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
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.
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.
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