SALVATION FROM SINS

Some people believe and teach we are all God’s children, but that is not true. We are all God's creation. However, all who are accountable to God for their actions have sinned and are thus separated from God―they are lost in their sins and in need of God's salvation (Romans 3:23; 6:23). All who are in need of salvation are children of the devil. In this world, all people who are accountable to God for their actions are either children of the devil or they are children of God. Jesus said to some Jews of His day that they were children of their father the devil, and they loved to do the evil things that the devil does. Jesus told them that the devil was a murderer from the beginning and always hated the truth. Jesus said that was the case because there is no truth in him. Furthermore, Jesus said that when the devil lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice, and He knows them, and they follow Him (John 10:27). And, Paul tells us that the children of the devil become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians3:26) We learn from the next verse when one is by faith made a child of God―“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (ASV, 1901). Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). He also asked, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).

Ephesians 1:3 tells us that Christians are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Paul also wrote of Christians, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). A child of the devil must take each step in God’s great plan of salvation. This is the conversion process of one ceasing to be a child of the devil and becoming a child of God in God’s great family, the church of His Son. This is the process of being born again (John 3:1-21).

The steps in God’s singular plan of salvation leading to eternal life in Heaven are:

Hear and understand the gospel, for that is how faith is formed in one and then strengthened and sustained.

• Romans 10:17―“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.
• John 20:30-31―“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
• Romans 1:16―“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
• I Corinthians 15:1-4―“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

Believe in the deity of Jesus Christ.

• John 8:24―“I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
• John 3:18―“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
• Hebrews 11:1, 6―“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen … But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a re-warder of them that diligently seek him.”

Repent of one’s sins.

• Luke 13:5―“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
• Acts 17:30―“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.”

Confess one’s faith in Christ.

• Romans 10:9-10―“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
• Acts 8:36-38―“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.”

Be baptized (immersed) by the authority of Christ in water for the remission of sins.

• Mark 16:16―“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
• Acts 2:38―“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
• Acts 22:16―“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
• Romans 6:3-4―“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
• Galatians 3:26-27―“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
• I Peter 3:21―“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Having been added to the church by the Lord Himself (Acts. 2:42, 47), one must continue to be faithful to Christ in the church of our Lord, for salvation can be lost.

• I Corinthians 15:58―“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
• Hebrews 10:36-39―“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
• Revelation 2:10―“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
• II Peter 2:20-22―“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
• Galatians 5:4―“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

More than the foregoing God does not require of the child of the devil to become a child of God. Less than obedience thereto and one will remain a child of the devil, losing one’s soul when life on earth is finished. Don’t turn a deaf ear to God’s great plan to make a child of God out of a child of the devil, so one can live with him in glory when this life is over. Jesus saves only those who obey Him (Hebrews 5:9).

David P. Brown

How the Devil Works

Peter wrote, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). As long as we are in this earthly body we will have Satan as our adversary. His manner is subtle, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3). Not only is he subtle, he is full of tricks: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). We also read in Ephesians 6:16 that he is constantly throwing fiery darts our way trying to get us to stumble. But how does the Devil work? What does he do? Note the following:

 The Devil tries to keep every soul out of the church. The Devil does not want anyone to be saved, and he knows that people are saved who have been added to the church through obedience. So what does he do? He does anything he can do to get people not to believe the truth of God’s Word. If it takes tempting people with a man-made religion, or another gospel he will do it because he knows that if a person hears the gospel preached they will be told what it takes to be saved. The Devil will try to show that being a part of the body of Christ is not essential to salvation. He will ridicule and misrepresent the church. Yes friends, he will do everything in his power to keep every responsible soul out of the church.

The Devil tries to get you back into the world. If he cannot keep you from obeying the gospel, then he will do everything he can to get you back into the world. He does this by making the world and the things of the world appealing. He does everything he can to weaken your faith. He causes you to become discouraged. He will get your companions to corrupt you. He will rise up false teachers from among the church to entice you. He will do whatever it takes to destroy your faith and get you back into the world.

 But if he cannot keep you out of the church, and if he cannot get you back into the world, the Devil then will try to make you useless to the church. He does this by encouraging you not to study the Word so that you will not grow in the knowledge of the Lord. He tries to confuse your priorities so that you will not put the kingdom of God and His righteousness first in our life. He uses any devious trick that he can to render you useless and worthless in service to the Lord. The Devil knows the working Christian is pleasing to the Lord and because of their effort, others will be converted to the Lord and the church will grow and he does not want this to happen.

Author Unknown

Dealing with Wolves

Attitudes toward false teachers vary. Some people are more concerned about hurting the feelings of those “ravening wolves” which are devouring the flock of God than they are with protecting the precious bride of Christ from being ravaged. Some have come to believe that more  good can be accomplished by being irenic toward those who teach false doctrine and lead astray God’s elect than by marking “those that cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned” (Romans 16:17). Some would be afraid to suggest that any today have “concerning the faith made shipwreck” (I Timothy 1:19). To suggest such would be too harsh and/or too unloving. The possibility of dealing with false teachers by delivering them to Satan would be unthinkable to many who want to bring back those blasphemers with a disposition of sugary sweetness. Yet, in the New Testament we have the example of Paul’s dealing with Hymenaeus and Alexander to compare with the sweet-spirited approach common today. To suggest that a false teacher’s words “will eat as doth a canker (cancer, NKJV)” would be too strong and too bold to even contemplate uttering, but Paul stated these very ideas regarding Hymenaeus and Philetus (II Timothy 2:17). On another occasion Paul referred to those who taught damnable doctrines as “dogs” and “evil workers.” Paul was so bold as to shock our “civility” by saying “beware” of these dogs and evil workers. How inconsiderate; how unloving!!?     

Concerning the Cretians, Paul stated emphatically that they were “liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons” (ASV). Before someone says that Paul did not say this but someone who was a prophet among the Cretians  said it, it should be remembered that Paul said “this witness is true” (Titus 1:12-13). Also notice carefully that Paul’s next words of inspiration were, “Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). What is meant by “rebuke them sharply”? It does not mean smile and tell them that everything is fine and that there are no problems with what they are doing and teaching! These comments written on this verse are helpful: “Titus should ‘expose,’ should ‘unmask,’ the false teachers and should do it ‘severely.’...Titus must not be content if the false teachers merely soft-pedal their doctrines. They must completely abandon them. There must be a clean cut, a severance....It involved something like a surgical operation. The gangrenous limb must be severed (cf. II Timothy 2:17)” (Commentary on I and II Timothy and Titus, by Ronald A. Ward, page 246). This sounds too severe for some of our irenic brethren who do not want to upset especially false teachers by being too blunt, too harsh, or too direct. It must be kept in mind, however, that Paul’s words were inspired of the Holy Spirit – had the approval of God; it must be observed that Paul was not unloving and unkind; it needs to be noticed that the “irenic spirit” that is so popular among some brethren is NOT the attitude of Paul and others in the New Testament. The irenic approach advocated today by many will not halt false teaching, will not diminish the influence of such teachers, and will not enable the salvation of the false teachers and those under their influence. It should be noted that Paul’s treatment of these false teachers was designed so “that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13b). Can we believe that the “sweet” treatment being presently advocated by some will bring the same result as the divinely authorized approach? Absolutely not!    

According to I Peter 2:21, Jesus is to be our example and we are to follow in His steps. In Matthew 23 our Savior referred to the false teachers as “hypocrites” several times, He called them children of hell, He spoke of them as “blind guides,” He described them as being like tombs that had been white-washed on the outside but were full of dead men’s bones, He stated that they were “children of those who killed the prophets” meaning that they were of the same mindset and attitude, and called them “serpents” and a “generation of vipers.” He then posed the pointed question, “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Our Lord’s words were clear, plain, bold, direct, blunt, and TRUE.     

Should we have a more conciliatory approach toward those that destroy precious souls with their false doctrines? Should we ignore the seriousness of their crimes and try to downplay the harm that is being done by those who make shipwreck the faith of many by their damnable heresies? Should we not follow the example of Jesus? Of Paul? Should we act as if the teaching of lies (the commandments of men) does not really matter? Shall we just look the other way when our Lord’s bride the church is being attacked and destroyed by the cohorts of the “roaring lion” which “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). Shall we all agree to use only “sweet words,” and just hug each other and act as if any deviation from God’s Word is just a friendly difference of opinion without any real significance? I think not!    

We as Christians are engaged in a warfare with the devil and the forces of evil (Ephesians 6). Many times those who are messengers of evil pretend to be messengers of righteousness (truth) (II Corinthians 11:15). We must be aware of the devices (ways) of the devil (II Corinthians 2:11). If the devil can convince us that soft-soaping error and soft-pedaling false teachers is the loving thing to do, much harm will come to the body of Christ and the souls of many will be lost! Remember, it was the same apostle Paul who wrote, “Speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Paul did not violate his own inspired instructions when he exposed sharply those false teachers we have noted above. Jesus did not violate that which the Holy Spirit revealed to Paul in Ephesians 4:15. Could it be that the concept of the “loving thing to do” that many brethren have today is not really the loving thing to do? Surely this is the case! Let’s follow Jesus! Let’s expose every false way and mark every false teacher! Let’s be clear whose side we are on!

Lester  Kamp