Pastor Herk continues: The word “saved” here is in the passive tense, as we are passive in the process of salvation. It is God who saves us completely independent what we do. The word “saved” is also in the perfect tense. God has already done everything He needed to do to secure our salvation by sending Jesus to the Cross and then raising Him from the dead to defeat sin and death. (2) God saved us because of His grace. God didn’t have to save anyone from their sins, but He chooses to save us because mercy is a natural attribute of God and grace flows out of the mercy towards us. We deserve God’s justice towards sin, but received God’s grace; the kind of grace that gives us a new disposition when we were made alive in Christ. A grace that gives us a new environment when we are raised up with Christ. A grace that gives us a new intimacy when seated with Christ. The entire concept of God’s grace means that God gives us something that we do not deserve.
(3) God saved us by grace through faith. Our salvation is made operational in our life through our faith. We need to know what faith is and think about what faith means. In theology, faith is defined as the assent of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. Simple belief of the scriptures, of the being and perfections of God, and of the existence, character and doctrines of Christ. Evangelical, justifying, or saving faith is the assent of the mind to the truth of divine revelation, on the authority of God's testimony, accompanied with a cordial assent of the will or approbation of the heart; an entire confidence or trust in God's character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unreserved surrender of the will to his guidance, and dependence on his merits for salvation. In other words, that firm belief of God's testimony, and of the truth of the gospel, which influences the will, and leads to an entire reliance on Christ for salvation.
Saving faith requires knowledge in order to understand what it is that we need to believe. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Knowledge is not faith without belief. Not everyone who hears the truth believes it. Hebrews 11:6 explains, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Knowledge and belief is not true biblical saving faith without trust in God; trusting what we know and believe about God and the Gospel are true. It is the kind of faith that puts knowledge, belief, and trust into action. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Our faith is always demonstrated by our actions. James 2:26 explains, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Charles Spurgeon stated that faith is believing that Christ is what He is said to be and that He will do what He has promised to do, then expecting this of Him.
(4) God saved us by grace through faith and it is a gift to us. What God has done in our lives to redeem us from our hopeless condition is a gift. A gift is defined as: A present; anything given or bestowed voluntarily by one person to another without compensation. But, we do have to choose if we are going to accept the gift and put it to use. When we receive God’s gift of salvation, are we going to put it to use? What we do not use, we also receive no benefit from. When we redefine God and His word to match our ideas of what God should be or who we want God to be, then base our worship on idols that we prefer and like, then we have in fact rejected that great gift of salvation from God. At that point, we are saying to God: I don’t want or need your gift. I’ll do it my way. Do not be deceived and ignore the truth of God’s Holy Word. It is my place as a Christian Pastor to lovingly, yet firmly warn those of you who have chosen and try to come to God the way that you want rather than the way that God has provided that come Judgment Day, Christ will say: ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matt. 7:23).
It’s not all about me or you. It’s all about Jesus Christ. 1 John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son [by accepting Him as Lord and Savior] has the life [that is eternal]; he who does not have the Son of God [by personal faith] does not have the life.” Jesus Christ is Lord because God has determined the way, the truth and the life. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Our salvation is a gift from God because that is how God decided to make salvation available to us; through Jesus Christ – the Savior of the world.
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment