Jesus Saves HIS People (Pt 4)

> [!title|noicon] **Jesus Saves HIS People (Pt 4)** ^top   [< Part  1](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%201).md)   [2](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%202).md)   [3](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%203).md)   4   [5](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%205).md)   [6 >](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%206).md) **God Saves His Chosen People Through The Hearing Of The Gospel** As previously stated, God saves people *through the hearing of the Gospel*. He creates life by the power of His Word. We already saw in Ezekiel 37 how God gave life to a multitude of dry bones, and He did so by His Word through the preaching of Ezekiel. We read in Ezekiel 37: >*And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live....So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone...So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came upon them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.* In Genesis 1 it is seen that God created the world by speaking it into existence. Again and again Genesis 1 says, “and God said ... and it was so” ([Gen 1:3](Genesis%201.md#^3), [9](Genesis%201.md#^9), [11](Genesis%201.md#^11), [14](Genesis%201.md#^14)-[15](Genesis%201.md#^15), [24](Genesis%201.md#^24), [29](Genesis%201.md#^29)-[30](Genesis%201.md#^30)). This is the same way that salvation comes to individuals. God *speaks* new life into our souls through the Word of God, the Bible, so that we become a new creature, or a new creation. That is, God creates spiritual life in us by His Word as it is applied by the Holy Spirit just as He created light and physical life at the beginning of time by His Word. [2 Corinthians 4:6](2%20Corinthians%204.md#^6) ties the creation of the world to our salvation by the Word of God: >*For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.* That is, just as God spoke (commanded) the light to shine, so He speaks salvation into our souls by the light of the Gospel (the Word) of Christ. Thus we read in [Romans 10:17](Romans%2010.md#^17): >*So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.* So God grants us the faith to believe in Him through the hearing of His Word as He opens our ears to hear it. Again, in [1 Peter 1:23](1%20Peter%201.md#^23), we read that we are born again (given new life) by the Word of God: >*Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever.* [2 Thessalonians 2:13](2%20Thessalonians%202.md#^13), [14](2%20Thessalonians%202.md#^14) also says that we are *called* by the Gospel, which is the Word of God, if we are chosen by God to salvation: >*But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.* Likewise, [James 1:18](James%201.md#^18), [21](James%201.md#^21) speaks of the Word of God as the means through which we are saved, by God's own will: >*Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures....Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.* A notable example of salvation coming to those who *hear the Word of the Gospel* is seen in [Acts 10:44](Acts%2010.md#^44), where the apostle Peter preached to Cornelius and those who were gathered together with him: >*While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.* Later, in [Acts 11:15](Acts%2011.md#^15), as Peter rehearsed the matter before the brethren in Jerusalem, he said: >*And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.* Salvation came to Cornelius' household as Peter preached the Gospel to them. This is why the believers are called to send forth the Gospel into the world - that those whom God plans to save will become saved through the hearing of the Word. Jesus said, >*My sheep hear my voice [God’s Word], and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.* ([Jn 10:27](John%2010.md#^27), [28](John%2010.md#^28)) **God Does Not Open The Spiritual Ears and Eyes Of Those He Does Not Save** We can understand the nature of God’s salvation mechanism through Christ’s use of parables. Some teach that Jesus spoke in parables to make the Gospel easier to understand. But the opposite is actually true. Jesus spoke in parables that those whom God does not plan to save will remain blinded in their sins while the elect are enabled to understand the Gospel: >*And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are outside [the kingdom], all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.* ([Mk 4:11](Mark%204.md#^11), [12](Mark%204.md#^12)) > >(See also Matthew 13:9-16.) Ultimately this is how the entire Bible is written, to be hidden within spiritual concepts: >*But if our gospel be hidden, it is hidden to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.* ([2 Cor 4:3](2%20Corinthians%204.md#^3), [4](2%20Corinthians%204.md#^4)) The gospel is hidden from those who are not the elect of God because God does not open their spiritual eyes and ears to perceive the Truth. Christ is only fully revealed to those whom God saves: >*He that is of God hears God’s words: you therefore hear them not, because you are not of God.* ([Jn 8:47](John%208.md#^47)) > >*At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.* ([Mt 11:25](Matthew%2011.md#^25), [26](Matthew%2011.md#^26), [27](Matthew%2011.md#^27)) So God, through His Spirit, must open our sin-deadened spiritual eyes and ears. He must reveal Himself and His Truth to us by illuminating our minds through His Word, the Bible, Christ having directly and specifically atoned for our sins, in order for us to become saved: > I Corithians 2 > > *10 But God has revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.* > > *11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.* > > *12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.* > > *13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost [Spirit] teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.* > > *14 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.* Salvation requires a total, complete, spiritual resurrection, a complete spiritual rebirth, a complete spiritual healing of our sin-sick, sin-dead souls as God the Holy Spirit gives us new (eternal) life in Christ through the spiritual hearing of the Word of God by His Spirit. This is why the Word of God is called the *Sword of the Spirit*, it is what God uses to bring salvation to His people: >*And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:* ([Eph 6:17](Ephesians%206.md#^17)) **A Will And An Inheritance** God speaks of His salvation as a Covenant or as a Will that He has written. When someone writes a *Last Will and Testament*, they bequeath an inheritance (such as their property and estate) to others for the time of their death. When that person dies, those who are named in the will inherit what they have been designated in that will. This is a picture of God’s covenant of salvation. God has named His people in His Will to inherit salvation and eternal life. And upon the death of Christ, Who is God, that Will takes effect. Those who are named in it by God inherit eternal life: >*And for this reason he [Christ] is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator lives.* ([Heb 9:15](Hebrews%209.md#^15), [16](Hebrews%209.md#^16), [17](Hebrews%209.md#^17)) This is why the Gospel is called a Covenant, or a Testament. It's how we speak of a Last Will and Testament. So the Bible says that the believers are the *heirs*, or inheritors, of salvation: >*And if ye be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.* ([Gal 3:29](Galatians%203.md#^29)) This verse, like the passage above it, speaks about the believers as heirs of a *Promise*. This is the promise of God’s covenant of grace in which He names His people to inherit salvation in His Will and Testament (see also [Ro 8:17](Romans%208.md#^17)). We inherit eternal life because we have been adopted into God’s family as His children and are thus the rightful heirs of all that God has and Is (namely, eternal life and God Himself): >*But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons....Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son: and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.* ([Gal 4:4](Galatians%204.md#^4), [5](Galatians%204.md#^5), [7](Galatians%204.md#^7)) > >*That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.* ([Titus 3:7](Titus%203.md#^7)) What this means for the believer is that he or she can *never* lose their salvation. Because Christ has died (and risen again in making atonement, or payment, for their sins), He has secured the inheritance for the believers. They have been given eternal life as heirs of all that has been written in the Will of God. The terms of the Will must now be carried out. And it is altogether *God's* Will, not our will. Do you see now how a person's free will has nothing at all to do with salvation? >*Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.* ([Jam 1:18](James%201.md#^18)) **Banished from the Tree of Life** Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, and from the Tree of Life, once they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating of this tree, it was the path to eternal death. The Tree of Life represents immortality in Christ, but they did not eat of that tree, they were expelled from it. This represents how humanity has rebelled against God in order to mark out their own path of independence from God, according to their own will and their own sense of right and wrong, even at the great cost of eternal death -- which is the penalty for breaking God's Law. This is actually where our free will leads us apart from Christ. So Adam and Eve chose their own way that leads to death and were subsequently ejected from the Presence of God, along with the entire human race: > *And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.* ([Gen 3:22](Genesis%203.md#^22), [23](Genesis%203.md#^23), [24](Genesis%203.md#^24)) This is where the desire of Adam and Eve, and humanity at large, led them. This is the path we *already chose* as a race. Since we have eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil we are no longer in true relationship with God, which the Garden represents. So again, this is a picture of the separation of humanity from God. And we daily continue to fall in the same drastic manner whenever we sin, even multiple times a day, if we are not in Christ. And thus we are perpetually headed for death, dying we will die, and we *cannot* return now to partake of the Tree of Life (and immortality) of ourselves because we forfeited our access to it. We cannot through free agency or *any action* that we might take get back to that tree. In fact, God set up the Cherubims and a flaming sword turning every way to *prevent* reentry to the Garden (into the Presence of God) and to the Tree of Life (to immortality). But God has provided the Way back into the Garden and to the Tree of Life for His people through this flaming sword, through the same sword that is keeping us out. The *flaming sword* represents the Word of God, it is a two-edged Sword that cuts every way: > *And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:* ([Eph 6:17](Ephesians%206.md#^17)) > > *For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.* ([Heb 4:12](Hebrews%204.md#^12)) > > *And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shines in his strength.* ([Rev 1:16](Revelation%201.md#^16)) > > *And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which has the sharp sword with two edges; ... Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.* ([Rev 2:12](Revelation%202.md#^12), [16](Revelation%202.md#^16)) > > *And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.* ([Rev 19:15](Revelation%2019.md#^15)) With the flaming sword (the Word of God) guarding the Way to the Tree of Life, God indicates that it is only through Christ, it is only through the Word of God that we can return to God Himself unto immortality. And it is a *flaming* sword, that is, it has to do with the wrath of God bringing judgment. We cannot possibly return to Him through our own will or by our own efforts, we will be slain by the Sword unto death and judgment, it will never allow us in and we will be completely cut up and burned by it. Only if Christ Himself wields the Sword on our behalf to save us, only if He has suffered the wrath of God in our stead, only if He endures the flaming Sword in our place will we again have access to the Presence of God, to the Tree of Life, to salvation and eternal life: > *He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.* ([Rev 2:7](Revelation%202.md#^7)) > > *Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.* ([Rev 22:14](Revelation%2022.md#^14)) Per Revelation 2:7 above, we can only overcome and properly do the commandments of God if He has given us a new heart and a new Spirit and has inclined our hearts to do His will, with the very foundation of that action based altogether upon the work and Word of Christ. Following are a few more verses that speak about this Tree of Life: > *She* (speaking of Wisdom Personified, or Christ) *[is] a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy [is every one] that retains her.* ([Prv 3:18](Proverbs%203.md#^18)) > > *The fruit of the righteous *(Christ)* [is] a tree of life; and he that wins souls [is] wise.* ([Prv 11:30](Proverbs%2011.md#^30)) > > *Blessed [is] the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.* ([Ps 1:1](Psalm%201.md#^1), [2](Psalm%201.md#^2), [3](Psalm%201.md#^3)) **[< Part  1](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%201).md)   [2](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%202).md)   [3](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%203).md)   4   [5](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%205).md)   [6 >](Jesus%20Saves%20HIS%20People%20(Pt%206).md)** Tags: #library #grace