This website does not EVER suggest works-related salvation or earning one’s salvation in any time frame.
What it does say is this: Only we, the indwelt Church, are saved by grace through faith alone. Step outside the Church Age (Paul’s direct revelation from Jesus to the Rapture) and you’ll see time and again that believers must demonstrate their faith.
Why?
Because they do not have the indwelling Spirit as their guarantee. You won’t find Paul’s teaching of eternal security anywhere outside his books. (Don’t confuse salvation verses like John 3:16 and John 10:27-29 with security verses. See the home page and Actual ES Verses.)
You see faith plus all the time when you read Matthew through Acts and Hebrews through Revelation but you write it off because you know you’ve seen elsewhere (Romans – Philemon) that faith alone saves us.
We like to apply this to us:
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. [Thinking the law ended once He kept it in full, thereby qualifying Himself as Savior.]
Yet we ignore this:
Matthew 5:18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. [What, until heaven and earth pass away? See Qualifying for the Kingdom.]
We like to apply this to us:
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. [Thinking this will happen to us if we have enough faith.]
Yet we ignore this:
Mark 11:25 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. [We’re forgiven upon faith in Christ. These guys don’t have security and must forgive others.]
We like to apply this to us:
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” [Thinking what our Christian lives should look like.]
Yet we ignore this:
Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. [He means what He says. Again, can’t be to us.]
We like to apply this to us:
John 15:4-5 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. [Thinking we’re the branch needing to practice what we preach to keep a right fellowship with the Lord.]
Yet we ignore this:
John 15:6-10 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. [Yikes. Here’s 7-10.] 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. [Abide in Me; bear fruit; keep My commandments = NOT our gospel.]
We like to apply this to us:
Acts 2:33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. [Thinking birth of the sealed Church.]
Yet we ignore this:
Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [Yet this is still the Gospel of repentance.]
What have we just seen?
One example per book of how important it is to remember to stay in context. We need to know who’s being spoken to, and it can’t be two different groups within the same passage! We can’t have salvation by faith alone alongside you must this and you must that.
These books don’t contain our doctrine of eternal security any more than Genesis through Malachi do.
Do we pull verse 6 out of Leviticus 18 (‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the Lord.) and say since that verse is true today, the entire book of Leviticus must be to us?
Remember, there’s no sealed and secured Church in these books because they’re all prior to Paul’s gospel.
Think about it. If part of a book is written to a specific audience, then the whole book is written to that same audience. Otherwise, how on earth would we know who gets what part? The Bible is not a jumbled mess – it doesn’t contradict itself!
Continuing on…
Next comes Romans through Philemon but there’s no need to list them because these books ARE to us! (I have found two times where Paul talks about non-Church Age times within these books, but he tells us when he’s doing so. See Romans and The Great Apostasy.)
Now, before we go on to Hebrews through Revelation, let’s summarize. The gospel of repentance/gospel of the Kingdom
that John the Baptist and Jesus preached,
that Jesus taught to His disciples and they preached (yes, including the Great Commission),
that in the OT was foretold would come to the Gentiles and was shown in Acts 2
is for the temporary unsealed, unsecure ‘church’ found in Acts. (See Church Chart.) And it’s for the future Jews found in Hebrews through Revelation that will exist once we’re Raptured.
What, did you think they get no books relevant to them???
^^^^^^
Here they are, the future Post-Church books of Hebrews through Revelation.
We like to apply this to us:
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [Thinking OT salvation was by looking forward to the cross.]
Yet we ignore this:
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. [Must believe what? See the difference!]
We like to apply this to us:
James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. [Thinking we should no longer do bad things in our walk.]
Yet we ignore this:
James 1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. [Just like Matthew 7:24-27 they must be doers.]
We like to apply this to us:
1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. [Thinking stay on point, the Rapture is near??]
Yet we ignore this:
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. [Our sins are entirely paid for and removed even if we don’t love. Not so with Tribulation believers.]
We like to apply this to us:
2 Peter 1:5-8 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. [Thinking Fruit of the Spirit??]
Yet we ignore this:
2 Peter 1:9-11 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. [Read it carefully, then go back and read 5-8 with it!]
We like to apply this to us:
1 John 2:1-2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. [Thinking this is to us as a reminder not to sin because Jesus already paid for them.]
Yet we ignore this:
1 John 2:3-6 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. [‘Come to know Him’ would be ‘have faith in Him’. Proof of knowing Jesus is by keeping His commandments. Time and again 1 John talks about this. Read the entire book.]
We like to apply this to us:
Jude 17-19 17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. [Thinking these were unbelievers at the end of the Church Age.]
Yet we ignore this:
Jude 20-21 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. [Read what’s there – not our gospel, not looking forward to the Rapture.]
We like to apply this to us:
Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” [Thinking we’re the Bride.]
Yet we ignore this:
Revelation 19:8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. [Will we be given ‘fine linen’ due to our righteous acts? No. We already had our actions rewarded at the Bema Seat and were given our ‘fine linen’ at the cross. See Who’s the Bride?.]
Please note that the concept behind many of the above “We like to apply this to us” verses are true for us. But the problem is, again, if we put ourselves there in that section of the passage, we’ll need to put ourselves in the “Yet we ignore this” part also. And you can see how wrong that would be.
This is not complicated! It’s just ‘unlearning’ what you’ve been taught so that when you read something that’s clearly not to us, you don’t toss out what’s written there just to blindly agree with the mainstream and say, “Oh, of course it’s to us. God would never do that. My commentary says what it really means is…”
Let God be God and let the Bible say what it’s saying! And it will if you just divide it properly. You don’t like the term ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’? Is that the problem? I don’t think so because you are dividing it – OT for the Jews and NT for the Church.
Problem is that’s the wrong division. I know – I did it for decades!
Proper dividing shows faith plus
bear fruit, obey, abide, love, forgive, pardon, practice, await anxiously, repent, be a doer, etc.
to be requirements for salvation for those outside our age since they don’t have the Spirit of God sealed within them like we do.
This is not earning one’s salvation. THINK! It’s demonstrating one’s faith.
I know that’s not what you’ve been told the Bible says, but it’s true nonetheless. Does it matter a whole lot to us? Maybe not since we are saved by faith alone. But think about your post-Rapture loved ones. If they read what the Church has written about the Bible, they’ll think they’re gonna have the same guarantees we do when the reality will be they won’t.
That should matter to us.
