Four types of People

In regards to salvation, we are dealing with basically four types of people. They are:

1.     

Those  who are not saved and know they are not saved

2.      

Those who are not saved  but believe they are saved

3.     

Those who are saved, but are not sure they are saved

4.      

Those who are saved and know they are saved

With the first group I recently had the opportunity to preach at a Men’s juvenile detention center. During my discussion I came across a young man who said not only was he going to hell, he wanted to go to hell! Shocking. He had no desire to go heaven. Perhaps because of the state of mind he was in which was obviously hopeless at that point, he may have regarded death as a relief from his current miserable life. He may have had so much self hatred that hell was solace for him and heaven was sheer fantasy. I don’t know. The devil was definitely after him (John 10:9-10). Nevertheless he falls into the unfortunate first category.

Those in the second category are a misled group because these people are deceived. What makes this group believe they are saved? Let’s look at a few reasons:

1.      They go to church – Many believe that church membership is enough to enter the gates of heaven.

2.      Taking Communion – Many believe partaking of the holy sacraments; the bread and the wine is part of the        salvation process.

3.      Water Baptism – Many insist that water baptism actually washes away our sins and cleanses our souls.

4.      Sinner’s prayer – Many churches have people raise their hands during a worship service after an invitation to accept Jesus is extended. They walk down the aisle, and repeat a prayer of repentance after the Pastor.

5.      Philanthropy – There are many that believe if they do “good” things like giving to the poor and visiting the sick this will merit the grace of God. So when they die, God MUST accept them into His heaven.

6.      Universalism – I would say most people believe that all people will be saved when they die. This is also called justification by death.

7.      Circumcision – The Hebrews believed the rite of circumcision of the flesh is what justified a person before God. Circumcision was merely an outward sign of the Abrahamic Covenant not a rite of justification of the soul (Galatians 2:16b).

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it should get my point across. Theirs is a works righteousness or what is called legalism. Legalism is the belief that by keeping the deeds of the Mosaic law, one could earn their way into heaven. If legalism is the way to heaven, then Jesus died for nothing; belief in Him would be pointless.

The third group are those that are saved, but lack assurance of their salvation. This is due to their lack of exposure to sound biblical teaching of the word of God and it’s power. The lack of assurance also has to do with the ongoing presence of sin dominating their lives. What they need is a constant deluge of the word of God to develop their faith in it. Being a Christian and living a carnal life will breed a lack of assurance. But here is the reality, if someone has been chosen by God before the foundation of the world, they will in God’s time be saved. No one God has chosen ever fails to enter the kingdom of God – become a member of the invisible Church.

Without assurance, one will not only be ineffective in God’s kingdom, they will be assured they can actually lose their salvation, or become non-elect. The Bible teaches exactly the opposite. 2 Peter 1:1-11 declares the following:

Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything (emphasis added) pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises so that by them you become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now this very reason also applying all diligence in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self control perseverance, and in your perseverance godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities, is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

Peter here is like a professor explaining a difficult math problem to his students. Imagine him at the blackboard writing down the problem and supplying the answer. Afterwards he commands us to do what he just explained (i.e. make your calling and election sure). Notice Peter supplies us with the answer; the tools to be successful, then we are commanded to apply what we have been taught. That is what a good teacher does; he equips his students to do what he already  knows.

So the lack-of-assurance-believer HAS to practice the aforementioned in order to gain assurance of their salvation so they can enter into eternity with fullness of Joy. Assurance will only come by hearing, understanding and applying God’s word. When God saves us, we are eternally secure from the beginning. In order for us to be confident we are secure in our salvation we have to practice the virtues mentioned above along with abandoning sin.

The fourth group are those who know they are saved. Now understand knowing you are saved should not be a badge of arrogance, rather one of humility and gratefulness. They know also to doubt their salvation is to doubt the word of God which is sin. Not only are we to be sure of our election, we are commanded to be sure of our election. We are to know we have eternal life (I John 5:13). Those mature Christians know they are who they are strictly by the grace of God (I Cor 15:10).

They understand divine election and predestination. They understand they were saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9). They are students of the word of God, and practice 2 Peter 1:1-11 daily. They have excellent moral character. They continue to increase in learning, and are eager to teach others. They recognize that they are still sinners steadily under the grace of God. They confess their sins so that they may be cleansed on an ongoing basis. They do not laugh at sin, rather they are grieved by it. They understand sanctification and endeavor to practice it. They also realize because of their bold stand for Christ many, even those in the Church will shun and mock them.

They champion the core doctrines of the faith: The deity of Christ, the Trinity, Justification by Faith, the death, burial and resurrection, ascension, and the bodily return of Jesus Christ, the Millennium and the eternal of state. They believe Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). They teach believers will spend eternity with the Lord, and unbelievers will spend eternity separated from the Lord in the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:15).

They will answer the difficult questions skeptics and critics of the faith will ask; realizing that they must always be ready to give a defense to everyone who ask you to give an account for the hope that is in us with gentleness and reverence (I Peter 3:15). They do this so as to glorify God and hopefully win the lost to Christ.

Mature believers will not shy away from the difficult matters in the Bible that make most people uncomfortable. They realize all of God’s word is relevant, and will joyfully teach the whole counsel of God, and provide biblical answers to hard to answer questions. This challenges them, and compels them to become more formidable in their study of scripture. This glorifies God, and tears away more darkness from Satan’s kingdom. Confident believers recognize this is a spiritual war between light and darkness!

            

           The outcome is assured, we win!

Lastly, those that know they are saved study the history of the Christian Faith, and are developing apologetics and theologians. They realize the rich legacy of the early Church Fathers, the Medieval Church, and the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Knox) left for us to follow. We’re talking as early as Polycarp and Ignatius, to theologians like St. Augustine, Wycliffe, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon,  C.S. Lewis, Dr. Billy G. Ingram,  John Macarthur, R.C. Sproul, Steve Lawson, Dr. Paul Felix, Pastor Steve Mays, David Jeremiah, and Minister Ricardo Wiggins. They will lovingly debate the reliability of scripture to convince all of its truth and compel them to repent and be saved. They are not interested in debating just to win an argument.

The first three groups need to join the last group. This is possible and it happens by the power of God via the Holy Spirit. Rest assured, the third and fourth group can not join the first two groups because God protects them from doing so. Whom God saves, He preserves forever (John 10:27-30).

Hopefully this short article has helped give some insight into these four types of people.

Sufficient for all Efficient for some

The reason for the title is in regards to the atonement of Christ. It is indeed sufficient for all; meaning His death on the cross was so efficacious, that it is powerful enough to save everyone who will ever live in human history. Jesus atonement was a complete and a propitiatory sacrifice for sins.  God the Father was fully satisfied with Jesus substitutionary act.

Here is the compelling question, was this the intended purpose of our Lord; to die for every last human being that will ever live or to die for some?

Automatically if we say Jesus died for only some and not all God’s fairness comes into question does it not?

We need to always look at the atonement from two views – biblically and logically.

In the writer’s opinion these ideas are one and the same. The Bible is logical, and true logic is biblical in this area of the atonement.

My endeavor is to weave these two ideas together so they present a harmonious truth.

If one believes that Jesus died for those who will never believe the gospel, they die and go to hell, then one MUST conclude the following:

1.      

Jesus died for them, but due to unbelief they died in their sin so the atonement for them was potentially salvific, but not actually efficient to save them. This makes the atonement powerless to save.

2.      Jesus atoning work depends on spiritually dead men to activate it (Ephesians 2:1)

3.      That God gifted some men with better reasoning capabilities than others. Those who have the mental tenacity to grasp the gospel will be saved. The rest of humanity will be lost. Does this not predicate salvation on men instead of God?

4.      Jesus died for the non-elect and elect the same way

Passages used to support the view of Jesus dying for all inclusively are: John 1:29; John 3:16-17; I Tim 4:10; 1 John 2:2.

The writer would argue that this belief in the atonement of Christ in non-biblical; because you have a salvation plan that does not save. It’s reactive instead of proactive. In this plan, God lays out His plan, man surveys it, and then decides on his own if he will accept or reject it. This makes man the aggressor in the process and God is the subservient bystander waiting for approval or disapproval from man – His creation.

What is actually biblical is that the atonement of Christ saves every last person it was intended for – the elect of God chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).

Even the understanding of election gets tricky for many. I will explain.

There are those that say God chooses us based on foresight. In other words God in eternity past looks through the annals of time and sees who will respond in faith to the gospel message. God foresees the faith of man so based on that foreknown faith, God chooses him or her before they are ever born. Basically the foreseen faith of man causes God to choose that person.

This view is not biblical. Why? 1) The faith of man never dictates election. God does not choose based on foreseen faith. If he did then God is election based on what man does first. God in this belief system is a respecter of persons; He is choosing man based on what He has to offer. If that is the case, why does God need to save man at all? Since man is clearly the sovereign in this scenario, he should be able redeem himself for he is more powerful than God isn’t he? This view deifies man and humanizes God.

2) This is clearly salvation by works. Since man has something to offer to God, God is obligated to return the favor. This then becomes a horizontal reciprocal relationship. Just like the first point, God and man are on equal playing fields. God foresees man as spiritual alive and not spiritually dead before He’s born (Ephesians 2:1).

            Foresight is the incorrect way to view divine election.

The way the Bible says God view of election is based on foreknowledge.  

Romans 8:29-30 reads, “Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the first born among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He called, and these He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

God’s choosing of some to electing grace is solely based on His sovereign will to love us; nothing more. There are no pre-conditions. It’s strictly unconditional love. This is God doing what He wants to do. Nothing and no one can stop that (Ephesians 1:5,11).

So, what’s more loving and effective? Jesus dying for every soul on the planet and actually saving no one; or Jesus dying for the elect, the chosen of God and saving every last one of them and securing their salvation forever?

The writer votes for the latter. The first case, Jesus dying for all yet saving no one falls into the “sufficient for all” category. The second case which is the biblical case is the “efficient for some” category.

As hard as it may be for us to accept the Father did not send Christ to die and save everyone; only those whom the Father gave to Him (John 6:37; 17:2); for if He did, everyone would be saved and that would make Jesus a Universalist and there would be no need for hell.

Why did God choose some and pass by others is a mystery to us. It is also none of our business. Almighty God is NEVER accountable to His creation for what He chooses to do.

Only God knows perfectly who the elect and non-elect are, but He has given us the gospel message to preach to both; to bring His chosen to regeneration, faith and salvation, and to expose the wicked to their degeneration, unbelief, and damnation.

A brief history of the Crucifixion

Crucifixion was practiced by several ancient nations as their form of capital punishment. The nations that probably practiced it the earliest may have been the Persians, Greeks and Romans.

Crucifixion was a slow tortuous death by asphyxiation. This form of punishment was reserved for the worst of criminals. Prior to the actual crucifixion the accused was tied to a post and flogged with a leather whip called a Flagrum. At the end of the leather thongs are lead balls that contain nails, glass and bones. When the criminal was whipped the lead balls with the glass, nails and bone would tear off the outer flesh exposing the criminal’s bones and tissue. Some would die as a result of this beating before they were even crucified.

In Psalm 22:16-17 David by inspiration of the Holy Spirit says, “For dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers have encompassed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones.”

What is going on here is that David was predicting the crucifixion of the Messiah. These thing (i.e. tortures of the crucifixion) never happened to David personally for the punishment of crucifixion had not been invented yet. David lived approximately 1,000 years before Christ. David was distressed over his enemies in his day so the Lord used that occasion to prophesy through David to his readers of the ultimate torment fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

After the flogging, the condemned would have to carry his cross outside the city to the actual crucifixion site. The vertical beam is called a stipes.  The cross beam was called a patibulum. The one being crucified had to carry the patibulum across his shoulders.  The upright beam was already in the ground. The cross beam is reported to have weighed 110 pounds. If the one carrying this beam fell under the weight of it, someone would be elected to carry it for them. This happened to Jesus (Matt 27:32).

The criminal had 5-7 inch spikes driven through his wrists. This attached him to the cross beam. Then the cross beam was fastened to the upright beam. With the left foot behind the right, another spike is driven through the arch and heel of the feet. There was also a small seat called a sedile attached to the cross also which provided little or no relief for the one being executed if trying to sit on it.

After this a sign called a titilus was attached at the top of the cross identifying the prisoner and their crime.

The torture of the crucifixion could last for hours or even days. The prisoner was stripped naked and his clothes became the property of his executioners. In the case of Jesus they gambled for his clothes (Psalm 22:18; fulfilled in John 19:24).  Being unnaturally suspended on a cross did horrible things to a person’s body. Using one’s legs and arms to inhale and exhale air caused severe muscle spasms along with excruciating pain. Relaxing one’s body would bring a quicker death so the struggle to stay alive marched painfully on.  To hasten a criminal’s death, a Roman soldier would break their legs with an iron mallet.  

Without the use of their legs, one could not push up to inhale or exhale air causing suffocation and death.

This was done to the two criminals crucified on either side of Jesus so that they would die instantly. The Passover began at sundown along with the Sabbath. Those being high days, the dead bodies could not remain there for that would have defiled this most holy day and their land (Deut 21:23; John 19:31).

The soldiers did not break the legs of Jesus because he was already dead, but a soldier pierced His side. Not breaking Jesus legs and piercing His side fulfilled two Old Testament Messianic prophecies:

1. Not one of his bones was broken (Psalm 34:20)

2. They will look upon Me whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10)   

Anyone hanging on a tree was considered cursed according to the law (Deuteronomy 21:23). That is exactly what Jesus became for us; a curse. Galatians 3:13-14 says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us; for it is written cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The word redeem in the original Greek is exagorazṓ which means to buy out. Metaphorically when Jesus was crucified, He bought us out of the sin slavery market. He purchased our freedom with His obedient sacrifice for our sins. The debt we owed but could never pay was lovingly paid by Him; a debt He didn’t owe but was able to pay. Our sin debt cost Him his natural life and a humiliating death He went through for countless unworthy, wicked human beings.

  

                                                           Final Thoughts

The writer wrote the aforementioned regarding the history of the crucifixion so that we could get a closer view of the horrors of this heinous form of execution our Lord suffered for us. Each time we ponder on it, we should realize this is the death we deserved. The horrific, humiliating death Jesus died was for our benefit. Please understand the death of Jesus was not God’s greatest defeat, it was His greatest triumph! This was predetermined by God that Jesus would die this way to save His people from their sins (Matt 1:21).

Jesus said in John 12:27, “Now my soul has become troubled, and what shall I say, Father save me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”

Jesus knew that He was sent to the earth by the Father to die.

Another verse reads this way, “this Man delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of 

God you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23).

Again we see the death of Jesus was no accident. Although godless men crucified Jesus for evil, God had predetermined it for good (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28) Even though Jesus had been condemned to die a sinner’s death, He was in total control of it all. How do I know this?

           

          Listen to the words of Jesus Himself.

“ Even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down of My own initiative. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This commandment I have received from My Father” (John 10:15-18).

We read in John 19:30b Jesus saying, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up (italics mine) His spirit.

When Jesus was crucified, His hour had finally come and was accomplished. Prior to that when the religious leaders and Jews wanted to kill Him, they were unable to for His hour of trial had not come (John 7:8, 30; 8:20, 59; 10:39).

This clearly demonstrates Jesus was in complete control of everything that happened to Him, even His death was under His power.

            

                  Extraordinary!

God working providentially through the wickedness of men to condemn Jesus to death fulfilled His purpose. By the Father God unleashing His holy wrath on Jesus, it satisfied His soul that sin’s debt was completely paid for by the death of His Son.

As a result, the Father is now able to pour out abundantly His grace to all men.

Turn The Other Cheek?

We have all heard this phrase, but what does it mean? Does it mean we are to let someone beat us up, become like sheep headed for slaughter? The only time this phrase is mentioned is when Jesus is teaching the Sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew 5:38 we read, “You have heard it said, an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. But I say to you do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:38-42).

When Jesus mentions the phrase eye for an eye and tooth for tooth, He is making reference to the Law of Moses (Exodus 21:23-25). This law was set forth not so that someone could injure someone personally for injuring them; it was put in motion as a system of checks and balances.

In other words, the law was saying the punishment must fit the crime. For example, it would be horribly unjust to give a drunk driver who kills an entire family a traffic ticket and send them on their way without arresting and incarcerating them. The punishment obviously does not fit the crime. For vehicular manslaughter one should at the very least receive jail time, and at the very worst the death penalty; life for life. That gives the law balance.

Conversely, you don’t give someone the death penalty for jaywalking. You cite them accordingly, they pay the appropriate fees so the law's intended purpose is upheld for jaywalking; nothing more.

So again, when we hear the term eye for an eye, it doesn’t mean if someone injures my eye, I have to hurt their eye. The phrase is an expression to say that whatever crime someone commits, and congruent punishment will follow so that the violator is not punished more or less than the law required.

Now back to turning the other cheek. Why did Jesus parallel the Mosaic law and this phrase together?

Jesus was not violating the law; rather He was providing more illumination to it. He not only wanted all to obey the letter of the law, but the Spirit of the law as well.

  

The purpose of Jesus making this statement was to reveal a higher understanding of the law; a law of compassion, self sacrifice, and love. These behaviors would be the only way all (including our enemies) would know that we belong to the Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:43-45).

It is natural for all us to want to retaliate when someone does something wrong to us; whether it is slander, theft, lying and the like. Jesus is calling for us to do what is unnatural, that is to love our enemies, and do good to them that mistreat us. A very very hard call! Turning the other cheek is not advocating pacifism, but rather a personal surrender of one’s rights for the kingdom of God’s sake. It could be by us not returning evil for evil, but good for evil, that an open door is made for us to share the love of God and the truth of the gospel that is in Jesus Christ (Romans 12:19-21).

Turning the other cheek also does not mean that we are not to defend ourselves if we are in personal peril or danger from an evil person. Vengeful retaliation and protecting oneself are two different things.

For instance if someone steals money out of your purse or wallet and you turn around and flatten the tires on their car, you have returned evil for evil; you have taken matters in your own hands and gained personal vengeance. God is displeased by your behavior. Jesus is commanding us to take the high ground commanding us to love and pray along with doing good for that person. That is the essence of turning the other cheek after they have struck you on the first one.

The time to turn the other cheek is not when someone is trying to invade your home and kill your family. You are all in imminent danger at the point, and you must protect your family or else all of you will die.  We have a human and constitutional right to bear arms. Use it!

Even Jesus commanded the disciples to protect themselves knowing soon he was going to be crucified (Luke 22:36).

Times of war would also be a time when turning the other cheek would not apply. Military aggression and Pacifism cannot co-exist.

  

Jesus was and is the perfect example of one turning the other cheek. When Jesus had been arrested and interrogated, not only did He take personal insults, he endured unjust physical abuse by his enemies (John 18:22).

I Peter 2:22-23 said regarding Jesus, “Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in mouth; and He was being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.”

Lastly turning the other cheek does not mean we do not have the right to question our accuser and abusers. Jesus questioned the man who initially hit him. He said, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if right, why do you strike me" (John 18:23)?

Jesus knew He had a right to a fair trial of the charges against him, but also knew He would not receive one.

When Paul and Silas were beaten publicly and imprisoned in Acts 16 without a trial because they were Roman Citizens, they demanded that the magistrates release them from prison publicly since they were humiliated publicly (vs.37).

Concluding turning the other cheek does call for a higher law to obey; not to seek personal retaliation for evil committed against us which the Old Testament law advocated. But, to go beyond the statues of the law; if someone asks something of you, meet that need and go beyond what they ask.  Why? So that you prove to the watching world you are children of the Most High God of heaven and earth.