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November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson 47
Romans 8
1: Therefore, there
is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
I
have parked on Romans 8:1 for the past two Bible lessons because of the blessed
message this single verse conveys to all those who are in Christ Jesus and because although the communication is clear often
times the reader overlooks the obvious truth and fails to “take in” all that this
single verse conveys to its owner.
Let’s
not forget the Apostle Paul and his writings up to this moment and remember it
is the translator who put the verse numbers and division markers in Scripture
and not Paul. In the original letter,
there are no breaks, chapter headings, etc.
This
same man who wrote, “So, with my mind I myself serve the Law of God, but with
my flesh I serve the law of sin,” now opens chapter 8, without any break, saying, “Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Truth
is Believers are in a constant state of conflict, but not in a state of
condemnation. When the war within is
raging at its hottest, the Believer is still “justified.”
Even
as the Believer struggles to hold their moral ground, when they reach the point
that they must cry out to God because of the heaviness of the temptation, occasionally
failing despite their best intentions, they may still lay their hand on the
Word of God and say aloud, “And yet there is no condemnation to me, for
I am in Christ Jesus.”
It
is the person who never strives against the sin which dwells within, who is not
conscious of any sin to strive against – that is the man or woman who should
begin to question whether they know anything at all about the Spiritual life.
These
folks may know of Jesus but they are not in Christ Jesus. Even the demons know there is one true
God. The problem is they do not
recognize Him as their Lord.
Anyone
who suffers no inward pain over outward expressions of sin may well consider
themselves abiding under constant condemnation.
For these are enemies of God.
But
the individual who is longing to be holy as God is Holy is justified.
The
person to whom every misstep (sin) or thought of iniquity is painful, they may
declare themselves to be in Christ Jesus
and without condemnation. These
souls are not condemned and will not be cast out of the Body of Christ. They are secure!
This
is what the Scriptures say.
I
take the time to address the topic of Eternal Salvation for these reasons:
Doubt
has crept in…
Be
careful. Here’s one more reason why I
promote Bible study and you picking up your Bible and getting in tune with the
Word of God, rightly divided.
When
Jesus’ disciples asked Him what will be the sign of His coming, the first thing
He told them was this, “See to it that no one misleads
(deceives) you” (Matthew 24:4).
We
are living in an age of confusion and deception. Test the spirits (1 John 4:1).
Make
certain what you are hearing lines up with the truth (John 18:17).
B: Other people who have actually read their Bible
have come to their conclusions by failing to see the clear teaching of God (not rightly dividing the Word of Truth) and have
relied instead upon the more obscure passages of Scripture to promote their
belief.
Dr. Harry A.
Ironside, Bible
teacher, pastor, theologian and author, addressed this issue well when he said,
"If
you have a clear, definite, positive Scripture, do not allow some passage that
is perplexing, that is difficult of interpretation, that seems somewhat
ambiguous, to keep you from believing the positive statement - He that believeth hath everlasting life.”
Dr.
Harry Ironside goes on to say that salvation was like Noah inviting a pagan in
his day to place his trust in God’s Word and come into the ark. If you recall, Noah and his family members
were saved in the ark. Likewise, a Believer is saved in Christ Jesus.
Now
the skeptics want you to view salvation like Noah offering to put a peg on the
outside of the ark. They are saying, “If
you just hang on to the peg through the storm, you’ll be saved.” This means salvation requires your effort and
not God’s.
Your
salvation is not dependent upon you holding onto God, but on you being securely
held by God and in Christ Jesus.
C: It is necessary to address the topic of Eternal Security for the saved
individual because it affects the Believer's walk with Jesus Christ and their witness
to others.
Anyone
who believes they can lose their salvation or lose it and regain it at a later
time has removed themselves from a belief
in grace through faith alone and has therefore concluded that their own
works have become an essential part of the salvation process or lack
thereof. In short, they have deemed
Christ’s work on the cross as being insufficient. This is contrary to Scripture.
Titus 3
5: He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds (works) which we
have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing
of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
6: whom He poured
out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
7: so that being (what) justified by (our works? No! But by) His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
D: Doubting our salvation is at the core of spiritual
warfare and Believers have lived in fear and uncertainty for centuries questioning
if heaven is really their home when this life on earth is over. This subject has led more children of God to
live defeated, depressed, and discouraged lives than any other issue in the
faith.
Doubt
is a crippling force. If Satan can plant
a seed of doubt in our mind and get it to germinate, then it will breed other
complex issues out of our lives such as:
discouragement, frustrations, anger, confusion, and so much more if we
permit it to continue unabated.
How powerful is the seed of doubt? It brought about the fall of man...
How powerful is the seed of doubt? It brought about the fall of man...
The
father of lies will do everything possible, everything in his power, to get us
to second-guess our security in Christ Jesus, and to doubt our salvation.
Satan
is the destroyer of everything that God loves.
This includes you if you’re a Believer.
If you’re not a Believer, Satan's not focused on you. You already belong to him.
F: The Anglican/Episcopal church, the Assembly
of God, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Charismatic/Pentecostals, Holiness Churches,
Mormons, and the Church of Christ are assemblies that believe you can lose your
salvation. This is not an exhaustive
list. Many non-denominational churches
believe salvation can be lost.
But
despite what these assemblies preach the true Believer’s salvation is solely dependent
on the faithfulness of God and not
on the faithfulness of the Believer.
Lamentations 3
21: This I recall
to mind my mind, Therefore I have hope.
22: The LORD’s
lovingkindness indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.
23: They are new every morning; Great is
Your faithfulness.
We
are not capable of being faithful to ourselves or to each other. How can we in turn be faithful to the Holy
God? This is where the skeptic’s
argument truly falls apart.
God
is faithful to us because of propitiation.
Propitiation is the work of Christ on the cross which deals with the
integrity of God the Father (Romans 4:21-26).
It’s a big word but simply means that Jesus Christ satisfied the justice and righteousness of God the Father at the
cross.
In
propitiation, the justice of God judges our sins, and the integrity of God is
satisfied with that judgment. God knew
all our sins in eternity past. He
imputed them to Jesus Christ on the cross and judged them there. Jesus took our place. He was our substitute.
Now
God is justified to forgive all those who believe in the death, burial, and
resurrection of His Son because He has been propitiated by the blood sacrifice
of His perfect (sinless) Son.
Therefore,
there is no compromise to His integrity when He faithfully forgives each one of
us. Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Scripture
says,
John 19
30: Therefore when
Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”
And He bowed His
head and gave up His spirit.
God the Father has provided the perfect (complete)
salvation through His Son and the security of the believer rests in the
finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, on the continual work of the
indwelt Holy Spirit, and on the intercession for the Believer by the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It is finished! Everything God
wanted to accomplish through His Son’s sacrificial death on the cross was
accomplished. There are no “hanging
threads.” Therefore, man may not add
anything to or take anything away from the wondrous work of the cross. Amen.
Since Scripture
itself is the Believer's sole authority of faith and practice and since
Scripture clearly teaches that once a believer is truly saved he is eternally saved,
secure, and sealed until redemption; then it will be helpful to
see some of those Scripture passages.
Predestined for
salvation
The
Bible teaches that Believers have been predestined,
even before the creation of the world.
Theologians and others have argued over the meaning and intent of this
word in Scripture for centuries. Sometimes
people overlook the obvious. This word
means that God the Father, back in eternity past (before the creation event), foreknew every soul; man, woman, and child
that would accept His offer of salvation.
Romans 8
29: For those whom
He foreknew, He also predestined to
become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn
among many brethren;
30: and these whom
He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified;
and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
(See
also: Romans 9:23; 1 Corinthians 2:7,
2:9; Ephesians 1:5, 1:11, 2:10, 4:11-12).
Nowhere in Scripture does God unpredestine
a Believer!
Called by God
The
Bible says that Believers are called
by God. To be “called” by God is to
recognize that God has a “claim” on our lives.
Now about 80 percent of the church-going people today, unless they see a
burning bush before them, bristle at the idea of this call by God.
They
don’t experience God when they pray, and they don’t hear Him when they read
their Bible. How are they supposed to
know what God is “calling” them to do?
Believe
me, God is tugging at your heart in such a way that you know you are being led,
urged, invited, “called” to serve
the Body in some form or fashion and you possess the God given talent to do so. Who’s kidding who?
Romans 1
7: …to all in Rome
who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(See
also: Romans 8:28-30; 1 Corinthians 1:2,
1-24; 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12, 4:7;
2
Thessalonians 1:11; Ephesians 1:8).
Scripture
says God’s call is irrevocable (Romans 11:29).
Nowhere in Scripture is this truth
reversed!
Sealed by God
The
Bible says Believers are sealed by
God for redemption.
One
of God’s great desires for His children is that they know they are “secure” in
His love and in His power. Think about
this. Everything else in our lives is
unstable –
our
health, our family, our jobs, our education, our home life, our marriage, our
bank accounts, wall street, our society, and the world in which we live. In any one of these arenas, at any given
time, you may feel like you’re out on the ledge of a 40-story building, losing
your balance, getting ready to fall, and there’s nothing to hold onto.
But
God has “guaranteed” the inheritance of every Believer with the “seal” of the Holy Spirit as a sign of
authenticity, marking our eternal oneness with Him - once sealed, always
protected from the powers of evil. It
doesn’t get any more stable than that.
2 Corinthians 1
21: Now He who
establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
22: who also sealed
us and gave us the Spirit in our
hearts as a pledge.
(See
also: Ephesians 1:13, 4:30; 2 Timothy
2:19).
There isn’t a
single verse in the Bible where God unseals a Believer.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved