Saved by what?

 

The author of this year’s devotional seems to write for those who are in constant doubt of their salvation. I finally did a bit of research and discovered that this person was involved in the “Holiness Movement” in the USA. Churches aligned with the holiness movement teach that the life of a born again Christian should be free of sin. Their emphasis is on “a second work of grace” which is called “entire sanctification” or “Christian perfection.” The Bible says this about claiming no sin:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10)

Striving to be sinless so as to be “entirely sanctified” and be a perfect Christian causes all sorts of problems. The Bible is clear that we will not have that perfection of behavior this side of heaven. It is also clear that our perfection is in Christ, not in ourselves or our ‘good works’ for we are saved by faith, not by anything we do. The verses that talk about being perfect are about wholeness in our faith, trusting Jesus alone for redemption. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14)

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:8–11)

Another danger is that those who strive for perfection may not have Christ in their life at all. He was perfect and did not strive for it. Faith in Him means that I have all that He is. My striving is human effort and no one is saved by human effort. This ‘second blessing’ doctrine is dangerous for it puts faith in ‘how I am doing’ rather than in the One who does it for me. It also appeals to sinful pride.

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:9–12)

Where what I believe and what the holiness movement believes agrees is that all are sinners and depraved because of original sin. I believe that sin ruins all my choices for it makes all I do based on what I want and think. The author of this devotional believes that God’s grace gives them some sense of right and wrong and enough spiritual “light” to make a free choice for Christ. I agree that grace gives that sense, but it also grants faith — my choosing is not the issue. When faith is granted, we just know that we are saved as the Bible says: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)

This may not seem an important issue. Those with either view can be genuine believers, or not. Both can be relying on their own works, either to be saved or to keep themselves saved, or to ‘grow’ in their faith. The biggest danger is not being saved at all because of refusing to admit the need to be saved. I hear “I don’t need that” and “I am a good person” far more than any claims to be a Christian for the wrong reasons.

PRAY: Lord Jesus, You know who belongs to You and You know what to do with those who do not, because You know the human heart. I’m so thankful that I don’t have to figure it out for others. I just know that You granted me the faith to trust You and not myself. I don’t like being helpless. However, it means knowing and loving You, so I’m glad to have realized it, and realize how much I need You, and how much You have done for me. Thank You.

Religion or . . .

Two cousins are involved in two different churches. They talk about God and are involved in various religious activities. While I don’t know their hearts, the Bible points out that knowing all sorts of things about God and doing all sorts of things for God does not mean that a person knows God and has eternal life.

This is a difficult issue that requires discernment and a thorough knowledge of what the Bible says about salvation. Jesus makes it clear that being His disciple involves new life from above and a personal relationship with God. He also calls people to love God and one another. Paul explains that salvation is by grace through faith, not works. James says that without works, any claim of salvation is bogus. All of these are true, even though they seem to contradict one another. Yet no one can grab hold of one statement and disregard the others.

Regarding a personal relationship, in His prayer for us Jesus said, “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” (John 17:3, NLT)

Regarding biblical knowledge and understanding of our responsibilities toward God and others . . .

“One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’

“Jesus replied, ‘The most important commandment is this: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” The second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” No other commandment is greater than these.’

“The teacher of religious law replied, ‘Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.’

“Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, ‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God.’ And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Mark 12:28–34, NLT)

Note that this teacher had this theology correct, but he was not yet ‘in’ the Kingdom of God. As Jesus told another religious leader, “You must be born again.”

Yet Jesus also said, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” (Matthew 7:21–23, NLT)

As I ponder these verses, when salvation total descriptions seem to be confusing. They make sense only to those who have been given new life through the power of the Holy Spirit.

“And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.” (1 Corinthians 2:12–14, NLT)

Does this mean that I cannot explain it to my cousins? Not according to God’s Word or to history. The Gospel of salvation is imparted through teaching, preaching, sharing but without the illuminating grace of God’s Spirit, it becomes a confusing jumble of words in their ears. The Spirit knows the listener’s readiness to hear and is the agent to make that happen. Yet He also knows human pride and that willful ‘I will do it myself’ attitude of those who are religious but unwilling to admit their need. Salvation requires a YES yet the Spirit is a must in this amazing work of grace.

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I need to remember all this, not only for myself as a reminder of what You have done, but as a reminder that I cannot argue, cajole, persuade or convince anyone of how they can be saved from sin and enter the Kingdom of God. You alone do that, with or without me or anyone else. The eternal destiny of all those on my prayer list, including those two cousins, is in Your hands.

Out of darkness into light

Spiritual blindness is a terrible thing. Those with physical blindness at least know that they cannot see, but the spiritually blind person has no sense of being in the dark.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:3–4)

How can a spiritually blind person receive sight? Chambers says that the lost must call out to God, but how can they do that if they are blind to their need to do that?

As for me, I know what that blindness is like. I also know that God does the work of bringing light into the life of those in the dark. Out of habit and my mother’s example, I read the Bible for seventeen years, but I could not understand it and nothing changed. It was only after a great failure and much guilt that I became hungry for relief, but had no idea what that would look like or where it would come from.

I began to wonder about life after death and started reading a book about reincarnation (a false teaching). When I read a verse of Scripture in that book, Jesus Christ came into my living room and into my life. At once, the darkness was gone and the Light of the world lifted the sorrow and guilt from my heart. Prior to that time, if I heard the gospel, I do not remember it, but that day, I knew what it was.

Chambers says the Gospel creates a sense of need of the Gospel and that we have to hear it to know we need it. He also says we must ask because “God cannot give until a man asks.” If that were true, I would not be here. It is in Him that I live and breathe — He gave me life and spiritual life without any request on my part. He did His work in my heart and mind without me even knowing that I needed it. Redemption did not depend on my asking for it, but on His amazing grace.

Chambers also says people might be interested if we preach our own experiences, but this will not awaken any sense of need. He adds, “It is never personal testimony that saves men” using what Jesus said in John 6:63: “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.”

However, this needs more thought. For one thing, in those days they did not have the New Testament. Nothing Jesus said was as yet recorded, yet people who personally did not hear Him speak were being saved. The disciples repeated His words and gave their own words to tell truth from God and thousands believed.

As God spoke to His holy men and they recorded the truth He gave them, the New Testament was formed and later ratified as the Word of God. While most agree that the canon of Scripture is closed and not to be added to or subtracted from, the Holy Spirit still speaks. Jesus said the Spirit would come and convince people of their sin, their need for righteousness, and of the judgment to come. This is how those in the dark realize they are sinners.

The Holy Spirit also bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). While we need to test the spirits and not go off on some sort of “God told me” tangent, the Bible assures Christians that God will guide us in all of life through the nudges and comfort of the Holy Spirit.

That said, God can also speak through other people in their testimony, a parable, an illustration, and even events both awesome and tragic. He uses His Word to give life, yet Jesus said: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63)

In this verse, “words” is rhema in Greek, not logos. Logos is the revelation of God, the Word of God, whereas rhema is that which God utters for the need of the moment. Both are necessary. Some read Scripture and are never saved. Without the Spirit to speak into the minds that He created, I would never have been convinced of my need for Him. He used rhema to make sense of logos, and through that personalized voice in my heart, I became a Christian.

The Bible says that “He chose me in Him before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4, personalized). It also says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9).

From start to finish, God did it and God still does all of it.