SAVED BY GACE— APPENDIX #1, #2, #3

 

SAVED BY GRACE - APPENDIX #1

HUMILITY: Recommended Books - Fruits Of The Spirit, A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 - A Gardener Looks at the Fruits of the Spirit by Phillip Keller. Obtainable from most Bible Book Stores. WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS LAW? Recommended reading - Digest Of The Divine Law by Howard Brand, LL.B. published by Destiny Publishers, Merrimac, Mass. 01860. Digest Of The Divine Law points out the fact that we face the rule of Law or chaos. It sets forth the justice, equity and righteousness of the Law of the Lord. A Lawyer looks at the beauty of God's Laws. REAL REPENTANCE Dr.Herbert Lockyer in his book All The Doctrines Of The Bible, pages 169 - 176, gives some very sound truths regarding repentance: ".......We seldom hear the old prophetic cry, 'Break up your fallow ground, sow not among thorns' (Jeremiah 4:3). This generation, with all its religion, has lost the sense of sin and pays preachers to 'Prophesy smooth things.' Repentance is robbed of its true significance. The plow of conviction is never driven deep into the human soil. So-called 'revivals' and 'evangelistic efforts' produce shallow results because of the shallow repentance preached. Deep mourning for sin, hot, scalding tears of repentance, souls writhing in agony because of their burden are not common as they used to be..... The sob of anguish, 'Woe is me, for I am undone, ' is seldom heard in a religious service today..... Statistically minded, the church counts numbers. God give her numbers that count ! We go out for quantity. God seeks quality ...... There are those who cry repentance down, calling it a LEGAL doctrine, but the Bible is full of this basic doctrine. Christ preached it ! At His farewell, when He was about to ascend to heaven, He commanded that repentance should be preached in His name (Luke 24:47)..... The Bible unhesitatingly and emphatically declares that repentance is the first step in the soul's return to God: that it is not arbitrary, but necessary, seeing no soul can be saved without it. Thus the summons to repent is the dominant note in God's call to men in both Old and New Testaments..... Because repentance is indispensable it is imperative that we understand what it means and implies. It is clearly evident that defective and counterfeit views are prevalent. Men try to persuade themselves that something else, or something less, can pass for repentance(Jeremiah 25:5; Ezekiel 14:6; Joel 2:13,14; Acts 5:6-11).... We confess our sin and turn from it to God. This is 'repentance toward God' (Acts 20:21) and results in remission. Such a repentance, however, is a condition, not the cause of salvation. Christ alone can save, and once He blots out our confessed sin, sin must be forsaken....." FIRST DAY For the researchers of Church History and those wanting the truth of how the first day of the week replaced the original Sabbath, the following books are recommended. From Sabbath To Sunday - Anti-Judaism And The Origin Of Sunday - Divine Rest For Human Restlessness, by Samuele Bacchiocchi Ph. D. Some of the many Reviews on the book "From Sabbath To Sunday" are: "The scholarship is not lust impeccable, it is truly a marvel......" The Catholic Historical Review. "The book will, I am sure, stimulate a re-examination of long established attitudes...." Norman Vincent Peale. "It is a thorough and painstaking piece of research....." Bruce M. Metzger, Professor of NT, Princeton Theological Seminary. ".....a most impressive, helpful work of first rank scholarship....." Vernon C. Grounds, President, Denver Baptist Theological Seminary. "I appreciated reading From Sabbath To Sunday. Dr. Bacchiocchi has done his research in a very thorough way with a kind, irenic, Christlike spirit. It was good to benefit from such a research on the early church Fathers as it applies to the Sabbath question." David Pieratt, Director Correspondence Department, Ozark Bible College. "Dr.Bacchiocchi's scholarly investigation reveals that the replacement of the seventh-day Sabbath by the first day of the week was not the work of Christ, the apostles, or the Jerusalem church, but that Sunday-keeping was introduced in the Church of Rome to replace pagan sun worship and to show that Christians were different from Jewish Sabbath-keepers." W.Charles Heiser, S.J. in "Theology Digest." THE RESURRECTION WAS NOT ON SUNDAY MORNING Perhaps the number one reason that has been put forth over the centuries, for keeping Sunday as the Sabbath, has been the teaching that Jesus was resurrected the morning of the first day of the week. This teaching is not only unscriptural but contrary to a number of Historical sources. The Didascalia, an early Christian work which is preserved in Syriac, supports a Wednesday crucifixion day. In this work the apostles are quoted as saying that it was on Tuesday evening that they ate the Passover with Jesus, and on Wednesday that He was taken captive and held in custody in the house of Caiaphas. Epiphanius, a post-Nicene writer, gives Tuesday evening as the Last Supper (A.Gilmore, "Date and Significance of the Last Supper," Scottish Journal of Theology, Sept. 1961, pp. 256-259, 264-268). Victorinus of Pettau, worked out a chronology that arrives at the conclusion that Jesus was arrested on a Wednesday. Loc.cit. There is a certain amount of evidence found in the writings of the Early Church Fathers for the Last Supper having taken place on the 13th of Nisan, i.e., Tuesday evening. Loc.cit. The Dead Sea Scrolls. Writing in " Eternity" magazine, its editor, Donald Grey Barnhouse, cited evidence from the scrolls which would place the Last Supper on Tuesday. He also quoted from a Roman Catholic journal published in France that "an ancient Christian tradition, attested to by the Didascalia Apostolorum as well as by Epiphanius and Victor-inus of Petta (died 304 A. D.) gives Tuesday evening as the date of the Last Supper and prescribes a fast for Wednesday to commemorate the capture of Christ." (Eternity, June, 1958. Though strongly holding to a Friday crucifixion, The Catholic Encyclopedia says that not all scholars have believed this way. Epiphanius, Lactantius, Wescott, Cassiodorus and Gregory of Tours are mentioned as rejecting Friday as the day of the crucifixion. (Vol.8, p. 378, art. "Jesus Christ."). The Companion Bible, published by Oxford University Press, in its Appendix 156 explains that Christ was crucified on Wednesday. Dake's Annotated Reference Bible. Finis Dake has said on his note on Matthew 12:40: Christ was dead for three full days and for three full nights. He was put in the grave Wednesday just before sunset and was resurrected at the end of Saturday at sunset.... No statement says that He was buried Friday at sunset. This would make him in the grave only one day and one night, proving his own words untrue." (page 13). The error in believing Jesus was crucified on a Friday has largely come about by thinking that the Sabbath that followed "the preparation" of Mt.27:62 and Jn. 19:31 was the weekly 7th day Sabbath instead of the first Passover Sabbath. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary says, " The day after the preparation(ASV). Usually explained as Saturday..... However, this preparation day was the day before the Passover Feast day (Jn 19:14,31), which feast may have occurred that year on Wednesday night. Perhaps this accounts for Matthew's not using the term 'Sabbath' here, lest it be confused with Saturday. According to this view, the entombment lasted a full seventy-two hours, from sundown Wednesday to sundown Saturday. Such a view gives more reasonable treatment to Mt.12:40. It also explains 'after three days' and 'on the third day' in a way that does least violence to either. "(page 984). The answer is all resolved when it is understood that there were TWO SABBATHS in the last week of our Saviours physical life. Ferrar Fenton ( a wealthy Englishman, for about 50 years avoided reading the Bible in any but the original languages, that his own translation of the Bible might not be influenced by other translations ), renders the first part of Mt.28:1 as, " After the SabbathS.." He states in his foot note that the Greek original is in the PLURAL. Fenton translates Lk.24:1 as," But at day-break upon the first day following the Sabbaths, they proceeded to the tomb Again in Jn.20:1 " Now on the first day following the SABBATHS....." And his footnote says,that this is literally as the Greek reads. The Greek is very significant in LK.23:54 - 56. In verse 54 Luke was inspired to write, "A preparation day, and A Sabbath " but in verse 56 the definite article "the" is used with "Sabbath" showing that this Sabbath was the weekly Sabbath, thus making a difference between the two Sabbaths, and showing there was indeed TWO Sabbath days at the beginning of that Passover week. Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples on a Tuesday evening. He was arrested during that night and crucified during the daytime of Wednesday. At about 3 p.m. in the after-noon He died - His burial was AFTER sunset (that in itself is another study). At sunset the high day Sabbath for the feast of Unleavened Bread began. It lasted till sunset the next day - Thursday. This was ONE night and ONE day in the tomb. Friday,a work day before the weekly Sabbath, followed. Now we have TWO nights and TWO days that Jesus lay in the grave. The night of the weekly Sabbath was the THIRD night, and the daylight part of that Saturday was the THIRD day - after a full 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb,the heart of the earth - Jesus rose from the dead, just after sunset - exactly 72 hours after being put into the tomb. It was a first day of the week resurrection, yes, but NOT on Sunday morning. It was what we call Saturday evening. As Jesus represented the Wave Sheaf or first of the First Fruits, cut after sunset of the weekly Sabbath during the Passover/Unleaven Bread feast and waved before the Lord in the Temple on the morning of the first day of the week, it was only fitting that He should be resurrected shortly after the sun had set to end the weekly Sabbath, after three days and three nights in the grave. LUKE and MARK give us the final proof. Luke tells us, "And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment" (Luke 23:55-56). They had and prepared these spices BEFORE the Sabbath. But notice what Mark tells us, "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought spices, that they might come and anoint him"(Mark 16:1). They bought the spices AFTER the Sabbath was past! Putting the two Gospel accounts together, it would have been impossible for them to purchase the spices after the Sabbath, and then to prepare them before the Sabbath, and rest on the same Sabbath. The conclusion is inescapable. There were two Sabbaths that week, and when properly harmonized, everything fits in place. A note on Mark 16:9 Someone is bound to say that this verse plainly says that Jesus rose on the first day of the week. In the Greek the phrase"early the first day of the week" can be grammatically connected either with the words "having risen" or with the words "he appeared first to Mary Magdalene." The Expositor's Greek Testament says the phrase "early the first day of the week" may be either "connected with (having risen), indicating the time of the resurrection, or with (appeared), indicating the time of the first appearance." We have seen that it could not refer to the time of the resurrection Mark 16:9 should have been translated, "Now having risen, early the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene." It is rendered this way in the Montgomery translation. The REPORTER Charles F. DeLoach has written: ".....those who do keep the Lord's Day have no specific Bible command to do so, but base their commemoration of it as the day of Christ's victory over death and the grave. That this observance goes all the way back to the earliest Christians, PHILLIP SCHAFF, a recognized authority on church history in the last century, had no doubt. In his monumental eight-volume work which is still widely used, Schaff said: ' The celebration of the Lord's Day in memory of the RESURRECTION of Christ dates undoubtedly from the apostolic age..... the Fathers did not regard the Christian Sunday as a continuation of, but as a SUBSTITUTE for the..... Sabbath, and based it, not so much on the FOURTH commandment, and the primitive REST of God in creation, to which the commandment expressly refers, AS UPON the resurrection of Christ and the apostolic tradition....... ' " ( emphasis ours). Phillip Schaff, along with others of his day, believed in 1st day sanctification not as a divine command from the heavenly Father or Christ, but from the supposed fact that Jesus rose from the dead on that day and a presumed apostolic tradition. Schaff was WRONG on both accounts! As we have seen, the Bible itself and recorded historical data clearly show Jesus to have been crucified on a Wednesday, and 3 days and 3 nights later - just after sunset on Saturday - He was resurrected. Jesus did not rise from the dead on the morning of the first day of the week. He was not resurrected on a Sunday morning. AND there is NO know recorded APOSTOLIC history or tradition from the apostles of Christ, to either state that, Jesus rose on the morning of the first day or that Sunday had replaced the fourth commandment Sabbath. THE SABBATH - FOR JEWS ONLY? It is often said or written by some Bible teachers, that the 7th day Sabbath is " the Jewish Sabbath " only for the Jews, while Gentiles have Sunday. With due respect to these individuals I cannot see this reasoning to be logical or scripturally sound. It is very true that the Lord did enter into a special Sabbath covenant with Israel (Ex.31 :12-17), but to say the 7th day is only for Jews or Israelites is an error, and not a small one at that, as the following facts of scripture will show. 1. The 7th day Sabbath was BLESSED, SANCTIFIED and made HOLY from the beginning of creation week ( Gen.2:1-3; Ex.20:8-11) before there were any Israelites or Jews. 2. The religion given to Israel ( which included Sabbath days ) under the OT was not just for national Israel, but the Lord intended that other nations would learn of His righteous ways through Israel ( Deut.4:1-14 ). 3. Gentiles could worship the true God under the OT by accepting the religion of Israel, and so becoming an adopted Israelite. There was to be only ONE Law for both Israelite and Gentile ( Ex. 12:48,49; Num. 15:13-16). 4. So under the NT there is no difference between Jew or Gentile - there is ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism ( Gal.3:26-29; Col.3:11; Eph.4:3-6 ) . Jesus Christ is not divided (1 Cor. 1:13 ). The NT is completely silent - nay, completely against any idea that there is one Sabbath day for the Jew and another, different day, to be kept by the Gentiles. If this was the case, such an important institution as which day should be kept holy by the Jew and which day for the Gentile, would have been all over the NT. 5. If an ordinance like circumcision could cause so much dispute ( Galatians and Acts 15 ) surely a CHANGE or DIVISION in the Sabbath would have done as much or more. The apostles and elders at the Jerusalem conference, in handing down their simple, brief instructions to the Gentiles ( Acts 15:19-20 ) did not labour the point, but it seems knew that the Gentiles could learn more about God, not on the Lord's day but on the Sabbath - indicating the Gentile Christians around this time in the first century ( 49 A. D.), were keeping the ancient Sabbath along with the Jews (verse 21). Otherwise it would have been simple for James to have said that the Gentiles could learn more about Moses on "their Lord's Day, when he is read." Further, when Paul in Antioch on the Sabbath was asked by the Gentiles to preach again to them (the next Sabbath - Acts 13:42), IF the Christian church or Gentile part was already observing the first day( as some have claimed ), then Paul could have easily told them to "come back tomorrow, the Lord's day - I will preach again." But nothing remotely along these lines was recorded to have been said by Paul. 6. If a CHANGE of the weekly Sabbath, or IF there were now TWO Sabbath days - one for the Jews, one for the Gentiles - was taught either from Jesus or the apostles, then we would expect to find some clear record of this in the writings of the early, so called "church fathers." But instead, we find complete silence - no record - no teaching or tradition from the apostolic church on this matter has ever been found. 7. Jesus plainly said the Sabbath (7th day) was MADE (it was made at creation), and it was made not for the Jew, but for MAN - MANKIND ( Mark 2:27)! A COMMENT ON THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS AND THE 1ST DAY Some have used the DIDACHE ( written between 80 and 120 A. D. by an unknown author) the writings of IGNATIUS ( 67-110 A. D. ), JUSTIN MARTYR ( 100-167) , IRENAEUS(130-200 ) even the epistle of BARNABAS ( written sometime between 90-120 A. D.) and the letter of PLINY the YOUNGER to Trajan, to uphold apostolic sanction and teaching that the 1st day became the Christian Sabbath from the beginning of the NT church. To those who are of the Roman Catholic persuasion that TRADITION is equal to the inspired Word, then there would be a partial argument in the use of these so called Post-Nicaen Fathers. BUT for those ( myself being among them) whose faith and salvation rests ONLY with the infallible and non-contradictable Word of God - the Bible - then the writings of fallible men or women can bear no consideration, except where they agree with the inspired Word. This is especially so, when we consider the facts of God's own Word as to the early CORRUPTION and falling away from the teachings of Jesus and the apostles - the turning aside of TRUTH unto FABLES, LAWLESSNESS and deception (yet calling it Christian) was everywhere present even before 70 A. D.as the following scriptures will show. BOOK WRITTEN ABOUT A.D. GALATIANS 1:6-7 49-53 II THESSALONIANS 2:1-3,7 51 II CORINTHIANS 11:3-4, 13-15 55-57 ACTS 20:17,18-30 57-60 COLOSSIANS 2:4,8 60-62 I TIMOTHY 6:3-5 64-66 TITUS 1:7,9-11 64-66 II TIMOTHY 2:16-19 67 II PETER 2:1-3,15,18-19 65-67 JUDE 3-4 65-80 Now if the gospel of Jesus Christ was already being corrupted so widely before 70 A.D. how much suppose you that it is corrupted today - nearly 2,000 years later ? For your further study on the corruption of the Gospel we recommend the following books: THE TWO BABYLONS by the late Alexander Hislop. Published by Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey. BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION by Ralph Woodrow. Box 124, Riverside, Calif. 92502. SAVED BY GRACE NOT UNDER THE LAW (Romans 6:14) "The Law which exacts obedience, without giving POWER to obey; that condemns every transgression and every unholy thought without providing for the expiration of evil or the pardon of sin. But under grace . You are under the merciful and beneficent dispensation of the Gospel, that although it requires the strictest conformity to the will of God, affords sufficient power to be thus conformed; and, in the death of Christ, has provided PARDON for all that is past and GRACE to help in every time need" (Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary - emphasis his). "To be 'under the Law' in St.Paul's language, means to avoid sin from fear of penalties attached to sin by the Law. This principle of fear is not strong enough to keep men in the path of duty. Union with Christ can alone give man the mastery over sin" (The Life and Epistles of Paul, by Conybeare and Howson ). "Those in Christ are not under the regime of the Mosaic Law as the MEANS of attaining salvation. We are under the grace of God and of Christ. The whole of the OT - the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (e.g., Psalms) - certainly brings the knowledge of sin (Rom.3:20;5:20).......... When we are under grace, we have a new owner. This fact changes all of the believer's conduct. Our status under grace is like that of a woman married to another man after the death of her husband. It involves a whole new manner of life. Thus, by analogy, Paul shows why being under grace NEVER ALLOWS a believer to be INDIFFERENT to SIN" (Wycliffe Bible Commentary - page 1201 - emphasis ours). "....not under the Law of sin and death, but under the Law of the Spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus: we are actuated by other principles than we have been ....... Or, not under the covenant of works, which requires brick, and gives no straw, which condemns upon the least failure.... but under the covenant of grace ....... which requires nothing but what it promises strength to perform...... that every transgression in the covenant does not put us out of the covenant ...... grace which accepts the willing mind, which is not extreme to mark what we do amiss, which leaves room for REPENTANCE, which promises PARDON upon repentance: and what can be to an ingenuous mind a stronger motive than this to have nothing to do with sin? Shall we SIN against so much GOODNESS, abuse such LOVE ?...... to SPIT in the face of such love, is that which, between man and man, all the world would cry out shame on" (Matthew Henry's Bible Comm. Vol.3, page 955 - emphasis ours). "We who are Christians are not subject to that Law where sin is excited, and where it rages unsubdued. But it may be asked here, what is meant by this declaration? DOES IT MEAN THAT CHRISTIANS ARE ABSOLVED FROM ALL THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE LAW? I answer, (1) The apostle does not affirm that Christians are not bound to obey the moral Law. The whole scope of his reasonings show that he maintains that they ARE. The whole structure of Christianity supposes the same thing. Comp. Matt. 5:17-19. (2) The apostle means to say that Christians are not under the Law as legalists, or as attempting to be justified by it . They seek a different plan of justification altogether; and they do not attempt to be justified by their own obedience, The Jews did; they do not ...... BUT UNDER GRACE. Under a scheme of MERCY, the DESIGN and tendency of which is to subdue sin, and destroy it. In what way the system of grace removes and destroys sin, the apostle states in the following verses" ( Albert Barnes' Notes on the New Testament, page 593 - emphasis ours and his). A CONCISE SUMMARY FROM HALLEY'S BIBLE HANDBOOK (New Revised Edition) "If we are no longer under the Law, and Christ Forgives our Sins, then why not continue to sin? Keep on Sinning, and Christ keep on Forgiving. Paul answers that such a thing is unthinkable. Christ died to Save us from our Sins. His forgiveness is for the purpose of making us Hate our Sins. We cannot be servants of Sin, and servants of Christ. We must choose one or the other. It is not possible to please Christ, and continue at the same time TO LIVE IN SIN. This does not mean we can entirely overcome All our Sins,and place ourselves beyond the need of His Mercy. But it does mean that there are two essentially different Ways of Life; The WAY of CHRIST and the WAY of SIN. In heart we belong to one or the other, but not to both. Christ, the perfect embodiment of the Law of God, furnishes us with the MOTIVE, and supplies us with the POWER, to struggle on unto the attainment for ourselves of that Perfect Holiness which, by His Grace, ultimately shall be ours" ( page 587 - emphasis ours and his). THE BIBLE DEFINITION AS TO WHAT IS SIN "......Sin is the transgression of the Law" (1 John 3:4). "......I had not known Sin, but by the Law: for I had not known lust except the Law had said, You shall not covet" ( Romans 7:7). "......for by the Law is the knowledge of Sin" ( Romans 3:20). "All unrighteousness is Sin......." (1 John 5:17). "......for whatsoever is not of faith is Sin" ( Romans 14:23 ). "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and does not do it, to him it is Sin" (James 4:17). THE DOCTRINE OF SIN In the book All the Doctrines of the Bible , Dr. Herbert Lockyer has a very illuminating chapter called 'The Doctrine of Sin'. He explains the meaning of the many Hebrew words that are used in the OT to give us a clearer picture of the many sides and different shades that make up, what the Bible calls sin I will but quote a few of his last paragraphs here: "..... The Bible describes so many sins for our enlightenment and warning. There are little sins (Song of Solomon 2:15); big sins (Ps.25:11 - a strange plea for mercy); tall sins (Rev.18:5 - colored iniquity); secret sins (Ez.8:7, 12 - a darkened gallery); open sins (1 Sam. 2:23 - talk of the town); youthful sins (Job 20:11 - malignant germs); middle life sins (Ps.91: 6 - prayer book version); old age sins (2 Chron.16:12 - gouty troubles); ignorant sins (Lev.4:1,35 - a merciful provision); sins against the light (John 15:22 - a cloakless evil); sins against God (Ps.51:4 -a royal penitent's wail); sins against man (1 Cor.8:13 - abuse of Christian liberty) and sins against the Holy Spirit (Matt.12:32). Is it not blessed to know that the blood of Jesus Christ is able to cleanse us from ALL sin?.... Sin is unrighteousness. When a man sins he ceases to be right. He becomes crooked and has perverted thoughts of God and His ways...... Sin is the absolute denial of divine righteousness, a breaking away from the divine standard and the divine right to command.............. Christ, then, has made a full provision for the guilt and government of sin. Through His atoning work, He is able to save from the PENALTY of sin. Alive for evermore, He is able through the Spirit, daily to save us from the POWER of sin. When He returns the second time without sin unto salvation, He will deliver His saved ones from the PRESENCE of sin WITHIN and AROUND. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! .......Christ came into the world to save sinners. He died for our sins, according to the scripture....... At Calvery, the guilt of sin was dealt with and forever cancelled by the merit of Christ's atoning work. Upon the cross, He became a curse for us (Gal.3:13). Willingly He became the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2)....... Dealing, then, with our transgressions, Christ takes up His abode within us and KEEPS us right with God. He it is who STRENGTHENS us to do all things right, ENABLING us to stand perfect and complete in all the WILL of God. IMPELLED by the Spirit, we keep within the boundary of every divine command....... Thereafter, walking in the Spirit, the healed one fulfils the lusts of the flesh no more...... Sin is DECEIT, producing all that is fictitious and FALSE ...... Jesus came as the Lamb, innocent, harmless, CLEAR and transparent...... To all those deluded by sin, He comes, as He did to the demoniac of old, to clothe them in a right mind...... Jesus offers the bankrupt sinner the unsearchable RICHES of His GRACE...... " (pages 157, 158. emphasis ours). To be continued SAVED BY GRACE - APPENDIX #2 A NOTE ON PAUL AND THE LAW (Romans 7) From the one volume ABINGDOM BIBLE COMMENTARY, page 1151 we read  "Paul has been accused of glaring inconsistency in his language about the Law and in his practical relation to it. On the one hand he asserts its divine origin and character, its high ethical quality, as in v.12...... On the other hand he appears to reckon the Law among the spiritual foes of man; it is something to which Christians have to die as they die unto Sin.....THE INCONSISTENCY IS, HOWEVER, MORE APPARENT THAN REAL. It disappears when we recognize the distinction which was clearly present to the apostle's mind. That is the distinction between the Law as a system whereby the Jews had learned to expect that they could establish a CLAIM upon God's favor, could EARN his forgiveness and secure a righteousness of their OWN, and the Law as the expression of the moral ideals of God set before his people....... It was the Law....... as a system in which men trusted to establish a righteousness of their own, that Paul dreaded, criticized and proclaimed to have come to an end in Christ. Yet he saw it as something which had been perverted from its original purpose, though something which had not lost its original character....... he continued to regard the moral ideals of the Law as valid....... The Jew thought that if he kept the law he would be saved. Paul taught that man must be saved in order to keep the Law " (emphasis ours). ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED? Amongst some evangelical circles is promulgated the teaching that once an individual has been converted or saved, it is not possible for him/her to fall away from grace. This doctrine is called "once saved always saved." After many years of reading the Bible commentators, I must confess I find it difficult to understand how this teaching entered Christendom, as none of the old commentators I have perused ever hinted that the Bible taught such a view. Likewise, among more recent commentaries, I have found total silence on this hypothesis. Perhaps, someone could find a commentator somewhere at some time who has written upholding this theory. Be that as it may - it would not alter the plain fact that the Bible itself, especially the NT, teaches no such thing as that it is not possible to fall away once a person has been truly converted. I ask the reader to look at and meditate upon the following scriptures, which clearly disprove the "once saved always saved" teaching. These verses show that anyone, after being saved, can, through different circumstances, pressures, and human weaknesses - if not relying on and yielding to the Spirit of God - fall from grace, slip back into the old man and again be entangled in sin and death, for a short, or long, or permanent length of time. MAT. 10:16-22; 13:18-23; 24:11-13; 25:1-13, 14-30; LUKE. 15:11-32; 21:29-36; ROM.2:6,7; 8:12,13; 11:17-23; 14:13-21; 1 COR.3: 16,17; 5;8; 9:42-27;10:6-12; 2 COR. 6:1; 11:1-3; 12:20,21; 13:5; GAL. 1:2-6; 5:1; 4:8,9; 6:1; PHIL. 2:12-16;4:1; COL. 1:21-23; 2:1-8; 1 TIM. 1:18-20; HEB. 2:1-3; 6:4-6; 10:35-39; 12:1-3,15; JAMES.5:19,20; 1 JN. 2:24. There are indeed more verses I could yet give - but surely the truth has sufficiently been shown. THE DOCTRINE OF ASSURANCE It may be asked, WHY, with all the Scriptural evidence to the contrary, is this peculiar doctrine of "once saved always saved" taught? Possibly it was contrived to try and give ASSURANCE to those individuals, who were still UNsure whether their sins had been forgiven, what repentance meant, what salvation was really all about, and unsure about their present daily sins and acceptance with God the Father. Because the NT teaches that it is NOT impossible to fall away from the grace and saving work of Christ, this does not mean a Christian can have no assurance or confidence. To the CONTRARY, a true child of God can have great confidence, for it is written, "And this is the record, that God HAS GIVEN TO US ETERNAL LIFE, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son HAS LIFE...... " (1 John 5:11,12). Those who have truly come to understand what REAL repentance is, what Salvation is, what conditions the Lord lays down to be saved by His grace ( if you are still in doubt, please read again my articles "Real Repentance" and "Saved by Grace" ), those who have accepted Jesus as their PERSONAL saviour, have surrendered to the guiding work of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives - those individuals can come before the throne of grace BOLDLY ( Heb.4:16) and have ASSURANCE that they are a son or daughter of the Father. The apostle John was further inspired to instruct us HOW we can KNOW that we KNOW, "These THINGS HAVE I WRITTEN unto you (that believe on the name of the Son of God) THAT YOU MAY KNOW that you have eternal life...." (1 John 5:13 ). The things that John wrote in his epistles are, if we are doing them, our assurance, confidence that eternal life dwells within us through Christ (chap.3:24; 4:4; 5:11-12). The writings of John especially give us the ACID test - we can test our assurance by the things that John wrote. IF we are walking in the LIGHT (ch.1:6-7); IF we are of a constant REPENTANT mind (verses 8-10); IF we are, with the faith OF Jesus - He IN us (Gal.2:20), endeavouring to KEEP His Commandments, His word, willing to walk and live as He did (ch.2:3-6); IF we have NO HATE for anyone (v.9-11); IF we do not love the LUSTS of the world (v.15-17); IF we are not denying Jesus (v.21-23; Titus 1:16); IF we are not PRACTICING (as a way of life) SIN, but practicing RIGHTEOUSNESS (ch.3:6-10); IF we LOVE the brethren and serve them (verses 14-19); IF we LOVE God, which is manifested by keeping His COMMANDMENTS (ch.3:24; 4:8, 16; 5:3); THEN YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE ABIDING IN YOU (ch.3:24; 5:13). Friend, are you willing to EXAMINE yourself to see if you are in the faith, as Paul instructed us to do ( 2 Cor. 13:5) ? Are you willing to PROVE yourself against the acid test of the epistles of John, that you may KNOW that you KNOW that eternal life dwells in you? And therein KNOW that you are of the truth, and ASSURE your heart before God (ch.3:19)? That assurance can be yours. It is all summed up in four passages, chapters 1:8-10; 3:24; 4:16; and 5:3. Is there a sin, a commandment of God that you are breaking, something you are practicing that is contrary to the will of the Father - something that is separating you from God, that keeps you from full assurance? Maybe you have some IDOL, such as wealth, a job, a loved one, a friend, an ambition, or something else that is keeping you from fully surrendering to Jesus? Maybe you have not yet given your TONGUE over to the control of God's Spirit and you are still practicing slander, gossip, swearing, cursing, or profanity? Possibly you have trouble loving and communicating with your parents. Do you despise or hate someone - not able to forgive others the wrongs they have done to you? Maybe you have yet to stop practicing sexual immorality of one sort or another. Are you still not willing to surrender all to the heavenly Father and start keeping His Sabbath days holy? Possibly COVETING, lusting and greed for material goods or fame, is still a part of your daily life. How about self-conceit and vanity, or a quick temper, what about mental and physical laziness, do these still dominate your life? Whatever may be keeping you from having assurance in your heart that you are in Christ and Christ in you, then you need to cry out to the Lord in deep heart-felt repentance, ask Him to help you with His Spirit of power to cast away what needs to be cast away. Ask for HELP to SURRENDER ALL to Him! Do not deceive yourself, do not allow others to deceive you into just turning a blind eye to what John in his epistles has written for us, to KNOW how we can KNOW that we are of God. Do not be UNSURE - do not be deceived by the false teachings that it makes no difference what you do after you have been saved, or that the Law of the Eternal is "done away." or "once saved always saved." YOUR ETERNAL LIFE IS AT STAKE!! Listen to what John was inspired to tell us: "Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. IF that which you have heard from the beginning shall REMAIN in you, you also shall CONTINUE in the Son, and in the Father......And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an UNDERSTANDING, that we may KNOW Him that is true.......And this is the promise that He has promised us, even ETERNAL LIFE" (1 John 2:24, 25; 5:20). Again: "But be on your GUARD, my dear children, against every false god" (1 John 5:21 Phillips Translation). As shocking as it may sound to many, ASSURANCE is not found in feelings! To just "feel" with your emotions that you have Salvation, that you have been "saved," that you are a child of God, DOES NOT BY ITSELF MAKE IT SO!! NOW PLEASE READ WHAT HERBERT LOCHYER HAS TO SAY ON THE DOCTRINE OF ASSURANCE: "As assurance is the spiritual birthright of every believer, it is their privilege and duty to experience and enjoy such an inner possession......it is amazing to discover that the Bible maintains a propound silence on feelings. The Concordance shows that the word is used only twice in the Word. and in either case it is employed in connection with our salvation......The word 'feel' is found in six places, but in no instance is it related to a true Christian experience. Our salvation rests, not upon fluctuating and fitful feelings, but upon the UNASSAILABLE FACTS the Scriptures present......There can be no assurance within unless there is the acceptance of the direct testimony of the WORD of God......Assurance is no vocal or audible voice or revelation of an angel, but of a condition of being secure, the willingness to take God at His word.......when with confidence we can say with the apostle Paul: ' I know whom I have BELIEVED, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day ' (2 Tim.1:12), all doubt is excluded. ASSURANCE IS A BIRTHRIGHT WE MUST PRESERVE and never forfeit. We must 'hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end' (Heb.3:6, 14). Such confidence must never be 'cast away' (Heb.10:35). When Peter took his eyes of Christ and looked at the waves, he began to sink. TRUE ASSURANCE IS BUILT UPON A SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATION......... assurance is the completeness of Christ's atoning work...... Full assurance also rests upon the intercessory work of Christ, who is ' able to succor ' and also able to 'save to the uttermost ' (Heb.2:18; 7:25). God's own nature, imparted to the believer is our assurance. Christ becomes 'our life ' (Col.3:4). By faith, through grace, we become partakers of a divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:23). Further, assurance springs from righteousness, not our own, but THE LORD'S (Isa. 32:17). Many are confident that all is well because of their OWN morality. But their assurance is FALSE, seeing all their righteousness is as filthy rags in God's sight. Only DIVINE righteousness can avail on our behalf, and when clothed with it, a blessed assurance becomes ours....... Assurance of an eternal salvation is based on UNDERSTANDING (John 20:31; Col.2:2; 1 John 5:13,20). Assurance is an INTELLECTUAL PROCESS whereby the mind is enabled by the Spirit to accept revealed truth, resulting in an emotional state, or a deep soul satisfaction........ Unconfessed, UNFORSAKEN sin can rob a man of full assurance...... We must exercise ourselves unto all godliness (1 Tim.4:7). HOLINESS is the SAP helping to produce the fruit of assurance......The devil rocks men in the cradle of a false peace (Isa. 57:21)...... True peace is the sister of assurance, and springs from our union with Christ and CONSTANT SUBMISSION to Him....... No man has the jewel of assurance who does not abhor the works of the flesh. Assurance is associated with true humility, while presumption is the other face of pride. Presumption estranges God from the soul ...... Assurance can be cultivated by believing all God says (1 John 2:23; 5:2; 5:14), by Bible study, by prayer, and by desiring all the things of the Spirit. Lack of love for the Word and ignorance of the indwelling presence of the Spirit hinders assurance........ No one can know if they are saved, unless they are prepared to be FULLY SAVED. Others lack assurance simply because they are unwilling to carry out the KNOWN WILL of God. OBEDIENCE TO ALL HE REVEALS results in an assurance nothing can disturb......... " ( All the Doctrines of the Bible, pages 204 - 207). ( emphasis ours and his ). Now that my friends are some true words indeed from the above book by Lockyer. Many need to read them again and slowly with meditation, for it is what the whole context of the Bible teaches. THE 3 STAGES OF THE PROCESS OF SALVATION THE NEW SCOFIELD REFERENCE BIBLE says, " Salvation is in three tenses: (1) The Christian has been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin. (2) The Christian is being saved from the habit and dominion of sin. And (3) the Christian will be saved at the Lord's return The GREEK of the NT makes this 3 stage process of Salvation very clear - some more modern translations of the Bible have corrected the KJV version and given the correct tense. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He SAVED US ( Gr. Aorist Ind. - ' has saved us ' ), by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus 3:5). "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish ( Gr. Present tense - ' are perishing ' ) foolishness; but unto us which ARE SAVED ( Gr. Present tense - ' are being saved ' ) it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same SHALL BE SAVED" ( Gr. Future tense - 'shall be ' ) (Matthew 24:13). WE AGAIN QUOTE FROM DR. HERBERT LOCKYER. God's perfect salvation covers the PAST, includes the PRESENT and embraces the FUTURE, as Paul so clearly reveals in his Roman epistle. "1. A Past Salvation Salvation is a gift we receive the moment we accept Christ as our Saviour. In the moment of our surrender to His claim, we experience His Gospel to be the power of God unto salvation ( Romans 1:16). No matter how sinful we were in the past, in a moment of time the red blood of Jesus makes the black heart whiter than the snow.... Under the curse and condition of sin ( we came to know what it was to be saved from the guilt and penalty of our sin, Luke 7:50; 1 Cor.1:18; 2 Tim.1:9). 2. A Present Salvation Too many who have been saved are ignorant of the fact that their salvation covers the journey between their conversion and death or the return of Christ. Because He continues His ministry in glory, Christ's salvation is unfailing (Heb.7:24,25). Paul had this aspect of salvation in mind when he wrote - ' For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we SHALL BE saved by His life (Rom.5:10). Here we have a DOUBLE salvation - one by the DEATH of Christ, and the other by His LIFE. ' Reconciled to God by the death of His Son ' - this is PAST salvation. But Paul said 'much more': Is there something more than being saved? The apostle says there is - ' being reconciled, we SHALL be saved by His life.' The reference to ' his life ' does not apply to the earthly life of Christ ....... Paul then, had in mind the present life of Christ. His risen, glorified throne life. He ever liveth to keep us saved, to provide us with a day by day salvation from the POWER of sin, as well as its PENALTY: from sin's government as well as its guilt. This is the grade of salvation we are to exhibit (Ps.96:2), and represents salvation from the HABIT and DOMINATION of sin (Rom.6:14; Phil.2:12,13; 2 Cor.3:18). The question of paramount importance is, ARE WE BEING SAVED? Have we daily victory over the flesh? Do we reign in life by Christ Jesus? Are we more than conquerors? Is ours the OVERCOMING life? Or can it be that, although we can look back and think of the day we were saved from our guilty past, we are miserably defeated in the PRESENT?....... 3. A Prospective Salvation Paul must have had the FUTURE in mind when he gave us the third aspect or tense of salvation. ' Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed ' (Rom.13:11). This is also the grace of salvation of which Peter speaks, as being ' ready to be revealed in the last time ' (1 Pet. 1:5). ........Did we not receive salvation when we believed? Yes! Do we not receive salvation as we keep on believing? Yes! Then what brand of salvation did Paul refer to when he said it is 'nearer' than it was in the initial hour of faith? It is a salvation from the PRESENCE of sin, just as the past salvation delivered us from the PENALTY of sin, and a present salvation delivers us from the POWER of sin. We need salvation from the presence of sin within, and from the presence of sin around us in the world. When will this salvation take place? Why, when Jesus comes.......Returning, He will save us from sin within, giving us an unsinning nature like unto His own....... (1 John 3:1,2)....... we shall be saved to sin no more. With the redemption of the body ( Rom.8:23; 1 Cor. 15:51-54 ), the seat, source and seductiveness of sin will be removed....... The Church will be saved to sin no more " ( The Doctrine of Salvation, pages 161-163. emphasis ours and his). THE DOCTRINE OF GRACE I will take the space to again quote some passages from Mr.Lockyer's book on this most important subject. " The importance of a right understanding of this further basic Christian doctrine can be judged by the fact that 'grace' and its cognates, 'gracious' and 'graciously' occur almost 200 times in Scripture...... Salvation from commencement to consummation, service from start to finish, sanctification from beginning to end are all associated with the grace of God. >From the first reference to grace in Gen.6:8, 'Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,' until the last reference in Rev.22:21, 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you,' this glorious .......theme dominates the Word......None of the other fundamentals of the Gospel can be rightly understood, if the Biblical unfolding of divine grace is not fully grasped. PERVERTED views of grace mean perversion in all areas of divine truth. Grace has been described as...... 'Unmerited, undeserved favor '; 'A comprehensive word of boundless reach as it carries an infinite depth of significance signifying unlimited favor to the undeserving...' .......In Greek terminology CHARIS implies a favor freely done...... When used by the Greeks themselves, CHARIS expressed favor shown to a friend. When the word is applied to Christ dying for sinners ( Rom.5:8-10), it takes a leap forward for He expressed His favor toward His enemies. Divine grace is therefore more commendable than human grace (1 John 3:1) .......Grace is unmerited favor manifested toward sinners and indicates that the demands of divine justice have been met, seeing that the PENALTY was placed upon Christ. Grace introduces us into a new realm. Through it we are taken out of the sphere of DEATH into LIFE ( Rom.5:2; Gal. 1:6 ). By grace we are fully and freely justified. The Law said, 'Pay me what you owe, even to the uttermost farthing.' Grace says, 'You have nothing to pay your debt with. I freely forgive all.' The Law...... evicts, as a landlord evicts a tenant who cannot or will not pay rent - GRACE steps in, cancels the bond and relieves the debtor. The LAW reveals a sinful condition and CONDEMNS the sinner to DEATH - GRACE provides a righteousness the sinner could never attain (John 1:17; Rom.6:14)....... Grace comes to us from God. He is its Rise and Spring ( Ps.84:11; 1 Pet. 5:10; James 4:6). Grace flows from the glorious and transcendent nature of God. It is one of His infinite ATTRIBUTES....... Grace is an ACT, not only a favor, a gift revealing the divine character. Grace reveals what God IS as well as what He DOES ......... Those who come to know what it is to be saved by grace are not long in discovering that they cannot remain static . Grace is found to be related to Christian growth (2 Cor.1:12; Eph.4:29). We can not grow INTO grace but once grace becomes a possession by faith, we grow IN it. Once we are made the sharers of divine grace, then it becomes a progressive force in life ( 2 Pet.3:18 ). There is grace upon grace (John 1:16). We pass from one degree of grace to another degree (Ps.84:7; Phil.1:9; Rom. 1:17). Grace is not a seed in the heart that cannot grow, but a blade, an ear, then the full corn in the ear. Once we are made the recipients of grace we are not like Hezekiah's sun dial that went backward, or Joshuah's sun that stood still, but are ever increasing in holiness. There is a continuous unfelt progression as we journey on from the first measure of grace to the riches of grace. As the roots spread, the tree grows ( Col.2:7). Growth in grace is the best evidence of its possession. If we are not growing in grace, then there is something lacking in one's faith (1 Thes.3:10). Loss of spiritual appetite is a sure sign of spiritual decline....... How can we grow in grace? By using all the available means for such a growth. We must exercise ourselves unto godliness (1 Tim.4:7)....... Growing in grace we grow less in our own eyes. Growing Christians are HUMBLE Christians (1 Pet.5:5,6). Through grace we grow out of all selfconceit ( Ps.22:6 ). Grace subdues self (1 Cor. 15:10)....... As we grow in grace, the growth of corruption is hindered. The flowers of grace prevent the weeds of sin from spreading. When grace rules within the whole being is brought into subjection to Christ, and the Spirit transforms us into His holiness....... Growth in grace means a more spiritual frame of heart, and a desire to become more spiritual in activities as well as in affections. While it is possible for a believer to fall FROM grace ( Gal.5:1 ), he can never fall OUT of grace....... " (All the Doctrines of the Bible - pages 163 - 168, emphasis our and his). A SHORT STUDY ON FAITH ( excerpts taken from the book God's Plan for Man by Finis Dake). 1. The Definition of Faith The word FAITH is found only twice in the OT, but 245 times in the NT. The word BELIEVE with its various endings occurs 45 times in the OT and 268 times in the NT. The word TRUST is the other OT word for FAITH and BELIEVE. It is used with its various endings 154 times in the OT and 35 times in the NT. These words simply mean to CONFIDE IN, so as to be secure without fear; to flee for refuge to or to take shelter in; to put faith in; to stay or rest on; to rely on; to believe or to take one at his word; to rely upon the promise of another; and to put absolute trust in a person without any questioning or doubts as to his faithfulness. The Bible definition of faith is, ' The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen ' ( Heb.11:1 )...... 'Now faith is a well-grounded assurance of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of things which we do not see ' ( Weymouth ) Faith is a union of assurance and conviction ....... 2. What Faith is Not The average person who seeks to exercise faith depends upon what he can see, hear, or feel. Testimonies concerning faith are usually expressed in connection with feelings and emotions, or the various senses...... All who take this road as the basis of faith will sooner or later be deceived. Faith should be based upon the Word of God regardless of any sense-knowledge, or feeling-evidences....... Faith has not the slightest relationship with feelings and sense-evidences...... The Word of God should have first place...... instead of senses......True faith is not trusting in the goodness and in the faith of another man. It must be personal faith in God and His Word....... The right program is not talking about faith, or the need of it, but the actual exercise of it. Simple faith in the Word regardless of feelings and circumstances is never possible to the man who lives only in the realm of his senses, for he believes only what he can see, feel, hear, or understand to be possible.This was the kind of faith Thomas had when he declared that he would not believe until he had seen...... The individual must come to LIFE and ACTION before he will realize the benefits of active, living faith that refuses to know defeat and failure...... 3. Kinds of Faith There are several kinds of faith mentioned in the Scriptures, of which the following list will be helpful in arriving at the kind of faith one should have: *Common Faith ( Titus 1:4). It is called 'mutual faith' ( Rom.1:12 ). This is the faith that is common to all men who claim to be Christians...... *Weak Faith (Rom.4:19; 14:1-23; 15:1-4; 1 Cor.8:1-13)...... There are literally thousands of people who spend much of their time arguing and condemning each other over small details of life that are not essential enough to mention in particular in Scripture... In the above-cited Scriptures it is clear that the Kingdom of God does not consist of meat, drink, and personal details of life that are not specifically forbidden in Scripture, but that it is ' righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit ' ( Rom.14:17)....... The Law of Scripture concerning anything that is not definitely for-bidden by God......is '...... Whatsoever is not of faith is sin' ( Rom.14:23 )........ ' but it is evil for that man who eats with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby your brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak...... We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let everyone of us please our neighbor for his good to edification ' ( Rom.14:19-22; 15:1-2). *Strong Faith ( Rom.4:20 ).......Abraham had this kind of faith: ' Who against hope believed in hope, that he should be the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall your seed be. And being not WEAK IN FAITH, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb (who was about ninety years old): He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was STRONG IN FAITH, giving glory to God; and BEING FULLY PERSUADED that, what he had promised, he was able to perform. And it was counted to him for righteousness ' ( Rom.4:18-22). * Little Faith ( Matt.6:30; 8:26; 14:31: Lk.12:28 )....... is the wavering kind ( Heb.10:23; James 1:5-8). *Great Faith ( Matt.8:10; 15:28). This is the true, unwavering faith... (Heb. 11:6). *Unfeigned Faith (1 Tim.1:5; 2 Tim.1:5 )...... It is simply genuine, and real and sincere in its every aspect...... is the kind that all honest, pure, and sincere men have. It is the unselfish, holy, and godly kind that naturally increases in the life of every true child of God, as he grows in grace and knowledge (2 Pet.1:4-9; 3:18 ). *Temporary Faith ( Luke 8:13 ). This is the kind of faith that believes for a while and springs up like a mushroom, but because of shallowness, lack of root it fails in time of temptation and test...... They receive the Word of God with great joy, and it seems that they are going to outstrip everybody else in faith, but after a few days or weeks they are not heard of again ...... They never fully come clean with God or make the full surrender of their lives except for the moment. They do not prepare the soil so that the seed can take root and produce fruit. Some teach that this can not happen, but it does inspite of the so-called impossibility of falling away from the faith and being renewed in repentance again. Some teach that one cannot fall from the faith, but Jesus certainly said that some would ' receive the word with joy, and these have no root, WHICH FOR A WHILE BELIEVE, and in time of temptation FALL AWAY ' ( Mat. 13:20-21; Luke 8:13 ). Paul speaks of these as those who ' concerning faith have made shipwreck ' (1 Tim. 1:19), as ' having cast off their first love ' by going ' aside after Satan ' ( 1 Tim.5:12-15 ), and as having ' erred concerning the faith ' (1 Tim. 6:21 ). Many Scriptures say that men can depart from and fall from the faith (Acts 14:22; 1 Tim.2:15; 4:1; 5:8-15; 6:10,21; 2 Tim. 2:18; Heb.3:6;12-14; 6:11-12; 10:22-28). Men are repeatedly told to continue in the faith (Acts 14:22; Col.1:23; 2:6-7). Anybody with common intelligence knows that he can disbelieve anything that he chooses to lose faith in, especially in things that are not seen. *Historical Faith (1 John 5:10-13). This is faith in the history or the record of God concerning the past and concerning His own work for men. One can believe the record of God to the letter and still not be saved. It is simply believing in the record of anything of the past. No consecration to God is necessary to believe history. *Mental Faith (James 2:14-26). Mental faith is similar to historical faith in that it believes history but goes further and believes every part of the Bible, past, present, and future, as well as all the truths of the blessings of God, but it does not ACT upon the Word of God. Faith without works is dead, being alone. It is passive faith or mere mental assent to truth. Thousands of sinners have mental faith in God, the Bible, but they keep neglecting the definite ACTION of obeying truth. *Active Faith ( James 2:14-26; Heb.10:19-38 ). This is the kind that ACTS upon the Word of God as it is made clear. James put it this way: ' shew me your faith without your works, and I will shew you my faith by my works '...... As long as faith is mental and passive no action will be taken to obey the truth. Men must get beyond the stage of hearing and into the act of DOING what God says before they get results. ACTIVE, LIVING faith moves to OBEY every truth of God to the letter...... You are commanded to be a DOER of the Word You are not to be merely a hearer. You are not deceiving yourself when you act upon the Word. It will be confirmed for it is the truth. It must be a living, active faith, not a mere mental passive something that all sinners can have....... *Wavering Faith ( James 1:5-8 ). This is a faith doubting God and refusing to believe. Truly to believe and to have faith is to act on the Word....... Doubting is to refuse to act on the Word. Unbelief is either refusing to act according to the knowledge that you have, or it is a manifestation of ignorance of the word of God. If you do not know, you cannot act because you do not understand. If you do not understand you are afraid to act because you do not know how to act. The cure for all unbelief is a thorough knowledge of the Word and consecration to obey it...... regardless of how impossible it may seem at the moment. * Unwavering Faith ( Heb.10:23; 11:6)...... We are told to ' Hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering ( for he is faithful that promised) ' ( Heb.10:23). Again, ' But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him ' ( Heb.11:6)...... It laughs at impossibilities and goes on in utmost confidence that what God has promised He is able to perform....... *Human Faith ( Mark 11:22-24 ). This is simply the exercise of human faculties in having confidence and conviction that he can believe God, and that God is true to all that He has promised. All men are capable of faith in themselves and faith in anyone else that makes any statement of promise to them....... *Divine Faith ( Heb.11:3; Gal.2:20; 1 Cor.13:14 ). Faith is not only a natural attribute of man. It is an attribute of God....... The last passage mentioned above speaks of 'faith ' abiding along with hope and love, which means that these three qualities are eternal as attributes of God....... Thus it is clear that God has faith...... and men must have faith in order to please God (Heb . 11:6 ).............. 4. The Importance of Faith The Bible definitely declares that faith is all-important: ' But without faith it is impossible to please him...' ( Heb.11:6) ...... ' Now the just shall LIVE BY FAITH: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him ' ( Heb.10:35-39).... Jesus commanded men to ' Have faith in God,' and such is possible, or it would not be mandatory....... " ( The above was taken from the book - "God's Plan for Man" by Finis Dake pages 503 - 510, emphasis ours and Dake's). FROM FAITH TO FAITH Every person who is brought to real repentance must exercise HUMAN faith in believing God - that sins will be forgiven, that justification can be obtained through grace by the sacrifice and death, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We must have assurance, confidence, FAITH in this promise of God the Father. Upon our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal saviour - our baptism in water - the Father has promised to give us HIS HOLY SPIRIT - HIS NATURE (Acts 2:38; 1 Pet.1:4 ). In so doing BOTH the Father and Christ come to live WITHIN the believer ( John 14:23 ). One of the fruits of God's Spirit is FAITH ( Gal.5:22 ), which means a Christian does not live by HUMAN faith but by the very DIVINE FAITH - the same faith that was in Jesus when He was flesh and blood, is now IN those that are in Christ , for it is written, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live: yet not I, but Christ LIVES IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God ....... " ( Gal.2:20). God's Spirit is also His LOVE flowing into us ( Romans 5:5 ). God's love is manifested through His COMMANDMENTS ( 1 John 5:3 ). We need help to keep and stay in that right attitude of wanting to obey the Fathers' commandments - of and by ourselves we cannot do it, our own righteousness is as filthy rags to God - our help comes through Christ IN us. His FAITH in us, not our human faith but faith from Him imparted to us via the Holy Spirit ( Romans 7:14 - 25). We do the Father's WILL, we OBEY Him, fulfil His commandments, keep His LOVE not on our own steam, with our faith, but with the faith that HE GIVES US. We do not keep the Law in order to be saved - we are saved by grace through faith in order to keep the Law, by means of that FAITH which is given to us - DIVINE faith - the faith OF Jesus Christ. Truly it is CHRIST IN US THE HOPE OF GLORY ! And so we can also truly say with Paul, "Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid: No! We establish the Law" ( Romans 3:31). To be continued SAVED BY GRACE - APPENDIX #3 THE DOCTRINE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS I will again use the comments of Dr. Lockyer for our understanding of this subject. ".... Doctrinal and practical righteousness meet us on almost every page. Such an important truth has been treated as if it is most difficult. Theologians may have made it so, but the Word of God is simple and clear in its teaching on this doctrine of grace. Is it not tragic that a theme so beautifully and blessedly simple has been muddled, confused, tortured, twisted and disputed over through centuries of wrangle and strife..... The simple idea resident within the word is that of ' doing what is right.' While there may be shades of meaning associated with the word, the root idea wherever it is used is a state of RIGHTNESS whether towards God or man....... It may make for clarity if we summarize this theme of tremendous importance in the following ways: 1. God is righteous, and as such, demands righteousness, for without it there can be no possible fellowship between the Creator and His creatures. The consistent testimony of Scripture is that two cannot walk together except they be agreed. Righteousness cannot have fellowship with unrighteousness (Deut.25:16; Ps.1:5,6; 2 Cor.6:14; Rom.1:18; 2:8-9). But what do we mean by 'the righteous act of God ' ? This phrase, peculiar to and characteristic of Paul's epistles, signifies God's consistency (with His own nature and character) in freely and perfectly JUSTIFYING a sinner believing on Jesus. It is the revelation of the righteous ground on which God can and does freely justify a guilty sinner....... 2. Man has no righteousness of his own with which he may meet the righteous and inexorable demands of God. It cuts clean across our fancied greatness and goodness to be told that all our righteousness is but as filthy rags in God's sight. All we pride ourselves upon is rejected by God. Ignorant of divine righteousness, we try to establish our own ( Rom.10:3; Ecc.7:20; Isa.64:6 ). How futile is our effort to work out, even under the Law, a character which God can approve! The human heart is corrupt, deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ( Jer.17:9) and cannot therefore out of rottenness produce righteousness acceptable to God. If personal and vicarious righteousness by Law-keeping or obedience in life could be ours, justification by blood is a nullity....... By human righteousness no man can be justified ( Ps.143:2; Rom.1:17; 3:20). The mind of the flesh, even good flesh, is enmity against God( Rom.8:7)....... If the sinner is to have a righteousness acceptable to God, it must be divinely provided. His eyes must turn away from his own ruin and self-righteousness to Christ.. 3. The sinner, through believing, is constituted the righteousness of God in Christ, the sinless, righteous One. Christ, on the CROSS, was made sin for us, Now on the THRONE He is the righteousness of God, that is, the perfect expression of it. The phrase, ' the righteousness of Christ ' is not to be found in Scripture. The substitution of this for ' the righteousness of God ' has created much misunderstanding....... The kernel of the Gospel is that Christ died for our sins and was raised again, manifesting thereby God's work in love and righteousness for sinners Rom.4:25; 1 Cor. 15:3,4 )....... Our righteousness, then, is not something but SOMEONE, even Him who possessed Lordship( Mark 12:36,37; John 13:13). At this juncture it might be well to consider the whole matter of IMPUTATION with which Paul deals in his epistle to the Romans. To IMPUTE means to reckon or count to one something which he, himself, is destitute of....... With God, imputation is His gracious act whereby He accounts righteousness to the believer in Christ, who has borne the believer's sins in vindication of the Law....... ' Imputed righteousness ' is not Biblical Language, for divine righteousness is not imputable, neither is the law-keeping of Jesus....... righteousness imputed or reckoned is what the Word teaches....... As a sinner has no righteousness of his own, he must have a righteousness without works. Thus the only righteousness for him is the imputed one of God's in Christ. God alone is able to justify a guilty sinner, and He alone can impute righteousness to one who is destitute of it. BUT this divine action is not the placing of a quantity of righteousness IN man. It is simply holding, or regarding as righteous or just, one who is not so either in nature or practice, as Romans 4 clearly shows. Righteousness imputed supposes that one is destitute of it....... Pardon accompanies justification before God's bar....... The sinner, however, pardoned before, and by God, is always justified also...... Christ bore the judgment of God upon our offenses, but was raised again for our justification (Rom.4:25 ). In this great chapter, ' righteousness ' occurs eight times, but the words ' of God ' are not added. ' The righteousness of God ' is nowhere said to be imputed or reckoned unto us, but ' righteousness ' that is, all Christ accomplished in our stead and behalf is put to our account through acceptance of Him as Saviour. 4. Divine righteousness can only become ours by faith. .......Righteousness must be accepted as a divine gift ( Rom.4:5; 9:30-32; 10:4 ). Paul cast to the dogs the righteousness of which he was once so proud. Those things he counted gain were willingly reckoned loss that he might be found clothed in his Lord's righteousness (Rom.1:16,17; Gal.2:16; Phil.3:6-9 )...... This is that which is called 'the righteousness of God by faith' ( Rom.3:26; 4:6; 2 Cor.5:21 ). 5. It is essential to exhibit practical righteousness in everyday life. We deceive ourselves if we deem ourselves righteous yet fail to manifest righteousness in life. ' Doing ' righteousness is the sure fruit and proof of 'being ' righteous, that is, of having the only principle of true righteousness within and the only means of justification, namely, faith(Rom.4:3-8; Eph.2:5,8-10). Noah, the preacher of righteousness, was just or righteous in life ( Gen.6:9 ) ....... Right with God, we shall live right before men ....... When John urged the saints to do righteousness ( 1 John 3:7), he meant them to live that righteous life ever resulting from salvation....... To be righteous is simply to BE right and to DO right toward God and man ....... How can God supply us with MOTIVE and POWER to act rightly in all things, at all times and in all relations? In these matters, as in all others, we must turn to Scripture for satisfactory answers....... we are always directed to Christ as the grand and constraining MOTIVE. How righteous He was in all His ways. As to the POWER by which practical righteousness can be effected, we know that the Holy Spirit alone can transform position into PRACTICE. Satan, the enemy of the Righteous ONE and of righteousness, is determined and wily and an everwatchful foe ( Eph.6:14 ). He knows that if practical righteousness is lacking in a saint, he is exposed to satanic attacks. Lack of consistency in any realm of life leaves one weak, powerless and unfruitful in service. PRACTICAL righteousness is the keynote of the Sermon on the Mount ( Mat.5:6). It is ever the ground of our appeal in prayer ( Ps. 23)....... One must have the determination to ' follow righteousness ' ( 2 Tim.2:22), in all things, in all places, in all relationships....... 6. The manifold blessings resulting from the acceptance of a divinely provided righteousness. The righteous are blessed with PROSPERITY ( Isa.3:10). The righteous are surrounded with divine FAVOR ( Ps.5:12 ). The righteous enjoy peace,quietness and ASSURANCE (Isa.32:17). The righteous experience deliverance from affliction ( Ps.34:19). The righteous have enlightened minds and glad hearts ( Ps. 97:11 ). The righteous are NEVER FORGOTTEN (Ps.112:6; 1 Pet.3:12) THE ULTIMATE BLESSING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH IS ETERNITY WITH HIM WHO IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.................. " (From the book "All the Doctrines of the Bible" by Dr.H.Lockyer - emphasis ours and his). THE CHRISTIAN'S DESTINY THE HOLY SPIRIT - A PERSON ? Growing up in a Church of England school called "The Holy Trinity School" I was well aware of such language as " God the Holy Ghost " - " Three in One " etc. Though subjected to such terminology on a daily basis I also read my Bible very frequently. Through those young years of my life I could never understand what these adults meant by " God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit " and no one ever sat me down to clearly explain this phrase to me. I had seen from my own Bible reading that God the Father was described by Jesus as like Himself - a person then with form and shape as like a man - I had seen where the book of Revelation showed Jesus to be sitting in heaven on the Father's right hand. I had read that there was indeed a Holy Spirit, but it could be IN all Christians, poured out, look like a dove, be divided up and appear as tongues of fire as on the day of Pentecost. It never entered my young mind that the Holy Spirit was a PERSON with body and shape as to look like a man. I was 19 when first plainly told that the Spirit was a bodily person - the third member of a three person Godhead. I was somewhat shocked to hear this as my previous personal Bible reading had never led me to this conclusion. Since that time, over many years now, I have read numerous writings by various Theologians (including Finis Dake and Herbert Lockyer) giving what they consider the proofs as to why the Holy Spirit is a person . None of them have convinced me to change my boyhood understanding. This is not the place to answer these men and their so-called proofs. We have a 15 page article that does that called "The Holy Spirit - Is it a Person?" and my sermon tape on the same subject. They are free upon request. TO BE A SON OF GOD - OR AN ANGEL? A critic has written: " This idea of BEING God strikes a responsive chord in many who like the thought of somehow being equated with God ....... Such a teaching is entirely contrary to the Scriptures. It is true that in this coming Kingdom, Christ will be seated HIGH ABOVE THE ANGELS. The author of Hebrews was most specific on this point. He wrote: ' When he ( Christ ) had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as MUCH SUPERIOR TO ANGELS as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs ' ( Heb. 1:3-4 RSV ). This, then, is Christ's exalted place in the kingdom. What, according to the Bible, will be ours? Will we....... also be superior to the angels and have a place above them? No. Christ Himself explained our place in His reply to the Sadducees as they questioned Him sharply on the subject of marriage in the kingdom age. He said, ' The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they can not die anymore, because they are EQUAL TO ANGELS and are sons of God ....... ' (Lk.20:34-36 RSV)....... Christians therefore will not be HIGH ABOVE the angels, but their EQUAL......." ( emphasis his ). My reply is: FIRST. ( a) What GLORY will Christians inherit, that of angels or that of Christ? The answer is found in 1 John 3:1-3. ( b ) Will Christians inherit equal or more AUTHORITY than angels? Christians will inherit MORE authority because they shall JUDGE angels (1 Cor.6:3 ). ( c ) Who will judge the world? Angels - Angels and Christians together as equals - Jesus only ? The answer is found in John 5:22; Acts 17:31; 1 Cor.6:2; Heb.2:5. SECOND. Two other gospel writers recorded the same incident as Luke, notice how Mark wrote it, " For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are they given in marriage - but are AS the angels which are in heaven " ( chap. 12, verse 25 KJV or " but are LIKE angels in heaven " RSV). Matthew wrote, " For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are LIKE angels in heaven " ( chap. 22:30 RSV). Now what is the CONTEXT - what is being DISCUSSED - what was the specific question Jesus was answering? Was it a question of how much authority angels had over the saints in the Kingdom - which class of beings would have more glory, power or authority than the other? Were they discussing the LEVEL of existence Christians would have when they inherited the Kingdom? NO! Jesus was answering the Sadducees trick question on MARRIAGE in the Kingdom ( please read verses 27-38 ) and if there would BE a resurrection (the Pharisees taught there would be - the Sadducees taught otherwise ). Concerning a woman who had had 7 husbands in this physical life, the Sadducees said, " Now this is our question - Whose wife will she be in the resurrection?For all of them were married to her ." Jesus went on to answer THAT specific question. The writer of the LIVING BIBLE translates Luke 20:34,35 as, " Jesus replied, Marriage is for people here on earth,but....... those who are counted worthy of being raised from the dead do NOT MARRY. And they never die again - in THESE RESPECTS they are LIKE angels " (emphasis ours). The angels in heaven do not DIE, and they do not MARRY ! The children of the resurrection will not MARRY or DIE - in these areas of eternal existence they will be AS, LIKE, EQUAL, similar to the angels. The Sadducees well understood that angels do not die or marry. Jesus was giving them an easily understood figure to show them that their question was invalid, as children of God, like angels, they will not marry in the resurrection. In this respect, not marrying, (in the human sense ) BOTH groups are equal. Both the angelic beings and the resurrected children of the Father DO NOT MARRY, neither do they die. THIRD. Luke makes it quite clear what Jesus CALLED those who would be worthy to attain the resurrection. Christ did not call them, "children of angels " - " beings of the angelic realm " - " a new form of angel " or any such language. It would have been very simple to have used such terminology IF Christians were to become a type of angel. Jesus called the children of the resurrection - SONS of GOD! As I have shown in other writings of mine, there is a VAST difference between being a type of angel and a SON(or daughter) of God. Oh, how slow is the heart of man to believe ALL that is written in the Scriptures, all that the Eternal Father has prepared for them that LOVE Him and will DO His will. How many today call themselves a son or daughter of God, and they do not UNDERSTAND what it MEANS . The Pharisees well understood what it meant to call yourself a SON of God ( John 5:18). And they accused Jesus of blasphemy and tried to kill Him. "But Jesus answered them, My Father works and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he....... said also that God was his FATHER, making himself EQUAL with God." ( John 5:18 ). I have shown you in other articles what being "equal with God " means. What a shame that the phrase " I am a child of God " has become so easy and common place for so many to use today, that very few fully realize what those words mean or imply for those who will indeed become a born child in the Kingdom of God. "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being....... For we are also His OFFSPRING. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device" ( Acts 17:28,29). "He that overcometh shall inherit all things - and I will be his God, and he shall be MY SON" ( Rev.21:7). EPILOG ARE THERE FEW THAT BE SAVED ? It has become popular in the last forty years, for many fundamental preachers and churches to proclaim very vociferously to the unconverted the scripture of Acts 16:31 " BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall BE SAVED." This is a very true statement. but it would seem in many cases, because the unconverted are shown no other verses, that too large a group of new Christians have come to understand this as only having to believe the fact that Jesus did become human - that He did die for sinners and that He is alive today. It should be obvious to anyone who has spent any time at all reading the NT, that the apostle James showed that having a belief on Jesus that was ONLY based upon certain facts of who He is, what He became and what He did, CANNOT SAVE ANYONE! " ou BELIEVE that there is one God; you do well: the demons also BELIEVE, and TREMBLE. But will you know, 0 vain man, that FAITH( belief ) without works is dead! " (James 2:19,20). Yes, the demons believe the FACTS that Jesus is the Christ, that He became human, that He died to save sinners, that He arose and lives forever - BUT they still TREMBLE - they are NOT SAVED ! The BELIEF that the NT and the whole Bible proclaims, is a belief that leads to ACTION - a belief that leads to a CHANGE of life. A belief that not only believes certain FACTS about Jesus, but a believing on what Jesus SAID and TAUGHT - a LIVING, a DOING belief. " What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith (belief), and has not works ( actions ), can (this kind of belief) faith save him?....... For as the body without the spirit (breath) is dead, so faith (belief) without works is dead also " (James 2:14, 26, amplification ours). Factual knowledge is a PART of belief, and it must be the RIGHT facts, as we shall see. The other part of belief is ACTING on those facts. "Not EVERY ONE that says to me, Lord, Lord ( calling themselves Christians and believing Jesus is the Christ ), shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven - but he that DOES ( action ) the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many ( not a few ) will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied ( spoken and preached ) in your name( believing Christ to be the Messiah ), and in your name have cast out demons, and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU - depart from me, you that WORK (whose actions are) iniquity ( Lawlessness - practicing sin as a way of life). Therefore he that hears these sayings of mine and DOES them, I will liken him unto a wise man, that built his house upon a ROCK....... And every one that hears these saying of mine, and does not DO them, shall be like the man who foolishly built his house upon the SAND. And the rain descended, and the floods came.... and great was the fall of it" ( Mat.7:21-27 amplification ours). Is Salvation - being SAVED, as easy as "falling off a log "? Will it be the MAJORITY of those who call themselves " Christian " that will be in the FIRST resurrection ( Rev.20:1-4) ? Or will it be only the FEW ? Let Jesus answer! Will you believe Him ? "Then someone asked Him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And He said to them, ' STRIVE( Gr.means, to agonize, to contend; to strive as in a contest for a prize; to put forth every effort ) to enter in at the STRAIGHT( Gr. means, narrow) gate: for many, I say to you, will SEEK to enter in, and shall not be able. When the master of the house has risen, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open to us, he shall answer and say, I do not know where you are from, I do not recognize you as one of mine. Then shall you say, We have eaten and drunk where you were being talked about, and we heard you being preached and read your words. But he shall say, I know you not as one of my followers, go away from me all of you who WORK ( practice as a way of life) INIQUITY (Gr. means, unrighteousness, lawlessness) " (Luke 13:23 - 27, paraphrased and amplification ours). Here are some individuals who are seeking to enter in - they would call themselves Christian, they have "gone to church " and heard Jesus being taught on the Radio, T.V. or in local Revivals. Here are people that have some TRUE facts, but obviously some FALSE facts that they have lived by or facts they have chosen to ignore, and in doing so were guilty of practicing things contrary to the will of God. Jesus says to them, "...... depart from me, all you workers of UNrighteousness. " They never fully had the BELIEF that lead them to.... righteousness - to DO the sayings of Jesus and the commandments of the Father. "Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven" ( Mat.7:21 ). "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? " (1 Peter 4:18 ). For those who have truly come to the factual knowledge that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, that He is SAVIOUR, that He is alive in heaven making intercession for the saints. For those who have truly come to understand what SIN is, what REAL repentance is, what GRACE is, what having the FAITH of Jesus is, and what having and following RIGHTEOUSNESS is - those who have surrendered all to God as a humble LIVING sacrifice - to those who have true factual belief coupled with true action belief, making a complete belief - SALVATION is simple and assured! BELIEVE ON THE L OR D JESUS CHRIST AND YOU SHALL BE SAVED! ................... This Appendix to the article SAVED BY GRACE was compiled in 1985