It is common among people in many churches to talk of getting people saved, or a person being saved. Or perhaps, a person may talk of being saved before baptism, or perhaps by baptism. Many church people will tell you when they were saved. ( think they were saved ) Sometimes, a preacher will even tell a person that they are saved. You will not find this kind of talk in scripture. In some cases, what they are trying to say, is that they think a person has been born again. You are not saved, or born again, by works, but if you have been born again by the Spirit of God, as Jesus taught that we must, your lifestyle will show it.
In other cases the church people are just plain boasting about being saved. The preacher is boasting about getting people saved, or a person is boasting of their own salvation, something that is forbidden in Ephesians 2:8-9 .
The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9, " ...by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, LEST ANYONE SHOULD BOAST. "
This verse is not talking about being saved in the present, but the provision for salvation, ie., the death of Christ on the cross. If you go to the beginning of the book of Ephesians, you will see that this book was written to true Christians.
If you think that you are saved, and all set, consider these two verses:
" And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is NEARER THAN WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED. "
Romans 13:11And:
"...Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the END OF YOUR FAITH, THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS. "
1 Peter 1:8-9There are 28 verses in the New Testament where it says " shall be saved ", or " will be saved ", IN THE FUTURE TENSE! You should not think of your self as having been saved. You can, and should, repent, believe, and seek to be born-again ( born from above ) now. You can't be saved until you are in jeopardy of something. That something is death, or judgment at the Rapture, or the Judgment seat of Christ. You are not completely saved until death or judgment. THE NEW BIRTH IS THE BEGINNING. SALVATION IS THE DESIRED ENDING.
This explains why so many so called Christians are not living the way Christians should live. Not only are they not saved,- they haven't even been born again! We are talking about New Covenant salvation here. This was not possible until the one called Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. He is called in scripture the " mediator of the New Covenant ". He was in the form of God, but He humbled himself, and took on human flesh.
Refer to Philippians 2:5-11:
" Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. "
Salvation is a process. It is NOT A PROCESS BY WHICH WE DO WORKS TO GET SAVED. It is a PROCESS, BY WHICH GOD WORKS IN US, first by giving us the new birth, or born-again experience, and then by guiding us, and helping us along the difficult pathway. We need His help and His guidance on a daily basis. We do not obey Him to " get saved ". The new heart and new spirit, which God puts within us, make us delight in serving Him.
Let's look again at what the Bible says:
" For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us, WHO ARE BEING SAVED, it is the power of God. "
1 Corinthians 1:18" For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those, WHO ARE BEING SAVED, and among those, who are perishing. "
2 Corinthians 2:15Many teachers quote verses such as:
" ... whoever calls on the name of the LORD SHALL BE SAVED, "
( Future tense, not present! )
Acts 2:21And:
"“ Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you WILL BE SAVED, you and your household.” "
( Future tense, not present! )
Acts 16:30-31There are some 28 scripture references like this in which the tense is not past or present. It is future! Many teachers ignore this and teach a present day salvation experience, rather than a present day born again experience.
The Bible says," By their fruits, you shall know them. " Many, who boast that they are saved, show by their conduct, that they surely are not either saved or born again. Many sincere christians mistakenly and tragically, call their friends, children, or other family members " saved " on the basis of a sinner's prayer, or other act, when their lifestyles are living proof, that they have not yet been born-again ( born from above ).
There is a test in First Corinthians 6. This was written to Christians!
" Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. "
1 Corinthians 5:9-11Are those, kinds of conduct, things that you used to do, or things that you are still doing? If those are things that you are still doing,- I don't care who told you that you were saved. You are lost and headed for hell.
There is another test in the book of Galatians. Hear what Paul says:
" I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. "
Galatians 5:16-21No, you are not saved, or born-again, by works. But if you are truly born-again, your desires and your actions, will show yourself and others, that you are truly different, than you were before. If you have been truly born-again, you have become a new creation.
There are many professing christians, who are living sinful lifestyles just like the unbelievers. I know individuals, who tell people that they were " saved " on such and such a date, yet they show daily, by their lifestyles, that they are just as lost as ever and headed for hell.
Scripture says that God looks at the heart of a person. We are told,
" There is none righteous, no not one." And," All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." How foolish it is for police officers, and prosecutors, and judges, and others in authority, to be thinking in terms of good people and bad people! All people are bad, until God changes their hearts! For a person to be truly born-again, God has to change the heart, and give the person a new human spirit.There is no magic formula for this, but I believe that the person, who shows God that he/she really wants a new heart, will receive it. That is how the new covenant is described in the old. ( Jeremiah 31:31-33 & Ezekiel 11:17-20 )
When people are living together as man and wife, without being married, they are on their way to hell! When people are having sex with those of the same sex, they are on their way to hell! The Bible says so!
So, how can you receive that new heart and human spirit that God wants to give you? How do you become a new creation? It is not by going through some ceremony.
Get by yourself alone, somewhere that only God can hear you. Tell Him that you want to surrender control of your old life, and all of your sin. Ask Him to give you a heart to do things His way, and to serve Him. Ask Him to give you the new life that He wants to give you. Ask Him to make you the kind of person that He wants you to be.
If you haven't done this, or still don't know how, we would like to help you become truly born-again, and demonstrate it by your lifestyle, so that you will be more confident about your future. Click the e-mail Pastor Tim link below, and tell us about your situation.
God Bless you!
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