The Bible makes it very clear we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and there is no other
way to be saved. (John 14:6)
What does “to be saved” mean?
It means to be born again. (John 3:3)
What does “to be born again”
mean? It means to be born spiritually into the family of God. (John 3:5-8)
How is one saved? He/she is
saved by God’s grace of accepting our faith in His Son Jesus Christ to redeem
us from sin. (Ephesians 2:8-9) When we are lost, we are locked in Satan’s slave
market of sin, but by putting our faith in the death, burial and resurrection
of Jesus Christ, Jesus buys us from that slave market, frees us, and adopts us
as His own. In effect, we trust Him to save us and He does, becoming our Savior
and Lord.
As our Savior, we worship Him
because He saved us by us own shed blood that paid all our sin debt. He bought
us in other words.
As our Lord, we serve Him out
of gratitude and love.
If He saved us by faith, it
is reasonable to assume we live for Him each day the same way … by faith.
Actually, it’s more than an assumption, it is true.
Most people believe we must do
something to be saved. We must add something to faith, but that is not what God
says.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so
that no one can boast.” (Ephesians
2:8-9)
Another problem arises, and
that is, so many people who are actually saved think they must do something to
keep being saved. The Bible teaches just the opposite though. Why would any
rational person think that God uses our faith to save us by His grace, and then
decides to keep a tab of our works to determine if we remain saved?
Martin Luther wrestled with
Romans 1:17 for years. Due to his Catholic indoctrination, he just could not
separate faith and works, until one day it finally hit him. It wasn’t HIS
righteousness that saves, it was JESUS’ righteousness. (Nothing has changed.) Then
on October 31, 1517 he posted his 95 thesis on the church door of Wittenberg,
Germany. From that point on, his life of misery became a life of inner peace.
At this point I am going to
provide a list of Scriptures just showing those that have the phrase “by faith”
and what “by faith” is referring to in each Scripture.
Acts 15:9 purifying their
hearts by faith
Act 26:18 sanctified by faith
Romans 1:17 faith to faith;
live by faith
Romans 3:22 righteousness of
God by faith
Romans 3:28 justified by
faith
Romans 3:30 justify
circumcision by faith and uncircumcision by faith
Romans 5:1 justified by faith
Romans 5:2 access by faith
Romans 9:32 (Israel) sought
it (law of righteousness) not by faith
Romans 11:20 stand by faith
2 Corinthians 1:24 stand by
faith
2 Corinthians 5:7 walk by
faith
Galatians 3:11 live by faith
Galatians 3:22 promise by
faith
Galatians 3:24 justified by
faith
Galatians 3:26 children of
God by faith
Galatians 5:5 hope of
righteousness by faith
Ephesians 3:17 Christ may
dwell in your hearts by faith
Philippians 3:9 righteousness
by faith
Hebrews 10:38 live by faith
And then in the following
passages the writer of Hebrews mentions a few who lived by faith:
Hebrews 11:4 Abel
Hebrews 11:5 Enoch
Hebrews 11:7 Noah
Hebrews 11:8 Abraham and
Sarah
Hebrews 11:20 Isaac
Hebrews 11:21 Jacob
Hebrews 11:22 Joseph
Hebrews 11:23 Moses’ parents
Hebrews 11:24 Moses
Hebrews 11:31 Rahab
Hebrews 11:32 Others
None of these people were
without sin. Not one of them is perfect, but they are God’s people. How is
that? Could it be that their lives were in God’s hands and it was up to God to
guarantee they remain there?
My point is we are saved by
faith and as a Christian we live each day by faith. That does not mean that if
our faith is weak one day we are in trouble of losing it all. We can no more be
unborn spiritually than we can be unborn physically. Once we are saved, we are
always saved, held in God’s strong grasp.
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which
gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand. I and my Father are one.”
(John 10:28-30)
Once saved, we are sealed by
God with His own Spirit to keep us, teach us and guide us.
“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm
in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his
Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard
the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were
marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing
our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to
the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians
1:13-14)
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom
you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)
“But what about James 2:24,”
someone says? Now if I could ask a question, “Did you read it all, or just that
one verse?”
The Bible was not written
with man’s interruption. It was written by the Holy Spirit using different men
over a long period of time to write the words of God.
“For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when
we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty.
He received honor and glory from God the Father when
the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I
love; with him I am well pleased.”
We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven
when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
We also have the prophetic message as something
completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light
shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your
hearts.
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of
Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.
For prophecy never had its origin in the human will,
but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the
Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:16-21)
With that in mind, GOD NEVER
CONTRADICTS HIMSELF. Everything God wrote for us through Moses will agree with
everything He wrote for us through the apostle John. Everything Jesus said in
the Gospels agrees perfectly with the rest of His word.
Therefore, there is no
disagreement between James 2:24 and Galatians 2:16 (for example). The problem is with our interruptions. God
speaks plainly and clearly, but we can’t read one little verse and take it out
of context. We must read it all. If we can’t understand something in the Bible,
we need to keep studying it and ask for His guidance.
We are spiritually born by
faith in Jesus Christ … plus NOTHING. We live each day the same way. God does
the saving and keeping. Our part is, “just trust Him.”
Do works ever count in our
life as something God acknowledges? They most certainly do, but only after
we’re saved. Please remember this: When we are saved, we then have a relationship
with God. He becomes our Father, our Savior and bridegroom and the Deposit
guaranteeing that relationship never changes. Also, because of that
relationship we can now fellowship with Him. So now as a new Christian,
two things exist between us and God; (1) relationship and (2) fellowship. We
are now in the family of God (relationship) and we can interact (fellowship)
within the family of God.
Let me give an example.
When you were born, you
automatically had relatives, those you are related to, such as your parents,
siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. That is a relationship.
Now that you are in that
family you have interactions between you and your family members throughout
your life. That is fellowship.
You may be a rapscallion, but
you will always have that relationship. Your fellowship may suffer, but you
cannot change the relationship.
What do parents expect of
their children? They expect the children to trust them and follow their
leadership. Do they always do that? No, but they are still their children.
If we are in God’s family,
the relationship will never be broken, but He expects us, as His children, to
trust Him and follow His leadership. Do we always do that? No, but we are still
in the family, even though we hurt our fellowship with Him. This is exactly why
the Lord had the apostle John write these words:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and
will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
He wants us to live by faith
just as we trusted Him to save and keep us. When we fall, come to Him, admit it,
and ask forgiveness to restore the fellowship, and then continue living by
faith.
Grant Phillips
Email: Phillip5769@twc.com
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
