____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ March 20, 1994 ____________________________________________________ Salvation Is Not a Passive Thing by Tom Edwards One of the concepts the Bible instills is that salvation is not a mere passive thing. Redemption is not something that is just totally up to God--while man simply remains inactive and waits to be saved--but, rather, a person MUST RESPOND and meet a few conditions on his own in order to become a Christian and live as a faithful one. First, one must believe; and true faith can only be acquired through the gospel. As Paul writes, ``So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ'' (Rom. 10:17). See also the importance and the power of the gospel in John 20:30,31 and Romans 1:16. According to these verses, acquiring faith does not happen passively--rather, it involves active participation in going to God's word to read it or hear it, to meditate upon it, to rightly divide it, and to correctly apply it. When our minds have been filled with previous misconceptions and we cling tenaciously to some of these false beliefs, acquiring the faith of the gospel can sometimes be a difficult thing to grasp because we don't want to let go of our preconceived notions. We must, therefore, be willing to re-think our beliefs in the light of God's word with an open mind. When a person has been erroneously taught all his life that redemption is by ``faith alone,'' God's purpose for water baptism (so sins can be forgiven) will not be easily accepted by those who lean more strongly to this false teaching of salvation by ``faith only.'' In speaking of the studious Bereans in Acts 17:11, Paul states, ``Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.'' Undoubtedly, these Bereans did more than casually glance at the word--they diligently probed it like a scientist zealously analyzing data. The text itself says they made an ``examination'' of it, and that they did so ``with great eagerness.'' It was a CAREFUL INVESTIGATION into God's word they made--and not merely a gullible acceptance--that enabled them to truly ``reason together'' with the Lord, weigh out the evidence, and draw the proper conclusions (Isa. 1:17). The brain power required (or mental exertion) for doing this is far from a mere passive act. I once jokingly told the brethren, while preaching one Sunday night, that if they didn't think it was work in just hearing the word of God, I would keep preaching till midnight--or until they changed their mind. Secondly, one must repent (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30). This, too, cannot always be carried out passively. It might also involve certain actions: John the Baptist had told some of the people of his day to ``bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance''; and Paul said before Agrippa in Acts 26:19,20, that people need to ''...repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.'' Is this not because repentance not only involves a change of heart or a change of mind, but also a change of one's actions? The penitent is determined to put to death the old man of sin and strive to follow in the footsteps of Jesus (Rom. 6:15-18, 22). One of the things that is to be coupled with repentance for the alien sinner in order to become a Christian is baptism (Acts 2:38). This is a ``deed'' commanded by God Himself that is part of the gospel plan of salvation--a plan which enables one to benefit from the sacrifice of Christ. Thirdly, salvation is not a passive thing because one must actively acknowledge his faith in the Lord prior to his baptism (Acts 8:36,37; Rom. 10:9,10). This might seem very easy for one to do today, but if we lived in the days of Nero, Domitian, or some of those other rulers who brought severe persecution--and even death--upon early Christians, making such a confession suddenly takes on a whole new meaning. Many of the early saints literally gave up their lives for having done so. Though we often think of talking and doing as being opposites--the former being ``non-action'' and the latter being ``action''--we must remember that in some cases talking is very much an action. Christians are to teach the gospel to others. What more important work can there be than in helping others to learn the truth. To not teach others, however, would be a sin. Definitely, we don't want to be found non-active in teaching God's truth. Furthermore, Jesus warns that man will be judged on the basis of ``every careless word...For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned'' (Matt. 12:36,37). Let me interject at this point that sometimes the Bible uses terms such as ``faith'' or ``believe'' as a synecdoche, in which one part stands for the whole. I've used this illustration before about when I was in school: Guys talked pretty much then about their ``wheels'' or about getting ``a set of wheels.'' They weren't talking about merely the tires, hubcaps, or the wheels--they meant the entire car! They were actually using the term ``wheels'' as a synecdoche, in which it referred to the whole vehicle. Faith is sometimes used this way. And when it is, we must necessarily infer that this also involves repentance, confession of one's faith in Christ, water baptism into Jesus for the remission of sins, and a continual life of faithfulness unto God. We can make this necessary inference on the basis of what other Scriptures teach one must do to be saved. Another way in which we could say this is that the person had a COMPREHENSIVE FAITH. In other words, ``faith'' is being used here in a sense in which it SUMS UP all those necessary requirements that must be met before one can be saved. Of course, not every example in the Bible of those who had ``faith'' had this type of ``comprehensive'' faith. Some had merely what has been referred to as ``faith only''--or ``faith without anything added to it.'' The New Testament warns us that ``faith without works is dead'' (James 2:17-26); and those whose lives were characterized with faith, but no obedience, are seen as greatly lacking and lost (John 12:42,43; Jn. 8:31,32,37,44). Many people today can sincerely announce that they believe that Jesus is the Christ, but at the same time be lost and a servant of the devil. A friend of mine, Chuck Bartlett, once said, ``Just because I believe in Satan, it doesn't make me a follower; the same is true with Christ.'' He's saying that just accepting the devil's reality, which we all should do, does not mean that one has committed his life to the devil. Neither does a mere mental acceptance of the reality of Jesus mean that one has given himself over to Jesus. Only faith coupled with obedience to God's word can make us followers of the Lord. As Jesus had said ``to those Jews who had believed Him, `If you abide (continue, KJV) in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free''' (Jn. 8:31,32). We must keep in mind that the Bible says we are saved by many things: the blood of Jesus, grace, faith, works, baptism, God, ourselves, obedience, etc. Some of these things are on God's part, and some fall upon man's responsibility. Fourthly, one must be baptized into Christ. Though some have described the act of baptism as a passive act--for you are simply submitting to someone else to baptize you--, still you have to make the effort to have it done. As Ananias told Paul, ``And now why do you delay? ARISE, and be baptized, and wash away your sins....'' (Acts 22:16, emphasis mine). You must step out in faith, realizing that it is part of the plan that God commands people to do in order to have their sins forgiven. Paul speaks about this by saying, ``having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him THROUGH FAITH IN THE WORKING OF GOD, who raised Him from the dead'' (Col. 2:12, emphasis mine). This means that the penitent believer who is submitting to baptism must also have the faith that God is able to forgive him of his sins after having been baptized. (Some other verses on the need and purpose of baptism: Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21.) To believe, to repent, to acknowledge faith in Christ, to be baptized, to remain faithful unto God throughout one's life--this all requires effort on one's part. Most clearly, SALVATION IS NOT A PASSIVE ACT! As John writes in John 3:36, ''...he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.'' And the Hebrew writer declares that Jesus ''...became TO ALL THOSE WHO OBEY HIM the source of eternal salvation'' (Heb. 5:9, emphasis mine). Lastly, let us note that one must remain faithful throughout one's life in order to be saved. The very thought of being ``faithful'' implies action. In order to be faithful there are certain things that one must do: attend church (instead of forsaking it), take of the Lord's supper every first day of the week, pray, study God's word, teach others the truth, abstain from sin, do works of righteousness, etc. The Revelation letter gives the exhortation to ``Be faithful unto death'' in order for one to receive ``the crown of life'' (Rev. 2:10). Without a doubt, no one can ever be saved passively. Rather, one must actively involve himself in obeying the gospel. If you haven't done so, won't you yield your life to God in this way today? Remember, Jesus warns, ``Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven'' (Matt. 7:21). ___________________________________________ ``I have considered how the life of man is spoilt. And to my mind it is not through a lack of wit that men go wrong, since, as for being sensible, many are that. But this is how I look at it: we understand and recognize what things are good, but do not do them, some because of laziness, others by choosing pleasure of some kind instead of honour'' (words Euripides gave to his character Phaedra in his drama entitled Hippolytus, 428 B.C.). Has man really changed much in 2400 years? ___________________________________________ Showing the English, but Defining the Greek of Some KJV Words Implacable -- unforgiving, merciless, heartless Prevent (1 Thess. 4:15) -- Bullinger: "to come or do before, get first in doing or being anything." Precede Superstitious -- Bullinger: "fearing the gods, i.e. is in a good sense, religiously disposed." Surfeiting -- Bullinger: "Seizure of the head; and, hence, intoxication and its consequences, giddiness, headache, etc." Vine: "signifies the giddiness and headache resulting from excessive wine-bibbing, a drunken nausea...." Tittle -- Bullinger: "a little horn, apex, or point of a letter...." Vine: "...was used to denote the small stroke distinguishing one Hebrew letter from another." Trow -- Unger: "to be of opinion, to think...." Wist -- Bullinger: "to have knowledge of, to know." ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________