Solifidian, sol-i-fid-i-an, One who holds that faith alone, without achievement or personal merit, is sufficient to insure salvation.
FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. (Romans 10: 13 ; Joel 2: 32)
If you truly understand what it means to call on Jesus name to be saved as in Romans 10: 13, then according to First Thessalonians 5: 24, Faithfull is HE that calls you, who also will do it.
Jesus is going to save you, you are not going to save yourself. If you have to do more than what grace has done, is doing, and even will do, then you have not received salvation, you are still trying to achieve salvation.
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a 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 has before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2: 8-10)The works we do after receiving the free gift of salvation, is a reflection of HIS grace at work in our lives. Works are a result of grace, with HIS divine intervention in our lives, and the reflection of that intervention in the choices we make, and the actions we take, from then on. [see Strong's Concordance - 5485 Grace, charis, divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life].
Some argue that once you've confessed Jesus as Lord, as in Romans 10: 9, then you must maintain your salvation with good works. Apostle Paul emphatically called such line of thinking foolish, bewitched, disobedient to the truth of Jesus Christ. Paul asks, "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3: 1)
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3: 3)
...of Abraham...what was his experience?
If he was put right with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about - but not in God's sight. The scripture says, Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous (Gen. 15: 6).
A person who works is paid wages. Wages are not a gift; wages are earned.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6: 23)
Those who depend on faith, not on deeds, believe God's declaration, that they are justified by faith in Jesus, faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself.
Therefore we conclude that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (Romans 3: 28)
David proclaimed the happiness of the person whom God accepts as righteous, apart from anything that person does.
Old Testement - Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven, whose sins are pardoned!
Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!" (Ps. 32: 1, 2 Good News Version)
New Testement - Romans 4: 2-8 N.I.V., (2) If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about---but not before God. (3) What does the scripture say? ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS [ GENESIS 15: 6 ] (4) Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. (5) However, to the man who DOES NOT WORK BUT TRUSTS GOD WHO JUSTIFIES THE WICKED, his faith is credited to him as righteousness. (6) David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.
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Receiving vs. Achieving Part 2 - What about obedience? Or, what about those who do not follow sound doctrine?
Solifidian, sol-i-fid-i-an, One who holds that faith alone, without achievement or personal merit, is sufficient to insure salvation.
There may be times after being saved, we do things that displease and dishonor God. If we don't turn to Him with confession and repentance, we loose the benefit of His blessings (Ps. 68:19; 1 Kings 9: 1-9; Hos. 13: 5-9, blessing leads to backsliding (Hos. 5: 6 ...so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me), but the Lord WILL STILL BE THEIR HELP 9b.,
Turn, O Backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: (Jer. 3: 14). Mal. 2: 2; 3: 7 return to God, and HE will return to you. Specifically with HIS blessings and favor that were lost do to disobedience).
Here is divine advice how not to backslide:
Jesus said to "watch daily, 1 hour, that you don't enter into temptation" (Lk.9: 23; 22: 40, 46; Mt. 26: 40-41).
"The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Backslider"
When the Holy Spirit reproves believers of what is right (Jn. 16: 10), but by an act of spiritual ignorance we fail to recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit; Or we do recognize His leading, but are not spiritually wise and or strong enough to follow. Then we loose the blessings of God. This is why it is important to strengthen our inner man by praying in the Spirit, as Jude 20; First Cor. 14: 2 and Rom. 8:26 says to do.
LET THE WISE OBSERVE: Salt in the Bible is an analogy of Wisdom,
When a child disobeys a parent, the child looses priveledges. So it is with God and us; The child is not cast out into the street. Left to go hungry and die. Instead the child is made to re-evaluate their behavior. The Lord chastens HIS wayward children, just as human parents do Rev. 3: 19.
God's own Holy Spirit is in us, and will NEVER leave or forsake us (Heb. 13: 5). HE will see to it that the work of salvation is completed in us (1 Thess. 5: 24).
We can try to ignore the Holy Spirit, and sadly some do. But that is only when the progression of sin has so hardened that persons heart, that they no longer can hear the Holy Spirit (1 Tim. 4: 2). Until God lets them go to a point of being so broken by bad circumstances, which is inevitable when a born again believer walks out from under HIS grace blessings. Constantly urged by the Holy Spirit, eventually the backslider will call out to God, abundantly aware that they have sinned. Just like the child that has been made to re-evaluate his or her behavior. Bad circumstances are the result of doing things out from under the grace and blessings of God. These results, or bad circumstances will turn out to be nothing short of being chastened by God (1 Cor. 11: 31-32). Try to ignore Him and the Holy Spirit will bring you to your knees in broken repentance. This is the love of a parent. Who will not let the child continue in a path of self destruction.
Once broken, God has made the way back into His favor in First John 1: 9. We need only to confess sin. In the moment we do, He is right there with forgiveness. And once again whether we deserve it or not, by something called grace, He restores us to all the blessings with favor.
Ps. 51: 17; Isa. 57: 15
Nothing we do will achieve salvation for us, we can only receive it as a free gift by faith in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross at Calvary Jn.17: 4, and it will be finished in you, by His own Holy Spirit.
Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ (Philippians 1: 6).
Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it (1 Th. 5: 24).
Part 3 will "Finish" this 3 part series. But the subject by no means will be concluded in us. We are a work in progress 1 Cor. 13: 12; 2 Cor. 3: 18, we are changed, transformed (Rom. 12: 2) ... by HIS Spirit, HIS Word of Truth (JN 17: 17).
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Receiving vs. Achieving Part 3 - It Is Finished
Solifidian, sol-i-fid-i-an, One who holds that faith alone, without achievement by personal merit, is sufficient to insure salvation.
Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (NIV Gal. 3: 3)
This 3rd part of this series, Receiving vs. Achieving is the final one. However, despite the fact I give it the, "it is finished", addition to the title. We will see that just as our Salvation, although as far as Jesus' work to bring it about is done, or, finished. His work in us, as long as we are in this life, will not be finished until we have gone through the judgment fire (1 Cor. 3: 13, 14), which will take place after we have either died, or gone through the catching away of the Church (what some call, "The Rapture", 1 Th. 4: 17). Obtaining salvation, or "receiving" salvation, is a continuous, day by day process, until the end. The finishing of our faith, the process of being, "saved", is not finished when we first believed, and confessed Jesus as Lord, any more than the process of becoming, "as he is", is finished at the moment we first believed.
As long as we are in this life, every Bible study, or sermon, or preaching, could be legally concluded with, "To Be Continued".
Its not enough to just say the right words. We must believe them also. Romans 10: 9 says, We must confess Jesus as Lord, however, we must also believe in our hearts Jesus lives. It's the faith we have in our hearts that he was resurrected, combined with an open confession in a risen Lord that brings the promise of our own rebirth. The rebirth happens when God the Father, seals us with the Holy Spirit of promise (2 Cor. 1: 22). The word "earnest", used in the KJV, is the same word used for a down payment for property. We receive a promise of the completion of salvation. The NIV says, God puts a seal of ownership on us, by putting his Spirit in our hearts, guaranteeing what is to come, (the completion of our salvation). Eph. 4: 30b says, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Our salvation is not complete when we say Jesus is Lord. Calling him Lord requires obedience. People who are not obedient are just mouthing words. Their words are not from a heart of faith.
When people hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, their hearing must be mixed with faith (Heb. 4: 2). People who hear the gospel, but don't repent in their heart, turning away from the sin that has controlled their lives, never actually believed the gospel in the first place. The gospel was not mixed with faith (Heb. 3: 18).
To say someone "is saved", is the same as saying a piece of land I am paying a mortgage on is mine. It's not mine. It belongs to who ever I'm making the payments to. It won't be mine until all the payments have been made.
Jesus made all the payments for our souls on the Cross. Everyone now belongs to him. Even the non-believer. But until we acknowledge his ownership, we remain lost. The fact that at judgment, the lost will be cast into the lake of fire, is proof that the lost belong to him as well as the saved.
A believer's soul is in the process of "being" saved. But as for someone "loosing" their salvation is concerned, if they really believe in their heart that Jesus died for their sins, and that God raised him from the dead, and they obey the word, turning from their sin, their salvation is begun. And it will be finished, regardless whether or not they die soon after believing, or they live a long life after believing. (2 Thes. 5: 24).
The phrase "once saved, always saved", is an erroneous statement. But the idea that someone can loose their salvation is an error as well.
Our salvation is not on condition that we live perfectly obedient lives. If it was, that would mean the blood of Christ was insufficient, and no one would be saved. The NIV 1 John 1: 8 says, If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Verse 8 here implies the Truth is in us, at the same time sin is. Why?
I set my eyes to the words in the Bible, my fingers to the keys on the keyboard, to answer this question, and my human frailty, makes me want to abandon this work, because of the magnitude and abundance of explanation of what I read in Paul's 2 letter to the Corinthians. And indeed, all the books of the New Testement. But because the topic of "once saved, always saved" and the arguments pro and con persist. I pray for strength, and insight how to explain it, as simply as possible, despite the fact there appears to be no simple explanation.
However, because I have read the KJV, the NIV, the Amplified, and several other "versions" of the Bible cover to cover enough times, that the Holy Spirit has settled it in my heart, by God's own Word, and by experience, that I do not have to fear being rejected, or lost do to my own short comings, or lack of ability to finish the course. The race, as Paul puts it.
Any time I am concerned about this, I need only visit Philippians 1: 6 or 1 Thessalonians 5: 24 and settle down into prayer (most likely including some confession of sin), and once again the Holy Spirit puts my soul at peace (see 1 John 1: 9).
Our salvation begins in grace, and it ends in grace. Paul uses a very course, but like it or not, a very appropriate way of answering those who would after being saved by grace, would think that now their salvation is determined by their own effort or actions. He says, Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? (NIV Gal. 3: 3)
Notice the words "attain your goal". Who is doing the work in us? Do we give the glory of our salvation to God? Or is some of the glory for us to achieve?
In Matthew 10: 38 Jesus says, "he that will not take up his cross, and follow him, is not worthy of him". This refers to people who see the truth of the gospel, but are decieved by the sin in their life, and fail to repent of their sins. They keep certain things back, voiding out the work of Christ in their life. They do not come to the truth, they keep the lies of the Devil in their heart, and fail to receive salvation. They are as the people in the parrable of the sower. see Mark 4. They hear, some even receive. But the cares of this world, or the lies of the Devil, which is still in their heart, because they did not surrender to the fullness of the gospel, they never get the work of salvation sealed in them by his Holy Spirit.
A believer who sins, is still a believer. They will suffer a diminished walking in the blessings of God as the pattern of sin progresses. Because sin is progressive. Just as walking in the light is progressive. The more Word one gets into their heart, the more light they walk in. The more sin they get into their heart, the more darkness they walk in.
When a believer starts down the path of sin. They go deeper and deeper into darkness, and the Light of the Truth (His Word), becomes veiled by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13).
Sin blinds us to the truth. It is a deceiver of the heart. 2 Corinthinas 3: 15, 16 KJV says, But even unto this day, when Moses is read (remember, here the N.T. is not written yet, they only used the O.T. to show Christ), the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it (their heart) shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
Until a soul repents of sin, they remain captives of the father of lies the devil. But "turning to the Lord", repenting of sin, brings liberty. 2 Corinthians 3: 17 ...where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
In 1 Corinthians 3: 13-17....we are told that what we do in this life will either be rewarded, or we will suffer the loss of reward. Those rewards are for doing good works. Not the reward of eternal life. Eternal life is not a reward, it is a free gift. You can not earn it, you can not achieve it, you can only receive it, and it is not taken back.
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance (Romans 11: 29)
Whether the gift of God is a gift for the ministry, or the gift of salvation, God does not take anything back. He does withdraw his favor, his working with you (Mark 16: 20), until you stop your backsliding, leaving you open to the attacks of the enemy. But that is what a believer does by choosing to walk in sin. It's not God's fault. It's a process of God allowing our bad choices to force us back to himself via 1 John 1: 9.
Show me a person who has stopped believing they are saved by grace, that they must continue in good works to remain saved, and I will show you someone who did not receive the correct truth of the gospel. They did not receive faith in the power of God to save by grace (Gal. 3: 2-3)
As for those individuals who appear to have been saved, but lost their salvation, see 1 JN 2: 19. They never truely believed in the first place.
Fearing the loss of salvation is the Devils work. The poor soul who believes they can loose their salvation, is kept in bondage to the idea they must continually achieve it. Ephesians 2: 8-9 says, we are saved by grace through faith. We can not achieve it. Or we would be able to say we did it without totally relying on the blood of Christ, and by our own merit, we somehow achieved our own salvation.
Know that HE which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus...(2 Cor. 4: 15).
We are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, that we should do them (Eph. 2: 10).
We are a work in progress.
THANK YOU JESUS
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Receiving vs. Achieving - Part 4 - Continue in my word
Jesus finished the work of salvation. Then rested in the place of authority, because the work was done (Mat. 26: 64; Mk. 12: 36; 14: 62; 16: 19; Luke 20: 42; 22: 69; Ps. 110: 1 Acts 2: 25, 26, 33, 34, 35; Ps. 16: 8-10; Acts 5: 31; 7: 55, 56 < here standing to receive Stephen, Rom. 8: 34; Eph. 1: 20; Col. 3: 1; Heb. 1: 3, 13; 8: 1; 10: 12; 12: 2; 13: 10; 1 Pe. 3: 22), being seated represents rest, as from work. The "Right Hand" is a postion of authority.
Knowing the fulfillment of all things would soon be accomplished. BY HIS OWN BLOOD, HE PERFECTED FOREVER them that are sanctified (Heb.10:14). Verse 15 says the Holy Ghost is a witness to us that we are perfected by the sanctification we recieved in Jesus.
On the way to Calvary Hill, the church leaders had no idea they were being led captive in Jesus's victory procession, which was freeing Him from their authority. They thought they were killing Him, when in fact He was destroying their unjust authority, freeing Himself and all who would follow Him as Lord.
Having all requirments of the Law nailed to the cross (Col. 1: 20), Jesus totally disarmed the enemy of God's people - Satan, and the unjust leaders of the church (Col. 2: 14-15). The unjust leaders used "traditions of men" and "set aside God's Word", to teach precepts of men in the place of God's Word (Mt. 15: 3,6; Mk. 7: 5-9).
Satan used guilt by the requirments of the Law.
It was the requirments of the Law that kept people in bongage to guilt. When Jesus had those requirments nailed to the cross, He removed our guilt (Heb. 10: 14).
TO BE CONTINUED (by every believer)
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