While Scripture repeatedly emphasizes that those who are truly born again will persevere to the end and will certainly have eternal life in heaven with God, there are other passages that speak of the necessity of continuing in faith throughout life. They make us realize that what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:5 is true, namely, that God does not guard us apart from our faith, but only by working through our faith so that he enables us to continue to believe in him. In this way, those who continue to trust in Christ gain assurance that God is working in them and guarding them.

One example of this kind of passage is John 8:31–32: “Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ’ Jesus is here giving a warning that one evidence of genuine faith is continuing in his word, that is, continuing to believe what he says and living a life of obedience to his commands. Similarly, Jesus says, “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22), as a means of warning people not to fall away in times of persecution.

Paul says to the Colossian Christians that Christ has reconciled them to God, “in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard” (Col. 1:22–23). It is only natural that Paul and the other New Testament writers would speak this way, for they are addressing groups of people who profess to be Christians, without being able to know the actual state of every person’s heart. There may have been people at Colossae who had joined in the fellowship of the church, and perhaps even professed that they had faith in Christ and had been baptized into membership of the church, but who never had true saving faith. How is Paul to distinguish such people from true believers? How can he avoid giving them false assurance, assurance that they will be saved eternally when in fact they will not, unless they come to true repentance and faith? Paul knows that those whose faith is not real will eventually fall away from participation in the fellowship of the church. Therefore he tells his readers that they will ultimately be saved, “provided that you continue in the faith” (Col. 1:23). Those who continue show thereby that they are genuine believers. But those who do not continue in the faith show that there was no genuine faith in their hearts in the first place.

A similar emphasis is seen in Hebrews 3:14 (NASB): “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm to the end.” This verse provides an excellent perspective on the doctrine of perseverance. How do we know if “we have become partakers of Christ”? How do we know if this being joined to Christ has happened to us at some time in the past? One way in which we know that we have come to genuine faith in Christ is if we continue in faith until the end of our lives.

Attention to the context of Hebrews 3:14 will keep us from using this and other similar passages in a pastorally inappropriate way. We must remember that there are other evidences elsewhere in Scripture that give Christians assurance of salvation, so we should not think that assurance that we belong to Christ is impossible until we die. However, continuing in faith is the one means of assurance that is named here by the author of Hebrews. He mentions this to warn his readers that they should not fall away from Christ, because he is writing to a situation where such a warning is needed. The beginning of that section, just two verses earlier, said, “Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Heb. 3:12). In fact, in all of the passages where continuing to believe in Christ to the end of our lives is mentioned as one indication of genuine faith, the purpose is never to make those who are presently trusting in Christ worry that some time in the future they might fall away (and we should never use these passages that way either, for that would be to give wrongful cause for worry in a way that Scripture does not intend). Rather, the purpose is always to warn those who are thinking of falling away or have fallen away that if they do this it is a strong indication that they were never saved in the first place. Thus, the necessity for continuing in faith should just be used as a warning against falling away, a warning that those who fall away give evidence that their faith was never real.

John clearly states that when people fall away from fellowship with the church and from belief in Christ they thereby show that their faith was not real in the first place and that they were never part of the true body of Christ. Speaking of people who have left the fellowship of believers, John says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). John says that those who have departed showed by their actions that they “were not of us—that they were not truly born again.”

Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

Salvation is accomplished through what Christ did in history and by what He continues to do in believers by the Holy Spirit. The basis for our salvation is Jesus’ death on the cross (Rom. 3:25) and the righteousness He achieved for us in His active obedience. It is realized in our lives as Christ lives in us (John 15:4; 17:26; Col. 1:27) and we live in Christ, united with Him in His death and risen life (Rom. 6:3–10; Col. 2:12, 20; 3:1).  -R.C. Sproul

Salvation is a work that God does.  The success of His Gospel and the fruits from His ministry is not based upon how his ministers perform.  He has chosen to work in and through the foolishness of our words and the flawed efforts of our hands and feet to minister.  So for salvation to happen—for ministry to be fruitful, God has to be in it.  He has to do a work.  You could deliver a message with the intelligence of R.C. Sproul and the delivery of John MacArthur and the passion of John Piper and if God is not in it, nothing fruitful will come from it. 

God calls—He draws—He changes us from the inside out.  He sent His Son to accomplish salvation for us, He sends His people to share Christ with us, and He uses His word to instruct us and sends His Spirit to convict and convert us. 

There are so many places we find this in scripture.  Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.   

We are saved by God’s Grace, not by our works.  And though he says that we are saved “through faith,” Paul follows that statement with, “…this is not your own doing.”  We can’t even say our faith is from us because God is the one who awakens us to faith.  He also says in Titus 3:5,  

(God) saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus also said in John 14:17, “The world cannot receive (The Holy Spirit).”  Why?  He says, “It neither sees Him nor knows Him.”  We are spiritually dead as Paul says in Ephesians 2 and there is only one who can bring a spiritually dead person to life and that’s God.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

The central theme of the Christian gospel is salvation. The gospel proclaims that as God saved Israel from Egypt and the psalmist from death (Ex. 15:2; Ps. 116:6), so He will save all who trust Christ from sin and its consequences. This salvation from sin and death is wholly God’s work. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Jon. 2:9).  -R.C. Sproul

IS THERE A WRONG WAY TO APPROACH GOD?

There is a story of two men who went to the same place of worship to pray.  Both went, both prayed, but only one was accepted before God.  Though they both went to the same place before the same God with similar activity, but only one went away right with God. 

Why?  Well, we learn in the story that though one was viewed by many as this impressive spiritual leader and the other a despised and wretched sinner, we are told that the impressive religious leader stood before God and men and held his head up high and basically said, “God I thank you that I am so Great—not like these other men—not like this despised and terrible, ungodly sinner over here.”  He said, “I do all the right things spiritually—I meet all your requirements.  I fast twice a week and give my money away to the church and to the poor.  Thank you God that I’m me, a spiritual giant for you.”

And we are told that in that same place of worship the other man stood up and did not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but looking down at the ground he beat on chest  and said, “Oh God be merciful to me; for I am a sinner.”  And we are told that the miserable sinner was the one who left the place of worship on that day right with God.

This is a parable that our Lord Jesus told while he was surrounded by a group of self-righteous Pharisees and in this parable we learn that there is a right and wrong way to approach God.  We learn here that you could have two individuals going to the exact same place coming before the exact same God with similar activity and one could be in the right and the other in the wrong.  We are told they both went to the temple to pray and only one was accepted before God.  The reason is because more than being concerned with the actions of our hands and feet, God is concerned with the condition of our hearts—and the motives behind our actions.

Though both men went to the temple to pray, the Pharisee did so with a proud and arrogant heart.  He was bragging to God about all the things he had done instead of praising Him for His great mercy and grace.  The tax collector, on the other hand, refused to even lift up his eyes in God’s direction and with his head low he confessed his sin and pleaded for mercy. 

Two men…same place of worship…similar activity, and only one was accepted and the other rejected.  Scripture is clear that though it is essential that we follow God, there is a right and wrong way to approach Him.  The outward acts of our hands and feet (going to place of worship and praying to God) means little to God if the one carry out those activities has impure motives and an unchanged and calloused heart.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

“The Pharisee relied on his own merits, not having discovered that no human righteousness is sufficient before a God who demands perfection (Matt. 5:48). The tax collector relied on God’s mercy and found it.”  –R.C. Sproul

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  Every cloud has a silver lining.  It’s not about the cards you’re dealt, but about how you play the hand. 

Each of these statements are familiar sayings in our society that have to do with making the best of a bad situation.  We have all had to do this at one time or another—we have all had to make lemonade when life has given us lemons.  And all of us know stories of people who have overcome great adversity and have made great work of the worst of situations.  There are many stories in our world of people who played a bad hand well—who found the silver lining in a tough situation.

We learn in Scripture that our God works in this way as well.  We learn all throughout His Word that he makes the best work of the worst of situations.  His book is filled with story after story of Him working in and through dark and difficult situations to bring about the best, most glorious and god-honoring ends.  This is the work that our God delights in doing.  He delights in taking broken and messed up situations and restoring and redeeming them and using them for good and for His purposes and for His glory. 

We are given a great example of this in Acts 8.  After God’s great servant Stephen is stoned to death and Christian persecution breaks out all over Jerusalem, we are told that God works in and through it to take His message of salvation out of Jerusalem and out into the world.  He makes great work of this horrible situation.  He uses persecution to spread His Gospel.  

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

“Satan was doing his best (to stop the spread of God’s Gospel) and God was just checking off point two in His outline."  (Acts 8:1-4) –John MacArthur

MISSIONS MONTH

Yesterday we had our missionaries from Nigeria--the Fretheims with us. They head up City Ministries which serves the people of Jos, Nigeria in a number of ways. Some of these include free medical treatments, expanded prison ministries, more than 500 film outreaches and the development of Genesis Farms, which trains people to care for large gardens that provide food and income for the people of Jos.

They have also been involved with several church plants and have trained thousands of Nigerians for evangelism and church planting.  To learn more about their ministry please click HERE.

"QUOTE" OF THE MONTH

"All of Scripture points to the fact that God is a missionary God, that the church is to be a missionary community and that God's people are to be missionary people." -Paul G. Hiebert

MISSIONS MONTH

Jim and Melanie Wilson live in Costa Rica where they serve as full-time missionaries.  Though they are involved in various ministries, their primary focus is upon leadership development.  Jim was with us yesterday and preached from 1 Corinthians and then met with our mission team going to Nicaragua in November.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah  Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!  The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.  God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!  Psalm 67

MISSIONS MONTH

Scott Yingling visited our church yesterday.  He is the director of the website obrerofiel.com.  Obrero Fiel means "faithful laborer" in Spanish. This site is designed to encourage, educate and equip Spanish-speakers around the world.  There are over 6,000 Christian resources available, and there is also an online discipleship school called Escuela Obrero Fiel which has over 3,000 students enrolled.  His son, Josiah, was also with us.  Josiah recently graduated from Moody Bible Institute and is starting at New Tribes Ministry in the fall.  There he will be trained for mission ministry.  To know more about Obrero Fiel, click HERE.  To learn more about New Tribes Missions, click HERE.  And to hear Scott and Josiah's message click HERE.

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God."  -John Stott

THE CHRIST-HATING MOB AND THE MAN OF GOD

Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.  And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.  Acts 7:58-60 

 

At the end of Acts 7 we learn that Stephen was put to death for his stance for Christ.  And as they were stoning him, we are told that he prayed for them.  He says, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”  In this passage, Luke makes a great contrast between this Christ-hating mob and this man of God. 

We see here in this passage that though this mob hated Stephen, Stephen loved and forgave them.  Christ did something very similar at His crucifixion.  We are told as he was being crucified, Christ prayed for His persecutors and said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Stephen prays the same thing.  While they are killing him, he prays that God would show great grace and mercy to them.  In Acts 6, we learned that Stephen was a man “full of grace.”  And he shows that here.   As he is being stoned he prays, “Father, please forgive them…show them mercy…show them your grace.”  Only a spirit-filled Christ-like man of God can love like that.

There was a reformer by the name of George Wishart who was to be put to death in the 1500s for his faith and history tells us that before his death he went over to his executioner and kissed him on the cheek and said, “Lo, here is a token that I forgive thee.” 

Jesus did the same thing and so did Stephen.  What a testimony!  There was all this hate toward Stephen and there is nothing in Stephen’s heart but love.  And though we don’t know what happened to most of the executioners after killing Stephen, we do know the fate of one.  In verse 58, we are told that the executioners laid down their garments at the feet of Saul.  This is Saul of Tarsus, latter to be known as Paul the Apostle.  He was there at Stephen’s martyrdom looking on in approval and may have even been one of the ones leading this mob who put Stephen to death. 

And in this book Luke tells us of the fate of Saul.  We learn Acts 9 that God answered Stephen’s prayer.  Stephen prayed at the end of Acts 7 that God would show great mercy and grace to His persecutors and we learn in Acts 9 that God shows mercy and grace to Saul.  Augustine, when commenting on  this verse, said, “The church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen.”  

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

“The church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen.”  -Augustine

MISSION NICARAGUA

This week I am with a team of pastors in Chinandega, Nicaragua.  We are teaching at a Bible Institute on preaching.  We have had over 140 pastors and church leaders attending this week.

"What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."  2 Timothy 2:2

THE STANDARD FOR PREACHERS

If you were to ask me, “What are the characteristics of a solid pastor teacher?”  There are several characteristics I would list.  First I would say that they must know the word of God.  They must know what it says and how it flows and how it points Jesus.  A great preacher knows how most every passage fits in God’s story and how it ties to Christ and God’s Gospel and how it applies to us.

Second I would say that they must know how to communicate God’s word effectively.  A good preacher not only knows God’s word, but knows how to communicate it in a way it can be understood by the common man/woman and knows how to communicate it in a way that is captivating and intriguing.  

I would also say that good preachers speak the truth in love.  They don’t shy away from difficult truths in scripture, but preach them with boldness, yet they do it respectfully.  Good preachers can also effectively defend and contend for the faith.  They know God’s word so well that they can defend it and fight for it against skeptics and critics. 

Good preachers are also missional.  They have a desire to make Christ known where he is not known and be His witnesses to the unbelieving and watching world.  I would say that great preachers also live what they preach.  They preach to themselves and apply what they preach to their own lives as well as preach to others.  They are men of great integrity and display great faith. 

Lastly, I would say their message stirs great emotions and results in great action—both positive and negative.  God uses their words to bring the hardest of sinners to repentance and the most resistant of believers to obedience.  And their messages also produce great enemies.  Some of my favorite pastor teachers are some of the most despised men by the world because they stand on the truth of God’s word, which is counter to the world.  They don’t shy away from the truth no matter how it offends, but they defend it and contend for it.

These characteristics, in my opinion, are what make for great preachers.  And in Acts 6 and 7, we see all of these characteristics bundled up in the person of Stephen.  Stephen lived what he preached.  He was a man of great integrity and faith.  In the first part of Acts 6, as the church was getting more organized to better deal with their issues, they appointed seven men of great faith and integrity and wisdom, and of the thousands to choose from, Stephen was at the top of their list. 

We also learn in Acts 6 that on top of being a great servant in the church, Stephen went above and beyond for the cause of Christ outside the church in ministry.  Not only did he help handle issues within the church, he took God’s Gospel message out into the world in hopes of growing His church and advancing His Kingdom. 

He was a man of great integrity, and faith and wisdom.  He was also a mission-minded minister.  He had a desire to see the lost come to Christ and was passionate about making Him known where he was not known. 

In Acts 7 we learn that Stephen also knew the word of God and knew how to defend it and contend for it.  He boldly spoke the truth in love.  Stephen was a great man of God and the reason why he was so great is because he looked so much like Jesus.  Jesus was full of the Spirit, so was Stephen.  Jesus was full of wisdom, so was Stephen.  Jesus was full of power, so was Stephen.  Jesus was full of grace, so was Stephen.  And Stephen was the way that he was because of Jesus. 

For more on Stephen, click HERE and listen to “A GREAT MESSAGE OF FAITH FROM A GREAT MAN OF FAITH.”  

"QUOTE" OF THE WEEK

"The emphasis in Stephen’s life is on fullness: he was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3, 10), full of faith (Acts 6:5), and full of power (Acts 6:8). In Scripture, to be 'full of' means 'to be controlled by.' (Stephen) was controlled by the Spirit, faith, wisdom, and power. He was a God-controlled man yielded to the Holy Spirit, a man who sought to lead people to Christ." -Warren Wiersbe