Salvation: God alone makes Christians (Part 9)
We continue from Part 8 in last week's teaching.
John 15:2 "... and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."
Notice the word is "purgeth" is present tense i.e. purging is an active and continuous process. God the Father will purge the branches that beareth fruit, so that it may bring forth more fruit. What is “purge” in the Bible?
Proverbs 16:6 "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."
Iniquity is present in a believer, even after he was born again by the Spirit of God.
Isaiah 1:25 "¶ And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:"
DROSS, n. [G.] Waste matter; refuse; any worthless matter separated from the better part; impure matter.
Dross in a silver is normally not obvious to the naked eye, except the silver is put through fire and then the impurities began to manifest.
Psalms 12:6-7 "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."
Proverbs 24:16 "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief."
The words of the LORD are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Even as God shall preserve his words, he shall also preserve his words sown in the hearts of every born again flesh and blood believer, whosoever believeth in the words of life.
Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
1 Corinthians 6:19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
Adam was made from the dust of the ground, and the earthen vessels of born again believers are the temple of God.
2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
We have a “treasure” in our earthen vessels but fire is the instrument which God use to separate the dross from the silver, and a just man must necessarily go through fiery trials in his lifetime.
Proverbs 25:4 "Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer."
That is the work of God the Father in purifying the faith that is in him, in purging him of the worthless things in this life, so that he will bring forth more fruit as a born again believer.
1 Peter 1:7 "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"
Tribulation is the means by which our faith is tried. In allowing us to go through tribulation, God the Father is in fact doing a work in us for the glory of the kingdom to come.
Job 23:10 "But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
Job was tried for a purpose, and God was the one who tried him. Every born again believer will produce the fruit of the Spirit in their lifetimes.
Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
What is "temperance"? Think about a piece of ordinary glass put through fire and is toughened in the process to become tempered glass, or lime powder put into a temperature kiln and it becomes tempered mortar.
Acts 14:22 "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."
Born again believers are called to endure tribulation before they can enter into the kingdom of God.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
Every true believer will endure the tribulation that is come upon them with a believing heart because the words of the Lord is their peace.
Luke 8:15 "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."
Those who are truly saved will bring forth fruit with patience. They will patiently endure the tribulation that is come upon them, just like Job, whose faith was tried by fire.
James 5:11 "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."
In allowing Job to go through much tribulation, God will likewise allow the church, the body of Christ, to go through much tribulation. God does not do different things in different times to different people of different ages as dispensationalists have taught.
Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
The way God saved a man yesterday, is the same way he saves a man today, and the same way he will save a man tomorrow. God is not a respecter of persons that he should change the way he deals with man based upon an arbitrary division of times in the history of the world which CI Scofield coined "dispensations".
Acts 1:6-7 "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."
There are 7 such dispensations according to CI Scofield: (1) Innocence, (2) Conscience, (3) Human Government, (4) Promise, (5) Law, (6) Grace, and (7) Kingdom. Dispensationalism teaches that God deals with man according to a plan tailored specifically for a particular dispensation. God has a different plan for man in each of the 7 dispensations, and man’s faith is tested based on his "legal obedience as the condition of salvation" (John 1:17, Scofield’s notes) depending on which dispensation they were born in.
In another words, Scofield taught that God has a different plan of salvation for men separated by artificial partitions inserted between different periods of time in an artificial timeline which he termed as a “dispensation”. Dispensationalism is nothing but a lie, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Contrary to the teachings of CI Scofield and Charles G. Finney, it is not legal obedience that pleases God.
Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Every person who came to God have come to him believing in the word of God. Faith is the only thing that pleases God, and for their faith, God rewarded them with the gift of eternal life.
Ephesians 5:6 "Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."
Before a man was born again, he was a child of disobedience. The wrath of God abideth on him.
1 Peter 1:14 "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:"
An obedient child is the opposite of a child of disobedience. According to 1 Peter 1:14, before a man was born again, he was fashioned according to the "former lusts" in his ignorance. But after he was born again, he is no longer a child of disobedience. Old things are passed away. A new man is now living in him, and God has healed his soul. He is no longer ignorant.
1 Peter 1:15-19 "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: 18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:"
The word “holy” means without blemish and without spot. A born again believer is redeemed with incorruptible seed, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever (1 Peter 1:23). The word of God is the very DNA of Christ in every born again believer, and this DNA is the substance of the new man, which is without blemish and without spot.
Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Our soul is of a female gender (Psalms 34:2), and the church is the reason why Jesus Christ came, and paid for her liberty with his life. The body of Christ is made up of born again believers, and hidden with the soul of every born again believer, there is a new man.
1 Peter 3:4 "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."
The new man is the hidden man of the heart, a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
Job 33:26 "He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness."
Where God’s wrath used to abide in a man before he was born again, God now sees his face with joy because of the word of God that abides in him. God is favourable unto him, and shall render unto that man his righteousness. To continue in Part 10 next week.