The Thin Edge of the Gospel - Against Other Gospels
Anything I can do to earn salvation is disgusting to God. My best righteousness is hideous, like a used menstrual cloth.
Only the Gospel of God by Jesus Christ can save by God's power, where His mercy and love are not pitted against His justice, holiness and righteousness.
That's why once we are truly saved by God's Gospel, we are always saved, because it's not up to us. It's God's power, and He has known since before He created Adam every individual He would save, and He put us in the position to hear His voice in a way that He knew we would respond to, so even our one work of salvation (Romans 10:9a) is really His work; He led us to verbally confess Master Jesus, and our belief in those 4 tenets of salvation (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) are things He sent the preacher to tell us, and He knew that we who have believed would believe them, and so He predestinated and called us, because it's not God's will that anybody should die (2 Peter 3:9), and He will finish His work to glorify us also.
Salvation is not an uncertain endeavor, dear Church. It's God's powerful work in us who believe and confess Master Jesus, and even though we seem to hate His goodness from time to time and willfully practice sin, we can know that He keeps us, because it was His will to powerfully work to save us in the first place. Just as we could never do anything to combine with Christ's work on the cross and God's work in raising Him, so our lack of righteous works will not hinder His great salvation in us whom He has known and knows and will know.
Faith in particular things plus a work not of the Law equals salvation, just like Paul told us, and he was also told (1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Romans 10:9, 10, 13).
[Based in part on "0019 - A Time for Dogmatism.mp3", 06/19/83, Tom Nelson, Denton Bible Church]
Only the Gospel of God by Jesus Christ can save by God's power, where His mercy and love are not pitted against His justice, holiness and righteousness.
That's why once we are truly saved by God's Gospel, we are always saved, because it's not up to us. It's God's power, and He has known since before He created Adam every individual He would save, and He put us in the position to hear His voice in a way that He knew we would respond to, so even our one work of salvation (Romans 10:9a) is really His work; He led us to verbally confess Master Jesus, and our belief in those 4 tenets of salvation (1 Corinthians 15:3-8) are things He sent the preacher to tell us, and He knew that we who have believed would believe them, and so He predestinated and called us, because it's not God's will that anybody should die (2 Peter 3:9), and He will finish His work to glorify us also.
Salvation is not an uncertain endeavor, dear Church. It's God's powerful work in us who believe and confess Master Jesus, and even though we seem to hate His goodness from time to time and willfully practice sin, we can know that He keeps us, because it was His will to powerfully work to save us in the first place. Just as we could never do anything to combine with Christ's work on the cross and God's work in raising Him, so our lack of righteous works will not hinder His great salvation in us whom He has known and knows and will know.
Faith in particular things plus a work not of the Law equals salvation, just like Paul told us, and he was also told (1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Romans 10:9, 10, 13).
[Based in part on "0019 - A Time for Dogmatism.mp3", 06/19/83, Tom Nelson, Denton Bible Church]