WHAT DOES FREEMASONRY SAY ABOUT SALVATION?

We now know that Masonic salvation is not through the shed Blood of Jesus Christ. This stand is contrary to the Holy Bible and God condemns any other system of salvation - namely the salvation through man's own efforts through good works and self-improvement.

Let us examine the opening prayer of the 14th Degree of the Scottish Rite, Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated, page 297-298:

"We beseech thee that our thoughts may be engaged in the grand work of our perfection, which when attained will be an ample reward for our labour... Grant that all our proceedings may tend to our glory... Bless and prosper our works, 0 Lord."

We see that this prayer is focused on:

• our thoughts
• our perfection
• our labour
• our proceedings
• our glory
• our works

Freemasonry denies and opposes biblical teaching.of Salvation by Grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ. As stated in Ephesians 2:8-9: "For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."

The first three degrees promise the candidate that God will reward him if he does good works and improves himself through knowledge. This teaches good works versus Grace. This promise is conveyed to the candidate basically through the lectures pertaining to the lambskin or white leather apron in the Blue Lodge. I will give you, here, only the lecture of the lst Degree as an example of what the apron has to do with Masonic salvation.

The Work, Page 36-37 (note - W.L.A. means White Leather Apron)

"W.M. - I now present you with a L. or W.L.A. It is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a... more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, more honorable than the Star or Garter or any other Order that might be conferred on you at this or any future period by King, Prince, Potentate, or any other person, except he be a...... I trust you will wear it with equal pleasure and credit to yourself, as well as honor to the Fy. It may be, that in the coming years, upon your head may rest the laurel wreaths of victory; pendent from your breast may hang jewels fit to grace the diadem of an Eastern Potentate; nay, more than these, with light added to the coming L., your ambitious feet may tread round after round of the ladder that leads to fame in our Mystic Circle, and even the purple of the Fy, may rest upon your honored shoulders; but never again from mortal hands, never again until your enfranchised spirit shall have passed upward and inward through the pearly gates shall any honor so distinguished, so emblematical of purity and all perfection be conferred upon you as this which I. now bestow. It is yours; yours to wear throughout an honorable life, and at your death to be placed upon the coffin which shall enclose your lifeless remains and with them laid beneath the clods of the valley. Let its pure and spotless surface be to you an ever-present reminder of purity of life and rectitude of conduct, a never- ending argument for nobler deeds for higher thoughts, for greater achievements. And when at last your weary feet shall have come to the end of life's toilsome journey, and from your nerveless grasp shall drop forever the working tools of life, may the record of your life and actions be as pure and spotless as this fair emblem which I place in your Hs. to-night. And when your trembling soul shall stand naked and alone before the Great White Throne, there to receive judgment for the deeds done inth@,body, may it be your portion to hear from Him who sitteth as Judge Supreme the welcome words: Well done, good and faithful servant; Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee. ruler over many things; Enter thou into the JOY of thy Lord."Â

Though such instruction is important to the Masonic Lodge in teaching morality, the Holy Bible rejects such teaching. Masons cannot and will not gain entrance to the Celestial Lodge above (Heaven) by their purity of life and rectitude of conduct.

The Holy Bible states in Titus 3:5 "He (God) saves us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His Mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.

and 1 John 11-12

And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."

The Lodge constantly insists on imposing on the Candidate the necessity of Good Works to earn God's favor. He is even to remember that his apron is an emblem of purity of heart and conscience required to gain God's approval. But the Holy Bible clearly offers no hope in this area.

The Holy Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9-10 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind.

Isaiah 64:6 says: "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."

How about sin? The Holy Bible says we are sinners in need of a Savior. How can a man be admitted into Heaven without Jesus Christ as his Savior?

The Holy Bible says in 1 John 2:2 "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours, but for the sins of the whole world."

Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." As it is written - Romans 3'.',10-12 "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless."

And 1 john 4:14-15

"To forgive our sins "the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."

Remember, there is no provision in the religion of Freemasonry for the redemption of sin.

At Masonic funeral services, the family is assured that the departed soul has gone to reside in the Celestial Lodge above. Though the Holy Bible clearly states that men's works do not account for a perfect life, the Lodge confidently states that the departed has been accepted in Heaven based on his willingne'ss to live by the truths and principles of Freemasonry. This mode of salvation is taught through all the degrees of Freemasonry from the first to the thirty third degree.

But, on what basis can the Masonic Lodge tell Masons what God will do when they die? By what authority does the Lodge so confidently assert to all who are listening that they will enter into God's presence and be accepted because of their good works? Scripture clearly teaches that this is impossible! The Bible emphasizes this again and again.

In Titus 3:5

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved US."

And in Romans 3:27-28, 4:6

"Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded.. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.... David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

The Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15

"From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

None will deny that a committed Mason is zealous for his God. But even more so were the Israelites of Paul's time, and notice what he said about them:

Romans 10:1-3

"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that thev are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God (by faith) and sought to establish their own (by works), they did not submit to God's righteousness.

Ephesians 2:8-9

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."

So you see, the Bible is absolutely clear that teaching salvation by personal,merit, goodness and works is something that is utterly opposed to the will of God. Rather, salvation is by grace; it is the free gift of God, provided for humanity when Christ died and paid the penalty for our sins.

Romans 11:6

"And it (salvation is) by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."

Galatians 2:16,21

"Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be jsutified... I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!

Galatians 4:21 and 3:24

"Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?.... So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith."

We know that the Masonic Lodge denies these Scriptures and continues to promise Masons that their own righteousness will save them and make them acceptable before God. For example, in the Masonic Monitor,

Masons are taught that the symbol for God is the All-Seeing Eye. And when they teach about God, they tell Masons that God will reward them according to their works: "(The) All-seeing Eye... pervades the inmost recesses of the human Heart, and will reward us according to our merits (works)" Masons are also taught that they are to devote all their energies to attaining this merit before God so that they will be rewarded with heaven. All of the examples from Masonic ritual cited above are why Masonic authorities everywhere - including Coil & Mackey teach that men are saved by their good works. Masonic publications agree. In the Pennsylvania Freemason, Pennsylvania Grand Chaplain Charles H. Lacquement writes, Quote: (February, 1989) Freemasonry has been teaching for centuries... the capability of man to reach a higher level of perfection through education and training ... The philosophy of Freemasonry is to make man the master of his own destiny, to show him that there also is an immortality on earth brought by his actions; that he can, through his own efforts.... inscribe his name in the "Book of Life."

The quotation above gives you the teaching of Freemasonry in a nutshell. To die without Christ is the fruit and real testimony of Freemasonry. This will result in a separation from God, our heavenly Father, the true God.

In conclusion, here are some thoughts on what Freemasonry makes a Christian do; from "The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge", John Ankerberg and John Waldon - Pg. 189-191 The Bible says, "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and ust and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1John 1:9) It is the duty of every Christian to break and renounce any evil oath that binds him to disobeying God. Swearing to uphold Masonic doctrines is sinful and unscriptural, and should not be a part of the Christian's life for the following reasons:

1. Masonry makes a Christian man swear, in God's name, to doctrines that God has pronounced false and sinful. For example, the Lodge teaches the false doctrine of "the Fatherhood of God."

In John 14:12, Jesus says: "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

2. Masonry makes Christian men swear to accept the lie that salvation can be gained by man's good works. But the bible contradicts Masonry.

In Titus 3:5, God says to us:

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved US.

3. Masonry makes Christian men swear to accept and promote the lie that Jesus is just one of many equally revered prophets. Each candidate does this when he agrees that all religions can lead a man to God. But the Bible records Jesus words in contradiction to Masonry:

He says in John 14:6

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

4. Masonry makes Christian men swear they will remain silent in the Lodge and not talk of Christ, whereas Jesus commanded every Christian to go into all the world and be a witness for Him. Jesus said in:

Acts 1:8

"And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

5. Masonry makes Christians swear that they are approaching the Lodge in spiritual darkness and ignorance, When the Bible says Christians are already in the light, children of light, and are indwelt by the Light of the world Jesus Christ.

The Holy Bible says in Ephesians 5:8

"For you were once darkness, but now (the moment you received Christ as Savior and Lord) you are light in the Lord."

6. By demanding that Christians take the Masonic oath, Masonry leads Christians into committing blasphemy and taking the name of the Lord in vain. As a Christian he has sworn unlawfully to things God has forbidden him to swear to.

God says in Exodus 20:7

"You shall not misuse the name of the Lord, your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

And in Leviticus 5:5

"If anyone is guilty in any of these ways, it he must confess in what way he has sinned..

And in 1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

7. Masonry makes Christians falsely swear that the G.A.O.T.U., whom Masonry claims is the true God of the universe, is present in all other religions.

But the Holy Bible says in Isaiah 42:8

"I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols." Note: the G.A.O.T.U. is the Masonic God called the Grand Architect of the Universe.

8. Masonry makes Christians falsely swear to the teaching that true worship can be offered in the Lodge to God without the mediatorship of Jesus. This is against what is taught in Hebrews 9:15

But the Holy bible says-in 1 Timothy 2:5-6

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men - the testimony given in its proper time."

9. By swearing the Masonic oath and participating in the doctrines of the Lodge, Christians are perpetuating a false gospel to other Lodge members, who look only to Masonry's plan of salvation to get them to heaven.

The Holy Bible says in Galatians 1:8

"Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned."

10. According to the Bible, the Christian's spirit, mind, and body are the temple of the Holy Spirit, "bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). By taking the Masonic obligations he is agreeing to allow the pollution of his mind, spirit, and body by those who serve false gods and believe false doctrines.

The Holy Bible says to us in 2 Corinthians 6:14-16a

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and Idols? For we are the temple of the living God."

God's Word instructs every Christian to break and renounce any evil oath that binds him in sin.

Ephesians 5:11

"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."

Every Christian Lodge member should renounce his Masonic oath and confess it as a sin to his Lord. The Lord promises to forgive each one who will do so.

1 John 1:9 says:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."

In this way the Christian will stop adding his support to the sins of the Lodge, whose false religion results in the damnation of so many souls.

My position is that it is impossible for a Freemason to accept the Christian Statement of Faith. I have quoted, below, the Statement of Faith for your use.

A. We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

B. We believe in the Bible as the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God.

C. We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned and thereby incurred, not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and in the case of those who reach moral responsibility are sinners in thought, word and deed, and that all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are justified on the merit of His shed blood.

D. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God and that He was born of the Virgin Mary and that he died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a substitutionary sacrifice; that He was buried and rose again the third day; that he ascended into Heaven and that He now lives there for us, as our High Priest and only Advocate and that He will personally come again.

E. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the eternal blessedness of the saved and the endless lake of fire for the unsaved. (Revelation 20:10, 14-15)

It is impossible for a Christian to remain in Masonry because if he accepts the Statement of Faith of a Believer, he cannot remain with one foot in the Christian camp and one foot in the Masonic doctrine of darkness.

I have serious concern for my Masonic Christian brothers and I have researched this script for the purpose of witnessing to them. You see, I was a Freemason for 28 years and I also had to choose whom I will serve.