Jesus said His
followers are not of the world any more than He is of the world.
Jesus didn’t say
His followers will not be part of the world; He said they are
not part of the world. The salvation of those who believe has
already happened.
John 17:20
Jesus prays for the
disciples and for those “who will believe in me through their
message.”
John 17:21,23
Jesus says that it
is important that the world believe that the Father sent Him.
John 19:35
The testimony of
Jesus crucifixion is given “so that you also may believe.”
Jesus’ crucifixion
is real, and the one who saw it (likely John himself) is
telling the truth about it, and he is testifying to its truth so
people will believe.
John 20:21-23
Jesus says that as
He was sent by God, so he sends the disciples. Then he breathes on
the disciples, tells them to “receive the Holy Spirit,” and says
that if they forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven, if not, they
aren’t forgiven.
I think Jesus is
saying: Just as I was sent by the Father to represent Him, now I send
you to represent God, and I am giving you the Holy Spirit so you will
be in tune with God, so that if you say someone is forgiven, then it
is true because you are in tune with the Spirit of God so that what
you say about someone’s forgiveness and what God says about that
person’s forgiveness are identical.
It would be absurd
to think the disciples’ pronouncements of forgiveness are the cause
of forgiveness. Even Jesus, when he pronounced forgiveness for
someone, looked for faith on the part of that person, so to assume
the disciples could unilaterally forgive seems impossible. If this
passage meant that the disciples could simply forgive everybody
without any evidence of repentance or faith, then they might have
simply issued a worldwide “Proclamation of Forgiveness for All”
and be done for all time with all teaching, preaching, evangelism and
missions.
I think this is
something like the marriage ceremony, in which a pastor asks the man
and woman if they want to marry, and when they say they do, he says
something like, “On the basis of your commitment to one another and
by the authority vested in me as a minister of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, I now pronounce you man and wife.” In a similar fashion, I
suspect the disciples would question a person regarding his faith and
upon receiving a positive answer and having that positive answer
confirmed by the Spirit of God within them, they would say something
like: “On the basis of your faith and by the cleansing power of
Jesus Christ, I pronounce you forgiven.”
Does that mean if
there is no verbal statement acknowledging a person’s forgiveness
that the person is not saved? No. I think the value of a verbal
statement by a respected leader of the church is that it gives such
great assurance to the person over whom forgiveness is proclaimed,
and gives the one who does not receive that affirmation of
forgiveness a strong reason to go back and consider whether he really
believes.
John 20:27
The resurrected
Jesus tells Thomas not to be unbelieving.
Was Thomas unsaved
before? No, John 17:12 says Jesus guarded and kept all of them except
Judas, so Thomas was saved despite his doubts. Faith does not need to
be flawless to result in salvation.
John 20:29
Jesus says to Thomas
that those who have not seen and believe are blessed.
I don’t think
Thomas was un-blessed, but there is apparently a special blessing for
those who believe in Jesus without the special proof Thomas demanded.
John 20:30-31
The miracles
recorded in the book of John were written so people may believe Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing have life in his
name.
Acts
2:21
Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Acts 2:47
The Lord added to
the number of those being saved.
We have been saved
from the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the power of sin,
and we will be saved from the very presence of sin. So, “being
saved” does not mean that they are not yet fully forgiven for their
sins. They have been saved from the penalty of sin, and now they are
being saved from the power of sin.
Acts 4:12
There is salvation
in no one but Jesus.
There is no
salvation in ourselves and our own efforts.
Acts 4:32
The believers shared
everything they had.
Here “the
believers” are the local church. The central thing that makes the
church the church is that the people are believers.
Acts
8:12
The
people believed Philip when he preached the good news of the kingdom
of God and the name of Jesus Christ and they were baptized.
Acts 8:22
Peter tells Simon
the magician to repent to be forgiven.
Simon had already
(Acts 8:13) believed and been baptized, but either his belief was not
real (perhaps he decided to join the Christians because as a magician
he was impressed with the miracles he saw, as it mentions in Acts
8:13) or perhaps he was a real believer but, as Peter said (Acts
8:21), his heart was “not right before God.” So, if Simon never
really believed, then Peter’s warning would mean Simon would miss
out on heaven, or if Simon had really believed, then apparently Peter
was warning Simon of earthly consequences, most particularly being
excluded from ministry (Acts 8:20), if he did not repent.
Acts 8:35-37
Philip preached
Jesus, and perhaps also baptism, to an Ethiopian. [Acts 8:36 –
which appears in some later manuscripts – says that Philip told the
Ethiopian that if he believes with all his heart then he can be
baptized.]
Even if 8:36 is
doubtful, Philip preached about Jesus, so his intent was clearly to
convince the Ethiopian to believe in Jesus.
Acts 14:27
Paul reports God
“had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”
This is a matter for
rejoicing because the “door of faith” is what the Gentiles need
to walk through for their salvation.
Acts 9:40-42
The people of Joppa
heard how Tabitha had been raised from the dead, so many of them
believed in Jesus.
Acts
10:34-35
Peter
says he knows that God accepts men from all nations who fear Him and
do what is right.
In
this passage about the God-fearing Gentile, Cornelius, the salvation
of Cornelius and his household was through Peter’s proclamation of
Jesus; it was sudden and occurred as Peter was preaching, directly
after Peter said that everyone who believes in Jesus receives
forgiveness of sins. So Cornelius’ salvation was not as a result of
him doing a list of right things; the right thing referred to in this
passage is that Cornelius and his household believed in Jesus.
Acts
10:43
Peter
preaches that the prophets testify that everyone who believes in
Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name.
Acts
11:18
God
granted the Gentiles repentance unto life.
Acts
13:12
The
proconsul believed because he was amazed at the teaching about the
Lord.
Acts
13:46
Rejecting
the word of God is rejecting eternal life.
Acts
14:1
Many
Jews and Gentiles believed at the teaching of Paul and Barnabas.
Acts
14:15
Barnabas
and Paul tell the people to turn from worthless things to the living
God.
Acts 14:22
Paul and Barnabas
encourage the people to “continue in the faith” and they say that
“through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
I think they mean
that as a practical matter in this life we should continue to trust
Jesus, and that, in the process of following Jesus – as we are on
our way to heaven – we will encounter tribulations, not that
troubles are a means of entering heaven.
Acts
15:7
Peter
says that that God made the choice that the Gentiles might hear the
message of the gospel and believe.
Acts
15:9
Peter
says God purified the hearts of the Gentiles by faith.
Acts
15:11
Peter
says it is by “the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved.”
Acts
16:30-31
A
jailer asks Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved and they tell
him to believe in the Lord Jesus and he and his household will be
saved.
Acts
17:30
Paul
says that in the past God overlooked sin but now he commands people
everywhere to repent.
Acts
17:34
Some
people believed Paul’s message.
Acts
18:8
Crispus,
the synagogue leader, his household, and many Corinthians, believed
and were baptized.
Acts
18:27
There
were those in Achaia “who by grace had believed.”
Acts
19:9
Some
people refused to believe.
Acts
20:21
Paul
says that Jews and Greeks “must turn to God in repentance and have
faith in our Lord Jesus.”
Acts
26:17-18
Jesus
appoints Paul to turn people to God “so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by
faith in Me.”
Acts
26:20
Paul
preaches that people should turn to God and prove their repentance
by their deeds.
Acts 28:27
Paul quotes Isaiah –
If people would see, hear, understand with their hearts, and return –
God will heal them.
Romans 1:5
Paul says his call
was to bring about “obedience of faith” among the Gentiles. Or,
“obedience to the faith” Amplified Version, or “the obedience
that comes from faith,” NIV.
This seems to be
saying if we have faith we will have obedience. And by aiming to
bring about obedience we must aim at faith as its necessary
prerequisite.
Romans 1:16-17
The gospel is the
power of God for salvation to all who believe. In it a righteousness
from God is revealed that is by faith from first to last.
Romans
2:3
When
you pass judgment on someone else yet do the same things yourself,
“do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”
Paul
seems to be referring to those who have not repented of their sins.
In 2:4 he indicates that God is trying to draw them to repentance,
which would not have been necessary if they had already repented, and
in 2:5 he speaks of their stubbornness and unrepentant hearts.
Romans 2:6-7
God will render to
each according to his deeds. For those who persevere in doing good in
order to seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal
life.
When Paul says that,
“God will give to each person according to what he has done,” he
appears to be quoting Psalm 62:12, and Psalm 62 repeatedly proclaims
that salvation is from God alone and that we should “trust in him
at all times.” This would be an odd passage to quote if Paul meant
to suggest that salvation was by works.
Also, earlier in
Romans Paul says that he is talking about “the obedience that
comes from faith” (Romans 1:5), and that he is talking about “a
righteousness from God,” and “a righteousness that is by
faith from first to last” (Romans 1:17). So when Paul speaks of
persevering in good works he means the perseverance that comes
naturally from having a real faith.
Also, bracketing
Romans 2:6-7 are Romans 2:5 and 2:8, which condemn those who refuse
to repent, and those who are self-seeking and reject the truth. Paul
is emphasizing our need to repent and believe the truth. So, when
Paul speaks in Romans 2:6-7 of those who persevere, he is talking
about those who have really repented and put their faith in Jesus,
for their true faith will result in persevering obedience.
False faith won’t.
Romans 2:10
There will be glory,
honor and peace for those who do good.
See discussion of
Romans 2:6-7.
Romans 2:13
Those who obey the
law are justified, not those who just hear.
If we have
surrendered our lives to God we will do our best to keep the
deep inner law of love, though not necessarily the outer ceremonial
law.
See discussion of
Romans 2:6-7.
Romans 3:21-22
There is a
righteousness from God apart from the law that comes through faith in
Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Paul (Romans 3:20)
says the law gives us a consciousness of sin, but we have a
righteousness from God and that righteousness is through faith.
Romans
3:26
God
justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans
4:5
The
man who does not work but trusts God; his faith is credited as
righteousness.
Romans
4:23-25
God
will credit righteousness to those of us who have believed in Him who
raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Romans
5:1-2
We
have been justified by faith, and through Jesus have gained access by
faith into grace.
Romans
5:9-10
We
have been justified by His (Jesus’) blood and saved from God’s
wrath. We were reconciled to the Father through Jesus and will be
saved through His life.
Romans
5:11
Through
Jesus we have received reconciliation.
Romans
5:15-16
God’s
grace overflows to many people by Jesus’ gift to us.
Romans 5:17
Those who receive an
abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life
through Jesus.
Romans 5:18
One act of
righteousness by Jesus resulted in justification that brings life to
all men.
The one act of
righteousness Paul appears to be referring to is Jesus sacrifice of
Himself on the cross.
Romans 5:19
Through the
obedience of the One [Jesus] many are made righteous.
Romans
5:21
Grace
reigns through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Romans
6:8
If
we died with Christ we believe we will also live with Him.
Romans
6:18
The
Romans have been set free from sin to become slaves to righteousness.
Romans
6:22
The
Romans have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God. The
benefit they reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Being
set free from sin results in a holy life, and eternal life.
Romans
6:23
The
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Romans 7:4
We were made to die
to the law through Christ so we might be joined to Him to bear fruit
for God.
We are first joined
to Christ and then we bear fruit.
Romans 8:2
The law of the
Spirit of life in Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and
death.
Romans 8:6
The mind set on the
flesh (or, “the mind of sinful man”) is death; the mind set on
the Spirit (or, “the mind controlled by the Spirit”) is life and
peace.
This seems to be
referring to our daily walk with Christ. We should not descend to
living through our old sinful self, as unbelievers do naturally, but
live with minds controlled by the Holy Spirit. The mind set on the
flesh is death, not will be death. It describes the
dead day-to-day existence we will experience if we slip into living
without reference to God.
Romans 8:13
If by the Spirit you
put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
A few verses
earlier, in Romans 8:9, Paul says we are controlled by the Spirit if
we have the Spirit of Christ living in us, so here, in 8:13, I think
Paul is saying that if we are unsaved and living life according to
our sinful nature, we will die. But if we are alive in Christ by His
Spirit living in us, controlling us, then the result will be –
through the Spirit – that we are putting to death the misdeeds of
the body, and we will live.
Romans 8:14
If you are led by
God you are a son of God.
Being led by God is
evidence that we belong to God. See comment on Romans 8:13 as well.
Romans
9:30
The
Gentiles obtained a righteousness by faith.
Romans
10:3-4
Righteousness
comes from God. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be
righteousness for everyone who believes.
Romans 10:9-10
If you confess with
your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth confesses, resulting in salvation.
Paul says a couple
verses later (Romans 10:12), that, “Everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved,” so I think that when Paul says here
that if you “confess with your mouth,” he is saying that we need
to call out to God and say that, “Jesus is my Lord!” In other
words, we need to submit to Jesus as our Lord; that is real faith and
that kind of faith saves us. Merely acknowledging that Jesus is whom
He claims to be without submitting to Him is not salvation. The
demons have that kind of faith.
Romans
10:13
Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Romans 10:17
Faith comes by
hearing the word of Christ.
Romans
11:5-6
A
remnant (of Israel) has been chosen by grace, not by works.
Romans
11:20-23
Israel
was broken off because of unbelief, and we can be broken off by
unbelief. God will be kind to us provided we continue in his
kindness; otherwise we will be cut off. Israel can be grafted back in
if they believe.
Paul
does not seem to be talking here to individuals, but to groups;
groups of Jewish people and groups of Gentile people. So, if the Jews
– as a group – believe, they will be grafted back into the vine –
saved, in other words. And if the Gentiles – as a group – stop
believing, they will be broken off the vine and be lost. So, for
example, if a church slowly stops believing in Christ, the
faithfulness of the previous generation will not keep the unbelieving
current generation from being lost.
Romans 13:11
It is time to awake.
Salvation is nearer than when we believed.
This apparently
refers to our future salvation, when we shall be saved not just from
the penalty of our sins, not just in the midst of our current battles
with sin, but from the very presence of sin.
1 Corinthians
1:4-8
Paul thanks God for
His grace given to the Corinthians in Jesus. Jesus will confirm them
blameless in the day of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians
6:11
Paul says the
Corinthians were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of
Jesus and by the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians
6:17
One who joins
himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
1 Corinthians
7:14,16
An unbelieving
spouse is sanctified through a believing spouse, and the children are
holy.
This does not mean
the unbelieving spouse is saved for heaven by the believing spouse
because in verse 7:16 Paul asks, How do you know if you will save
your spouse? It says the unbelieving spouse will be “sanctified,”
apparently meaning this in its “set apart” sense. So, through
marriage the man and wife are “set apart” from others in the
world.
1 Corinthians
9:24-25
We run to receive an
imperishable prize, a crown.
Paul uses the
picture of a foot race as an analogy. Like a racer, we should train
and discipline ourselves to live Christian lives. In saying that in a
race only one person wins the prize he clearly does not mean just one
person will enter heaven or one person will receive God’s approval.
He simply wants us to run with the dedication of that racer, who
wants to excel all others in his attempt to win the prize, but our
motivation should be even greater because unlike the foot racer who
races for a temporary prize, our prize is eternal.
There is no
suggestion that the prize in this passage is salvation. It seems,
rather, to be a reward in heaven, not heaven itself. See comment on 1
Corinthians 9:27 as well.
Next
Next
No comments:
Post a Comment