July's featured article
Or, The Biblical Doctrine of Justification by Faith
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Everlasting Life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from Death unto Life"
(John 5:24).
by Tom Stewart
Preface
The question, "Is faith the only condition for Eternal Salvation?", is crucial to the Body of Christ, because the answer on one extreme leads to antinomianism (the concept that faith alone, WITHOUT obedience to the Moral Law of loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39), is all that is necessary for Salvation), while the other extreme results in the "unfruitful works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:11) as seen in the sacramental salvation of the Church of Rome. The antinomian declares anathema against any works in Salvation, as a type of legalism. But, they forget that the LORD Jesus Christ declared faith to be a work that man was to perform. "28 Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent" (John 6:28-29). In addition, the Apostle Paul exhorted the Philippian Christians to be personally active in their own Salvation. "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12).
The "other extreme" is represented by Roman Catholicism, which has traditionally been Babylon the Great (Revelation 17:5). It has, more than any other false cult, made "works" a dirty word. Our response is that Rome's salvation depends upon faith in Rome, while Christ's Salvation depends upon faith in Christ. "To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey" (Romans 6:16). So then, faith in Christ is the great work we are called to do. "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent" (John 6:29).
The appropriate response to the question, "Is faith the only condition for Eternal Salvation?", is JESUS SAVES. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Though it is true that faith saves, i.e., "Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31), faith saves only because JESUS SAVES. And, yes, there are Other Conditions for our Justification; but, the keeping of all the conditions in the world does not truly save us. JESUS SAVES! "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5). If we can focus upon the real issue of our Eternal Salvation-- that JESUS SAVES-- then we can settle the question, "Is faith the only condition for Eternal Salvation?", with satisfaction. "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the Name of our LORD Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1Corinthians 1:10).
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Do you have a ministry or a business
Do you have a called of God ministry where your whole purpose is to "feed the sheep", and God supplies your needs, or do you have books, tapes, videos, etc. that you SELL for a "donation", or just outright SELL, and your buyers supply your needs?
There is nothing wrong with being in business and selling things. However, if you are a church or any kind of "ministry", you may want to check your motive for how you are conducting the work of the Lord.
Remember the money changers in the temple where JESUS turned over the tables and threw them out. They were selling things in the "CHURCH".
(God made it quite clear to us that we were not to charge for anything, that HE is our source.)
