Salvation being of infinite and eternal value, there is nothing we can do
to pay the price! No one can impress God ! We must only appropriate it for
ourselves, once given freely. If salvation consists only in escaping Hell, I
dare hope that infinite Grace would be sufficient to guarantee it. But if by
the word Salvation we mean to live eternally around the
Throne of Glory, what we call celestial Jerusalem or the Kingdom of God,
this favor is conditional to holiness and
some Sacrifices. The
parable of talents warns
us that the one who bury his talent
instead of making it fruitful, will lose it. Wait a
minute please! We find in the New Testament many warnings on the ways and
practices of sin that could lead one to perdition!
Here is a subject of controversy for the tenants of hyper-Grace; a
subject of vain debates that are seemingly endless with those who occult the
contexts and look only to what may support their doctrine.
Far from me the intent of destabilizing brothers in Christ, neither
sowing doubt or fear. Each one will answer alone before God on what he says
and what he writes. But in
His perfect justice and
His omniscience, God will judge each and every one according to the
intentions of his heart. Despite all the commandments and the general laws
and rules, yes God can evaluate us all perfectly case by case! And probably
the hypothesis of clear distinction between Kingdom of heaven and Kingdom of
God would be the exit door to this controversy.
(Son-ship and Kingship are much
higher than paradise).
If Jesus never spared His audience from severe warnings
and so were the messages of the saint apostles addressed to the
Christians assemblies, it is certainly not to sow doubt about our salvation
nor the fear of losing it, but truly
to tell the truth, the whole entire truth.
It is no one’s duty to censor or
occult theses biblical warnings, even if it seems to contradict our
doctrine. Maybe the ‘fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’.
May anyone be in a leadership position or a simple believers,
no one must omit these numerous warnings! To subtract or occult verses is as
abominable as adding a few by excess of zeal ! Revelation 22:18 to 21
applies to the whole Bible, figure out.
Some
may
even please themselves opposing James to Paul, like if it wasn’t the
same
Holy Spirit at work! As we were already advised at the introduction of the
previous article: let us not let the malevolent one skillfully conclude for
us, by patting our intellectual pride without calling upon the ‘Holy Spirit’
who will lead us in all truths !
But, didn’t Jesus say
in John 10:28: ‘’I give them eternal life … and no
one will snatch them out of my hand ?’’ Yes, but read the context
before in 10:22-24 and ask the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, most Christians talk so
much without much intimacy with the Holy Spirit. They hastily take a radical
position, while ignoring many verses that warn us and insist severely on
sanctification. Can we convince
those who ignore the foundations of faith and the doctrine of Christ ?
I always told my beloved fellows that the letter without the Spirit
kills, and the text without the context makes us blind ! When we read the
bible we commune with God through bread and wine: the word and the Spirit.
Let us not talk about those who even please themselves saying there is
nothing you can do to lose your salvation (even the worse crime) !
Taking the risk to itch your hear, I dare say they literally tip over into satanic deception.
The truth is, a truly humble and faithful disciple will always resolve any controversial matter by
first
seeking
the Holy Spirit,
then
calling upon common sense and some indubitable principles, perhaps a few
pertinent questions
before coming to any ready-made
conclusions.
The Holy Spirit has always clearly answered my questions about
scriptures. Here is an example of what He revealed to me: In John chapter
10, the context shows that Jesus was speaking to the
Jews who are not of His sheep,
who do not understand the concept of
eternal life.
As we know, some do not even believe in life after death, neither in
resurrection!
So, He was only
explaining to them the meaning of eternal life and without end by
stating : ‘When they shall enter eternal life, they will continue to live
with
Me and no one can snatch them out of
my hand’. He was not explaining salvation, which
is by far harder to understand and takes longer to explain. We
certainly all know that there is not more deaf than the one who is not
open to listen.
What a revelation from the Eternal master and assistant! Otherwise, how
shall we believe that by only one verse, Jesus is going to contradict all
of His teachings and warnings to Christians and Churches concerning His
requirements on obedience and sanctification ?
Jesus very well said : ‘’Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he
is who loves me’’ (John 14:21). Read also John 15:10-14 : do you really know
them, the commandments of Jesus ? Which ones, and how many of them do you
know ?
Much more simply: do you know the complete profession of the faith that
gives you the gracious right and access to salvation by Jesus Christ ?
Let’s say that you know its entirety, are you daily convinced of it ? Do
you know that even doubt could, potentially, end up killing faith ?
Doubt entertained - and intelligently justified - is really like a form
of unconscious mental rebellion and disbelieve. So - if your faith - is
‘’dead’’, where is your salvation ?
Even after declaring his conviction and allegiance, a man can still
doubt, being even free of taking away his confidence, and by that very act,
destroying his faith.
Does he remain saved in spite of himself?
What does the Bible say?
Let’s look at Hebrews 10:38-39 to start with : ‘’But my righteous one
shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we
are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those
who have faith and preserve their souls’’. Again, a good one: read 1 Timothy
4:1 : ‘’Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will
depart from the faith, devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and
teachings of demons’’. He speaks very well of those who will abandon the
faith after having it, for we cannot abandon but what we once truly had.
Why all these warnings if man no longer has his free will to doubt, or even
give up ? It is even more evident to me that when Jesus said ‘’no one can snatch
them out of my hand’’, He simply explained the concept of eternal life to
the stiff-hearted ones. Jesus does not contradict the warnings He has given.
For me, Salvation is really the treasure of my life. For eternal life has
an infinite Value. What a satanic deceit
than with someone to tell me: stop protecting your
treasure like that ! There is absolutely no risk or danger. For
it has a lifetime guarantee. Do not listen to those fanatics who share all
these fearful warnings. They aren’t biblical. I will literally say: get
behind me Satan ! There is only the thief that says not to watch your
treasure. I will never buy your license to practice sin without danger
of losing my Treasure of eternal life. For no one can dupe a Holy, Holy,
Holy God, and no sinner will invade His kingdom of perfect holiness. Even
Satan with all his army and malice couldn’t and never will be able.
Period !
After receiving salvation for free, it is really the believer’s task to
appropriate it for himself and save his soul
by the maintaining of his faith by the daily exercise of his spirit. It is the simple common sense of the process of constant improvement.
In other words, it couldn’t be clearer: the believer
can undermine his faith, give up and lose
his salvation. (at least by practicing
and justifying sin)
Yes, Salvation is really by grace through faith. But, there is but
holy faith that assures salvation by
grace. It is faith coupled with Love and infinite gratitude. After the Lord gave you salvation, it’s up to you to own it,
maintain it to ‘save’ your soul. Nevertheless, you always have the free
choice of condemning yourself to ‘please Satan’ ! If you missed it,
just arise my child and try again. Forgiveness is still available with
sincere repentance.
Let us remember what Proverbs 3:12 and
Hebrews 12:6 say. Do you agree that God
corrects and punishes the one He loves ? Why, if not to help him to complete
repentance
out of love.
Do
you accept the chastening, even severe, as David accepted it with remorse
and a more radical submission following?
Brethren, our standard is no longer of David neither the one of the
disciples before the resurrection of Jesus! God gave us the Holy Spirit
who lives in us and unites us to the Son and the Father on His Throne of
Glory ! The threshold is even higher and the holy apostles reached over by a
fidelity unto death, even to the price of a physical martyr ! They didn’t
say like us today: the flesh is weak and God forgives!!
Remember that the ones who practice sins like fornication or adultery
will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 John 3:8-10). The Bible clearly says
they are of the devil ! If you can’t repent, then you should marry while you
can ! For the Lord comes back first to judge and
purify His Church. It is not true that if we do not have sexual
relationships, we lose it ! I do not buy this deception: for
with the Holy Spirit all things are possible.
Thanks to God, I even went through 15 years of no sexual relations without
losing my mind !!
Do not be deceived,
dear brothers; no one can trick God, who will judge each and every one
according to the secret intentions of the heart (1 Corinthians 4:5).
The profession of faith is not a
vote, neither a bet on who will get the most. It is not either about
announcing our faith or proclaiming it to impress the gallery ! It is about
profound convictions acquired, developed and cared for on a heart level by
letting ourselves being transformed by the Word of God, who will
produce the fruits of the Spirit.
There is but holy faith that can assure salvation by grace ! In spite of repeating myself, it is a matter of
faith joined to Love and infinite gratitude. For
even the greatest faith that might move mountains is of no use without
love (1 Corinthians
13); and love itself - without
obedience to God - is absolutely vain ! So it can certainly not guarantee
salvation. Didn’t He
say:
‘’he who
(truly) loves Me keeps my commandments’’
? Be careful:
even obedience and asceticism that does not proceed from pure love and
gratitude
is of no use, I dare say. For no one can request anything of God
for
his deeds, not
even the biggest sacrifice to gain eternal
life ! (…’’I never knew you’’).
If it is not a profound conviction of the Spirit, lived from the heart;
if it does not emanate from the child’s heart within you and is only but an
intellectual acknowledgement, it is null and of no
avenue. It has no value before the infallible verdict of the
Eternal God. Must we learn to love like He loved us
? No one will enter the Kingdom of God
unless he becomes like a little child, He said.
May it be clear : even faith who may lift up mountains, without
amazement, admiration and profound love is only ephemeral. How can it
assures eternal salvation ?
God invites us to regularly meditate upon His
word, His Attributes and the underlying foundations of our faith
in Him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To look upon His promises and to the
redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Never put love on a lower level, for faith without love is valueless. Satan knows all that very well and believes it entirely, all the
while hating anything related to redemptive Love.
I never put unconditional forgiveness on a lower level, neither continual
repentance and even anticipated.
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