The question for saved believers is not ‘how holy do I need to be to keep myself saved’. The right question is to ask ‘how holy is Jesus to keep me saved’ because believers are in Christ right now!
When God looks at a believer, He sees Jesus! Our sin debt problem is finished! Believers, God is not mad at you! The wages for sin in God’s economy is DEATH. This wage has been paid in full by Christ on The cross 2000 years ago.
+ JESUS IS THE CHRIST.
+ JESUS IS GOD IN THE FLESH.
+ SALVATION IS ONLY BY BELIEF IN HIM.
Jesus is clear that He is God. He became flesh in the person of Jesus as the Christ, who lived as human without committing any sin, and that by belief that He is God come to pay for our sins, we are justified BY GOD – NOT BY OUR DEEDS (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Our sins paid and forgiven, He gave ‘WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM’ eternal life (John 3:14-18). He took our spirit of man (full of sin) to the cross where it DIED WITH CHRIST, was buried WITH CHRIST, and ROSE WITH CHRIST (Romans 6, Colossians 2), our sin debt paid in full as a NEW CREATION of God that HE MADE US , which is the very RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, IN CHRIST (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 KJV).
All accomplished by His GIFT OF GRACE without works required but UNTO good works (Ephesians 2:8-10).
“And WITHOUT CONTROVERSARY great is the mystery of godliness:
GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16 KJV)
“And the Word as MADE FLESH, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of GRACE AND TRUTH.” (John 1:14 KJV)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS GOD.” (John 1:1 KJV)
Notice a capital W in Word. That because it is a NAME!
“Ye are my witnesses, SAITH THE LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and BELIEVE me, and understand that I AM HE: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, EVEN I, AM THE LORD; and
beside ME there is no saviour” (Isaiah 43:10-11 KJV)
‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of MY RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Isaiah 41:10 KJV)
Believers are held by God’ hand and God’s righteousness. Not by ours!
Whenever Jesus repeats Himself in a passage, He wants us to UNDERSTAND THIS! Here is Jesus with more repetition… UNDERSTAND THIS!
“14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but have ETERNAL LIFE.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world THROUGH HIM MIGHT BE SAVED.
18 He that BELIEVETH ON HIM is not condemned: but he that BELIEVETH NOT is condemned ALREADY, because he hath NOT BELIEVED in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:14-18 KJV)
“I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for IF YE BELIEVE NOT , that I AM HE,
ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24 KJV)
Justification in Salvation is by BELIEF ALONE that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah, the Christ, who is God, who came as foretold to live a sinless life, and with grace and truth had our sins imputed onto Him and paid for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), as the final once for all blood sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:10).
What About Following His commandments?
1. FOR UNBELIEVERS:
For unbelievers, who are believing there is no God or that they rely on being a good person and their good works or relying on religious rituals, to be justified with God; God’s will for them is to believe Jesus is the Christ. To understand that self righteous works will not save them! Law following will not pay for sins!
Jesus answered clearly when asked by unbelievers how they can do the ‘will of God’ ,
“…this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME, that every one which seeth the Son, AND BELIEVETH ON HIM, may have EVERLASTING LIFE: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:39-40 KJV)
2. FOR SAVED BELIEVERS ON CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK :
Jesus gave eternally saved believers two commandments:
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 KJV)
1. Love the Lord thy God with all our heart, soul, and our mind.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
To keep ourselves saved? No. He never said that to BELIEVERS. Jesus constantly states and repeats that our justification is only by BELIEF ON HIM.
These two commands are not a conditional statement like the Law. They are the morals of the Law which is living right and in great gratitude for God’s unconditional love for us. For His GRACE!
Our newly created Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17-21) and the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) guide and help believers to renew and CHANGE THEIR MIND (the Biblical definition of repentance).
Believers , overtime, start replacing our left over old Spirit of man beliefs (The Flesh) with the truth of God’s Word. Right believing in THE MIND leads and allows our new Spirit of God to make decisions that result in outward good works. This is what Apostle Paul means by ‘walking in the Spirit’ in his writings. Our REAL SELF, our core being is our Spirit and so why walk by our now DEAD OLD SPIRIT OF SIN by our wrong fleshly sinful beliefs in our mind. Renew our mind instead! It is all GOD’S GRACE.
BELIEVER: FEAR NOT!
If you, as a believer in Christ, have sin consciouness and your feelings are deceiving to fear loss of Salvation, stop. God says to believers,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities WILL I REMEMBER NO MORE.” (Hebrews 10:16 KJV)
Believers have one thing mentioned to fear and it is not loss of Salvation….
“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into HIS REST, any of you should seem to come short of it.” (Hebrews 4:1 KJV)
Believers…. REST IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK TO SAVE YOU.
Jesus said on that cross,
IT IS FINISHED!
(John 19:30)
