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The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is a precious truth in God's Word. This doctrine states that every genuine Christian is eternally secure in Christ. There is absolutely nothing that can prevent God's work of grace in a person's heart from failing to achieve its ultimate goal - glorification in heaven. Ephesians 1:4 says that God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. Our salvation has its roots even before creation! We see God's electing grace manifested in His special work in our lives. He irresistibly calls us to himself by the sovereign work of His Holy Spirit. We are then born again by the very power of God, who changes our hearts by regenerating our lost souls. The Holy Spirit applies Christ's work of redemption to us, and He gives us the ability to bear godly fruit. The sanctification process continues throughout our entire lives until we are completely sanctified or made perfect when Jesus Christ returns. To believe that man can do something to interrupt this process is to diminish and assault the glory of God.
Titlu original
1988 Issue 8 - Who is the Genuine Christian? Part IV - Counsel of Chalcedon
The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is a precious truth in God's Word. This doctrine states that every genuine Christian is eternally secure in Christ. There is absolutely nothing that can prevent God's work of grace in a person's heart from failing to achieve its ultimate goal - glorification in heaven. Ephesians 1:4 says that God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. Our salvation has its roots even before creation! We see God's electing grace manifested in His special work in our lives. He irresistibly calls us to himself by the sovereign work of His Holy Spirit. We are then born again by the very power of God, who changes our hearts by regenerating our lost souls. The Holy Spirit applies Christ's work of redemption to us, and He gives us the ability to bear godly fruit. The sanctification process continues throughout our entire lives until we are completely sanctified or made perfect when Jesus Christ returns. To believe that man can do something to interrupt this process is to diminish and assault the glory of God.
The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is a precious truth in God's Word. This doctrine states that every genuine Christian is eternally secure in Christ. There is absolutely nothing that can prevent God's work of grace in a person's heart from failing to achieve its ultimate goal - glorification in heaven. Ephesians 1:4 says that God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. Our salvation has its roots even before creation! We see God's electing grace manifested in His special work in our lives. He irresistibly calls us to himself by the sovereign work of His Holy Spirit. We are then born again by the very power of God, who changes our hearts by regenerating our lost souls. The Holy Spirit applies Christ's work of redemption to us, and He gives us the ability to bear godly fruit. The sanctification process continues throughout our entire lives until we are completely sanctified or made perfect when Jesus Christ returns. To believe that man can do something to interrupt this process is to diminish and assault the glory of God.
ever, during a time of testing their faith withers. (vs. 13) Gcemllillfumce CClblJrilblm? Falling away from the Faith doesn't mean that one loses his salvation, it means that one never had any salvation from the beginning. Passages such as Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-31 do not teach that a genuine believer can forfeit his salvation. This would contradict a host of other passages, some of which we have already mentioned. Apostasy is a sin that no genuine Christian can ever commit. I John 2:18,19 is quite clear. John is discussing the reality of those who are called antichrists. These are the wolves in sheep clothing, often times. Verse 19 asserts, "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." Part IV Vll. The Necessity of Perseverance The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is a precious truth in God's Word. This doctrine states that every genuine Christian is eternally secure in Christ. There is absolutely nothing that can prevent God's work of grace in a per- son's heart from failing to achieve its ultimate goal - glorification in heaven. Ephesians 1:4 says that God the Father chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. Our sal- vation has its roots even before crea- tion! We see God's electing grace mani- fested in His special work in our lives. He irresistibly calls us to himself by the sovereign work of His Holy Spirit. We are then born again by the very power of God, who changes our hearts by regenerating our lost souls. The Holy Spirit applies Christ's work of re- demption to us, and He gives us the ability to bear godly fruit. The sancti- fication process continues throughout our entire lives until we are completely sanctified or made perfect when Jesus Christ returns. To believe that man can do something to interrupt this process is to diminish and assault the glory of God. Philippians 1:6 says, "being confi- dent of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to comple- tion until the day of Christ Jesus." II Timothy 4:18 says, "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom .... " Romans 8:38,39 says, John M. Otis is a PCA minister residing in Roswell, Georgia The Counsel of Chalcedon, August, 1988 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The genuine Christian is secure! When we speak of the eternal secur- ity of the saints, we must be careful not to think that this means that we can live like children of the Devil and still be secure. The previous sections in this article should have sufficiently put this thought to rest. One of the other proofs that we are genuinely saved is that our faith will persevere to the end of our lives. The genuine Christian cannot apostatize from the Faith. The Chris- tian's faith will persevere. I once heard a preacher say, "Faith that is faulty to the finish was faulty at the start." It is not how well one looks during the race but whether one finishes the race. Luke 8:4-15 is the parable of the sower. This parable is a tremendous teaching concerning the nature of gen- uine Christianity. There are those who have misinterpreted the parable. The distinction among the seed in different soils is not one of varying commit- ments in the Christian life. The distinc- tion is more fundamental; it is the dis- tinguishing between true saving faith and differing kinds of spurious faith. The only soil that represents the gen- uine Christian is the last soil, which bears much fruit. Jesus said in Luke 8:15 concerning this soil, "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering pro- duce a crop." The seed that fell on the rocks springs up quickly but because it has no real depth it cannot endure the eventual bad weather. Jesus said that this person is one who receives the Vlll. Discipleship and Salvation There are those in the Christian com- munity who teach that discipleship is a higher gradation in the Christian life. It is a higher level of commitment to Christ. Thus, the distinction is made be- tween being a regular Christian and a disciple. Those who believe this are usually the same ones who advocate the carnal Christian doctrine alluded to ear- lier. The distinction between a Chris- tian and a disciple is not only erroneous but it is extremely dangerous for one's spiritual welfare. For those who truly knew him, Jesus had only one term for them - disciples. The Great Commission as recorded in Matthew 28:19,20 states that we are to make "disciples" of all nations. A dis- ciple would be equivalent to a Chris- tian. In Acts 11:26 the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. What content is given to the term "disciple?" In John 8:31, Jesus said that abiding in His Word was a sign that a person was truly His disciple. In John 13:35, Jesus said that loving one another was a sign of being a true dis- ciple. In John 15:8, bearing much fruit was a sign of being a true disciple. In the previous sections of this article, we ............... ---------------------------------------------------------------------.--...Page21 have noted that all of these signs of a disciple clearly are evidences of a. gen- uine Christian. They are not evidences of a greater corilrirltffient to Christ but are evidences of the reality of saving faith. From, Jesus' perspective, being His disciple implied great demands upon the individual. This does not mean that one had to hard to earn being a dis- ciple. We are hot saved by our works. It means that a disciple will have made a great commitment to Christ. Luke 9:23- 25 demonstrates this fact. Verse 23 says that every follower of Christ must be willing to deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Christ. This level of commitment is an absolute necessitY in order for one to possess eternal life. Verses 24 and 25 make this clear. The attempt to save one's life on- ly results in the loss of it. What value is the gaining of the whole world if it costs a man his very soul? The person who refuses to make this commitment is one who loves himself more than Christ. The commitment that is demand- ed is what constitutes coming to Christ for salvation. It is by no means half- hearted. In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus set forth the requirements that were necessary to be a true disciple. Jesus demanded a great commitment. In verse 26, Jesus said that a person could not be his disciple unless he hated his father, mother, wife, children, and even his own life. The word for "hate" is a comparative term in relation to love. In other words, our love and commitment to Christ is to be so great that it will appear as if our commitment . to our family is hate. Jesus said that one could not be his disCiple unless he carried his cross and followed Him. Unless a person is will- ing to be persecuted for righteousness and even die for his Lord, he cannot be Jesus' disciple. \In John 15:18-20, Jesus declared that his disciples should expect persecution. In Luke 14:33, Jesus also said that one could not be his disciple unless he gave up everything he pos- sessed. A persqn cannot lov:e his materi- al wealth more than Jesus and be a dis- ciple. This was the problem with the young rich ruler in Matthew 19:16-22. In verse 16, the man asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life. In ' ' verse 17, Jesus said to obey the com- mandments. The young mati wa8 naive enough to believe that he had kept all of them. He asked Jesus if there was anything still lacking. Knowing the man's heart, Jesus said that one more thing remained. He was to sell all his possessions; give them to the poor, and then follow Jesus. Upon hearing this de- mand for this level of commitment, the young rich ruler departed. He loved his wealth more than Jesus. It is ironic that he who thought that he had kept all of the commandments was guilty of vio- lating this first commandment - "You shall have no other gods before me." Jesus put this incident into proper per- spective when he told his disciples in verse 23 that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. In verse 25, the disciples asked, "who then can be saved?" Jesus assured them that God could accomplish what man couldn't. Peter then affirms that he and the other disciples had indeed left everything and followed him. He won- dered whether they would be rewarded. In verses 28-30, Jesus informs them that they would be rewarded with eternal life for having left homes, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and children. The parallel between Matthew 19:16- 30 with that of Luke 14:25-33 is re- markable. It should be clear that the demands for discipleship in Luke 14 are the necessary requirements for being a genuine Christian. The same things that Jesus demands in the Luke passage are the things that will reward the dis- ciples with eternal life in the Matthew passage. In Luke 14:28-32, Jesus said that a person should carefully count the cost before he makes the commitment to be His disciple. This does not mean that a person must first determine if he has the spiritual capability to make a com- mitment to Christ. Scripture tells us that the natural man has no capacity to do good before God (Rom. 3). Yes, a person does make a decision of his will to follow Christ in order to be saved. However, this decision is one which is willing to submit to Jesus' Lordship. A person who is not willing to yield. his entire life to Jesus Is one who is still short of the kingdom of God. We recall that justifying faith is an absolute faith or trust in Christ. Where there is real faith, there will be the commitme.nt to submit to Christ's Lordship. The mar- velous thing is that when we a:re b.orn again by .the power of the Holy Spirit, we are given the desire and ability to make such a commitment. The call to discipleship is the call to salvation! IX. Conclusion I cannot stress too highly the impor- tance of the material we have set forth in this series of articles. The most ini- portant knowledge and assurance a per- son can have is to know that he pos- sesses eternal life. Though the issues mentioned in these articles have been the subject of great theological debate, they should not be cast aside as the vain rhetoric of theologians, The destirty of your very soul is at stake. It is sible to be deluded. It is possible to have a false security. It would be tragic to go through life living a lie. Every professing Christian should ask him- self, "Am I really a genuine Christian? Do I manifest .the traits of a true dis- ciple?" These aiticles are intended to spur you to ask these questions and,to enable you to understand what it really means to be saved. May God be praised if the reading of these articles enables one who was deluded into a false secur- ity to come to a true saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. [Editor's note- This series of arti" cles is . now available in a booklet titled, "Who Ii The Genuine Chris-, tian?" You can order it from the minster Presbytery Christian Education, Committee at 150 S. Atlanta St., Apt., 35C in Roswell, Georgia 30075. Also see the advertisement on page 10 of this: issue of The Counsel of Chalcedon.] When you move, please send your !.llil & your new address to The Counsel of Chalcedon 3032 Hacienda Ct. Marietta, GA 30066 Page22--------------------------------------------------- Tlte CQunsel of Cbalcedon, August, 1988
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