Grace, Faith And Salvation
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
The
largest segment of the organized Church has long opposed the teaching
that salvation is by grace, through faith alone. She teaches that it is
by grace, through faith and good works, protesting that we do not place
the proper stress on good works, and that she does place as much
emphasis upon grace and faith as we.
One
advocate of this religious denomination agrees that men cannot be saved
without Christ or faith or grace, but objects that the grace of God,
accepted by faith in Christ, is not enough to save.
He
says: “All men are born in original sin, and all must be cleansed by
Baptism. In Baptism, Grace is implanted in the soul by God and confers
the right to heaven.”
But
what about the thief on the cross, who looked to Christ in his dying
moments and never had an opportunity to be baptized? Was he not saved?
(See Luke 23:42,43).
If,
according to Heb. 10:4, it is not possible for the blood of bulls and
of goats to take away sins (even though required by God), could this
writer explain to us how any amount of water could possibly wash away
one sin or right one moral wrong?
But
one might gather from the above quotation that the baptized soul at
least is safe and secure, since the grace implanted by God “confers the
right to heaven.” But not so. “The Church” never gives her devotees true
peace or assurance; never sets them free. “The right to heaven,”
conferred upon the baptized person, is the right to strive for it! This
writer goes on to say, “We worship God by the practice of our religious
duties in order to obtain our salvation.”
How satisfying and reassuring is the Word of God itself on this subject:
“Now to him that worketh [i.e., for salvation] is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.“BUT TO HIM THAT WORKETH NOT, BUT BELIEVETH ON HIM THAT JUSTIFIETH THE UNGODLY, HIS FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Rom. 4:4,5).
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