John Conclusion

So, in John, we have seen the Lord Jesus set forth as the Christ, the Son of God.  As we bring our study of this book to a close, I would like to take the time to compare this great theme of the book of John with Paul’s statement of the gospel he preached in I Corinthians 15:1-5.

1.  Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2. by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain.
3. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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,  5. and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

This statement is as concise a statement as we have in the writings of Paul of the gospel that he preached to bring people to faith in Christ.

Saving Faith Versus Walking in Faith

I received the following questions:

Since Christ said the gate is narrow and few enter through it (Matt 7:14 & Luke 13:24), how does modern “Christianity” fit into this description – since few even know the God they profess to worship? What is the Biblical meaning of salvation anyway? Since faith and belief are the same, and since faith does require an action, how can “saving faith” not require an action, but simply require believing in the Lord Jesus?

Whether or not one is connected with modern day “Christianity” has little to do with whether one has actually entered through the gate into life or not. There are many who have been “Christians” and who have said “Lord, Lord” all their lives who will end up being cast out into darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. What saves one is faith in Jesus Christ, not faith in Christianity. Yet there are some connected with what we call “Christianity” who have believed the truth regarding Jesus Christ, and who have passed from death to life. We cannot deny this either. When a group of these gets together, even in the modern “church” setting, there can be good and godly results. The very nature of such groups, though, cannot keep the pretenders and religious fakers out, and so even an effective church ministry can soon be tarnished.

Do You Want Fries With That Salvation?

It is common practice in the so-called “fast food” restaurants of today that, if a customer simply orders a sandwich, the employee taking the order will ask, “Would you like fries with that?” The object of this is two-fold: firstly, to know the customer’s mind on this, and secondly to try to sell fries to the customer, because, of course, the restaurant then makes more money. If you do order fries, you might be asked if you want a drink, or if you order both you might be asked if you want a dessert. The restaurant is always eager to sell the customer on more food.

Now we do not usually think of ever receiving anything extra along with our salvation. The idea of getting salvation “with” something is foreign to most believers today. It seems that many are convinced of an idea that I like to call “spiritual socialism.” That is, that the only way eternal life can possibly be perfect is if everyone there has everything exactly equal and the same.

Can Believers Not Live For God?

Those who have read my messages on “Election” and on “Predestination, Omniscience, and the Foundation of the World” know that I believe that we all have the choice whether or not to believe in Christ for salvation. It has probably also become clear through my writings that I believe in what is also often called “eternal security” for the believer of today, and that once one is saved, that one cannot lose that salvation. I believe and teach that it is grace alone which saves us through faith, and that is apart from works. I firmly believe and have never doubted in the power of Christ to transform our lives.

Yet there are certain passages in the Bible that many use to suggest that those who display no fruit for God in their lives cannot truly be saved. Thus the question arises: were these people never saved in the first place? Is it possible for one to be saved, and then live a life of sin and godlessness, never showing forth the fruit that one would expect in the life of a believer? Or is there a rule that a true believer MUST show forth fruit in his life? If one seems to be a genuine believer with a changed life at one time, but then later seems to fall away from that and go back to a worldly lifestyle, does that mean that his salvation was never real? Or could it have been real, and he simply fell away?

Signs of Salvation

I received the following question:

In light of passages like Heb 6:1-8, Jas 2:14-16, 1 Jn 5:18, as well as numerable others like Matthew’s parables, can someone be truly saved if their is never any fruit or transformation in their life? I am not asking about eternal security, but if someone has been saved by grace through faith will their life then naturally show signs of change? Similarly if someone “gets saved” in 2008 then their whole life changes, but in say 2010 they mentally reject what they once believed and go back to their pre-conversion life was this person ever saved to begin with? Is it possible not is it likely.

Thanks for your question.  This is indeed a difficult issue.  One passage that I like to use in dealing with it is Romans 6.  There, the Lord asks through Paul, “What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?”  This seems to have been the attitude of some believers…that it’s okay if I sin because that gives grace more of a chance to work toward me.  Yet the answer is given, “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”  Sin no longer has power over us, therefore we should not choose to live any longer in it. That we can choose this appears to be implied by this passage. Yet your question seems to be, “What if I abandon the struggle and simply embrace sin?  Does this mean I was not truly saved?”

Inheriting the Kingdom

I received the following question:

“Galatians 5:19-21.  What happens to the unbeliever who practices these sins?”

To answer this question, first of all, let us examine the passage in question. 

19. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20. idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21. envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

We have a lot of difficulty here because so few have even the remotest idea of what the Kingdom of God really is.  Kingdom is an antiquated word in many ways.  The Greek word that it translates means exactly what we mean when we use our modern word “government.”  The Kingdom of God is the government of God.

The Offense of the Cross

During this holiday when we remember and commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ, I think it may be beneficial to discuss the death of our Lord on the cross and what that really entailed. Paul talks about the “offense of the cross,” but I think that sometimes we have no idea what he was talking about. Thus, let us discuss some of what actually went on when one was crucified.

Imagine with me for a minute that you yourself are a first century believer being crucified for your faith in Christ. What exactly would you go through? Let us take up the story as you are being led through the streets to the place of your crucifixion. You are carrying your cross, or at least the crosspiece, and this clearly marks you out as one who is about to be crucified. The cross is heavy, of course, but not so heavy as the contempt being poured upon you from many of those you pass by. Crucifixion was a form of capital punishment reserved for the lowest of the low. Rebellion and murder were the usual offenses for being crucified, and so the general populace would look upon anyone being led away to be crucified as a despicable individual. You would face the constant jeers and ridicule of those along the way as you were led to your place of execution.

Is Everyone Saved?

I was recently asked a question that is a common thought in our day.  “What do you think happens to non-believers?  I mean I don’t think God doesn’t love them for this. I think he would treat them the same way as believers…I think that He would consider them weak and forgive them for their mistakes.  Right?!”

Yet what this person fails to understand is that God is a God of judgment as well as a God of love.  What the Bible does teach is that a resurrection life has been bought for all of us through Christ.  Many of the Bible passages used to support universal reconciliation are talking about universal resurrection.  All men have had a new life paid for by Christ.  This is so that no one will die (eternally) because Adam sinned.  However, men will die for their own sins.

Faith, Works, Salvation, Grace

Some years ago I was talking with a young man who believed in the Calvinist idea of predestination.  He presented the idea to me that salvation could not come about by our own free choice to believe in Christ.  If this was true, he claimed, then salvation would be by works, since choosing something is in actuality a work…it is something that we can do.  Since salvation is not by works, he argued, salvation cannot come about by our choosing to accept Christ.  Therefore, he concluded, we are not saved because we choose Christ, but because God had already chosen us ahead of time.  Only this way, he claimed, can we say that salvation comes about by the grace of God and not by our own works.

Although I did not agree with this young man’s argument, it did serve to bring into my mind the realization that the relationship between faith and works, between salvation and grace, may not be as clear as I had thought it to be up to that time.  Although I had many times confidently asserted that salvation does not come about by works, I had to admit that choosing is indeed something that I can do, and therefore would seem to be indeed a work.  But is a choice really a work in the Biblical sense of the term?  Must we keep a strict line between salvation and works, and insist that our salvation can never have anything to do with a work that we do?  Must we also apply this to all other people and say that no one is ever saved or has ever been saved by the acting out of a work?  These questions are legitimate questions, I believe, and therefore must be examined in the light of the truth revealed in the Bible if we are ever to arrive at answers to them.

Now the works versus faith argument is one that I am certain all of us as believers have run into at one time or another.  Most of those of us who consider ourselves evangelicals have been taught that salvation comes about only by faith, and that works have nothing to do with salvation.  Yet is this really an accurate statement?