Philippians ThreeNine Ministries

09/09/2026

Isaiah 64:6 tells us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of God.

Then when we read the New Testament, Philippians 3:9 tells us that to be found in Christ, we don't have our own righteousness, which would come from keeping the law of Moses. Instead, we receive the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

This is very similar to 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says "He (God the Father) has made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

We are unrighteous and God is righteous.

In Romans 10:4, Paul describes the Jewish people as "going about to establish their own righteousness" because they were seeking to be righteous by the works of the law. They had not submitted to the righteousness of God.

This means that we need to understand that God is perfect, and we cannot access Him with our sins..

No evil, which is sin, can dwell with a perfect God in His perfect Heaven (Psalm 5:4). Not even a single lie can enter into this perfect place called Heaven (Revelation 21:27).

But what does this mean?

Proverbs 20:9 says "who can say, 'I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?"

What is the answer? The answer is nobody. So we cannot go back in time and get rid of our own sins.

We have all told a lie. So all our sins must be removed from us and the righteousness of Jesus given to us.

What Psalm 5:4 and Revelation 21:27 are telling us is that we must be perfect to enter into Heaven.

This is the biggest reason why we must be saved by grace, because we cannot go back in time and get rid of our own sins (Proverbs 20:9).

Not only that, but we still cannot go even a day without committing a sin, even if it's a sinful thought about someone.

No matter what we do, we cannot make ourselves perfect.

The next point is, how do we become perfect?

I somewhat answered that question earlier but now I'll give more of a full answer.

Notice the verse I talked about earlier, Proverbs 20:9.

"Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?"

Compare that verse with Acts 15:9.

"And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9).

Notice the word "pure" in Proverbs 20:9, and notice the word "purified" in Acts 15:9.

Nobody can purify their own heart because that would mean they get rid of their own sins.

Instead, they need to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, understanding that He alone paid for their sins.

This is why John the Baptizer said the following about Jesus:

"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Jesus was judged on the cross for all the sins of all people in the world.

Sin was judged on the Person of Jesus Christ, when He shed His sinless blood, dying on the cross.

On the third day, Jesus ride from the dead to offer all people a forever home in Heaven as a free gift.

This gift is called eternal life. A person only has life if they receive the righteousness of God really as a gift.

So when we believe Jesus did this for us, He gives us His righteousness, which is absolute perfection, as the gift that He already paid for on the cross.

If I offer you a gift, I cannot make you work for it. I cannot allow you to pay me for it.

The only thing you can do to receive that gift, is to believe I paid for it. If you believe that the gift has been paid for in full, you will not offer me anything for that gift.

Instead, you would freely receive the gift and you would simply say, thank you.

"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31).

09/08/2026

The Necessity of a Clear Gospel

In Mark 16:15 we read of Jesus' command to His 11 apostles, "go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
There is one gospel; the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.

Since the gospel is the most important message to mankind, it is of the utmost importance that we use precision when we present it to others. While I shared the saving points of the gospel above, it is very important that we share it in a way that people can understand what it means, and be saved from Hell for all eternity. Satan does his best to muddy the gospel; but why? Because he does not want people to be saved.

In Second Corinthians 4:4, the apostle Paul stated that the "god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image God, should shine." Since we have such hope, it is our responsibility to help them understand by using "great plainness of speech."

We shouldn't be saying things that aren't in the Bible, or that do not pertain to justification. Here are just a few of those things: Make Jesus Lord of your life, follow Jesus and be His disciple, give your life to God, promise to stop sinning, turn from sin, be sorry for your sin, promise to live for Jesus, confess or profess Jesus, take Jesus into your heart, give your heart to God, walk forward, pray a prayer, join our church / be baptized by our church.

In First Corinthians 14:8, apostle Paul wrote "for if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?".

When I was a child in school, the school had different alarms they would sound so we would know what to do when we'd hear them. There was one sound to alert us of a fire, while there was another sound to alert us of a tornado. If someone sounded the fire alarm during a tornado, surely we would rush outside right into harm's way!

The gospel should be shared in simple terms so that a child can understand and believe. In Luke 18:17, Jesus said "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." Two things here: children should be able to understand what we tell them, and children are very trusting. We should trust Christ like a child trusts his father. We should make every effort to share with all people, because God "will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth." Seeing God wants all people to be saved, we should share the gospel in simple, precise terms, to as many people as possible.

09/08/2026

"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).

1. Paul had already believed before Acts 22:16

On the Damascus road, Paul encountered the risen Christ:

“Who art thou, Lord?”
And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.” — Acts 9:5

Paul then responds:

“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” — Acts 9:6

By the time Ananias comes to him, Paul has already encountered Christ, believed in Him, and is praying (Acts 9:11).

And importantly, Ananias tells Paul:

“The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.” — Acts 22:14

Then Ananias says:

“For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." (Acts 22:15).

2. 2. “Wash away thy sins” doesn’t mean water literally removes the guilt of sin

This is where the verse can sound difficult.

The broader context requires us to Acts 22:16 with passages such as:

"To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins" (Acts 10:43).

"And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:39).

"And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt

be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:30-31).

Those verses explicitly connect forgiveness/justification with believing, not with the physical act of baptism.

In fact, Cornelius and his household received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized (Acts 10:44–48). That makes it very difficult to make water baptism the instrument that actually saves.

3. The grammatical connection is important.

There are three things here that reveal to us that Paul was already saved prior to being water baptized.

"Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him" (Acts 22:13).

Ananias referred to him as "brother" Saul.
He would not have done this if Paul was not yet saved.

"And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16).

Only believers are ever commanded to be water baptized, and only believers call on the name of the Lord.

"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" (1 Corinthians 1:2).

Always allow the Scriptures which are clear and easy to understand to interpret less clear passages.

Lastly:

It wouldn't make any sense for Paul to be saved by water baptism, seeing that later on he wrote the following to the Corinthians:

"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect" (1 Corinthians 1:17).

And the people received the Holy Spirit BEFORE they were told to be baptized in Acts 10:

"Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?" (Acts 10:47).

09/03/2026

The gospel in one minute by Dr. John Whitcomb:

"Friend, wherever you are, whoever you are, in this world today, you, as well as I, have the image of God indelibly imprinted on our innermost being from creation.

That means we are capable of listening and responding to the gracious, loving, invitation of God to believe in His beloved Son Jesus Christ, Who died for our sins on the cross and rose again, and thus to receive the gift of eternal life.

Remember this promise - God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him —just believes — you don't have to earn it, you don't have to deserve it —just believe—will have now, and forever, everlasting life.

Yes, just as we read in Acts chapter four verse twelve —there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.

Do you know the Savior? Have you trusted in Him? Have you accepted His love gift of eternal life based on what He has accomplished for us all on the cross of Calvary two thousand years ago?**

08/31/2026

I whole heartedly believe the "lukewarm" church in Laodicea was saved because of numerous passages in that context.

I would like to show just a few reasons why I believe this.

1. Apostle Paul had great conflict for both the Colossians and Laodiceans, as well as "as many as have not seen my face in the flesh". (Col 2:1).

This is not referring to some saved people and some unsaved people. That wouldn't fit the context of his concern for gnosticism in the churches.

2. Epaphrus had a great zeal and labored fervently in prayer for the believers in Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis (Col 4:13

These three cities were in the Lycas valley of Phrygia in Asia Minor, which is modern day Turkey. These three places were all pretty close to each other, about 10-15 miles apart.

3. Paul tells the Colossians to greet the brethren in Laodicea, and in the same sentence includes Nymphas and the church which was in his house (Col 4:15).

Someone might say only some of the people in the church of Laodicea were saved, but that is a distinction Paul nor Jesus ever made. Which leads us to our 4th point.

4. Paul told the Colossians to have his epistle to them read in the church of the Laodiceans, and the epistle he wrote to the Laodiceans to be read there in Colosse (Col 4:16).

5. In the same way that Paul strongly rebuked the Corinthians for their carnality, Jesus also strongly rebuked the Laodiceans for their carnality.

Context is king. We cannot get so caught up in the strong language in the warning to the church in Laodicea that we forget to examine the context of the chapter.

The only thing I want to point out at this time is Revelation 3:19-20.

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (Revelation 3:19).

Does this sound familiar?

"My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth" (Proverbs 3:11-12).

Jesus loved these saints and therefore he rebuked and corrected them.

Why else were they chastened?

"But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world" (1 Corinthians 11:32).

They were chastened instead of being condemned with the world.

The message to the world is John 3:16, or Acts 16:31– to believe.

"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (Hebrews 12:5-6).

Sounds a lot like Proverbs 3:11-12!

"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons" (Hebrews 12:7-8).

Just like the Corinthians and the Hebrews, the Laodiceans were rebuked for their carnality, because they were children of God.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20).

This is not a salvific passage! This is completely about Jesus' desire to have better fellowship with these believers.

One clue in this verse is the word "sup".

This word is translated as supper in Luke 22:20 in reference to Jesus eating the bread during the last supper. Later Paul uses the word in reference to Jesus drinking the w**e at the Lord's supper (1 Cor 11:25).

This carries the idea of fellowship, as people often eat and drink together as one way of enjoying each other's company.

Jesus wanted to enjoy the fellowship of the Laodiceans and therefore rebuked them so they would get back on track in their walk with Him.

08/28/2026

I have an update for Philippians ThreeNine Ministries:

As much as I love to teach and to help people understand God's Word, I will be slowing down a little bit as I recently started Bible College. I love the gospel and I love to help people, and this opportunity will help me to do that much more successfully than ever before.

I ask that you all bear with me as I transition into this journey, and please keep me in your prayers.

I will definitely continue creating content, but I am just slowing down a little bit for a short while, as i focus on growing so much more in my understanding of God's Word, and please keep an eye out, as I will still be creating lessons on here a few times a week.

Thank you all for understanding, and if anyone has any questions, feel free to reach out to me in messenger!

Grace, peace and love,
Randy Dearing
Philippians ThreeNine Ministries

"And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Philippians3:9).

"And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house" (Acts 16:30-32).

08/26/2026

False prophets or teachers are known by the message they preach. When someone preaches a false gospel, that message cannot produce saved people.

When people believe a false gospel, they are not getting born again, but instead they remain lost.

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" (Matthew 7:15-16).

This is a great comparison that Jesus made about those that hear a "gospel" message.

The true gospel of the grace of God will always produce good "fruit" in terms of all who believe it.

Anyone and everyone who believes the gospel of Jesus Christ, totally apart from anything they could ever do to be righteous, will 100% be born again.

THAT is God's promise to us!!!

Therefore the true gospel message would represent the grape tree or the fig tree.

The real gospel message does not and cannot produce thorns or thistles (false converts).

The fruit here is in reference to those who believe that message. The grapes and fig (the fruits) refer to the children of God, while thorns and thistles represent children of the devil, otherwise known as false converts.

How can someone be a false convert? They first hear a false, works based gospel, then they believe it. This in turn causes them to continue to trust in their own works instead of the perfect, finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matthew 7:17-18).

Every good tree (true gospel message) produces children of God. The real gospel of grace CANNOT produce false converts (evil fruit).

In the same way, a false gospel (corrupt tree) CANNOT bear good fruit (children of God).

"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:19-20).

Every false gospel will be done away with in God's timing. This includes all unsaved false teachers as well.

True believers CAN preach a false gospel while still being saved at the same time, but in the end, the true grace of God will stand. The saved person will never ever again be lost, but they can be deceived and share a false message.

That message, no matter who it comes from, will ALWAYS create false converts.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:21-23).

This reveals whether someone has ever trusted in Christ alone, or if they've always trusted in their own righteousness (which they have none of).

Notice they stand before Christ and point to THEIR works instead of CHRIST'S work as what should get them into Heaven.

08/25/2026

If you could know that you have eternal life and that you'll never perish, wouldn't you wanna know?

The truth is, God would rather die Himself than to see us die with our sins. If He's willing to go that far for us, why would He still make it hard or difficult for us to be reconciled to Him and therefore be able to be in Heaven when we die?

Here is something most people don't understand: We'll never get to Heaven by how good we are.

We've always thought, "good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell"

THAT COULDN'T BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!! 👀

Wait, what? How does that even make sense???

You see, the Bible we are all less perfect than God because we've all sinned.

If we've ever told a "little white lie" then we can't get into this PERFECT place called Heaven!

Since we have to be perfect to get to Heaven, that means we need a MIRACLE to get there, because we're not PERFECT!

WHAT I'M THE WORLD DO WE DO, THEN?

We need a Savior, and I have great news: THERE'S ONLY ONE, and His name is JESUS!

Jesus is just as much God and God the Father is, and that's why He came and lived the perfect life, and laid down His life on the cross for our sins.

In fact, anyone who has sinned even once must die. Not right away but at some point, we all die.

Or sin has separated us from God, so we don't want to die while still separated from our Creator.

Jesus had to die by loss of blood and He had to be hanging from a tree (the cross) in order to fully pay the price for all the sins of the world

Three days later He came back from the dead and the only thing He wants you to do is believe He did it for you.

That's how much He loves us.

Right now many people are trusting in themselves to get themselves to Heaven, but that just won't work.

We need the righteousness of Jesus Christ to enter into Heaven, and if you'll believe Jesus paid for all your sins and rose from the dead, He'll give you His perfection as a gift and you'll be guaranteed to be in Heaven when you die.

God has promised this and He cannot lie.

I hope you'll trust in Jesus today, friend. Tomorrow might just be one day too late!

08/23/2026

As some of you may have noticed, I have not posted in the last 48 hours.

My beautiful wife Kayla has injured her back very badly and was taken to the emergency room by ambulance.

The Dr believes she has a pinched nerve.

Her mobility will be very limited at least for a few weeks.

I must admit, I can use a microwave but that is the extent of my cooking expertise.

I've shared our meal train link below so that if you want to support us, Randy and Kayla, here at Philippians ThreeNine Ministries, you can do so in this way.

The link is meal train, which means you will be able to provide meals for us through gift cards, if you are led to do so.

Please pray for my baby flower from Jesus, that she will get the answers she needs concerning her back pain.

Thank you again for your prayers during this time of need.

God's will be done and not our own!

As some of you may know. Kayla has injured her back. She is non mobile for a few weeks. I must admit, I can use a microwave but that is the extent of my cooking expertise. Gift cards are welcomed. Please pray for my baby flower from Jesus, that she will get the answers she needs concerning her back....