LOST OR SAVED, ARE YE?
From Genesis to Revelation there is a truth that transcends all dispensations of truth and that is, since Adam’s sin all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Sinners are lost, “for the wages of sin is death.” We are sinners by nature, sinners by practice and have been declared sinners by divine decree. One sin makes a sinner even as one murder makes a murderer.
The word of God declares that all are sinners and faithfully declares what a sinner needs. There is much confusion among men upon this in that there are thousands of things presented as essential to the sinner’s salvation.
The question is what does a sinner need? The answer is the lost sinner needs a Savior. But is this all that he needs, will a Savior alone suffice? Yes it is all he needs, a Savior alone will suffice. The sinner needs a Savior, give that to him and he will be saved. The word of God shows you as a sinner, and shows that as a sinner you need a Savior and also presents you to the very Savior you need. Jesus Christ is the Savior you need. Jesus Christ is the Savior and saving lost souls is His business. A sinner who has Christ as his Savior is saved. A sinner without the Savior is lost.
Do I have the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior? Do I as a sinner belong to Him? Does He as a Savior belong to me? Yes, and only Yes if you are believing into Christ with a faith that is not your own. You must be believing with and exercising a faith that has been given as a gift from God. "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
We cannot classify anyone as saved until we see one believing with a faith that is not their own. Many individuals today are believing with a faith that is not the gift of God.
The scriptures call upon men for self examination in the light of the fact that Satan is a great deceiver.
As to one needing a Savior is without question. Your turning down the God seeking Savior must cease. He has provided a gift of faith for your great need---- your need of a Savior. You must be able to stand before him as a sinner who has a Savior not a sinner without one.
Another compelling reason why you need a Savior is seen in the fact that death is working in you and you are dying, apart from divine intervention ,the death that works in you will reach it‘s end and your life will be over and gone.
In view of this you need a Savior who can rescue you from the fate and fact of death and give you another life to take the place of the one you are using up little by little, day by day.
No one is saved because he lives a moral life, or he has confessed his faith and joined the church. No one is saved because men have ordained him or because he has spent his life in the ministry. None of these things have anything to do with salvation and all of them put together would not save a man. A man is saved today when he is believing God with a faith that is not his own, a faith that has been given to him by God.
If Christ is all that a sinner needs, then why do we have many from the Catholic Protestant Religious World Order that disagree on what passage of scripture that speaks of God’s redemption at this present time? This refers to most present day churches and their doctrine.
In 2 Cor. 2:17, Paul speaks of those who corrupt the word of God and the next chapter speaks of handling the word deceitfully. Peter speaks of those who pervert the scriptures to their own destruction. When a passage of scripture is removed from all that has gone before it and all that follows after, it is possible to attach to it any meaning that one may desire.
By removing texts from their context it is possible to present numerous ways to be saved. Let us notice a few, Prov.28:18, Isa 30:15 and Isaiah 45:22
(1) “He that endureth to the end shall be saved” Matt.10:22
(2) "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" Mark 16:16
(3) "I am the door: by me if any man inter in, he shall be saved", John 10:9
(4) “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Acts 2:21
(5) “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31
(6) ”We shall be saved by His life” Romans 5:10 “For we are saved by hope." Romans 8:24
(7) “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” Romans 10:9
(8) “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” Romans 10:13
As one can see, these are the passages of choice for most church brethren. It would not be unreasonable to say that most pick one or more of these passages as the true way of salvation. The problem with this scripture perversion is that each one in this list is taken out of context. The context of all these passages are that they are spoken to the Jew and their Gentile converts concerning the church of God =the church of Israel.
These repentant Jews and converted Gentiles were believing with a faith that was dealt to every man, the measure of faith, Romans 12:3. If every man is all inclusive then all of Adam’s descendants have been dealt this measure of faith. It was known of this faith in the Old Testament for it is recorded many times that man believed or was told to believe God and the Lord told Habakkuk to write the vision “Behold His soul which is lifted up is not upright in Him: but the just shall live by His faith.” This is the belief or faith that rested with man when the Lord walked this earth and after, commonly called man’s faith.
All of these passages of Romans that refer to how a man might be saved are right on for one of Israel (and a Gentile convert) for God declares his human faith for righteousness. Romans 4:5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justified the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." As also Abraham was justified “For what saith the scriptures?" Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Romans 4:3
Israel’s human faith in God will bring them into the Abrahamic national salvation but will not do for the mercy’s of the cross. God had to extend to them the mercy’s of the counting their human faith for righteousness for individual salvation. Romans 4:5
The Jewish remnant from Abraham, already had national salvation from God and the rest were designated as the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And Paul says “I say then hath God caste away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin." Romans 11;1
This 11th chapter of Romans shows us the effort that God put forth through the apostle Paul that all Israel might believe God and keep the law including His commandments and rejoice at being part of the remnant of Israel that are blessed with the national salvation of Abraham = The good olive tree . This is not the blessing of individual salvation from His cross. For these Jews and Gentiles converts of this remnant were resting in the mercy of His national salvation with Israel and not in the mercy’s of the cross. This is brought out at Romans 15:8,9,10.
(verse 8) "Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers" and the inclusion of the Gentile converts (9) "And that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy as it is written" (9) and again He saith "rejoice, ye Gentiles with His people" . (10) But does God have a present day salvation plan for all according to the Roman letter? The scriptures answer this with a resounding NO. There is a God breathed difference between one of Israel believing into Christ with their own personal belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Gal.2:6 ) and in the Ephesians letter that Gentiles are believing into Christ with a faith that is not their own faith but it is the gift of God, that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God, unto salvation that is set forth at Ephesians 2:8-9, -that this also includes the tower of Babel Gentiles apart from Israel.
We begin with the message that had been kept secret from the beginning of the world and been hid in God and never revealed till it has been revealed, first to the apostle Paul .
And furthermore the theologians have confused God’s words of redemption with what He wrote to and only for the Jew in the four gospels, Acts period, and through Paul’s Romans letter with what he wrote to the Gentile after Acts 28:28.
We take up God’s redemptive plan for today almost immediately after the apostle Paul announces that God’s Abrahamic salvation has been removed from Israel. Paul separated himself from the nation of Israel with the Isaiah judgment he pronounces upon Israel. “ and when they agreed not among themselves they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, “Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the prophet unto YOUR fathers" ( Acts 28:25,26,) (25)“Saying Go into this people and say, hearing ye shall hear , and shall not understand: and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:” (26) “For the heart of this people is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” And as a result Israel passed from the pages of history as God’s chosen nation up the present time.
With this announcement by Paul, saying that God’s Abrahamic salvation is no longer with Israel, Paul pronounces that the Lord Jesus is sent unto the Gentiles and this includes the tower of Babel Gentiles, “Be it known therefore unto you (Israel) that the Lord’s Christ is sent unto the Gentiles and they will hear.”- that Israel has been put away. Paul ,under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was only announcing what God had just now done.
With this statement, the Gentiles now have official standing before God, in that the saving work of God in that the Lord Jesus Christ is sent and made available to the Gentiles apart from Israel. Back before this, the Gentiles had no standing with God because they were not descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Ephesians 2:11-13
The order of believing has changed since Acts 28:28 whereas during the Acts period through Romans each individual Jew accepted the Lord Jesus with a faith that was like unto Abraham.
THE PRESENT SALVATION
God’s plan of salvation today is set forth in Paul’s last seven epistles. 1Timothy, Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians. Titus, Philemon, 2Timothy. These seven epistles completes the word of God. Col.1:25 They are presented as according to a secret and not according to prophecy and separated completely from the prophetic nation of Israel. Within this dispensation of the secret we have been chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4,3:1:3 “According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world."
Where as Romans is of the gospel of God and promised afore by His prophets in the holy scriptures according to the Kingdom prepared for you =Israel from the foundation of the world. (Romans 1:1-2, Matt. 25:34) It should be rather easy to see that the church of the secret of Ephesians before the foundation of the world is not the gospel of God of Romans that was prophesied from the foundation of the world.
Men proclaim that they are redeemed because of believing in Christ according to the book of Romans. But actually if they are saved they are believing with a faith that is the gift of God set forth in the book of Ephesians 2:8-9. And after they are saved they believe the record of the Son of God set forth from the Cross though Romans.
Along with sending of the Lord Jesus at Acts 28:28, the Gentiles are also the recipient of the mercy’s of the Lord’s Cross including His sacrifice for all sin.
Before only Israel was a recipient of His cross with redemption through His blood. But now since Acts 28:28, the Gentiles only have redemption through the Lord's blood and the forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7 “ In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace”
The apostle Paul declared this of himself and of those to whom he wrote. This is not the truth for Israel and the converted Gentiles that can be gleaned from the book of Romans, Romans 5:9 The manner in which the truth is stated gives it a peculiar emphasis. Paul declares that we possess redemption and that we possess the forgiveness of sins . We must not miss the force of this statement. We do have redemption through the blood of Christ: we do have forgiveness according to the riches of His grace: therefore we are redeemed, and we are forgiven.
God continues to give instructions so that all might receive redemption from God through the Lord Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:4-6 (4)“who will have all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of the truth (5) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (6) Who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.” As a result here, the all men referred to are the Gentiles independent of Israel.
Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him but also to suffer for His sake." This passage of scripture should have begun with the last portion of verse 28 . This verse, 29, should read like this “But to you of salvation, and this from God because to you it was granted concerning Christ not only to believe on Him but also concerning Him to suffer.” A belief that was a gift from God unlike the belief of Acts 16:31 that was according to their own human belief.
"As ye have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Col 2:6 “this is a faithful saying and these things I will that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain in good works." Titus 3:8
Remember, Dearly Beloved, that the saved man of the present dispensation is believing with a faith that is not his own. He is believing and exercising a faith that is said to have been given to him as a gift from God. This gift of God’s faith is not in the witness of Romans -- but it is clearly set forth in Ephesians. “For by grace are you saved through faith , that not of yourselves it is the gift of God" Ephesians 2:8
Dear friend just now reckon God’s gift of faith to your self and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation.
We cannot class anyone as saved until we see them believing with a faith that is not their own . A man that believes with a faith that comes forth from the Romans Jewish letter is believing with a faith that is his own. And it is pretended faith that will not save one from their sin.
Therefore we continue forth resting in our salvation,
God is our justifier,
the Son, our Savior, makes intercession for us,
the Spirit helps our infirmities.
Nothing can ever enter in that will separate us from the love of God.
What a salvation, what a Savior!!!!!