https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/277418472448
January 24, 2010
The gospel DOES NOT save in the way many imagine. The gospel is the good news that God has accomplished eternal salvation for His people by Jesus Christ, and has applied it to individual elect by His Spirit. The gospel INFORMS those that ARE SAVED the good news; it is perceived by them as the message declaring the power of God in saving them.
"For the preaching of the cross is to
them that perish foolishness, but unto us ARE SAVED it is the power of
God." It is the good news of God's power in saving them.
The gospel DOES save; the truth of what God
has done to save His people will save them from falsehood and lies, and
superstitions and imaginations.
The degree to which you have understood the
distinction of how the gospel DOES NOT save and how it saves, is the degree is
have understood salvation by grace.
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Michael
AMEN!
Sing
News INFORMS and INSTRUCTS. News that informs and instructs SAVES us from falsehood and ignorance. News saves us in that we are brought to know the truth of God's work of saving us by His free grace.
Adam
"Moreover, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; By which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures..." 1 Cor 15:1-4
Stephen
It is Christ who saves, by grace, through faith. To him be the glory. But again we are called, by the gospel, we are told, believe in the gospel. Without faith, we are doomed and despite hearing the gospel it will not PROFIT us because it is lacking the ingredient it is to be MIXED with: faith! The word is sugkeránnumi according to Word Study, this means, "To mix together, intermingle with. In the NT figuratively to join together, temper together so that one part counterbalances another."
Sing
You have no doubt read the epistle to the Romans many times before. Did you notice that apostle Paul addressed the epistles to the SAINTS, "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."
And these SAINTS BELOVED have not heard the gospel before... and Apostle Paul expressed his earnest desire to preach the gospel to these we are ALREADY addressed as SAINTS beloved of God.
Did you notice that at all FUNDAMENTAL fact of the epistle?
15 "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."
The saints beloved of God in Rome are already justified by God's free grace, and they needed to hear the gospel, the news of their eternal salvation by God's free grace, so that they may live by faith in Jesus Christ... and be saved from falsehood and ignorance, and may know the truth of their salvation by God's free grace.
'Revealed from faith to faith' - not revealed from faith to faithless. In the gospel message, the righteousness of God is reported and preached from faith (of a believing preacher) to faith (those whom the Spirit of God has worked the grace of faith, those ALREADY bestowed eternal salvation).
Time to go beyond shibboleth and platitudes!
Sing
"Moreover, brothers, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; By which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain."
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May I inquire, how does believing the gospel saves those who believe?
And why does believing the gospel save ONLY CONDITIONALLY - "if you keep in memory what I preached to you". Is this CONDITIONAL salvation through gospel belief the same as the eternal salvation that is UNCONDITIONAL by God's free grace?
Please tell us!
Stephen
The elect have to be sinners first in order to be saved right?
Adam
Hi Sing... please note that my comment was purely scripture and not personal opinion... I simply wanted to check your response.
Sing
"The elect have to be sinners first in order to be saved right?"
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What are you trying to say?
Whatever, sinners only?
The word 'sinner' is so cheapened, it is meaningless now!
Tell them how the God of heaven diagnose them:
- REBELS,
- CHILDREN OF WRATH,
- CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE
- SLAVES OF SINS
- DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS, utterly unable to do anything to commend themselves to God.
- IN ENMITY AGAINST GOD, actively in rebellion against God....etc.
The elect were in that condition when the free grace of God came crashing into them, effectually calling them out of their state of sin and death, to that of grace and eternal salvation - with justification APPLIED to remove condemnation, accompanied by regeneration to remove death, and adoption into the family of God to remove alienation, and the gift of the Spirit of adoption to dwell in their hearts to enable them to live as children of God.
These free grace acts of God made these SAINTS, beloved of God. ALL WITHOUT THE GOOD NEWS. These acts must happen first before there could be any good news to report.
The gospel ministry is appointed for such... to instruct and inform them of the glorious salvation that God has ACCOMPLISHED in Jesus Christ, and has APPLIED to them by His Spirit.
Time to go beyond shibboleth and platitudes!
Sing
"All the poor Alzheimers patients are in big trouble if their eternal salvation is conditioned on remembering!"
Men's silly ideas will always inevitably exclude some of God's beloved children from God's heaven.
And what if the mentally alert ones are given to remember the wrong thing? Is that worse than not remembering the truth?
They just can't distinguish between eternal salvation by God's free grace and temporal salvation through the gospel ministry.
So many conditioned the eternal salvation of God's elect by all sorts of things: eg. hearing and believing, persevering in a life of faith and holiness, the precision of the truth believed, even the translation of the Bible used, etc, etc.
Sing
Adam @ "my comment was purely scripture and not personal opinion..."
It is good to quote Scriptures... but if you could tell us what you intend to DRAW OUT of the Scripture quoted, it would be that much more helpful. Then we would all know why you are quoting that particular passage for.
Otherwise, you might be mistaken for READING INTO that passage! <grin>
Adam
Hi Sing... I think it is obvious... you said that the Gospel DOES NOT save. I simply quoted a scripture that appears to read otherwise. With scripture being truth, your statement then needs qualification, which I feel you stated your case on the first comment.
Sing
But that's where the problem lies. People connect believing the gospel as a condition to their eternal salvation. Go ask around if that's not the case. People keep reading their ideas into the Scriptures, even though their ideas are obviously contradictory to the other ideas of their own. Eg. on the one hand... they mutter that salvation is by God's free grace, and then on the other, they say salvation is conditioned upon some actions of men. And they are speaking of the SAME salvation!
That is why there is this injunction: "2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Those who entertained contradictory ideas should be greatly ashamed of themselves. Instead, they haughtily said they are just embracing the "blessed inconsistencies" of the Scriptures! What blasphemies! as though there are inconsistencies in God's word!
Daniel
Dear Brother Sing, where people get lost is that all salvation is not eternal. We are saved each and every hour from danger and trouble. When Peter was sinking in the ocean he needed saving not from hell but from drowning. We are saved from eternal damnation once by the blood of Christ. We never need to be saved from that again. But the Gospel will save us as we travel through this life every day. But we must follow its directions. This is part of Jesus telling us to come unto Him. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me and you shall find rest for your soul. Brother Daniel
