IT IS FINISHED! This means that God's part in saving us is finished. His work is over! He did what He did at and through the cross to save us, and left nothing more for us to do... except BELIEVE... and if we do then part of BELIEVING is to ABHOR our sins and REPENT of them as well. So - all that's left is just Going through the motions, meaning that although He perfected salvation, WE, of our own free will, still need to rightly respond to Him, to what He's done, to Who it was that did it, and receive the Gospel, in order to be saved and renewed.
There are two ongoing heresies in the church today. One is the Easy-Believism heresy, and the other is the T.U.L.I.P. heresy. The easy believism heresy consists of people who are taught that they are saved, and they can (if they so chose) live a Christian style life for a time only to fall away again. Most people who fit this catagory are those who profess themselves to be saved; live a Christian style life for a while, and then (like the pig or dog) go back to his or her old ways and sins so that they can no longer be distinguished from a lost person. However, rather than repent, many of them are told they simply need to grow up first and to quit acting like "Carnal" Christians. Thus their excuse to go on sinning!
The T.U.L.I.P. heresy consists of people who look at Salvation like a bunch of powerless, mindless zombies. They claim that God did it all, including "Making Them" or "Forcing Them" to conform to His will, in order to save them, whether they liked it or not. They have no say in their salvation! They try and prove their point by the scriptures saying that they are saved because God loved them from the beginning, while others are not saved because God hated them from the beginning. To them Christ did not die for the sins of All Men, but just for them, the chosen few. As I said, they use the scriptures to their own detriment.
Now what is meant by "If ye continue in My word"? Unlike groups as the Easy Believers, who think that they are permanently saved and born again by something THEY have done (i.e. like make an altar call, sign a commitment card, repeat an after me salvation message, etc.) -- or the T.U.L.I.P. Calvinists, who think that they are permanently saved and born again by something GOD has done apart from anything they themselves may try and do -- I am of the mind that God saves by drawing men to Christ. This means that we must do all (in submission to His Grace) according to the revelation of Christ we each received when we first believed and what He means to us, lining up our will with God's will. (I include a few examples to show what I mean...)
Matthew 26:42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Hebrews 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us (who obey Him), what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Luke 9:23-24 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
These are CHOICES that WE make!! God doesn't dance for us, in our place! Because it is finished - Because He did it all - then it's up to US to make the Right Choices, obey and live, or don't obey and die! These are some of the things that make the distinction between true faith and unbelief.
This is what happens when one comes to Jesus...
John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Jesus clearly says: "Come and Eat of Me one time; drink of Me one time, and you will never know hunger or thirst again. For I will be your Perfect Rest, and you will have found lasting Peace with God, through Me."
Luke 14:26-27 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
(A Disciple = An active adherent who submits to, embraces and assists in spreading the message of Christ and His Gospel.)
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Jesus says: "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me -- (i.e the Father as the Sender of Me to carry out the purpose and design of His mission) -- to DRAW him to Myself -- and I will raise him up".
The Father draws men to Christ by an internal and efficacious operation; though by all the means of rational conviction, and in a way that they agree fully as to the sinfulness of their moral nature and abhor it (read Song 1:4; Jeremiah 31:3; Hosea 11:3-4). This means it takes TWO to Tango -- It takes One Person to lead and aim to Convince men of their sins, and the Other person to follow and abhor their sins and repent of them, then go and sin no more... TWO!
Those who believe in Christ in this way; convicted by the Spirit of Truth, must do their part and repent of (turn away from) their sins if they are to become born again. That is exactly why I stand opposed to Easy Believism and T.U.L.I.P. Calvinist doctrine which does little or nothing to eradicate the Old Man or our Moral Nature. The reason for this is because neither group realizes the two-fold meaning of the cross.... in that He died instead of us for our forgiveness of sins; and that He lives instead of us for our deliverance from sin.
Easy Believers and Calvinists believe that they are already saved, either by something that THEY have done or that GOD alone has done for them, apart from their having anything to do with their being justified or sanctifed in any way. For them there is no "50/50" dancing (or even 1-99). It is because the Easy Believers have never realized the exceeding sinfulness of their sins and the worthless condition that their sin and sins have put them in. The Calvinists; on the other hand, don't think they can sin ever again, even when they do. The Easy Believers ("0/100") believe that THEY must do something and believe in the power of their own will to save themselves, while the Calvinists ("100/0") believe that God does it all, whether they like it or not, they are powerless (like Zombies) to do anything about it.
But the fact that no man can come to Christ except the Father draws them to Him is taken to the extremes by both sides. I said earlier that when and if the Father draws men to Christ He does so by an internal and efficacious operation; though by all the means of rational conviction, and in a way that they agree fully as to the sinfulness of their moral nature and abhor it. This is what causes them , OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL, to turn to Christ to save them! Without there being a conviction of sin and a heart-felt will to, "Go and sin no more", then there is no salvation, and what they call salvation is nothing more than coming from human pride.
The Easy Believers forget (they have never known) what role The Substitute Within (The Living Lord) plays, who secures our victory over sin by sanctifying us to the Truth in giving us a new heart of love for the truth.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
However, abiding in those words of His is going to cost us something. They're going to cost us our life...
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
So we have two substitutions: a Substitute on the Cross who secures our forgiveness from sin, and a Substitute within who secures our victory over sin. This is the meaning of His substitutionary death and resurrection.
The T.U.L.I.P. Calvinists forget the importance of The Substitute on the Cross (The Crucified Christ) and what He plays, who shed His blood to save ALL men in order to justify by faith all who would come to believe on Him.
John 8:31-32 ...If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth (ME), and the truth (I) shall make you free.
May God bless you with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!
Biff & Suzanne
