When did God save you?

It was asked, "When did God save you?"

Someone answered, "Is this question important? If I am saved, it doesn't matter to me when I am saved. If I am not saved, it is not relevant to me..."

(Imagine saying, "If I am born, it doesn't matter to me when I am born." ~~ sing)

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A response:
Is this question important?

Read this short illustration; an accomplished accountant like you will easily understand.

Supposing a benefactor FREELY credited a $1b to your personal account and also paid off ALL your debts while you were condemned and declared bankrupt.

He then sends his servant to bring the good news to you and calls you to believe it. (Good news is news of what has happened; good news is not what will happen if a condition is met, i.e. good news is not a conditional offer!).

And suppose you believe the good news of the benefactor's FREE and gracious act, and by faith, you go to the bank to draw on the money.

Wouldn't it be SCANDALOUS, TREACHEROUS and CRIMINAL of you to claim and insist that it was your believing the good news and going to the bank THAT CAUSED the gift to be freely credited to your account, and all your debt cleared by the benefactor?

You believe and THEN the gift was deposited, or the gift had been deposited and THEN you believed. Put it another way: Is it you believe first and THEN God saved you, OR God saved you first and then you believe (you believe because God has first saved you, making believing possible.)

The truth is, your believing and going to the bank EVIDENCES the great deed that HAD BEEN DONE for your sake! If he had not done it for you, there would have been no such good news for you to believe!

Your believing or not believing does not in the slightest manner affect the reality of the things that are already done for you! But your believing enables you to experience the blessings of those things already done for you by free grace.

Yet so many insist that... they are justified before God by or through their faith in Jesus Christ! Upon their believing in Jesus Christ, God justifies them, i.e. God gives them the righteousness of Christ upon their believing in Christ! What a lie!

Sola fide is a great lie of the devil - it is treacherous, scandalous, injurious and criminal.

Do you begin to understand the great issue involved? It is not just semantics; the devil will whisper that into your ears! It is Christ's honour and truth at stake!

Original post here:https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4745290465677&id=1097484914&set=a.4745284705533

Dazzling Multifaceted Jewel or a Bland Round Marble?

What is the Doctrine of Justification to you;
is it like this Dazzling Multifaceted Diamond? 

What is the Doctrine of Justification to you;
is it like this Blank Glass Marble?

April 18, 2019 

What is the Doctrine of Justification to you; is it a Dazzling Multifaceted Jewel or a Bland Round Marble?

A Dazzling Multifaceted Jewel is this:

Facet 1: DECRETIVE justification from all eternity for all the elect. Righteousness is DECREED.

Facet 2: LEGAL justification for all the elect at the cross. This is justification by the blood of Christ and by the faith OF Christ, the ground of justification. Righteousness is LEGALLY IMPUTED.

Facet 3: VITAL/PERSONAL justification at effectual out of our native state of death and condemnation to that of life and righteousness. This is justification by the free grace of God, i.e. the manner of justification. Righteousness is PERSONALLY APPLIED.

Facet 4: EXPERIENTIAL/EVIDENTIAL justification when they actually believe. Faith enables a justified man (by God's free grace) to experience the blessedness of his justified state. Gen 15:1-6. This is the instrument of justification; the instrument makes manifests the fact of the justification by free grace. Righteousness is PRACTICALLY EXPERIENCED.

Facet 5: FINAL/VINDICATORY justification when the elect shall be publicly glorified and owned before all their wicked enemies.

A Bland Round Marble is this:
One spherical surface: Legal justification is by faith, the believing act of man, alone. This is the sum total of the doctrine of justification -  a mono-spherical surface - of very many 'reformed' people.

What does your doctrine of justification look like?

A Dazzling Multifaceted Jewel or a Blank Round Marble?

=========

Victorio
Dazzling truth, so beautiful for the elect to ponder.

Robert
Where would you put James 2:21 in your list? Excellent Illustration by the way.

Sing F Lau
James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

James 2:24 KJV — Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Faith and works justify a man in the same manner/way- practically, experientially, evidentially.

Robert Cook Sr.
Just wanted for other readers' sake where in your categories you would have placed it! Because the Biblical statements are that we are justified by works in some way, I know you are right to place it in the experiential category in the minds of others as they behold your good works.

Quickening versus Converting

"The end of the word being preached and heard...
is CONVERTING the soul."

April 18, 2020  ·

#Quickening_vs_Converting

"The end of the word being preached and heard... is CONVERTING the soul."

Amen, and amen. CONVERTING the soul. The ministry of the preached word has nothing to do with the quickening of the dead. The quickening of the dead is the free, sovereign, independent, and immediate activity of the Triune God, without any instrumentality.

John 1 - KJV
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:8 KJV — The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

John 10:28 KJV — And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Only a quickened soul is capable of being converted by the ministry of the word.

Luke 1
76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77 To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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Dan Samons
CONVERTING. That is correct.
It's needful to point out that most Christians use the term "convert" as a synonym for "regenerate." This is one of the many ways that common Christian parlance does not conform to the bible's use of a term. Jesus said to Peter, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art CONVERTED, strengthen thy brethren." (Luke 22:32) The Lord was not referring to Peter's future regeneration. Peter was a regenerate man already (Matthew 16:16-17, I John 5:1). The 

Lord was speaking of Peter coming into an understanding of the truths that he had heard declared, but had yet to understand or embrace. THAT is what is intended by "conversion" in the bible. Only those who have the ears to hear are capable of receiving instruction in the things of the spirit of God (I Corinthians 2:14).

Grace offered? Offered to whom?"

The ultimate liberation...
is NOT to be found in the grace OFFERED;
it is found in the salvation freely APPLIED personally
to those in their ultimate bondage. 

April 18, 2020

#That_Pernicious_Offer

A friend shared this; I took a screenshot.

The post has been "Loved" and "Liked" 114 times, and "Shared" 33 times. The single solitary comment was left by me; "Grace offered? Offered to whom?"

"...The ultimate liberation... is only to be found... in the grace OFFERED... in the gospel of Jesus Christ."

The momentous subject - expressed in terms of its ultimacy, (the best and imaginable of its kind) and the exclusivity (solely, alone, none besides) - demands our utmost attention.

Think with me a bit:

The ultimate liberation is probably the liberation from the power and bondage to sin and death and the lake of fire.

- John 8:36 "therefore if the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

- Gal 5:1 "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

- Heb 2:15 "And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

The ultimate liberation is to be found ONLY in Christ, and The ultimate liberation only to be found in the grace (OFFERED... in the gospel of Jesus Christ) are two vastly different ideas; the former is the truth, the latter is a fable.

Assuming that the ultimate liberation is indeed found only in the grace offered in the gospel of Jesus Christ, please tell:
- how do you offer this ultimate liberation to those without it, i.e. those still in ultimate bondage, still under the power of sin and death? How is it offered to such?

- how do you expect them, who are still in ultimate bondage, to respond to the ultimate liberation offered to them? What condition must they meet so that the ultimate liberation might become theirs? 

Grace offered is grace conditioned upon the acceptance of what is offered; grace that is conditioned upon some activities of man is no more grace; offer and acceptance are two sides of the same coin.

The ultimate liberation secured and accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ is freely and sovereignly applied to each elect, while still in his native state of sin and death, thus bringing him out of his native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation in Christ Jesus.

The ultimate liberation is NOT offered to him; offering the ultimate liberation to one dead in trespasses and sins and expecting the offer to be accepted is the height of madness and foolishness.

Grace offered is grace repudiated and denied; it's oxymoronic.

The ultimate liberation is FREELY and SOVEREIGNLY APPLIED to those who are in their native state of sin and death, who are completely unable to respond to the grace offered! Offering the ultimate liberation to one dead in trespasses and sins and expecting the offer to be accepted is the height of madness and foolishness.

Is anyone offering COVID-19 vaccine to those in the mortuaries, ravaged by the virus?

The faith OF Christ in salvation is perverted...

"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, 
and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive."
Ephesians 4:14

One of the GREATEST and MOST POPULAR LIE Propagated by Many Sincere Preachers

The faith OF Christ in salvation is perverted and twisted into man's faith IN Christ for salvation!

Here it is, stated this way.

They ask this question: "How is this righteousness [of God's provision] communicated to man?"

Then they answer their own question thus: 
- "... it is through our faith IN - IN - IN Jesus Christ."
- "... we receive righteousness through our faith IN - IN - IN  Jesus Christ."

Then they quote this Scriptures to validate their answer:
"Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference."

I suggest that these sorts of answers are plain FOOLISH. Why?

They promote the HERETICAL idea that those without righteousness already communicated to them by God's free grace is capable of believing! Those without righteousness applied/communicated to them personally at their effectual calling out of their native state are still in the state of condemnation and death, i.e. dead in trespasses and sins... THEREFORE such are without any ability to believe. It is as simple as that.

In addition to that obvious NONSENSE, the passage quoted has been perverted in translation to permit it to teach a LIE. It should read: 

"Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no  difference."  [KJV]

"Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference." [XPerV]

If you are not sharp or alert enough, you won't even notice the VAST difference between the two translations of the same passage.

The PRIOR application (communication) of the righteousness is necessary for the ability to believe. Righteousness is applied to a man by God's free grace when he was still dead in trespasses and sins. Righteousness applied personally is LOGICALLY prior to the regeneration of life; no righteousness by God's grace, no regeneration by the Spirit.

Righteousness is secured by Christ, and is IMPUTED LEGALLY to all elect at the cross.

Righteousness is APPLIED PERSONALLY to each elect at his effectual calling out of his native state of sin and death to that of grace and salvation. This application or communication of righteousness is obviously by God free and sovereign grace! What was LEGAL now become PERSONAL.

Righteousness - which is already IMPUTED LEGALLY and APPLIED PERSONALLY - is EXPERIENCED PRACTICALLY through faith IN Jesus Christ at conversion, and throughout life on earth. That is what happened in Gen 15:1-6. Abraham experienced the blessedness of his justified state, righteousness was communicated to him when God called him while in the sate of ungodliness in Ur of the Chaldean.

Please note that the Scriptures quoted above HS PERVERTED one of the central and fundamental truth of the gospel. It is quoted from a perverted translation...

 Romans 3:21 "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ  unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:  [KJV]

The good ole KJT reads, "which is by faith OF Christ."
All perverted translations read: "which is by faith IN Christ."

The gospel is God Himself providing righteousness for guilty condemned sinners by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ in fulfilling the redemption mission.

The righteousness of God is not communicated/applied to you by:
- your work of obedience to the law of God...
- your works of righteousness...
- nor your work of faith in Christ...

If the righteousness of God is by your faith in Jesus Christ, then salvation is by your works, and not God's free grace.

Christ Himself declared that faith in Him is a work God requires of His people. 
John 6 28 ¶ Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Modern translations have obliterated this vital distinction. The "faith  OF Christ" has all been replaced with man's "faith IN Christ"!

Christ's redemptive work is attacked and usurped.
Divine grace is denied.
And man's works exalted.

See if the translation you are using has perverted gospel truth!
Take a careful look, won't you?
The devil attacks Christ and His gospel in a most subtle way, and so many preachers are oblivious of having been deceived!