Salvation: God alone makes Christians (Part 5)
We continue from Part 4 of this series of messages.
The ministry of reconciliation was established. A messenger from God is a born again believer (one among a thousand) carrying with him the gospel of peace which God has interpreted for to shew unto men his uprightness in keeping the covenant that he has established with man since the beginning.
Job 33:23-24 "If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: 24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom."
Notice I’ve underlined the word "Then". This word speaks of a process whereby something must happen first, after which the next step should follow according to the sequence of things. In fact, we also see the same word "then" in the previous passage:
Job 33:15-16 "In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; 16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,"
Man must fall into a deep sleep first before God can open his ears and do something in him: to seal off an evil instruction that is getting to him, in causing him to err from the words of knowledge. Going back to:
Job 33:24 "Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom."
What does "gracious" mean according to the Bible? Some time ago, I had promised a sister-in-Christ to look up on this verse:
Romans 9:15 "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."
I've looked it up, and learned that this was Paul quoting from the books of Moses, in:
Exodus 33:19 "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."
This was the LORD telling Moses that he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion, and mercy on whom he will have mercy. Therefore, compassion is another word for "grace". I never knew that!
Romans 9:13-15 "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."
The context of Romans 9:15 can be explained from this verse, which Paul was quoting from:
Malachi 1:2-3 "I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, 3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness."
This was Paul tying together the different passages of Scripture by inspiration of the Holy Ghost: from the book of Moses and the book of Malachi. These two brothers, Jacob and Esau, are prefigures by which God demonstrates to us two groups of people i.e. ones whom he will have compassion, and ones whom he will not:
Jacob as a prefigure of ones whom God will save by grace;
Esau as a prefigure of ones whom he will not.
Esau despised his birthright. This word "birthright" is found exactly 10 times in the King James Bible, and 10 is a reference to the Ten Commandments.
Genesis 25:34 "Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright."
Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a morsel of meat, and afterward, God made sure that he would not inherit the blessing. The writer of Hebrews wrote:
Hebrews 12:16-17 "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears."
The part after the colon mark (‘:’) in verse 17 tells us why Esau was rejected, that is, he found no place of repentance even though he sought it carefully with tears.
Job 8:13 "So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:"
False repentance has the appearance of sorrow, but it is not accompanied by a change of heart. Esau is a type of ones who will forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish. Genesis 25:34 tells us that Esau despised his birthright, in the same way:
Proverbs 13:13 "Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded."
To despise the word is to despise the gospel of peace which says that we cannot attain unto the perfect righteousness of God by our own works. The gospel teaches that we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in the word of God, as in:
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."
God's grace is his compassion for Jacob, whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ. In fact, God has given us his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and was risen for our justification.
Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
One of the titles of Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace.
Numbers 6:25-26 "The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."
To be "gracious unto thee" is to "give thee peace". Jesus Christ was literally God’s grace given unto the world in the form of the gospel of peace, making peace with man. He was the reason of God's mercy unto man, reconciling sinful man unto himself. He was God's gift to mankind, and eternal life is a gift of God by the grace (compassion) of God. However, if grace is mixed with work, even by a little, it is no gift.
Romans 5:1 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"
A gift is a thing given, the property of which is voluntarily transferred by one person to another without any form of compensation involved. A born again believer was made holy. God's blessing was "imputed" unto him. He was not holy by his own merit but was made holy by the blood of Jesus Christ who was delivered for his offences, and was raised up for his justification:
Romans 4:22-25 "And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."
Abraham believed the LORD, and God counted it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Romans 4:23 tells us that this verse was not just written for Abraham’s sake alone, but for whosoever believeth in the substitutionary atonement: that Christ paid for our sins with his sinless blood, and God has imputed his righteousness unto us, whosoever believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
Salvation is a gift, and it comes from a God who change not. When God saves a man, he does not change his mind after that. There are teachings out there which says that we can lose our salvation after we were born again by the Spirit of God. It teaches a God that does not keep to his word (calling God a liar). Likewise, there are also teachings out there which says God saves a Jew differently than he saves a Greek (dispensationalism).
Romans 10:10-13 "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
When it comes to salvation, there is NO DIFFERENCE between a Jew and a Greek, as Paul has made it very clear in this passage. The God of the Holy Bible "change not". He does not change change his mind, neither does he change in the way he do things according to different people born in different times, and neither does his laws change according to their genealogy.
Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
The Jesus Christ who died for your sins and mine, is the same Jesus Christ who died for the sins of Adam and Eve, and the same Jesus Christ who died for Noah, and the same Jesus Christ who died for the sins of Abraham, and the same Jesus Christ who died for the sins of Moses, and the same Jesus Christ who died for the sins of David, and the same Jesus Christ who died for the sins of king Nebuchadnezzar and the same Jesus Christ who died for the sins of Apostle Paul. In fact, read the whole chapter of Hebrews 11.
John 3:16 "¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
This is the real gospel: with the heart a man believeth unto righteousness. His ethnicity (Jew or Greek) does not make him more favourable or less favourable with God, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Is believe a work?
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."
Paul has made it very clear in this verse. Indeed, we are saved by the grace of God, through our faith in the word of God, and that is to say, the reason why we believe in the word of God has got nothing to do with our works. Our works is not the source of our faith, and works is not the reason why we believe in the word of God.
Acts 16:30 "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
You may have come across people who try to evangelize to you, saying: "All you have to DO is to believe in Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." This is a little like the keeper of the prison who said to Paul and Silas in Acts 16:30. Notice Paul and Silas corrected him in the next verse:
Acts 16:31 "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
Is "believe" a work? If believe is work, then Paul would have contradicted himself in Ephesians 2:8-9. Going back to:
Job 33:24 "Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom."
According to the Webster's Unabridged Dictionary 1828, ransom is the price paid for the redemption of a prisoner or slave, or for goods captured by an enemy; that which procures the release of a prisoner or captive, or of captured property, and restores the one to liberty and the other to the original owner.
To continue in Part 6. Stay tune...
where is part 6 brother Max ?