Most "Christians" believe that they
are going to heaven when they die. When asked
why they hold such a belief, they will respond with one of the following
"preacher approved" statements: "I asked the Lord to save
me"; "I asked Jesus into my heart"; "I gave my life to the
Lord"; "I confessed Jesus as my Lord and Saviour"; "I asked
the Lord to forgive me of all my sins"; "I joined the church";
"I got baptized"; "I repented of my sins"; "I prayed
the sinner's prayer". Still others will tell you about some
"spiritual encounter" they have experienced. I want to explain to you
why these "traditions of men" (Mark 7:8) do not result in biblical
salvation. How can I be so sure when
99% of those who claim to be Christians attribute their salvation to one
of the above
referenced responses? By following God's command to study the Bible
"rightly divided"...Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (II Tim. 2:15)
This
tendency of man's pride nature to misunderstand what the Bible clearly
states about salvation was occurring in Israel during our Lord's
ministry. He warned them...Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye
have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John
5:39) These
Jews "thought" they possessed eternal life because they attended a
synagogue and listened to the priests read and teach from the Old
Testament Scriptures. Therefore they concluded they had eternal life.
However, Jesus lovingly informed them they were not saved because they
had not searched the scriptures enough to even know who He was or the
terms of His offer of salvation..."O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths."
(Isa. 3:12) We are repeating Israel's error today! Attending church
and listening to pastors is much easier than searching the scriptures.
This tradition of men has resulted in the one
truth that truly brings salvation being hidden---RECONCILIATION (II Cor.
5: 18-21). I am very thankful you
arrived on this blog. It could be the difference in your eternal
destiny. It is my privilege to introduce you to the doctrine of
reconciliation. I want to help you understand it and to experience the
genuine salvation that results when you believe it. Paul warned the
Thessalonian saints about the severe consequences of failing to obey the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ..."In flaming fire taking vengeance on
them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ: [9] Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (II Thess. 1:8-9).
First, I want to
ask you to consider four subtle ways that well-intentioned
"Christians" pervert the gospel of Christ:
1. By
replacing Paul's gospel with "another gospel"... "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel" (Gal.1:6); "according
to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the
revelation of the mystery" (Rom. 16:25).
2. By majoring on what
the sinner must do to obtain salvation and minoring on what Christ has
done to provide salvation..."And
if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more
grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work
is no more work." (Rom. 11: 6)
3. By making the sinner's belief
of the gospel the key to salvation rather than making the sinner's understanding
of the gospel the key to salvation...And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? (Acts 8:30).
4. By presenting salvation as a matter of getting your
sins forgiven rather than proclaiming the glorious news that the sins of
the world are already forgiven! To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the
word of reconciliation. (II Cor. 5:19)
I
would argue that altering the gospel of Christ in these four subtle
ways adulterates the work of Christ on the cross and makes it of none
effect to save... For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect ( I Cor. 1:17).
The content
of the Gospel of Christ. The
word “gospel” means “good news” or “good story”. Throughout the Bible God has
chosen to announce a variety of "good news" to mankind. Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, the Twelve Disciples and the Apostle Paul all
received "good news" from God. For instance, Jesus and His Disciples
preached "The Gospel of the Kingdom" exclusively to the nation of Israel
(Matt. 10:5-7). The nation of Israel rejected that "good news" which
led the Lord to announce to the world additional "good news" through
the Apostle Paul. The additional "good news" is called the Gospel of
Christ in Romans 1:16 and is defined in detail in I Corinthians 15:1-4… “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the
gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye
stand; [2] By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached
unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. [3] For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; [4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures." These verses contain the content of
the gospel of Christ; HOWEVER, II Corinthians 5:18-21 contains the meaning of the gospel of Christ. The twice repeated
phrase "according to the scriptures" warns us to reject man-made interpretations of "Christ
died for our sins" and "rose again the third day". God alone can be trusted to tell us the truth about our soul's salvation. (Psa. 118:8)
What is the
meaning of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? For as far back as I can read in church
history the so-called church has "garbled the gospel". Paul asked the
Colossian saints to pray for him that...God would open unto us a door
of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: [4]
That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. (Col. 4:3-4) That
should be our highest priority; to make the gospel plain and to speak it as we ought. I grew up in a Baptist Church and was
regularly invited to "accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour". When I
was ten years old I responded to that invitation and my pastor assured me that I was
saved. Fifty
years later I can see the folly of such a "salvation
experience"---however well-intentioned. Unfortunately, over the years, I
repeated that same "garbling of the gospel" to my own family. Let's
be clear; getting a person to "ask Jesus into their heart" does not
translate into salvation---despite the sinner's sincerity. So what is the best
question to ask an unsaved person that both properly frames a biblical
discussion of salvation and gets right to the heart of the matter? Here it
is: "Do you understand what Christ accomplished where your sins are
concerned when He died on the Cross and how it applies to you?"
Has anyone ever asked you that question? I doubt it! Why? Because we are
surrounded by "unseen enemies" (Eph. 6:12..."For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.") who have trained a host of human "ministers
of righteousness" to pervert the truth of the gospel while at the same
time retaining most of the words of the gospel. (II Cor. 11:13-15... "For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ.[14] And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light. [15] Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according
to their works.").
This was Satan's strategy with Eve in the Garden and it worked to
perfection. Satan is a master counterfeiter. A counterfeit is something
very
close to the original. Satan knows there is no better way to populate
hell than
to counterfeit the gospel of Christ. Jesus exposed this same clever
strategy
of Satan to the unsaved Jews of His day... And if the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall into the ditch. (Matt. 15:14) It gives me no pleasure to admit
that I trafficked in Satan's counterfeit of the gospel as a blind leader for years.
I
would love to help you to "get out of the ditch" when it comes to your
salvation. As I stated previously, understanding the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ and
how it applies to a unsaved sinner is explained in II Cor. 5:17-21..Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new. [18] And all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation; [19] To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation. [20] Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. [21] For he hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him.
The doctrine of
reconciliation has a long history of being ignored. Now that I understand it, I can see why Satan
would work so hard to keep it hidden. It
is the first great blessing a sinner should be introduced to. Any legitimate offer of salvation must begin
with an explanation of this doctrine. The
work of reconciliation was God CHANGING THE STATUS of both Jews and Gentiles
concerning their sins as a result of Christ's death on the Cross. At the
Cross, God in His grace and mercy, imputed the sins of the world to His Son and
chose to invite “whosoever will” to believe this “good news” (new status of
total forgiveness to all the world). Immediately
prior to this change in status, salvation was obtained by believing that Jesus
was Israel's long awaited Messiah, making a proper confession and
submitting to water baptism. Reconciliation changed all of that.
Reconciliation begins by telling lost sinners they have ALREADY been forgiven
by God! (Rom. 4:8) He is not imputing their sins unto them. This glorious blessing of
reconciliation means that the full payment of all the sins of all the world
were imputed to Christ on the Cross. That is what Jesus meant when He cried out
from the Cross, “It is finished”. He did not mean that He was finished;
He meant forgiveness of sins had been accomplished once for all. The Godhead worked this all out
before the foundation of the world according to Ephesians 1:4 and based upon
the fully satisfying work of Christ on the Cross,
God
graciously offers salvation as a free gift to all men everywhere. Two
thousand years ago God transferred the sins of the world to His Son.
Therefore, the only requirement for a person to be saved is the
necessity to totally abandon any notion that any person can merit
righteousness before God based on a performance of the flesh. We must
place our faith solely in the fact that God accomplished our salvation
for us in the person of His Son when He judged Him on the Cross for our
sins. Religion tells us how we can accomplish salvation; Paul tells us
how Christ accomplished it for us at the Cross. You don’t have to ask
God
for something; you don’t need to join something; or promise something;
or
even turn from something in order for God to impute His Son’s
righteousness to
your account; God does this freely and automatically WHEN WE TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD ABOUT WHAT HE HAS DONE
WITH OUR SINS. What a glorious message we have to give to the world.
Don’t
confuse Reconciliation with Salvation.
Just because someone forgives a debt you owe them does not mean they will also
make a deposit in your bank account. For a person to forgive a debt simply
means you are back to zero. That is why even though the world has already been
reconciled to God, that does not mean the whole world is now saved or will be
saved. Reconciliation does not guarantee universal salvation. You need RIGHTEOUSNESS
to gain entrance into heaven---PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS. No one has it but God
will give it to you as a free gift if you simply take Him at His Word that He
has forgiven your sin debt which was charged to Christ's account at Calvary.
Now before you conclude that this is all too complicated please remember that
...there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
(Gal. 1:7) It is worth your while to get the gospel straight in you thinking.
While God has already reconciled the world to Himself, He has not justified or
imputed to the world of sinners the righteousness of Christ. This second aspect
of the Gospel of Christ (JUSTIFICATION) is a possibility based on the right
response of the sinner to the good news of RECONCILIATION. If you will believe
what Christ has already done for you, He will at that moment of faith justify
you (declare you perfectly righteous). For he hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
(II Cor. 5:21) Please notice that this verse says we "might" be made
the righteousness of God. It is a possibility based on the right response to
the right facts. Also, note that there is no"might" with regard to
reconciliation---it is a done deal. Once again, God has already reconciled the
world but He has not already "justified" the world. That is done when
one believes the good news of the reconciling work of Christ.
While
we can impress people with our morality and discipline, God makes it clear that
no one, through his own efforts, possesses the ability to make himself
presentable before Him. We need righteousness to enter heaven! But it has to be
a certain kind of righteousness. The most righteous people of Jesus' day were
the Pharisees. They went to the synagogue three times a day and prayed seven
times a day. They were respected in the community. But Jesus looked right
through their hypocrisy and, in their presence, admonished the crowds that “For
I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven.” (Matthew 5:20).
Paul
warned his unsaved Jewish brethren about the difference between Human Righteousness and Divine Righteousness… Brethren, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I
bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. (Romans 10:1-3). The so-called church of
our day has repeated Israel's fatal error. The church has gone about to establish
its own methods and means of obtaining a relationship with God. Why?
Because of its ignorance of reconciliation. The good news about ignorance is
that there is a cure that is available and 100% effective---God's truth,
rightly divided. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man
should boast.” (Eph. 2:8,9) “Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing
of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7).
How
does Christ’s burial relate to His death for our sins? (and that he was buried)
Although
rarely discussed, the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ is an essential
component of the
gospel that must be believed if one is to be saved.. Why? Because it
reduces the possibility that anyone would miss or misunderstand the
glorious news contained in the first component of the gospel of
Christ---the sins of the world were forgiven at the Cross!!! In the fact
of the burial of Jesus we have a powerful confirmation that the issue
of the sins of the world, from God's point of view, has been removed and
settled. God is fully satisfied with what Jesus did about our sins.
Reconciliation is really not complicated. What do we do with dead
people? We bury them;
we put them out of our sight. That is precisely what God has chosen to
do with our sins even though preachers keep digging them up and making
the forgiveness of sins the
issue of salvation, when God makes what Christ has done about those sins
the issue
of salvation.
Can
we be certain that Jesus rose from the dead? (and that he rose again the
third day according to the scriptures) The Lord Jesus does not ask us to just blindly
trust Him in the matter of His resurrection. He provided us with powerful evidence of His
mastery over death in a very surprising way... "the graves were opened; and many bodies of
the saints which slept arose, [53] And came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matthew
27:52-53)
"Many" of Jerusalem's citizens who had lived, died and been buried were
once again walking her streets. How do you suppose the unsaved Jewish
religious leaders dealt with grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles all
giving praise to the One who raised them from the dead. This was an
unbelieving Jew's worst nightmare! How could anyone possibly remain an
unbeliever in the face of such irrefutable evidence? I'm sure Herod,
Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin and all those who participated in the
crucifixion of Jesus had some "splanin" to do. Is not our Lord
wonderful?
Christ's
resurrection from the dead proved both the fact He is God’s Son and that His
death on the Cross was a fully satisfying payment of God's justice where our sins are
concerned... “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” (Romans 1:4) Who was
delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.(Rom.
4:25) 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)
Why does God require a sinner to believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? Because if
Jesus could not raise Himself from the dead, how could He promise to solve our
problem with death? “For since by man
(Adam) came death, by man (Jesus) came also the resurrection of the dead. For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (I Cor.
15:21-22).
Jesus
gave His life for you, so He could give His life to you, so He could live His
life through you! “I am crucified with Christ;
nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me.”
(Gal. 2:20).
Genuine
salvation requires right thinking about the right facts in the right order... “That we should be to the praise of his
glory, who first trusted in Christ. [13] In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in
whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise” (Ephesians 1:12-13).
Understanding
and believing what Christ accomplished in our behalf concerning our sins at
Calvary results in much assurance, not confusion and doubt... “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake.” (I Thess. 1:5)
Are you saved?
