Posted on 09/20/2019 9:01:36 AM PDT by pastorbillrandles
Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” ( John 6:28-29)
Salvation cannot be obtained by our personal merit. Thank God , because there is not one of us who could ever merit salvation. We cannot earn it, nor can we who have received the gift, ever lose it due to lack of merit. The scriptures make it obvious, “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight…”.
None of us can earn our salvation, nor can we in anywise put God in debt to us, all that He gives is freely given, it is grace. Salvation is Grace, undeserved favor.
If we couldn’t do anything to earn it, neither can we forfeit it by what we do. I do not believe that there is any particular sin that a believer can do which would cost him his salvation.
I cannot emphasize these blessed and simple truths enough, because those of us who set out the case against ‘unconditional assurance’ , (ie Once Saved Always Saved) are always accused of preaching ” good works”, or works based salvation.
Thank God for scriptures like Ephesians 2:8-10,
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. ( Ephesians 2:8-10)
There is nothing I could ever do to earn my salvation, nor to lose it, nor to add to it or take away from it, thank God. Therefore there is nothing I can personally boast in, all of the glory for my salvation goes to Jesus, who,“…has Loved us and bought us from our sins with his own blood”.(Revelation 1:5)
Salvation is not unconditional however. There is one, and only one condition, and that is that we must believe. “He that believes…shall have eternal life”. “This is the Work, that you believe on Him whom the Father has sent”.
Over and over again, we are told by the Apostles that we must believe to be saved. All the Father requires is belief, steadfast, loyal faith. He knows we are weak, unsteady, liable to sin, fall and defect, yet all he requires is belief.
Is the requirement to believe, in the bible a “one time” experience, or is belief seen as an ongoing loyalty which sustaines to the very end, (the goal) of Salvation ?
Popular Bible teacher Charles Stanley presents a very common misconception about saving Faith when He assures people,
Even if a believer for all practical purposes becomes an unbeliever, his salvation is not in jeopardy.” (Stanley Charles, Eternal Security- Can You Be sure? Thomas Nelson pg 93)
The Apostles never taught anything like that. Instead they taught believers to “Hold fast the profession of their hope … to the end…”
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. ( Hebrews 3:6)
The danger to the soul, according to the teaching of Hebrews , is ‘unbelief’. The example from the Old Testament was the incident with the 12 spies. All of Israel heard the gospel of the land flowing with milk and honey. All of them rejoiced, until they came to Kadesh Barnea, where they saw the Giants.
From then on, only two out of that entire whole truly believed! The rest fell short of entering into God’s rest, because they cast aside their confidence, in unbelief.
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; ( Hebrews 3:14)
What does this say about people now, who once believed passionately in Christ and the gospel, but who no longer “hold fast”? I know people who set out believing in Christ, but who no longer maintain faith. Are they still saved? As we pointed out in the last message, “whoever goes on believing shall be saved…” , not whoever ever believed at one time!
Saving Faith is not mere mental assent to a set of propositions. It is an ongoing commitment of a loyalty to a Revelation from God, much like the vows at a wedding. it is “faithfulness”, a response to what God has done and revealed. Jesus called it “abiding in the vine” in John 15.
Neither Jesus or the Apostles ever held forth anything similar to Charles Stanley’s proposition that one can be saved on a temporary belief, which one eventually defects from. Believers “go on believing” whatever it takes. If that belief calls for self renunciation, so be it. When the belief requires personal repentance, true believers repent. None of those things are “works” they are simply elements of the one and only condition God has set on salvation, Faith.
No, a sincere belief in the righteousness of Jesus teaching. A turning away from the sin of the world. Works will be a consequence of salvation not a catalyst.
All sin is a form of unbelief, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” Romans 14
wow is that taken out of context- Sorry- but no- all sin is not unbelief- if it were- Paul would not have called the churches in Corinth and other places “Bretheren in Christ” in their carnal backslidden state”
+1
There isn’t a person in hell today that is there because of ‘sin’.
They are there, because they did not “Change their mind” about Christ and who He really Is. When you repent regarding Christ, your actions follow suit.
[[A turning away from the sin of the world. Works will be a consequence of salvation not a catalyst]]
I might just add that some will be more successful than others- some will unfortunately fall into sin- especially those who are not taught in the word-
There are many many different degrees of ‘Spiritual maturity’- but all of us still sin-
An important point I think to make is, since we all do sin, if we must keep our salvation by not sinning- at what point does one lose their salvation again? 10% sin in their life? 5% 50% .00136%?
We sin in ways we don’t even realize- so even if we could spend an exhausting amount of time trying to ‘confess all of our sins’ there are going to be some we don’t even realize we commit- So we need to ask the works based folks, “Does God turn a blind eye to those confessed sins”? Are they ‘not as serious as ‘serious sins’?
Al sin is bad- that is why Christ had to die- because man could not save Himself, nor could he ‘maintain his salvation’- that is why God had to do away with the practice of sacrificing for sins- because it was not working- it couldn’t- only faith in Christ (who back then, was “The Coming Redeemer”) Could save-
Pinging you both to this interesting one.
read Romans chapter 6.
For that matter any of us.
Paul mentions many times about doing battle with the “old man”.
There is one minister who leads the “New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist “ movement (some say a cult) who pushes the doctrine that it just takes one little faith prayer, and that repentance is a work and not required. He also completely denies the power of the Holy Spirit to deliver people from destructive lifestyles- no hope of salvation for them, they are going straight to Hell. That minister is Stephen Anderson.
So you think one can sin in faith?
I don't find anything in the NT that indicates the believer can unseal themselves or does God unseal the believer.
I am not saying that “Keep our salvation by not sinning”. I am saying that the only requirement is faith. Faith that is ongoing...a continued abiding in God, no matter how imperfectly, no matter how many false starts, falls, meanderings, in spite of our sins, we must “go on believing”. The one who ceases to believe , ceases to have assurance of salvation. It is just that simple.
Thanks for the input, obviously I am not being clear enough in what I am saying...
1) I am saying that the only requirement for salvation is the we believe.
2 ) I am making the point that biblically “to believe” is not a momentary assent, it is an ongoing commitment, a loyal steadfastness...
3) I am also saying that Unbelief is the primary danger... not any particular sin a believer may commit, or a sin of omission... Jesus died for all of our sins
4) The only question is, “do you go on believing?”
5) I am also raising the issue of sin in the believer’s life, and the relationship of persistent sin too unbelief...
I have more to share and will trynto be clearer, but this feedback helps...
“So I accept Jesus, and then I can Do anything I want.?”
Look, it is patently obvious that no single human being who ever has lived, or who ever will live, was or will be perfect. Not even imperfect to such a small degree that they would be granted salvation by those deeds alone. But the beliefs expressed in this article cannot be true, because they basically say that you have no responsibility. Though I cannot read God’s mind, I am very well aware that God created each and every one of us, and knows exactly what our capabilities are, what experiences we have gone through and what influences we have had during our lives. He tests us constantly, expecting that we will mess up on most occasions and, knowing what He does, he forgives us for most of our mistakes and shortcomings. He only asks that we continue to try to be better IN FACT (not just in mind or spirit).
Some things cannot be forgiven - like murder. Murder is a crime against BOTH God’s law and against the victims (yes, plural, even if only one person is actually murdered). God can (and often does) forgive people for some pretty bad acts, including murder. But He requires SINCERE belief - and the only certain demonstration of that sincerity is to change the bad behavior, whatever that might be. As for the victims, there are many: first, of course, is that actual murder victim - who is unable to forgive the act once he or she has been murdered. Then there are the family members (immediate and extended), friends of varying degrees, acquaintances, work colleagues, neighbors, etc. ALL of them are also victims - and it is doubtful that a murderer would be forgiven by all of them (possible, but very doubtful). But the unforgivable part is with the victim himself or herself. The murderer, even if they repent completely and turn to God, and do good works, will STILL have to pay a price for the great harm he/she has inflicted. Mere belief in God is not sufficient.
“So I accept Jesus, and then I can Do anything I want.?”
Sounds like one of those questions like, “Did Adam have a navel?” Meant to be some kind of *gotcha* question; not a real inquiry.
However, the answer is:
Yes, you CAN do anything you want. But you won’t. Your conversion will change the person you are. The closer you get to Him, the further you get from sin and its pull. The power to overcome sin grows stronger with your growth.
But if you do fall (and you WILL fall...constantly), you are still the righteousness of God. Jesus died 2,000 years ago, for All of the sins of mankind. This includes the ones you commit before your acceptance of Him as your Savior and the ones committed after that.
It’s called Grace. And it is unqualified for the believer. You become, via Jesus’ propitiation, sinless before God.
That’s amazing and hard for the natural man to understand. But that’s part of what makes it so wonderful.
As the hymn goes, “Amazing Grace”.
[[I am saying that the only requirement is faith. Faith that is ongoing...]]
I disagree- a person can become saved- Get alzheimers, or brain injury, and completely forget about an ‘ongoing faith’- and again- Christ loses none of His- Fortunately our salvation does not depend on OUR ongoing anything- it relies solely on Christ- and His promise to never lose any of His children-
[[a continued abiding in God, no matter how imperfectly,]]
[[ceases to have assurance of salvation.]]
A person can become saved- and be swayed by Satan to doubt God, even doubt his own salvation- and suddenly die in that condition- Does he lose his salvation? IF so then it is US who ‘maintain our own salvation’ and not Christ- it’s no longer a gift- it’s a reward based on how good we are-
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