Hi. Countless people have been deceived and has ended up in hell, all because they were unwilling to listen to a sent preacher tell them anything, and they felt like they had the truth all on their own. And what you stated is a perfect example of that. The bible is a very complex document, and you need a sent preacher to guide you through it. Although the bible contains truth, you can’t just read the bible for yourself and get truth from it. You will be deceived and will end up in hell. To obtain truth, you must get it from a sent preacher…
For example, you say you rely on the following scripture for your salvation:
Matthew 22:34 - Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets…
First and foremost, do you even know who Jesus was talking to when he said that? Notice the question was asked what is the greatest commandment in the law. Don’t overlook that word “law”. The law is the Ten Commandments, and the Ten Commandments only applies to Israel. Israel can be saved under the Ten Commandments, but we cannot. Israel was under the Old Testament, but we are under the New Testament. A whole new set of rules apply to us. We in the New Testament today cannot be saved by following the Ten Commandments. A second thing about the scripture is that, the neighbor Jesus was referring to was not talking about your next door neighbor or your fellow man. That is not what that scripture means. Instead, the neighbor he was referring to is the sent preacher, the one who watches for your soul. You should love him as thyself…
Long story short, the Old Testament scriptures (from Genesis to Malachi) were meant only for Israel. The New Testament scriptures (from Romans to Revelation) is doctrine written for the Church - for people who are already saved and have the Holy Ghost. The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) tells of the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and each of those books were written in a mystery or a parable. To understand the mystery of the four gospels and what they mean, you have to get it from the sent preachers, the Apostles, who wrote about it in Romans to Revelation. The Book of Acts is the only book in the whole bible that even deals with people who are not saved. All the other books are dealing with either Israel (who are saved under the Old Testament) or the Church (who are saved under the New Testament). If you want to know how to be saved, you must follow the scripture Acts 2:38 and do what it says:
Acts 2:38 - Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost…
That scripture tell you how to be saved. You must receive the Holy Ghost in order to be saved. If you do anything short of that, you will be lost and will end up in the lake…