Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
I love this verse because it dashes to pieces many erroneous doctrines concerning the difference between the Old and New Testaments.
First we see that it does in fact call an Old Testament passage "scripture". Those who claim that the Old Testament is somehow inferior to the New, or less relevant than the New, do not recognize that they are cutting off the branch they are sitting on. Every New Testament writer consults the Old Testament, or calls it scripture, or uses it as a foundation for their arguments. The apostles would not have accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah except for the fact that starting in the Law and the Prophets he showed them how the scriptures foretold of him. Peter and Paul could not have convinced the Jews that Gentiles now stood on equal ground with them in the sight of God, except for the prophesies that a day would come when those who did not know God would be called the children of the Living God and the prophesy that there would come a day when a light would be shined on those who walked in darkness. Without the Old Testament the New Testament writers would not have had a leg to stand on, so to diminsh the role of the Old Testament is to diminish the foundation on which the New Testament stands.
Secondly, this verse claims that the heathen were saved by faith, and because of that, God spake to Abraham a Gospel of salvation by faith. Abraham, Adam, Isaiah, the thief on the cross and Paul the apostle were all saved the same way I was... by faith! There can be no argument that the law was the avenue of salvation for the Jews unless we cut Galations 3 out of the Bible. Paul makes a very strong argument, Abraham came before the law so how could the law have saved him? And if Abraham was saved by faith, were the Jews after the law saved differently than faithful father Abraham? (Gen. 15:6 says it was Abraham's belief in God that ws counted as his justification before God.) The law was never meant to save, but to show men that they are incapable of saving themselves and must cast themselves upon the Messiah for mercy.
Thirdly, it says the message spoken to Abraham was "the gospel". The gospel is not unique to the New Testament, the Old Testament saints had it as well. They did not know that His name would be Jesus, but they knew a Messiah would come that would be God incarnate and would save his people from their sins, they knew that He would be God with them, they knew He would be born of a virgin and that it would please God to bruise Him. Even Adam and Eve knew that there would be a seed of the woman whose heel would be bruised by the serpent, yet would ultimatly crush the head of that Old Serpent the Devil.
If ever a man or woman has been saved on this earth, it is only because they believed God and that was counted to them for righteousness. It is only through faith that a sinless Messiah would take their sins and pay their penalty. Thank God that you and I have the New Testament to show us that His name was Jesus, but in the words of our Lord, "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed".
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Was king Saul saved?
Alright here's another question recently asked me, eat the meat, spit out the bones, but don't spit them at me! :-)
Was King Saul saved? And if so what does I Sam. 16:14 mean when it says “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul,”?
The first thing that we must understand when dealing with this question is that we must be careful of attempting to say definitively whether someone was or wasn’t saved, when scripture is silent on the issue. While I say we must be careful in such a statement, I do not say that we cannot discern such issues based on what the scriptures do tell us.
When attempting to ascertain whether or not someone is converted, there are certain characteristics that the scripture tells us to look for. I will give you those traits and then we will lay them against Saul’s life and see how he measured up.
(1) A saved person trusts completely in God for his salvation, deliverance, and sustenance. (Gal. 2:16)
(2) Said faith will manifest itself in actions both personal and observable. (Jam. 2:14-18)
(3) A saved person loves God. (John 8:42, I Cor. 8:3, I John 5:2)
(4) A saved parson loves others, particularly his brothers and sisters in Christ. (I John 4:7-8, 20-21)
So then, let us now look at how King Saul matches up to the litmus test God has given us.
(1) Did Saul trust fully in God for his salvation, deliverance, and sustenance?
I could not find one place in scripture where it speaks of Saul’s faith and reliance on God, in a positive or negative way.
(2) Did Saul’s actions show faith in a personal and observable way?
While I could not find a place in the scriptures where it says that Saul believed in God, I did see two distinct events where he showed great reliance on self and no reliance on God. The first takes place in I Sam. 13, here the Israelites are planning to do battle (though greatly outmatched both numerically and technologically) with the Philistines. God has clearly commanded that there is to be no sacrifice offered but by the priest, in verse 9 Saul disobeys God’s command, bypasses the correct order of worship, and sacrifices himself. The second incident occurs in chapter 15, where God commands Israel to utterly destroy the Amalekites, yet Saul makes the executive decision to save alive the choicest animals and the king of the Amalekites himself. Now, I understand that great, godly, saved men often sin, sometimes in disbelief; but I found two elements that intrigued me concerning both incidents. The first is that both times when confronted with his sin he tried to pin the blame on someone else, in chapter 13 on the Philistines, the people and Samuel, in chapter 15 he again falsely accuses the people. The second correlation was that of no true repentance, the first time there was no repentance at all (I Sam. 13:15). The second time, while there was a show of sorrow, it was evidently to save face and not true repentance before God. (I Sam. 15:30)
(3) Did Saul love God?
Again the scriptures are silent on this issue, while I could find no place where the scriptures say Saul loved God not, I could neither find a reference that said he did love God. This becomes more troubling when we realize that the scriptures expressly say that the next two kings, David (Psa. 18:1) and Solomon (I Kings 3:3) loved God. Doubts then begin to creep into our mind as to why the scriptures say no such thing of Saul.
(4) Did Saul love others, particularly saved people?
This question has the clearest answer out of the four in my mind. Saul hated anyone that interfered with his plans. He attempted to kill David on multiple occasions, (I Sam. 19:10, I Sam. 24, I Sam. 26) he used his own daughter to further his agenda, (I Sam. 18:21) and even attempted to kill his own son for sticking up for David (I Sam. 20:33).
All of these facts along with the idea that God rejected Saul as a leader of His people, leads me to believe that Saul was in fact unregenerate. Like Pharaoh was set up as king so that God might be vindicated in His promise that Israel would repent that they had ever asked for a king.
As for the second part of the question, “What is meant by ‘the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul?’” All the commentators I could find agreed that this is not speaking of the Holy Spirit, which abides in a Christian for one’s entire life, but of the general graces which God had bestowed upon Saul previously. Clarke writes,
“The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul - He was thrown into such a state of mind by the judgments of God, as to be deprived of any regal qualities which he before possessed. God seems to have taken what gifts he had, and given them to David; and then the evil spirit came upon Saul; for what God fills not, the devil will.
An evil spirit from the Lord - The evil spirit was either immediately sent from the Lord, or permitted to come. Whether this was a diabolic possession, or a mere mental malady, the learned are not agreed; it seems to have partaken of both. That Saul had fallen into a deep melancholy, there is little doubt; that the devil might work more effectually on such a state of mind, there can be but little question. There is an old proverb, Satan delights to fish in troubled waters; and Saul’s situation of mind gave him many advantages.”
Was King Saul saved? And if so what does I Sam. 16:14 mean when it says “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul,”?
The first thing that we must understand when dealing with this question is that we must be careful of attempting to say definitively whether someone was or wasn’t saved, when scripture is silent on the issue. While I say we must be careful in such a statement, I do not say that we cannot discern such issues based on what the scriptures do tell us.
When attempting to ascertain whether or not someone is converted, there are certain characteristics that the scripture tells us to look for. I will give you those traits and then we will lay them against Saul’s life and see how he measured up.
(1) A saved person trusts completely in God for his salvation, deliverance, and sustenance. (Gal. 2:16)
(2) Said faith will manifest itself in actions both personal and observable. (Jam. 2:14-18)
(3) A saved person loves God. (John 8:42, I Cor. 8:3, I John 5:2)
(4) A saved parson loves others, particularly his brothers and sisters in Christ. (I John 4:7-8, 20-21)
So then, let us now look at how King Saul matches up to the litmus test God has given us.
(1) Did Saul trust fully in God for his salvation, deliverance, and sustenance?
I could not find one place in scripture where it speaks of Saul’s faith and reliance on God, in a positive or negative way.
(2) Did Saul’s actions show faith in a personal and observable way?
While I could not find a place in the scriptures where it says that Saul believed in God, I did see two distinct events where he showed great reliance on self and no reliance on God. The first takes place in I Sam. 13, here the Israelites are planning to do battle (though greatly outmatched both numerically and technologically) with the Philistines. God has clearly commanded that there is to be no sacrifice offered but by the priest, in verse 9 Saul disobeys God’s command, bypasses the correct order of worship, and sacrifices himself. The second incident occurs in chapter 15, where God commands Israel to utterly destroy the Amalekites, yet Saul makes the executive decision to save alive the choicest animals and the king of the Amalekites himself. Now, I understand that great, godly, saved men often sin, sometimes in disbelief; but I found two elements that intrigued me concerning both incidents. The first is that both times when confronted with his sin he tried to pin the blame on someone else, in chapter 13 on the Philistines, the people and Samuel, in chapter 15 he again falsely accuses the people. The second correlation was that of no true repentance, the first time there was no repentance at all (I Sam. 13:15). The second time, while there was a show of sorrow, it was evidently to save face and not true repentance before God. (I Sam. 15:30)
(3) Did Saul love God?
Again the scriptures are silent on this issue, while I could find no place where the scriptures say Saul loved God not, I could neither find a reference that said he did love God. This becomes more troubling when we realize that the scriptures expressly say that the next two kings, David (Psa. 18:1) and Solomon (I Kings 3:3) loved God. Doubts then begin to creep into our mind as to why the scriptures say no such thing of Saul.
(4) Did Saul love others, particularly saved people?
This question has the clearest answer out of the four in my mind. Saul hated anyone that interfered with his plans. He attempted to kill David on multiple occasions, (I Sam. 19:10, I Sam. 24, I Sam. 26) he used his own daughter to further his agenda, (I Sam. 18:21) and even attempted to kill his own son for sticking up for David (I Sam. 20:33).
All of these facts along with the idea that God rejected Saul as a leader of His people, leads me to believe that Saul was in fact unregenerate. Like Pharaoh was set up as king so that God might be vindicated in His promise that Israel would repent that they had ever asked for a king.
As for the second part of the question, “What is meant by ‘the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul?’” All the commentators I could find agreed that this is not speaking of the Holy Spirit, which abides in a Christian for one’s entire life, but of the general graces which God had bestowed upon Saul previously. Clarke writes,
“The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul - He was thrown into such a state of mind by the judgments of God, as to be deprived of any regal qualities which he before possessed. God seems to have taken what gifts he had, and given them to David; and then the evil spirit came upon Saul; for what God fills not, the devil will.
An evil spirit from the Lord - The evil spirit was either immediately sent from the Lord, or permitted to come. Whether this was a diabolic possession, or a mere mental malady, the learned are not agreed; it seems to have partaken of both. That Saul had fallen into a deep melancholy, there is little doubt; that the devil might work more effectually on such a state of mind, there can be but little question. There is an old proverb, Satan delights to fish in troubled waters; and Saul’s situation of mind gave him many advantages.”
Labels:
good works,
king David,
Love,
salvation,
Saul
Friday, October 10, 2008
The only way
Acts. 4:10-12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
This is one of the strongest portions of scripture, that speaks of the exclusivity of Christ for salvation. It is becoming not only popular but expected that we believe that everyone can find their own to heaven and be okay. That what is right for one person may not be right for another, that there are many religions that all have the same goal but different terminology. The scripture is very explicit in its denial of this fallacy and those of us that claim to believe that it is indeed the very word of God, have no other recourse but to deny such heresy as well. When one understands the simplicity of the state of man and the justice of God we realize that such exclusivity is necessary.
Here is the situation man is in, everyone born of a woman has sinned. Either we have lied or we have taken something that did not belong to us or we have lusted in our heart and mind, one way or another we have all sinned and that in multiplicity. So then, knowing that the law states that the punishment for sin can be no less than eternal death, how can God grant us entry into heaven. We cannot say "A loving God wouldn't really let a basically good person go to hell". Here is why, what if you came home this evening and found that every member of your family had been brutally murdered, you catch the murderer with blood on his hands running out the back door and drag him to the police. On the day of his trial his defense before the judge is that he is a middle aged man with no record at all with the law. He admits that he did murder your family, but except for that he as never gotten so much as a speeding ticket. Could that judge be loving and merciful and allow that man to walk free because he is basically good? Of course not, to be a good and just judge he must sentence the murderer to what ever punishment the law has dictated. So God would be unjust and unrighteous to ignore his own law and let a guilty man (no matter how "basically good" he was) walk into heaven.
Now let us look at another possible scenario, what if the judge sentenced that murderer, in accordance with the law, to stay in prison until he could pay a twenty-five million dollar settlement to you. Now someone steps up and pays the twenty-five million dollars for that man, he is now free from the sentence of the law because the debt has been payed. So when the book of Acts says that there is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved, except for the name of Jesus it is not that ridiculous a statement if you look at it logically. Buddha could not pay that debt for you because he had his own debt to pay, as did Muhammad and Gandhi and even Mary the mother of Jesus was a sinner.
So then we can see that not only is perfectly right that God rejects everyone from heaven on their own merit, but we can equally see that if we will apply the payment of Christ alone for our sins we can be saved from hell in the afterlife and sin in this life.
This is one of the strongest portions of scripture, that speaks of the exclusivity of Christ for salvation. It is becoming not only popular but expected that we believe that everyone can find their own to heaven and be okay. That what is right for one person may not be right for another, that there are many religions that all have the same goal but different terminology. The scripture is very explicit in its denial of this fallacy and those of us that claim to believe that it is indeed the very word of God, have no other recourse but to deny such heresy as well. When one understands the simplicity of the state of man and the justice of God we realize that such exclusivity is necessary.
Here is the situation man is in, everyone born of a woman has sinned. Either we have lied or we have taken something that did not belong to us or we have lusted in our heart and mind, one way or another we have all sinned and that in multiplicity. So then, knowing that the law states that the punishment for sin can be no less than eternal death, how can God grant us entry into heaven. We cannot say "A loving God wouldn't really let a basically good person go to hell". Here is why, what if you came home this evening and found that every member of your family had been brutally murdered, you catch the murderer with blood on his hands running out the back door and drag him to the police. On the day of his trial his defense before the judge is that he is a middle aged man with no record at all with the law. He admits that he did murder your family, but except for that he as never gotten so much as a speeding ticket. Could that judge be loving and merciful and allow that man to walk free because he is basically good? Of course not, to be a good and just judge he must sentence the murderer to what ever punishment the law has dictated. So God would be unjust and unrighteous to ignore his own law and let a guilty man (no matter how "basically good" he was) walk into heaven.
Now let us look at another possible scenario, what if the judge sentenced that murderer, in accordance with the law, to stay in prison until he could pay a twenty-five million dollar settlement to you. Now someone steps up and pays the twenty-five million dollars for that man, he is now free from the sentence of the law because the debt has been payed. So when the book of Acts says that there is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved, except for the name of Jesus it is not that ridiculous a statement if you look at it logically. Buddha could not pay that debt for you because he had his own debt to pay, as did Muhammad and Gandhi and even Mary the mother of Jesus was a sinner.
So then we can see that not only is perfectly right that God rejects everyone from heaven on their own merit, but we can equally see that if we will apply the payment of Christ alone for our sins we can be saved from hell in the afterlife and sin in this life.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Eternal security
Rom. 8: 38, 39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In last week's column, I wrote about the importance of examining ourselves to make sure that we are indeed new creatures, saved and changed by the spirit of God. Because I am afraid that there are many out there that have a wrong idea about what salvation is, and are going about with a false security. As much as Satan would love to tell a lost man he is saved, the flip side to that coin, is that he also tries to convince saved men they are lost. While this does not do quite so much damage as the former, it is a very real and very dangerous threat to Christianity. If the devil can convince a lost man he is saved until he dies, that man will forever be in eternal torment; but if he can convince a saved man he is lost, it will have no consequence on the soul, but it will make that saved man a much less effective servant for the kingdom of God.
With that in mind let us take a look at our two text verses, Paul lists every physical and spiritual resource you can imagine and diffuses any possibility, of any of them having the power to "unsave" a man. There are many denominations and religions that will tell you that there are ways to lose your salvation, ranging from something as small as missing a church service, to as great as committing suicide. There are also debates as to how you can become saved once again, or even if it is possible to be saved again once you have lost it. It is the doctrine of salvation by grace alone that sets true Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. Every religion outside of true Christianity teaches that you have to either do something to gain your salvation or do something to keep it, both are heresies. Paul says that there is nothing that can separate those who have been saved from God's love, no deed of their own, no power of hell, no act of another, is more powerful than God. When anyone claims that salvation can be lost, they are in essence claiming that there is something stronger than God. I can tell you this, if God can't keep me saved there is no hope for me; because if God isn't strong enough to secure my salvation, I'm certainly not stronger than God. If the perfect blood of Jesus Christ is not enough to pay my sin debt, what can I give that is worth more?
Do not give place to the devil, when he comes at you with accusations of your sinfulness and tries to convince you that you are not good enough to deserve salvation. You can rest assured in the fact that he is right you are not good enough to deserve salvation, that is what makes grace, grace, that is what is meant when the scriptures say that salvation is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Yes, we're saved unto good works, but not because of good works, we are saved because of God's love for us, and that is something that can never be changed.
In last week's column, I wrote about the importance of examining ourselves to make sure that we are indeed new creatures, saved and changed by the spirit of God. Because I am afraid that there are many out there that have a wrong idea about what salvation is, and are going about with a false security. As much as Satan would love to tell a lost man he is saved, the flip side to that coin, is that he also tries to convince saved men they are lost. While this does not do quite so much damage as the former, it is a very real and very dangerous threat to Christianity. If the devil can convince a lost man he is saved until he dies, that man will forever be in eternal torment; but if he can convince a saved man he is lost, it will have no consequence on the soul, but it will make that saved man a much less effective servant for the kingdom of God.
With that in mind let us take a look at our two text verses, Paul lists every physical and spiritual resource you can imagine and diffuses any possibility, of any of them having the power to "unsave" a man. There are many denominations and religions that will tell you that there are ways to lose your salvation, ranging from something as small as missing a church service, to as great as committing suicide. There are also debates as to how you can become saved once again, or even if it is possible to be saved again once you have lost it. It is the doctrine of salvation by grace alone that sets true Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. Every religion outside of true Christianity teaches that you have to either do something to gain your salvation or do something to keep it, both are heresies. Paul says that there is nothing that can separate those who have been saved from God's love, no deed of their own, no power of hell, no act of another, is more powerful than God. When anyone claims that salvation can be lost, they are in essence claiming that there is something stronger than God. I can tell you this, if God can't keep me saved there is no hope for me; because if God isn't strong enough to secure my salvation, I'm certainly not stronger than God. If the perfect blood of Jesus Christ is not enough to pay my sin debt, what can I give that is worth more?
Do not give place to the devil, when he comes at you with accusations of your sinfulness and tries to convince you that you are not good enough to deserve salvation. You can rest assured in the fact that he is right you are not good enough to deserve salvation, that is what makes grace, grace, that is what is meant when the scriptures say that salvation is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Yes, we're saved unto good works, but not because of good works, we are saved because of God's love for us, and that is something that can never be changed.
Monday, August 25, 2008
A new creature

II Cor. 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.
Isn't it amazing how almost every word we use for being saved carries with it the connotation of change. We say they have been converted, when you convert something (i.e. electricity) it goes in one end and comes out the other side something completely different. We say they have been regenerated, according to dictionary.com that means "to re-create, reconstitute, or make over, esp. in a better form or condition". We say they have been born again, once again implying that they are no longer the person they were under their first birth. All these terms are theologically accurate because there is indeed a change wrought in those that have believed, doesn't it sound almost ludicrous to suggest that God runs the universe and is sovereign in all matters including salvation, yet is incompetent to cleanse? Paul says that if any man is in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed, all things have become new. Note the lack of variables, it is not that all things should be new, or he ought to act like a new creature, or we hope the old things have passed away, it is definitive.
That would then beg the question, what if someone has gone through the motions that the preacher told them to go through, they said the prayer, they knelt at the alter, they asked Jesus to come into their heart, and yet there is nothing new about them, what about them? That is a very relevant question, because there are so many people (especially here in the buckle of the bible belt) that could apply that very question to themselves. The preacher told them that if they would just understand "the five truths God wants you to know" or some other neatly packaged ticket to heaven they would be saved. Yet for all that they have never felt remorse for sin, they do not enjoy being around other Christians, they would much rather read the daily news then the Bible. There has been no evidence of a changed heart over the past fifteen years or so, since they did what the preacher said to do to get out of hell and into heaven. Whenever they approach someone about it though, they are told that's just the Devil trying to make you doubt, don't worry about it, while that may be true, it may also be true that they are not truly converted and it is the Holy Spirit convicting them and drawing them to salvation. You, my dear reader, may even be one of these very people that find no sense in this verse because nothing has become new to you. I cannot tell you with absolute certainty whether you are lost or saved, because God has not given me the authority or knowledge to say such things. What I do know is that the scriptures say if you are in Christ, you are a new creature, and if your thoughts and actions have remained exactly the same as they always were, the only logical conclusion I can see is that you are not in Christ. Not that you lost your salvation, for we know once a soul is put in Jesus' hand it can never be removed, but that perhaps He was never in you to start with. Like I said I cannot see your soul, but I can see the outside which is a reflection of what's on the inside.
May God bless you as you search yourself and the scriptures, that you may either be assured of your salvation or be converted, not by following some prepackaged "Romans Road" or any other work, but by the moving of God and the drawing of his Holy Spirit.
Isn't it amazing how almost every word we use for being saved carries with it the connotation of change. We say they have been converted, when you convert something (i.e. electricity) it goes in one end and comes out the other side something completely different. We say they have been regenerated, according to dictionary.com that means "to re-create, reconstitute, or make over, esp. in a better form or condition". We say they have been born again, once again implying that they are no longer the person they were under their first birth. All these terms are theologically accurate because there is indeed a change wrought in those that have believed, doesn't it sound almost ludicrous to suggest that God runs the universe and is sovereign in all matters including salvation, yet is incompetent to cleanse? Paul says that if any man is in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed, all things have become new. Note the lack of variables, it is not that all things should be new, or he ought to act like a new creature, or we hope the old things have passed away, it is definitive.
That would then beg the question, what if someone has gone through the motions that the preacher told them to go through, they said the prayer, they knelt at the alter, they asked Jesus to come into their heart, and yet there is nothing new about them, what about them? That is a very relevant question, because there are so many people (especially here in the buckle of the bible belt) that could apply that very question to themselves. The preacher told them that if they would just understand "the five truths God wants you to know" or some other neatly packaged ticket to heaven they would be saved. Yet for all that they have never felt remorse for sin, they do not enjoy being around other Christians, they would much rather read the daily news then the Bible. There has been no evidence of a changed heart over the past fifteen years or so, since they did what the preacher said to do to get out of hell and into heaven. Whenever they approach someone about it though, they are told that's just the Devil trying to make you doubt, don't worry about it, while that may be true, it may also be true that they are not truly converted and it is the Holy Spirit convicting them and drawing them to salvation. You, my dear reader, may even be one of these very people that find no sense in this verse because nothing has become new to you. I cannot tell you with absolute certainty whether you are lost or saved, because God has not given me the authority or knowledge to say such things. What I do know is that the scriptures say if you are in Christ, you are a new creature, and if your thoughts and actions have remained exactly the same as they always were, the only logical conclusion I can see is that you are not in Christ. Not that you lost your salvation, for we know once a soul is put in Jesus' hand it can never be removed, but that perhaps He was never in you to start with. Like I said I cannot see your soul, but I can see the outside which is a reflection of what's on the inside.
May God bless you as you search yourself and the scriptures, that you may either be assured of your salvation or be converted, not by following some prepackaged "Romans Road" or any other work, but by the moving of God and the drawing of his Holy Spirit.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
God is greater than our heart

I John 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. July 11, 2007
It seems as if the modern world we live in has completely forgotten that this verse is in the bible. The prevalent theme being pushed by Hollywood today is "follow your heart", and the modern Evangelists, for the most part, have latched onto it. After moderating the "conversion experience", the recipient will ask the evangelist "Now am I saved?" He replies "What does your heart tell you?"
Such an interaction teaches the convert that the status of his salvation depends on what his heart feels. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" There comes a time in many believers lives when their highly deceitful heart tells them, "You can't be saved, you're not good enough." It is at that time that our confidence in the saving power of God coupled with his all sovereign, keeping power, takes over. The second part of what our heart told was correct, we're never good enough for salvation, however we can be saved if we remember I John 3:20 is still in the bible. We have a God who is greater than our hearts, and though the logic of our heart would seem to tell us we are headed for hell, our faith in a sovereign God overrides that.
When the greater part of Christendom begins rejecting or downplaying the sovereignty of God, it hurts all aspects of our life, but no one area is hit harder than the area of conversion. Because if we do not serve an all powerful God, what hope do we have for salvation? I know for a fact I'm not good enough to earn it, the bible tells me I'm not smart enough to choose it, and my heart isn't trustworthy enough to sustain it. My faith lies solely in the blood of Jesus Christ and the love and power of a God that saved me when I never did a thing to deserve it.
Last week we discussed the worth of a soul, and the fact that our souls are worth more than the entire world. If that is what God saved, what do you have to deserve God paying such a high price? Is baptism an act that merits salvation, does mere water have some sort of efficacy that makes it worth God's while? Is church membership worth more than all material gain on the globe, can we do any works that would pay for such a debt? Would God pay the price of His only begotten son dying on a cross, if it took our works to keep that salvation? Obviously the question to all the answers above is a resounding "NO"! Understanding the biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God in conversion, leads us to an understanding of the fact that we belong to a God that is greater than even our heart. Such a God deserves our all, does he not? Our all will not save us, it will not repay the debt he payed for us, but it is a service we do anyways, out of love and worship for such a God as ours.
It seems as if the modern world we live in has completely forgotten that this verse is in the bible. The prevalent theme being pushed by Hollywood today is "follow your heart", and the modern Evangelists, for the most part, have latched onto it. After moderating the "conversion experience", the recipient will ask the evangelist "Now am I saved?" He replies "What does your heart tell you?"
Such an interaction teaches the convert that the status of his salvation depends on what his heart feels. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" There comes a time in many believers lives when their highly deceitful heart tells them, "You can't be saved, you're not good enough." It is at that time that our confidence in the saving power of God coupled with his all sovereign, keeping power, takes over. The second part of what our heart told was correct, we're never good enough for salvation, however we can be saved if we remember I John 3:20 is still in the bible. We have a God who is greater than our hearts, and though the logic of our heart would seem to tell us we are headed for hell, our faith in a sovereign God overrides that.
When the greater part of Christendom begins rejecting or downplaying the sovereignty of God, it hurts all aspects of our life, but no one area is hit harder than the area of conversion. Because if we do not serve an all powerful God, what hope do we have for salvation? I know for a fact I'm not good enough to earn it, the bible tells me I'm not smart enough to choose it, and my heart isn't trustworthy enough to sustain it. My faith lies solely in the blood of Jesus Christ and the love and power of a God that saved me when I never did a thing to deserve it.
Last week we discussed the worth of a soul, and the fact that our souls are worth more than the entire world. If that is what God saved, what do you have to deserve God paying such a high price? Is baptism an act that merits salvation, does mere water have some sort of efficacy that makes it worth God's while? Is church membership worth more than all material gain on the globe, can we do any works that would pay for such a debt? Would God pay the price of His only begotten son dying on a cross, if it took our works to keep that salvation? Obviously the question to all the answers above is a resounding "NO"! Understanding the biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God in conversion, leads us to an understanding of the fact that we belong to a God that is greater than even our heart. Such a God deserves our all, does he not? Our all will not save us, it will not repay the debt he payed for us, but it is a service we do anyways, out of love and worship for such a God as ours.
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