Check Your Belief

Here is a check for those who believe they believe.

In what do you believe? In what do you trust?

For those who claim they are saved: What is it that saves you? For those who acknowledge God, who acknowledge a life hereafter, who acknowledge the existence of good and evil, and even who claim to be Christians or to follow Jesus: In what do you place your faith?

Is your faith in your own good works? Do you believe that your works, your effort, your service, your good deeds, your giving, or even your metaphorical or literal sacrifices will save you? Consider that all the good you do can never wash away the bad. Consider also that all the good done in hopes of possibly achieving your own righteousness is actually done from selfish motivations and therefore not truly altruistic. You cannot deceive God, though you might deceive yourself.

“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.’”
-Romans 3:10-11, NKJV

“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.”
-Isaiah 64:6, NKJV

Is your faith in your obedience? Is it in your own pure, or holy living? This is just another form of works, and will not save you. Your attempts to justify yourself this way can even lead to legalism, pride, and an unloving, unmerciful, uncompassionate, and judgmental attitude.

Is your faith in your knowledge? Perhaps you know accurate theology. Perhaps you can discern correct doctrine. Perhaps you’re educated in the Word of God and can exposit great Biblical truth. Maybe you know the right answers and can even teach others. But this is also another form of works, and will not save you. This too can lead to pride, and an arrogant, superior attitude.

Is your faith in faith? Now here’s a challenging one. Do you believe your faith will save you? Is it your belief that saves you? Can you muster up your own faith? Can you generate the right kind, or enough of it? Did you decide on your own, of your own will, or strength, or understanding, or KNOWLEDGE, or OBEDIENCE, or WORK to believe and have faith? What if it’s not enough? What if it falters? No. It is not your faith that saves you. This is another, although much more subtle and harder to recognize, form of works.

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?”
-James 2:14, NKJV

“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
-James 2:17, NKJV

“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”
-James 2:19, NKJV

Is your faith in an institution, or organization, or biological/hereditary/religious lineage, or denomination, or Church, or title, or human priests, prophets, leaders, or offices? You must know that these cannot save you. Belonging to a temporal group does not impart any eternal advantage to individuals. Memberships can do nothing to cleanse you from your sin. The supposed righteousness of other sinners won’t help you anymore than it will help them.

“Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.”
-Acts 10:34, NKJV

“For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law”
-Romans 2:11-12, NKJV

“So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”
-Romans 14:12, NKJV

Everything I have mentioned so far shares a common trait: reliance upon self. Are you relying upon your own works, obedience, knowledge, faith, or allegiance to a group to save you? The Word of God is clear throughout: you cannot save yourself. You are unable to make yourself righteous before God.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
-Romans 3:23, NKJV

So, what is the power of your salvation? It is the blood of Jesus, the Christ, that alone has the power to save us from the eternal consequences of our sins.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
-Romans 6:23, NKJV

“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
-Hebrews 9:22, NKJV

“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”
-Hebrews 10:4, NKJV

“how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
-Hebrews 9:14, NKJV

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
-1 John 1:7, NKJV

In what should we, and can we effectively, put our faith? How can salvation be obtained?

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
-Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
-1 John 1:9, NKJV

“For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’”
-Romans 10:13, NKJV

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”
-John 1:12, NKJV

It is God’s grace that saves. The power of salvation is in the blood of Christ. The operative channel through which salvation is imparted and received is faith. But it is faith in God, and His grace, and Jesus’ atoning sacrifice. We must surrender faith in all else, for all else is a false substitute, and all else fails. We must surrender reliance upon ourselves, and own our methods, and our own inability to save ourselves. We must surrender ourselves. We must surrender to God. We must surrender to Jesus. We must place our faith in Christ alone to save. It is in His righteousness, and His work alone that we must rely. He is the basis of our salvation. There is nothing of ourselves there; nothing we have brought, and nothing we can do. We must trust in God to save us by His grace. It is His Word in which we trust. We trust His faithfulness to His own promises, and not our own attempts at faithfulness. We are justified by God because of Jesus. Jesus alone redeems us. It is His righteousness that is imputed to us. This is not a work. This is surrender of all work.

To do otherwise is to make the cross of no effect. To do otherwise is to reject the sacrifice of Jesus, and to reject the grace of God; it is to throw it all away in preference of our own efforts and power.

“You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”
-Galatians 5:4, NKJV

“And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.”
-Romans 11:6, NKJV

But to accept God’s grace is to embrace the Gospel. It is to rest in the finished work of Christ. It is to rely upon God’s promises, and faithfulness to Himself and His Word, rather than to rely upon our own failings, and our own faithlessness. We don’t have to rely on ourselves. We don’t have to work for our own salvation. And this truly is good news. This is the Gospel.

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”
-1 Corinthians 15:1-8, NKJV

Grace and peace.

Waiting or Mocking?

How long should we be prepared to wait? As long as it takes...

“knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’

For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

 
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”

-2 Peter 3:3-18, NKJV

Theology Shakeup

1 Peter, chapter 4:

Does it shake your theology, or give you encouragement? God’s Word has a way of doing both.

“Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose,”

“because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

“... In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;”

“...Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”

“... but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”

“... Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.”

We are to arm ourselves with the same purpose, or mind, as Christ, who suffered in the flesh? Yes.

We should expect to be maligned, or spoken evil of, for not pursuing our lusts in the same way as unbelievers? Yes.

We should not be surprised when fiery ordeals, or trials, come upon us? Perhaps we should even expect them? For our testing? Yes.

We should rejoice to share in the sufferings of Christ? We are blessed when we are reviled, or reproached, for the name of Christ? Yes.

We are not to be ashamed for suffering as a Christian, or Christ-follower? Yes.

It is possible to suffer according to the will of God? Yes.

If you match this passage with others in the New Testament, you will see these truths corroborated.

If you believe that it is never God’s will that one of His followers should suffer, or that one who is truly living by faith or according to His will should always be able to avoid suffering and should only ever experience fulfillment and prosperity, then your theology needs some shaking. Of course, it is never without purpose, nor does He take pleasure from the suffering itself.

If you are experiencing suffering for following Him, or just through the trials of life, and feel ashamed, hurt, or like you have failed somehow, be encouraged. Our Master suffered, and we who are being conformed to His image should expect no less.

Grace and peace to you all.

Note: Bible verses quoted from the NASB (New American Standard Bible).