The Myths of Salvation

[AVBunyan]

One of the reasons so many are confused over salvation and eternal security is because they don’t know what happened at Calvary. Here is what many believe salvation to be:

The “you” here is nobody in particular – just used “you” to make it personal.

1. You have made a decision to follow Christ.
2. You have joined a church and decided to follow its teachings.
3. You have gone through the door that Christ just opened.
4. You are holding on to Christ’s hand as he leads you to heaven and if you choose to let go then you don’t make it.
5. You are seeking to obey God’s law as you keep your eyes focused on Christ.
6. You have repented from your old life and are seeking to follow Christ for a new life.
7. You have abided by a list of things that you do or seek not to do.
8. You have the leading of the Spirit as long as you obey.
9. You had an emotional experience and you spoke in tongues.
10. You got baptized.
11. You had a life-changing experience.
12. You believe in Christ and now you have to do your part.

Sounds like a lot of “you” with a very little Christ tacked on.

So, based upon the above what you have in modern Christianity is most likely the majority of “Christianity” is lost and on their way to a lake of fire – Rev. 20:15.

Why? There has never been a work of regeneration – ***. 3:5. There has just been a decision to follow Christ’s teachings and to become a good person while attending church, giving, praying, reading their Bibles, doing good to others, confessing, quoting Bible verses, and other things that saints do but they do it as an unregenerate, lost sinner.

What is salvation? It is not in the list above – Salvation is where Christ takes the Spirit and cuts away one’s dead spirit from the soul (Co. 2:11). Then Christ regenerates the dead spirit - ***. 3:5 - and makes it alive unto God. Because of this the sinner is made a new creature in Christ (II Cor. 5:17). In other words it is a miraculous work that only God can do. Salvation is in a Person - not a system of beliefs or things you do.

It is not you making reform of your ways and cleaning up your life.

Bottom line – many are still unregenerate and being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Paul says in 2 Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Have a nice day

 

[bleechers]

I agree in general, but you never stated how one, upon self-examination, can know that he has eternal life (1 John 5:13) by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).

Why? There has never been a work of regeneration – ***. 3:5. There has just been a decision to follow Christ’s teachings and to become a good person while attending church, giving, praying, reading their Bibles, doing good to others, confessing, quoting Bible verses, and other things that saints do but they do it as an unregenerate, lost sinner.

Yes, God by the Holy Spirit regenerates us by an act of mercy (Titus 3:5), but we appropriate that grace by confession of Christ (Rom 10:9-10) via believing on Him (Rom 4:4-5; etc.). We can discuss the origin of the "faith" but that is not important in the equation. Regardless of the origin of the faith, it is necessary for salvation.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:31). As we know, "believing" is the act of transfering trust in anything else (by an act of conviction by the Holy Spirit by the Word of God) to Christ. More specifically to His finsihed work on Calvary and His proof of deity and power in His resurrection.

It all goes back to Him and what He did. We must never leave His work out of the proclamation of salvation. As one man rightly put it, we shouldn't promote WWJD - What Would Jesus Do?, but rather WDJD - What DID Jesus Do?

What is salvation? It is not in the list above – Salvation is where Christ takes the Spirit and cuts away one’s dead spirit from the soul (Co. 2:11). Then Christ regenerates the dead spirit - ***. 3:5 - and makes it alive unto God. Because of this the sinner is made a new creature in Christ (II Cor. 5:17). In other words it is a miraculous work that only God can do. Salvation is in a Person - not a system of beliefs or things you do.

Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him...

To get to the truth of the necessity of regeneration in Col 2:11, we must pass through the "receiving of Christ" in v.6. The rest of the chapter reveals the folly and danger in equating ordinaces and human reasoning with saving faith.

I agree with the general thrust of your post, I just wanted to clarify what a person who has examined himself needs to do if he finds himself wanting.

The only possible difference (or clarification) I would make is that the new regenerate creation of God is exactly that, "new". It is not a reconditioned old nature. Both co-exist in the Christian. The "new man" is renewed day by day and he cannot sin (1 Jn).

Our old nature can only sin (even when outwardly it appears to be doing "good" works), but it is still with us, hense, the Spirit warreth against the flesh in the believer.

Again, this is why we have the Lord's Supper - to remember what HE did on our behalf. The new nature, regeneration, salvation, sanctification would all be impossible if not for what He finished on Calvary.

 

[Frankie]

One of the reasons so many are confused over salvation and eternal security is because they don’t know what happened at Calvary. Here is what many believe salvation to be:

The “you” here is nobody in particular – just used “you” to make it personal.

1. You have made a decision to follow Christ.
2. You have joined a church and decided to follow its teachings.
3. You have gone through the door that Christ just opened.
4. You are holding on to Christ’s hand as he leads you to heaven and if you choose to let go then you don’t make it.
5. You are seeking to obey God’s law as you keep your eyes focused on Christ.
6. You have repented from your old life and are seeking to follow Christ for a new life.
7. You have abided by a list of things that you do or seek not to do.
8. You have the leading of the Spirit as long as you obey.
9. You had an emotional experience and you spoke in tongues.
10. You got baptized.
11. You had a life-changing experience.
12. You believe in Christ and now you have to do your part.

Sounds like a lot of “you” with a very little Christ tacked on.

So, based upon the above what you have in modern Christianity is most likely the majority of “Christianity” is lost and on their way to a lake of fire – Rev. 20:15.

Why? There has never been a work of regeneration – ***. 3:5. There has just been a decision to follow Christ’s teachings and to become a good person while attending church, giving, praying, reading their Bibles, doing good to others, confessing, quoting Bible verses, and other things that saints do but they do it as an unregenerate, lost sinner.

What is salvation? It is not in the list above – Salvation is where Christ takes the Spirit and cuts away one’s dead spirit from the soul (Co. 2:11). Then Christ regenerates the dead spirit - ***. 3:5 - and makes it alive unto God. Because of this the sinner is made a new creature in Christ (II Cor. 5:17). In other words it is a miraculous work that only God can do. Salvation is in a Person - not a system of beliefs or things you do.

It is not you making reform of your ways and cleaning up your life.

Bottom line – many are still unregenerate and being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Paul says in 2 Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Have a nice day

Good and interesting post. I am constantly surprized by the number of people that think they can "earn" salvation or that they can do enough or be good enough to work their way towards salvation. It blows my mind.

Frankie

 

[AVBunyan]

I agree in general, but you never stated how one, upon self-examination, can know that he has eternal life (1 John 5:13) by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).

Thanks for your response - though the post was not about the self-examination you raised another issue which we migh chat about. Below is a post I posted somewhere and for time's sake I will not re-edit again but throw it all oout - People have different tests and of course the scriptures should provide the "dcoumentation" but since you asked about the "how one can know" then here are a couple thougths on the matter:

From an earlier post:

This can be a touchy area but the “Christian” community is filled with false professors.
What do you see as the marks of a true, regenerated believer?


This should serve three purposes:
1. How can you spot an unbeliever so as to protect yourself, family, and church?
2. How can you help another to make sure they are saved?
3. How can you examine yourself?


The above is not to server as a “finger-pointing” or a subject to debate. I am just looking to see what people see.

Here are what I believe to be some of the marks of a regenerated believer.
I’m not saying that if you struggle in some of the areas you are lost.
I’m not saying this is “the list”.
But... if one is missing a good portion of the list then I believe there is cause for concern.

1. Is there a genuine love for God and the Lord Jesus Christ? Eph. 6:24; Rom. 8:28
2. Is there a genuine love for the scriptures? Psa. 119:140, 159; John 14:23; Job 23:12
3. Is there an awareness of sin? Romans 7
4. Are you getting any pressure from old friends? Rom. 12:2; II Tim. 3:12
5. Is there a desire to witness? Rom. 9:1-3; II Cor. 5:20
6. Is there a love for saints? I John 3:14; Eph. 1:15; Phil. 2:2; Col. 1:4
7. Is there a desire to be with saints more than the world? Rom. 12:2; II Cor. 6:14
8. Is there a desire for a changed life? Rom. 7
9. Are you able to discern spiritual truth? II Cor. 4:3; I Cor. 2:14
10. Is the gospel hidden from you? II Cor. 4:3 In other words - do you even know what the gospel is?


Your thoughts?



May God bless

 

[Andyman_1970]

I would add to the top of your list Mark 12:29-31 (the two most important commandments). If the desire of your heart is no where near those, that I think would be cause for concern.

On a side note: Item number 5 "desire to witness", regardless of a believers desire to witness, every follower of Jesus carrys God's Name and as such is a witness for God, whether they realize it (or want to) or not.

 

[the Colonel]

Great followup reply, AVBunyan. I would also add, perhaps, being able to see the fruit of the spirit in a person.

 

[bleechers]

This can be a touchy area but the “Christian” community is filled with false professors.

Bingo! Unfortuanately it's so "touchy" that many will go to hell because somewhere, somehow "being positive" has overtaken the call to "speak the truth in love."

As a musician, I've been slaughtered many a time for raising this issue in CCM circles (and on the CF Contemporary Music board). Hey, I welcome correction! If I say something incorrect in one of my songs, then please let me know!

Your Top 10 list suffices for me.

 

[AVBunyan]

Great followup reply, AVBunyan. I would also add, perhaps, being able to see the fruit of the spirit in a person.

You are so right - thanks

 

[eutychus]

Excellent post! I'm in Children's Ministry, and I hate it when other workers use those misnomers when speaking with a child about salvation. I'll admit, I'm tempted to use some of them just for the rolls-off-the-tongue factor, but it's imperative to even let children know how omnipotent God is and how disgraceful humans are.

 

[hola]

Although I'm not a Calvinist or categorized in different ways (I'm not sure if you are, though) it's good to hear what you have stated AVBunyan!!! Even though I was raised in church, and have had a true conversion experience 5 years ago, it's not until recently that I've been able to more fully understand these truths. I guess you could say I got caught up in works. God bless you!!! Keep sharing the truth!!! Well, I could say "WOW" to all that has said on this Baptist forum topic. I'm not Baptist, and I don't know many Baptists (well, actually one Creation Science Evangelist that I respect-I'm not looking for people's opinions on him either) or about Baptists beliefs, (although it may have a vast scope), but I think I have similar beliefs, because of what has been said. Anyway, to stop rambling...God bless you all.

hola