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Matt 1:21 … she shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his
people from their sins.
S A V E D B
Y C H U R C H
O
R
S
A V E D B Y
G O D
If we are saved God works in us, e walk in his
ways.
Eph 2:8 … by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of
works, lest any man should boast. 10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, ... God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Alleluia
John 3:7 -You must be
Born Again
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PAGE - TWO
The hope of the
true believers, who are the sons of God, is that when the Lord Jesus Christ
shall appear
to receive
them, they will be changed and will be just like Him.
"1John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we
shall see him as he is. Tit 2:13
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;"
Faith is not strong will power. Faith is not positive confession.
"Heb 11:1 Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Our faith is the
substance of the things we hoped for. That is, faith is a tangible
thing in order to prove that we have this hope. It is the evidence of the hope
which cannot be seen. That is, faith has to be produced as an evidence to
prove other people that we have this hope. So, faith is tangible evidence in a person for others to see
that this person has the heavenly hope. Those who have this hope
to be caught up with God, which the churches refer as rapture,
will purify themselves even as Jesus Christ is pure. "1 John
3:3 And
every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure."
This purifying life that can
be seen by others is the
"Faith" of the person.
C. Faith: True
Faith Verses
Dead Faith
The dead faith is
vain imagination or wishful thinking of the people. This faith
will neither purify the people as Jesus Christ is pure and it can not be
produced as an evidence of purity in their life. "1John
3:3 And
every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure. Jas
2:18 Yea,
a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy
works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and
tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"
The true faith is the evidence
that can be shown in the life of the believer
to prove that they have the hope of meeting the Lord according to the terms of the Bible, whereas the
dead faith is mere statements of sentiments and religious cliché of the
people.
God does things according to his word and not according to the desires of the
people. Dead faith is just vain jangling. It is the deception of the deceiver, the devil.
False faith
is pertained to the things of
this world. It is strong will power and it is positive confession.
It is used for worldly pleasures and prosperity using the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed;
and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
9 By faith he sojourned in
the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
10 For he
looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
By faith Abraham obeyed God perfectly. The
faith of Abraham made him father of all who are of faith. If we look at his faith,
we will see that his faith was in God, pertained to the things of the heavenly
city, whose builder and maker is God. This is the true faith
of Abraham. The faith that focus on the things of the world is false faith.
Jesus Christ,
who was called as the Grace of God, who brought salvation, taught men how to become
pure, since he wants to purify his people for himself.
"Tit 2:11
... the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world:
13 Looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." This
purification is the change in the believer’s life. Others should be able
to notice this change visibly and distinctly. This change in his life is caused
by the hope of the believer. This change which others can
see in the life of a person is the substance and the evidence of his hope.
According to the Bible, this visible
character is the faith of the believer.
"Heb 11:1 Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen."
Through this
faith that obeys the doctrine of Christ, believers receive the gift of salvation from God.
They Say.
"Eph 2:9
Not
of works, lest
any man should boast."
You
cannot earn it by doing any work of good deeds, so that you may not boast that you
have earned it.
Truth Is. If we are saved then we are the workmanship of God. If we are the workmanship of
God, we are made new creatures of the Spirit. If we are made new by God, we
will live a pure life, but not the life of sin. We saw in section 2,
that we are saved by our obedience through our faith and by the grace of God.
The Bible also says that God is doing a work of grace in us to save us so that
we will walk in his righteousness.
If someone does not walk in the pure righteousness of God then God has not
done his work in the person. If God has not done his work then, the person is
not saved.
God gives his grace to the humble people so that they may obey God for their
salvation. As they obey him, God also is doing a work in them to save them from
their sins. This work of God is the creative work to make the person a new
creature, which is of the Spirit. We cannot be born of the spirit by
ourselves unless God gives us the spirit. We cannot lift ourselves to the
heavenly places to be seated with Jesus Christ unless God put us there.
This will not void our obedience bur rather it requires our obedience.
God considers our obedience as our works of righteousness.
"Deut 6:25
And it shall be our
righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD
our God, as he hath commanded us."
As
we obey God, He will do the Spiritual
work simultaneously in us so that we shall be born of the Spirit.
"Eph 2:9
Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, ---"
"Eph 2:10 For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus---" If God has created us in Jesus Christ, then we will be new creatures.
"2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new."
If we are new creatures
then the old life of sin will disappear and the
spiritual life will come to existence. Now we are born of God and now we cannot and
we will not sin. "1 John
3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him:
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."
At this point we are saved and we are "Saved from sin." "Matt 1:21
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt
call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
"Eph 2:10 For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them."
God is does a work in us since he wants us to be doing good works
which God has ordained that we must do. Nobody can fool God. That is,
God will
not do his work of grace in anyone who is disobedient or has no faith. In
other words, God
will not do
his work of
grace on a person,
who will not be doing good works of obedience and righteousness. That is,
if a person is not doing good works of God's righteousness, God has not done his work
on him/her and so, this person is not
saved.
Section 4 - Not by Righteousness!
They Say.
"Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, ---."
They say that even the works of righteousness that
you do will not save us
but, it is just the mercy of God that saves us.
By saying this, they discourage the believers from obeying God and holy living.
Instead they turn them to rituals or ceremonies in the name of God and turn them to religious living which will benefit the churches and
evangelists materially. They say that our salvation is only by him and it is not by us at all.
It is hypocrisy that they praise God but preach not to obey him.
Truth Is. As an
attorney twists the words of a witness by picking only portions of a statement
and will not allow him/her to tell the complete story, these preachers take the
portions of a verse from the word of God and twist it to hide the truth.
They all preach the first portion of verse 5, but they will not mention the
portions before and after. Verse 4 and the first portion of 5 say: "after
that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
not by works of
righteousness which we have done."
That is, God became flesh and appeared
not because the world is doing the works of righteousness, but because it is
doing just the opposite.
The second portion of verse 5 and verse 6 say: "according
to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost; which
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour."
That is, God regenerate the person thoroughly new by the Holy Spirit. Verse 7
says that Jesus Christ shed the Holy Spirit on us abundantly and
(justified)
made us just (righteous) persons. "Titus
3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost; 6 Which
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his
grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
At this point we are the heirs to inherit eternal life.
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