Bible Lesson 13

The person who is truly saved, born again and is obedient to God, is indeed a blessed individual. They have been delivered from sin and death, from condemnation, and the wrath of God. Now they have hope of eternal bliss; however it is apparent that much of our society has misunderstood the Word and Will of God as they have practiced a gospel that cost nothing, changes nothing and will be worth nothing in the Judgment.

Those of us who have been awakened to the error of our belief system, and have realized that God really means what the Bible says, must practice on a daily basis the real Christian walk. It is not enough to “profess” to know the Lord, not enough to fulfill the required formula of most church groups, about walking to the front of the church, and shaking the preacher’s hand and saying that we love Jesus, and being baptized and made a church-member.

That is all that you are when you do that, just a church-member who does not have any assurance of your salvation. Oh, you may “say” what they teach you to say, and you may loudly protest that you are saved, but you are not saved until God says that you are saved. We can say anything that we can think of; but that does not make it so. God has to initiate salvation and only God can complete true salvation.

The visible church of our day has begun to teach sinners how to “act” as if they were saved. Our interest is to teach God’s truth and then back up and make room for God to work in that truth. When God works in the life of any man, that man is radically changed from the moment of his salvation, until God calls him home to heaven.

From the moment of his salvation, that person will know what God wants him to know, and he will be guided and led by the Holy Spirit of God. He may not know much scripture, but he will be hungry and thirsty for God and His righteousness. He will be obedient to all that he knows and what he doesn’t know, the Holy Spirit will prompt him to obey anyway!

We have sold God mighty cheap, in our institutional churches for the most part. The Bible says that God is Omnipotent (almighty),(2nd Cor. 6:18) that means that God is the source of all power; yet so many preachers and pastors in our day choose to preach an “impotent” God, or a God that can do most anything, except make a crooked man straight. They steadfastly preach that in spite of being recreated by the hand of God (Ephesians 2:10) that all saved people are simply sinners. They say that we can’t help it! Regardless of their unbelief, the Lord always refers to those who are saved as Saints.

The organized church of our day does not like the word saint, because it points to a difference that has been wrought by God in true salvation. I firmly believe that we began to want to grow large churches and seem to be successful in the eyes of the world, that we found that God was too selective, too careful, too demanding; and so the church simply left God out of Salvation and the church and the preachers and elders and deacons and whatever, began to save people on their own. That way the church could have more people on the rolls, report numerous conversions to their associations and denominational headquarters and just look good to the community.

I would ask you to follow Jesus and read the New Testament and see if Jesus ever softened the gospel, ever allow anyone who wanted to “make a deal with God” in which they would except certain sins out of their contract with God. Read about the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and wanted to know what he had to do to be saved. Jesus told him exactly what he would have to do and when the rich young ruler thought about what was required, he sadly rejected salvation. Jesus did not send a committee to him to assure him that he could come on his own terms, nor did Jesus relent on what he would have to do. (Matthew 19:16-22).

I am not an enemy of the true Church; however I do know that what we see in our society is normally not in line with what the Bible teaches as Truth. God uses all sorts of situations to save people, but God never saves anyone outside of the written word. Oh, yes I know that there are many today who have become so enamored with their superior understanding of God and His Word, that they have no trouble dismissing anything that they don’t like or that would seem contentious to a sinner.

In my estimation, and with all the love and compassion I can muster, I believe that a man like that is simply educated above his intellect. I have said all of that to say this, regardless of how we bluster about being saved and regardless of what we believe, unless the Bible says the same thing, we are lost and undone, blind and naked and going to hell.

Jesus said, in Luke 6:46-49, that it is not what we say but what we do that matters. He repeats that same sort of thing in Matthew 7:21-27; and then in John 13:13, He reminds us that we are never to forget to serve one another. The Greek word that is translated “Lord” in the Bible, speaks of a Sovereign, Ruler, King, Owner, Master, and one to whom obedience and service are demanded. Is that the Lord of your life? Jesus must be sovereign Lord of everything in your life or He will not be Lord of anything. (Acts 2:36).

Until next time,

may God bless and keep you

This is Bro. Bob