Jesus Saves HIS People (Pt 1)

> [!title|noicon] **Jesus Saves HIS People (Pt 1 of 6)** [Part 2 >](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%202).md) ^top *He that has ears to hear, let him hear.* (Mt 11:15) ~ All Christians would agree with the statement that Jesus saves. And we would say that Christ receives all the glory in providing for our salvation. Yet, many who agree with this statement do not give assent to its biblical meaning in their doctrine. They unwittingly give to men a portion of glory in salvation. That is, they wrongly hold that Christ made salvation possible by paying for the sins of all people, and now it is up to us to determine whether we will receive Him as our Lord and Savior. In an attempt to demonstrate this, many quote John 1:12, ^d16b6a > *But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:* The argument is, "You see? Anyone who receives Christ is given the power to become a son of God! So anyone can receive Christ of his own free will and become saved." However, this completely overlooks the following verse, verse 13, which says, >*Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.* **Born Again** We see from the verse above that the true believers, those who have received Christ, have not done so of their free will but are instead born of God and have nothing at all to do with their own salvation. It is not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God giving a new birth: >*Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again [or, from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God.* (John 3:3) This is a very direct statement. Unless we are born again, or, born from above (from God), we cannot even *see* the kingdom of God. To see in biblical parlance means to perceive, to understand. That is, spiritually speaking, we cannot perceive or understand anything about the Kingdom of God unless God has given us a new birth. And since we cannot see the spiritual kingdom of God without this new birth from above, neither can we know (understand) it to even receive it in our natural state: >*But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.* (I Corinthians 2:14) And if a man cannot see the kingdom of God unless he is first born again, how can he receive Christ? > *...A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.* (John 3:27) > > *Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God....* (I John 5:1) We must be born of God first, you see. So the fact is, we cannot see spiritually to receive Christ unless we are first spiritually born of God from heaven and given new life because of our carnal and physical nature: >*...the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.* (Romans 8:7-8) **Spiritually Dead In Sin** The reason we must be born again unto salvation is that we are spiritually dead in sin before salvation. A man cannot see if he is not born, or if he is dead. He does not have life. Likewise, a man cannot see the kingdom of God, which is a spiritual kingdom, unless he is first spiritually born from above by God. He does not have spiritual life in order to see and perceive the things of God. He is totally blinded by sin. Our spiritual deadness before God saves us is seen in Ephesians 2:1,5-6, which says that God makes us alive who were dead in sins: >*And you has he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins....Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, [God] has made us alive together with Christ (by grace ye are saved;) and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.* Above, it speaks about salvation in the context of being raised up together with Christ Jesus to sit with Him in heavenly places -- that is, salvation is spoken of as a *resurrection*. Since we are already physically alive, we know that God is speaking of a *spiritual* resurrection, making us spiritually alive. This is parallel to Colossians 2:13: >*And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has he made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.* An illustration of salvation as a resurrection is seen in the raising of Lazarus from the tomb in John 11. While Lazarus was physically dead and brought back to physical life, Christ is using this as a picture of how salvation takes place. Before raising Lazarus from the tomb Jesus said to Martha, Lazarus’ sister, in verse 25: >*Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.* Lazarus was physically dead (he was a stinking corpse - see John 11:39) so Jesus had to give him life in order for him to come forth out of the grave. The same is true of salvation. In order for us to be resurrected from spiritual death we must first be given new life by Christ. Before salvation we are stinking corpses before God because of our putrid sins and we are in need of Christ to call us out of our tombs. Just as there will be a resurrection of the body on the last day, so there is a spiritual resurrection of the soul in salvation. Christ Himself compares the two events in John 5:21, 24-29: >*For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them [makes them alive]; even so the Son quickens whom he will....Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself; And has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.* (John 5:24-29) Consider further what Christ said to the scribes and Pharisees who were unsaved: >*Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.* (Matthew 23:27) That these scribes and Pharisees were like unto sepulchres (tombs) and full of dead men's bones was indicative that they were not saved and that they were still under the power of sin and Satan. Thus, God teaches concerning salvation: >*But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raises the dead.* (2 Corinthians 1:9) Like the resurrection of Lazarus, many of the physical healings in the Bible also represent salvation - we are all spiritually lame, blind, deaf, mute and leprous (unclean) before salvation. This is why Jesus said in Luke 5:31-32: >*And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.* Here Jesus equates sin with sickness - He is the Physician Who has come to heal us from the fatal disease of sin that has no earthly remedy. Consider this picture of salvation through Christ’s physical healing of a blind man: >*Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.* (John 9:24-25) At the same time that Jesus healed the man's physical blindness, He also opened his eyes spiritually to believe in Christ. That this healing of the blind man represents salvation is seen in Isaiah 35:5: >*Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.* God came with vengeance to save us as Christ suffered the wrath of God in our place. As a result, God opens our spiritually blind eyes and spiritually deaf ears so that we begin to see our sins as we hear the Gospel. This is seen again in Luke 4:18 where the Lord Jesus draws the connection between preaching the Gospel and healing the blind: >*The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.* Christ has come to preach the Gospel to those who are spiritually poor and needy - to those who are desperately without help and in need of salvation. He has come to heal those who are broken in spirit and to preach deliverance to those who are taken captive by sin and Satan. And He has come to preach to those who are blind that they might see their sins and their need of the Savior. So we learn from this that we are totally helpless until Christ delivers us. He receives *all* of the glory and credit for our salvation, in other words, and we receive absolutely none. It was by His will, by His grace and mercy, by His Work, completely without our contribution. So the entire theology that says we "accept" Christ of our free will is entirely unbiblical, and, in fact, impossible. It glosses over the spiritually *dead* condition of humanity under the total blindness of and absolute bondage to sin outside of Christ. We do not have the ability to accept Christ of our free will until God Himself gives us new, spiritual life. Though we may be alive physically, until God breathes life into our souls we are spiritually dead and unable to turn to God of ourselves. And just as God caused us to be physically born without our contribution, so He makes us born again spiritually without our contribution. He gives us eternal life and He Himself makes us to be sheep of His pasture if we are truly saved: >*Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.* So it is of God's own will, not man's, that He has begotten us if we are saved: >*Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.* (James 1:18) **We Must Be Given Immortality** Many today wrongly teach that each person of the human race was created with an immortal soul. That's one reason why the false teaching that the unsaved will spend an eternity in hell exists. They believe that being created in the image of God means that we have been given an immortal soul, even if it has become corrupt. But that is not biblical. The Bible insists that *only Christ is immortal* and that we must be given eternal life and immortality in Him. That said, many of these same people might quote Romans 2:6-7 to prove that God gives eternal life to those who seek for it according to their good deeds: > *[God] will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:* ([Ro 2:6](Romans%202.md#^6), [7](Romans%202.md#^7)) We will see this again later, but God insists that no one seeks God in their fallen state: > *There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God.* ([Ro 3:11](Romans%203.md#^11)) So the fact is, no one will seek for immortality in well doing until they are already born again. God Himself must give us immortality in Christ: > *For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.... The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. But thanks [be] to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.* ([1 Co 15:53](1%20Corinthians%2015.md#^53), [56](1%20Corinthians%2015.md#^56), [57](1%20Corinthians%2015.md#^57)) > > *That thou keep [this] commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall show [who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen nor can see: to whom [be] honor and power everlasting. Amen.* ([1 Ti 6:14](1%20Timothy%206.md#^14), [15](1%20Timothy%206.md#^15), [16](1%20Timothy%206.md#^16)) > > *Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who has saved us and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:* ([2 Ti 1:8](2%20Timothy%201.md#^8), [9](2%20Timothy%201.md#^9), [10](2%20Timothy%201.md#^10)) We can only possess immortality after Christ, Who alone has immortality, dwells within us by His Spirit, makes us born again unto eternal life. In fact, Christ Himself is the very *Essence* of eternal Life ([Jn 14:6](John%2014.md#^6)). Thus, Christ receives *ALL* of the glory and credit for our salvation for doing *ALL* of the work on our behalf. We have absolutely nothing to glory in of ourselves -- not even that we, who were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins -- somehow "made the decision or chose" to reach out and grab hold of eternal life in Christ. You see how ridiculous and proud that presumption is. **[Part 2 >](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%202).md)** Tags: #library #grace