This is what the Bible teaches about salvation. The change in emphasis from salvation by God to salvation by man is part of the apostasy of the last days. The truth is, many today are told that they are saved because of some followed formula; but Jesus said believers would be known by their fruits, not by their human works ( Matthew 7:16).
He also said, in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone saying to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the kingdom of heaven; but the one doing the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name did we not cast out demons? And in your name did many works of power?' And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, the ones working lawlessness."
Thanks brother Jesse for the great & important Truth that you have shared here: Salvation is all of God: He draws, He saves, He gives new birth, He secures, & He gives the sure Hope in this life & into eternity. I reflected on your reference to 2 Corinthians 13:5: "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
This I believe was the position & concern of each of the NT writers, not just in calling out evident sin in the Church, but for each one to examine themselves whether they were even in the Faith. In some cases this was clear (as in 1 John 2:18,19), and in others such as Hebrews 3:12-14: "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end", a little unclear. The message here was for each one to encourage & counsel those being led astray by sin or deception, that they might turn back to holy living & not face the Lord's Discipline. But if they persisted, not holding their "confidence stedfast unto the end", it only showed that "they were not all of us", only displaying a show of godliness & religious experience, but inwardly knowing their deceitfulness & hypocrisy.
The Word is abundantly clear that the believer could never acquire or sustain his salvation by his efforts, rather, by the working of the Holy Spirit indwelling him ( Titus 3:4-7; Romans 8:9; Galatians 5:24,25). Unfortunately, alongwith the oft preached Gospel of salvation, i.e. 'from God & sustained by man', comes the rarely heard messages of 'life & power given to believers to know, to pursue & enjoy, which comes from the indwelling Spirit'.
It was nice to read your literal renderings of the verses you shared.
It's great to see you back. I hope you had a wonderful vacation. And yes, I agree with what you're saying. There is so much packed into that one verse ( 2 Corinthians 13:5).
Knowing that faith literally means persuasion, if I am to examine myself, the question I must answer is whose persuasion am I under? Do I have Christ (His Spirit) in me? If so, I belong to Him. And Paul says in Romans 8:14 that those who belong to Christ are being led by the Spirit of Christ. Factual statement!
My understanding is that in the early church, if there was a test given or an examination as to whether somebody is saved or not, there is only one criteria. Examine yourselves and test yourselves, whether Christ is in you, literally His Spirit.
The very next verse is interesting. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:6, "But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates."
In fact, they are the proof that Christ was in Paul, because Christ spoke through him to them. They got saved and were growing in Christ through Paul's ministry.
So we need to examine ourselves. Whose persuasion are we under? Are we we being persuaded by Christ in us? If so, would His Spirit in us persuade us to walk away? Or are we under a different persuasion?
Again, it is great to see you back. May the Lord continue to bless you and your family abundantly in Christ Jesus!
Thank you brother for your kind words & yes, it's good to be back after a lovely short spell away. I did miss you all & tried to keep up to date with various submissions by folk, whenever I was able to connect with my intermittent internet.
And thanks for the reminder: 'by whom we are 'persuaded'. Every Spirit-filled believer ought to be constantly in tune with & be led of the Holy Spirit, though how often our flesh raises its ugly head & 'persuades' us to disobey. But we cannot claim ignorance or apathy when that happens - we WILL know it - the Spirit will not let a millisecond pass by without an immediate sense of straying off the path of holiness & truth - it just cannot happen to the one Spirit filled. What we do with His Word alerting us or convicting us, indicates how well we are walking in the Spirit ( Galatians 5:16,24,25) & pleasing our Lord.
When a man easily drifts into sin, sensing no spiritual alert, maybe even finding some Scripture & distorting it to fit his lust, that man truly needs to stop in his tracks, come aside for a while & "examine himself" whether he truly has the faith that saves, secures, & satisfies. And for many, I think, this is hard to come to grips with: how can they determine that the life they live, the decisions they make & recognizing how & when the Spirit is working, are truly of God & not from human capabilities & expertise? Human goodness & desires can often be intermingled with the Spirit's Voice & leading, bringing about confusion. But we should know the difference - as mature believers, it should be abundantly clear to us of the difference between the Spirit speaking (& persuading) and the persuasions from the flesh. And when the flesh is crucified daily, as the apostle did, we can be assured of being led only of the Spirit & our thoughts & hopes will always be directed heavenward. Every blessing brother & thanks again for sharing on this very important topic to remind us 'that we're not our own' ( 1 Corinthians 6:20).
(Part 6):
This is what the Bible teaches about salvation. The change in emphasis from salvation by God to salvation by man is part of the apostasy of the last days. The truth is, many today are told that they are saved because of some followed formula; but Jesus said believers would be known by their fruits, not by their human works ( Matthew 7:16).
He also said, in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone saying to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter into the kingdom of heaven; but the one doing the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name did we not cast out demons? And in your name did many works of power?' And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, the ones working lawlessness."
This I believe was the position & concern of each of the NT writers, not just in calling out evident sin in the Church, but for each one to examine themselves whether they were even in the Faith. In some cases this was clear (as in 1 John 2:18,19), and in others such as Hebrews 3:12-14: "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end", a little unclear. The message here was for each one to encourage & counsel those being led astray by sin or deception, that they might turn back to holy living & not face the Lord's Discipline. But if they persisted, not holding their "confidence stedfast unto the end", it only showed that "they were not all of us", only displaying a show of godliness & religious experience, but inwardly knowing their deceitfulness & hypocrisy.
The Word is abundantly clear that the believer could never acquire or sustain his salvation by his efforts, rather, by the working of the Holy Spirit indwelling him ( Titus 3:4-7; Romans 8:9; Galatians 5:24,25). Unfortunately, alongwith the oft preached Gospel of salvation, i.e. 'from God & sustained by man', comes the rarely heard messages of 'life & power given to believers to know, to pursue & enjoy, which comes from the indwelling Spirit'.
It was nice to read your literal renderings of the verses you shared.
It's great to see you back. I hope you had a wonderful vacation. And yes, I agree with what you're saying. There is so much packed into that one verse ( 2 Corinthians 13:5).
Knowing that faith literally means persuasion, if I am to examine myself, the question I must answer is whose persuasion am I under? Do I have Christ (His Spirit) in me? If so, I belong to Him. And Paul says in Romans 8:14 that those who belong to Christ are being led by the Spirit of Christ. Factual statement!
My understanding is that in the early church, if there was a test given or an examination as to whether somebody is saved or not, there is only one criteria. Examine yourselves and test yourselves, whether Christ is in you, literally His Spirit.
The very next verse is interesting. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:6, "But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates."
In fact, they are the proof that Christ was in Paul, because Christ spoke through him to them. They got saved and were growing in Christ through Paul's ministry.
So we need to examine ourselves. Whose persuasion are we under? Are we we being persuaded by Christ in us? If so, would His Spirit in us persuade us to walk away? Or are we under a different persuasion?
Again, it is great to see you back. May the Lord continue to bless you and your family abundantly in Christ Jesus!
And thanks for the reminder: 'by whom we are 'persuaded'. Every Spirit-filled believer ought to be constantly in tune with & be led of the Holy Spirit, though how often our flesh raises its ugly head & 'persuades' us to disobey. But we cannot claim ignorance or apathy when that happens - we WILL know it - the Spirit will not let a millisecond pass by without an immediate sense of straying off the path of holiness & truth - it just cannot happen to the one Spirit filled. What we do with His Word alerting us or convicting us, indicates how well we are walking in the Spirit ( Galatians 5:16,24,25) & pleasing our Lord.
When a man easily drifts into sin, sensing no spiritual alert, maybe even finding some Scripture & distorting it to fit his lust, that man truly needs to stop in his tracks, come aside for a while & "examine himself" whether he truly has the faith that saves, secures, & satisfies. And for many, I think, this is hard to come to grips with: how can they determine that the life they live, the decisions they make & recognizing how & when the Spirit is working, are truly of God & not from human capabilities & expertise? Human goodness & desires can often be intermingled with the Spirit's Voice & leading, bringing about confusion. But we should know the difference - as mature believers, it should be abundantly clear to us of the difference between the Spirit speaking (& persuading) and the persuasions from the flesh. And when the flesh is crucified daily, as the apostle did, we can be assured of being led only of the Spirit & our thoughts & hopes will always be directed heavenward. Every blessing brother & thanks again for sharing on this very important topic to remind us 'that we're not our own' ( 1 Corinthians 6:20).
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