Ask yourself this question... Are you really a good person? How many lies have you told? How many things have you stolen? How many times have you taken the Lord's name in vain? Jesus said, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committed the sin of adultery with her in his heart." If you've done those things you are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart and you have to face God on judgment day. Will he find you innocent or guilty of breaking his laws? If you are found guilty he will be forced to give you justice and cast you into hell. That is not God's will... God did something great for you so you wouldn't have to go to hell. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus took upon himself the punishment for your sins and shed his blood as a sacrifice for us so we wouldn't have to go to hell. This was a new covenant with God, one that you can partake in if you repent (turn from sin) and put your trust in Jesus to save you! When you do this God promises he will give you a new heart, with new desires, and you will be a new creation in Christ. This is what Jesus refers to as being "Born Again." Please don't put this off, "Today is the day of salvation!"
Unfortunately Modern-day American Christianity has decided not to council word of God on a number of really important staples within Christian doctrine. However, the retreat from Biblical salvation has got to be the saddest and most dangerous pitfall of Modern-day American Christianity. We are taught at a very young age that if you walk an aisle, say/repeat a scripted prayer "asking Jesus into your heart," and are baptized then you are from that point "saved" and should never ever question whether your salvation is genuine or not. Now, I am not suggesting that folks never get saved through this very popular method but on the authority of The Bible I am stating that "saying the prayer" and "asking Jesus into your heart" is not Biblical salvation at all. No where in The Bible does Jesus tell anyone to "ask him into their heart." Nowhere does he say "repeat this prayer after me." However over and over and over again he COMMANDS everyone everywhere to repent and trust (have faith) in him, "God's finished work at the cross" for our salvation!
"No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish." - Luke 13:5"
Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent." - Matthew 11:20
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
- Mark 1:15
Why is it so important that we have an accurate understanding of what Biblical salvation is? Because so many people are walking around in a false assurance never once heading their God-given conscience that something is terribly wrong. There is no growth in holiness, no sign of remorse or Godly sorrow, and no spiritual fruit. If sanctification is not taking place then we must take a step back and examine whether the Justification has taken place as well! Many folks are living for themselves in bondage to sin, worshiping other god's and idols, and all the while proclaiming Jesus to be their LORD and Savior. While Jesus becomes your savior at Justification, he becomes your lord in Sanctification as you grow in holiness and are transformed by the renewing of your mind. Something is terribly wrong if one spends his life serving his own lusts and worshiping false idols but believes he is "ok" with God because he walked the aisle, said the prayer, and asked Jesus into his heart when he was nine. Scripture emphatically warns us of the dangers to this mindset!
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds [it] empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation." - Matthew 12:43-45
I myself fell into the trap of Modern-Day American Christianity's form of salvation. I was raised in a church, answered a predetermined call to come forward, said the prayer, asked Jesus into my heart, and was Baptized at a young age. I did all the things I was taught to do and for the most part stayed away from the things I was taught not to do. However as I got older my conscience began screaming at me that something was wrong. So I did what I was taught to do, I suppressed my conscience and confirmed to myself that my salvation was genuine. I even would "say the prayer" over again just to make sure. If I had to guess I would say I've "asked Jesus into my heart" over 100 times in my life. I knew I wasn't living for him cause at various points in my life I was a heavy drinker, addicted to internet porn, addicted to internet gambling, a unrepentant blasphemer, a liar, a thief. I would spend Saturday night puking into the toilet and Sunday morning singing in the choir! I felt like if I at least went to Church and "tried to do better" then I could justify myself. In reality I couldn't atone for my sins by going to Church or trying to do better, cause God isn't interested in my works or my effort. My faith for salvation was in me, it was in what I had done, the prayer I had prayed when I was young and not where it should be "Jesus Christ." Unknowingly I was counting on all the right things I had done to outweigh the wrong, I was a believer in "works righteousness." When someone would ask me "Are you sure you're going to Heaven when you die?" I'd say "yes," but when I was alone my real thought would be "I hope so." If I had trusted Christ I would have KNOWN I was going to Heaven cause God's work is sufficient!
"And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up in sin and become it's slave again, they are worse than before. It would be better if they had never known the right way to live then to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them. They make these proverbs come true: 'A dog returns to it's vomit,' and 'a washed pig returns to the mud'."
-2 Peter 2:20-22
This is why "saying the prayer" and "asking Jesus into your heart" is so dangerous and directly results in many false converts. Not because we can loose our salvation but rather because we twist the meaning of what salvation truly is into something it is not. Then we give the unrepentant sinner a false hope and a false assurance all the while telling him to never question his salvation. If he jumps through all the hoops, "baptism, church attendance, bible studies, ministry work" then he has proof that he has his salvation. This is why he is worse off than before, because now not only is he without salvation but he is taught to believe he is and rebuke any thought contrary to that. Therefore they won't turn an ear towards truth and are inoculated from Biblical truth because it challenges what they've been taught by a Man-Centered Gospel!
"Examine yourselves [as to] whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified."
-2 Corinthians 13:5
While the modern-day American Church will tell you never to question your salvation the Bible disagrees completely. In fact why is it that God allows us to be tested at all? So that he can see if we have faith, or so we can see that we have faith? Testing is not for God folks, it is for us.
"Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble." -2 Peter 1:10
There is one universal flaw in those who have a false assurance. They either knowingly or not knowingly have placed their hope and faith of salvation in themselves and not Jesus Christ. The think that their salvation is a result of something they've "done" in the past like "say a prayer, ask Jesus into their heart, be baptized" and not on what God has done "sacrificed his only son Jesus Christ as a sin offering in an atonement for man." For someone to be saved God must not be a participant, he must be the one doing the saving! Scripture makes it very clear that God alone is responsible for our salvation and we cannot pretend to claim any of his glory or we are deceived. God is the author of our salvation.
"And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him."
-Hebrews 5:9
"Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
-Hebrews 12:2
"For it is by grace through faith that you are saved, and not of yourselves. It is a free gift of God: not of works, lest any one man should boast." -Ephesians 2:8-9
Even our faith in him is a gift from God that he has chosen to give freely to us. Even our ability to believe on him is credited to God and not us. We don't choose him, he chooses us! Is that predestination? Well, God gives everyone the opportunity to repent and trust but only those who are actively seeking him in truth will find him. You gotta want him, you have to "thirst and hunger for righteousness," you have to desire him over anything else!
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you."
-Matthew 7:7
Here is where so many go wrong, they don't truly want him. They want much of what 'The Church' has to offer but they don't want God in his true state. They openly reject the full council of God and begin to create a god in their mind they are more comfortable with. They then call this god THEIR "personal belief" but God calls it Idolatry and it's a very deadly sin. Idolatry is nothing more than spiritual adultery, a worship of false gods. This can be the anything other than God in your life that you live for or it can be a fable you've created in your head. Many folks choose to create a god rather than surrender to the God of the Bible because of one reason. THEY LOVE THEIR SIN! Hence why repentance is left out of the "Gospel Presentation" in many American Churches today! They find a way to reconcile the things of "god" with their bondage to sin and call it a day, but they do this to their own destruction. Often they will pick out of The Bible the attributes of God they like "Love, Joy, Peace, Blessings,Heaven, and Mercy" but will begin to fill in the blanks where the attributes they don't like should be, "Judgment, Righteousness, Hell, Conviction, and Repentance." They want the blessings but they hate the blesser!
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting." -Romans 1:28
"Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."
-Matthew 24:11-13
"Having a form of godliness but denying it's power. And from such people turn away."
-2 Timothy 3:5
"Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."-2 Timothy 3:7
"But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
-2 Timothy 3:13
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables." -2 Timothy 4:2-4
If you do not love God in truth then he has said he will hand you over to your "reprobate mind" so that you may be deceived. He will also provide false teachers to assist you in your idolatry. They will encourage you and rebuke sound teaching "for your sake." This is because you have chosen to love your sin more than a holy and righteous God. It is simply because you do not desire to repent and turn towards him. We are indeed living "in the time that will come" and the false teaching is everywhere so if you have an itching ear you may take your pick. Don't misunderstand, Christians still sin and can even sin for a season, but they cannot be in bondage to sin. They will hate and struggle with sin but over the sanctification process there will be a growth in Holiness. Without any sign of this happening there is no fruit of salvation.
"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore, you will know them by their fruit." -Matthew 7:18-20
We cannot be in bondage or serving sin in our lives and say Jesus is our LORD and Savior. It is a contradiction to do so. If Jesus is your Lord then he is who you will serve, but if you serve sin then you are not of him you are of the devil. If you love the world and all it has to offer you are not of him, you are an enemy of God. This is why repentance is necessary but can only come through faith. We have to depend on God to sanctify us and give us the desire to serve him. When we surrender to God and place our trust in him he places in us a new heart, with new desires, and we are a new creature in Christ. This is what Jesus referred to as being "Born Again" or "Born of the Spirit." Our complete and undivided surrender to him brought about by the conviction of The Holy Spirit is what gives us the only power sufficient enough to break the bond of sin and repent towards God. Therefore we must believe to repent! Salvation is not just something that happens solely in the past but something we are living out. God completes it when we pass from this life into eternity and are made spotless by the blood of Jesus Christ (Glorification). Salvation is a three part process that takes an entire lifetime...
1.) Justification- When a sinner understands his own wretchedness and comes to the point where he is DONE WITH HIMSELF! His only escape is to call upon the name of The Lord.
2.) Sanctification- A continual growth in holiness over the course of one's life
3.) Glorification- Being made perfect before God by the washing of the blood of Jesus Christ at the point where one passes from life into eternity.
If step 2 is not happening, then it's time to go back to step one and start over.REPENT and TRUST!
Friday, March 13, 2009
0
comments