Category Salvation

Jun 8 2008

Religious but Lost


Religion by any name is not acceptable by the Holy God of the Bible. If you examine all of the well known religions of the world, and those not so well known, thee have one commonality. At the center is the human ego who wants to take credit, wants approval, wants “self” to be the center of attention. I know of no exception to this.

All egocentric efforts to be approved and accepted by God are in direct contradiction to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only people God approves and accepts are those who have put their whole trust in His promises, who have taken Him at his Word. All whom God accepts are accepted only upon the work and merit of Jesus whose righteous life was given for those with unrighteous lives, whose body was a perfect sacrifice prepared to die the death required of everyone whose sins offended God, and upon Whom the angry wrath of God against sin was completley exhausted, so that when He rose from the dead, death, hell, and the grave were defeated. Now God declares “right” or “righteous” those who receive His gracious offer extended in the gospel. Never has God compromised his hatred and punishment for sin, the price has been fully paid.

Of this righteousness which is by grace through faith Paul asked, “Where is boasting? It is excluded”. Or he could have asked, “Where is religion? It is uselss”. Religious but lost. Who are they? Perhaps it is you or the man who has been on the same pew with you for decades. It is really simple to understand. All one must do is honestly answer only one question. On what basis do you expect to be given eternal life? If that answer includes anything that is acheived by human effort, anything that satisfies the human ego, anything that assumes the glory that only Christ deserves, you have given a wrong answer.

Jesus made a starteling statement in Matthew 7. He said in regard to the day of judgment, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.‘ (Matthew 7:21-23)

First, consider what He did not say. He never hints that they are backsliders, that they were once saved and became apostates. He does not say they were not religious folks, or not “good” people by the worlds standards. Perhaps they were “good” people even by the local church’s standards. Just what did He say?

Not everyone who claims to be a Christian is one. Not everyone who makes a profession of faith in Christ, not everyone who cries out “Lord, Lord” is saved. Also not all who do good works, even “mighty” works, or “wonderful” works are saved. And, not all the preachers and teachers will be saved. There are those who prophesy and cast out demons in Jesus name but are lost. Now, do you suppose these folks Jesus described were religious or not religious? Of course they were religious folks. They attended church, they said all the right things, they did all the right things. but were damned for hell. Why? Because they had failed to do the will of the Father in heaven. Strange you say! They had seemingly done the right stuff, perhaps they attended the “Lord’s church”, they had heard teaching, they had sung songs, they had prayed, they had given, they had taken the Lord’s Supper, but they had depended on themselves and not upon Jesus. They were religious but lost.

How many of these religious imposters are there? According to Jesus “Many”. If there are “many” who are religious actors why would you suppose that there are not some in my church or yours? It is the will of the Father in heaven that all men everywhere repent and put their whole trust in Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. Hear Jesus’ answer when asked, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28,29) And then He explained, “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:35-40)

“Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life.”  At hearing these words many of His own disciples turned away, they chose religion over Jesus alone. How wonderfully clear has Christ made His promises to hopeless and helpless sinners? Again and again He makes the gracious offer of Himself. Only those who trust Him alone and forsake everything else are secure for eternity.

Jesus characterized the way to heaven as “hard” and “narrow” and said that only “few” will find that way. The contrast is the road to hell which is “easy”, “wide”, and “many” are traveling on it. Yes, more lost than saved, more who trust themselves than Jesus. Remember “There is a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof is death.” That statement is still true in 2008.

What a sad condition! Religious but lost. “The wages of sin is death but the FREE GIFT OF GOD is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Please, don’t cling to good works, religious ritual, saying all the right things, being in the right church, at the expense of the sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf. Throw yourself upon the mercy of God and trust Christ will all your heart. He will not always wait for you.

Great grace,
Royce Ogle

 

 

May 15 2008

God’s master plan in one verse


“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14

One sacrifice for sin all time. The offerings for sins carried out by the priests were unable to “perfect” those for whom the sacrifices were offered. The daily offerings of the priests and the annual offerings in the holy of holies could “never take away sin” but only cover it for a while. Christ offered his own body, (prepared for him specifically for this purpose ) “once for all time and sat down at the right hand of God. His work was finished. The sacrificial system was but a shadow of the true sacrifice who would come and offer himself on the cross as final and complete payment for the sins of undeserving people.

Our eternal standing is secure. “He has perfected for all time” those who are his own. All of our sins, past, present, and future have been judged. “The wages of sin is death” Paul said in Romans 6:23. God, because He is holy and just, can not overlook sin, it must be paid for and the payment is death. Jesus died that death. All of God’s wrath against sin was poured out on Christ on the cross and the shameful events that led up to the death of the Lamb of God. The shame, the humiliation, the mocking, the spitting upon him, the beating, and finally the blood poured out, completely satisfied the justice of a holy God who hates sin and must by his very nature punish it. By this one offering of this perfect sacrifice sin is forever paid for and no other sacrifice is ever needed. We are “perfect” in Him.

God is at work in us so that we will better reflect our perfect standing with him. We are “being sanctified” Salvation is in reality a process. We have been saved from the penalty of sin, (There is therefore no condemnation..) we are being saved from the power of sin ( He who began a good work in you will complete it – sanctification), and at the resurrection we will be saved from even the presence of sin. (and so shall we ever be with the Lord ). Every benefit of salvation rests solely upon the person and work of Jesus. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.” The reconciliation is complete. The sin offerings complete. Salvation is complete.

What is our response to this grace? This verse, and this rich book of Hebrews, are only one of scores that clearly teach human effort, religious activity, and all good works are futile in gaining God’s favor. Paul said to the believers of the churches of Galatia “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified”. In spite of this crystal clear teaching many of us live as modern day Pharisees going about trying to establish our own righteousness expecting God to grant us added favor because of what we do. Paul called depending on what you do or “works” for salvation “another gospel, which is not another“. It is a lie presented as the “good news” but it is not the “good news” for the only true “good news” is that by the offering by Christ of himself, once for all for “whosoever will” is all God will accept.

Our correct response to God’s amazing grace is to surrender all that we are to His glory and eternal purposes and to give ourselves wholly to His pleasure. In sickness and in health, in poverty and wealth, we are married to another and even death will not separate us. It is this goodness of God toward sinners that teaches us to say NO to unrighteousness and YES to what is pure and holy.

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:19-23 )

His peace,
Royce Ogle

 

Apr 21 2008

It is finished. Really it is!


From the gospel of John we learn that from the cross, just before Jesus would finally die, He said “It is finished”. What was finished? The righteous demands of a Holy God had been fully met and the wrath of a Holy God against sin had been exhausted. The sin problem common to every human was eternally solved. “It is finished.”

“When He (Jesus) had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..” (Hebrews 1:3) Having referenced several versions of the Bible, each of them agree on what this awesome verse says. First Jesus “purged” our sins. Some versions use the word “cleansed”, some ‘purified”, but each offers the same meaning. HE fixed our sin problem. And each of the versions I referred to correctly translated the tense of the verb to be the “past tense”. There is no process involved, it is a finished work. “Purged”, “cleansed”, or “purified” all happened in the past and are done.

The writer to the Hebrews again and again affirms this glorious truth.

  • “Once for all when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:26,27)
  • “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12)
  • “Once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26)
  • “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28 )
  • ” We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”  (Hebrews 10:10)
  • “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12)

And if that were not enough to convince anyone who reads the text, the final, convincing truth is found in Hebrews 10:14. ” For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Jesus Himself by living a perfect life and presenting a perfect sacrifice to God on behalf of estranged sinners has “once for all” fixed the sin problem for everyone who puts their trust in Him. There is no righteous act, no penance, no sacrifice, no reform, no personal proof, no suffering, that can add to what Jesus has already accomplished on your behalf.

When God looks at one of those dear ones, who are together the bride of Christ, He sees that one perfect. Perfect until you mess up? No way! In simple terms your perfection is “eternal”. Thus Paul could say with confidence in Ephesians 1:4 “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”

Take a deep breath and relax child of God, you have a lot of living to do! What you don’t have to sweat is your sins. They are gone! It is finished! Yes, of course we still sin, but our sins are not counted against us any longer. (Romans 4:7,8 ) It is because of this grace knowledge, this abundance of mercy, that we learn to say no to sin. We are no longer slaves to sin, we have been set free.

The penalty of sin is death. Jesus died in your place. God is satisfied.
The power of sin is the law. It was nailed to the cross.
The presence of sin will one day be only history not to be remembered again when Jesus comes for us.

This is the good news about Jesus. “It is finished!” Amen, and amen.

His peace,
Royce Ogle

 

 

 

 

 

Apr 17 2008

Acts 2:38, a second look


I just read a post at http://keithbrenton.blogspot.com/ that prompted this post. You should visit Keith’s blog and read some of his stuff, especially the latest post. He poses the question “Is an imperative always a command?” He then takes a look at Acts 2:38. His take is interesting to say the least. All of his posts are excellent reading.

Acts 2:38. Is there any church of Christ/Christian church member who has not heard scores of sermons on this foundational verse? Perhaps you can answer some questions.

  • In the verse there are two imperatives “repent” and “be baptised”. Since “repent”, “repentance”, etc. are mentioned far, far more than baptism, why is the emphasis of perhaps 99% of all lessons on this verse focused on baptism rather than “repent”?
  • In my view, an improper empasis on baptism can result in a person trusting an event rather than a person, the Lord Jesus. Isn’t baptism meaningless unless one has truely “changed his or her mind” (repented) about the course of their life?
  • Is it possible that we might have misunderstood the meaning of Acts 2:38? The gift of the Holy Spirit is a promised result of obeying these two imperatives, or commands. In Peter’s own words later, he connected the gift of the Holy Spirit, not to baptism but to “belief”, which is the flip side of repentance. ““Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:47) In the next chapter Peter defends his action of baptizing Gentiles. His clear answer was “Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” (Acts 11:15,17)

Is it possible that many of us have put the gospel cart before the horse?

His peace,
Royce Ogle