- I believe it was Winston Churchill who said, “Facts are stubborn things.” The Bible is filled with facts – stubborn facts. Many of these facts are statements made by Jesus Christ, His prophets and His apostles. These statements of fact have a tendency to smash and destroy error, but only that – a tendency. The reason for this is because the human mind finds it difficult, often impossible, to let go of error. It is ten times harder to unlearn error than to learn new truth. Warning a deceived person to beware of spiritual deception is like warning a man tumbling down the stairs to beware of that first step. And, of course, human pride also enters the equation. We humans often hate to admit we have been wrong, especially if we have been wrong for many years and have even urged others to accept and believe what we now must conclude has been error.
- Early on Moses told the Israelite people, “You will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him IF you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (See Deuteronomy 4:29). Many centuries later, speaking in the first person through His prophet Jeremiah, God reiterated what Moses had said, stating clearly “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (See Jeremiah 29:13). But how few there are who really believe Moses and God. Most seem to believe all one must do is believe Jesus died for them on the cross, make a public confession of that belief, and, presto-chango, they have thereby entered into an eternity-securing relationship with their Creator. “All is well with my soul,” they begin to sing. “Boy, that was easy,” they think. Some even begin to hand out little “gospel” tracts like “God’s Simple Plan of Salvation.” You have probably seen this tract. I certainly have many, many times.
- I will tell you what is easy. It is easy to overlook many statements of fact made by Jesus Christ and His anointed spokesmen. Here is a statement of fact made by one of those spokesmen. He even put it in writing: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is IN you, unless indeed you are disqualified?” (See 2 Corinthians 13:5). This same apostle had previously written the believers at Rome: “For when we were still without strength (to save ourselves, to live godly lives), in due time Christ died for the ungodly….Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, WE SHALL BE SAVED from wrath (the wrath of God) through Him. For if when we were enemies (of God) we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, having been reconciled, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE” (See Romans 5:6, 9-10).Repentance and faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice reconciles us to God. The ground lost by father Adam’s disobedience is regained. It is as though Adam never sinned. We have fellowship once more with our Creator, the God who banned Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, “so He drove out the man, and He placed cherubim (spirit beings) at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life” (See Genesis 3:24). But Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary does not finally and completely save us, for “WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE!”
- Note well this apostle’s statement that there is MUCH MORE to be done following our reconciliation to God: “WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE!” It takes a Living Savior to save you. Paul writes that it is Christ IN you that is your only hope of glory – of being glorified one day by a resurrection whereby your human fleshly body is no more. You will then be clothed in immortality – an eternal spirit being!
- This is what the Book of Hebrews is all about. It describes Jesus’ present role as High Priest before God’s throne where He ever lives to serve as our High Priest before the Father. Hopefully, I will be adding a lengthy article to my website soon that expounds upon the Book of Hebrews. Those desiring to walk in total truth will find the article quite informative. Those with a ho-hum spiritual attitude will show but little interest. The Book of Hebrews reveals that God is bringing many sons to glory through Christ’s present ministry. It tells of how He is the Captain of our salvation and members of His household IF we hold fast firm to the end of our lives and warns against our hardening our hearts, issuing this warning: “Beware, brethren , lest there be in any of you (yes, you brethren) an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (See Hebrews 3:12). We are not “locked-in” to our salvation. Like Demas, we can go back into the world. We can throw in the towel. We can give up. The “once saved, always saved” doctrine is profound error. Untold millions will come forth in the resurrection, expecting to find themselves immortal spirit beings only to find that they are still flesh and blood subject to die again – the second death. God help us all to let go of our errors and embrace the truth wholeheartedly is my prayer.
