So Many Theologies

So I read a meme posted on Facebook today which said:

“Calvinism is monergistic when it comes to the doctrine of salvation. This simply means that when a person is saved it is due wholly to the working of one source of power, God. Arminianism is by necessity synergistic, in that it conceives of salvation as the joint or mutual effort of both God and man.”

Now I don’t adhere to either one of these, because I don’t follow the theologies of man. What I believe is that it is better to just study the Scriptures in their full context in being led of the Spirit of God and in listening to hear the Spirit teach us what they say, one book at a time, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, in context. That is really where we get to know the divine character of God. 

For there are so many different theologies. And so much of what is being taught as theology is bent in so many different directions according to human interpretation of the Scriptures and preconceived ideas of what they teach. And so many people are being led in a wrong direction according to certain theologies. So the best way to study God is just to read the Scriptures one book at a time in context under the direction of the Holy Spirit and to just let the Lord give us the understanding of his word that he wants us to have. Bible helps should normally be after the fact and not what we rely upon for truth. For not everyone teaches the truth.

So, what if there is another way of looking at what the Scriptures teach on the subject of salvation from sin, which is what Jesus taught and what the New Testament apostles taught. Yes, we can only be saved by God's grace and not of our own making. No amount of good works on our part will ever get us in right relationship with God. We cannot even believe in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, unless he first persuades us (faith defined). Even the faith to believe in Jesus is a gift of God to us (Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44).

But the gift of salvation from sin is deliverance from our slavery to sin and it is empowerment of God to live holy lives, pleasing to God. And we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them. And God’s grace to us trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for his return (Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:11-14). 

And the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and who walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and who no longer walk in sin (Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14). 

And we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us.. And if sin is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. And the meaning of fellowship is partnership, and partnership involves us having a part, our contribution, our participation according to God’s word and in the power of God’s Spirit living within us. (Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 2:12-13; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 5:3-6; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10, etc.).

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. And in essence he continued by saying that if we hold on to our sinful practices, that we will lose our lives for eternity, but if we deny self, die to sin daily, and follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life. For he also said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, this isn’t about people trying to earn their own salvation, but it is about us participating with God in the salvation that he already provided for us by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ which results in us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Thus sin is to no longer be what we obey, for if sin is what we obey it leads to death, not to life eternal with God. But if we obey obedience it leads to eternal life (Romans 6:1-23; Galatians 5:16-21).

So, is there anything that we can do in the flesh to earn or to deserve our own salvation? No! We cannot even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ. But the gift of salvation is not just forgiveness of sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven. The gift of salvation is deliverance from slavery to sin and empowerment of the Spirit of God to walk in holiness and in righteousness in obedience to our Lord. 

And we are warned all throughout the New Testament that if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, that we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what faith we profess in Jesus Christ. For the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh.

And the Scriptures do not teach a salvation that is a once in our lifetime experience which assures us of heaven as our final destiny regardless of how we live. The Scriptures teach salvation as progressive. We have been saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns and he takes his faithful bride to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be complete, and not until then, and only if we continue in walks of obedience and in surrender to our Lord in holy living and we no longer walk in sin, until the very end.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]  

Follow Him  

An Original Work / February 21, 2013

Based off Luke 9:22-25

Jesus, Son of God,

Died for us on a cross.

Anyone who would come to Him

Must deny himself and follow.

He must take up his cross daily;

Die to sin and self each day.

Father, God above,

Loved us so: gave His Son.

If you want to save your old life;

Keep on sinning, follow your ways,

You will lose your life forever;

Hope of heaven gone away.

Spirit of our God

Gives us life in God’s Son.

Nonetheless, if you die to self;

Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,

You will live with God in heaven,

And forever praise His name! 

https://vimeo.com/117316842