Things That Accompany Salvation

"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." Luke 9:23-24 

I was thinking this morning how the Church leaders, along with a bunch of fanatics’ out there, love separating salvation from Luke 9:23-24. I know there are a great number of them, when they do that, their intend, is to please the mass. When you learn to see Salvation from God’s point of view, meaning when He gives you a peak to the big master plan that He alone put together, you cannot help but come up with a different point of view. You know for sure that, holiness, spiritual maturity, intimate relationship with God, engaging His heart, yearning to be like Christ day in day out, true discipleship, surrendering to Him as your Master, and losing yourself to Him and so much more, are all a continuous blessing string of His grace. They are the work of our faith and evidence of our Salvation. To truly understand these things, you have to learn to live and walk in the Spirit, which also is an after effect of Salvation. Salvation is complete and not lacking anything at all. It is like receiving a beautiful and expensive necklace made of pearl. 

This is not my first post on this issue and it will not be my last, simply because I lived out with God what He meant to do with the “real Salvation,” not the one we have become accustomed to in the last century. We went on revamping Salvation with our common sense, and we took so much away that we are left with a counterfeit of God’s true Salvation. Yes, it is true that He worked a new life “in” us, at the moment we truly receive Him into our hearts, but we have to allow Him to work it “out.”

 What gives God great pain and cause Him to lament for us, is because we chose to take one single pearl out of the whole necklace and we are content with what we have with an attitude that He should accept our will. Imagine you are living in the sewers and one day, the king who has deployed everything in His power to find his long lost son or daughter, found you. Then you are informed that you are royalty and the King, who is your Father has been looking for you and wants you by His side. Now, you are over the top with this news. Once you reach the King’s palace you are told to clean up, get rid of your dirty and smelling clothes and put on the royal garment, then a guard will come and get you to lead you to meet with your Father.

 During the time of preparation, you look around you and decided this life is not for you. Not because you do not like it, but it is going to take too much work, discipline, and way too demanding. So, you decide to find a way out of the palace and go right back to living in your sewers. All the while, you are proud of knowing you are royalty and shout it out to everyone who is willing to listen to you.  To what extend are you royalty?  In deploying all resources out there to find you, the King had a plan in mind which involved a different quality of life, a place for you, next to Him, and an intimate relationship with you. What have you done with His generosity and His love? In choosing to live in the sewers, where is your allegiance?  How is the King suppose to feel about your decision and rejection of the offer of a relationship, His heir and a transformed life? Your decision to live in the sewers tell your new found Father, “well, I am glad to know I belong to the King, but, I have no intention of being taken up with your interests and purposes for me.” In saying that, aren’t you changing the terms between you and the King? We seem to be spending more time telling Christians how they cannot lose their salvation, than teaching them how to walk in the spirit, how to surrender and how to live a life of obedience to God.  

This practice is dangerous simply because we do not know their reasons for accepting Christ to begin with. Especially, if you are able to tell through your close relationship with the Spirit of God, that some of your Church members are not showing evidence that a major work took place on the inside. This means, the Spirit of God has to help you bypass the Church attendance, the regurgitation of Bible verses, the empty service on His behalf and all the outward religiosity.  Even when you find out through the Spirit, your job is not to judge but, if you are a leader, you ought to examine yourself first and to what extent He is the main instrument behind all that you do. Then, you come alongside those that He showed you are not part of the flock, or those that have taken a long detour and are not quite aware of their need to come back. (various way: preaching, prayers, counsel, different Bible study group etc.,but, only through the Spirit's leading, if done in the flesh you will keep failing them.) Majority of Christians, even after years of being in the Church, trample Salvation under their feet. In the meantime the Church, which is the body of Christ at large seems to missed that. We go on proudly with our own interpretation of a lot of verses in the Bible, while many claimed to have been saved by faith but simply not interested or incapable of walking by faith. What kind of godly relationship and faith are we promoting?

 Not long ago, I was following a conversation on Linkedin where some people believe that this Christian life will happen to us through osmosis and if we have to do anything, then it is no longer grace. For the life of me, I cannot understand why these people cannot see that they have been brainwashed into adopting the wrong attitude, as such, they are rejecting God’s grace on a daily basis. They misapply and misappropriate the word grace along with God’s intention and divine purpose, yet not aware of it. But, doesn’t the Bible tell us that we have to diligently stand with Him? Or to make every effort?  If there is no need for us to do as He said and embrace all that is in the Bible, instead of choosing to decipher things on our own and put words in His mouth, then we are doing the same thing Adam and Eve did when they let themselves be tempted by Satan. Furthermore, Christ could have done the same thing to His dad and say, well, I am not leaving the comfort of heaven, you are God and you can do things differently without me going down there. He could have bargained His way out of it, yet He was obedient unto death. He honored His Father’s way, His process and divine purpose.

 We have to stop living like the unbelievers with a spirit of entitlement. We need to let the Spirit guide us in what we write, say and preach so that the impact we make on weaker Christians, will not affect them the wrong way. Some say they keep reminding people about the fact that they cannot lose their salvation, because Satan the accuser could rob them. Not only it is the wrong way to rationalize things, it is the wrong focus and it is also an insult and blasphemy to God. In fact, the wrong focus might cause these weaker Christians to be in greater danger as they adopt the wrong attitude and message, and GET SET IN THEIR WAYS. So sometimes, in trying to prevent Satan, we are the very instrument that he uses to get his work done. Our focus is wrong because while Satan is powerful, but my Lord and Savior is bigger than Satan will ever be. He is Stronger and Mightier. He is also able to keep those who have been entrusted to Him by God. What He wants from us, is to allow Him to use us as we live and walk in abandonment to Him, in the Spirit.

 As I write my posts, it is not my job to please people or tolerate our disregard for the true Christian life. It is not my job to encourage the lack of walk in the Spirit that is being displayed within the body of Christ. Doing so, would be applying some sort of misguided love that has nothing to do with the true love Christ wants us to use to reach out to others, Agape Love.

The Holy Spirit and The Reservoir of Love By D.L. Moody

We read that the fruit of the Spirit is love. God is love, Christ is love, and we should not be surprised to read about the love of the Spirit. What a blessed attribute is this. May I call it the dome of the temple of the graces. Better still, it is the crown of crowns worn by the Triune God. Human love is a natural emotion which flows forth towards the object of our affections. But Divine love is as high above human love as the heaven is above the earth. The natural man is of the earth, earthy, and however pure his love may be, it is weak and imperfect at best. But the love of God is perfect and entire, wanting nothing. It is as a mighty ocean in its greatness, dwelling with and flowing from the Eternal Spirit.

In Romans v, 5, we read: “And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.” Now if we are co-workers with God, there is one thing we must possess, and that is love. A man may be a very successful lawyer and have no love for his clients, and yet get on very well. A man may be a very successful physician and have no love for his patients, and yet be a very good physician; a man may be a very successful merchant and have no love for his customers, and yet he may do a good business and succeed; but no man can be a co-worker with God without love. If our service is mere profession on our part, the quicker we renounce it the better. If a man takes up God’s work as he would take up any profession, the sooner he gets out of it the better.

We can not work for God without love. It is the only tree that can produce fruit on this sin-cursed earth, that is acceptable to God. If I have no love for God nor for my fellow man, then I can not work acceptably. I am like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. We are told that “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” Now, if we have had that love shed abroad in our hearts, we are ready for God’s service; if we have not, we are not ready. It is so easy to reach a man when you love him; all barriers are broken down and swept away.

Paul when writing to Titus, second chapter and first verse, tells him to be sound in faith, in charity, and in patience. 

Now in this age, ever since I can remember, the Church has been very jealous about men being unsound in the faith. If a man becomes unsound in the faith, they draw their ecclesiastical sword and cut at him; but he may be ever so unsound in love, and they don’t say anything. He may be ever so defective in patience; he may be irritable and fretful all the time, but they never deal with him. Now the Bible teaches us, that we are not only to be sound in the faith, but in charity and in patience. 

I believe God can not use many of his servants, because they are full of irritability and impatience; they are fretting all the time, from morning until night. God can not use them; their mouths are sealed; they can not speak for Jesus Christ, and if they have not love, they can not work for God. I do not mean love for those that love me; it don’t take grace to do that; the rudest Hottentot in the world can do that; the greatest heathen that ever lived can do that; the vilest man that ever walked the earth can do that. It don’t take any grace at all. I did that before I ever became a Christian. Love begets love; hatred begets hatred. If I know a man loves me first, I know my love will be going out towards him. Suppose a man comes to me, saying, “Mr. Moody, a certain man told me to-day that he thought you were the meanest man living.” 

Well, if I didn’t have a good deal of the grace of God in my heart, then I know there would be hard feelings that would spring up in my heart against that man, and it would not be long before I would be talking against him. Hatred begets hatred. But suppose a man comes to me and says, “Mr. Moody, do you know that such a man that I met to-day says that he thinks a great deal of you?” and though I may never have heard of him, there would be love springing up in my heart. Love begets love; we all know that; but it takes the grace of God to love the man that lies about me, the man that slanders me, the man that is trying to tear down my character; it takes the grace of God to love that man. You may hate the sin he has committed; there is a difference between the sin and the sinner; you may hate the one with a perfect hatred, but you must love the sinner. I can not otherwise do him any good. Now you know the first impulse of a young convert is to love. Do you remember the day you were converted? Was not your heart full of sweet peace and love?

Consider Jesus–In the Exercise of Praise

Octavius Winslow

"I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." –Hebrews 2:12

These are the words of Jesus quoted by the apostle from a prophetical psalm concerning Him. We have considered Him as teaching us by His example to pray; it may promote our personal holiness by considering Him as teaching us to PRAISE. Praise is an element of the gospel. It entered essentially, if not prominently, into our Lord's personal life. "A man of sorrow," though He was--oftener seen to weep than to smile--yet there were moments when gleams of joy shone upon His soul, and strains of praise breathed from His lips.

Our Lord was of a THANKFUL spirit, and a thankful spirit is a praiseful spirit. How often the words were on His lips, "I thank You, O Father." He thanked God for the sovereignty of His grace for manifesting Himself to His disciples, for the food He was about to distribute, and over the grave of the friend He was about to raise from the dead. In all things Jesus was of a thankful, and therefore of a praiseful spirit.

And so, my soul, should you be! You have everything to praise God for. For the GLORIOUS GOSPEL of the blessed God; which, in the blessed announcements it makes of full pardon, of free justification, of gracious adoption, of present grace and future glory--is praise, all praise, eternal praise. There is not one announcement in the gospel to dishearten or repel a poor, penitent sinner. To such it is a 'joyful sound' without one jarring note, a salvation without a condition, a righteousness without a work, a pardon without money, a heaven without human merit or purchase--all the free gift of God's most free and unmerited grace. Is not this sufficient to awaken the deepest gratitude and the loudest praise in your soul?

And, O my soul! what shall be said of the praise due from you for the GIFT OF JESUS? Can you think of Him for a moment, and not feel your whole soul thrilling with thanksgiving and tremulous with praise? Oh, praise God for Jesus--for such a divine yet such a human Savior--for such a life, for such a death, for such a righteousness, and for such an Atonement as His. Is there no deep response of your heart to the thankful, praiseful words of the apostle--"Thanks be unto God, for His unspeakable gift?" Oh, praise Him for such a lovely and loving, for such a gracious and precious Savior, but for whom, you had been lost forever!

And have you not reason to praise God for YOUR CONVERSION? Oh, what a wonder of sovereign grace that ever you were brought out of nature's darkness into God's marvelous light! That, ever divine power drew you, and divine love chose you, and divine blood cleansed you, and a divine righteousness was imputed to you! That, ever you did hear the voice of Jesus, when lying in your blood, cast out to the loathing of yourself, saying to you, "Live!" And that then He washed you, and clothed you, and decked you with ornaments, and put a fair chain on your neck, a crown and a mitre on your head, and you became lovely through His loveliness put upon you--a king and a priest unto God! Praise, oh, praise Him loudly for that happy day when, having betrothed you in eternity, He savingly drew you to Himself, and you became His. Can you recall the memory of that blissful hour, and not make the desert ring with your loudest, sweetest praise?

"Oh! to grace, how great a debtor!"

My soul! seek from God the spirit of thankfulness, and cultivate habitually the grace of praise. It is a soul-purifying and a God-glorifying grace. It keeps the heart in perpetual bloom, and converts the life into a daily psalm! Praise God for all--praise Him for the blessings--of His providence, for the barrel of meal and for the cruse of oil that have not failed, for the providence that brightens, for the sorrow that shades, for the mercy that smiles, and for the judgment that frowns--for God's love breathing through all. Thus shall you be learning to sing the 'new song,' and to unite in the never ending music of heaven, where–
"Praise shall employ our noblest powers,
While immortality endures."

Why Is "The Eternal Life Of God," So Misunderstood?

We tend to tell people they have eternal life right after we say the sinner's prayer for them, or that we make them repeat those words they do not even understand. But, until God got me alone in the wilderness, I was not sure if indeed I had eternal life or not. I was content to know that someone confirmed it to me and I literally held God accountable to His promises. So, I knew when the time came to appear before God on the day of judgement, I honestly thought if there was any misunderstanding between God and myself, then I was going to remind Him of His promises, for starter. I used to see myself talking to God in the same way I was coached by those Christians whom I thought knew better. For instance, few of the Bible verses were shown to me so that I could understand two things. One was that Salvation was a gift of God, completely free and all that I had to do was to put my hand out to get it, in the same way that I would do if someone I knew handed me a free gift. Secondly, nothing about me being a disgusted sinner was ever a problem and repentance was never mentioned. As far as me not having any inward urges to call upon the name of God, was not a problem at all. The bottom line is, I did what I was led to do. 

So, in my mind, I could see myself explaining things to God in the same way it was explained to me. If He gave me some lip service, I would have told Him that Salvation is so free with no expectations that He cemented it for us in Ephesians 2:6 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” Furthermore, I intended to remind Him that someone else He put in my path, confirmed things to me. In my heart and mind, I reduced God to be someone like me. I don’t think I need to explain my thinking process more than that because I know most of us rationalize salvation and take His word according to our understanding without thinking twice that God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Shame on those who are sharing the Gospel without trying to know Him personally. We learn to live with a minuscule God and we go on with our faulty interpretation of God’s word to recruit people, like the Pharisees Jesus talked about. In Matthew 23:15 Jesus said:"What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!”

Through the wilderness, I found out that eternal life is not something that is passed on like a second hand pair of shoes. I found out that I must go on with Him, knowing Him personally to get the assurance through Him and unless this transaction takes place between Him and me directly, I have no rights to claim His promises and demands that He honors His covenant. God is, and will always be the same yesterday, today and forever. Here is one example among several in the Bible. In 2 Samuel 7:12-16 God made a covenant with David, "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me…..Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”

The above covenant was to be fulfilled through Solomon. God did not let Solomon in the dark because He is a JUST God. In order to give Solomon a fighting chance He needed to make this covenant with Solomon also, to make it personal and to hold him accountable. You see, God knows if He does not make things personal for us, then He will not be able to deal with us justly. In the case of Solomon he knew what was at stake when God renewed the covenant He made with David, this time with Solomon.

1 Kings 6:12 "Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David”.

1 Kings 9:5  “I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.”

2 Chronicles 7: 17 "As for you, if you faithfully follow me as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations,”

Unfortunately, Solomon walked away from God because he was attracted to sin. He walked away knowing fully all that was at stake. 

When you read John 17:3 the word of God says: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Knowing Him means exactly that. Isn’t it funny, the things in the Bible that we are supposed to take at face value, we truly neglect them and act as if those words were never conveyed to us? Why on earth would we not focus on those words in John 17:3 and make them real in our lives? Why is it so easy for us to hold God accountable for His word in Ephesians 2:6, completely forgetting that He could turn around and do the same with those words we do not like focusing on? This is where the day of judgement is going to be sweet. HE WILL TAKE AWAY OUR BLINDNESS and before we even open our mouths to say we did not see those words or that we did not understand them in this manner, we will be disarmed. The only thing that we will be left with is the knowledge that we did not fulfill our part. I can hear some of you saying, well…. Salvation is by grace so I am not responsible for what He did not do. Are you willing to bet your life that your limited understanding of the full meaning of grace according to God's thoughts is the same as yours? Or are you willing to let Him open your mind and heart to see more and understand that, we are the one refusing the work of grace He is flaunting right in our face?

Honestly, whether you truly understand the full meaning of Grace is not the issue. I read a lot of blogs and sermons, I can see these people are saved, they are going through the sanctification process, and they know God to some extend, yet, they do not fully grasp the full concept of the word "Grace." Sometimes I feel like everybody is repeating the same thing when it comes to define the word grace, as if they have been assimilated. However, as long as these people are growing through the process of sanctification, they do not have stubborn hearts and they are willing to give God His rightful place that's all that matter. An example that I could think of is Billy Graham, he doubted God's word but he was willing to let God be in charge of his life in spite of the lack of understanding and the doubts that plagued Him. When you compare the story of Billy Graham to Charles Templeton, you see the difference. Templeton turned away completely from the word of God. He walked away! Many of us are still in the Church, we go there, not because we care about God, but we enjoy the social club atmosphere and we do not want to leave behind what we have built there. I know that because God showed me how attached my heart was to the little life that I built for myself around the Church people. I did not want to leave that behind and wanted to hang onto it at all cost. Thank God He did not let me be that stupid.

 Christ’s prayer for all believers in John 17:19-22

"And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;  that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;…"

 Second hand Christianity does not guarantee eternal life. This is nowhere to be found in the Bible and it is our own interpretation through our twisted minds. Even if you are not conscious of your unity with Him the evidence of your spiritual growth will always be a dead give away.  If you insist on being just “a fan” of His, then, don’t be surprised of the outcome now and after you die. The gift of Salvation, if it is accepted by the heart, like it should be, it's  a whole new ball game. There will be a triage on the last day, so make sure you make the cut.  If you do not go forward, knowing Him personally, and you are content with your second hand Christianity, then do not be surprised if you find yourself in the pile that belongs to those with "some form of religion." His word made it clear to us there are true and false disciples out there. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

As long as you insist on your own interpretation of grace, you will never see the beauty of His grace with your soul. You cannot capture and comprehend with your heart and soul that “the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” would have never been able to do so without God’s grace. You and I, if we truly received His word in our hearts, we go on through grace alone doing His will.

Without God’s grace we sit on the sideline, we defy Him, we tempt Him, we analyze His word in our own understanding, we refuse to obey, we take Him for granted, we are in it for ourselves, we do not give Him His rightful place, we expect His death on the cross to “do his thing for us” and we act like a petulant child when someone dares to contradict what we have come to accept as truth.

DEEPEN YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE. DIG DEEPER INTO THE WORD OF GOD

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Devotional and Practical Meditations – A Small Number Are Christians - Ecclesiastes 7:28

When God led me to the wilderness one of the reasons I was able to withstand the pain in my soul and physically as I was losing everything I owned, was  because He showed me how how very few find the narrow gate. I remember having a hard time to pick up my jaw from the floor when I found out that Christians in the Church must also find the narrow gate and it is only as we find the narrow gate we obey the command in Corinthians 6:17 "come out from them and separate..." Even though I tend to be like David when it comes to telling God how I feel, this time around all I could say was " but I thought these verses were for unbelievers only?" Strangely by the time I said that, in the vision, He moved me forward, away from all the people I was with and I was standing by myself. The only answer I got from Him was that the reason we are not coming out and separate is because of unbelief, and we do not have true faith in Him rather faith in our faith.

Months down the road, He showed me the narrow gate we find right inside the Church is mandatory because it leads to the highway of holiness. I learned two things there. Nobody knows the door that opens to the highway of holiness because God Himself has to put you there. I also learned as you enter the narrow gate, it is dark, painful lonely, you feel like you are abandoned by Him, yet, you have to keep going because it is too dark for you to see how to go back or how to go forward. I also remember when He showed me the narrow gate, He took my left hand in His right hand, He entered first. As we entered it was pitch black but I was not scared because He was holding my hand and the gate closed behind me. We took a few steps together which was the equivalent of a week, then He left me by myself. So the only thing left to do is to take small steps one by one as you put your feet forward you realize you are trusting Him to keep you on the right path and to protect you while the darkness surround you and He hides Himself........

"I found one man among a thousand." Ecclesiastes 7:28

Only "one man among a thousand!" The Preacher tells us elsewhere the kind of man he meant — one who interpreted God's Word, and ways, entreating men to listen; one, who declared the righteousness of God, and the sinfulness of man; one who bore messages of God's grace to sinners' souls — in short, he meant a Christian. Of such he found but one among a thousand! (Job 30:23.) Was grace less frequent then than now? In Christian England (England, Christian so-called) would Solomon still find so small a number? We might expect that greater honor would attend the mission of the Comforter — that when He had to take the things of Christ (John 16:14, 15) — Christ born, Christ crucified, Christ risen, and Christ glorified — His teaching would be seen, and known, the more. Yet still we mourn the smallness of the numbers. Still the way is narrow; still the gate is strait; and still few find it. Still the road to misery is broad — and many walk in it! (Matthew 7:14.)

"One man among a thousand!" Ah, were it one in a hundred; one among ten; one out of five; or even one of two — it were sad to think how many still were lost! Full well we know, but for the grace of God, not one among a thousand would be found. One of a million would there be? One of a generation? One of a world? No, not one! This is the character of man; man as he is by nature; man unregenerate, unvisited by grace; man without Christ; man without God, "There is none righteous, no not one." (Psalm 14; Ephesians 2.)

One of a thousand is a miracle of grace; even one from Adam to Adam's latest child, would still be still a miracle; a greater wonder than if ten thousand worlds were formed anew, and twice ten thousand suns sprang daily into being!

Reader, are you a Christian? If so, your heart and mind present a miracle of miracles; a wonder far greater than anything that nature has to show. Are you disposed to mourn the smallness of the number — that Christians are so few? It is well to mourn — yet better to rejoice; better to know that all the flock are saved; that all the redeemed are written in the Book of Life, and that they shall all surely come to glory. They never shall perish, none can anyone pluck them from the hand of Jesus. He is pledged to guard — to love them to the end. He who chose them — will call them; He who calls them — will keep them; He who keeps them, will glorify them — His word is sure. (Romans 8:30.)