Cheap Grace

PART I

Easy-believism or cheap grace (first popularized by theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer) has been a constant misconception of our faith. It justifies the sin, not the sinner! Salvation is indeed free, but not cheap! It will cost something and you will be tested. The most obvious one that some won't be willing to pay is to turn from a life of sin, like living in sin and not being willing to change that lifestyle. If we want to live godly in Christ, we will suffer persecution, according to Jesus. We must be willing to seek first the kingdom of God (cf. Matt. 6:33) above all other priorities, dreams, ambitions, and whatever is ours--because all ultimately belongs to Him, because Jesus doesn't want these things--He wants us as living sacrifices (cf. Rom. 12:1)!

That's what He meant when He said we must deny ourselves and follow Him. We don't know where He will lead us or know God laid out a plan for our whole life at salvation but must be willing to do His will, whatever it is in the complete surrender of our wills to His. Jesus also said that we must love Him preeminently above family, friends, children, spouse, and even self. In the last days, men will be lovers of themselves (cf. 2 Tim. 3:2), or "looking out for number one!"

Jesus did everything He could to discourage insincere followers and make salvation "well-nigh impossible." But it is worth the cost to follow Jesus through thick and thin and the reward is eternal. The more abundant life we experience begins in the here and now, as we live in light of eternity with God's blessing in all we do in His name. True prosperity isn't necessarily higher income, not even fame, or power. What being prosperous entails is God's blessings on our ventures and helping us to find what He will bless us in. The disciples were inquisitive about what their reward would be since they gave up everything to follow Him, and Jesus said that it would multiply not add (like ten times, instead of ten more).

Jesus had no trouble attracting admirers or people who wanted to be buddies or sidekicks, but He was looking for disciples who would devote their lives to the learning of Him and be following Him--this is what He meant by those who worship God in Spirit and in truth. Jesus said that if we abide in His Word we are disciples indeed (cf. John 8:31). Don't be someone to whom Jesus might say, "You have sacrificed nothing!" This is an awful rebuke of a disobedient life, and some believers may be saved as if by fire and by the skin of the teeth, so to speak.

The reward that we strive for is everlasting and we should be inspired by athletes who make great sacrifices and strive for a temporal prize that fades away. One of the metaphors that Christ uses for the believer is one of an athlete--we are to exercise discipline in our life and set our eyes on Jesus and finish the race He has set before us. If athletes can endure the discipline and think it will be worth a temporal prize, so much the more should we be inspired to make sacrifices for eternal prizes in Christ's kingdom, and even the ultimate sacrifice, because we are considered worthy to suffer for His kingdom (cf. Philippians 1:29).

The prize we seek is worth more than anything on earth and we should be willing to sacrifice anything on earth to gain it--God doesn't ask everyone to make great sacrifices, but He does expect them to be willing to do so. Nothing on earth (fame, fortune, power) is worth losing our soul for and Jesus said succinctly (cf. Mark 8:36), "What shall it gain a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" One soul is worth more to God than the entire world! You cannot put a price on salvation nor on the joy that a believer has in Christ.

Jesus never made it seem easy to be a bed of roses to be a believer and admonished us to count the cost, but "all these things shall be added" unto us if we follow Christ. The problem with most seekers is that they want the benefits without the Benefactor. We are not to get a martyr's complex either, thinking that the more we suffer, the more spiritual we are, or that we gain salvation through suffering or martyrdom--Jesus isn't calling us to die for him but to take up our cross and follow Him regardless of the results and through thick and thin. We are called to deny ourselves and this is the unique sacrifice of Christianity, and the one that makes it unattractive to some, because they are unwilling to heed Christ's "hard sayings." When we suffer for His sake, we shall in His glory--no cross--no glory!


PART II

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder" (James 2:19, NIV).
"Believe in the Lord [i.e., accepting his lordship or ownership] Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31, NIV).
"...' Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37, NIV).

A. W. Tozer wrote a book, I Call It Hersey, to debunk the false notion of easy-believism (i.e., not accepting Christ as Lord of one's life but believing in spite of it) or cheap grace (i.e., forgiveness without repentance, justifying the sin, not the sinner!), as Dietrich Bonhoeffer referred to it as. This message of domesticating and dumbing down the call to lordship is the gospel in vogue in modern, mainstream denominational churches who disregard repentance and, its flip side, faith as the only means of salvation. William Booth warned of a church offering forgiveness without repentance!

We must have a penitent faith or believing repentance as it were. Salvation is indeed free, but not cheap--it costs everything we've got (total surrender of self to His will). The propagators of the easy-believism tend to preach that we don't have to obey Christ to be saved--just believe! This is not accepting Him as our Lord. Christ will not dichotomize His offices and personhood.

We must submit to Him as Lord and trust Him as Savior. We cannot accept a half-Christ. He is Lord of all, or not at all! (Cf. Rom. 10:12; Acts 10:36). We must bow to His authority (cf. Phil. 2:10-11) and ownership over our lives as the "Captain of our soul and Master of our fate" (cf. Invictus by William Ernest Henley)--we must release control of our life. In other words, our destiny is in His hands (cf. Job 23:14) and we must openly confess Him as our Lord before men to confirm our salvation (cf. Rom. 10:9-10; Matt. 10:32-33). There are no secret Christians or closet believers. There are also no Lone Ranger ones or solitary saints--we must all get connected with the body to function and grow.

Now there is no such thing as a carnal Christian as a class of believers, though believers can become carnal or lose their fellowship, backsliding or even falling from grace. Christians do disobey God, though they do not continue in it, for God disciplines them and brings them back into the fold. If we are without discipline, we are not real children of God! Blessed are those who have learned to be rebuked by the Scripture and don't need a school of hard knocks to learn lives Reality 101. "The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all" (Psalm 34:19, NIV).

God is looking for believers with gusto, who are gung-ho for the Lord, not halfhearted! We must seek Him with our whole heart to find Him, for God regards not triflers. It was said of Joshua (cf. 14:8) that he "wholly followed the Lord." We must hold nothing back, making no compromises with the world, for if we love the world or the things of the world, we will not love God (cf. 1 John 2:15). We must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (cf. Mark 8:34). Jesus never made it sound easy to be saved, but even discouraged halfhearted "disciples."

We, also, must not contextualize or water down the gospel message to lure or entice folks with an "acceptable" gospel they can swallow or handle without offense (but Christ is the Rock of offense and a Stone of stumbling!).

Some people merely pay lip service or go through the motions, memorizing the Dance of the Pious, in their worship--which is a fraud and a sham, not the real thing--this is Churchianity or playing games with the church, not Christianity. The Bible condemns those whose lips are near but their hearts are far from the Lord only doing their religious "duty" in church, not out of the heart. Lukewarm believers are ones who are not walking with the Lord and need Christ in their heart to be a real encounter with Him.

The only genuine test of faith is obedience and "only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes," according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Yes, there's a cost to discipleship and no one is promised a bed of roses--our reward is not in this life (cf. Psalm 17:14), for the Lord is our portion (cf. Gen. 15:1)!

Our faith is not measured by our ecstasies or encounters, even experiences such as visions and dreams, but only by our obedience (cf. Heb. 3:18-19)! Jesus will say that we are merely good and faithful servants at the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10). Yes, the cost is great and it's a life of sacrifice of self--not living for oneself--but the cost of rejection is greater!


PART III

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (cf. The Cost of Discipleship) the famous martyred Lutheran Nazi resistor, talked about "cheap grace." Our salvation is free, but it costs everything. "Easy-believism" refers to belief without commitment and lordship. We must accept Christ as the lord of our lives and the center of our being.

Simple acquiescence or agreement is not enough; one must believe in one's heart and decide to follow Jesus no matter the cost. Jesus said, "Take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Me" (Matt. 16:24).

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, regretted that the twentieth century would usher in Christianity without Christ and faith without repentance. Your head belief must travel 18 inches to your heart to be heart belief. True faith loves Jesus and is a living relationship with Him.

Repentance is the flip side of faith and goes hand in hand with it. They compliment each other and need each other--they are different viewpoints. We are to leave the fundamentals of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. To get assurance we must examine our hearts and look at the fruit of our lives. The Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit will bring assurance of true faith.

Don't let anyone tell you that it is easy to become a Christian. Sure children can get saved but one must receive it as a child even if one is old. Jesus said to enter at the "narrow gate" for narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life and "few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:14). Many preachers say, "Just believe! It's easy!" but the Holy Spirit must be working in the person's heart to convict them (John 16:8) and draw them to Christ (John 6:44). Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

God gets all the glory and we are not the captain of our souls or the master of our fate--our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. Arminians think this makes God look like a terrible tyrant, but in reality, He is sovereign over all. Soli Deo Gloria!

Domesticating The Biblical Evangel

Many preachers today are into watering down or contextualizing the gospel message, even glossing over sin, while they preach to make it seem less strident and more palatable to the seeker.  Jesus made it appear well-nigh impossible and even discouraged the faint in heart and those who wouldn't count the cost of laying down their lives for Him. When the evangelist preaches that all we need to do is simply believe, or agreeing without obedience or lordship, he is guilty of disseminating a false gospel or what are termed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as "cheap grace."  (NB:  Salvation is free but not cheap! This is also known as "easy-believism" because it denies the necessity of making a lordship commitment to enter into a permanent relationship with God in salvation and reconciliation.  Its logical conclusion is that there can be "carnal Christians" who haven't fully surrendered to Christ's lordship and ownership of their lives as a new type or class of Christian.

This is where we must distinguish but not separate law and gospel in our preaching and evangelizing.  Law is what we must do: gospel is what God has done (the done deal!).  We must get them lost first!  We must preach sin to get them convicted of sin--for they may not see any need for salvation or believe they're righteous already.  We must not dumb down the gospel to those would-be disciples who admire or respect Jesus but don't worship Him. Why?  Because false assurance that one is saved is more of a problem than lack of assurance among sincere believers with weak faith.  Those who see no need of Christ are worse off than those seeking Him and realize their sinfulness.   What does lordship entail but obedience to the gospel and following on to know the Lord and walk with Him in fellowship producing fruit? And so the bad news of condemnation due to sin is the first word.  Sin is not a killjoy word to be avoided, even though it seems like a thankless and unwelcome task to preach it.

Then we welcome the grace of God to set the sinner free and restore his relationship with God (reconciliation). The bad news is our condition as totally depraved and that we are not good enough to need to be saved, but bad enough to be saved (knowing that no one is too bad to be saved though).  However, there's a catch-22:  we must realize how bad we are to be saved, and to realize how bad we are, we must try to be good! It's like not realizing how addicted one is to cigarettes until one tries to stop.  The good news is what God has done for us: solving the sin question with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.  We must become grace-oriented to have any assurance because merit is the antithesis of grace and there is no place for merit in God's economy.

Faith is not seen as a work of man for then he'd be worthy but as a miracle work of kindling it as wrought in God ("This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent," cf. John 6:29).  When we are grace-oriented in our salvation it affects our whole outlook on our relationship or walk with God.

Easy-Believism Or Cheap Grace

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (cf. The Cost of Discipleship) the famous Lutheran Nazi resistor, talked about "cheap grace." Our salvation is free, but it costs everything. "Easy-believism" refers to belief without commitment and lordship. We must accept Christ as the lord of our lives and the center of our being.

Simple acquiescence or agreement is not enough (the Romanists believe that agreement with church dogma constitutes a meritorious faith); one must believe in one's heart and decide to follow Jesus no matter the cost. Jesus said, "Take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Me" (Matt. 16:24).

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, regretted that the twentieth century would usher in Christianity without Christ and faith without repentance. Your head belief must travel 18 inches to your heart to be heart belief. True faith loves Jesus and is a living relationship with Him.

Repentance is the flip side of faith and goes hand in hand with it. They compliment each other and need each other--they are different viewpoints. We are to leave the fundamentals of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. To get assurance we must examine our hearts and look at the fruit of our lives. The Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit will bring assurance of true faith.

Don't let anyone tell you that it is easy to become a Christian. Sure children can get saved but one must receive it as a child even if one is old. Jesus said to enter at the "narrow gate" for narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life and "few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:14). Many preachers say, "Just believe! It's easy!" but the Holy Spirit must be working in the person's heart to convict them (John 16:8) and draw them to Christ (John 6:44). Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Soli Deo Gloria!

God gets all the glory and we are not the captain of our souls or the master of our fate--our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. Arminians think this makes God look like a terrible tyrant, but in reality, He is sovereign over all.  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Call To Lordship

Lordship salvation has been a matter of debate for decades even among well-meaning evangelicals.  Some maintain that requiring a lordship decision is tantamount to demanding works in exchange for salvation (which is supposed to be a gift of grace).  We can do nothing to earn, deserve, nor pay back our salvation, which is a monergistic (one-sided) enterprise of God not a synergistic or cooperative affair between us and God. Salvation is all God's work and we don't help Him or prepare ourselves for it as Jonah 2:9 says, "Salvation is of the Lord." Jesus Himself demanded the utmost loyalty and surrender in His invitation to follow Him on to know Him (the essence of salvation and its application).  We must make a one-time full surrender (as well as daily renewals) to His will for our lives and be willing to follow on to know Him wherever He leads--this was a well-nigh impossible demand that actually discouraged seekers who were not wholehearted followers but merely curious or simply admirers or wanted the fringe benefits of being a follower without paying the cost--which could be the ultimate sacrifice of laying down one's life for the sake of the Name.

In other words, we must be willing to go wherever He leads and do whatever He demands without reservation--holding naught back.  Anything less is only being a halfhearted disciple.  We must be gung-ho for the Lord and seek Him with our whole heart.  We don't do God any favors by "accepting Him" because we must accept Him for who He is without dividing His offices of Savior and Lord.  We trust as Savior and submit as Lord.   Actually, the terminology of "accepting" Him is unbiblical and only made up to domesticate the gospel call and make it more palatable to the unbeliever.  Jesus never made it easy to become a Christan or disciple (interchangeable terms in Scripture) but actually discouraged some.

We have more of a problem of false disciples with a false assurance that we do with believers who lack assurance.  Assurance is not an automatic fruit and there are degrees of certitude of one's salvation as one matures in Christ.  That's why the only way we can be sure of salvation is to realize it's a sole enterprise of God and we contribute naught. Assurance is a matter of coupling the Word of God with the internal evidence and conviction of the Holy Spirit ("The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God," cf. Rom 8:16).  If we had to do anything we'd fail!  Lordship, then, is more trusting God through thick and thin and even when the chips are down!  Knowing that if the Lord got you to it, He'll get you through it!

Jesus will not save those He cannot command according to A. W. Tozer!  The command is to repent and follow Him!  We must be obedient for that is the only measure of faith--not emotions, accomplishments, nor success! The mandate is to obey the gospel (cf. Rom. 1:5; 16:26; Acts 6:7; 2 Thess. 1:8).   As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  The two are correlated and cannot be separated as doctrines but only distinguished--they are eternally linked and juxtaposed in Scripture.  Hebrews 3:18-19, HCSB, says, "And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief."  I want to point out that disobeying God doesn't cancel our salvation but the only ones who obey are believers.  We must obey the gospel to be saved!  But the measure and standard of our faith is its obedience, not its achievements or success, for God doesn't call us to success but to faithfulness according to Mother Teresa (Saint Teresa).

He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:12) and we don't make Him Lord, for God made Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).  God the Father has given Him all authority (cf. Matt. 28:18) and we must do the same and follow suit!  He is Lord and we must obey and submit like the hymn goes, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus...."  If we don't receive Him as our Lord we are rejecting Him; we know Him for who He is! We don't "try Jesus" or give Him a chance to prove Himself; we must take the leap of faith into the light!  There's no other way except by faith!   In short, we must bow to His lordship and be willing to pay the cost of discipleship (for He stressed that we must count the cost!).  He has given His Spirit to those who obey Him (cf. Acts 5:32; Heb. 5:9).  

Jesus simply cannot save us if He is not our Lord and that means Lord of all, not withholding anything back or having any reservations or hesitations to follow Him bearing our cross which pales in comparison to His.  When they ask, "Who's the boss?" we should unreservedly answer that Jesus is the master of our fate and the captain of our soul!  We have surrendered the ownership of our lives to His control and our destiny and future are in His hands!  This is not the gospel in vogue today but it is the biblical one.  It is not easy-believism which is simply an acknowledgment and it is not cheap grace which justifies the sin and not the sinner!    In sum, when we call Him Lord we are admitting that we are His slaves; the point is that everyone is a slave and we only exchange masters from being the slave of sin to being the slave of righteousness!   In fact, the more enslaved to Christ, the freer we really are.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Easy-believism

"You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that--and shudder" (James 2:19, NIV).  
"Believe in the Lord [i.e., accepting his lordship or ownership] Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31, NIV).
"...' Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37, NIV).

A. W. Tozer wrote a book, I Call It Hersey, to debunk the false notion of easy-believism (i.e., not accepting Christ as Lord of one's life but believing in spite of it) or cheap grace (i.e., forgiveness without repentance, justifying the sin, not the sinner!), as Dietrich Bonhoeffer referred to it as.  This message of domesticating and dumbing down the call to lordship is the gospel in vogue in modern, mainstream denominational churches who disregard repentance and, its flip side, faith as the only means of salvation. William Booth warned of a church offering forgiveness without repentance!

We must have a penitent faith or believing repentance as it were.  Salvation is indeed free, but not cheap--it costs everything we've got (total surrender of self to His will).  The propagators of the easy-believism tend to preach that we don't have to obey Christ to be saved--just believe!  This is not accepting Him as our Lord.  Christ will not dichotomize His offices and personhood.

We must submit to Him as Lord and trust Him as Savior.  We cannot accept a half-Christ.  He is Lord of all, or not at all! (Cf. Rom. 10:12; Acts 10:36).  We must bow to His authority (cf. Phil. 2:10-11) and ownership over our lives as the "Captain of our soul and Master of our fate" (cf. Invictus by William Ernest Henley)--we must release control of our life. In other words, our destiny is in His hands (cf. Job 23:14) and we must openly confess Him as our Lord before men to confirm our salvation (cf. Rom. 10:9-10; Matt. 10:32-33).  There are no secret Christians or closet believers.  There are also no Lone Ranger ones or solitary saints--we must all get connected with the body to function and grow.

Now there is no such thing as a carnal Christian as a class of believers, though believers can become carnal or lose their fellowship, backsliding or even falling from grace.  Christians do disobey God, though they do not continue in it, for God disciplines them and brings them back into the fold.  If we are without discipline, we are not real children of God!  Blessed are those who have learned to be rebuked by the Scripture and don't need a school of hard knocks to learn lives Reality 101.  "The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all" (Psalm 34:19, NIV).  

God is looking for believers with gusto, who are gung-ho for the Lord, not halfhearted!  We must seek Him with our whole heart to find Him, for God regards not triflers.  It was said of Joshua (cf. 14:8) that he "wholly followed the Lord."  We must hold nothing back, making no compromises with the world, for if we love the world or the things of the world, we will not love God (cf. 1 John 2:15).  We must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (cf. Mark 8:34).  Jesus never made it sound easy to be saved, but even discouraged halfhearted "disciples."

We, also, must not contextualize or water down the gospel message to lure or entice folks with an "acceptable" gospel they can swallow or handle without offense (but Christ is the Rock of offense and a Stone of stumbling!).

Some people merely pay lip service or go through the motions, memorizing the Dance of the Pious, in their worship--which is a fraud and a sham, not the real thing--this is Churchianity or playing games with the church, not Christianity.  The  Bible condemns those whose lips are near but their hearts are far from the Lord only doing their religious "duty" in church, not out of the heart.  Lukewarm believers are ones who are not walking with the Lord and need Christ in their heart to be a real encounter with Him.

The only genuine test of faith is obedience and "only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes," according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Yes, there's a cost to discipleship and no one is promised a bed of roses--our reward is not in this life (cf. Psalm 17:14), for the Lord is our portion (cf. Gen. 15:1)!

Our faith is not measured by our ecstasies or encounters, even experiences such as visions and dreams, but only by our obedience (cf. Heb. 3:18-19)!  Jesus will say that we are merely good and faithful servants at the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10).  Yes, the cost is great and it's a life of sacrifice of self--not living for oneself--but the cost of rejection is greater!       Soli Deo Gloria!

Simply Believe?

"Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
"Faith is not believing despite the evidence, but obeying in spite of the consequences."  (author unknown).  
"I will show you my faith by my good works!"  (James would say this)
"I will show you my good works by faith!"  (Paul would put this spin on our salvation)


Salvation is "by faith alone [the rallying cry of the Reformation], but not by a faith that is alone" (as the Reformers taught).  It must be fruitful--no fruit means no faith!  It isn't how much faith you have, but the object of the faith that matters.  True faith is validated in works only, not by feelings or emotions--some people are just sentimental types.  Obedience, then, is the only genuine test, as the Jews were found disobedient and therefore lacking faith in Heb. 3:18-19.

Saving faith is always joined and in juxtaposition to genuine repentance--some people don't have a problem believing, but in repenting!  Impenitent faith is not saving faith!  We are admonished to believing repentance or penitent faith if you will.  The most unnatural thing for us to accept is that salvation is by faith alone and all we have to do is simply believe (i.e., with the right kind of belief), as God gives us the gift of faith to exercise and walk through the door--we don't conjure it up by our own efforts (cf. 2 Pet. 1:1).

It would be so much more convenient for most people if only they had to do something for salvation--some work they could manage; however, if ever there were a work involved, we would flunk and fall short.  The only way it could be fair to all and make it so that anyone could get saved is if it were by faith alone, through grace alone. I'm not against works, just works religion; i.e., works done in the flesh and not in the Spirit.  We venture to boast only of what Christ has accomplished through us and in us (cf. Rom. 15:18).   It's so simple that the intellectual, philosopher, and legalist find it to be a stumbling stone, rock of offense, an impediment.  Man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation (cf. John 6:28-29)!

Yes, we can come to God as we are in faith, but we don't stay that way!  God works in our hearts a new life from the inside out--a transformation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17) of all things new in Christ.  Now the key is to remember that faith is only the beginning, though we go from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:16-7), and increase in faith, and our living faith is not inert or static, but grows and matures into a seasoned believer with tried and proved faith.  One may say with complacency that he does believe, but belief is only the beginning--it's the door, not the final destination!   Faith is not certitude: we don't have to be fully persuaded to have saving faith and doubt is not the opposite of faith, but a component.

One disciple told Jesus (cf. Mark 9:24), "I believe, help thou mine unbelief!"  You will see that true faith always expresses itself and cannot remain silent (cf. Acts 4:20)!  Point in fact: There's no smoking-gun evidence to prove there is a God; on the contrary, there's none to prove there isn't!  You need not prove God unless they can disprove Him!  There's always going to be a place for doubt, but we must overcome it and walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). All our questions will be answered in eternity (cf. John 16:23).

Salvation is not by knowledge but by faith, and that means one must take the leap of faith and bid his doubts goodbye in looking unto Jesus as Lord and Savior.  But, and this is an important contrast:  We can know for certain that we are saved--we are not just to hope we are saved, or even believe with doubt attached, but we are admonished to know for certain.  But this is what's called a "properly basic belief" or knowledge through a personal encounter with God and experiencing Him.  God speaks to our spirit and confirms our faith in us and we know as a result of the Spirit in us convicting us (cf. Rom. 8:16).  The Word of God coupled with the testimony and witness of the Spirit is a powerful assurance.

 And furthermore: God wouldn't command us to make our salvation certain (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10), if it were not possible to know for sure!  Two errors of newborn believers are not to take the Word of  God seriously and at face value, and to be ignorant of the Word and its promises.  Note that assurance of salvation is not an automatic fruit of salvation and many believers struggle with it and need to be informed of what the Bible teaches: assurance and security are two sides of the same coin and can be distinguished, but not separated--they go hand in hand.  If we weren't secure in our salvation, that we couldn't lose it, we could never be sure and certain we wouldn't lose it, and there would and could be no assurance.

When they say simply believe, it's so simple, but not simplistic, and so child-like, but not childish, that everyone from the intellectual to the simpleton and child has an equal chance to receive the gift of salvation by faith alone, not of any work, or we would have grounds of boasting to God. In the gift of saving faith (yes, we don't achieve, we receive), we may have doubts and all our questions may be unanswered, but we believe anyway and take the leap into the light, saying goodbye to the darkness of unbelief. We aren't inclined to believe nor are we asked to believe despite the evidence or with no evidence at all:  there's plenty of evidence and reason for credence, but for the skeptic and the stubborn and hardened heart, there's never enough evidence, because one must desire to do God's will (cf. John 7:17) and believe in Him.

It is one thing to believe God exists (cf. James 2:19), or that Jesus is Lord and Savior, and quite another to accept Him into your heart (cf. Rev. 3:20); i.e., trusting as Savior and submitting as Lord all by faith and loving Him in fellowship!   You don't need all the answers to believe, because God changes our hearts. It is important to note that we are judged by our works, not our faith (cf. Rom. 2:6).  If you don't have accompanying works, your faith is suspect, because the faith you have is the faith you show!  In the final analysis, the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart--we must believe in our hearts, not just agree or consent with our minds (which is mere head belief)!

Caveat:  There is the temptation to think that believing is all there is to the Christian life and it doesn't matter whether one's life is submitted to the lordship of Christ and one is obedient to the Word, but this is so-called "easy-believism" and brings forth what's called "cheap grace," which justifies the sin, not the sinner!  True faith entails leaving behind the life of sin and embracing a new life in Christ with Him in at the helm, as the Master of our fate and Captain of our soul!

Some so-called Christians who live in sin tell their pastor, "It's okay, I believe!"  This ought not to be so!  The essence of the Christian life is not summed up in belief per se, as if believing were the whole story.  The whole point of conversion is a changed life, but one that God gives us, not that we accomplish on our own by "turning over a new leaf," making a New Year's resolution, or making an AA pledge to reform our lives--not self-improvement, but transformation by God.   Christ must be born in us, not just born in Bethlehem!

We're not just believing God is there, but in the God who is there, as revealed in the person of Jesus. There is a contrast between believing Jesus died on a cross and rose again, as a historical faith, and believing He did it for you personally!   And in conclusion, believing is only the beginning and the door to a new life (not the destination), we are to "follow on to know the Lord" (cf. Hos. 6:3, NLT, tells us to "press on to know the LORD") and walk with Christ as we progress from "faith to faith," as the Lord "... makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image" (2 Cor. 3:18, NLT).  (But saving faith is for those who realize and admit they're lost, for Christ "came to seek and to save those who are lost" (cf. Luke 19:10).)     Soli Deo Gloria!  

The Freedom Of The Will

"For who makes you to differ?  What do you have that you didn't receive?"  (cf. 1 Cor. 4:7).
"Apart from Me you can do nothing"  (cf. John 15:5).
By definition:  the will is the choosing faculty of the mind that makes decisions as it desires, apart from feeling any outside force--the issue is how free it is; basically, it's free to make mundane decisions but has lost ability to make divine choices to choose God apart from His work on our heart. What is important is that we still have self-determination; i.e., we make a decision for or against God voluntarily.   

Jonathan Edwards wrote a book by the above title, but he was a Calvinist, or as some call Reformed theologian par excellence, and wasn't propagating Arminianism or that grandiose idea or notion of a so-called free will  (liberum arbitrium).  "We are free but not freed," said Augustine--meaning we have retained the power to make choices and decisions, but have lost our liberty--we're voluntary slaves!  We sin and rebel against God precisely because we want to!  We are fallen creatures who have lost our inclination to good completely and totally--what so-called good we do is tainted (cf. Isa. 64:6) by evil motives and self-interest, like the applause of man.  We feel no outside force, though, which would be coercion or determinism.

Sin is rebellion against God's divine order and nature and anything that is repugnant to His holiness!  Martin Luther wrote the book, or diatribe,  De Servo Arbitrio, or, The Bondage of the Will, to refute Erasmus and the Catholic ideas of free will.  This word is never mentioned in Scripture, except for free will offerings, meaning voluntary ones.  We don't need a free will, but wills made free; we are not born free but born slaves to sin!  We get set free upon salvation and the Son is the only one who can adequately do it (cf. John 8:32,36).

In our decision making, the will is only a small part of the equation:  environment, heredity or genes, custom or tradition, pressure, etc. all play a role.  We all owe God for being born in America and most of us to Christian parents!  The thing about God being our Maker is that He designed our nature:  sanguine, choleric, melancholy, impetuous, happy-go-lucky, etc.  The point is that we didn't choose our nature!  We always act according to our nature, even whimsically or in an arbitrary manner sometimes.   As an analogy from nature:  the dove eats seed by nature; the hawk kills prey by nature; the vulture eats carrion by nature.  They will not act au contraire!   God is able to make us willing, though, and do so that we become believers (even against our former will), if He chooses to--God made a believer out of you and me, and it wasn't because we were virtuous or intelligent or even wise--we "believed through grace" (cf. Acts 18:27).

When we get saved, our whole soul and spirit gets saved: our heart, mind and will:  we become willing to do God's will; and able to comprehend God's Word, and able to love with our hearts and worship God with our spirits.  Our mind, heart, and will are all depraved--this is called total depravity (the first point of the Reformed acrostic TULIP).  If you deny total depravity you cannot maintain consistency with any of the other points in TULIP.  The will is wicked and stubborn (cf. Jer. 17:9; Isa. 46:12),   and needs redemption also--the heart of man is desperately sick and evil and we cannot know it (cf. Jer. 17:9).  God literally takes our stony hearts and makes them hearts of flesh (cf. Ezek. 36:26).

God bends our wills to His will by an act of sovereign grace ("grace reigns" cf. Rom. 5:21).  Our wills are not neutral in that they are able to weigh the pros and cons and make a freewill decision without any influence or wooing from the Holy Spirit to convict us and open our hearts to believe (cf. Acts 16:14).  Man was intended to have a mind to know God, a heart to love Him, and a will to obey Him, but this was lost at the Fall, but is restored at salvation. Note that we never ceased to be men, but ceased to be good--after the Fall man is inclined towards evil.


Acts 18:27 says that we believe through an act of grace--it's a gift per 2 Pet. 1:1 and God grants it to us according to Phil. 1:29.  God gives each of us a measure of faith according to Romans 12:3.  The people that believe in free will think that God's sovereignty is limited by our wills!  They also claim some desire to be saved while others don't--no one seeks God per Rom. 3:11!   God's sovereignty is total and He reigns and rules over all--what kind of God wouldn't be in control of all?  Our destiny is in God's hands, and He decides who will get saved, not us--it's not a matter of sincerity or of willpower!  Some very strong-willed seekers will never come to faith because they simply rely on themselves--it's not a matter of trying, but of trust.  Note the hard saying of Jesus in John 6:44 and 65 that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws and grants it.

Salvation is monergistic, not synergistic, that is, it's solely an act of God apart from our cooperation--we don't contribute to our salvation nor do any presalvation works.  We are dead spiritually and God quickens faith within us and regenerates us so that we can believe in our hearts.  We weren't elected because we believe (prescient view) but we are elected unto belief, so that "Salvation is of the Lord"  (cf. Jonah 2:9).  It is not of man and God working jointly or in concert, nor of man's sole effort, but of God alone!  We don't save ourselves--there's only one Savior!   God wants all the credit and glory and we cannot even say that we wanted to get saved apart from His grace--without which no one would believe.  The almighty and sovereign God is able to change our disposition so that we desire Christ!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Repentance And Confession

"Therefore, repent and turn from all your sins, that you may be forgiven and times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Acts 3:19

When we get saved, it's by penitent faith, or believing repentance, because they go hand in hand as the Bible says, "Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate" in Mark 10:9. ("[Testifying] both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ," says Acts 20:21).  The first of the Ninety-five Theses that Martin Luther made was that our penitence is a continual thing and renewed, an ongoing resolution it's not just a one-time event.  It is a mockery of repentance to confess without turning from the sin and not being sorry enough to quit.  As Job said, "... I will wait till my renewal comes" (cf. Job 14:14).  Indeed, even Job did find repentance: "[Therefore] I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes"  (Job 42:6, ESV).

Some believers are concerned that they confess the same sins over and over (this is called the "sin which easily besets [or ensnares] you" per Heb. 12:1).  "... And let no iniquity have dominion over me"  (Ps. 119:133, NKJV).  David says, "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me...."  What do they want?  New sins?  God is able to make grace abound toward us and give us the victory over sin because we are no longer "under the law" and "sin shall have no dominion over you" per Romans 6:14.

When we become believers we do not have permission to live in the flesh or become Antinomians living as our flesh desires, but we have the power to live in the Spirit.  As David says in Psalm 18:23 that he has "kept [himself] from [his] sin." We cannot achieve sinless perfection but we can overcome our easily besetting sin and not let it hinder our walk.  "Who can say, 'I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin [sinful nature]?'"(Cf. Prov. 20:9).   Note that the psalmist said in Psalm 119:96 that he had seen the "limit of all perfection."

We have to be on the alert, because "sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it [it's crouching at the door!]"  (cf. Gen. 4:7).  Hosea says that sin has been Israel's downfall (cf. Hos. 14:1).  Repentance was demanded of the woman caught in adultery:  "Go and sin no more!"[i.e., live in sin] (Cf. John 8:10ff).  Salvation is more than mere forgiveness at the point of salvation--it covers all sin, past, present, and future, but is not an easy believism or cheap grace that grants forgiveness without repentance.

We must confess and admit our faults and sins to God, calling a spade a spade, naming sin as God does and  calling it out, making no excuses, nor trying to justify ourselves.  "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning..." (1 John 3:6, ESV).   If we go on in our sin we will be disciplined or chastised of the Lord and we can be sure "our sin will find us out" per Numbers 32:23. Jeremiah writes:  "Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins?"  (Lam. 3:39, NKJV).   

Remember, to feel remorse or regret is only half the formula; we must have faith and accept God's forgiveness, not living in guilt. It must be matched with faith.   Peter was forgiven, Judas wasn't because Peter had penitent faith/believing repentance and Judas just felt sorry for what he'd done or had remorse but lacked faith, his missing ingredient.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Cheap Grace

Easy-believism or cheap grace (first popularized by Dietrich Bonhoeffer) has been a constant misconception of our faith.  Salvation is indeed free, but not cheap!  It will cost something and you will be tested.  The most obvious one that some won't be willing to pay is to turn from a life of sin, like living in sin and not being willing to change that lifestyle.  If we want to live godly in Christ, we will suffer persecution, according to Jesus.  We must be willing to seek first the kingdom of God (cf. Matt. 6:33) above all other priorities, dreams, ambitions, and whatever is ours--because all ultimately belongs to Him, because Jesus doesn't want these things--He wants us as living sacrifices (cf. Rom. 12:1)!

That's what He meant when He said we must deny ourselves and follow Him.  We don't know where He will lead us or know God's laid out a plan for our whole life at salvation but must be willing to do His will, whatever it is in the complete surrender of our wills to His.  Jesus also said that we must love Him preeminently above family, friends, children, spouse, and even self.  In the last days, men will be lovers of themselves (cf. 2 Tim. 3:2), or "looking out for number one!"

Jesus did everything He could to discourage insincere followers and make salvation "well-nigh impossible."   But it is worth the cost to follow Jesus through thick and thin and the reward is eternal. The more abundant life we experience begins in the here and now, as we live in light of eternity with God's blessing in all we do in His name.  True prosperity isn't necessarily higher income, not even fame, or power.  What being prosperous entails is God's blessings on our ventures and helping us to find what He will bless us in.  The disciples were inquisitive about what their reward would be since they gave up everything to follow Him, and Jesus said that it would multiply not add (like ten times, instead of ten more).

Jesus had no trouble attracting admirers or people who wanted to be buddies or sidekicks, but He was looking for disciples who would devote their lives to the learning of Him and be following Him--this is what He meant by those who worship God in Spirit and in truth.  Jesus said that if we abide in His Word we are disciples indeed (cf. John 8:31).  Don't be someone to whom Jesus might say, "You have sacrificed nothing!"  This is an awful rebuke of a disobedient life, and some believers may be saved as if by fire and by the skin of the teeth, so to speak.

The reward that we strive for is everlasting and we should be inspired by athletes who make great sacrifices and strive for a temporal prize that fades away.  One of the metaphors that Christ uses for the believer is one of an athlete--we are to exercise discipline in our life and set our eyes on Jesus and finish the race He has set before us.  If athletes can endure the discipline and think it will be worth a temporal prize, so much the more should we be inspired to make sacrifices for eternal prizes in Christ's kingdom, and even the ultimate sacrifice, because we are considered worthy to suffer for His kingdom (cf. Philippians 1:29).  

The prize we seek is worth more than anything on earth and we should be willing to sacrifice anything on earth to gain it--God doesn't ask everyone to make great sacrifices, but He does expect them to be willing to do so.  Nothing on earth (fame, fortune, power) is worth losing our soul for and Jesus said succinctly (cf. Mark 8:36), "What shall it gain a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?"  One soul is worth more to God than the entire world! You cannot put a price on salvation nor on the joy that a believer has in Christ.

Jesus never made it seem easy to be a bed of roses to be a believer and admonished us to count the cost, but "all these things shall be added" unto us if we follow Christ. The problem with most seekers is that they want the benefits without the Benefactor.  We are not to get a martyr's complex either, thinking that the more we suffer, the more spiritual we are, or that we gain salvation through suffering or martyrdom--Jesus isn't calling us to die for him, but to take up our cross and follow Him regardless of the results and through thick and thin.  We are called to deny ourselves and this is the unique sacrifice of Christianity, and the one that makes it unattractive to some, because they are unwilling to heed Christ's "hard sayings." When we suffer for His sake, we shall in His glory--no cross--no glory!
Soli Deo Gloria!

All Authority

Giving the Great Commission, Christ said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me" (Matt. 28:18).  Peter declared at Pentecost: "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this:  God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah" (Acts 2:36).  We do not "make Christ Lord" as the modern-day terminology coins it when we get saved--He is Lord and to accept Him we cannot divide His offices as Savior and Lord, because He couldn't be Savior without being Lord of all (Acts 10:36).

We are rejecting Christ if we don't accept Him for who He is and acknowledge His lordship over our lives (i.e., lordship salvation as opposed to easy-believism that denies this doctrine).  We trust Him as our Savior and submit to Him as our Lord--obedience is the only test of faith.  We must surrender unconditionally and give up the ship and helm of our lives to His leadership.  He is the new Captain of our soul and the Master of our fate.

When we refer to the good Lord or simply the Lord we are generally referring to Christ Himself--that is the exclusive privilege that God the Father has bestowed on Him.  The Father is Lord also, and there is one Lord, but we give the nomenclature of Lordship to Christ in deference to His role as executing and completing our salvation and rising on our behalf from the dead.

We are to pray in His name and not just attach the phraseology "in Jesus' name, amen!" at the terminus of our prayers for good measure--this implies to His glory and will!  We have the privilege to pray in His name that angels don't have and can boldly approach the throne of grace in His name (cf. Heb. 4:16).  We are given authority over demons and Satan's dominion of darkness in His name.

When Jesus preached and taught, He did not do as the Pharisees and scribes had done:  He taught as one having authority and as no one had dared preach before Him;  because He didn't footnote His sermons by quoting the so-called authorities and interpretations, but made His own pronouncements:  "Verily, verily, I say unto you," or "Amen, amen I say unto you."  His formula was not to say like the prophets, "Thus saith the LORD." but He said boldly and audaciously proclaimed, "You have heard it said, but I say unto you so and so.  The people were heard saying, "Never has a man spake like this man!"  If He relied upon an authority, His teaching would not have the authority of what the Father told Him to say.  He was His own authority! One of the reasons they objected to Him was because He was making Himself equal to God.

In application, God wants us to not despise prophesying and urges us to speak the Word of God boldly as if they were oracles of God.  A prophet today speaks to the edification of the body of Christ and proclaims what God has revealed to him.  A prophet speaks to men on behalf of God, while a priest speaks to God on behalf of men. Modern prophecy doesn't consist in foretelling in as much as forthtelling.  Jesus never prefaced His words but dared to speak out and tell it like it is.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Our Common Salvation

Jude wanted to write a treatise on "our common salvation," but was diverted to discuss heresy that had crept into the church.

This is a subject known doctrinally as soteriology, from the Greek soter, or to save.

The common man has no comprehension of what salvation means, and probably relates to a boxer being "saved by the bell."  A renowned theologian (R. C. Sproul) was asked if he was saved:  "Saved from what?"  The man was taken aback and had no answer; he didn't know what our salvation is from!   Actually, we are saved by God and from God (delivered from the wrath to come according to 1 Thess. 1:10).  We are as bad off as can be, but not too bad to be saved!

Christianity is a religion of salvation and this is pivotal.  "Salvation is of the Lord," says Jonah 2:9, and this means that God does all the work and gets all the credit and glory.  The other two possibilities are to be saved by a  combination of our efforts and God's, or to be saved by our efforts alone.  Only in the scenario that has God doing everything, can we have the assurance of salvation?

The Bible proclaims the saviorhood of God; this is His purpose in dying  ("...and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.").  The Scriptures speak of Christ as being the only way to be saved and that there is no other Savior (cf. Acts 4:12; John 14:6; Hos. 13:4;  Isa.43:11).

All three offices of Christ take part in our salvation:  as Prophet, we are saved from ignorance of sin; as Priest from the guilt of sin; as King from the dominion of sin (per D. James Kennedy).

There are many aspects to look at our salvation.   At the point of salvation we are saved from the penalty of sin or justified, then we are sanctified or saved from the power of sin, and in the state of glory, we will be saved from the presence of sin.  Another way of looking at this is that of our position (in Christ), our condition (fellowship and sanctification), and our expectation (glorification).  From the standpoint of the tenses, we are saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved.  Our outlook is given perspective so that we have a worldview:  "Our past is forgiven, our present is given meaning, and our future is secured."  This all began in eternity past, is realized in time, and looks forward to, and is consummated in heaven.

Our salvation is a done deal, a fait accompli, a finished work--a divine accomplishment, not a human achievement.  Religion is a do-it-yourself proposition and says, "Do," but God says, "Done!"  The entire Trinity took part:  the Father planned and authored it, the Son secured and accomplished it, and the Holy Spirit applied it.

Only in Christianity can we have the assurance of salvation and this is not meant to be permission to live in the flesh, but the power to live in the Spirit.   Assurance enhances growth and is assuredly a boon to our spiritual well-being--otherwise, we are stunted and paralyzed in our walk.  Note that assurance and security can be distinguished, but not separated.  They go hand in hand and without one, you cannot have the other.  Assurance is not to satisfy idle curiosity, but meant to strengthen our faith, and is a sign of faith, not presumption.

Salvation is not by knowledge--that would be intellectualism--and not by emotion--that would be emotionalism--and not by works--that would be moralism.   It is not by faith plus works, not by faith plus being good, nor by faith plus law-keeping.  It is by grace alone, through faith alone,  in Christ alone.  Principle:  Don't divorce faith and faithfulness!  What kind of faith is saving faith is the issue:  only obedient and repentant faith will do.

There are only four possibilities for salvation to note:  by works alone; by faith plus works; by faith alone bringing about good works, and by faith alone equaling salvation minus good works.  The first is religion, the second is legalism, the third is correct Reformed teaching, and the last one is only antinomianism or easy-believism.  [This labeling from R. C. Sproul]  The formula during the Reformation was that we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.

Our faith is simple--so simple a child can do it-- but not simplistic; it is childlike, but not childish.  It's not a matter of trying, but trusting--trust and obey!  It is the work of God (John 6:28-29 answers this question:  "What shall we do, to do the works of God?  It is the work of God that you believe..."); because we are incurably addicted to doing something for our salvation, according to Chuck Swindoll.   The reformer called this Soli Deo Gloria, or to God alone be the glory!   Soli Deo Gloria!

He That Is Spiritual

I'm borrowing from Lewis Sperry Chafer's 1918 book He That Is Spiritual to make a point.  It used to be believed that you didn't have to make Christ Lord of your life to get saved, but only trust Him as Savior.   Au contraire, you must submit to Him as Lord as well, and accept Him for all that He is--otherwise, you are rejecting Him!

I recently went to a Bible study that an "Arminian" said that there are three kinds of people: unbelievers, carnal Christians, and spiritual Christians  (I sensed this as an urgent and critical issue to address).  My task is to refute this as erroneous thinking because it can lead to many fallacious deductions.  Let's nip this doctrinal credo in the bud!

 Paul said that he could not address the Corinthians (3:1) as "spiritual" but only as "worldly" or "carnal."  "As mere babies in Christ!" They had the "mind of Christ," but were only immature spiritually.  He wasn't creating a new type of believer but reaching out to where they were because a good teacher knows his listeners.  One of the biggest controversies among evangelicals in the '80s was the so-called "easy-believism." (basically assent or acquiescence and not heartfelt faith and the premise that one can "accept Christ" as Savior and not as Lord, thus dichotomizing His offices--we can distinguish them, but not separate them because we must accept them both or we not accepting Him).

A. W. Tozer said, "The Lord will not save those whom He cannot command. He will not divide His offices.  You cannot believe in half-Christ.  We take Him for what He is...."   This is the assumption that salvation is by believing alone apart from any submission to Christ's Lordship, in other words, that salvation is free but it doesn't cost you anything either--salvation is a free (but not cheap) gift to those who "accept Christ" for who He is and what He did on our behalf--discipleship can cost you everything, even the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom.  This controversy goes back to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the persecuted and martyred Lutheran pastor in Nazi Germany, who proclaimed the effect of "cheap grace."  Salvation is indeed free, but don't call it cheap or easy!

This made a whole new category of Christian known as the carnal believer.  Any believer can be carnal or spiritual at times and need milk at times to restore to fellowship--you are not a different brand of  believer just because you can't handle solid food yet.  "We are all one in Christ."  Just because one is carnal doesn't mean he is a carnal Christian, but that he is a Christian who is carnal!  What can happen with the false category of "carnal Christian" is that a person can be living in sin and say, "Oh, it's all right, I'm a carnal Christian!"  We should treat said person as an unbeliever when we see no fruit, and not let him get away with sin. One of the church's duties is discipline.  "If anyone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness..."  (Gal. 6:1). 

All Christians have the "mind of Christ" (there is no elite type of believer or privileged class) and all have their spiritual eyes opened to understand the spiritual dimension and doctrines of the Bible.  The illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit is at work in all believers.  There are two kinds of sinners: lost and justified (or unsaved and saved)!  Luther said we are at the same time just and sinners (per Gal. 2:17)! Christians aren't really called sinners, but sin even though they are justified in God's eyes and treated as just.  Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for their lack of spiritual growth, and the fact that they are sinning. The believer doesn't practice sin according to 1 John 3:9.  They are behaving like immature believers that don't know anything and Paul must tell them the basics all over again or start from scratch, as it were because they hadn't progressed on their own--does Paul need to feed them the milk of the Word all over again?

The issue should be what is saving faith, not what is easy-believism since that lends itself to semantic problems.   One must believe in the heart, not just intellectual assent, to be sure, and more than just agree to dogma because it is not a credo that saves us, but a person to know!   We need to get to know Jesus, not just a church dogma.  Doctrine is necessary, but not sufficient; it isn't enough and we must live out our faith and translate our faith and creed into deeds.  I have no beef with some believer who loves the Lord, even if there is disagreement on a doctrine--we must accept him who is weak in faith.  The strong need to increase in love and the weak in knowledge.  The Scripture distinguishes between the natural man and the spiritual man.  Unbelievers are natural men and cannot fathom Scriptural truth, because they are blind and dead spiritually, and not quickened by the Holy Ghost in regeneration.   God quickens faith within us and it is a supernatural work that gives God the glory.

We are not given free rein to live in the flesh and to "continue in sin, that grace may abound," but given power in the Spirit to become slaves of righteousness, instead of sin; for our sinning proves our slavery, it doesn't demonstrate our freedom!  It should be noted that Christianity is the only faith that is based on divine accomplishment, not a human achievement.

Faith and repentance are divine works in us (cf. 2 Tim. 2:25; Acts 11:18; Acts 18:27; John 6:29; Phil. 1:29; et al.); they are not pre-salvation works or preparations for us to merit salvation in any way; salvation is not merited by any work and we are not saved by works (faith and repentance are not human works), but by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide) and in Christ alone (soli Christo); the only question is what we mean by these terms.  Faith is manifested by obedience only and not be lip service alone; faith must be translated into deeds to be real genuine saving and living faith (true faith is not static).     Soli Deo Gloria! 

Nixing So-Called Easy-Believism

A. W. Tozer said that God will not save those whom He cannot command--what a deathblow to those who deny lordship salvation! [Lordship salvation means you must accept Christ as Lord as well as Savior to be saved.]  Some refer to this as antinomianism (against the law, we are not under the law, but we are not lawless--the sinner knows no law and the saint needs no law!) and think that they have permission to live as they please, simply because they are secure in their salvation.   It all has to do with the sovereignty of God and His divine prerogative to rule us and all His creation as He sees fit to His glory. Every knee shall bow according to Phil. 2:10 (either in this life or in the hereafter at  Judgment Day). In surrendering,   I recall the song "All hail the power of Jesus' Name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown Him Lord of all."

Many people have lordship issues with life per se: e.g., some say, "I don't like to take orders." Some fear a taste of authoritarianism and lack of individuality and infringement on their free will. We have authority figures in our culture from the time we are children when parents are in loco Dei (in the place of God). Even the king is accountable to God! Actually, the 5th commandment to honor our parents really can be applied to respect all authority and to give honor to whom honor is due even to the emperor. Some people say they believe in God and do lip service but are practical atheists (believing in God, but denying Him by their witness and testimony), because they live like there is no accountability and authority above their own person. I got news: Everyone is under the authority and no one is above the law--we all reap what we sow, according to the law of the harvest.

Christ is "Lord of all" regardless of our decision and even Satan has to take orders from above and get permission for his mischief.     We don't make Him Lord--He is already Lord. We acknowledge His sovereignty and control and ownership of our lives--to do less is to reject Him. Do you own Him as your personal Lord--can you freely (if you don't know, you will at the judgment) confess Him as your Lord, as Thomas did: "My Lord and my God." Jesus is either Lord of all--or not Lord at all. "There is not one maverick molecule in the universe," says  renowned theologian and pastor R. C. Sproul, "which is out of His control." The toss of the die is in His control as well (c.f. Prov. 16:33)--yes, He micromanages  (even the minutiae) the cosmos and superintends all to His glory and purpose---nothing escapes His attentiveness.    Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory).

The question we must ask ourselves is whether we are holding out on God and if we are gung ho or not to the Great Commission. We cannot escape authority figures who teach us to respect and obey, but we must not kowtow or pay homage to any human as to God. We don't want to get lax, lethargic or blasé about serving God, but getting with the program and having a vision. ("Without a vision, the people perish," Prov. 29:18.) In our daily lives we are not to leave God out of the reckoning and out of the equation, as it were, but to seek His revealed will and be committed to it. The greatest prayer we can pray is this: "Into Thy hands, I commit my spirit, and not my will, but thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This means there is no secular versus sacred areas of our lives but we can worship God in all that we do and bring glory to Him in everything ("Whatsoever you do, do to the glory of God," says 1 Cor. 10:31).  Our lives are to be in harmony with God and then we will have His blessing and smooth sailing, so to speak. The easiest way to put is to "Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

"Father knows best," (everything is "Father-filtered, as it were) we should say, as we sell out lock, stock, and barrel to the Lord. If we are not in God's will, and this is the safest place to be, trusting Him, we are what we call "wandering in the wilderness" like Israel  (i.e., in a trial period), and we must learn to submit to Christ as Lord just as we have trusted Him as Savior--by faith! "The just shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:17). 

Let's summarize:  it all has to do with respect for authority and honoring all people because we are all in the image of God.  1 Pet. 2:17 says to "honor all people," and Rom. 13:7 says to give "respect to whom respect is due."  With all due respect, we disagree, but we don't slander or libel one's reputation, or cast a slur on our fellow man.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Easy-believism

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous Lutheran Nazi resistor, talked about "cheap grace." Our salvation is free, but it costs everything. "Easy-believism" refers to belief without commitment and lordship. We must accept Christ as the lord of our lives and the center of our being. Simple acquiescence or agreement is not enough (the Romanists or Papists believe that agreement with church dogma constitutes a meritorious faith); one must believe in one's heart and decide to follow Jesus no matter the cost. Jesus said, "Take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Me" (Matt. 16:24).

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, regretted that the twentieth century would usher in Christianity without Christ and faith without repentance. Your head belief must travel 18 inches to your heart to be heart belief. True faith loves Jesus and is a living relationship with Him. Repentance is the flip side of faith and goes hand in hand with it. They compliment each other and need each other--they are different viewpoints. We are to leave the fundamentals of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. To get assurance we must "examine our hearts and look at the fruit of our lives," according to R. C. Sproul. Also, he says the "Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit" will bring assurance of true faith.

Don't let anyone tell you that it is easy to become a Christian. Sure children can get saved but one must receive it as a child even if one is old. Jesus said to enter at the "narrow gate" for narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life and "few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:14). Many preachers say, "Just believe! (we don't need faith in faith per se, but obedient and penitent faith) It's easy!" but the Holy Spirit must be working in the person's heart to convict them (John 16:8) and draw them to Christ (John 6:44).

Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Soli Deo Gloria! God gets all the glory and we are not the captain of our souls or the master of our fate--our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. Arminians think this makes God look like a terrible tyrant, but in reality, He is sovereign over all.   Soli Deo Gloria!