Followers of John Calvins theology misinterpret John 1:13 so as to deny that man has any choice in the matter of getting saved. They sometimes ask, Well, if a man must be WILLING to trust Christ, then what MAKES one willing and another NOT willing? The answer to that is: NOTHING. If something MADE you willing, youre not willing at all. You were FORCED. The truth is, if youre not saved, God is not going to force it on you, do it for you, overpower you, and save you against your will. To my Facebook friends, if youre waiting on believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, because you expect God to do it apart from your will, you will never be saved. Salvation is not by the works of man; it is by the grace of God. However, the Bible teaches that saves you BY grace and THROUGH FAITH. Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Church of Christ cultists (such as the Duck Dynasty deceivers) stress obedience, believing that a man is saved by getting baptized and living right. The truth is that obedience IS demanded to the gospel, but obedience to the gospel is not for a man to do WORKS, but rather to BELIEVE. Read it, noting that the second half of the verse explains what is meant by obeying the gospel in the first half of the verse: Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? The gospel is the message of what Christ did on the cross. That is the sense in which salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is not in what you do; it is in what HE did. However, no sinner personally receives the benefits of what Jesus did on Calvary unless he trusts Christ as his Savior. You must respond by believing on Him who gave Himself for you: 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: So the invitation is given to a lost man this way: Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. A little boy explained his conversion to his parents this way when they wanted to know what happened to him at church: Well, God did the SAVING, and I did the LETTING. Thats closer to the truth than John MacArthur or A.W. Pink ever told it. So, here it is: God will save you if you are willing to let Him. If you will, He will. If you wont, He wont. Or, as the Lord said: Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Notice that Jesus said that He WOULD HAVE, but the people WOULD NOT. Is that you? Would God have saved you years ago, but you werent willing? My greatest desire in my involvement on Facebook is for everyone of my friends to be in heaven someday. None of you are too wicked to be saved, and none of you are too old to be saved. If you go to hell instead of heaven, it will be because you CHOOSE to REJECT the gospel of Christ. You may refuse to trust Him and His work on Calvary because you are too proud, too afraid, or too bitter, but regardless, it will really be because you WILL not come to the Lord by faith. Will you stop resisting His Spirits dealing with your heart and trust Him right now? Acts 16:29-31 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. If it will help, Ive made some Youtube videos on salvation, one of which is titled, What Must I do to be Saved? You can view it at: youtu.be/2gNUETm_Vi4
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 03:42:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015