Give diligence to make your calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10); examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5); work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12).
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only as in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own SALVATION with fear and trembling.”
“And this, knowing the time, that it is now the hour to arise from sleep: for now is our SALVATION nearer than when we first believed.”
These three verses of Scripture by themselves could present three drastically different messages of salvation. However, when looked at together, under the whole counsel of God, the message is singular, plain, and clear. Salvation is not a one-point-in-time decision that secures me and allows me to do whatever I please. No, that is a false gospel and Scripture condemns such thoughts on every page. Salvation is past, present and future. Justification says that I am saved. Sanctification says that I am being saved. Glorification says that I will be saved. It is a continuous motion. All of this is the work of God and all of this is present in the salvation of the true born again believer. True salvation clearly reveals the evidence of fruit in our lives and will culminate with the endurance of the true saint until the end. These are the seeds that fell among good soil. The seeds that fell among the other soils are all false converts. The rocky soil depicts those who accept the Word, follow it, but fall away revealing that they were never genuinely saved to begin with, because “those who endure until the end will be saved.” Regeneration and repentance are as much a part of the salvation process as is faith, and you will find hundreds of verses that make these statements. Not one of them can be diminished or rejected.
In the above verses, you have three different tenses of the word “salvation.” All of them true in what they have to say. We cannot limit our knowledge on a subject to a singular verse or passage or chapter or book. We must take the whole counsel of God in what He declares in every verse, every passage, every chapter and every book bearing on the subject. The truth of salvation cannot be limited to one’s understanding of Galatians only and thereby build the doctrine. That is where you get the false doctrine put forth by those who turn the grace of God into licentiousness – a license to sin, which contradicts Romans 6 and other passages of Scripture. Further, we must consider verses such as 1 Corinthians 5:11 and 6:9-10. If these people claim to be Christians but are known to be the listed practices - that is, they are known to be a liar, an adulterer, a thief, a drunkard, etc. – Scripture is clear that they will not inherit the kingdom!!! Christ declared the same statements several times throughout the gospels. Claiming to be a Christian doesn't make a person saved. It is the changed life, the Spirit living within us, directing us, bearing fruit, and conforming us to the image of Christ here on Earth, that reveals true salvation. If there is no evidence of a changed life, of hatred toward sin and love toward God, then regeneration has never taken place and the person is still dead in their sins. They are not a genuine born again believing saint. They are a false convert, as a plethora of Scriptural passages tell us - regardless of what they think or claim. That is why we never pronounce someone saved because we are giving them false assurance of salvation. If they are genuinely converted, it will work itself out in their life and there will be evidence of that fact and they will endure until the end. If they run the race hard and strong and quit half way there, they were never genuinely converted to begin with.
Dual repetition of names has great significance. "Moses, Moses." "Samuel, Samuel." "Saul, Saul." When Jesus uses "Lord, Lord," He is letting us know that these people genuinely believe themselves to have been saved, and yet He tells them, "Depart from me! you who live as though I never gave you a law to obey. I NEVER KNEW YOU!" It's not about whether we know Him (which can be mere intellectual knowledge in ascent to the facts), but about whether or not He knows us. Again, only time will tell whether we will finish the race or not. If we finish, we will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." If we fail to finish, we were never saved to begin with. That is why we need to "work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling," because we don't know how we are going to finish. Even Paul made reference to the same thing: "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." He states that he has "fought the good fight." He has pressed toward the mark and not let up. Was his a work's based salvation? I don't think so. Works reveal your faith, as James tells us. "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." What he says and what Paul says are complementary messages. They are not contradictions, as some heathen false teachers assert.
Develop a right understanding of Who God is and what His Word teaches and walking in faithful obedience will not be difficult. The more accurate picture you have of God, the easier it becomes to submit to His authority and humble ourselves in awe before His face. Without a proper understanding of Who He is, we will live in rebellion to Him and only pave the way to our destruction. There are more verses in Scripture than those that simply state "believe." James states clearly that belief alone means absolutely nothing. Even the demons believe. We need to take the whole counsel of God. Not random verses that make us feel good about ourselves where we can apply personal opinion. What will we do with clear commands to "cleanse your hands and purify your hearts" and "renew your minds and do not be conformed to this world"? Selectively citing verses that appeal to our own personal opinion and make us feel good gives us a very shallow view of God and what He expects from us. It leaves us not knowing Who God truly is. He is not our buddy sidekick!!! He is our Creator, our Master, our Lord, our King!!! All these titles and positions demand obedience - not suggest it!
“Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firms, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord MUST turn away from wickedness.’” 2 Timothy 2:19
Again, this is not a mere suggestion. It is a command to be obeyed. If we confess the name of Christ, if we claim to be Christians, then we must turn away from wickedness and walk in holiness. Failure to do so equals false conversion. Pure and simple. The whole counsel of God stands firm in its truth.
For I am NOT ashamed of the gospel of Christ: it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes.
- 1 John 1:7 – You like hanging out and fellowshipping with other Christians - and not just on Sunday.
- 1 John 1:8 – You admit that you have a wretched, abominable heart. This is not a mere admission of being a sinner and committing sins, for the unsaved will admit that.
- 1 John 2:3 – You strive to obey God's Commandments. If you think this means the two Commandments of Love, consider the fact that these two sum up the entire ten. It is still the Ten Commandments that we are looking at, no matter how you try and dice it. Consider these verses:
- Exodus 20:6
- Deuteronomy 7:9; 11:26-28 (v.27)
- Psalm 112:1; 119:47, 127
- Ecclesiastes 12:13 (the whole duty of man)
- Matthew 22:37-40 (the 10 summed up in 2 - the first 3 pertain to God, the last 6 pertain to our neighbour, the 4th was a shadow of things to come and is the only one not repeated in the New Testament)
- John 14:15, 21; 15:20
- 1 Corinthians 7:19
- 1 John 2:3-4; 3:22, 24; 5:2-3
- 2 John 1:6
- Revelation 12:17; 14:12; 22:14
- 1 John 2:15 – If you love the world, you are not a Christian. We are called to be set apart (separated) from the world.
- 1 John 2:23 – Do you know who Jesus Christ is? He is not merely the Son of God. If your Jesus is that of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, etc., you have the wrong Jesus.
- 1 John 3:2 – You can't wait to see God. It is your hope from day to day, expecting His return to be imminent (immediate).
- 1 John 3:9 – You do not habitually sin. You do not go through the same motions of sin day after day. It's not about perfection, it's about direction. God is sanctifying the believer in holiness. If you're not growing - if you walk, talk and act the same way you did before you were "converted" - you're not a Christian.
- 1 John 3:14 – You love your Christian brothers and sisters and it shows.
- 1 John 4:6 – Christians love preaching, teaching and hearing the Word. Hearing it is not boring to you and you are not ashamed to speak about it.
- 1 John 4:15 – You proclaim Jesus Christ. Charles Spurgeon said, "If you do not have a passion to see lost souls saved, you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that!" Do you go out of your way to make Jesus known, or are you in silence telling the world, "Go to hell!"?
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only as in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own SALVATION with fear and trembling.”
“And this, knowing the time, that it is now the hour to arise from sleep: for now is our SALVATION nearer than when we first believed.”
These three verses of Scripture by themselves could present three drastically different messages of salvation. However, when looked at together, under the whole counsel of God, the message is singular, plain, and clear. Salvation is not a one-point-in-time decision that secures me and allows me to do whatever I please. No, that is a false gospel and Scripture condemns such thoughts on every page. Salvation is past, present and future. Justification says that I am saved. Sanctification says that I am being saved. Glorification says that I will be saved. It is a continuous motion. All of this is the work of God and all of this is present in the salvation of the true born again believer. True salvation clearly reveals the evidence of fruit in our lives and will culminate with the endurance of the true saint until the end. These are the seeds that fell among good soil. The seeds that fell among the other soils are all false converts. The rocky soil depicts those who accept the Word, follow it, but fall away revealing that they were never genuinely saved to begin with, because “those who endure until the end will be saved.” Regeneration and repentance are as much a part of the salvation process as is faith, and you will find hundreds of verses that make these statements. Not one of them can be diminished or rejected.
In the above verses, you have three different tenses of the word “salvation.” All of them true in what they have to say. We cannot limit our knowledge on a subject to a singular verse or passage or chapter or book. We must take the whole counsel of God in what He declares in every verse, every passage, every chapter and every book bearing on the subject. The truth of salvation cannot be limited to one’s understanding of Galatians only and thereby build the doctrine. That is where you get the false doctrine put forth by those who turn the grace of God into licentiousness – a license to sin, which contradicts Romans 6 and other passages of Scripture. Further, we must consider verses such as 1 Corinthians 5:11 and 6:9-10. If these people claim to be Christians but are known to be the listed practices - that is, they are known to be a liar, an adulterer, a thief, a drunkard, etc. – Scripture is clear that they will not inherit the kingdom!!! Christ declared the same statements several times throughout the gospels. Claiming to be a Christian doesn't make a person saved. It is the changed life, the Spirit living within us, directing us, bearing fruit, and conforming us to the image of Christ here on Earth, that reveals true salvation. If there is no evidence of a changed life, of hatred toward sin and love toward God, then regeneration has never taken place and the person is still dead in their sins. They are not a genuine born again believing saint. They are a false convert, as a plethora of Scriptural passages tell us - regardless of what they think or claim. That is why we never pronounce someone saved because we are giving them false assurance of salvation. If they are genuinely converted, it will work itself out in their life and there will be evidence of that fact and they will endure until the end. If they run the race hard and strong and quit half way there, they were never genuinely converted to begin with.
Dual repetition of names has great significance. "Moses, Moses." "Samuel, Samuel." "Saul, Saul." When Jesus uses "Lord, Lord," He is letting us know that these people genuinely believe themselves to have been saved, and yet He tells them, "Depart from me! you who live as though I never gave you a law to obey. I NEVER KNEW YOU!" It's not about whether we know Him (which can be mere intellectual knowledge in ascent to the facts), but about whether or not He knows us. Again, only time will tell whether we will finish the race or not. If we finish, we will hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." If we fail to finish, we were never saved to begin with. That is why we need to "work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling," because we don't know how we are going to finish. Even Paul made reference to the same thing: "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." He states that he has "fought the good fight." He has pressed toward the mark and not let up. Was his a work's based salvation? I don't think so. Works reveal your faith, as James tells us. "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." What he says and what Paul says are complementary messages. They are not contradictions, as some heathen false teachers assert.
Develop a right understanding of Who God is and what His Word teaches and walking in faithful obedience will not be difficult. The more accurate picture you have of God, the easier it becomes to submit to His authority and humble ourselves in awe before His face. Without a proper understanding of Who He is, we will live in rebellion to Him and only pave the way to our destruction. There are more verses in Scripture than those that simply state "believe." James states clearly that belief alone means absolutely nothing. Even the demons believe. We need to take the whole counsel of God. Not random verses that make us feel good about ourselves where we can apply personal opinion. What will we do with clear commands to "cleanse your hands and purify your hearts" and "renew your minds and do not be conformed to this world"? Selectively citing verses that appeal to our own personal opinion and make us feel good gives us a very shallow view of God and what He expects from us. It leaves us not knowing Who God truly is. He is not our buddy sidekick!!! He is our Creator, our Master, our Lord, our King!!! All these titles and positions demand obedience - not suggest it!
“Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firms, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord MUST turn away from wickedness.’” 2 Timothy 2:19
Again, this is not a mere suggestion. It is a command to be obeyed. If we confess the name of Christ, if we claim to be Christians, then we must turn away from wickedness and walk in holiness. Failure to do so equals false conversion. Pure and simple. The whole counsel of God stands firm in its truth.
For I am NOT ashamed of the gospel of Christ: it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes.