2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 NKJV
“13But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.”
Salvation From Sin
A very distorted teaching on the gospel of Christ, and of
our salvation, is what seems to be the most popular of teachings on the gospel
in the USA today. So many are teaching a faith in Jesus Christ which requires
nothing other than some kind of confession of Christ as Lord or a profession of
faith in Jesus Christ with one’s lips only. And then they are told that they
are now saved, forgiven all sin, and on their way to heaven, which they say
cannot be taken away from them, no matter how they live from then forward.
But here we read that God chose us who believe in Jesus for
salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. So what
does that look like? What is salvation? What are we saved from? Well, Jesus
Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him
so that, by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him we will deny self, die to
sin daily, and follow him in obedience to his commands wherever he leads us.
For we are saved out from addiction to sin so we now obey God in practice.
And this salvation is through sanctification by the Spirit.
And to be sanctified is to be made holy, morally pure, righteous, godly,
honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. It is a life-long
process in the life of the believer in Christ, but it being “a process” is
never an excuse to hold back from God what you know belongs to God and to hold
on to sin. For we don’t get to determine the process. God does! And this is a
process of God in our lives in changing us and transforming us to be more like
Jesus in nature.
And belief in the truth comes from God, is authored and
perfected by Christ, and it is not of our own doing, not of the flesh of
humans. But it is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to his
holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to deny
self, die to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, in
surrender of our lives to him. And truth is not defined by us but by God and by
his word. But we must study the Scriptures in the correct biblical context if
we want the truth.
[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44;
Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10;
Ephesians 4:17-32; Hebrews 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24]
The Gospel of Christ
Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self,
take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we
hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But
if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to
our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God.
For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the
one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our
own doing, we are 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 righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no
longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires.
For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is
what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with
God (see Romans 6:1-23).
For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training
us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,
upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave
himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a
people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)
And we learn in 1 John 1-3 that if we claim that we have
fellowship with God, but yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we
claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we
are liars. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in
Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and
who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice,
and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God
in heaven.
Additional Scriptures
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians
4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13;
Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1
John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
Hold The Traditions?
Now this is not speaking of humanistic traditions created in
the minds of either men or women. This is not about observing all the Old
Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision,
dietary, and Sabbath laws. This is not about legalistic requirements created in
the minds of humans which are not listed for us in the Scriptures. And this is
not about going through a list of things “to do” which are routine only but not
as led by the Spirit and which have nothing to do with following Jesus with our
lives.
These “traditions” have more to do with instructions given
the people by the Lord’s apostles as to how they are to live to please God, and
of the kinds of things that God requires of us, and that he expects of us who
claim to believe in Jesus Christ, which are repeated for us in the Scriptures.
These were revelations from God given to the people via our Lord’s messengers,
the apostles of Christ in New Testament times. So this had to do with
repentance, obedience to God, and living to please God in all of our being.
Praise Be Told!
Based off Various Scriptures
An Original Work / December 28, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
He was pierced for
our transgressions.
He was crushed for
all our sin.
Our chastisement was
upon Him.
By His stripes, we
now are healed.
He has witnessed all
our trials,
And the sins we
choose to wear.
Yet, while we were
dead in our sin,
Jesus died, our sins
to bear.
He himself bore all
of our sins
In His body on a
cross,
So that we might die
to our sin,
And live for His
righteousness.
By faith in the
pow’r of Jesus
And His blood shed
for our sins,
We can be forgiven
our sin,
And have life with
God in heav’n.
He will lead us and
He’ll guide us
In the way that we
should go.
He will comfort and
protect us,
Because Jesus, we do
know.
Though He
disciplines for our good,
He will heal us –
Praise be told!
Do not fear, your
Lord is with you.
Just have faith in
Christ your Lord.
Salvation Through Sanctification
No comments:
Post a Comment