Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Hebrews 9:12
In my last article I wrote about the high price Christ Jesus paid for our right standing. His blood is the only currency accepted. It's the only acceptable payment. As I began to write this week's blog post I sensed the Spirit leading me to continue writing in a series of posts about our eternal redemption.
In this series of posts we will finally tackle the controversies concerning our eternal security in Him. So to begin a series about our eternal redemption we must first look at the nature of our salvation.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:4-10 ESV
Take note of what the Holy Ghost through the Apostle Paul said. Twice He states "By grace you have been saved". So what is the nature of our salvation? It is a work of Christ by grace alone. So what saved us? Grace saved us. It was Christ's finished work on that cross taking our place. The great exchange. He took our sin and gave us His righteousness. He became something He never was (sin) so we could become something we've never been (righteous).
What about faith? Now this is where the foolish miss it. They see this truth and stop here. They say faith is unimportant and not part of the nature of salvation. Look at what the Spirit said through Paul in Titus.
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men Titus 2:11
Grace is the nature of our salvation, yet so is faith. Grace combined with faith makes salvation active in one's life. Grace that brings the salvation is offered to all mankind. It takes faith to activate it, to partake of it. So what is the full nature of our salvation? It is His grace that purchased and made available salvation and faith is what activates it when we believe and receive it.
Our eternal redemption then is by Christ alone. Its by grace alone and by faith alone. This is the full nature of our salvation. Anything else is a mixture of works and grace. Teaching we must earn or maintain our salvation by works is not the good news. That is not the gospel of the grace of Christ. That is not the gospel Paul preached.
4 But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. Titus 3:4-7
Our eternal redemption is not anything we earn or achieve. It is not perfected by our actions. This is not an employee/employer contractual agreement. We are in the Family of God. He is your Father, if you have received Him as your Savior.
True Christians all agree being justified is a work of grace alone. To many though surmise that after Justification we are now charged with maintaining, sustaining, and preserving our salvation by our good deeds, our ability to resist sin, and our strength in overcoming discouragement and doubt.
These mindsets need to be removed from us. This what I am endeavoring to accomplish through the guidance of the Spirit of God and the ministry of His Word in these upcoming posts. Remember the Words of the Spirit through Paul. Our eternal redemption is ours through His mercy and grace not our good works.
Does this mean we can live anyway we want? Does this mean we need no longer pray or feed on the Word? Do we never share our faith or win the lost? Of course not. We will address more and more in the next posts. If you have questions or concerns feel free to comment. I know eternal security is a hot button issue.
I pray this post has blessed you and sparked your interest in our eternal redemption. May the Lord bless you this week.
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