PROCESS TO SALVATION
PROCESS TO SALVATION After salvation, it’s sweet, abundant life.
Over the years, as I have attempted to share with my church peers God’s truth, the most common reaction has been: “We are all in progress, Colin, so don’t expect us to be all at the same place.” This has been from middle-aged folks who have grown up in the evangelical community. They’ve attended church for decades. Many of them have been in leadership positions at their churches. As time went on, and I heard this so many times, along with other excuses as to why they still sinned, I got the impression that they truly believed God was okay with their sin, as long as they were trying hard to stop sinning. I was given a book to read by someone very dear to me, which he hoped would ‘convert me to Calvinism.’ The author went on and on about the absolute necessity to try very hard to be holy, but reminded me repeatedly that it is impossible for any human being to be holy. ‘It’s our effort that God is pleased with, not the attained goal, he assured me. Those ripples of righteous anger rattled around in me much as I waded through that book. It truly was the hardest book to read I have ever had the misfortune of attempting to do so.
There are passages in God’s life instruction manual that encourage Christians to follow a ‘process,’ or a ‘pathway’ if you like, in our spiritual journey. Here is one:
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. 1:3-11
Let’s take a close look at this. Firstly, His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him. The knowledge of God is essential, before anything else can take place. Then Peter assures us that as a result of knowing God, and living a godly life, we can claim those great and precious promises we find all through His inerrant word. Such as; ‘you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.’ Then Peter goes through a list of attributes that I believe come to every person who has repented & received the Holy Spirit, but Peter wants us to be aware that such things are present in our lives at all times. He then assures us that if these attributes are present at all times, ‘they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
We must not get hung up on the use of ‘our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Peter knew that Jesus was God incarnate. The bible speaks of the necessity of knowing God many times, so Peter was not suggesting we focus our attention on Jesus, rather than His Father. That has been a huge problem with the ‘gospel’ that’s been taught for 150 years. People fawn all over Jesus as if His name is some magic thing that makes all bad things disappear. It’s like a crutch for them to lean on in bad times.
But Peter ends this wonderful summary of the salvation process in this way:
‘For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.’
Please note that ‘falling’ simply means; falling short of God’s standard. That is as Peter assured us: ‘you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.’
Please understand that Peter was writing this letter to godly saints who knew, feared, loved and obeyed God, and had repented. All the New Testament letters were written to such folks, which obviously makes them totally irrelevant for sinners, who all professing Christians of today confess to be.
Knowing God, as I said above, is the most important, and essential goal for any person to achieve. The bible repeatedly informs us of this. Here are just a few examples of that:
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ
and be found ‘in him,’ not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Phil.3:7-9
Paul knew that Christ was God incarnate, so knowing Christ was the same thing as knowing God. Remember that ‘in Him, there is no sin.’ 1 Jn. 3:5
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Jn. 17:3
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. 2 Thes. 1:8-9
No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Jer. 31:34
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. Jer. 24:7
“Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.
He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the LORD. Jer. 22:15-16
“My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.” Jer. 4:22
Jeremiah assured us that God has plans and purposes for us, and what we must do to be aware of what these plans and purposes are.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found of you declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity. Jer. 29:11-14
Every single one of us was born with a sinful nature, which we inherited from Adam.
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Rom. 5:18-19
Those words have been used by false prophets/teachers/pastors for many decades. This teaching from Paul is not any assurance that sinners can be forgiven for all their sins just because Jesus died on the cross. Yes, what Jesus did on that cross did make it possible for sinners to be forgiven, but sinners must repent, just as Jesus and the apostles, and most of the writers of the Old and New Testaments assure us. There is zero forgiveness in the absence of repentance.
He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Lk. 3:3
He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Lk. 24:46-47
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3:19
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chron. 7:14
Please do NOT be fooled by what your pastor may tell you ‘repent’ means. I have heard so many sermons that included some reference to repentance which had zero relevance to what the word means. Repentance is a one-time event in a sinner’s life, that will allow him/her to be given the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, which will enable that sinner to become a saint who lives in Christ where there is NO SIN. I wrote an article on Substack & Facebook’s LIFE ABUNDANT entitled REPENTANCE, which explains that event biblically, and clearly. Ezekiel wrote a great description of it as well.
Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’ If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done.
And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right—
if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die.
None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live. Ez. 33:11-16
That may well give you some reason to believe that you can repent every time you sin, and become righteous again. Not so fast! If you read what repentance meant to the saints of the Old Testament, I am sure you would understand, as I do, that they would NEVER do something that demands that event to be repeated. They stripped, put on sackcloth, sat on dung heaps, throwing dung dust and ashes over themselves for days, without eating or drinking. That was simply because they did something that displeased God. James offers us a look at what the New Covenant equal to repentance looks like:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Js. 4:7-10
When was the last time you grieved, mourned or wailed as a result of you doing something that displeased God?
God gave us an absolute assurance that repentance is only a once-in-a-lifetime event:
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Heb. 6:4-6
I simply cannot for the life of me understand how any person who has got to know God well enough to fear Him, and repented, to receive the Holy Spirit for forgiveness of sins, to deliberately choose to sin again. I still have a free will, so I suppose I could make a choice to step outside of Christ and displease God again, had I not gone through the emotionally painful event of repentance, and enjoyed the incredibly miraculous life that God describes as a new creation in 2 Cor. 5:17. But I have experienced repentance, and the new creation that God made of what was previously a wretched, filthy, sexual pervert. I know I will NEVER choose to go back there.
So, we have seen that knowing God is essential for salvation, but once we know God, there are obvious results to that accomplishment. One is that we learn to fear Him. No reasonable adult would ever be afraid of someone they did not know, right? Yet Jesus commanded us to be afraid of God.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Mat. 10:28
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. Acts 10:34-35
Peter knew what Jesus had told him, and was aware of the result of being afraid of God. He described it this way: ‘does what is right.’ The bible teaches us many times that ‘doing what is right’ is seen as being ‘righteous,’ by God.
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? Rom. 6:16
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Rom. 2:13
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Gen. 4:7
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.1 Jn. 3:7
This brings us the truth, also found in the bible, that it is only ‘doing God’s will’ that gets one to heaven. It was not just Jesus who taught us that either:
The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 Jn. 2:17
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Mat. 7:21
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Heb. 10:36
What is God’s will, you may ask. Here is a clear answer to that:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Pet. 3:9
But there is more!! Once we know God well enough to fear Him, receive the Holy Spirit for forgiveness of sins, we will know God’s will:
Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.
The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. Ps. 25:12-14
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezek. 36:26-27
Allow me tell a story of how God helped me to understand repentance. My family was living, and I was working, on a dairy farm in the north of New Zealand. At that time, I was searching with all my heart for the truth, by studying the bible seriously. I was addicted to sexual lust, and knew I could not honestly confess to loving God all the while I grieved Him.` Eph. 4:30.
The rural schools in New Zealand always have what they call ‘agriculture day’ each year. The children are all encouraged to hand-rear a calf or lamb and bring it to school on this day for a competition as to who’s calf or lamb is the best. Judges are elected from those who know what to look for in a farm animal and prizes are awarded, and ribbons put on the winner’s necks. Our two youngest sons spent many hours rearing calves, teaching them to be led around on a leash and making sure there were no blemishes on their coats etc. The morning of the ‘show’ they were up with the sparrows shampooing their calves and drying them off in preparation for the big day. I led one calf up a ramp onto my trailer which had a borrowed wire mesh cage on it to keep them in. Then I used the same leash to lead the second calf up the ramp. The cage was just slightly too long for my trailer bed, so I could not put the rear board on the trailer with this cage in place, as it overhung the bed slightly. Without thinking clearly, I tied the leash attached to the second calf to the side of this cage, stepped out of the cage and closed and latched the door.
From our home, we had to drive down a little track, across a home-made bridge, and up a hill on a one-way gravel road to the main road. As I drove up this small road, I looked in the rear-view mirror, and to my absolute horror I saw one calf only on the trailer. I stopped immediately of course, and jumped out in time to see the second calf painfully picking itself up from the gravel road just behind the trailer, bleeding, bruised, and filthy dirty from being dragged along behind the trailer. The cage had slipped back on the trailer and allowed a gap big enough for a calf to fall through. I had not tied the cage down to the trailer! My youngest son Darren got out and just looked at me with a look that I will never forget to my dying day. Darren was clearly saying to me, “Dad, I thought you loved me, and you were responsible for getting my calf to school unharmed and in pristine condition, but now look at this animal.” It was his calf, and I had totally destroyed any chance it had of winning any prize that day. What’s more, this calf was hurting badly right now as a direct result of my stupidity. I admit that I have tears welling in my eyes right now just recalling this incident. I 'heard God say to me' at that moment, “Colin, when you disobey Me, and do stuff that grieves Me, I feel exactly like Darren does at this moment.” Darren was horrified that ‘I had done this to him.’ I was so ashamed and grossed out at myself that I literally cried with bitter grief. You see, I loved my son dearly, and when I grieved him, it hurt in a way that I find hard to put into words. That must be the only response that any of us has when we grieve someone we love dearly…………… But wait! Don’t we all say we love God?
I can guarantee you that I would never repeat that stupid mistake again. The same must be for each and every person who says he/she loves God. I had mastered all those ‘normal sins’ we humans are guilty of, but I had fought this sexual addiction for decades, without victory.
Not long after that, my family moved to America where I researched ‘American Christianity’ from 1992 to 2011. It was an incredibly frustrating and emotionally draining experience. I saw that ‘Christianity’ was a fantasy life of people who wanted to feel like they were God’s kids. When we returned to New Zealand, I saw that the same was the case, here. I wrote a book which explains God’s plan to set us free from captivity [to Satan] and to bring healing to America. Amazon or B & N have ‘A Nation Broken’ ready for shipment now.