So much said in so few words

So much said in so few words

Eph 2:8-9  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

In this ultra-short, yet dynamic scripture passage, Paul provides us with a significant amount of detail concerning the truth of our salvation. Let’s look at each key word and allow them to simply overwhelm us with gratitude.

By Grace

Grace is the pure kindness and empathy of God that allows us to receive blessing and favour we certainly don't deserve. That blessing and favour is in Jesus Christ. I cannot even start to pen the magnitude of this salvation act of God. Yes, it is a work of God, in which we have no part to contribute. We can do nothing to earn or deserve salvation. It starts with acknowledging our absolute dependency on God, then releasing ourselves utterly into His control, and being overcome by His ‘grace’. Paul uses these words to further emphasize the point,

The Two Programs in God's Plan of Redemption

The following post is in response to a person asking what the two different programs in the Bible are and provide scriptural references to distinguish them.

Let me answer this question by first stating that it is of great importance to know these two programs and keep them separate. Most of the false doctrine in church denominations today is in direct cause to ignoring these two programs or blending the two programs together to create skewed doctrine in the imagination of men.

The differences between the two ministries are found in the contradictory statements in Paul's letters versus scriptures in the rest of the bible. These contradictions are not inaccuracies in the bible as some suggest. They also do not disprove Paul's apostleship. They are simply two separate programs that God initiated within His greater plan of redemption of creation and humanity.

Building our faith with the correct doctrine

Building our faith with the correct doctrine

The blueprint for living the Christian life today is found in Paul’s epistles. It contains the instructions for laying the foundation, 1Co 3:10, as well as the materials for building up the Body of Christ. The problem why Christianity is in the shape it is, is because preachers and teachers are using the wrong ‘materials’. They proclaim that we must go by what Jesus said in His earthly ministry. Yes! You read that correctly! We operate by the doctrine revealed to Paul today, Rom.11:13,  not by the doctrine taught by Jesus in His earthly ministry. The materials for building the Body of Christ today are what we read in Paul’s epistles, not in the ‘red letters’ of the Gospels. Why? It’s because Jesus was ministering the Kingdom doctrine to Israel. The entire earthly ministry of Jesus was to prepare Israel to receive the Kingdom. We are not in the Kingdom program today! We are under new instructions in the Grace program, which, by the way, Jesus, in His heavenly ministry, revealed to Paul for us.

Two systems of righteousness

Two systems of righteousness

Rom 4:4-5  Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.  5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

This verse highlights two systems of righteousness. One where a person can work for righteousness, and where righteousness is later indebted to that one. The second is where one does not work for it, but it is accounted to them freely because they choose to believe that God will keep His word and justify them.

Most of the religious world is under the system where they are trying to earn righteousness by their works. The world’s major religions of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and even most denominations of Christianity are entrapped in a works system that is trying to indebt God into paying them with righteousness for their works. What separates true believers from religion is that they have placed their trust in Christ and believe that God will justify them for their faith and not their works.

What does the book of Romans tell us about the Christian faith?

What does the book of Romans tell us about the Christian faith?

In chapters 1-3 we learn that every person is declared guilty before God because of sin. The law condemns us utterly as sinners. Not one person is adjudged innocent by God’s perfect standard. There is no salvation in the law. It simply points out our guilt and depravity.

Rom 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 

Because of our hopeless state, God had to do something to save us. To do this, God chose to save us, not by the righteousness of the law, but by the abundance of His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross, the shedding of His pure and blameless blood, paid the price for us. God, who is absolutely just, was now able to justify the guilty, because a payment was made to sufficiently cancel the sin debt for every person who ever lived.

Can we fall from grace by our will to sin? What does the Bible say?

QUESTION/STATEMENT:

Heb 10:26-27  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,  27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

Hebrews 6:4 and several others make it plain that a person may choose their sin over salvation and many do. Saying that they weren’t really saved beforehand is twisting the Word of God to make it say what it plainly does not.

We are in agreement that salvation is by grace through faith alone, without any mixture of works. We seem to disagree that a Christian will continue in grace despite choosing willful sin. The Bible clearly teaches that we can fall from grace by our will to sin.