Salvation is not coming to know doctrines from the Bible. Salvation is not becoming sincere about 'living for Jesus'. I was sincere in my religion, but sincerity has nothing to do with true spiritual knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is NOT reformation of character and doctrine. Salvation is NOT trusting in yourself, your faith, your works, your knowledge, your repentance, your change of life, your newfound morality, or anything in you. If your clean conscience is based upon Christ work and something that you've done or felt, then you have a false assurance. God demands a perfect sacrifice for sin and a perfect righteousness, and He will not deal with any human being apart from the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is the Holy Spirit revealing Christ to you in the sufficiency of His salvation and the supremacy of His Person.
1. The Sufficiency of His salvation is that He has accomplished everything in redemption, and nothing is left to the will or works of man before or after salvation. You must know the Son. You must know that your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake, and for His names sake alone (I John 2:12). We have brought nothing to the table of redemption, and we cannot mingle the righteousness of Christ with some perceived righteousness of our own. No, our sins are NOT forgiven upon the condition of if we believe… Christ speaks in the Gospel that the sins of God's elect are forgiven for His name's sake, and the fact that we believe is the sufficient evidence of our having been accepted by God in Christ. "Now faith is the confidence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb 11:1)
2. The supremacy of Christ is also made known to every child of God. "… and ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things… the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him (Christ)" (I John 2:20, 27). You know all things in salvation, the Scriptures, and the worship of God are in the Son. "That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which sent him" (John 5:23). "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also" (I John 2:23). You know that because Christ saved you by His own blood, "He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have preeminence." You don't need someone to tell you that Jesus is Lord. From the heart, you have confessed Him 'Lord Jesus', and from the heart, you know that God raised Him from the dead after He suffered for your sins. You know that Christ has earned preeminence in everything, and God is only worshipped through Christ and Him crucified.
In my former days of religion, I would have been exceedingly angry if God had sent me to hell. I knew that I was worthy of wrath in my days of immorality, but when it was time 'to get right', I zealously followed the instruction of the strictest preachers I knew. I walked in the light that I had with a clean conscience, prayed regularly, searched the Scriptures day and night, and without any offence to my conscience became a preacher myself. But, God isn't saving sinners according to our sincerity, and His righteousness will not buckle under the best of human intentions. Through imputed righteousness, God deals with the believer in perfection. He reveals to our hearts by faith the Perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He convinces us that all of His grace flows to us through Him- the Mediator, the Man, the only Man God whose works are meritorious, the Man Christ Jesus (Acts 10:34-40).
God is not lowering His standard to receive sinners another way through another jesus. God is not saving sinners through a perverted Gospel. The early churches were established the exact same way as the churches are established today: by the Gospel of grace that glorifies the Son. "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph 1:13)." Any gospel that isn't honoring to God's righteousness and grace is "another gospel: which is not another (Gal 1:6-7). Any Gospel that you must change from because it was free-will or legal, is NOT a saving Gospel in the first place. We are all commanded to "Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father" (I John 2:24). " And (Col 2:6) "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." And again, "As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Gal 1:9). Any Gospel other than what the apostles preached is a damnable heresy. We who have come to Christ never need to change our message for spiritual growth or for any reason. Abiding in Him is sufficient.
The strength of our faith does NOT save us; salvation is in the Object of our faith. The revelation of Jesus Christ is clear to some, and we take Him with the zeal and confidence of believing Peter. Yet, you are bidden to receive Christ even with a trembling hand. The woman with the issue of blood heard about Jesus, but even after touching Him, she still feared that she was unworthy of His salvation. Therefore, the Master comforted her saying, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague" (Mark 5:34). Your right to trust Christ comes with God's command that you believe on His Son (I John 3:23). You don't have to feel anything within yourself good or bad to grab hold of Christ. You don't need a certain amount of conviction or any measure of joy, according to the truth of the Gospel revealed unto you, confess Christ to be your Savior and Lord. Paul experienced three days of darkness and squirming under conviction before He knew salvation. The Philippian Jailer also had a dramatic conversion experience. Yet, the Scriptures show no great drama when dealing with Lydia, who "…heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul" (Acts 16:14). Don't take your eyes away from Christ to judge your experience and the experiences of others. Simply know that salvation is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of His Person as the only and sufficient Lord, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
My brethren, because the Gospel we preach is the Only Gospel that saves, our labors are essential to the souls of men. God isn't saving His elect by a false gospel. Therefore, since the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God has been committed into our trusts, let us seek Grace to faint not. Let you who are taught in the Word diligently give to support the labors of those who teach you. And, plant yourself consistently in the house of God when the Gospel that gives Him glory is being preached. It is your responsibility to give all diligence to the public ministry of the Word for the good of your own soul, the good of the brethren who are encouraged by your presence, and the glory of Christ Himself whom you honor by seeking grace at His mouth. If jobs and providential things hinder you from worshipping God, then do what you can to see if God's providence, with a little sacrifice, will open the door to assemble with the saints. But, my brethren, know that hearing from God through the man whom He has sent is the most important spiritual exercise for your soul. "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Gal 6:9).
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