THE WAY OF SALVATION—FAITH
BY WATCHMAN NEE
BY WATCHMAN NEE
GOD'S
SALVATION BEING FOR EVERYONE
THROUGH
FAITH ALONE
Over the
past few evenings, we have looked at the things that man considers to be ways
of salvation. If we do not twist the Word of God but trust in it, we will see
from it that none of those things are a condition for salvation. As we have
mentioned already, according to the Bible there is only one condition for
salvation—faith. Together the words faith and believe occur in the Bible over
five hundred times. Among these many verses, over a hundred verses tell us that
salvation is by believing, that justification is by believing, and that we
receive life by believing. In over thirty places we are told that through faith
we receive this or that from God. These places show us that man is favored by
God through faith and nothing else; that is, believing on Christ for salvation.
Why does
the Bible put so much emphasis on faith? Tonight we will consider why faith has
to be the way of salvation. But we must first ask a question. Is salvation a
work of man or a work of God? Is it man's plan or is it God's plan? Does it
originate with man or with God? Those who do not know God do not know
salvation. Only those who know God know God's salvation. Those who know God
have to admit that it is God who has initiated salvation. It is God who has
planned it, and it is God who has accomplished this plan. As we have mentioned
before, everything is done by God. On our side, we do not have to do anything
except believe.
Why do we
have to believe? It is because redemption is accomplished by Christ. God wants
to make the method of salvation so simple that everyone can obtain it. That is
why He requires only faith. If salvation is from God, it must be universal. If
God's salvation were just for a certain group of people, God would be partial.
If God's way of salvation required something from us, that something would
become an obstacle to our salvation. If there were the simple requirement that
man had to wait five minutes before he could be saved, even that would greatly
diminish the number of saved ones in the world. Many people do not have even
five minutes to wait. God would not have to require even perfect righteousness.
If He were to require righteousness in only one thing, perhaps you could render
Him this righteousness, but hundreds of thousands of people on earth might not
be able to do so. If such were the case, salvation would not be so simple.
In America
there was a famous preacher named Dr. Jowett. He had a co-worker named Mr.
Barry. Mr. Barry was a pastor in a church, but he had not yet been saved. He
held fast that repentance from sins and living holy were the way to salvation. Though
he confessed to believe on Christ, he trusted his work to save him; having the
Lord Jesus as one part of his salvation, and his work as the other part in
assuring him of it. One night someone rang the doorbell of his church. After
letting the bell ring for a long time, Mr. Barry reluctantly put on his night
robe and went to see who it was. At the door was a young, improperly dressed
girl. When he asked her bluntly what she wanted, the girl asked, "Are you
the pastor?" When he admitted that he was, the girl said, "I need
help to get my mother in." He thought that a girl dressed in such a way
must have a terrible home. He thought that perhaps her mother was drunk, and
she needed help to get her mother back into the house. He told the girl to call
the police, but the girl insisted that he go. He tried his best to turn her
down and told her to go to the pastor of the church nearest her. But the girl
said, "Your church is the nearest church." Then he said, "It is
too late now. Come back tomorrow." But she insisted that he go at once.
Mr. Barry thought for a while. He was a pastor of a church with over twelve
hundred members. If one of them saw him walking with this young girl dressed in
that kind of way in the middle of the night, what would they think? But the
girl insisted and said that if he would not go, she would not leave. Finally,
he gave in and went upstairs to change. Mr. Barry later told Dr. Jowett that
while he was walking to the girl's house, he pulled his hat down very low to
cover his face and tucked in his coat for fear that others might see him. The
place where they went was not in a nice area. When he stopped before the house
that they were to enter, he saw that it was not a decent place at all. Then he asked
the girl, "Why do you want me to come to such a place?" The girl
answered, "My mother is very sick. She is in terrible danger. She said
that she wants to get into the kingdom of God. Please get her in." Mr.
Barry could not do anything except step into the house. The girl and her mother
lived in a very small and dingy room. Their home was very poor. When the sick
woman saw him coming, she cried out, "Please help me to get in. I cannot
get in." He thought for a while and wondered what he should do. He was a
pastor and a preacher, and here was a woman who was dying. She wanted to enter
the kingdom of God; she wanted to be taught how to get in. What could he do? He
did not know what to do. So he spoke to her in the way he spoke to his
congregation. He began to tell her that Jesus was a perfect man, the son of
God, that He sacrificed Himself for humanity, that He
displayed such benevolence, and that Jesus went about holiness. If men repent,
turn from their sins and accept him as lord, they will be saved if they
persevere. Mr. Barry was talking to her with his eyes closed. When he finished,
she became mad. She cried out, "No, no! This is not what I want you to
speak about." Her tears began to fall. She said, "Sir, tonight is my
last night on earth. Now is the time for me to settle the question of eternal
perdition or entry into God's kingdom. This is my last chance. Don't try to
take me for a ride or play games with me. I have sinned my whole life long. And
not only have I sinned, but I have also taught my daughter to sin. Now I am
dying. What can I do? Don't play games with me. All my life I have done nothing
but sin. Everything I did was unclean. I never knew what being moral meant. I
never knew what it was to be clean. I never knew what it was to have a
conscience. Now you are telling such a sinner as me, in the state that I am in
tonight, to turn from my sins and take Jesus as my model! How much work would I
have to do before I could take Jesus as my model! You told me that I have to
turn from my sins and follow in the footsteps of Jesus in perseverance. But how
much would I have to do before I could follow in His footsteps and persevere!
Don't play games with me at this hour so crucial to my eternity. Just tell me
how I can get into God's kingdom. What you told me will not work for me. I
cannot do any of those things." Mr. Barry was taken by surprise. He
thought to himself, "These are the things that I learned in theological
school. I studied them for my doctorate in theology. I have been preaching them
for the past seventeen or eighteen years. And these are the things I have always been taught. But here is a woman who wants to get in, and I cannot help
her." So he said, "To tell you the truth, I don't know how to get in.
I only know that Jesus was the son of God and that He sacrificed Himself for the world. All I know is
that if a man turns from his sins and takes Jesus as his Lord and walks as He
walked, he will be a Christian." In tears the woman said, "Can you do
nothing for a woman who has been sinful all her life to help her enter God's
kingdom at the last hour? Is that all you can do to help a dying woman to get
into God's kingdom, who will have no tomorrow and who will have no second
chance?" Mr. Barry was stuck. He had nothing more to say. He thought,
"I am a servant of Christ. I am a doctor of theology. I am a pastor of a
twelve hundred member church. But here is a woman on her deathbed, and I cannot
help her at all. She even thinks that I am playing games with her." But then
Mr. Barry remembered something he had heard from his mother while sitting on
her lap when he was seven years old. She had told him that Jesus of Nazareth is
the Son of God, that He was crucified, and that He shed His blood to cleanse us
from sins. Jesus of Nazareth died for our sins on the cross and has become the
propitiatory sacrifice, and if we simply trust in him alone, we will be saved. He
remembered these words then. He had neglected these words all his life, but
that day these words came back to him. Then he rose up and said, "Yes, I
have something for you. You do not have to do anything, but God has done
everything in His Son. He has dealt with our sins in His Son. God's Son has
taken away all our sins. The One who demands the payment became the One who
pays. The One who was offended became the One who suffered for the offense. The
Judge has become the judged." At that word, the woman's face showed signs
of joy. He went on to tell her all that his mother had told him. Then, suddenly
the woman's face turned from joy to tears, and she cried, "Why didn't you
tell me this earlier? What should I do now?" He then told her that she
needed only to believe on Jesus to give her eternal life. No turning from sin, no walking as Jesus
walked, no persevering, no work at all. At that word, the woman died. Later Mr.
Barry told Dr. Jowett that on the night the woman was saved, he also got saved.
REPENTANCE
FROM SIN, IS IT NECESSARY FOR SALVATION?
I have been
touched in my heart many times by this story. If there is salvation, it should
be available to anyone. If you say that one must be baptized before he can be
saved, then the thief on the cross could not be saved, because he was not
baptized. If you say that one cannot be saved unless he turns from his sins and
perseveres till the end, then neither Samson the Nazarene nor Solomon King of
Israel could be saved. I am not saying that we should not be baptized or turn
from sin. Actually, these are very important things for a child of God to do after he gets saved. But the condition for salvation is not restitution, baptism,
confession, perseverance or repentance or turning from sins. The word 'repentance', in the bible, is nothing
but a changed mind; it is realizing that one is a sinner worthy of
condemnation, and that Jesus is the way to escape condemnation. Repentance is
not sorrow for sin, neither a pledge or conviction to turn from one’s evil
ways. The word of God quite clearly shows that turning from sin is work in
Jonah 3:10- “and God saw their works,
that they turned from their evil way.”.
Interestingly enough, this same passage proves that the word ‘repent’ in the
bible is not the modern definition that has been ascribed to the word: “and God repented of the evil that he had said the he would do unto them”. Here we see God repenting. He is changing his mind. He is rethinking. In both
the original Hebrew and Greek languages, the words translated as ‘repent’
simply means ‘a change in mind’ just as shown in this passage in Jonah. The English word repent used to also have this
same meaning. This can easily be evaluated from the Latin root words. Re-, meaning to change or perform again,
and –pent, meaning to think. When the Lord Jesus said "Repent and believe the Gospel!" He was not calling on sinners to forsake their sins to be saved. He was calling on them to change their minds, and go from unbelief to belief. But in
modernity, it has been changed to mean ‘feeling sorrow for and turning from
sin.’ Many Christians have appealed to the secular dictionaries for the
definition of repentance, attempting to prove it means to feel sorrow for, or
turn from sin. One must realize, however, that dictionary definitions are
influenced by what society ascribes to the word. The modern definition of
repentance has been influenced by the many legalistic reformations throughout
church history, and by the manner in which the word is widely used today. However,
God’s word says in Jonah 3:10- “and God repented
of the evil that he had said the he would do unto them”. Surely God did not
turn from sin! That is because repent, in the bible, simply means to change one’s
mind. Otherwise God would be a sinner; for he repents more than anyone else in
the entire bible! Biblical repentance is to rethink; it is to realize one is a
sinner, needs a savior, and change his thinking from unbelief in Jesus to
belief on him for salvation. It is not an intention to turn from sin, nor
sorrow for sin. As a matter of fact, the phrase "repent of your sins" does not even exists in the bible! This phrase is not mentioned even once. Yet people will often attempt to save sinners by preaching this very thing. We now see why Mr.Barry was initially incapable of saving the
woman; he was adding works to salvation. He was calling on her to turn from her
sins, to persevere, to prove herself with works in addition to accepting Christ. Instead of telling her from the beginning what Paul told the Phillippian Jailer "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.", the pastor was calling on her to turn from her sins; to do the works of the law in addition to faith in order to be saved. This is an accursed message which cannot save a sinner. It puts man at the
mercy of the law- with a false presentation that salvation is by faith in
Christ alone, but you must also do your part and live right, or at least be
willing to live right. It demands a sinner to prove he is saved, to turn from
his sins, to pursue holiness for salvation. But this is nothing but a message
of works using faith in Jesus as wrapping paper. It causes sinners to look
toward their lifestyles as an indicator of proving they are saved. One cannot
tell a lost sinner to believe and stop sinning, or at least be willing to stop
sinning in order to be saved. It is a faith plus works plan of salvation. This
message is no different than the message of every other man-made religion in
the world: believe in a particular faith system, abstain from evil, and do
good, or at least mean to do well, only then can you be sure you are saved. What a complicated message! This is why the message of the cross is foolishness to them that are perishing. They do not see the "simplicity which is in Christ." It is hard for corrupt man to believe that he does not have to do anything, intend
anything, nor cease anything to be saved. We conclude, therefore, that repenting (changing the mind) is necessary for salvation; repenting from sins, or turning from sins is not. That would be a clear salvation by works.
Legalistic denominations and other religious systems often argue that telling sinners that they must simply believe on Christ alone for salvation is giving a license to sin, and that all sinners would superficially become Christians If this message were given. But nothing can be further from the truth! Man often vehemently rejects the notion that he does not need to perform anything to be saved, that all he must do is believe and he will be forgiven for eternity regardless of how he lives afterwards. Few are those who have the humility to realize that they must simply believe on the finished work of Christ, without adding any repentance from sin or good intentions to turn from them. The majority of unbelievers (and mostly 'false believers) cannot accept that belief in Christ alone is what justifies, and therefore they seek to add many things as qualifications for salvation in addition to faith: initial repentance from sins, baptism, constant repentance for sins after baptism, holiness and an attempt to live a pious life. This is descriptive of Roman Catholicism and most denominations that are supposedly Christian. This ‘belief plus works to confirm your belief’ appeals to man, as he realizes he is imperfect and needs some divine intervention, yet he still wants some part in earning or confirming his salvation. That is why all world religions, and most so-called Christian denominations, preach belief plus works for assurance of salvation. Man always desires to have a say in his salvation. That is why he is ready to believe in a message in which he must believe and subsequently prove his salvation by performing. But the gospel of God is that a sinner can be saved by simply trusting in the finished work of Christ. He does not have to give up anything, nor perform anything. It is quite crude to put it this way, but the truth of God’s gospel is that one can live as he pleases and still have eternal life, if he truly trusts in Christ alone. That is the good news. There is no work required to obtain salvation, nor maintain it. One was never good enough to receive it, and thus can never be bad enough to lose it. Whether or not a saved person should live as he pleases is another matter altogether, which is not concerned with salvation. It is lamentable for a believer to live in sin, yet this does not nullify his salvation. The bible likens the relationship between God and a saved person to that of a father and a child. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” We can see that to become a child of God only requires that we believe on Christ alone to save us. Now we are a child of God. Even in the World, a Father is most gracious. He has rules for his children. If his child brakes those rules, the father will chastise him. If the son further breaks them, he will further chastise, and so on. However, there will never be a point at which the father will disown his son. He will never stop loving his son. His son will never cease from being his son regardless of how wicked he might be. We see this even in the case of the most wicked men, such as murderers. The parents will be ashamed of their murderous son. However, in most cases, the parents will still visit the son in prison and care after him. This is the proper understanding of salvation. When we say that a believer can lose their salvation, we are confessing that God is a worse parent than human parents; while as human parents do not abandon their children due to disobedience, we say that God will abandon one of his saved children if they walk in sin. This is nothing short of blasphemous. The merciful God of the bible is longsuffering with his children, and his mercy endures forever. As the Psalm says “His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgements; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me.” Please understand that I am not saying a believer ought to live as he pleases. A believer that lives in such a way is a shame to the body of Christ. He ought to turn from his sins and seek the Lord. But turning from sin, which is to do the deeds of the law, is not a requirement for eternal life, nor a proof of it. Refraining from doing bad is equally as much a deed of the law as doing good is. "and God saw their WORKS, that they turned from their evil way." Interestingly, most commandments in the bible are of the negative connotation: "Thou shalt NOT...etc.". Therefore, it is a biblical fact that turning from your sins is works, and works have absolutely no part in salvation. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast." and then again "and if of grace, then no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace." It is an irrefutable fact that works and salvation are completely incompatible. It is therefore conclusive that a person does not have to forsake any sins to be saved. All that must be forsaken is trust in any other thing that he is trusting in stead of, or in addition to Jesus (such as self-righteousness, repentance, holiness or a false religion). At the moment one trusts in Christ for salvation, he receives the righteousness of God, has been crucified with Christ positionally, and is born again in the spirit. Yet in his actual experience, he may still sin the same as he did before being saved, as the flesh is still present. Overcoming the flesh in one's experience takes work, unlike salvation which is not of works. Overcoming the flesh is a process to which some believers may never manifest at all in their lives, remaining carnal and sinful like Lot, who was a drunkard citizen of Sodom; others will mature greatly and become spiritual. Yet all are new creatures in the inward man, regardless of the outward state. This is the proper understanding of salvation and the new birth.
Legalistic denominations and other religious systems often argue that telling sinners that they must simply believe on Christ alone for salvation is giving a license to sin, and that all sinners would superficially become Christians If this message were given. But nothing can be further from the truth! Man often vehemently rejects the notion that he does not need to perform anything to be saved, that all he must do is believe and he will be forgiven for eternity regardless of how he lives afterwards. Few are those who have the humility to realize that they must simply believe on the finished work of Christ, without adding any repentance from sin or good intentions to turn from them. The majority of unbelievers (and mostly 'false believers) cannot accept that belief in Christ alone is what justifies, and therefore they seek to add many things as qualifications for salvation in addition to faith: initial repentance from sins, baptism, constant repentance for sins after baptism, holiness and an attempt to live a pious life. This is descriptive of Roman Catholicism and most denominations that are supposedly Christian. This ‘belief plus works to confirm your belief’ appeals to man, as he realizes he is imperfect and needs some divine intervention, yet he still wants some part in earning or confirming his salvation. That is why all world religions, and most so-called Christian denominations, preach belief plus works for assurance of salvation. Man always desires to have a say in his salvation. That is why he is ready to believe in a message in which he must believe and subsequently prove his salvation by performing. But the gospel of God is that a sinner can be saved by simply trusting in the finished work of Christ. He does not have to give up anything, nor perform anything. It is quite crude to put it this way, but the truth of God’s gospel is that one can live as he pleases and still have eternal life, if he truly trusts in Christ alone. That is the good news. There is no work required to obtain salvation, nor maintain it. One was never good enough to receive it, and thus can never be bad enough to lose it. Whether or not a saved person should live as he pleases is another matter altogether, which is not concerned with salvation. It is lamentable for a believer to live in sin, yet this does not nullify his salvation. The bible likens the relationship between God and a saved person to that of a father and a child. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” We can see that to become a child of God only requires that we believe on Christ alone to save us. Now we are a child of God. Even in the World, a Father is most gracious. He has rules for his children. If his child brakes those rules, the father will chastise him. If the son further breaks them, he will further chastise, and so on. However, there will never be a point at which the father will disown his son. He will never stop loving his son. His son will never cease from being his son regardless of how wicked he might be. We see this even in the case of the most wicked men, such as murderers. The parents will be ashamed of their murderous son. However, in most cases, the parents will still visit the son in prison and care after him. This is the proper understanding of salvation. When we say that a believer can lose their salvation, we are confessing that God is a worse parent than human parents; while as human parents do not abandon their children due to disobedience, we say that God will abandon one of his saved children if they walk in sin. This is nothing short of blasphemous. The merciful God of the bible is longsuffering with his children, and his mercy endures forever. As the Psalm says “His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgements; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me.” Please understand that I am not saying a believer ought to live as he pleases. A believer that lives in such a way is a shame to the body of Christ. He ought to turn from his sins and seek the Lord. But turning from sin, which is to do the deeds of the law, is not a requirement for eternal life, nor a proof of it. Refraining from doing bad is equally as much a deed of the law as doing good is. "and God saw their WORKS, that they turned from their evil way." Interestingly, most commandments in the bible are of the negative connotation: "Thou shalt NOT...etc.". Therefore, it is a biblical fact that turning from your sins is works, and works have absolutely no part in salvation. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast." and then again "and if of grace, then no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace." It is an irrefutable fact that works and salvation are completely incompatible. It is therefore conclusive that a person does not have to forsake any sins to be saved. All that must be forsaken is trust in any other thing that he is trusting in stead of, or in addition to Jesus (such as self-righteousness, repentance, holiness or a false religion). At the moment one trusts in Christ for salvation, he receives the righteousness of God, has been crucified with Christ positionally, and is born again in the spirit. Yet in his actual experience, he may still sin the same as he did before being saved, as the flesh is still present. Overcoming the flesh in one's experience takes work, unlike salvation which is not of works. Overcoming the flesh is a process to which some believers may never manifest at all in their lives, remaining carnal and sinful like Lot, who was a drunkard citizen of Sodom; others will mature greatly and become spiritual. Yet all are new creatures in the inward man, regardless of the outward state. This is the proper understanding of salvation and the new birth.
PASSAGES OF
SCRIPTURE OUT OF CONTEXT
This false
understanding of faith plus works to be saved occurs due to faulty division of God’s word. Passages
about fellowship and discipleship are often erroneously applied to salvation,
even though the word of God cannot be any clearer that salvation is absolutely
not of works. This erroneous use of passages is the result of either unbelief or,
at the very least, gross misunderstanding of the blood of Christ. One should take
this rule when reading God’s word: if there are many clear, straight-forward passages that say
one thing, yet there are a few difficult passages that seem to be saying another, we are certainly
misinterpreting the few that seem to be contradictory. We must use the abundant amount of clear scriptures on a subject to discern the few unclear or difficult ones pertaining to the same topic. There are over 150 scriptures that clearly say that man is saved by faith alone, or by believing on Christ alone for salvation, and upon salvation one receives eternal life; that is, salvation that will never end. This fact of the scripture should be used when deciphering difficult, less clearer passages.
JAMES 2
Let us examine one of the most popularly misunderstood passages in scripture- James chapter 2. This is a favorite for denominations that preach a faith-works gospel. Yet it is taken so vehemently out of context. Lets get the context settled first. This Letter is written to “The 12 tribes scattered abroad” which is spiritual Israel, which is the Church, which are saved believers. So this letter is obviously addressed to saved believers in Christ. This is not an evangelistic letter to get people saved. This is written to the already saved. Furthermore, James refers to them as ‘Brothers’ or ‘Brethren’ 5 times in the first 2 chapters alone, and 13 times in the whole letter! This is doubtlessly written to saved persons. James begins by speaking of their partiality and unwillingness to do the good works of God. These eternally saved believers were showing partiality within the church, honoring the rich attendees more than the poor ones. This was not a good thing for a saved believer to practice. It is a wicked act. James then begins to rebuke them, telling them that they need to start getting good works to go along with their faith. Therefore he says ‘faith without works is dead, being alone’. He does not say ‘faith without works does not exists’ nor does he say ‘faith without works is impossible.’ Why? Cause faith without works does exist and is possible. Dead faith is unpracticed, undemonstrated faith, like that of Lot and Samson. Yet it is faith nonetheless. And faith is all that is required for salvation, as we see over 150 times in the New Testament. That is why he says faith without works is dead ‘being alone’. He was saying the faith was alone, and not accompanied by works. He did not say faith without works is dead ‘being non-existing’. We must not read pre conceived ideas into the text.
Furthermore, James goes on to say that Abraham was justified by works. But how was Abraham justified by works, and in front of who? James shows clearly in front of whom works justifies someone “shew ME thy faith without THY works and I will shew THEE my faith by my works.” ME,THEE, and THY are all references to men, and not God. This is clearly a matter of being justified before men and other brethren, and not before God. This is further supported by romans 4 “for if Abraham were justified by works he hath whereof to glory, BUT NOT BEFORE GOD. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Paul says that even though Abraham did have works, it did not justify him before God at all, only his faith did. Therefore we know that James is speaking about justification not before God, but before men. Furthermore we see more of the gospel truth in the next verse in romans 4:4-8 “now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. but to him that WORKETH NOT (no works at all) but believeth (faith without works; dead faith) on him who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven (forgiveness for past sins) and whose sins are covered (current sins, present tense.) Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not (future tense) impute sin.” Paul clearly says that a man with no works, but believes (a dead faith) is still saved. So we see now how this passage in James is taken utterly out of context of the letter itself, and also ignores the council of other scriptures when the faith plus works interpretation is given. We see that our sins are covered past, present, and future, regardless of our works. James is exhorting saved brethren to get to work in addition to their salvation, not as a requisite or proof.
THE LETTER OF 1 JOHN
Now we will quickly examine the letter of 1 John. Many have used this letter to suggest that all genuine believers will doubtlessly walk in holiness, thereby justifying their false gospel of works. This interpretation of the letter flies in the face of countless brethren in the scripture that did not live holy lives; Lot, Samson, King Saul, King David (at times), King Solomon (near the end of his life), the brethren at Corinth and so on. All of these individuals and the believers at Corinth are clearly stated to have been saved, brethren, righteous according to God and salvation and so forth. Yet in their experience in the flesh, they committed horrible acts and lived in sin, for long sustained periods and even until death in the case of some (Lot, Solomon, Samson and the Corinthians).
More importantly, we must know the proper context of the epistle itself. Right from the beginning in verse 3 we are told the proper context: fellowship (not salvation), and abundant joy that results from living a godly life:
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." The apostle is writing a letter to believers about how to remain in fellowship with the brethren and with God. For an example, a child can be the son of his father, yet not be in fellowship with his father. Such child might doubtless be loved by his father, yet will not be in good standing with him if he fails to follow the rules his father has implemented. This is the proper understanding of the letter. John is not writing to get people saved, but much like James, rather writing to saved believers so that they might be in fellowship and not live in sin. "My little Children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.." The whole purpose of John's letter is so that saved believers might walk according to the new man, and not in the sin of the flesh. It is challenging believers to love God, and to get to know him. Many assume that all saved persons love God or know him; nay, rather all saved persons are known by God, and are loved by him. For the saved one to love God and to know him is another thing altogether, which is what the apostle is addressing. We must strive to love God by keeping his commandments, and thereby get to know him. This letter, by no means, indicates that all true believers will somehow walk in the spirit eventually, as if believers are puppets controlled by the holy spirit; otherwise there would be no purpose in John or Paul to constantly exhort believers to put away the sins of the flesh and walk in the spirit. If we can understand this, we can then clearly understand the message of 1 John. The letter concludes by affirming that faith is the only means to salvation, and that we can be sure of our salvation: "Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Christ?...These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life"
HEBREWS 10
Too often, nominal Christians, or even confused believers will quiver and tremble because of Hebrews 10; they assume that this passage is saying that a believer can lose his salvation. The idea of losing salvation should not even be taken seriously; how many scores of times must the word of God clearly say that salvation is eternal life? Why is it that man refuses this wonderful gift? Why is it that believers, after being saved, will later doubt and believe that their salvation is conditional upon their performance? Ravenous wolves have put into the minds of weak believers that salvation must be maintained. Even worse, these wolves will evangelize unbelievers with this false conditional gospel, which cannot save anybody, thus creating a false religious convert. We must believe the word of the most gracious savior "He that believeth on me has everlasting life."
Eternal security is not some doctrine that one learns in addition to the gospel. Eternal security is the gospel. One who claims to believe in Jesus and does not believe in eternal security has failed to believe the gospel, and sadly is unsaved, regardless of how holy or consecrated a life he might live. With this in mind, let us look at controversial passage in Hebrews 10: "
JAMES 2
Let us examine one of the most popularly misunderstood passages in scripture- James chapter 2. This is a favorite for denominations that preach a faith-works gospel. Yet it is taken so vehemently out of context. Lets get the context settled first. This Letter is written to “The 12 tribes scattered abroad” which is spiritual Israel, which is the Church, which are saved believers. So this letter is obviously addressed to saved believers in Christ. This is not an evangelistic letter to get people saved. This is written to the already saved. Furthermore, James refers to them as ‘Brothers’ or ‘Brethren’ 5 times in the first 2 chapters alone, and 13 times in the whole letter! This is doubtlessly written to saved persons. James begins by speaking of their partiality and unwillingness to do the good works of God. These eternally saved believers were showing partiality within the church, honoring the rich attendees more than the poor ones. This was not a good thing for a saved believer to practice. It is a wicked act. James then begins to rebuke them, telling them that they need to start getting good works to go along with their faith. Therefore he says ‘faith without works is dead, being alone’. He does not say ‘faith without works does not exists’ nor does he say ‘faith without works is impossible.’ Why? Cause faith without works does exist and is possible. Dead faith is unpracticed, undemonstrated faith, like that of Lot and Samson. Yet it is faith nonetheless. And faith is all that is required for salvation, as we see over 150 times in the New Testament. That is why he says faith without works is dead ‘being alone’. He was saying the faith was alone, and not accompanied by works. He did not say faith without works is dead ‘being non-existing’. We must not read pre conceived ideas into the text.
Furthermore, James goes on to say that Abraham was justified by works. But how was Abraham justified by works, and in front of who? James shows clearly in front of whom works justifies someone “shew ME thy faith without THY works and I will shew THEE my faith by my works.” ME,THEE, and THY are all references to men, and not God. This is clearly a matter of being justified before men and other brethren, and not before God. This is further supported by romans 4 “for if Abraham were justified by works he hath whereof to glory, BUT NOT BEFORE GOD. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Paul says that even though Abraham did have works, it did not justify him before God at all, only his faith did. Therefore we know that James is speaking about justification not before God, but before men. Furthermore we see more of the gospel truth in the next verse in romans 4:4-8 “now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. but to him that WORKETH NOT (no works at all) but believeth (faith without works; dead faith) on him who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven (forgiveness for past sins) and whose sins are covered (current sins, present tense.) Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not (future tense) impute sin.” Paul clearly says that a man with no works, but believes (a dead faith) is still saved. So we see now how this passage in James is taken utterly out of context of the letter itself, and also ignores the council of other scriptures when the faith plus works interpretation is given. We see that our sins are covered past, present, and future, regardless of our works. James is exhorting saved brethren to get to work in addition to their salvation, not as a requisite or proof.
THE LETTER OF 1 JOHN
Now we will quickly examine the letter of 1 John. Many have used this letter to suggest that all genuine believers will doubtlessly walk in holiness, thereby justifying their false gospel of works. This interpretation of the letter flies in the face of countless brethren in the scripture that did not live holy lives; Lot, Samson, King Saul, King David (at times), King Solomon (near the end of his life), the brethren at Corinth and so on. All of these individuals and the believers at Corinth are clearly stated to have been saved, brethren, righteous according to God and salvation and so forth. Yet in their experience in the flesh, they committed horrible acts and lived in sin, for long sustained periods and even until death in the case of some (Lot, Solomon, Samson and the Corinthians).
More importantly, we must know the proper context of the epistle itself. Right from the beginning in verse 3 we are told the proper context: fellowship (not salvation), and abundant joy that results from living a godly life:
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." The apostle is writing a letter to believers about how to remain in fellowship with the brethren and with God. For an example, a child can be the son of his father, yet not be in fellowship with his father. Such child might doubtless be loved by his father, yet will not be in good standing with him if he fails to follow the rules his father has implemented. This is the proper understanding of the letter. John is not writing to get people saved, but much like James, rather writing to saved believers so that they might be in fellowship and not live in sin. "My little Children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.." The whole purpose of John's letter is so that saved believers might walk according to the new man, and not in the sin of the flesh. It is challenging believers to love God, and to get to know him. Many assume that all saved persons love God or know him; nay, rather all saved persons are known by God, and are loved by him. For the saved one to love God and to know him is another thing altogether, which is what the apostle is addressing. We must strive to love God by keeping his commandments, and thereby get to know him. This letter, by no means, indicates that all true believers will somehow walk in the spirit eventually, as if believers are puppets controlled by the holy spirit; otherwise there would be no purpose in John or Paul to constantly exhort believers to put away the sins of the flesh and walk in the spirit. If we can understand this, we can then clearly understand the message of 1 John. The letter concludes by affirming that faith is the only means to salvation, and that we can be sure of our salvation: "Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Christ?...These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life"
HEBREWS 10
Too often, nominal Christians, or even confused believers will quiver and tremble because of Hebrews 10; they assume that this passage is saying that a believer can lose his salvation. The idea of losing salvation should not even be taken seriously; how many scores of times must the word of God clearly say that salvation is eternal life? Why is it that man refuses this wonderful gift? Why is it that believers, after being saved, will later doubt and believe that their salvation is conditional upon their performance? Ravenous wolves have put into the minds of weak believers that salvation must be maintained. Even worse, these wolves will evangelize unbelievers with this false conditional gospel, which cannot save anybody, thus creating a false religious convert. We must believe the word of the most gracious savior "He that believeth on me has everlasting life."
Eternal security is not some doctrine that one learns in addition to the gospel. Eternal security is the gospel. One who claims to believe in Jesus and does not believe in eternal security has failed to believe the gospel, and sadly is unsaved, regardless of how holy or consecrated a life he might live. With this in mind, let us look at controversial passage in Hebrews 10: "
"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified....Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.…And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.…. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."
It is inconceivable how someone can gather that this passage is speaking of a believer losing his salvation. The passage begins by clearly stating that a believer is "sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ Once for all..for by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." So the writer of Hebrews (presumed to be Paul) clearly states that one is perfected forever upon believing on the sacrifice of Jesus. He needs no more sacrifice for his future sins. It is impossible to offer another sacrifice, seeing that he has already been sanctified and perfected by the offering of the blood of Jesus. Now that we have clearly seen this, let us go forth. Paul then continues to exhort the brethren to provoke one another to good works, and to assemble (that is, go to church) often. He is warning them to be careful, lest they fall into willful sin; that is, falling back into a life of sin. He says "For if we sin wilfully... there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery indignation.." The hypothetical believer who sins willfully has no more sacrifice for his sins; for he has been sanctified forever by the sacrifice of Jesus. He cannot offer another sacrifice for his sins afterward. Clearly this man was saved "wherewith he was SANCTIFIED" The rebellious believer was already sanctified and perfected forever by the offering of Christ. What the apostle is warning about is temporal judgement on the believer; chastisement of the father. As the passage says "for the Lord shall judge HIS people." This passage is speaking about God punishing his own children. A believer who walks in sin, though eternally saved, is subject to chastisement from God. This is clear. The bible often talks of the Lord chastising his children. We see such type of judgement of the Corinthians for eating unworthily of the supper or with Samson who was killed off. We also see that believers who fail to do good works are saved, yet so as by fire "if any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as by fire.” A believer that fails to work for God will be saved nonetheless, yet there is a fire associated with this believer, a punishment. Hence the apostle says in Hebrew 10 "There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins (this is because Christ is the last, and perfect sacrifice) but a certain fearful looking for of judgement and fiery (yet he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire) indignation.." Now we can understand that Hebrews is warning saved persons not to abuse the grace of God, otherwise they will be chastised of the Father, even unto death.
JOHN 15
There are many more passages that are used to falsely justify faith plus works salvation, or that a believer can lose his salvation. We do not have enough time tonight to cover them all. We will cover just one more, John 15, which we read aloud earlier. A young lady in the audience came to me yesterday, fearing for her salvation due to this passage, for a Methodist preacher had told her that unless she persevere, she will not be saved. I reassured her using the very same book. Let us begin by addressing the book of John and its purpose. It is an evangelistic book. It is written for the sole purpose of getting people saved. The other gospels are written to those who are already saved, that they may grow and learn of the Lord’s earthly life. The gospel of John, however, is specifically written to the unsaved, that they may be saved. "These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Son of God: and that believing ye might have life through his name." John's gospel claims to be written for the sole purpose of getting people saved. Should we find it strange then, that the word repent is not even mentioned in this book? This fact alone demonstrates clearly that repenting of sins has no place in salvation. Changing your life has no place in salvation, nor proving your salvation, as some might put it. This book, written to get people saved, emphasizes more than any other book in the bible, that salvation is by belief on Christ alone. It is also interesting that this book affirms countless times that salvation can never end under any circumstance. It is eternal. Someone who trusts in Christ alone for salvation cannot be lost, even if he falls into the worsts of sins. Christ promised over and over again, in the book of John, that if anyone will simply believe in him for salvation, they will be saved. No mention is made of repentance or changing your life. Was Christ deceiving people into thinking they can be saved by simply believing, and do nothing else? No he was not deceiving them; he was telling the good news of the gospel, which in essence does promise that we can do absolutely nothing, make no effort to change, and still be saved if we believe. As I said, It is indeed a crude way to put it, but it is absolutely the beautiful news of the gospel. Jesus never told the fornicating woman at the well to repent and move out from the man's house; he told her to believe on him alone to be eternally saved. Jesus was not even concerned with her lifestyle. He was trying to get her saved. The woman also had no reaction of repenting from her sin. She simply believed. That is all Jesus Christ required her to do for salvation. Why is it then, that many arrogant preachers require sinners to stop sinning to be saved? It is because they themselves are not saved and have not understood that salvation is a free gift through faith alone. With all that said, let us examine the passage in question, John 15. I will first analyze the passage using the reasoning that faith plus works salvationists use, and demonstrate how even in their own thinking, it fails to support their view. In this interpretation we are going to assume that the branch being cast forth is losing your salvation, which we know is not possible, but for argument’s sake we will entertain it. We can also assume that it means they never really believed, either view will be suffice to a works plus faith salvationist. We will also assume that the ‘fire’ is hell, which those who hold to faith-works theology also assume. The branches that are burned are false believers, or believers who lose their salvation, and so they are cast forth and thrown in the fire. Furthermore, the good branches are told ‘if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” So these good branches are said to keep the commandments is the same way that Jesus Christ kept the commandments: which we know was perfectly without any breaking of them ever. But do any saved believers do this in their experience? Did the apostles, to whom this is addressed, even keep them perfectly? Of course not. Peter sinned after this and so did they all. Assuming that this passage means only those who persevere will be saved, then this passage will prove that no one can ever be saved. It says that those who abide in Christ keep the Father’s commandments just as Christ kept them, which is without blemish. But not even the apostles were able to do that. However, they did abide in him and keep his commandments perfectly in the inward man, the new creature. This is the same for all believers, whether they are carnal like the Corinthians and Samson the Judge of Israel, or whether they are spiritual like Paul, the prophets and the Philippians: they all abode perfectly in his commandments according to the inward, new man. They all had the fruit of faith in the new man. The old man, however, is still very much alive and able to practice sin his entire life. Indeed it does! In Romans 7 Paul describes it: “for I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members (the flesh), warring against the law of my mind (the new man) and bringing me into the captivity of sin which is in my members.. So then with the mind (inward man, spirit) I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”. All believers literally abide in sin, which is the flesh, in the old man, yet in the new man they abide in Christ; all believers differ in this to certain extents according to their spiritual growth or weakness etc. Therefore, this does not prove that a sinful believer is not saved, nor that outward works are proof that someone is really saved. Now we see how even using the false assumptions of faith-works salvationists, we are still able to refute their doctrine. If their view is true, then one must keep the commandments without blemish just as Christ in order to be saved.
JOHN 15
There are many more passages that are used to falsely justify faith plus works salvation, or that a believer can lose his salvation. We do not have enough time tonight to cover them all. We will cover just one more, John 15, which we read aloud earlier. A young lady in the audience came to me yesterday, fearing for her salvation due to this passage, for a Methodist preacher had told her that unless she persevere, she will not be saved. I reassured her using the very same book. Let us begin by addressing the book of John and its purpose. It is an evangelistic book. It is written for the sole purpose of getting people saved. The other gospels are written to those who are already saved, that they may grow and learn of the Lord’s earthly life. The gospel of John, however, is specifically written to the unsaved, that they may be saved. "These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Son of God: and that believing ye might have life through his name." John's gospel claims to be written for the sole purpose of getting people saved. Should we find it strange then, that the word repent is not even mentioned in this book? This fact alone demonstrates clearly that repenting of sins has no place in salvation. Changing your life has no place in salvation, nor proving your salvation, as some might put it. This book, written to get people saved, emphasizes more than any other book in the bible, that salvation is by belief on Christ alone. It is also interesting that this book affirms countless times that salvation can never end under any circumstance. It is eternal. Someone who trusts in Christ alone for salvation cannot be lost, even if he falls into the worsts of sins. Christ promised over and over again, in the book of John, that if anyone will simply believe in him for salvation, they will be saved. No mention is made of repentance or changing your life. Was Christ deceiving people into thinking they can be saved by simply believing, and do nothing else? No he was not deceiving them; he was telling the good news of the gospel, which in essence does promise that we can do absolutely nothing, make no effort to change, and still be saved if we believe. As I said, It is indeed a crude way to put it, but it is absolutely the beautiful news of the gospel. Jesus never told the fornicating woman at the well to repent and move out from the man's house; he told her to believe on him alone to be eternally saved. Jesus was not even concerned with her lifestyle. He was trying to get her saved. The woman also had no reaction of repenting from her sin. She simply believed. That is all Jesus Christ required her to do for salvation. Why is it then, that many arrogant preachers require sinners to stop sinning to be saved? It is because they themselves are not saved and have not understood that salvation is a free gift through faith alone. With all that said, let us examine the passage in question, John 15. I will first analyze the passage using the reasoning that faith plus works salvationists use, and demonstrate how even in their own thinking, it fails to support their view. In this interpretation we are going to assume that the branch being cast forth is losing your salvation, which we know is not possible, but for argument’s sake we will entertain it. We can also assume that it means they never really believed, either view will be suffice to a works plus faith salvationist. We will also assume that the ‘fire’ is hell, which those who hold to faith-works theology also assume. The branches that are burned are false believers, or believers who lose their salvation, and so they are cast forth and thrown in the fire. Furthermore, the good branches are told ‘if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” So these good branches are said to keep the commandments is the same way that Jesus Christ kept the commandments: which we know was perfectly without any breaking of them ever. But do any saved believers do this in their experience? Did the apostles, to whom this is addressed, even keep them perfectly? Of course not. Peter sinned after this and so did they all. Assuming that this passage means only those who persevere will be saved, then this passage will prove that no one can ever be saved. It says that those who abide in Christ keep the Father’s commandments just as Christ kept them, which is without blemish. But not even the apostles were able to do that. However, they did abide in him and keep his commandments perfectly in the inward man, the new creature. This is the same for all believers, whether they are carnal like the Corinthians and Samson the Judge of Israel, or whether they are spiritual like Paul, the prophets and the Philippians: they all abode perfectly in his commandments according to the inward, new man. They all had the fruit of faith in the new man. The old man, however, is still very much alive and able to practice sin his entire life. Indeed it does! In Romans 7 Paul describes it: “for I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members (the flesh), warring against the law of my mind (the new man) and bringing me into the captivity of sin which is in my members.. So then with the mind (inward man, spirit) I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”. All believers literally abide in sin, which is the flesh, in the old man, yet in the new man they abide in Christ; all believers differ in this to certain extents according to their spiritual growth or weakness etc. Therefore, this does not prove that a sinful believer is not saved, nor that outward works are proof that someone is really saved. Now we see how even using the false assumptions of faith-works salvationists, we are still able to refute their doctrine. If their view is true, then one must keep the commandments without blemish just as Christ in order to be saved.
Now let us
analyze the passage the way it was meant to be. We see how Christ clearly says
that belief alone is what saves. We see how in the book of John there is not
even one mention of repentance nor turning from sin. This is the context of the
entire book. It is written to get people saved. It is not meant for discipleship,
and therefore there is no mention of turning from sin or living a good life (which while not required for salvation, they are required to be a disciple of minister of Christ).
These calls to discipleship are reserved in other books written for those who
are already saved. Let us now continue. This is the correct interpretation, given the context. The branches that are cast
forth and withered are saved believers, because he says “Every branch in me..”
So these branches were in him; they were in Christ,
knew him, had acquired eternal salvation through faith. They therefore cannot
lose their salvation, for it is eternal. I will not assume that the fire is
hell, nor is it wise to; this is a figurative parable, the branches are not
really branches, therefore the fire does not have to be the literal lake of
fire. With these principles in mind, let us continue. These branches represent
weak, carnal believers like Samson and the Corinthians. They are in Christ, and
acquired salvation which is eternal and cannot be lost. However, they failed to
live abundant spiritual lives, or even to simply abstain from fornication or
extremely defiling sins. Therefore they were cast forth from service; they are
useless in the service of God being overgrown babes in Christ who cannot even
drink the milk well, much less eat of the meat and teach it to others. They are
separated from the congregation, just as Paul exhorts believers to not even eat
with another fellow believer who is in utter sin. They are disqualified from
service to the Lord. The fire can represent that they are subject to temporal
judgment and chastisement, which can lead to sickness and even death, which we
see can happen to saved people various times in scripture. It can also
represent the manner in which they are saved ‘as by fire’, as described by Paul
in 1 Corinthians 3:14 “If any man’s work abide (as in ‘abide in me’) which he
hath built thereupon (on the foundation of Christ) he shall receive a reward;
if any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself will be
saved, yet so as by fire.” See how this aligns beautifully with this passage of
John 15? The branches that are fruitless are cast forth and thrown into the
fire of trial at the judgement of believers, through which they are saved nonetheless. Both types of branches are
saved believers; the carnal and the spiritual. The carnal are withered away
from service, the spiritual are given into service. This is clear. Paul himself was careful not to be casted forth from service in the ministry and eternal rewards: "if I do this thing willingly I receive a reward.. but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway"
Paul was not worried about losing his salvation. If he was, then we are all in big trouble. If the mighty apostle Paul was not sure of his salvation then we have no hope. But Paul was not questioning his salvation, but rather his ability to remain serving in the ministry. Thank God we need not to ever worry of our salvation! "These things have I written to you who believe on the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life."
CORRECTING
THE IMMORAL BROTHER, AND THE COUNTERFEIT GOSPEL
In addition
to unintentionally deceiving sinners with a false plan of salvation by calling
on them to change their lives to be saved in addition to faith, one can also deceive a
saved believer into legalistic work with the same false doctrine. Many
theologians and pastors often strike fear within sinful believers. They
erroneously claim that unless such sinful believers turn from their sin, they
are to perish eternally or prove that they never truly believed. While it is
true that many sinning unbelievers might claim to believe, it is also true that
many ‘holy’ unbelievers might also claim to believe. The lifestyle of a person
does not always reflect upon their salvation. Some believers might never
mature, some might seem holy for a time and then fall, some may go back and
forth between being holy and being defeated, some may mature greatly and live
holy forever, and some might never live holy at all. The fact is that most
false professors in Christ are actually ‘holy’. Contrary to what most people
think, false professors are not likely to live in utter sin. Most false
professors actually seek to establish their own righteousness due to their unbelief
in Christ alone, and thereby might appear even holier or zealous of good works than a true believer. This
is what we see in Matthew 7:21-23. Many, who neglected to do the will of the
father will come to Christ on the day of judgment and boasts of their works. "Not everyone who saith unto me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth THE WILL of my Father which is in Heaven. MANY will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in thy name? And, in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name do many wonderful WORKS? And then I will declare unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU. Depart from me ye who work iniquity.". Notice that these individuals
acknowledge Jesus as Lord. They recognize he is the Son of God. Yet they boast
of their works. They do not boast on the cross, but in their own work, which
they claim to do in Jesus’ name. Many theologians foolishly apply this passage to professors in
Christ who did not work enough. They equate the will of the Father as work. Yet this
is a vehement contradiction to what this passage says. These men did the works.
They preached and did many wonderful works in Christ name. They were so assured
of their salvation based on their work. Yet the Lord did not know them. What
did these men neglect to do? They neglected the will of the Father. What is the
will of the father? The will of the Father is mentioned clearly in the book of John. JOHN 6:39-40 "and this is the Father's
will which hath sent me...that everyone one which seeth the son, and BELIEVETH on him,
may have everlasting life". The will of the father, in regards to
salvation, is only believe. That is all. Nothing more. This is what the men of
Matthew 7 neglected to do. They acknowledge Jesus as Lord, yet they did not
trust in him alone for salvation. They went on to establish their own
righteousness in hopes of proving they really were saved. They never truly understood that salvation was by grace through faith in Christ alone, 'Not of works lest anyman should boast.'. Instead of trusting in the eternal security that Christ offered, they trusted their own works and kept Jesus as a kind of insurance policy. These men perhaps seemed like quite devout Christians. They were perhaps holy men, able to abstain from the lust of the flesh. They even had faith in the power to do miracles. Yet they were never born again. Just like Judas Iscariot, who appeared to be every bit as pious as the other eleven, so much so that none of them had any clue to whom Jesus referred to when he proclaimed that one will betray him. Judas fit in perfectly with the 12. Yet the bible says he never believed on Christ for salvation: "For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who believed not, and who should betray him." Judas manifested his wickedness in the end because it was a scripture that had to be fulfilled. But the men in Matthew 7 seemed to endure 'in holiness' until the end. They were certainly indistinguishable from true believers, except in their trusts of their holiness and works to prove their salvation. One must be careful
not to preach a false gospel which will result in a Matthew 7 convert. Neither
should one seek to scare carnal believers by falsely condemning them to hell if
they refuse to stop sinning. This is not the way to correct a brother in error,
as we know the gospel shows us that we are eternally saved once we believe.
The apostle Paul found himself with a grave problem concerning the believers in Corinth. They believed on the Lord Jesus. They were saved. Yet they were utterly carnal; they were divided, reviling one another, extorting one another, living in fornication and drunkenness, and many had been destroyed by the Lord for eating unworthily from the supper. Paul, however, did not combat this problem by scaring the Corinthian believers into doubting their salvation; rather he affirmed it. Paul calls them ‘babes in Christ’ and ‘brethren’ repeatedly. He affirmed them that the very members they were using to sin and fornicate were the members of the Lord Jesus- “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Should I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot?”. What can we learn from the example of the blessed apostle? The problem of carnality within the body of Christ should not be dealt with by falsely revoking the sinful believer of his salvation; this will produce nothing more than a sinful believer seeking to regain his assurance of salvation by works, when in reality he never lost his salvation at all. He remained saved even while joining the members of Christ with an harlot.
How, then, do we deal with carnal believers? This depends heavily on the degree of sin. The so called ‘lesser’ sins (lies, laziness, wrath, jealousy, foolishness, reviling etc.) need not much interference other than encouragement to attend church, read God’s word, deny self, and seek the things of the spirit. We must pay more attention to dealing with defiling sins such as fornication and drunkenness. In these cases, the bible commands us to confront the brother or sister regarding their sin. Shall they refuse to cease from the offence, we must shun the brother or sister who commits these sins, and cease to fellowship with him or her. Intercession should be made, that they might turn from this defilement and that the Lord may be patient not to destroy their flesh. However, there is a point at which a brother must be handed over unto Satan; that is, for God to allow Satan to destroy the brother or sister through life circumstances, illness, or even death. We must earnestly pray for our disobedient brethren to turn from their error that God may have mercy on them, and not take them home before their time. Our saved brothers in Christ must realize that if they go on in sin, living immorally, God will most definitely destroy them, perhaps even kill them. Once such instance occurred in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. One of the brethren had fallen into grave sin, fornication with his own stepmother! This was abnormal even among the heathen. Paul gives the order that such a brother must be thrown out of the church, and handed over to Satan that he may die rather than continue in such wicked sin. "..deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." The destruction of the flesh, as some might argue, is not the destruction of the sin nature; scripture shows us repeatedly that the flesh is only destroyed through death. Therefore, it is obvious that 'the destruction of the flesh' is sickness, even unto death. God deals thus with those born again believers who defile their bodies, which is the temple of God, being that the holy spirit indwells them. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Paul again warns the carnal brothers that if they defile the temple of God (their bodies) with sin, God will destroy them. This is the same thing we see happen later in the same epistle. "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." The apostle warned the brethren that their unworthy eating of the Lord's supper caused some to become sick, and even to 'sleep' or die. These brethren ate of the supper while in unrepentant sin, and consequently were taken home before their time. Others had fallen into sicknesses. This is the Lord's chastisement of his redeemed ones. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord, who will punish his children with the rod if they refuse to obey him. We must exhort the brethren to walk worthy of their calling, lest they fall to the punishment of their Father in heaven. Likewise, they must also be told of the blessing they will receive if they deny self and take up the daily cross. "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon (on the foundation of salvation through Christ) he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." This teaches clearly that the Lord rewards his obedient children, and takes away rewards from those children which were disobedient, yet salvation is not revoked.
This is the only biblical way of dealing with immoral brethren. One must not attempt to do something that not even the apostles themselves did not; that is, to threaten brethren that they will perish in hell if they refuse to turn from their sin. No believer ever needs to worry of eternal condemnation. “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death unto life.” The Lord Jesus assures us that our salvation is eternal, it cannot end. Likewise, we cannot be condemned eternally. A believer might receive condemnation on earth, through chastisement of the father- yet he cannot ever perish in hell regardless of what sin he might commit. He is saved for eternity. Amen! Let us seek to please the Lord for such a blessed assurance! Let us forsake our sin and self because we know we are saved regardless of our works. This is the right attitude. This is the way to victory over the flesh. If one thinks he must work to prove he is saved, then he will never have victory. He will only have self-righteousness. He will only be feeding the ego, the self, and his flesh. This is the best case. This is assuming that he indeed did once believe on Christ alone for salvation without proof of works. The worst case is that he has never truly believed the gospel of Christ, which is faith alone. This is the problem in much of Christendom. Many ‘Christians’ are not saved. Catholics and many Protestants alike believe in a counterfeit gospel. The Roman-Catholic gospel of faith plus works has sneaked its way into Christendom, and has infected most denominations. It is often packaged cleverly, 'salvation is by faith alone, but if you do not have works then you are not really saved.' This is a contradiction; a cleverly devised way of sneakily adding works to salvation. Telling a lost person that salvation is by faith alone, but they must leave their sins to prove they really believe, will never save them! The lost person will not be able to trust in Jesus alone with this false message. Often, people who condone such a faith plus works doctrine will single out certain sins as proving someone is not saved such as fornication and drunkenness. Such people will often appeal to the list in 1 Corinthians 6: "know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." People who believe carnal Christians are not saved fail to see that 'revilers', or criticizing others, is lumped in together with fornicators and adulterers. They also fail to see the proper context, which is shown in the very next verse: "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of God." Here Paul shows clearly what he meant by the list. He said the Corinthians were 'justified' of all their sins, and therefore were not considered adulterers or fornicators or revilers as far as salvation. They were clean in the eyes of God. But had they stopped doing these sins? Absolutely not! We see in the entire epistle that they were carnal, sinful and fornication was commonly reported among them. Yet they were justified by the blood of Christ, and were forgiven even for the sins they continually abode in. They were forgiven as far as salvation; however they were under judgement and chastising of God as far as their earthly life. This is the proper understanding of these passages. Yet many will wrongly divide the word of God, saying that fornicators and drunkards are not saved. In dividing the word in such an erroneous way, such people condemn themselves! We see a similar list in Revelation 21: "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and ALL LIARS shall have their part in the which burneth with with fire and brimstone.." Clearly, liars are equated with murderers and whoremongers, and have equal part in hell. Some who hold the faith plus works doctrine will argue that even though they lie at times, they are not 'habitual liars' or 'practicing liars' and therefore they are not equal to a fornicating believer. They justify their salvation over that of the carnal babe in Christ with this unbiblical idea. However, there is no such idea as a difference between sinning, and 'practicing sin' to determine salvation: that is why a few verses later, in the same passage in revelation, God gives the definition of a liar: "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither worketh abomination, or maketh A LIE.." The Lord is careful to say 'A LIE' which is singular; it means one single lie. One single lie condemns us to hell. Yet is a believer unsaved because he tells a lie after salvation? Certainly not! The whole point of salvation is that our sins are paid in full; past, present, and future. This is true of a 'small' sin like lying, or a defiling sin like fornication. We may sin purposely and continue to do so, yet even these sins are forgiven in eternity. This does not mean, however, that it is automatically forgiven in our earthly lives. We must repent of each sin and confess our sin to God to avoid being judged and punished here on earth. So while a sinful believer will be punished and judged for his unrepentant sins here on earth, they were already forgiven in eternity (that is, regarding salvation) the moment he believed on Christ alone for his salvation! Alleluia! What a blessed gospel of peace. This is the right understanding of the grace of God. Yet many will reject this beautiful fact, and rather hold on to their righteousness. They will foolishly preach that if a believer does not have good works, or does not turn from his sin, he cannot be saved. They foolishly bring the gospel of God down to the level of the religions of the world. They do not understand the profundity of the precious blood of Christ.
Now, I must distinguish between two different types of men that fall into this heresy. There is the one who was saved by faith alone initially, who believed on Christ alone for salvation regardless of works. He believed in the gospel of eternal security. This one started well, acquired eternal life, and then was indoctrinated incorrectly. He then doubts faith alone, and begins to believe he must prove his salvation by living holy. This one, though saved, will never be able to mature spiritually. Though he practice holiness, it is all done in vain. It is all done as an attempt to prove his salvation. Most of these types tend to become very self-righteous. They will deem any brother who is immature as unsaved. They will have a high opinion of themselves and reject those who disagree with his pharisaic doctrine. There is no polite way to put it, but faith plus works is the religion of the Pharisees. The Pharisees believed in God, yet they also believed they would be justified by their holy living. We see this clearly in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisee prayed to the God of Israel, yet he boasted of his work, foolishly thinking it proved he was saved. The Publican, on the other hand, would not even look toward heaven. He knew he was a sinner. He knew he needed a savior. He called upon the name of the Lord and said "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." He did not promise to change his life. He did not turn from his sin. He simply had faith in God for mercy. He remained a publican, yet he was justified, not the holy pharisee. It is a wonder how despite many clear presentations in the bible condemning works salvation, much of Christendom remains in a pharisaic system. Many who adopt this faith plus works doctrine after initially being saved will often close off fellowship with other brethren who disagree. They will build a wall around themselves, thinking highly of their holy living.
This doctrine is so destructive to the saved believer. It is inconceivable that any believer will fall into this trap after reading the letter to the Galatians. The Galatians fell into the same false doctrine. They began to believe that they must keep the law to be saved. Paul rebuked them harshly. Though the Galatians had a particular affinity with circumcision and Sabbaths, and were adding these elements to salvation, they would have been equally in error by adding 'repenting from your sins' or 'refraining from fornication'. Paul was not against holy living, turning from sins, or doing good works; on the contrary, he exhorted saved brethren to walk worthily. He was, however, vehemently opposed to holy living and keeping of the law as a condition to salvation, which the Galatians were beginning to believe. Paul even stood in doubt of some. For certainly some new converts had been converted with this erroneous gospel, trusting in Christ's work together with their own as proof, and therefore were unsaved. He knew the ones he had converted were saved, but stood in doubt of those who were converted after he departed from Galatia. ‘I stand in doubt of you brethren.’ This is the only time the Apostle doubted of the salvation of any of the churches. Sin and disobedience never aroused this doubt in him, but rather only self-righteousness and adding works to the gospel.
Now there is the other type of person who holds this faith plus works doctrine- the one who believed in this doctrine since he was first ‘saved’. This one was never truly saved. He never believed the true gospel of faith alone. He never realized that salvation required nothing more that trusting in Christ alone with all the heart. He was never quickened in the spirit by grace through faith alone. He sought, since his ‘conversion’ to look to his works as proof of his salvation, in essence never really trusting Christ alone. He trusted Christ some, and his works some. They might be fervent in their religion, and seem very zealous for Jesus, yet they never trusted in Jesus with all their faith. Instead they looked to their own life as a confirmation of their salvation. This describes a large portion of Christendom. Not only is this doctrine prevalent in conservative denominations, but even more so in liberal ones. While liberal branches might seem to believe in faith alone due to their mundane tendencies, they will still consider a true believer who fornicates or lives in sin to be unsaved. They still preach that one can lose his salvation. Even these liberal branches hold firmly to their righteousness and abstinence from the visible sins. These are the "Many" men of Matthew 7, ‘Lord, Lord, in your name did we not do many wonderful works?”. These are those who never did the will of the Father, which is to simply trust in Christ with a child-like faith. A child has no concept of having to work to prove his father will protect him. A child simply trust in his parents without any added concepts of working or proving his trust. This is noteworthy, as our Christ likened saving faith to that of a child. To be saved, one simply trusts in Christ to save him, as a little child would. This is indeed a fearful fact; many who are "pious Christians" are not really saved. They have nothing more than another cleverly devised religion with Jesus as a pretext. This is why we must preach the true gospel even when we hear one say ‘I am a Christian’. We must proclaim always that salvation is by Trust in Christ only, without works- past, present or future. We must be clear, as the Lord Jesus was when evangelizing, that salvation is by faith alone, and is an eternal gift from God. "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." We must make it abundantly clear that if one believes he can lose his salvation, then he has failed to believe the gospel. He is not trusting Jesus alone to save him. He is trusting his life, his work, his holiness to keep his salvation. As I have consistently affirmed: eternal security is not a separate doctrine from the gospel. It is the gospel!
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