A Four Fold Salvation — Part 5

One of the reasons why some “Christians” are living the defeated life and have no idea what it means to have their identity anchored in Him is because they have not really received Salvation yet. We have millions of people out there who have been persuaded to say the sinner’s prayer without a true understanding of what being a Christian entails. While I do not have a problem about us asking people to ask Christ into their hearts but I have a problem with the way it’s done. It is purely mechanical, not enough information is given to make an informed decision, in some cases we have intimidation and more often than not, we push people to do it. The first time I received Christ it was handled in one of those ways I described above, and when I realized what he did to me, I was upset for a little while.

However, since I was invited to Church I kept going, every Sunday before I knew it, I was roaming all around the Church participating in all kinds of activities while serving, in the meantime, I was not a Christian yet. Nevertheless, I enjoyed being part of something, I liked the culture and it was like belonging to a nice and exclusive club. During that time, I became curious about Christianity. I know what it means to dread being baptized and you wish you did not have to do it. I know what it means to roam around the Church without being a Christian and I know the difference when Christ enters your heart on His terms and you are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

I thank God that over time I became curious and investigated. But, what about those who never get to meet with Him and instead they fall into a coma in the Church while waiting to go to heaven? Since, true grace from Him changes you in the depth of your being, why is it some professed Christians never changed? Why is it for some of us if it was not for the outward activities our Christianity would be the best kept secret? Why is it some never feel the need to go deeper? Why some are not craving for more of Him?  Why is it we have millions out there with no idea that there is a world of a difference between being saved in your sin and being saved from sin? Why do we have millions of people in the Church still clinging to some vague idea of salvation and some prayer they might have said years ago while having no idea of what intimacy with God means? Attending Church, being baptized and Church membership do not make anyone Christian.

While we are selling some kind of man-made Salvation, we have the audacity to tell people they have been sealed with the Spirit as if we could manipulate the Holy Spirit to be complicit in our deceitful ways. It isn't for nothing we have a whole bunch of famous singers living the Hollywood life, which is our modern version of Sodom and Gomorrah, yet still thinking they are children of God. This is the culture we live in and this is how we are selling Christianity. Sadly, most of the recipients believe what we are selling because it is an easy gig to them—cheap grace.

While you might not be dancing and showing every part of your body to make a buck, but, if you are still sitting in the pews unchanged by the Holy Spirit, on the inside after decades of calling yourself Christian, well, you either have a problem or God is a liar and the New Testament Salvation has no power to change a man. 

A Fourfold Salvation

Arthur Pink, 1938 

What, then, say the Scriptures? So far from God's Word denying that there is any delight to be found therein, it expressly speaks of "the pleasures of sin," yet it immediately warns us that those pleasures are but "for a season" (Heb. 11:25), for the aftermath is painful and not pleasant; yes, Studies in the Scriptures July, 1938 22 unless God intervenes in His sovereign grace, they entail eternal torment. So, too, the Word refers to those who are "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God" (2 Tim. 3:4).

It is indeed striking to observe how often this discordant note is struck in Scripture. It mentions those who "love vanity" (Psalm 4:2), "him that loves violence" (Psalm 11:5) "you love evil more than good" (Psalm 52:3), "scorners delight in their scorning" (Proverbs 1:22), "those who delight in the abominations" (Isaiah 66:3), "their abominations were according as they loved" (Hosea 9:10), "who hate the good and love the evil" (Micah 3:2), "if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). To love sin is far worse than to commit it, for a man may be suddenly tripped up and commit it through frailty.

The fact is, my reader, that we are not only born into this world with an evil nature—but with hearts that are thoroughly in love with sin. Sin is a native element. We are wedded to our lusts, and of ourselves no man is able to alter the bent of our corrupt nature any more than the Ethiopian can change his skin or the leopard his spots. But what is impossible with man is possible to God, and when He takes us in hand this is where He begins—by saving us from the pleasure or love of sin. This is the great miracle of grace, for the Almighty stoops down and picks up a loathsome leper from the dunghill, and makes him a new creature in Christ, so that the things he once loved he now hates, and the things he once hated he now loves. God commences by saving us from ourselves. He does not save us from the penalty of sin—until He has delivered us from the love of it.

And how is this miracle of grace accomplished, or rather, exactly what does it consist of? Negatively, not by eradicating the evil nature, nor even by refining it. Positively, by communicating a new nature, a holy nature which loathes that which is evil and delights in all that is truly good. To be more specific.

First, God saves His people from the pleasure or love of sin—by putting His holy awe in their hearts, for "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil" (Proverbs 8:13), and again, "by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil" (Proverbs 16:6).

Second, God saves His people from the pleasure of sin—by communicating to them a new and vital principle, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5), and where the love of God rules the heart, the love of sin is dethroned.

Third, God saves His people from the love of sin—by the Holy Spirit's drawing their affections unto things above, thereby taking them off the things which formerly enthralled them.

If on the one hand the unbeliever hotly denies that he is in love with sin, many a believer is often hard put to it to persuade himself that he has been saved from the love thereof. With an understanding that has been in part enlightened by the Holy Spirit, he is the better able to discern things in their true colors. With a heart that has been made honest by grace, he refuses to call sweet bitter. With a conscience that has been sensitized by the new birth, he the more quickly feels the workings of sin and the hankering of his affections for that which is forbidden. Moreover, the flesh remains in him, unchanged, and as the raven constantly craves carrion, so this corrupt principle in which our mothers conceived us—lusts after and delights in that which is the opposite of holiness. These things are they which occasion and give rise to the disturbing questions that clamor for answers within the genuine believer.

The sincere Christian is often made to seriously doubt if he has been delivered from the love of sin. Such questions as these painfully agitate his mind—Why do I so readily yield to temptation? Why do some of the vanities and pleasures of the world still possess so much attraction for me? Why do I chafe so much against any restraints being placed upon my lusts? Why do I find the work of mortification so difficult and distasteful? Could such things as these be—if I were a new creature in Christ? Could such horrible experiences as these happen—if God had saved me from taking pleasure in sin?

Well do we know that we are here giving expression to the very doubts which exercise the minds of many of our readers, and those who are strangers thereto are to be pitied. But what shall we say in reply? How is this distressing problem to be resolved? How may one be assured that he has been saved from the love of sin?

A Fourfold Salvation—Part 4

The way the triune God taught me in the wilderness has always been in three fold. He taught me verbally, then showed me, then proceeded to let me experience what He just taught me. Some experiences last few seconds, some few minutes and some few days. He usually takes the experiences away because He does not want our lives to be just about experiencing Him. Nevertheless, it was indeed an intense period at His feet for seven years. Granted, since I came out of the wilderness, things are not as intense as they used to be and the experience part of the process is very far apart. But, I know because I experience Him less, does not mean His pattern has changed. He is truly a God of order. I also learned that this process of His is a pattern that He follows in working out Salvation in our lives. Through it, I also learned why we cannot separate salvation from discipleship, justification and sanctification. They are just one long string of grace as far as God is concerned.

Those steps in our lives like justification, sanctification, etc are just the impartation of what we have received. He showed me in a beautiful way how Salvation and the impartation process is like having all the ingredients to make a specific cake where not one ingredient is missing, but they are all laid out on the table. Then, together we make a beautiful cake that I could not even begin to envision on my own. When you get to know God you know He has a sense of humour. Most of my vision where He is teaching me, He always shows me myself as a seven or eight years old child. Anyway, though we were making the cake together, I have never left His side and my job was limited to sometimes pass the ingredients to Him and sometimes He would let me get involved in the mix up process, but the mixer and the utensil being used to mix up, never leave His hands even though I am involved. Picture making a cake with your child and you ask him or she to press the button of the electrical appliance for you to make the child feels useful. That was the extend of my work.

When we know Him up close and personal, we also know every step we take after Salvation enters our heart, while we take those steps through faith and it seems to be our work, but it is no less the author of Salvation working in us to will and to do.

Now, often times we say that, people are living in defeat because they do not know who they are in Him. You know what? It is true sometimes we are not aware of our identity in Him, as such we cannot live out the blessings this identity has in store for us. We are not able to transfer on a daily basis what we know of Him and process the knowledge into the heart until it takes root within. Make no mistake about the reason why these types of Christians are defeated, because they do not know Him personally. I am not making this up, it turns out that I was there too at one point in my Salvation.

But, we cannot assume that everyone living in defeat is simply because they do not know who they are in Him. If we do not learn to properly diagnose in the spirit, especially if we are called to be Bible study leaders, we will not be able to help those that we are  called to help,  nor we are able to pray for them properly.

Some are living in defeat, especially if they have  called  themselves Christians for a few decades and they have been going to Church, serve and read the Bible etc., yet they are still defeated because they have not really received Salvation yet. Yes - I dare say it, I will expand on it further tomorrow. 

A Fourfold Salvation

Arthur Pink, 1938 

Second, the meritorious cause of salvation is the mediation of Christ, this having particular respect to the legal side of things, or, in other words, His fully meeting the demands of the Law on behalf and in the place of those He redeems.

Third, the efficient cause of salvation is the regenerating and sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit which respect the experimental side of it; or, in other words, the Spirit works in us what Christ purchased for us.

Thus, we owe our personal salvation equally to each Person in the Trinity, and not to one (the Son) more than to the others.

Fourth, the instrumental cause is our faith, obedience, and perseverance—though we are not saved because of them, equally true is it that we cannot be saved (according to God's appointment) without them.

Our salvation originates, of course, in the eternal purpose of God, in His predestinating of us to everlasting glory. "Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works—but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim. 1:9). That has reference to God's decree of election—His chosen people were then saved, completely, in the Divine purpose, and all that we shall now say, has to do with the performing of that purpose, the accomplishing of that decree, the actualization of that salvation.

I. Salvation from the PLEASURE of Sin.

It is here that God begins in His actual  application of salvation unto His elect. God saves us from the pleasure or love of sin, before He delivers from the penalty or punishment of sin. Necessarily so, for it would be neither an act of holiness nor of righteousness, were He to grant a full pardon to one who was still a rebel against Him, loving that which He hates.

God is a God of order throughout, and nothing ever more evidences the perfection of His works, than the orderliness of them. And how does God save His people from the pleasure of sin? The answer is—by imparting to them a nature which hates evil and loves holiness. This takes place when they are born again, so that actual salvation begins with regeneration. Of course it does—where else could it commence? Fallen man can neither perceive his desperate need of salvation, nor come to Christ for it, until he has been renewed by the Holy Spirit.

"He has made everything beautiful in His time" (Eccl. 3:11), and much of the beauty of God's spiritual handiwork is lost upon us, unless we duly observe our "time." Has not the Spirit Himself emphasized this in the express enumeration He has given us in, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he  predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:29, 30)? Verse 29 announces the Divine foreordination; verse 30 states the manner of its actualization. It seems strange, that with this Divinely-defined method before them, so many preachers begin with our justification, instead of with that effectual call (from death unto life—our regeneration) which precedes it. Surely it is most obvious that regeneration must first take place—in order to lay a foundation for our justification. Justification is by faith (Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1; Gal. 3:8), and the sinner must be Divinely quickened before he is capable of believing savingly.

Ah, does not the last statement made throw light upon and explain what we have said is so "strange"? Preachers today are so thoroughly imbued with free-willism that they have departed almost wholly from that sound evangelism which marked our forefathers.

The radical difference between Arminianism and Calvinism is that the system of the former revolves around the creature, whereas the system of the latter has the Creator for the center of its orbit. The Arminian allots to man the first  place, the Calvinist gives God that position of honor. Thus the Arminian begins his discussion of salvation with justification, for the sinner must believe before he can be forgiven; further back he will not go, for he is unwilling that man should be made nothing of. But the instructed Calvinist begins with election, descends to regeneration, and then shows that being born again (by the sovereign act of God, in which the creature has no part) the sinner is made capable of savingly believing the Gospel.

Saved from the pleasure or love of sin. What multitudes of people strongly resent being told that they delighted in evil! They would indignantly ask if we suppose them to be moral perverts? No indeed—a person may be thoroughly chaste and yet delight in evil. It may be that some of our own readers repudiate the charge that they have ever taken pleasure in sin, and would claim, on the contrary, that from earliest recollections they have detested wickedness in all its forms. Nor would we dare to call into question their sincerity; instead, we point out that it only affords another exemplification of the solemn fact, that "the heart is deceitful above all things" (Jer. 17:9). But this is a matter that is not open to argument—the plain teaching of God's Word deciding the point once and for all, and beyond its verdict there is no appeal.

A Four Fold Salvation — Part 3

One of the things I learned from God as He imparts this life in me is that if you cannot rise to the occasion, then you would do well to examine yourself to see exactly what did you receive.  A lot of us loves saying we have received Christ, but what does that mean to us?  Better yet, what does that mean to God and how does it work out with His vision for Salvation?  As He taught me through a lengthy and painful process the act of receiving Him, I found out the true meaning of this verse in 1John 2:19  “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.”

I also found out, although there are a lot of things in the Bible that were written for people living in that time and we cannot interpret the Bible without incorporating this fact.  So, yes 1John 2:19 was also written with context of Acts 15:1, but it was also written for our own good today. None of it will make sense to us if we are bent on going on about Salvation with one or two verses, and our own explanation. We make Christ a liar as He did not need to send the Holy Spirit to teach us His Word and His way. It is His job to take from God, to us.  There are several ways we can depart from the faith. The only proof you have that you have truly received His Salvation is that you keep rising to the occasions and keep going forward with Him no matter what the obstacles or the trials

A.W. Tozer: "The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favourite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.

A Fourfold Salvation

Arthur Pink, 1938 

It is not that God would bewilder us—but that He would humble us, drive us to our knees, make us dependent upon His Spirit. Not to the proud—who are wise in their own esteem—are its heavenly secrets opened.

In like manner it may be shown from Scripture that the cause of salvation is not a single one, as so many suppose—the blood of Christ. Here, too, it is necessary to distinguish between things which differ.

First, the originating cause of salvation is the eternal purpose of God, or, in other words, the predestinating grace of the Father

The fact is, that the great majority of professing Christians fail to see that "salvation" is one of the most comprehensive terms in all the Scriptures, including predestination, regeneration, justification, sanctification and glorification. They have far too cramped an idea of the meaning and scope of the word "salvation" (as it is used in the Scriptures), narrowing its range too much, generally confining their thoughts to but a single phase. They suppose "salvation" means no more than the new birth or the forgiveness of sins. Were one to tell them that salvation is a protracted process, they would view him with suspicion; and if he affirmed that salvation is something awaiting us in the future, they would at once dub him a heretic. Yet they would be the ones to err.

Ask the average Christian, Are you saved, and he answers, Yes, I was saved in such and such a year; and that is as far as his thoughts on the subject go. Ask him, to what do you owe your salvation? and "the finished work of Christ" is the sum of his reply. Tell him that each of those answers is seriously defective, and he strongly resents your aspersion.

As an example of the confusion which now prevails, we quote the following from a tract on Philippians 2:12, "To whom are those instructions addressed? The opening words of the Epistle tell us—'To the saints in Christ Jesus' . . . Thus they were all believers! and could not be required to work for their salvation, for they already possessed it." Alas that so very few today perceive anything wrong in such a statement. Another "Bible teacher" tells us that "save yourself" (1 Tim. 4:16) must refer to deliverance from physical ills, as Timothy was already saved spiritually. True—yet it is equally true that he was then in process of being saved, and also a fact that his salvation was then future.

Let us now supplement the first three verses quoted and show there are other passages in the New Testament which definitely refer to each distinct tense of salvation.

First, salvation as an accomplished fact, "Your faith has saved you" (Luke 7:50), "by grace you have been saved" (Greek, and so translated in the R.V.—Eph. 2:8), "according to His mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5).

Second, salvation as a present process, in course of accomplishment, not yet completed, "Unto us which are being saved" (1 Cor. 1:18—R.V.); "Those who believe to the saving (not 'salvation') of the soul" (Heb. 10:39).

Third, salvation as a future prospect, "Sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb. 1:14), "receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21), "Kept by the power of God through faith Studies in the Scriptures July, 1938 20 unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:5).

Thus, by putting together these different passages, we are clearly warranted in formulating the following statement—every genuine Christian has been saved, is now being saved, and will yet be saved—how and from what, we shall endeavor to show.

As further proof of how many-sided is the subject of God's great salvation and how that in Scripture it is viewed from various angles, take the following, "by grace are you saved" (Eph. 2:8), "saved by His (Christ's) life" (that is) by His resurrection life (Romans 5:9), "your faith has saved you" (Luke 7:50), "the engrafted Word which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21), "saved by hope" (Romans 8:24), "saved yet as by fire" (1 Cor. 3:15), "the like figure where unto baptism does also now save us" (1 Peter 3:21).

Ah, my reader, the Bible is not the lazy man's book, nor can it be soundly expounded by those who do not devote the whole of their time, and that for years, to its prayerful study. It is not that God would bewilder us—but that He would humble us, drive us to our knees, make us dependent upon His Spirit. Not to the proud—who are wise in their own esteem—are its heavenly secrets opened.

In like manner it may be shown from Scripture that the cause of salvation is not a single one, as so many suppose—the blood of Christ. Here, too, it is necessary to distinguish between things which differ.

First, the originating cause of salvation is the eternal purpose of God, or, in other words, the predestinating grace of the Father

A Fourfold Salvation ─ Part 2

When it comes to salvation, there is no question that the Roman Catholic Church went way too far and they added so much to God’s Word that they resemble to the Pharisees in their interpretation of the law. In the same way, Protestants, to rectify the situation and distance itself from the Roman Catholic, has unquestionably taken out too much of the Word of God that they are left with an empty shell (some sort of mould) that does not quite fit with God’s Word. So, most Protestants when it comes time to prepare a sermon, write a book, read our Bible etc, they start to unravel the gospel according to what they are holding onto so preciously and everything must fit the mould they have been given. What is wrong with the Protestant model is that we are in fact telling God how we want Him to interpret Salvation and we are dictating our terms.

At the end of the day, both groups butchered God’s vision and goal for Salvation. The fact is, when true Salvation comes in contact with a man’s soul, you can see the ugliness within. Now, this is not something we repeat like parrots without ever knowing what it means inwardly. This is not a matter of repeating glibly few verses out of context and without the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

It is a knowledge of ugliness within that causes you to disgust yourself and disgust sin and you know and compute that without Christ you are nothing. You are aware of how desperately you need Him and the sweet preciousness of the cross, because you have come face to face with your helplessness without the work of the cross in your life. This is not an experience reserved for the few as if God unjustly does not show it to other Christians. IT IS SIMPLY THE EFFECT OF SALVATION IN YOUR SOUL. It is the life of Christ within bringing up the contrast between who we are now with His life operating in us as He breathe His life within us.

I would hate to know that you are taking just my word on this or worse, you are screaming apostasy, instead of going directly to Him.

A Fourfold Salvation

By A. Pink 1938

The fact is, that the great majority of professing Christians fail to see that "salvation" is one of the most comprehensive terms in all the Scriptures, including predestination, regeneration, justification, sanctification and glorification. They have far too cramped an idea of the meaning and scope of the word "salvation" (as it is used in the Scriptures), narrowing its range too much, generally confining their thoughts to but a single phase. They suppose "salvation" means no more than the new birth or the forgiveness of sins. Were one to tell them that salvation is a protracted process, they would view him with suspicion; and if he affirmed that salvation is something awaiting us in the future, they would at once dub him a heretic. Yet they would be the ones to err.

Ask the average Christian, Are you saved, and he answers, Yes, I was saved in such and such a year; and that is as far as his thoughts on the subject go. Ask him, to what do you owe your salvation? and "the finished work of Christ" is the sum of his reply. Tell him that each of those answers is seriously defective, and he strongly resents your aspersion.

As an example of the confusion which now prevails, we quote the following from a tract on Philippians 2:12, "To whom are those instructions addressed? The opening words of the Epistle tell us—'To the saints in Christ Jesus' . . . Thus they were all believers! and could not be required to work for their salvation, for they already possessed it." Alas that so very few today perceive anything wrong in such a statement. Another "Bible teacher" tells us that "save yourself" (1 Tim. 4:16) must refer to deliverance from physical ills, as Timothy was already saved spiritually. True—yet it is equally true that he was then in process of being saved, and also a fact that his salvation was then future.

Let us now supplement the first three verses quoted and show there are other passages in the New Testament which definitely refer to each distinct tense of salvation.

First, salvation as an accomplished fact, "Your faith has saved you" (Luke 7:50), "by grace you have been saved" (Greek, and so translated in the R.V.—Eph. 2:8), "according to His mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5).

Second, salvation as a present process, in course of accomplishment, not yet completed, "Unto us which are being saved" (1 Cor. 1:18—R.V.); "Those who believe to the saving (not 'salvation') of the soul" (Heb. 10:39).

Third, salvation as a future prospect, "Sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Heb. 1:14), "receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21), "Kept by the power of God through faith Studies in the Scriptures July, 1938 20 unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:5).

Thus, by putting together these different passages, we are clearly warranted in formulating the following statement—every genuine Christian has been saved, is now being saved, and will yet be saved—how and from what, we shall endeavor to show.

As further proof of how many-sided is the subject of God's great salvation and how that in Scripture it is viewed from various angles, take the following, "by grace are you saved" (Eph. 2:8), "saved by His (Christ's) life" (that is) by His resurrection life (Romans 5:9), "your faith has saved you" (Luke 7:50), "the engrafted Word which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21), "saved by hope" (Romans 8:24), "saved yet as by fire" (1 Cor. 3:15), "the like figure where unto baptism does also now save us" (1 Peter 3:21).

Ah, my reader, the Bible is not the lazy man's book, nor can it be soundly expounded by those who do not devote the whole of their time, and that for years, to its prayerful study. It is not that God would bewilder us—but that He would humble us, drive us to our knees, make us dependent upon His Spirit. Not to the proud—who are wise in their own esteem—are its heavenly secrets opened.

In like manner it may be shown from Scripture that the cause of salvation is not a single one, as so many suppose—the blood of Christ. Here, too, it is necessary to distinguish between things which differ.

First, the originating cause of salvation is the eternal purpose of God, or, in other words, the predestinating grace of the Father.

A Fourfold Salvation ─ Part 1

I shared with you in one of my posts that God in a vision showed me why He was sad because of what we Christians had made of His plan for Salvation. The reason we messed it up so bad is because most of us are not working with the Holy Spirit and He is still elusive to us. Because once you learn true Salvation from His point of view, you are ruined for everyone else.  I chose Arthur Pink not because He is the only one of those writers who understood true Salvation from God’s point of view, but because he is easier to relate to and his writing is simple.

If you read any one of those puritans or classic authors you will find that they all understood Salvation in the same way along with several great pastors today. Unfortunately we do not have enough of those great pastors in today’s world. Too often we scream apostasy, when in reality the attitude that we need is to go directly to God and tell Him to teach us from His point of view because we are tired of the discrepancies we see out there. We scream apostasy instead and feel our job is done and we are off the hook while Satan is amused. God will not be mocked. In the same way unbelief has its consequences when we read Romans 1:18-21 through those verses God will judge the unbelievers because they have it within to recognize and worship God but they chose not to. Those of us who claim to have received Salvation but chose the external things only to show what they have is enough, I would not like to be in your shoes when you meet with Him.

In the same way the unbelievers know there is a God in Heaven because Romans 1:19 says“since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”  Many of us have chosen to remain the type of Christian as those in the stony or the thorny ground in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:28-33, and never advanced to become inwardly “the good ground.” God regulates each one of us inside to choose Him so we can go deeper and learn from Him. But for convenience sake we chose otherwise. When we read articles such as those I am going to post the next few days, we choose to scream apostasy and put our fingers in our ears or we can go directly to God and ask Him “would you teach me so that I can understand and learn from you?” I promise you that even choosing to go forward with Him, is still a work of divine grace. Blessings

A Fourfold SalvationBy A. Pink 1938

The subject of God's "so great salvation" (Heb. 2:3), as it is revealed to us in the Scriptures and made known in Christian experience, is worthy of a life's study. Anyone who supposes that there is now no longer any need for him to prayerfully search for a fuller understanding of the same, needs to ponder, "If any man thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know" (1 Cor. 8:2). The fact is that the moment any of us really takes it for granted that he already knows all that there is to be known on any subject treated of in Holy Writ, he at once cuts himself off from any further light thereon. That which is most needed by all of us in order to a better understanding of Divine things is not a brilliant intellect—but a truly humble heart and a teachable spirit, and for that we should daily and fervently pray—for we possess it not by nature.

The subject of Divine salvation has, sad to say, provoked age-long controversy and bitter contentions even among professing Christians. There is comparatively little real agreement even upon this elementary yet vital truth. Some have insisted that salvation is by Divine grace, others have argued it is by human endeavor. A number have sought to defend a middle position, and while allowing that the salvation of a lost sinner must be by Divine grace, were not willing to concede that it is by grace alone, alleging that God's grace must be plussed by something from the creature, and very varied have been the opinions of what that "something" must be—baptism, church-membership, the performing of good works, holding out faithful to the end, etc. 

On the other hand, there are those who not only grant that salvation is by grace alone—but who deny that God uses any means whatever in the accomplishment of His eternal purpose to save His elect—overlooking the fact that the sacrifice of Christ is the grand "means"! It is true that the Church of God was blessed with super-creation blessings, being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, and predestinated unto the adoption of children, and nothing could or can alter that grand fact. It is equally true that if sin had never entered the world, none had been in need of salvation from it. But sin has entered, and the Church fell in Adam and came under the curse and condemnation of God's Law.

Consequently, the elect, equally with the reprobate, share in the capital offense of their federal head, and partake of its fearful entail, "In Adam all die" (1 Cor. 15:22), "By the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation" (Romans 5:18). The result of this is that all are "alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts" (Eph. 4:18), so that the members of the mystical Body of Christ are "by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Eph. 2:3), and hence they are alike in dire need of God's salvation.

Even where there is fundamental soundness in their views upon Divine salvation—yet many have such inadequate and one-sided conceptions that other aspects of this truth, equally important and essential, are often overlooked and tacitly denied. How many, for example, would be capable of giving a simple exposition of the following texts, "Who has saved us" (2 Tim. 1:9). "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12), "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed" (Romans 13:11). Now those verses do not refer to three different salvations—but to three separate aspects of one and unless we learn to distinguish sharply between them, there can be nothing but confusion and cloudiness in our thinking. 

Those passages present three distinct phases and stages of salvation—salvation . . .

as an accomplished fact,

as a present process,

as a future prospect.

So many today ignore these distinctions, jumbling them together. Some contend for one and argue against the other two; and vice versa. Some insist they are already saved, and deny that they are now being saved. Some declare that salvation is entirely future, and deny that it is in any sense already accomplished. Both are wrong.

To Harden Our Hearts

What makes the Day of Judgment so unnerving is that all our posing and all our charades will be pulled back, all secrets will be made known, and our Lord will "expose the motives of men's hearts" (1 Cor. 4:5, emphasis added).

This is the point of the famous Sermon on the Mount. Jesus first says we haven't a hope of heaven unless our righteousness "surpasses that of the Pharisees" (Matt. 5:20). How can that be? They were fastidious rule keepers, pillars of the church, model citizens. Yes, Jesus says, and most of it was hypocrisy. The Pharisees prayed to impress men with their spirituality. They gave to impress men with their generosity. Their actions looked good, but their motives were not. Their hearts, as the saying goes, weren't in the right place. A person's character is determined by his motives, and motive is always a matter of the heart. This is what Scripture means when it says that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. God doesn't judge us by our looks or our intelligence; he judges us by our hearts.

It makes sense, then, that Scripture also locates our conscience in our hearts. Paul says that even those who do not know God's law "show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness" (Rom. 2:15), such as when your child looks guilty for having told a lie. This is why it is so dangerous to harden our hearts by silencing our consciences, and why the offer of forgiveness is such good news, to have our "hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience" (Heb.10:22 NRSV). Oh, the joy of living from right motives, from a clean heart. I doubt that those who want to dismiss the heart want to dismiss our consciences, set aside the importance of character.

An excerpt from the book

The Ransomed Heart by John Eldredge

Leonard Ravenhill Quotes

 “Today’s church wants to be raptured from responsibility.”

“The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity.”

“If weak in prayer, we are weak everywhere.”

“How can you have a dead service with a living Christ?”

“A man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, even Bible knowledge. But he prays because his soul is hungry for God.”

“Men give advice; God gives guidance.”

“Many of us are hunting mice – while lions devour the land.”

“A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men.”

“No man – I don’t care how colossal his intellect – No man is greater than his prayer life.”

“Better for you to have one sleepless night on earth than millions in hell.”

“Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?”

“A sinning man stops praying, a praying man stops sinning.”

“Let your iniquities be given speech and hiss and torment you until you repent!”

“The only reason we don’t have revival is because we are willing to live without it!”

“God pity us that after years of writing, using mountains of paper and rivers of ink, exhausting flashy terminology about the biggest revival meetings in history, we are still faced with gross corruption in every nation, as well as with the most prayerless church age since Pentecost.”

“Church unity comes from corporate humility.”

“Nobody else can give you a clean heart but God.”

“Smart men walked on the moon, daring men walked on the ocean floor, but wise men walk with God.”

“You can’t develop character by reading books. You develop it from conflict.”

“I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in the United States are truly born again.”

“One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it, and believe it. Then the rest of us will be embarrassed.”

“When there’s something in the Bible that churches don’t like, they call it legalism.”

“Why is there this criminal indifference to the lostness of men? Our condemnation is that we know how to live better than we are living.”

“The Church used to be a lifeboat rescuing the perishing. Now she is a cruise ship recruiting the promising.”

“The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.”

“My main ambition in life is to be on the devil’s most wanted list.”

“If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified.”

“No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window to display one’s talents; the prayer closet allows no showing off.”

“Entertainment is the devil’s substitute for joy”

Courtesy of: http://www.leonard-ravenhill.com/quotes

We really are the Sons and Daughters of God

This was taken from: the Ransomed Heart by John Eldredge

This is so beautiful and so true, I could not resist, I had to post it

 Life on the road takes us into our heart, for only when we are present in the deep sentences can God speak to them.  That’s why the story is a journey; it has to be lived, it cannot simply be talked about. When we face trials, our most common reaction is to ask God “Why won't you relieve us?” And when He doesn't  we resignedly ask, “What do you want me to do?”  Now we have a new question: Where is the romance headed?”

There is another great “revealing” in our life on the road. We run our race, we travel our journey, in the words of Hebrews, before “a great cloud of witnesses” (12:1). When we face a decision to fall back or press on, the whole universe holds its breath-angels, demons, our friends and foes, and the Trinity itself-watching with bated breath to see what we will do. We are still in the drama of Act III and the heart of God is still on trial. The question that lingers from the fall of Satan and the fall of man remains: Will anyone trust the great heart of the Father, or will we shrink back in faithless fear?

As we grow into the love of God and the freedom of our own hearts, we grow in our ability to cast our vote on behalf of God. Our acts of love and sacrifice, the little decisions to leave our false loves behind, and the great struggles of our heart reveal to the world our true identity: We really are the sons and daughters of God

The Church That Christ Builds — Part 6

By J.C. Ryle 1816—1900

I will now conclude this message with a few words of PRACTICAL APPLICATION.

1. My first word of application shall be a QUESTION. What shall that question be? What shall I ask? I will return to the point with which I began. I will go back to the first sentence with which I opened my message. I ask you, whether you are a member of the one true Church of Christ? Are you in the highest, the best sense, a "Churchman" in the sight of God? You know now what I mean. I look far beyond the Church of England. I am not speaking of church or chapel. I speak of "the Church built upon the rock." I ask you, with all solemnity: Are you a member of that Church? Are you joined to the great Foundation? Are you on the rock? Have you received the Holy Spirit? Does the Spirit witness with your spirit, that you are one with Christ, and Christ with you? I beseech you, in the name of God, to lay to heart these questions, and to ponder them well. If you are not converted — you do not yet belong to the "Church on the rock."

Let every reader of this message take heed to himself, if he cannot give a satisfactory answer to my inquiry. Take heed, take heed, that you do not make shipwreck of your soul to all eternity. Take heed, lest at last the gates of Hell prevail against you, the devil claims you as his own, and you are cast away forever. Take heed, lest you go down to the pit from the land of Bibles, and in the full light of Christ's gospel. Take heed, lest you are found at the left hand of Christ at last, a lost Episcopalian or a lost Presbyterian, a lost Baptist or a lost Methodist — lost because, with all your zeal for your own party and your own communion table, you never joined the one true Church.

2. My second work of application shall be an INVITATION. I address it to everyone who is not yet a true believer. I say to you, come and join the one true Church without delay. Come and join yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ in an everlasting covenant not to be forgotten.

Consider well what I say. I charge you solemnly not to mistake the meaning of my invitation. I do not bid you leave the visible Church to which you belong. I abhor all idolatry of denominations and parties. I detest a proselytizing spirit. But I do bid you come to Christ and be saved. The day of decision must come some time. Why not this very hour? Why not today, while it is called today? Why not this very night, before the sun rises tomorrow morning? Come to Him, who died for sinners on the cross, and invites all sinners to come to Him by faith and be saved. Come to my Master, Jesus Christ. Come, I say, for all things are now ready. Mercy is ready for you. Heaven is ready for you. Angels are ready to rejoice over you. Christ is ready to receive you. Christ will receive you gladly, and welcome you among His children. Come into the ark. The flood of God's wrath will soon break upon the earth. Come into the ark and be safe!

Come into the lifeboat of the one true Church. This old world will soon break into pieces! Don't you hear the tremblings of it? The world is but a wreck upon a sandbank. The night is far spent, the waves are beginning to rise, the wind is getting up, the storm will soon shatter the old wreck. But the lifeboat is launched, and we, the ministers of the gospel, beseech you to come into the lifeboat and be saved. We beseech you to arise at once and come to Christ.

Do you ask, "How can I come? My sins are too many. I am too wicked yet. I dare not come." Away with the thought! It is a temptation of Satan. Come to Christ as a sinner. Come just as you are. Hear the words of that beautiful hymn:

"Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Your blood was shed for me,

And that You bid'st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come."

This is the way to come to Christ. You should come, waiting for nothing, and tarrying for nothing. You should come, 

as a hungry sinner — to be filled; 

as a poor sinner — to be enriched; 

as an undeserving sinner — to be clothed with righteousness.

So coming, Christ would receive you. "Him that comes" to Christ, He "will never cast out." Oh, come, come to Jesus Christ! Come into the true Church by faith and be saved.

3. Last of all, let me give a word of EXHORTATION to all believers into whose hands this message may fall.

Strive to live a holy life. Walk worthy of the Church to which you belong. Live like citizens of Heaven. Let your light shine before men, so that the world may profit by your conduct. Let them know whose you are, and whom you serve. Be epistles of Christ, known and read of all men, written in such clear letters, that none can say of you, "I know not whether this man be a member of Christ or not." He who knows nothing of real, practical holiness — is no member of the Church on the rock.

Strive to live a courageous life. Confess Christ before men. Whatever station you occupy — in that station confess Christ. Why should you be ashamed of Him? He was not ashamed of you on the cross. He is ready to confess you now before His Father in Heaven. Why should you be ashamed of Him? Be bold. Be very bold. The good soldier is not ashamed of his uniform. The true believer ought never to be ashamed of Christ.

Strive to live a joyful life. Live like men who look for that blessed hope — the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is the prospect to which we should all look forward. It is not so much the thought of going to Heaven, as of Heaven coming to us, that should fill our minds. "There is a good time coming" for all the people of God, a good time for all the Church of Christ, a good time for all believers — a bad time for the impenitent and unbelieving — but a good time for true Christians. For that good time, let us wait and watch and pray.

The scaffolding will soon be taken down. The last stone will soon be brought out. The top stone will be placed upon the edifice. Yet a little time, and the full beauty of the Church which Christ is building shall be clearly seen

The Church That Christ Builds — Part 5

By J.C. Ryle 
(1816—1900)

The promise of our text is true of every individual member of the Church. Some of God's people have been so much cast down and disturbed, that they have despaired of their safety. Some have fallen sadly, as David and Peter did. Some have departed from the faith for a time, like Cranmer and Jewell. Many have been tried by cruel doubts and fears. But all have got safe home at last, the youngest as well as the oldest, the weakest as well as the strongest. And so it will be to the end. Can you prevent tomorrow's sun from rising? 

Can you prevent the tide in the Bristol Channel from ebbing and flowing? Can you prevent the planets moving in their respective orbits? Then, and then alone, can you prevent the salvation of any believer, however feeble, the final safety of any living stone in that Church which is built upon the rock, however small or insignificant that stone may appear.

The true Church is Christ's body. Not one bone in that mystical body shall ever be broken.

The true Church is Christ's bride. Those whom God has joined in everlasting covenant, shall never be put asunder.

The true Church is Christ's flock. When the lion came and took a lamb out of David's flock, David arose and delivered the lamb from his mouth. Christ will do the same. He is David's greater Son. Not a single sick lamb in Christ's flock shall perish. He will say to His Father in the last day, "Of those who You gave Me — I have lost none" (John 18:9).

The true Church is the wheat of the earth. It may be sifted, winnowed, buffeted, tossed to and fro. But not one grain shall be lost.

The tares and chaff shall be burned. The wheat shall be gathered into the barn.

The true Church is Christ's army. The Captain of our salvation loses none of His soldiers. His plans are never defeated. His supplies never fail. His muster-roll is the same at the end — as it was at the beginning. Of the men that marched gallantly out of England a few years ago in the Crimean war, how many never came back! Regiments that went forth, strong and cheerful, with bands playing and banners flying, laid their bones in a foreign land, and never returned to their native country. But it is not so with Christ's army. Not one of His soldiers shall be missing at last. He Himself declares, "They shall never perish!" (John 10:28).

The devil may cast some of the members of the true Church into prison. He may kill and burn and torture and hang. But after he has killed the body, there is nothing more that he can do. He cannot hurt the soul. When the French troops took Rome a few years ago, they found on the walls of a prison cell, under the Inquisition, the words of a prisoner. Who he was, we know not. But his words are worthy of remembrance. 

"Though dead, he yet speaks." He had written on the walls, very likely after an unjust trial, and a still more unjust excommunication, the following striking words "Blessed Jesus, they cannot cast me out of Your true Church." That record is true! Not all the power of Satan can cast one single believer out of Christ's true Church!

I trust that no reader of this message will ever allow fear to prevent his beginning to serve Christ. He to whom you commit your soul has all power in Heaven and earth, and He will keep you. He will never let you be cast away. Relatives may oppose. Neighbors may mock. The world may slander and ridicule and jest and sneer. Fear not! Fear not! The powers of Hell shall never prevail against your soul. Greater is He who is for you, than all those who are against you.

Fear not for the Church of Christ — when ministers die, and saints are taken away. Christ can ever maintain His own cause. He will raise up better servants and brighter stars. The stars are all in His right hand. Leave off all anxious thought about the future. Cease to be cast down by the measures of statesmen, or the plots of wolves in sheep's clothing. Christ will ever provide for His own Church. Christ will take care that "the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." All is going on well, though our eyes may not see it. The kingdoms of this world shall yet become the kingdoms of our God, and of His Christ.