"Are you saved?"
"Have you been born again?"
These are two common buzz phrases commonly uttered by Fundamentalists, when they try to evangelize people. I think they are definitely important questions, and necessary not just to ask others (although, done so in love, mind you -- Ephesians 4:15; 1 Peter 3:15), but especially ourselves. Where exactly do each of us stand in regards to our eternal salvation? Are we truly saved? And how can one be saved?
The Bible uses the term "to be saved" in past, present and future tenses:
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
"This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved -and that by God" (Philippians 1:28).
So what is the appropriate way to answer this seemingly simple question that, based on scriptural evidence, may not be so simple to answer?
There seems to be a three-step process of salvation at work: one which was, which is, and which is yet to come: "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently" (Romans 8:23-25).
So I guess the best biblical answer to the Fundamentalists' favorite question would be: "As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5-8), but I'm also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9-10, 1 Cor. 3:12-15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11-13)."
Clearly, the end of our lives has not occurred yet. How can we say we are saved, when the day of our complete salvation is yet to come?
Biblical salvation is reliant on a faithful hope we have that our salvation is secure when we live our lives in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ (John 14-14; Romans 11:22; 1 Cor. 11:32, 15:2; 2 Cor. 2:15, 7:1, 9:6-15, 13:5-9; Gal.5:19-20; 1 Tim. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1, 4:1-11; 2 Peter 1:10, 2:20-21; etc.) When asked if he was going to heaven, one pope repliled, "I hope so." He was roundly criticized by Fundamentalists for that comment, but it is completely scriptural.
First of all it is important to remember what it is that saves us. Is it by just having faith? No� absolutely nowhere does the Bible teach that faith alone is the key to salvation. For James 2:17 clearly states that "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." So then, is it by our works? NO! The Bible is very explicit on this point:
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
One cannot earn salvation by one's own good works. Paul wrote to Titus that God "saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." Grace is the source of our salvation.
But as Ephesians 2:8-10 also states, God created us to do good works. If that is the case, we must perform them. But does that not mean that we are not really saved unless we do good works? The answer is a resounding "Yes and No!" The key to understanding the process of our salvation, and our call to holiness, we must understand how God's sanctifying grace works within us, along with our free will, not to merely "hide" our sin from God, as many have mistakenly believed, but to truly transform us into children of God.
Works are a fruit of the spirit, an acquiescence of our submission to God's grace, which complete our faith, and are credited to us as righteousness (James 2:14-26) and edify us and the entire body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-16; Hebrews 10:14). Grace also gives us the power to continue to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12) because the Holy Spirit, dwelling within us gives us the strength to persevere until the very end (Matthew 24:13; Romans 8:18-27; 1 Cor. 15:58).
It is over the Pauline epistles' content where Protestants (like Martin Luther and modern Fundamentalists) and Catholics seem to find points of contention. In discussing salvation, many theologians (especially Fundamentalists) tend to rely so heavily on the Pauline epistles, and make the Gospels (which emphasize good works as well) and the rest of the Bible sort of a "footnote" to Paul. But this will only lead one to gross misinterpretations of the Gospel message which Paul was preaching. This is why it is important to view the plan of salvation as the New Testament lays it out for us, in its entirety, in order to grasp just what it is Jesus taught His disciples, which is the faith we are to have and to share with the world.
Therefore, either one can be like Martin Luther, whose concept of sola fide (the idea that one is justified by faith alone) contradicts not only Paul, Peter, John, and James, but Jesus Himself, and like Luther, can decide to throw out (or simply ignore) whatever parts of the Bible do not fit into one's own "personal theology" when such commands to do good works are "troubling" to the "saved" Christian, or one can try to conform to the image of Christ and try to wrestle with just how faith and works go together in God's plan of salvation.
James' epistle cuts right to the chase: "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:14). He goes so far as to say that "a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (v. 24).
Martin Luther was most troubled by this verse - and the entire epistle of James - for it blatantly denied his theology that one is justified (that is to say, made righteous) by faith alone. For Luther fixated this notion (even though Paul never said "justified by faith ALONE," nor was this implied) on the epistle of Paul to the Romans:
"Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works, he has reason to boast; but this was not so in the sight of God. For what does the Scripture say? : 'Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.'" (Romans 4:2-3)
But where Luther went gravely wrong was in assuming that "since we have been justified by faith" (Romans 5:1) that no works complete the act of faith.
Paul at times can be very confusing. Peter testified to this in one of his epistles (2 Peter 3:16). But contrary to Martin Luther's misunderstanding of Scripture, Paul did not disagree with James as Martin Luther ascertained on justification. Quite the contrary, he too believed that faith without works is dead.
Paul tells the Romans that we are justified by grace which we gain through our faith in Jesus (Romans 3:24), through which, in the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5) we must do good works in our striving for holiness and our salvation which will be our reward, for God "will repay everyone according to his works: eternal life o those who seek glory, honor and immortality through perseverance in good works, but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness" (Romans 1:7, 2:4-10).
This is why James said, "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?" (James 3:14) The structure of the Greek makes it clear that the answer is "no"! (For an in-depth explanation of the Greek text of James, take a look at: http://catholicoutlook.com/canfaith.html). Some scholars believe that James wrote this epistle in reply to the spiritual laziness which many new Christians had fallen into in their state of grace, because they had mistakenly believed that since Christ Jesus had died for their sins, they had nothing more to do but believe in Jesus and their salvation was assured. This is a grave misconception widespread in many denominations today, especially among Fundamentalists. James said "You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Do you want proof, you ignoramus [see how adamant James was to get his point across?!?] , that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works" (v. 2:19-22).
The understanding of the relationship between faith and works is therefore, not too difficult to grasp. Works are the result of faith, a product of "fruit" of faith, which cannot be separated from simple mental belief.
The clearest way to understand this relationship, between belief and action, is to meditate upon the glorious mystery of the Incarnation, our Lord in Heaven who dwelled among His people to bring about their salvation:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (John 3:16-17)
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible� all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He Himself might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things for Him, making peace by the blood of His cross through Him, whether those on earth or those in heaven�He has now reconciled in His fleshly body through His death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before Him, PROVIDED THAT YOU PERSEVERE IN THE FAITH, FIRMLY GROUNDED, STABLE, AND NOT SHIFTING FROM THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL THAT YOU HEARD�" (Colossians 1:15-23, emphasis mine).
It's a bit astounding, but I have found in my experience that most Protestants never give much thought to the Incarnation, whereas Catholics and Orthodox, probably because they (we) make the Eucharist the center of their (our) worship, meditate constantly on this. The very notion of the eternal, immense God, the eternal Word, who created the world and created mankind in His image, taking a body for Himself, is just mind-boggling. The Gospel according to John stresses that this was an act of love - because God loved us, He became man.
Have you ever wondered why God, in His infinite love of mankind, did not just say, "I love you and I will forgive your sin now, and we'll start over with a clean slate"? The implication of the Incarnation is, as Scripture tells us, that it took a physical act on the part of God to cure our spiritual separation from Him. This has always been true since Adam and Eve brought sin into the world through their disobedience to God. When Adam and Eve sinned, God caused an animal to be killed. A sin against God, all throughout the Old Testament, required a physical atonement for sin, the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:18-22).
But these animal sacrifices were not enough to actually reconcile mankind to God and they did not please the Lord (Hebrews 10:1-18). It took the one-time, eternal sacrifice of Jesus to do all this. It is our eternal Lord who bridges the gap between the spiritual and the physical by becoming like us, by taking flesh and dwelling among us.
God, throughout the Old Testament, declared His love for His people. Not only Israel, but the gentiles as well (Isaiah 56:1-8). He promised to Abraham that because of Abraham's obedience, "all nations of the earth shall find blessing" (Genesis 22:18). As God calls all to believe and follow Him, we are reminded in Scripture that the very words spoken by God are fulfilled by action: "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). God's "Word" is more than just abstract; it becomes literal.
"I will live with them and move among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people� I will receive you and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters in me" (2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 2 Samuel 7).
And so the Word became physical and visible through the Incarnation. So was the promise of redemption made physical and literal in Jesus.
The second century theologian and bishop of Lyons, Irenaeus (who was a student of the great Church father and martyr Polycarp, who was a student of the Apostle John) expressed this very well in his work Against the Heresies, saying that through the Incarnation, the image of God is shown forth: "The truth of this was shown when the Word of God became man, assimilating Himself to man and man to Himself, so that, by His resemblance to the Son, man might become precious to the Father. For in times past, it was said that man was made in the image of God, but not shown, because the Word, in whose image man was made, was still invisible. That is why man lost the likeness so easily. But when the Word of God was made flesh, He confirmed both things: He showed he true image, when He Himself became what His image was; and He restored and made fast the likeness, making man like the invisible Father through the invisible Word" (V. 16,2)
"Were it not a question of saving the flesh, the Word of God would not have been made flesh, if the blood of the just had not required a reckoning, He would certainly not have had blood. But in fact, from the beginning the blood of the just has had a voice. God said to Cain when he had killed his brother: 'The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me' (Genesis 4:10). And since He required a reckoning for their blood, He said to those with Noah: 'For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it' (Genesis 9:5). And again: 'Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed' (Genesis 9:6). Similarly, the Lord said to those who were to shed His blood, 'All the just blood shed upon earth will be required from the blood of just Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all this will come upon this generation' (cf. Matthew 23:35-36; Luke 11:50-51). In saying this, He is pointing to the 'requiring' of their blood in Himself. Now this blood would not have been required unless it had the capability of being saved. Nor would the Lord have recapitulated all this in Himself if He had not been made flesh and blood in conformity to the original handiwork. In the end, He saved Himself in what in the beginning had perished in Adam" (V. 14,1).
As the Bible tells us, "For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes can sanctify those who are defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God" (Hebrews 9:13-14). It is in the Incarnation that the Lord draws all things to Himself (John 12:32; 1 Cor. 15:20-28) by being fully divine, yet fully human -- simultaneously and inseparably -- and dwelling in the physical world among His creation.
Jesus, the Word Incarnate, born of the Virgin Mary, God dwelling among man, reconciled man to God. (John 1:14-17; Colossians 1:20) Who but a perfect man could truly pay for the sins of the world? Yet as Jesus Himself attested, no man is perfect; only God is perfect. Thus, the Word had to die for us - but not only just die, but beat death, by being resurrected from the dead (Philippians 2:6-11).
It is therefore important to meditate upon the wondrous "Gift" of God, the source of our grace, who is Jesus Christ. Up until then, God was invisible to man (1 John 18; Colossians 1:1-20).
Our God is not a hidden God. Since the dawn of time, He has revealed Himself in His handiwork. When He spoke, He created the Heavens and the Earth, and mankind He made in His image. What God speaks, He manifests. This is why His love for mankind was not just abstract. It became incarnate in the Word, who became man. Irenaeus explains: "Someone may at this stage raise this objection: 'Could God not have created man perfect from the beginning?' To this we must answer that, for God, who as regards Himself is uncreated and always identical with Himself, all things are possible (cf. Luke 1:37). But the things He created come into existence later; their createdness has a beginning; and so they are of necessity inferior to the One who made them. The newly created cannot be uncreated. They are not uncreated, and so they fall short of perfection. Being younger, they are little children, and as little children, they are unaccustomed to and unskilled in perfect discipline. A mother could give her child grown-up food, but she does not, because the child is still incapable of receiving stronger nourishment. Similarly, God had the power to give man perfection from the beginning, but man was incapable of receiving it, because he was an infant. This is why our Lord came to us in these last times, recapitulating all things in Himself, not as He might have done, but as we were capable of beholding Him. He could not have come to us in His indescribable glory, but we could not have endured the greatness of that glory. Therefore, as if to infants, the perfect Bread of the Father gave Himself to us as milk� He nourished us at the breast of His flesh, a suckling which was to prepare us for eating and drinking the Word of God" (IV. 38, 1)
But as we are called into faith in Christ and to live in Him while awaiting our adoption as sons and daughters of God, we must mature in the faith which is a gift of the grace of God (Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 7:1). We must hold steadfast to the Gospel, lest we backslide, but God in His merciful patience helps us to grow stronger because of His grace: "Although you should be teachers by this time, you need to have someone teach you again the basic elements of the utterances of God. You need milk, not solid food. Everyone who lives on milk lacks experience of the word of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties are trained by practice to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:12-14).
Indeed, Christ calls us to be holy and perfect (Matthew 5:48), not remain children. While we must come to the Lord with the hearts, love, and faith of children (Matthew 19:14), we must grow in our grace, holding steadfast to the Gospel, giving up childish things, but in striving for "perfect maturity" we must pursue that which is from God (Philippians 4:12-15).
The physical dwelling of the Incarnation continues in the Church, the mystic, but very visible body of Christ. Paul constantly refers to the Church as the Body of Christ, in which the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling. The Incarnation began the reconciliation of the world - the salvation of those who believe in Jesus Christ. This work is continued today and until Christ's return by the Church, since conversion of souls begins in the physical realm - on Earth during mortal life, not after death.
But salvation is not limited to our souls alone, for "the Lord Jesus Christ � will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" (Philippians 3:20). Being the eternal creator, one in being with the Father through whom all things were made, Jesus is not only the firstborn of all creation but the firstborn of the resurrection (Colossians 1:15-23). As Christ - who is God, in whom the fullness of the God dwells, who is in the Father as the Father is in Him - took a human body when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Virgin Mary, after His death and resurrection which set us free from sin, He henceforth has a glorified body, like those which we shall one day have. In the meantime, we have our weak, mortal bodies, yet "as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Romans 8:23), we are "members of Christ Himself" (1 Corinthians 6:15) and "a temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Therefore, Paul wrote: "Therefore honor God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20). The physical and the spiritual are NOT to remain separated. Bearing this in mind, it will be clearer to explain and reconcile the apparent difficulties of understanding how it is we are saved by grace, yet justified and rewarded by faith and works. Faith and works are inseparable, just as we are in our bodies and our souls are inseparable. Hence, the constant insistence on good works and remaining in Christ.
When Jesus spoke of salvation, oftentimes he made it clear that salvation would be difficult (if not nearly impossible) to attain:
"I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:23)
"For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20)
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." (Luke 13:24)
Yet amidst the severity of His words, we have to remember that Christ Jesus is the Love of God: "For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it." (John 12:47; see also John 1:) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
Indeed, Jesus came to bring salvation by dying on the cross, offering Himself as an eternal sacrifice for the sins of the world - not only the sins of His day, but the sins of those who preceded Him, and those who had and have still yet to be born. On Calvary, Jesus Christ paid the wage of sin, which was death. But he beat the power of death by His resurrection, as a testimony to the life-giving power of God.
Jesus did not come to throw away the Law, but rather fulfill it. He did not abolish the Ten Commandments, rather, He fulfilled them by therefore, while suffering temptation like all men, not succumbing to it, and instead obeyed the commands and the Law, which were only guidelines to keep man in line, but holiness is not found in merely doing the acts called upon by God, as the Pharisees, with hardened hearts but righteous acts - empty without faith and love, but by an internal union between faith and the works one does.
One exchange between Jesus and an expert in the law, found in Luke 10, is very interesting:
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." (Luke 10:25-28).
This commandment seems simple enough. How many times did Jesus reiterate the necessity of loving the Lord with all one's being, and loving one's neighbor as oneself? The Gospel according to Matthew shows us three times during his public ministry (Matthew 5, Matthew 19, Matthew 22) and once again as we see Jesus does this as He was ordaining His Apostles before His crucifixion (John 13). It is clear that love of God, and love of others (including one's enemies) is the core of the Christian faith: "if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." (1 John 4:12).
"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). The basis of our Christian faith is love. If we love others as God loves us, that is the assurance that God will remain in us, and us in God (1 John 5) and by our love that the Church will be recognized as the light of the world (John 15:9-17; 1 John 4:7-21). But as Jesus prays for all believers to attain perfection in unity in Him (John 17:23) , such perfection is impossible to attain outside of Him, and remaining in Him depends on obeying His commandments (John 16:16).
Once one loves God, one loves others. If one loves God, and dedicates oneself to serving God, (Matthew 6:33; Romans 6:22; 2 Timothy 2:22; James 4:6-8; Hebrews 12; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Isaiah 55:6; Hosea 10:12; Amos 5:14; ) one steers clear of sin. Everything falls neatly into place (John 14:15-23). So long as we remain in Christ Jesus and stand firm to the end, we will be saved (John 8:51 & John 15; Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:13).
When Christ is truly our focus (and not the things of this world), we have nothing to worry about. Everything falls into place and we will remain in His grace (Matthew 7:25-34). "He rescued us from such great danger of death, and He will continue to rescue us; in Him we have put our hope that He will also rescue us again�" (2 Corinthians 1:10).
Jesus uses a parable to describe the grace of God to our responsibility to live up to our calling:
Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. (Matthew 18:23-34)
This parable of Jesus makes an important point in rather dramatic fashion. God forgives us of an unpayable debt (ten thousand talents, in that day, was equal to thousands of years of wages). But, when we go out and refuse to mirror his mercy to others, the debt is reinstated. Our compassion and love must mirror that which God, in HIS infinite love and mercy, has poured out on us.
One should keep in mind that Jesus spoke this parable to people whom all Christians would consider to be "saved": the twelve Apostles themselves. To those twelve foundations of the Church , Jesus said, "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
Jesus did not preach a "once saved, always saved" theology. He knew that one He Himself had called to preach the Gospel would fall away, that is to say Judas Iscariot. Judas had heard the Good News from Christ's own mouth yet turned away (John 6:66 - how hard it was to hear the Lord say one has to eat His flesh!!! And very interesting that the number of that verse matches the mark of the beast as described in Revelation). Peter, who had been singled out to govern the Church as Christ's steward (Matthew 16; Isaiah 22) also renounced Him three times, yet fortunately repented and was reinstated. We also know that the same people who praised Christ as He entered Jerusalem on a donkey, and worshipped Him, crying "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" were the same people who deserted Him after His arrest crying, "Crucify Him!" (Matthew 21:21, 27:23).
Jesus' ideal for us is that a life in Him, a life of faith, would bring forth from within good works. The parables of the wise and foolish builders (Mt. 7:24-27), the two sons (Mt. 21:28-32), the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), the talents (Mt. 25:14-30), the sheep and goats (Mt. 25:31-46) and others all teach a unity of faith and works bringing about our salvation. The parable of the virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) echoes Christ's call for us to be vigilant and not backslide into complacency within our faith. "Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come" (Matthew 24:42-44).
Jesus said as well, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matthew 7:21-23)
Many Fundamentalist sects hold fast to their notion that once one is saved by "accepting Jesus Christ as one's personal Lord and Savior", one has nothing to worry about since losing one's salvation is impossible. If a person backslides and falls away from the faith, then their original declaration of faith never was sincere, and that person never really was "born again." This cannot be more false, given what Jesus and the Apostles whom He taught, instruct about faith (Matthew 13).
Before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed for the perseverance of His Apostles, and for all those who would come to believe in Him. He told His disciples He would be with them until the end of time; He would not leave them as orphans. Surely the Apostles, who had stayed with Jesus and preached His Gospel, believed sincerely and surely in Him. If their salvation were assured from the very moment they had believed in Jesus, then there would be no reason for Jesus to pray for their faith to persevere. Indeed, if that were the case, Judas Iscariot never would have fallen away from Jesus and betrayed Him. Judas fell away because he could not believe in Jesus; his faith faltered and he succumbed to Satan's influence (John 6:70-71).
How does one remain in Him? It is simple: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments� Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words�" (John 14:15, 21-24). And this is a theme, as I have stated earlier, which Jesus repeated constantly, and once again in John 15:10: "If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in His love."
It is that in every case where Jesus repeats Himself (whether it be about keeping His commandments, or eating His flesh) it is a crucial point which He wants to drive home and make people understand.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fuit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw hem into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified , that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." (John 15:1-8)
So not only does one need to believe in Jesus, one needs to remain in Jesus in order to please and glorify God. Obey His commandments because if you believe in Him, you will do as He says.
"Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves� What good is it, my brothers, if someone says�" (James 1:22, 2:14-26).
Love requires action... faith without works is dead, just as love without action is dead...
The last verse, verse 26, is the most chilling: "For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." We as Christians have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. We are "the Body of Christ" (1 Cor. 12:12). We are dead to sin (Romans 6:11) and as Galatians 2:20 tells us: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
When we confess ours sins, and are baptized, we are dead to our sin, having been buried with Christ and resurrected through Him as Romans 6:4 tells us, our sins our forgiven and forgotten (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17) and "born again" to new life (1 Peter 3:18).
The term "born again" has become an end-all buzz-phrase of the Fundamentalists, hijacked away from its original meaning. In John 3 Jesus tells Nicodemus and all those around them: "Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.' 'How can a man be born when he is old?' Nicodemus asked. 'Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!' Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again'" (v. 3-7, my emphasis).
Immediately after, Jesus goes to get baptized. The Spirit of God descends, showing Himself in the form of a dove.
This occurred to show the people that being "born again" (the Greek literally means "born from above") refers to one's baptism, where one is born in the Spirit, not just of the flesh. For indeed at baptism, there is a new life: life within God's Covenant family.
But let's take a look again at what being "born again" or "born from above" means. If one was already born once (of the flesh, as Jesus mentions), one cannot be "born again" unless of course, one "dies." Thjs is what Romans 6:11 illustrates to us very well. Paul illustrates his point that in Jesus Christ we are who are dead in our sins must die to our old lives and be "born again" in Christ. Even while dead in our transgressions, the mercy of God for us, because of Christ's sacrifice, He bestows upon us grace to save us because of his love (Ephesians 2:1-5). This is made possible by the Spirit of God who dwells in us, giving us new life (Romans 8:10). Before we were too weak to resist sin (Romans 8:3) but now we have the Holy Spirit.
Being born is a one-moment occasion. When one is born, one does not perpetually stay in the state of birth, instead, one matures and grows. The Fundamentalists use the term "born again" erroneously to be an adjective, when in fact it is a verb. One must confess faith and die to sin. When one has been born again, one is open to the sanctifying grace of our Lord because only then are we finally dead to sin!
While Fundamentalists misunderstand and misuse the term "born again" the significance of the term is nevertheless just as serious, if not more so. It is a call to be holy, to no longer be of the world, for God, through Jesus Christ, has formed a new covenant with all those who believe in him:
For this reason [Christ] is mediator of a new covenant: since a death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions under the first covenant, those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance� (Hebrews 9:15)
God has made covenants throughout history with mankind. With Adam, He made a covenant of marriage. The covenant with Noah was a household. His covenant with Abraham was a tribe. His covenant with Moses made a nation and a chosen people out of the Hebrews. With David, God established Israel as a kingdom. God's final and eternal covenant through Jesus Christ is that of a worldwide or "catholic" (from the Greek, katholikos) family including all nations, all peoples.
In this covenant as children of God (co-inheritors of God's glory) Jesus calls all of us to take up our cross and follow him (Matthew 10:38). We should not delay (Matthew 8:18-20) and put nothing before Him (Matthew 6:24). His salvation is exclusive not in whom He choses - for He desires all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) - but it depends more heavily on those who choose Him (Matthew 21:28).
"He Himself bore our sins in His body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls" (1 Peter 2:24-25).
If we are therefore dead to sin, how can we keep on sinning? As Jesus said, "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14: 38). But "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God" (1 John 3:9).
That means we are to be blameless, pure, and holy, "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." (Hebrews 10:14)
Jesus Christ wants us to be perfect: "So be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48). The call to perfection is reverberated all throughout the New Testament . In order for us to live in Christ, we must sin no more:
1 John 2:1: "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."
Romans 6: "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? y no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Ephesians 1:4: For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Ephesians 5:27: "�and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."
Philippians 1:10: "so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ�"
Philippians 2:15: "so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe�"
1 Thessalonians 2:10: "You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed."
1 Thessalonians 3:13: "May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
1 Thessalonians 5:23: "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
2 Peter 3:14: "So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him."
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
It's a tall order, but as 1 Corinthians 1:8 tells us: "He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
We have been justified and our past sins have been erased and forgotten. However, we are still in our weak flesh, not the perfect bodies we will receive when we are resurrected. The flesh is weak and is mortal. The concern of the flesh is everything contrary to the concern of the Spirit. For living according to our flesh means certain death. But we have the Holy Spirit within us. While we have the flesh as our stumbling block, we must bear in mind that Jesus Christ beat the power of death through His resurrection. We have the Spirit of God dwelling within us, overcoming the flesh of our physical bodies. This is the same Spirit of Christ. This Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of God the Father, the Holy Spirit poured out into all believers, who is God. God is dwelling within us when we have given our lives to Him and believe in His message.
This is what Jesus meant when He said that He would remain in us as we remain in Him. For as long as we live according to the Spirit, we overcome the temptations of the world and the sin to which we once were slaves, in which we once were dead. But now we are born again as believers in Christ to live according to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit remains within us, and aids us in our weakness. It is when we surrender to the will of the Holy Spirit, who intercedes on our behalf when we are weak, works for the all good, brings us into all truth, and gives us strength in our weakness, that we will be fully conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, so that we may share in the inheritance to which He called us, in our rightful place as children of God (Romans 8).
Suffering which we accept graciously, and the good works which we do - not just out of love and gratitude to God for His infinite grace - but out of a natural response to our faith, because God does not just passively "consider" us righteous; He makes us righteous.
Our justification starts at the moment we believe in Christ's Gospel, but it continues throughout our lifetime. Justification is made operative by both faith and works. Good works "show our willingness to cooperate with the initiatives of grace" as The Catholic Encyclopedia states.
In his book Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic, David B. Currie states:
This emphasis on justification by faith and works makes a tremendous practical difference. Ordinary Catholics tend to be less cerebral in their faith because the need for works involves more action. Evangelicals sometimes think of salvation as a kind of quiz. Get the right answer and you're in! They ask people, "When you die, and Jesus asks you at the gates of heaven, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?' what will you say?" What a question! Jesus nowhere implies that judgment will be a quiz in which the correct answer gets you in and the wrong one forces you out� Entrance to heaven is preceded by a judgment: a judgment of what we have done in our lives. The criterion in every judgment scene in the New Testament is works: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father (Matthew 7:21; see also John 5, Matthew 23, Revelation 22, and 1 Corinthians 3).
So what role do works play in our justification? They put faith into concrete, physical action. We are not like fallen angels. Because angels do not have physical bodies, when they fell they were instantly and thoroughly damnable. But we have bodies linked to our spirits. We can desire something at the spiritual level of our beings but fail to accomplish it at the physical level. The role of works is to develop our characters (souls, wills) so that the physical side of us is eventually made to be in harmony with our spiritual desires. This can take a lifetime. In the process, we expand our character in order to become more Christlike. Our faith does not just cover up our rebellious wills so that we can slip into heaven. Our faith makes us want to work at reforming ourselves into Christ's image" (p.121-123).
Performing good works is discipline on for our souls and for our bodies, keeping them accountable and in line. No Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox will deny the usefulness of fasting. Our Lord Jesus Christ fasted when He went into the desert (Matthew 4:2). Fasting is long-standing practice (done by all sorts of people of different faiths), a physical depravation of food in order to reap spiritual benefits through submitting the body's carnal needs to the greater spiritual needs of the soul. When we do good works in unity with our faith, we grow to a deeper love and knowledge of God.
Taking a look at Ephesians 4:12, we see that God has prepared works of service for us to do. Ultimately we have the choice, the free will, to do them or not. But if one truly has the Holy Spirit within Him, and is truly submitted to God, then these acts are not a problem to do. We give up sin, and turn to righteousness, correct?
Just as Jesus showed His love for us sinners by what He did for us (by becoming man and paying the great price for our sin), we must show our love for Him by our works. The works which we are to do are not just a sign of our internal faith, but they are our conscious, conscientious effort to imitate Christ, and to let His indwelling Spirit keep us under control, and on the path to righteousness.
Doing good works should not only be a natural outpouring of our faith, but we should seek to do them for the benefit that they bring to us.
Do our characters need purification even after our sins our forgiven? We accept that sin is separation from God and ultimately death. Sin damages our relation to God. Is it possible that the effect of sin can mark us?
When a person commits a particular sin for the first time, there is a danger that it will become a habit. For example, let's take lying. If a person has never lied before, it will be difficult to do the very first time. Everything within the person's character will resist doing this act. But if the person lies once, it becomes easier and easier to lie with each and every time he or she does it. After awhile, the person is so desensitized to lying that it becomes "second nature."
The same can be evidenced in sexual immorality. People become addicted to pornography by giving into it. It may seem like "no big deal" to look at a few dirty pictures in a magazine or on the internet, but that is how the deepest of addicts to pornography get started - by a simple, "harmless" glance.
The same thing is happens with drug abuse. A cocaine or heroin addict always starts with something small - tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana - and then works his or her way up to the "harder" drugs.
Sin not only offends God, but it gradually destroys the sinner (Proverbs 28:18). This is why the wages of sin is death. A simple "sin" of eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, led to the fall of humanity, and brought sin and death into the world. Paul was emphatic that unless one makes an attempt to curb immoral behavior, one would ultimately fall away from Christ (1 Cor. 15:33-34).
We confess our sins to God and receive forgiveness for them, but the blemish of the sin still remains. Unless one abstains for a long time from falling into the same sin, it is easier for one to do it again. It becomes a bad habit, an imperfection - a vice.
In the same way, but with a positive effect, works done in faith mold our character over time. They slowly erase our imperfections over the course of our lifetimes. If we imitate good behavior, just as we imitate bad behavior, it will take root in us and make us more like Christ. This is why Paul says that we should imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). If we have faith in our minds and hearts, even in our fleshly weakness, if we submit our minds and bodies to imitate Christ Jesus, it will have a positive effect on our behavior.
Just as Paul warned the Corinthians about doing something that could cause someone else to fall into sin (1 Corinthians 8; 2 Cor. 4:2-5, 6:3), we must do good in every moment, and "do everything for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). We need to "put to death" that which is earthly and evil (vice) and "put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another� as the Lord has forgiven you� And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3: 5-17).
Some like Martin Luther would have one believe that we are unable to stop sinning. We cannot stop because we are sinful creatures, so we might as well go on sinning and rejoice in the grace we receive in repentance. Nothing could be further from the truth as Romans the Scripture tells us. The numerous Scripture verses I have cited are only a small sampling of those which support the fact that we are called to belief and faith in Christ, and reflect this faith by conforming our behavior to be like Christ's.
Just as God showed His love for the world by action, so must we show our love for Him by action.
We need to realize that the sin which remains in our lives still causes a barrier to fulfilling our duty to serve the Lord. As I have mentioned earlier, sin is separation from God, and the more one sins, the more it becomes easy to sin, and therefore, the wider the gap separating us from God will become. This makes much more sense out of the Lord's bizarre words in Mark 9:42-46, for example, where Jesus seemingly compares the effects of sin to a cancer, or even leprosy, in that even when the smallest part of body is "infected" it is lethal to all other parts. Sin is that serious.
The other important reason for good works is that they will be seen by others and Christ will be recognized through them (John 13:35) in the Church. This is not to be for man's selfish benefit as was the case with the works of the hypocritical Pharisees (Matt. 6), but rather to be done in Christ, all for God's glory. For while He was in the world, Christ was the light of the world (John 9:5) but He calls us, His followers, to take on that role since we are His body with His Spirit (Matt. 5:14). We are to show the world Christ Jesus through our love, behavior, and charity (John 13:15; 1 Cor. 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:7; 1 Tim. 1:16, 4:12). For by remaining consistent in both our beliefs and behavior, we can help convert and save the lost sheep of the world.
In this day and age, when the world is watching, it is imperative we do this, lest we bring about the downfall of others. People are turning away from the Lord due to the hypocrisy of those who call themselves Christians. But only those who do the will of the Father, who "practice what they preach" are truly part of God's family (Mark 3:35).
The Bible mentions also that there is a need for satisfaction of the temporal punishment for sin. When we confess our sins they are erased by God. Nevertheless, their effect still exists. The existence of temporal punishment of sin, distinct from eternal damnation, is shown in various cases in Scripture, a punishment for sin which God has forgiven. For example, David was forgiven of the guilt of his adultery, but his baby died and chaos continued to plague his family and his life in his final years (2 Samuel 12:11-14). Moses was forgiven for striking the rock a second time, but was refused entry into the Promised Land as temporal punishment (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 34:4).
Temporal punishment is just God's way (to draw a poor parallel) of keeping us accountable for disobedience, just as any good father will punish his child. If you disobey your father, generally he will ground you for it. 1 Corinthians 3:15, Luke 12:59, Matthew 5:25-26, and 1 Peter 1:7 give allusion to this concept.
Suffering occurs as a result of our sin, and we have to bear it. But expiating (another way of saying, to pay the penalty) temporal sin comes through our suffering, which is our sharing in Christ's suffering on the cross (1 Cor. 12:25-26; 2 Cor. 1:3-7; 1 Peter 4:12-19)
Jesus called all believers to suffer along with Him. "Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38). "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). As David B. Currie wrote, "To have our feet in the footprints of Jesus, our backs must bear a cross" (p.127).
Most Christians, in our comfortable modern world, do not like to think about suffering. It is even harder for those Christians (namely Fundamentalists) who reduce Christian conversion and the Christian life to mere acts of the intellect, and not a very physical, literal, concrete conversion of the body, mind, heart and soul - that is to say, the entire being!!!
The Fundamentalist soteriology (the study of salvation) basically falls apart because they are unable to make any sense of what Paul was talking about in Colossians 1:24: "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the Church."
This verse in no way can imply that Christ's atoning death on the cross was inefficient for our salvation. What it means is that through our suffering, we are mystically connected to Christ's own suffering (Mark 13, Matthew 23) and how that helps us develop us, and grow in our holiness. Again, the physical and emotional suffering we undergo has a developing effect on our character. Though Christ's sacrifice is eternal and sufficient for our salvation, what it is "lacking" is how to what degree it has transformed our lives and our characters, in that during our lives here on earth, we are still not yet perfect as Christ is perfect, but that is our goal. It is a continual process, not a one-time event that occurs at some "altar call."
What is more, that suffering can help in other people's salvation by being a visible, clear "imitator of Christ" - a good witness to others, "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up� From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work" (Eph. 4:12, 16). For as every part of the Body of Christ suffers when only one part suffers, every part of the Body will also rejoice as much when one part rejoices. We are the body of Christ, indivisible (1 Cor. 7:35).
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). But that love could only be worth something if it is manifested -- in the ultimate revelation which is the Word - Jesus Christ!
The world cannot be justified, sanctified and saved without the one-time sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, whose blood is the everlasting atonement for our sins. We cannot be justified by faith alone, but just as love required an action on God's part, so it does on our part:
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death -- that is, the devil -- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted" (Hebrews 2:14-18).
The physical and spiritual worlds are joined since God invaded Earth by dwelling among us. Therefore, we must we remain in Christ Jesus and stand firm to the end, and we will be saved (John 8:51 & John 15; Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:13).
Faith without deeds is useless (James 2:20) and so is love without deeds, or love without fruit... (Matthew 7:19; John 15:5-16; Romans 7:4; Colossians 1:10)
The Scriptural evidence is overwhelming...
We can, if our lives display a pattern of perseverance and spiritual fruit, have not only a confidence in our present state of grace but also of our future perseverance with God. Yet we cannot have an infallible certitude of our own salvation, as many Protestants will admit. There is the possibility of self-deception (cf. Matthew 7:22-23). As Jeremiah expressed it, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). There is also the possibility of falling from grace by continuing to sin, and even of falling away from the faith entirely, for as Jesus told us, there are those who "believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away" (Luke 8:13). It is in the light of these warnings and admonitions that we must understand Scripture's positive statements concerning our ability to know and have confidence in our salvation. Assurance we may have; infallible certitude we may not.
At the end of our lives, may we therefore be like Paul, enduring in our faith, strengthened by the Holy Spirit within us, and confident to say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day" (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
I am confident in my salvation because of the Lord's great mercy. But woe to He who does not remain in Christ Jesus: "it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment handed down to them" (2 Peter 2:21).
Indeed we have assurance of our salvation due to the perfect merits of Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross. But we must grow to full maturity in our faith - go beyond just the knowledge of salvation, but actually live in it: "Therefore, let us leave behind the basic teaching about Christ and advance to maturity, without laying the foundation all over again�" (Hebrews 6:1) "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
"AMEN, AMEN I SAY TO YOU: IF ANY MAN KEEP MY WORD, HE SHALL NOT SEE DEATH FOREVER" (John 8:51).
"Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me" (Matthew 11:6).
Thus sayeth the Lord!!!!!!!
