Does God Owe Me Something? PART 3

In my last installment I began to deal with the doctrine of Eternal Security and how contrasts working for (earning) one’s salvation. Now let’s look at the second issue at hand (“scenario #2)…

Here is the excerpt from the last installment:

“Many Christians today believe that once a person puts faith in Christ they (1) can at some future point commit an act that would negate the “eternal life” they received or (2) “deny their salvation / faith” and thus go to hell when they die.”

Now Scenario 2 doesn’t directly deal with “earning” one’s salvation; however, it is related to the issue at hand in the fact that “denying your salvation” destroys Christ’s finished work and puts the work of salvation in the hands of man. There is one scripture where people seek to prove this assertion (Scenario #2). We’ll now look and that scripture and prove that interpretation wrong.

Matthew 10
[32] Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
[33] But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

The ASSUMPTION I hear time and time again about verse 33 is that Jesus is talking about a saved person (I used to think this myself). However, if you look at these two verses carefully Jesus is actually comparing two types of people. There are those (in verse 32) who accept the gospel and “confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus” (Romans 10:9-10) and there are those who “deny” him by never accepting Him IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

Jesus is comparing to distinctly different types of people, saved and unsaved. Most people believe that Jesus is talking about people getting saved and then being ashamed of Him. Also, again, many believe that this is a way one can “lose their salvation”… by “denying Him”. But I believe the denial taking place here is talking about a person who hears the gospel and rejects it. Please read Romans 10:9-13. Also, Jesus statements here are very much like many of the Proverbs that speak of a righteous man v/s the unrighteous or the wise versus the unwise. Check out these examples in Proverbs 10:2-11 and many others in the Proverbs. The construction of these statements are just like the construction of Jesus’ statement in verses 32 and 33.

Finally, I hope this “series” has provoked some thought. I hope it has helped you examine what you believe and to challenge those beliefs to make sure they line up with scripture. The Bible-way of salvation is absolutely unique in the fact that the ETERNAL LIFE that Jesus offers is indeed eternal (having infinite duration) and it is a work of God from beginning to end. Since it is Christ’s finished work that saves us, our works could not possibly play any part in saving us or “keeping us saved”. We are saved by faith alone, SOLA FIDE!!!

Does God Owe Me Something? PART 2

PART 2... It’s been way TOO long since my last blog entry (article)… In 2006 I hope to keep this updated weekly!

Welcome to PART 2, if you have not read part 1, please read it before reading this! The foundation of many statements that will be made here are there.

With that said…

Many Christians who would agree that God does not owe us anything (much less Salvation) unwittingly support such a position due to their view of the doctrine called, “Eternal Security” (aka “Once-saved, Always-saved”)

Many Christians today believe that once a person puts faith in Christ they (1) can at some future point commit an act that would negate the “eternal life” they received or (2) “deny their salvation / faith” and thus go to hell when they die.

Scenario #1 - The inescapable conclusion for scenario #1 is that once a person places their faith in Christ they must then “walk the straight and narrow” or “keep a set of rules” in order to “maintain” their salvation. In other words, we are justified NOT by faith alone but by faith PLUS obeying the law until we die… HOWEVER, faith + works (keeping a set of rules to stay saved) is not the Bible equation for salvation! Consider Romans 3:20a, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight”. If one believes that once they are saved they then have to “keep a set a rules”, that person is in a works oriented religion (trying to earn salvation by performance THUS God would “owe” salvation because of this persons ability to keep the law versus being justified by faith alone). This person is seeking to “stay” justified by obeying law YET the Bible says this is impossible (Rom 3:20). Also, consider these verses in Galatians 3:

[2] This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
[3] Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

[7] Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
[8] And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

What are we justified by? FAITH, nothing more, nothing less. Justified simply means to be put in right-standing before God, to be considered blameless. This is when our sins are forgiven, our “slate is wiped clean” if you will. The Bible says that, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Rom 4:5) It did NOT say that our “good works” were counted for righteousness. It did NOT say that our “ability to keep the law after we are saved” is counted for righteousness. It must be understood that if a person is keeping a set of rules to “maintain” being justified or maintain the righteousness that GOD has IMPUTED to them… they are earning / working for their salvation.

Finally, I hope it can be seen that if we add our “good works” or “ability to keep the law” into the equation that brings about eternal life then we are earning that eternal life. If works are involved at all in the equation then God OWES salvation to us and this is neither logical nor Biblical. (also consider Romans 4:1-4; 11:5-6, Ephesians 2:8-9)

Consider also these verses that speak of faith ALONE being how we are justified / made righteous in God’s sight:

Romans 3:28 - Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Galatians 2:16 - Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Galatians 3:11 - Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Galatians 3:24 - Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Looks like we’ll have to deal with “scenario #2” next time… please check back!!!