-WHAT THE HOLY SCRIPTURES SAY ABOUT THIS MATTER-
“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. Be ye doers of the words and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed of his deed”…..JAMES 1: 21-25.
“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him”…..ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10:34-35.
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believe in Him, if ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed”….JOHN 8:31.
“They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them, if ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham”…JOHN 8:39
“Jesus answered them; verily I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin”…JOHN 8:34.
-WHAT I RECEIVED OF THE LORD ON THIS MATTER-
Brethren, one of the most widely used phrases in the Church of Jesus Christ of today is this: that “Abraham’s blessings are mine”. This phrase has even been reduced into a very popular song – and everybody is happy to sing along, both young and old.
But one thing that is lost to many of those that are addicted to this phrase and to this song is this: that the phrase will only benefit those who also live the type of life that Abraham lived. Let us not quickly forget that it was the passion of Jesus Christ that qualified us as children of Abraham in the first place. And it was also the same Christ Who was quick to remind those who were trying to justify themselves by claiming that they were children of Abraham; that whosoever must lay claim to membership of Abraham’s family must also be a doer of the works of Abraham.
Many, especially those who preach grace without righteousness, will readily talk about the faith of Abraham. They are often passionate about faith - about the fact that we are saved by Abraham’s type of faith. And when they talk about faith they usually say it with an unusual passion – presenting faith as a sort of idea, as a sort of difficult subject, as a sort of something one must learn as a lifetime subject. These folks express faith as a sort of spiritual exercise that one can manifest even while living in sin.
Those that teach such things deliberately hide this truth from their hearers: that faith, as far as the Gospel of Christ is concerned, is simply the life of every true believer. That faith of God is to believe God and to diligently walk in the same belief. They pretend not to know that faith without accompanying works is dead and worthless. They subtly hide it from their hearers that Abraham was justified by faith only when he had put that faith to work. (Please read JAMES 2: 14-26, particularly verse 23.).
Be not deceived, fellow believers. It is not enough for one to believe that God exists, and even to believe the word of God. It is much more required that we that believe must also live out what we believe – otherwise we have believed in vain. Never pride yourselves in the fact that you know everything about our God and that you also know His word and believe same. Do you not know that even satan himself, the father of all liars, even knows much more than any believer can ever know about heaven, believes it, and even trembles at that very knowledge – but yet has dedicated his entire existence to resist and to pervert that very truth.
Brethren, If we must boast at all, we must only boast in the Lord, and in this very truth: that we are saved, and that we are living as those that are saved – and that our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Yet, it is not enough that our names are in the Book of Life as of today – we should also make sure that our names remain there until we go to be with the Lord. For names shall be blotted out.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are no permanent names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The very One Who saved us said so in His own very words, clearly marked in red letters in some versions of the Bible: that “he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels” (see REVELATION 3:5).
Brethren, What Jesus says is what He means. Do not allow the simplicity that is in Him to cause you to neglect His words or to deliberately misinterpret His words. In Him and In Him alone is life – and life everlasting. Our names can only remain in the Book of Life till the end if we continue in Him and in His word till the end. And He confirmed this in several other verses of the scriptures that I need not cite in this message. Try to find them out on your own.
People of God, we must be wary of certain annotations in the Bible that interpret the above scripture, and scriptures like that, to mean another thing altogether. Indeed, every annotation in the Bible that suggests that once we are saved, we remain saved, irrespective of how we live afterwards: that annotation is not of God. Those annotations are the ideas of men – they are expressions of intellectual Christianity. The truth is that we can only remain saved if we continue in the Lord – if we continue in the same Truth that saved us – if continue to manifest the life of Christ in our daily lives.
Men and brethren, we must be doers of the word of God and not hearers only. The scripture describes those who hear but do not as hypocrites: and the same scriptures equally declare that such that do that shall have their end in the lake that burneth with fire that quencheth not. Every true believer is a disciple of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Himself continually warns that we can only remain His disciples indeed IF WE CONTINUE IN HIS WORD, if we continue to abide in Him.
Time is running out: the arrival of our Master is at hand. Therefore as we continue to chant that ‘Abraham’s blessings are ours”, let us also strive to do the very works of the same Abraham. Yes, Abraham believed God and it was counted for him as righteousness. Yet the same Abraham walked perfectly before the Lord. Heaven is not for those who cry Lord, Lord, Lord; but it is strictly reserved for those who love our Lord and who also do the will of our heavenly Daddy. It is well with the righteous.
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