One of the “fine prints” deliberately avoided by Bible owners concerns God’s command for WORKS relative to inheriting eternal life. One of the passages used, and not used, relative to WORKS is Ephesians 2:8-10. Let us examine ALL of those two verses to glean God’s Truth: “For by grace you are (being) saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift from God.” SALVATION, LIKE GRACE AND FAITH, IS A GIFT FROM GOD. BUT ONE WHO RECEIVES GOD’S GIFTS OF GRACE AND FAITH MUST QUALIFY TO RECEIVE SALVATION. Jesus of Nazareth also had to qualify to be man’s savior and to spend eternity with His Father. If He had failed one time the Father would have to spend eternity alone. In John 15:10 we find Jesus saying that He abode in the Father’s love ONLY BY OBEYING HIS COMMANDMENTS (LAW). Christ’s prayer life was extensive and intense, yet “He was heard (by the Father) because He feared (Him)”–Heb. 5:7. Jesus feared God because He knew that in God’s eyes He (Jesus) was a man like all other men. The only difference between Him and other men was that Jesus feared God, loved Him and obeyed Him totally. That, and only that, separated him from other men. That, and only that, is what separates the Lord’s Very Elect saints from all other religious people. Everyone begins life with a blank mental slate. Everything–good and evil–begins in the mind. From the age of accountability until death we each determine what we write on our personal slate. We either go with A) God’s flow as detailed in His Holy Bible, or we go with B) Satan’s flow detailed in church doctrine, or we go with C) the world’s flow which is the doctrine created by oneself. B and C are forms of idolatry which the Biblical God abhors.
Of the three verses which address the WORKS question, one of them is summarily rejected by the counterfeit church. We have discussed verse 8 which, along with verse 9 are embraced wholeheartedly by professing Christendom. Verse 9 is an extension of verse 8 which states that, in that man’s salvation is founded on grace and faith, man is not saved by WORKS. This is where religionists stop reading, close the Bible and refuse to go any further. But Jesus said that we must LIVE by “… EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4), and that man will be judged by “the WORDS THAT I (JESUS) HAVE SPOKEN (Jn. 12:44-50–emphasis on 48). Jesus, having heard God’s Words through the Holy Spirit, spoke every Word to His prophets and apostles, who spoke His Words to Old Covenant Israel and the New Covenant Church respectively, then to record and preserve God’s Words so that they could serve as “our examples and for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the world have come”–those living in the last days of this era (1 Cor 10:11). “Holy men of old spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). It was those Words that form the foundation for the New
Covenant Church (Eph. 2:20).
Let us return to Ephesis 2:9 where Paul proclaims that WORKS WILL NOT SAVE US. This is where people stop reading. However, in reading verse 10 we learn that Paul was referring to RELIGIOUS WORKS DESIGNED BY MAN. As is usually the case, man’s (Satan’s) works are a counterfeit version of God’s works. Going to church, reading the Bible, praying, fasting, tithing, etc., though commanded by God, will not save the soul, as verse 9 plainly states. In verse 10 Paul makes clear that Paul states that WORKS ARE NECESSARY FOR SALVATION. He makes it clear that he is referring to “GOOD WORKS” IN WHICH GOD COMMANDS SALVATION SEEKERS TO “WALK” (LIVE), MEANING TO THINK, SPEAK AND DO.
The obvious question then arises: WHAT ARE THE GOOD WORKS GOD COMMANDS OF SALVATION SEEKERS? In Titus 2:13-15 we find Paul writing to a fellow apostle, reminding him that salvation seekers live in HOPE that they will be ready to join Him when He appears. Read Hope and Salvation. Key word–Hope. He noted that Jesus had given His life for us, thereby redeeming us from INIQUITY (Lawlessness) in order to PURIFY to Himself a PECULIAR PEOPLE who were “ZEALOUS FOR GOOD WORKS.” Paul told Titus to speak that admonition (vs 14) to the people, exhort them to walk accordingly and rebuke anyone who disputed them.
Regarding the Old Covenant’s place in the New Covenant Church, listen to what Paul said to the church at Rome in 2:14-3:1. Beginning in 2:14 he writes about the Gentiles who had come to the Lord Jesus. In verses 17-24 he chastises the Jewish pastor of the Gentile church, reminding him that he claimed to rest in the Law (for salvation), to be a follower of God, to know His will and to approve of the excellency of the Law. He claimed to be a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes and to have knowledge of the truth in the Law. Paul then tongue lashes him for not practicing what he preached, thereby blaspheming God before the Gentiles in the church. From verses 25-29 he reminds the pastor that the Gentiles had become spiritual Jews by obeying the Law. Then in 3:1 he asks what ADVANTAGE DID THE JEWS HAVE RELATIVE TO CONVERSION AND SALVATION? His answer: “MUCH IN EVERY WAY.” And what was the Jews’ advantage over the Gentiles relative to salvation? “FOR UNTO THEM (JEWS) WERE GIVEN THE ORACLES (WORDS) OF GOD.” What oracles/words was Paul referring to? THE OLD TESTAMENT/COVENANT. The New Covenant/Testament would not come into existence for another 50 years. Jesus and the apostles taught the New Covenant Church using the Old Covenant throughout their time in the ministry. Recall that Jesus quoted the Old Covenant, as did John the Baptist. The Apostle James notes that faith without WORKS is dead faith (2:10,14,17,18,290,24,26). Faith is believing God’s Word (Rom. 10:14). God’s Word refers to both the Old and New Covenants. WORKS refers to obeying both, with the exception of the “law that was added” which involved blood sacrifice, rituals, etc. (Gal. 3:19) which was nailed to the cross of Christ.
Recall that Stephen taught the Pharisees and their followers out of the Old Testament, which caused them to stone him to death. The modern day church has the same attitude toward the Old Testament as did the Pharisees. The only reason God’s true servants are not treated in the same way today is the law which prohibits the killing of people with whom one disagrees. But this will change during the Great Tribulation. Read about God’s Two Witnesses. Key word–Two.
So what are the WORKS that Israelites and converted Gentiles must do in order to be saved upon Christ’s return? Paul tells us in Romans 2:14 where he compliments the Gentiles who “SHOW THE WORK OF THE LAW WRITTEN IN THEIR HEARTS.” In Jeremiah 31:31-33 Jesus said that He would write His Law in the hearts of His true saints. In Hebrews 8:8-12 Paul reports that He did exactly that.
In summary, the WORKS that one must do in order to be saved is to OBEY THE LAW WHICH GOD HAS WRITTEN IN THE HEARTS/MINDS OF HIS SAINTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. Law-breakers have neither the Law nor the Holy Spirit. L.J.
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