Tag Archives: faith

Feb 9 2010

The Exclusivisity of Jesus for Salvation


(From the archives, Jan 26, ’07)

“If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:9-13 NKJV)

John’s record sounds very much like Jesus’ own words when He said,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:16-21 NKJV)

The truth is clear. Men are given eternal life based wholly upon what they have done about Jesus. And, the text is also very clear that those who refuse to take God at His word do so because they love their sin, or to put it another way, they refuse to repent. Those who go to the light, simply believing what God has said about Jesus and trusting on him, have eternal life and will not ever be condemned again.

Salvation is not found in living right, in any church on earth, in aligning with a religeous system, or any other way than by taking God at His word and trusting Jesus and Him only. Those who try to get into the kingdom any other way are rejected and will not be saved in the end unless they repent and come to Christ.

Who can God save? Whosoever will let him come.  Does God need my assistance to save? No. Can God extend His love and forgiveness to anyone on the planet at any time He chooses? Yes.

“When we all get to heaven we will sing and shout the victory”. And, every last one there will be saved by the person and work of Jesus and not by our own doing. “There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved”. Simply put, it is Christ or condemnation. Have you believed God’s record or have you believed the “witness of men”? Trust Christ today.

Grace to you,
Royce Ogle

Dec 9 2009

Eternally Secure? Edward Fudge answers


A gracEmail subscriber in Africa asks for biblical insight regarding his present and future security as a believer in Jesus Christ, while a subscriber in China inquires about the scripture passages that warn Christians against falling away.

* * *

Scripture contains many warnings and admonitions, and we must take them all very seriously. “He who has ears, let him hear” (Matt. 13:9). “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” (Matt. 7:21). “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5). “You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:4). “Be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10).

In reading these statements and others like them, it is easy to miss the forest for the trees unless we keep the following larger picture in view. The books of the New Testament were written for the church on earth, not for the church in heaven. The church on earth includes two kinds of people: (1) believers, and (2) unbelievers who claim to be believers (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43). This is why many will claim at the Judgment to know Jesus, only to be told that he has never known them (Matt. 7:21-23). Jesus told the parable of the wheat and tares to teach this very lesson (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43).

Faith that is real is faith that endures. We are God’s household “if we hold fast” to the end (Heb. 3:6). Holding fast does not make us God’s household — it manifests our true identity. In the same way, a “faith” that is not genuine but is only superficial is sometimes demonstrated by permanently leaving Christ (Heb. 6:4-12; 10:26-31,39). Some scripture warnings do not concern final salvation but involve discipline, maturity or reward. Most, if not all, of the rest are telling us in different ways to be sure that our confession is genuine and our faith is real. The best evidence of all that, we will see in the next gracEmail, is that we keep our eyes on Jesus and entrust ourselves to him.

(to be continued)

_________________

I received this teaching in today’s email from Bro’ Edward Fudge.

I agree completely and Edward, as usual, stated these truths in such a succinct and powerful way I felt compelled to share what he wrote.

Agree or disagree and why?

Thanks for reading,

Royce



Mar 9 2009

What is Saving Faith?


The Bible teaches that sinners are saved by faith alone in Christ alone.

The moment I make this statement an array of emotions are invoked and people will line up to make the case that what I said is not true.  The reasons people think this statement is untrue can be narrowed down to two major lines of reasoning.

The first is the difficulty of people to grasp the scope of God’s love and ensuing grace. The idea that God would declare a wicked sinner not guilty, and then righteous, and give him eternal life and an inheritance in heaven just because he believed what God said in the gospel of Christ goes against every instinct of man. Such an idea is a scandal! Only the most naive would embrace such an idea! Surely sinful man must prove something to God before He can be approved.

I suggest the second, and larger problem is the common misunderstanding of what is meant by “faith“, especially “saving faith” in the Bible. A surprising number of people evidently believe that “believe” and “faith” are exactly the same in regard to salvation and have the most elementary meaning of each word in mind. It is common in our fellowship for a candidate for baptism to be asked “Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God?”  The problem is that believing that truth is not faith. Giving mental assent to some facts is not what the Bible means when it talks about “belief” or “faith“.

There are many places in the Bible that perfectly illustrates what genuine saving faith is. One of my favorites is found in Hebrews 6.

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
(Hebrews 11:6)

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him…”. Since this is true we need desperately to know what “faith” is. The remainder of the verse explains it clearly.

I suggest that biblical, saving faith has three components, and lacking any one makes what one believes less than what God demands. The second section of the verse says, “for whoever would draw near to God…

  • must believe that he exists”. Unfortunately this is as far as many people ever get. They believe a set of facts about God and about Jesus in much the same way we believe stories about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Believing that Jesus was actually a historical figure, and that he was called “The Son of God” is good but is only part of  what faith is. I can give mental assent to historical facts but I never have to depend upon those facts, or put my trust in one of those historical figures. When Jesus told Nicodemus he should believe on Him he meant to “rely on”, to “lean on”, or to “dependently trust” in Him. This is the most fundamental or basic component of faith, it is intellectual.
  • “and that he rewards” It is not enough to believe God exists, we must also believe he will act on our behalf. This is the emotional aspect of faith. This is the point where what you believe in your head starts to be embraced by your heart. Paul’s description in Romans 10 clearly shows this, v9 “believe with your heart” and v10 “For with the heart one believes and is justified“. When I say I believe something with all my heart it is more meaningful than just a fact I have accepted as true.
  • “those who seek him” This is when faith is complete. Those who are seeking are acting. Until what you know if your head is true and what you embrace in your heart is acted upon it is not saving faith. This is the aspect of faith I have called volitional. It requires an act of the will to do something. Looking once more at the familiar passage in Romans 10 you read in v9 “if you confess with your mouth” and in v10 “with the mouth one confesses and is saved“. A person hears about Jesus and believes he exists, they believe in their heart that he will do something for them, and they then tell someone. It is in this context Paul writes in v13”everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved“.

So then saving faith is intellectual, emotional, and volitional. Now it is easy to see that there is absolutely no tension between what Jesus and Paul taught and what James taught; “Faith without works is dead, being alone” A belief that stops short of surrendered obedience is too short to be biblical, saving faith. There are observable responses to the gospel. Going public with your faith by telling others (confession), reenacting the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus in baptism, and a lifestyle of obedience to what you know to be what God wants of you are all observable and to some degree measurable. But none of these observable acts are worth a plug nickel if first there has not been the first two components of faith. Many, many people are trusting what they do (which are good and noble things) and are not depending on Christ alone. It is the outworking of that solitary dependent trust in him that matters for time and eternity.

Again and again Abraham is put forth as our example of a faithful and faith filled man. He “believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness”. Before he was circumcised, before Issac was conceived, before he took a step toward the place to where God would lead him, God declared him to be righteous. Let us not make the mistake of assigning human limitations to God who is unlimited. Do you not think God knew you, knew exactly what would would do on any given day, how you would sin, when you would hear the good news and respond? It is his foreknowledge that gives him the divine prerogative to justify a sinner in an instant who is yet to do those observable things. Now you will have to show me, and those to whom James wrote would have to show him (James 2:18), but God knows the beginning from the end.

The scriptures are very clear. Those who do not have the walk to match the talk are not Christians. Read 1 John. You will find over and over distinctions, a lifestyle of loving living by those who belong to God and are in Christ. They did not become Christians by doing those things, they do those things because they are in Christ. Because they have trusted him they love as he loved. 1 John 5 makes crystal clear that the division is made between the saved and lost by who believes on Christ and those who do not.

Are we saved by faith alone in Christ alone? Yes we are. But to affirm that statement we must know what is meant by “faith”. I hope this might help someone to understand better. Faith and works are not separated, they are always together in saving faith.

His peace,
Royce

Nov 22 2008

How to know you have eternal life from 1st John


Right from the start John makes clear that Jesus Christ himself is eternal life and life is only found in him. This was no theological theory with John. This fact was as real as anything could possibly be.

                                    “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us” (1 John 1:1,2)

John and the others were eye witnesses to the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Christianity is not knowing facts about Christ, or doing the right things, but rather Christianity is centered in the person, Jesus Christ. John starts the book with Jesus, and to put the icing on the cake, he says in the last chapter these words.

                                    “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. 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 5:11-13)

These are absolute, clear, and unmistakable statements of truth. They are not easily misunderstood if one only reads the text. Sandwiched between the first and fifth chapters is a series of markers, or characteristics that we may use to see if we indeed have Jesus Christ, who is himself eternal life. Many have mistakenly used much of this book to teach salvation by works, which is unfortunate because the clarity of the book is so obvious. Those who have Christ will look like him. A watching world will see one who has the aroma of Christ when they see one who has truly been born from above.

Now what does that person look like, how does he live in a world controlled by the evil one?

1.      He walks in the light. (1 John 1:7) Jesus said those who come to the light have nothing to hide but those who do not come to the light do not because their deeds are evil. A person who is in fact one of God’s own will live in the full light of day. That is he will not hide his sin but will rather confess it and receive God’s cleansing. If you either say you have no sin, or try to hide it by living away from God’s light you are not a child of God. (1 John 1:5-10 )

2.      He keeps His commandments. (1 John 2:3) Those who are genuine children of God have a built in desire to obey what Christ taught. Those who do not obey are not saved. This is easy stuff to understand. The person who says “I know Him”, or “I am a Christian” and shows by his life no desire to please God is a liar and there is no truth in him. (1 John 2:4)

3.      He loves his brother. (1 John 2:10) There is a song that says simply, “If you don’t love your brother you don’t love God”, how very true. Love is not an emotion, love is action, it is only love when it is demonstrated in loving acts. A person who does not act in loving ways toward his brother “still walks in darkness”, still lost. (1 John 2:11)

4.      He does not love the world. ( 1 John 2:15,16 ) A person whose life is marked by a pattern of satisfying the desires of his flesh (sexual immorality, drunkenness, gluttony, etc.) and polishing his ego (bigger houses, more expensive cars, more, more, more) by an unhealthy desire for what the world has to offer is not a child of God.

5.      His life will be marked by generosity. ( 1 John 3:16-18 ) One who has been born again by the Spirit of God will not withhold necessities from those in need. One who does so “closes his heart against him”. An uncaring, stingy person, and at the same time has the love of God in him? Hardly! Christ’s disciples are called to not only talk the talk but also to walk the walk. (1 John 3:18 )

6.      He listens to the word of God. (1 John 4:5,6 ) One way to know who is of “The Truth” and who is not is how they respond to biblical teaching. Those who refuse to hear it (and abide by it) are “not from God”. It is unthinkable that a person would love God and have the love of God in him and not love God’s word.

7.      He has overcome the world. (1 John 5:4,5 ) “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

In the final analysis it is the obedience of faith that distinguishes a child of God from an unbeliever. (Romans 1:17, 4:22, 5:1, 10:14-17) We can know for sure that Christ is in us and that we are in him if these markers in 1st John are evidences seen in our lives.

The truth sets men free.

Royce Ogle