Have You Fallen Away From Grace
“…continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13:43)
Whether you think that only those who believe the gospel in this life will be saved, or as I, believe that all will eventually be saved after their resurrection when they believe, one thing we should have in common. This salvation from death, this resurrection to immortal life….is purely and solely by the unmerited favor (grace) of God. We do not choose it, we cannot earn it, and we will not be rewarded with it because of any good works that we do.
We first came to a knowledge of this unmerited favor by hearing the gospel of our salvation. We believed the good news, if at all, as a result of the gift of “faith” granted to us by the "grace" of God …
“…it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through FAITH, and this is not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:5-9)
There are many good Christian people who sincerely believe that it is their commandment to go into to world and win people to Christ...in other words save people. That is not our commandment or role. Any commandment we have from God has to do with sharing the good news of unmerited salvation, not doing works that result in getting saved.
We will be rewarded for telling people the truth about salvation as a result of unmerited favor. And the truth is that God will save mankind when resurrected and “seated” with Christ Jesus in the “heavenly realms”, all by His unmerited favor - grace. Our actions in this present life will only be acceptable to God and rewarded if we believe and “continue in the grace of God”.
So do not let religious doctrines of men change what you first believed about your salvation. I have found that all of the doctrines of men add works in some form to that grace which saves. Those who teach such doctrines have “fallen from grace” to another gospel, which is "no gospel at all".
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel —which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ…You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace…” (Galatians 1:6-7; 5:4)
They were falling away in Paul's day, and people have been falling away from the gospel of grace for 2000 years. It would be nice if the institutional churches would repent of its failed works, help those around them, and as far as salvation is concerned - “continue in the grace of God”…but don’t hold your breath until that happens.
Whether you think that only those who believe the gospel in this life will be saved, or as I, believe that all will eventually be saved after their resurrection when they believe, one thing we should have in common. This salvation from death, this resurrection to immortal life….is purely and solely by the unmerited favor (grace) of God. We do not choose it, we cannot earn it, and we will not be rewarded with it because of any good works that we do.
We first came to a knowledge of this unmerited favor by hearing the gospel of our salvation. We believed the good news, if at all, as a result of the gift of “faith” granted to us by the "grace" of God …
“…it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through FAITH, and this is not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:5-9)
There are many good Christian people who sincerely believe that it is their commandment to go into to world and win people to Christ...in other words save people. That is not our commandment or role. Any commandment we have from God has to do with sharing the good news of unmerited salvation, not doing works that result in getting saved.
We will be rewarded for telling people the truth about salvation as a result of unmerited favor. And the truth is that God will save mankind when resurrected and “seated” with Christ Jesus in the “heavenly realms”, all by His unmerited favor - grace. Our actions in this present life will only be acceptable to God and rewarded if we believe and “continue in the grace of God”.
So do not let religious doctrines of men change what you first believed about your salvation. I have found that all of the doctrines of men add works in some form to that grace which saves. Those who teach such doctrines have “fallen from grace” to another gospel, which is "no gospel at all".
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel —which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ…You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace…” (Galatians 1:6-7; 5:4)
They were falling away in Paul's day, and people have been falling away from the gospel of grace for 2000 years. It would be nice if the institutional churches would repent of its failed works, help those around them, and as far as salvation is concerned - “continue in the grace of God”…but don’t hold your breath until that happens.