The Assault on Christ's Eternal
Salvation (Pt. 5)
By William Handschumacher
A Special Rock of Offence Commentary
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This is Part 5 of a six-part Bible study.
The other parts of this study are available
below.
Part 1
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Part 2
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Part 3
Part 4
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Part 6
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This Anti-Grace theology uses
an Old Testament model of
repentance that can never
be satisfied
We need to first understand how God treats sin and the sinner after the cross, before looking at the often misunderstood subject of repentance.
The New Testament reveals an important characteristic of sin. In Romans chapter 3 we are told ... "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - and that there are none righteous, no not one." In this chapter, we discover that everyone (including Christians and their leaders) regularly commit sin of some kind. Most are "sins of ommission" and usually go unnoticed. This often happens on a daily basis. As a result, if our goal is to remove all sin from our lives, the Bible tells us we will never be successful.
The Apostle Paul, who wrote over half of the New Testament admitted having this same problem...
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
For the good that I will to do,
I do not do; but the evil I
will not to do, that I
practice. Now if I do what I
will not to do, it is no longer
I who do it, but sin that
dwells in me.
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:14-25)
The problem here is obvious. The Bible reveals that we must be without sin in order to possess salvation. Yet, the same Bible also tells us that it's impossible for anyone to eliminate all sin through their own strength and determination. On the surface, it appears that trying to obtain salvation under such conditions is an impossible task. But, God deals with this situation in a radical way ... by sending His Son to eternally cancel all human sin. This removes it entirely from the requirements for salvation. As Jesus was approaching, this is why John the Baptist loudly proclaimed ...
"Behold! The Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of
the world!" (John 1:29)
This cancellation or "taking
away of sin" accomplishes
three things.
FIRST: It allows the Christian to legally possess salvation in spite of the now 'cancelled sin' that Paul said; 'continues to dwell...and continues to be committed by them'.
SECOND: When sin is legally cancelled by Christ, God no longer charges (imputes) the offense to the Christian's account - even though sin 'continues to dwell...and continues to be committed by them'.
THIRD: When sin is legally cancelled by Christ, the Christian immediately becomes perfectly righteous in God's sight - since perfect righteousness is the result when all sin is cancelled.
In Romans 7:14-25, as Paul was grieving over his continual sinful condition, he suddenly turned and said; "I thank God that Jesus Christ our Lord has delivered me from this body of death!" Paul was acknowledging that although he lived in a sinful condition that could not be controlled ... he also understood that Jesus had canceled all his sin so that it would never be held against him (or charged to his account).
Jesus cancelled sin "for us", since we have no power to cancel it ourselves. The sin that Jesus took away (canceled) at the cross - REMAINS CANCELLED even though we continually commit some kind of sin (whether it's sins of commission or sins of omission); as stated by Saint Paul in Romans chapter 3 and later in Romans chapter 7. This is why all human sin, cancelled in Heaven's courtroom, no longer has the power (or dominion) to revoke salvation.
"For sin shall not have dominion
over you: for ye are not under
the law, but under grace."
(Romans 6:14)
One pastor said it this way...
Real Christians always desire to
"sin less", while knowing that
in their own strength they can
never be "sinless".
Anti-Grace theology leads God's
people astray in their faith
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ: for it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one
that believeth; to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek."
(Romans 1:16)
One of the popular tactics used by the teachers of false doctrines is redefining various Biblical terms ... while leaving the title name unchanged. Some of the obvious targets include (but are not limited to) "the Gospel of Christ" - and the word "Grace". This practice was successfully used against the Galatian Church by some visiting Jewish evangelists who taught the same rejected anti-grace doctrine as the "believing Pharisees" in Acts chapter 15 (previously discussed in this study). Using persuasive yet deceptive methods of teaching (which are also used by some modern-day church leaders today) - they redefine the Gospel of Christ by mixing it with various tenants of Old Testament Law.
But, they still refer to their
message as "The Gospel of
Christ".
The danger here is clear: The gospel by which we are saved is now perverted into something God never intended ... yet it continues to be identified by the same name. This is why Paul gave this sober warning, which applies to all Christians living today...
"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ, TO A DIFFERENT GOSPEL, which is not another; BUT THERE ARE SOME WHO TROUBLE YOU AND WANT TO PERVERT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, LET HIM BE ACCURSED." (Galatians 1:6-8)
Unfortunately, this same practice is used against the word "Grace". Those who embrace various anti-grace teachings discussed in this study - must change New Testament Grace into a corrupted version that gives their doctrine the appearance of being true ... while continuing to call it "Grace".
Unfortunately, this means that any
minister who claims to preach
"Grace" ... may not be preaching
the kind that provides salvation.
This deceptive practice started hundreds of years ago (possibly as far back as the fourth century) and continues today. Once again, changing the definition of Grace carries unthinkable eternal consequences, because true salvation only comes by Grace (the New Testament kind) through faith; as revealed in Ephesians 2:8-9.
Yet, many modern-day church leaders
in the anti-grace camp (and their
followers) often refer to Saint Paul's
"free grace" message (also called
"God's free gift of eternal life")...as
"false grace".
In order to combat what they consider
to be a false grace message they
illegally mix works and human merit
into their gospel, which neutralizes
its power to provide salvation...
according to Saint Paul.
Since this problem carries such
serious eternal consequences,
we have made the following two
studies available below:
Exposing the Error of Redefining
God's Grace
The Great Imposter
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This is Part 5 of a six-part Bible study.
The other parts of this study are available
below.
Part 1
-------
Part 2
-------
Part 3
Part 4
-------
Part 6
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