to Heaven, since Jesus said we need to TRUST and BELIEVE we have received what we were asking for in order to receive it in the future (Mark 11:24). The Book of James (1:7) says we must have NO DOUBT when asking God for something, 'cause if we do so, we will NOT receive it. We can rest in the words that state in Romans: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).
3) Yes, Jesus did not call us to go to Church or build a Church system, BUT He does not forbid us to have communion with other members of the Body or serve within a group of believed. On the contrary, He wants us to grow together and edify one other together, not just in a room. He did called us to DO the works He stated in the Gospels and BE the Church made of living stones, and one of his commands was to dine together as in the Lord's Supper to remember The Lord's coming and His work for us.
4) We are saved by grace through faith. What evidence will justify that there was real faith? Works of obedience to Jesus Christ will (in the future) justify (meaning, show to others) that we have had genuine faith. Yes, faith without works is dead: if we truly believe, we will DO what he commanded us to do. BUT we must remember we can do NOTHING without Him, and it is NOT the amount of good works of obedience which make us more deserving to be saved: it is the sufficient and perfect sacrifice and work of Jesus on the cross what ALREADY made us able to receive salvation. Works of obedience will be the eventual RESULT that show we have had true faith in Jesus, but works are not the requirement in advance, for we deserve NOTHING on our own and everything is because of God's grace. Christ's salvation is UNCONDITIONAL. You're not saved because you gave your life to God (You're no prize). You are saved because He gave His life for you. He will give us freely, not because we are worthy or because we have done anything, but because HE is good and He HIMSELF wants to ENABLE us to do His will by giving us His love, grace and mercy FIRST, just when we ask him and go to Him and believe in Him in true FAITH. If a man has to see his good works in order for him to trust God saved him, then he or she is trusting in his or her good works rather than on what God said. Jesus saves freely by grace.
5) Jesus does speak to His sheep and His sheep hear His voice. Yes, Jesus can speak audibly IF HE WANTS, but most of the times He speaks through His Spirit in our Spirit. And YES, He can also speak THROUGH SCRIPTURE (as Jesus taught in Mark 12:36-37), through other people (yep, that's biblical too, cause God stated He talked to Israel sending many prophets to them) and through life circumstances and other situations.
6) The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Jesus' teaching: "Repent and believe, and be baptized". We don't have to finish doing ALL of Jesus' commands to "gain" or be "worthy" to receive the Holy Spirit. We are given the Holy Spirit, not because we are perfect, but because we need Him to obey His words! Not because we are worthy but because HE is worthy, and it is not a prize or a trophy for something we did, but a GIFT full of tools for something we need to do! (Reinhard Bonnke teaches this). Of course our goal is to obey all His words, but we cannot advance (or even start) without being equipped by His grace first.
7) We must stop sinning indeed: if we kept sinning willfully for the rest of our lives, we would go hell. (This doctrine is biblical and explained by John Wesley's theology called "Christian Perfection" supported by Methodists and many other great Christians in history..) Jesus saves us from bondage and slavery to sin. BUT the sound understanding is that we become sinners who live a holy life. If we happened to stumble in the past or future, God CAN forgive us if we confess and repent from all sin: HE WILL, cause He said EVERY sin can be forgiven except one. He who called us to forgive seventy times seven everyday could also forgive us the same number of times if we happened to make mistakes.
8) O.S.A.S. is controversial and difficult to understand depending on the perspective. The truth is that if you have truly met Jesus once and were saved by him trusting in his sufficient sacrifice, he shall in "IN NO WISE CAST OUT... for OF ALL WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN TO JESUS HE WILL LOSE NOTHING" (John 6:37-39). Yes, a person will go to hell if he or she continues living in sin in his life and doesn't repent before death. That's Biblical, for sure. But The Bible also declares that "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us" (1 John 2:19). A way to see this is that a person who left Christianity, so to speak, never truly met Christ. A person who was truly saved, though might have backslid for a time, will return to The LORD and will be saved. God even can and wants to restore the backslidden as long as they are alive, as stated in the book of Jeremiah and Ezequiel. God is not unjust to forget our work and the love we have shown him (Hebrews 6:10) and He who began a good work in us will finish it too. Every dog who is alive has more hope than a dead lion because for whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope (Eccl. 9:4). It is hard for one to declare a person is truly saved 'cause we don't know their hearts, but every believer MUST HAVE the assurance that He will be with Jesus in Heaven: NO BELIEVER should doubt it.
9) The system of Churchianity with its religious control and man-made traditions and doctrines is FAR from what Jesus envisioned for the real disciples. But the normal Christian life should neither be lived inside a house. We can obey Jesus' words in the Gospels and live like the disciples did in the Book of Acts (teachings from The Last Reformation can help understand).
10) If you want to meet God, you need to pray and wait on Him to answer you, but APPROACH THE THRONE OF GRACE WITH FAITH AND TRUST IN HIM, cause HE CARES for us (Hebrews 4:16). We indeed need to obey the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, including baptism in water, and absolutely everything He said there, BUT if we start SEEKING THE KINGDOM OF GOD FIRST, we are already on the way of obedience, and even if we haven't fulfilled ALL the list of "do's" in the Gospels yet, if we believe and trust Jesus as Lord and Savior and repent we can be counted among God's children.
11) You wouldn't need to read the whole Bible to meet God for the first time, BUT everything from the Bible can help you learn more about God and how He deals with man; the Holy Spirit will teach you what to do and many times He will remind you the words written in the Bible, but you first need to meet God (it's true). Yet, the Holy Spirit and the Bible will NEVER contradict each other.
The Holy Spirit often gives tongues to speak with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, but that doesn't mean you have to receive the gift of tongues or speak in tongues in order to be saved or in order to be counted as God's child, and it doesn't mean that you are not saved if you don't speak in tongues yet (see the video on my channel to understand that).
12) GOD still speaks today the same way he did with the patriarchs, prophets, and disciples, and He speaks personally, audibly, IF HE WANTS. To His sheep, He speaks in the spirit of them, with thoughts, ideas and wants He puts while they pray or wait; He can also speak in dreams, in visions, or even through circumstances, personal tragedies or natural disasters. He also speaks THROUGH SCRIPTURE as Jesus himself taught (Mark 12:36, Luce 16:31)
13) It is not enough to say that we believe in order to get to heaven. We will do the works Jesus said if we have truly born again. But it isn't the works that save us or take us to heaven. It is JESUS' blood and JESUS' sacrifice that made it all posible, for we are created in Christ Jesus to do the good works HE prepared in advance for us to do. Yet, He loves us first, even while were were still sinners he gave His life for Our salvation. He did not give us a Spirit to FEAR but to FEEL ADOPTED as we call on Him. He said more than any other statement in the Bible "Do not be afraid", or "Do not fear".
I learned the right doctrines by reading the Scripture again and I learned the right practice by watching examples and studying the Bible with the videos of The Last Reformation and The Pioneer School, a movement of disciples of Jesus that began in Denmark with preacher Torben Sondergaard. Most of the explanations were similar to some important things I had been taught, but Sondergaard and his movement are truly Biblical and they test everything against Scripture and do not dwell on "controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth" (1 Timothy 6:4). Instead, they help others live in PRACTICAL way with the love of Jesus, as disciples of Jesus, with practical examples.
Brethren from the Last Reformation helped me see that there are things from the Bible doctrine that cannot be questioned, in regard to salvation. But we cannot demand everyone to go through everything we went through in order to claim them as saved. We can't put God in a box. We must defend sound doctrine and believe it. We must never forget that a life truly lead by the Spirit of God is full with love for everyone and with mercy and joy, apart from the obedience, good fruits and holiness required, and the full package includes the fruits of the Spirit, such as JOY, PEACE, PATIENT, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, HUMILITY and SELF-CONTROL. The Bible says that anyone who claims to know Him must walk the way HE walked. And we must remember that obedience is only one key. PRAYERFUL FAITH is another, and MERCIFUL LOVE is the most important part, without which, we are nothing. What does THE LORD require from us but this: seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God? After all, Jesus said: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
Up to this day, Jan Boshoff keeps on making Youtube videos. He was diagnosed with cancer some time ago and went through treatment in the hospital. Now, recently he was diagnosed again with cancer. I communicated with him before sharing this experience, and sent a message to him about these things I went through. He just said it was interesting and it reminded him of how Paul said we've gotta work out our salvation. But I don't think he felt and understood the damage he made in me. Anyways, I keep on praying this man gets well, may he repent of anything he needs to, and may people be lead, not by him, not by me, not by churches, but by Jesus alone through his true Holy Spirit who can only guide us into all truth and remind us of Words written in the Scriptures and taught by Jesus Christ.
Up to this day, Jan Boshoff keeps on making Youtube videos. He was diagnosed with cancer some time ago and went through treatment in the hospital. Now, recently he was diagnosed again with cancer. I communicated with him before sharing this experience, and sent a message to him about these things I went through. He just said it was interesting and it reminded him of how Paul said we've gotta work out our salvation. But I don't think he felt and understood the damage he made in me. Anyways, I keep on praying this man gets well, may he repent of anything he needs to, and may people be lead, not by him, not by me, not by churches, but by Jesus alone through his true Holy Spirit who can only guide us into all truth and remind us of Words written in the Scriptures and taught by Jesus Christ.
