Sunday, December 21, 2014

Saved by Grace Through Faith - by John F. Strombeck



 Is a Gradate of Northwestern University in 1911

FOR IT is by grace you have been saved, through faith - anthis not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9). This passage deals with the past tense of salvation. It is salvation from the guilt, penalty and condemnation of sin. It has already been fully accomplished. It is not a process that is being carried on to be perfected at a later time. In its present tense, salvation is from the power of sin and is a process. In its future tense, salvation will be from the presence of sin and will be accomplished "in a moment in the twinkling of an eye."

Salvation, to use the words of another, is in no sense a probation. To be saved by grace, to some, seems to mean to be placed in such a relation to God that at the end of the earthly life, one enters glory, provided, however, that one has been faithful to God and has lived according to certain moral standards. It is not stated as definitely as this, but that is a very fair statement of the meaning of salvation to be gleaned from a great deal of present day preaching.

The doctrinal epistles tell of a great many things that are true of the one who has been saved. These are all spoken of as being fully accomplished. There is no mention of growth or development of any one of them. They are always considered as being final. The following is only an incomplete list of these things. It is not necessary to enumerate all in order to prove that the one who has been "saved" is in an unalterable condition. Some of these are more fully discussed in later chapters.

The saved person has been redeemed from under the law (Galatians 4:5), and the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13), by an eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12). He is dead to the law (Romans 7:4), and shall not come into condemnation (John 5:24, Romans 8:1). He is reconciled to God (Second Corinthians 5:18), and is at peace with him (Colossians 1:20). He is justified (Romans 5:1), and all sins have been forgiven (Colossians 2:13). He has been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son of God (Colossians 1:13). He has been born again of imperishable seed (First Peter 1:23); is a son of God (John 1:12); and has eternal life (John 5:24). He is a new creature (Second Corinthians 5:17). He is perfected forever (Hebrews 10:14); is complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10); and has been accepted by God (Ephesians 1:6). He has been born of the Spirit (John 3:6); baptized by the Spirit (First Corinthians 12:13); is lived in by the Spirit forever (John 14:16, 17); and has been sealed (or security marked) with the Spirit for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). He has become the object of God's love (Ephesians 2:4), of his grace (Romans 6:14), of his power (Ephesians 1:19), and of his faithfulness (First Corinthians 1:9). He is a citizen of heaven (Ephesians 2:19 and Philippians 3:20); is seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6); and is already glorified (Romans 8:30).

All of the above, and more too, God says of the one who has been saved. Before the one who has been saved can be lost, everyone of these things must be made null and void. Is that possible? God's word is absolutely silent as to any such possibility. This should be final, for it is only through his revelation that these facts are known to man. It could only, by a similar revelation, be known that they are subject to change if that were possible.

Can one who has been redeemed by an eternal redemption be brought back into bondage? Can one who is dead to the law be made alive to it? Can one within the Kingdom of God be taken out of it? Can one born again of imperishable seed and having eternal life die? Can one that has been perfected forever be found imperfect? Can one that is complete in Christ become incomplete? These are eternal in their very nature, and therefore are unalterable.

Only when all of these questions can be answered in the affirmative, can one who has been saved be said to be lost. The burden of proof rests squarely on those who say that one who has been saved can be lost to show that these things can be made void. To many, it is a light matter to say that one who has been saved can be lost, but how many understand the full implications of that statement?

IT IS BY GRACE

Grace excludes all merit on the part of the one who is the object thereof. Therefore to be saved by grace cannot take into account any merit in the saved one, either before, at the time of, or after the time he is saved. Furthermore, grace is shown toward the one who is actually guilty. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Therefore demerit does not hinder the operation of grace, nor can it set aside that which grace has accomplished. In fact, demerit is the occasion for grace to accomplish its work.

The conclusion drawn from this is that that which God has done by the operation of his grace is unalterable, and this is exactly what God says about grace. ". . . it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed" (Romans 4:16).

Thus to be saved by grace is to be unalterably saved and that for all eternity. The saved one cannot be anything but eternally secure.

THROUGH  FAITH

There is no merit in faith. "It is of faith that it might be by grace." If there were the slightest merit in faith, it could not be a channel through which grace could work. It would be a counter agent to grace which, as has been seen, by its very nature excludes merit on the part of the one saved. Faith not only excludes the thought of merit, it actually includes the idea of helplessness and hopelessness. In faith one calls on another to do that which one is unable to do for oneself. A child in the family is sick and near death. the family physician is called. In doing this the parents confess their own inability to deal with the illness and express their confidence in the doctor. There is no merit in calling the doctor. their faith in the doctor merely gives him the opportunity to work.

The object of the sinner's faith is Christ. He did not come into this world to help men to be saved. He came to save that which was lost - that which was beyond all human help As Saviour, he came to give his life as a ransom - to die, and thereby take on himself the judgment for sin.

Jesus gave a clear illustration of what faith in him means. He said to Nicodemus: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14, 15). The Israelite in the desert showed his faith by looking on the snake of brass that hung on the pole (see Numbers 21:5-9). This one act of faith expressed a confession of sin and utter helplessness and was an acknowledgment that God's provision was his only hope. He neither understood the significance of the snake, nor why it was made of brass. He didn't analyze his faith to see if it was sufficient. He didn't question the intensity of his look. He surely claimed no merit for looking. There were just two things on his mind: his own absolute hopelessness and the sufficiency of God's provision. This is all there is to the faith through which the lost are saved. There is no power in faith that contributes to salvation.

Yet there are men who discuss faith as something which is meritorious on the part of the believer. Some even say that faith is a work. This is impossible, for salvation is through faith and "not by works." Sometimes one hears sinners invited to come to the cross and lay their sin burden there. If this were possible, it might be contended that faith is a work, but even this is impossible. No person can take the sin burden off himself. The sin burden must always rest on a person and it stays on the sinner until it is taken and placed on Christ and that can only be done by God. "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). If man is totally incapable of doing anything to remove the sin burden from himself, he is much more incapable of contributing anything to doing all the things already mentioned as being true of the one who is saved.

Through faith (that is the acknowledgment of one's own utter helplessness and hopelessness and the casting of one's self upon God's provision) God is able to act in grace. That is the meaning of: "It is of faith that it might be by grace." That is also the meaning of: "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).

The meaning of faith then, as well as the meaning of grace, excludes every possible vestige of human merit. If every possible vestige of human merit is excluded, then man's acts, apart from accepting the Saviour, are not related to salvation and thus no act of man or demerit of man can cause him to be taken out of the condition of being saved. Yet this is exactly what is argued by those who contend against the doctrine of eternal security.

The fact that saving faith is an act and not a process must not be construed to mean that there is no further need for faith. "The righteous will live by faith" (Romans 1:17 [Quoting Habakkuk 2:4]). God has much more in view for the saved person than being saved from the guilt, penalty and condemnation of sin and into the Kingdom of his dear Son, even as much as that means. He desires that those who have themselves been saved shall bear "more fruit and "much fruit." This is to live a Spirit-directed life that shows others the way of salvation. That is the life that the righteous (one who has been justified, making them righteous before God through one act of faith) shall live by the faith principle of confessing one's own inability and full dependence on God.

AND THIS NOT FROM YOURSELVES


God does not trust man to see his own absolute lack of merit merely through the meaning of the word grace and faith, for to know his own lack of merit and absolute worthlessness in relation to God is man's hardest lesson to learn. So God adds the definite statement "not from yourselves." Again, no human merit can contribute to salvation. God is very zealous to have it known that he and he only is responsible for man's salvation. Yet well meaning, sincere Christians will insist on some "must" or "musts" on the part of man in order for him to remain saved.

There is a further meaning to the words "not from yourselves." The word "yourselves" is addressed to men who in themselves are fallible, who are finite and who are incapable of good as God judges goodness. If salvation were by such, it would be faulty, it would be limited in extent and duration, it would not be good and acceptable to God.

If it were part of God and part of self, as it must be if the slightest degree of merit or demerit of man were taken into account, it would still be faulty, limited and unacceptable to God, to whatever extent man's merit or demerit be taken into account. There would somewhere be one weak link in the chain. As the strength of the chain is the strength of its weakest link, there cannot be the slightest link of human merit in the salvation chain that binds the believer to God, but there is no weak link in that chain, because it is "not from yourselves" and therefore the believer is eternally secure.

Every argument against the eternal security of the believer is based on the human element. As God definitely and clearly excludes all human element in salvation, every one of these arguments is thereby ruled out.

IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD

Salvation is a gift from God. Again, and for the fourth time, all thought of merit is excluded, for a gift is not a gift in the full sense of the word if it is in exchange for even the slightest thing. The fact that salvation is said to be a gift from God, makes it unchangeable, for the "gifts . . . of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29).

This gift is "of God." It is not only given by God, it is also prepared by him. All of aforementioned things that are true of every believer are provided by God and are thereby perfect and acceptable to him. "They are made to stand on the unchanging person and merit of the eternal Son of God" (Lewis Sperry Chafer in his book, Salvation), for they are all "through Christ" and because of his merit. They are therefore of infinite and eternal value in the sight of God. the one who has received the gift of salvation must then be eternally secure. To say that one who has been saved can be lost is to say that there can be a failure in these things which are of God. That implies deficiency in the merit of Christ and in the power of God working through him. Dare anyone say that that is possible?

NOT BY WORKS, SO THAT NO-ONE CAN BOAST


Works and grace are said to be mutually exclusive of each other. "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. But if by works, then it is no longer grace; if it were, work would no longer be work" (Romans 11:6). Therefore, as salvation is by grace, all that in any way might be works, whether it be to will or to do, is excluded.

Works are the opposite of faith. That which is of works is of man's effort and is meritorious to him. By works man confesses his own ability and displays confidence in self. Israel did this at Sinai when they answered Moses: "We will do everything the LORD has said" (Exodus 19:8). On the contrary, as has been seen, faith admits one's own disability and dependence upon another for that which is to be done.

Thus where there are works there is boasting of man, but where it is through faith, there is no boasting of man. Therefore salvation is "not by works, so that no-one can boast." "Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith" (Romans 3:27). This is "so that no-one may boast before him" (First Corinthians 1:29).

Thus there can be nothing - absolutely nothing - bearing on the salvation of man from the guilt, penalty and condemnation of sin and into the glorious Kingdom of the Son of God that can in the slightest degree be of works by the saved one himself. This is all excluded for the very purpose of excluding boasting by man.

TO THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORIOUS GRACE

God does not save man because of any value in man or because man is too good to be lost; for there is no goodness in man, "they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (Romans 3:12 [See also Ecclesiastes 7:20; Psalms 53:1-3]). God saves men so "that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7).

The supreme purpose of God in salvation is: "To the praise of his glorious grace" (Ephesians 1:6 and 2:7). In eternity those who are saved shall sing a new song saying: "You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood" (Revelation 5:9 NKJV). There shall be no discord in that song. Here on earth there is a definitely discordant note every time someone says that the saved one must not sin, must continue in faith, must hold out, must do this and must not do that in order to remain saved. The praise is not all given to the blood, but these notes shall not be heard there, for they are of the flesh, and no flesh shall glory in his presence. To him only and to the glory of his grace shall be all the praise.

You have read a chapter from the book _"SHALL NEVER PERISH" by J. F. Strombeck you can read the entire book at,
   
Shall Never Perish - By J. F. Strombeck


 Grace Bible Church  (Click Here)



How God Saves Men
Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4


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