Posts Tagged ‘Justified’
Why Salvation By Grace “Alone” Is Not Accepted By Many Christians.
Ephesians 2:4-5 KJV
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved)
Salvation by Grace and the theology of election gp hand and hand. Paul and Peter taught them using the teachings of Jesus. John chapter six is an example of the what Jesus said and taught.
For the first 300 plus years of the early church were these teachings believed and taught. Then a theologian named Pelagius appeared on the scene and emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin and especially stressed the freedom of human will. Pelagius was accused of heresy in 415 and his doctrines were harshly criticized.(From Wikipedia) However, the seed of a specific Christian church was planted.
Whereas salvation by Grace, being born-again, happens not because one is born into a Christian family or by works of flesh nor by the will of man but by the will of God.
God’s foreknowledge of who will be saved is not based on who will choose to accept or reject Jesus of their own will. God through Paul in chapter 9 of Romans makes this perfectly clear..
Romans 9:11-16 KJV (in speaking about Jacob and Esau).
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) [12] It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. [13] As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. [14] What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. [15] For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. [16] So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Nothing more needs said than what Paul wrote in these verses,.
Moving on…
The reason many Christians reject the doctrine of Salvation by Grace “Alone” is because it eliminates completely man’s participation in his being saved by his will and through self-effort; co-operating with God.
You see, man’s pride needs to be involved. For in doing “his” part, he feels he will be worthy to receive from God forgiveness for his sins and be born-again by the Spirit of God.
In other words … man does his part and God will reward him by doing His part. The problem with this teaching is that this is a works salvation; very much like being under the Law in obedience to God doing a work that God demanded of man, as found in the Old Covenant. In order to receive a blessing or see a promise come to fruition man must do his part before God will do His part.
Anything a person thinks, says or does in order to receive salvation from God is a work of man’s will, but Grace says something else.
In Titus 3:5-7 KJ
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy God saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; [6] Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; [7] That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Note: justified by Grace is the act of being made righteous when one is born-again. Saved by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit is a description of what happens when one, who is dead in sin, is born-again. In order for man, who is dead in sin, is able to respond in believing faith he first must be made alive; bon-again. “saved by Grace”.
It is by God “Alone”, who by Grace “Alone”, saves, “Alone”, apart from any works of man, irregardless of his desire to cooperate in his salvation. For salvation is all of God.
This is why Paul can write:
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved).
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Justified by the Faith of Jesus Christ – Alone
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (KJV – also found in the 1599 Geneva Bible)
Salvation by Grace is accomplished by what Jesus has done for us because we cannot do for ourselves what is necessary to be given the right to become a child of God. Galatians 2: 16 is a fine example of justification by Faith Alone by what Jesus has done for man.
We need to be justified by the faith of Jesus for we cannot justify ourselves by our faith “IN” Christ Jesus. You see, faith is an action of our own will and in Ephesians we read:
Eph 2:8, 9 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Therefore, if we are justified – made righteous – by our faith in Christ then we have something about which we can boast for we can say, “it was by my faith in Jesus that I was justified.” That would mean we were justified by the work of our own will, and Ephesians 2: 8, 9 says otherwise.
Remember, Grace is the act of regeneration (born again) and at that time, we are not only justified by the faith of Jesus but we are also given the gift of this faith, mentioned in Ephesians, and it is with this faith we believe in Jesus. We need this gift of faith for before we are born again, we have no faith with which we can believe, and neither can we use the work of our will to generate the faith needed to be justified. Justification occurs at the time we are born again by God’s Grace and we are given the gift of faith with which to believe in Jesus.
However, be forewarned, many of the newer versions of the bible have drifted away from Reformation Theology and have discreetly brought to their readers a theology of the Law of works by changing many verses that say, “faith of Jesus” to “faith in Jesus”. In doing so they have taken the whole theology of Grace Alone and changed it into a grace plus works or a more open version of man-centric theology that says man can save himself of his own free will.
It takes God’s will to open ones understanding of His plan of Salvation and that man is born again (justified), not by blood nor by the will of flesh nor by the will of man but by the will of God.
Salvation is all of God from start to finish and salvation is all of Grace, and Grace Alone, and we are Justified by the Faith of Jesus and by His Faith Alone.
To What Or Whom Are Christians Under Authority?
Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Every time I hear someone say that Christians are to be obedient to the Law (Ten Commandments) I cringe. What they do not realize is that to be obedient to the Law puts one under the authority of the Law, and that makes that person a doer of the Law.
According to the Romans 2: 13 – above – anyone who becomes a doer to the Law, putting themselves under the authority of the Ten Commandments, will result in being justified by their obedience to the Law. Just the opposite of what we read in Galatians 2: 16…
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
What I do not understand is why would one want to be under the authority of the Ten Commandments and not, by God’s Grace, be under the authority of Jesus, to obey Him?
The Old Covenant is obsolete and is no longer in authority over man, as you can read for yourself in Hebrews 8: 7 – 13. It has been replaced by a new and a more excellent Covenant, one that is based on what Jesus has done for man.
Think of this, as a Christian, either you are under the authority of the Law to obey it, or you are under the authority of Jesus to obey Him.
Ummm, I know under whose authority I am. How about you?
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