Continued Obedient Faith? – Captain Moy Hernandez,Jr
TSA Doctrine 9
Romans 8:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
http://pomonacorps.blogspot.com/2009/09/continued-obedient-faith-tsa-doctrine-9.html
Believe it or not, back in January of this year we began a monthly sermon series covering the doctrines or statements of belief of The Salvation Army Church. Today we continue with statement number 9 out of 11.
In case you have forgotten the other doctrines we have covered, they may be found on our church website. I encourage you to go there and share that address with others as you will be able to find not just the transcripts of these teaching but videos of the same as well.
Now because I know you all don’t have it memorized here is what doctrine 9 says. It reads: We believe that continuance in a state of Salvation depends upon continued obedience faith in Christ.
Wow! Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Does this statement of belief actually talk about the matter of our salvation and how it could possibly be lost if we falter in our obedience to God?
The short answer according to what we believe as a universal part of the Christian Church is yes. But let us spend some time this morning examining its history in context with the Old and New Testament, The important of this doctrine to our Christian faith, and the essentials of the doctrine as it pertains to the issues surrounding our membership in this branch of the Church that Christ died to establish, known as The Salvation Army.
We must recognize that this doctrine speaks about our state of salvation or our condition in being made whole by God and not the very work of salvation from God. Allow me to explain.
You see God’s work of salvation in our lives is a work of grace and it is for all eternity, otherwise how could you and I be saved from a sacrifice that took place 2000 years ago. Our state of salvation is where we find ourselves in relation to this gift from God.
Just because you know about salvation does not mean you are saved. Just because you have accepted his free gift does not mean you cannot fall away from your faith and loose you place in relationship to his plan for you.
It’s a walk, a process really, sometimes you fail and don’t necessarily have to start over, but you do need to recognize you have failed and you need to return.
But how does this relate to those who lived before Christ came to earth to offer himself as a lamb to the slaughter?
As Christians we know that our salvation depends upon our faith in Jesus Christ who is revealed to us through the witness of the new Covenant or the New Testament who brings us a new relationship and new titled, no longer sinner or separated from God, but now saved and restored to the family of God.
In the case of the old covenant or what we call the Old Testament we do not see Jesus in the same manner we see him today, but nonetheless the entire Old Testament is full of examples after example of God constantly working to bring his people into a new relationship with him and with one another.
God’s saving character is revealed through Hebrew History, through what he did as well as to what he was. The central moment representing God’s desire to save His people is in the Exodus account. And after that time God’s saving nature is revealed clearly!
The exodus experience convinced the Hebrew Nation that God was on their side. Just like the redeeming sacrifice of Christ on the cross has convinced us mere gentiles that Christ and by definition God is on our side as well!
In the Old Testament instance God restored the people to a full fellowship with Him; he gave then the law and provided a sacrificial system to atone for their sins to aid them in their continual walk with Him. In short giving the people a way to approach a Holy God.
In fact the psalms are full of instances where the writer pleads with God to rescue him or save him or deliver him from a certain situation.
Later on in the books of the prophets, God’s spokesmen (the prophets) death with the continued disobedience and rebellion of the people of God. Although the people constantly refused to live by God’s appointed covenant God continued to send his prophets to preach hope to the people, he tried as it was to keep His law present in the mind of the people (Jeremiah 31:31-32)
In fact as part of our walk in salvation is the eventual acquiring of a deeper understanding and sense of what it means to be a true faithful follower of God.
Something that in the scriptures is called Holiness. In other words fully reflecting the character of God in our lives. Producing the fruits of the spirit if you will.
As a matter of certainty this call for Holiness begins in the old covenant in Leviticus 11:45 where God says to his people “be Holy as I am Holy.” A command that remains only possible even for us today through the grace of God. The same grace that saves us!
Now in our new covenant represented in the person of Jesus Christ there is a direct relationship between the old covenant understanding of salvation and the new covenant being put in place by Christ our Redeemer in accordance to God’s plan for His creation!
Believers of the Old Covenant looked forward as revealed to them by the prophets to the work of the Cross. And when that event took place God once again reveals himself as the one who rescues, who justifies who saves and who gives new life.
But now unlike in the Old Testament God’s saving grace is revealed in a more personal way represented in the saving grace of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
In a sense what Jesus did on the cross is our new exodus. Except that Jesus is not merely another prophet of God but he becomes the very source of mercy and grace that we all so desperately need. Jesus provides a way by which all of creation can come before a Holy God.
Following Jesus’ life then, the apostle Paul becomes one sent by God who will not need to prophesize to God’s people but whom will become himself an apologetic or a defender of the faith. Paul helps us to understand that there are three tenses in the saving grace of Jesus:
First we have the past tense which releases us from the guilt and penalty of sin. (2 Timothy 1:9) Then we have the present tense which releases us from the present power of sin in our lives (Romans 6:14), thirdly, the future tense which releases us from the very presence of sin. (Philippians 1:6)
Paul tells us that Through Christ the law of the Spirit of life is set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2)
If anyone if in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Together this is what salvation is. Faith in Jesus Christ whom personifies God’s plan for humanity of deliverance from our sin, from powers and principalities, from the restrictions of the law and from the weakness of our own human nature.
In salvation we are given a new life, one that we will go on until the day Christ returns and takes us home. But this does not mean that we are not capable of walking away from God or that we are not able to become so disobedient to our new found saving knowledge that we miss out on the benefits of such a salvation. And this is exactly what this doctrine talks to us about.
Let me read it again: We believe that continuance in a state of Salvation depends upon continued obedience faith in Christ. You see God had to send prophet after prophet to get the people to repent and return to him. In a sense they did not remain in a continued obedient faith in Him. And when they died, without being forgiven then did not go to be with the Lord on in Abrahams bosom.
For our sakes, Christ came as the ultimate sacrifice and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit we are given opportunity after opportunity to turn away from our sin and to return to God’s saving grace.
But what makes this doctrine so important to our Christian faith? For starters it is the foundation for both our spiritual lives and the mission of our church. To bring God’s saving grace to those who still refuse to follow him. To show God’s people the way by which they too may be justified from their disobedience to God.
The doctrine of salvation is also vital in our understanding of the nature of God. It shows us that we worship a saving God, one who understands our troubles and situations and who willingly comes to our rescue.
The doctrine shows us that God purpose is our re-creation back into his image and to free us once and from all from the power of sin. Through his grace and the person of Jesus Christ we all can be led into a free, open and growing relationship with God. Isn’t amazing?
It is also vital for our own self understanding. A relationship with God is not a right but it is a privilege an inheritance that must be asked for and then accepted by each of us.
This doctrine helps us to understand the nature of Christ Church. The church is a fellowship of the family of God, those whom have accepted Christ as their savior by God’s grace and who live in obedience to his will for their lives. We have been born again through grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit and have been incorporated into the body of Christ.
We are His people called now to share his good news with the world! Something that we should be ever so willing and ready to do as Salvationist and members of this church.
The doctrine reminds us that as a Salvation Army all of our activities whether ecclesiastical or social in nature arise out of our basic convictions of the reality of the love of God and our desire to see all people brought into a saving relationship with Him.
Indeed there cannot be any social effort that is divorced from our faithful exercise of faith. We extend a hand to others because God loved us first and extends His hand to us, but not the other way around.
This unconditional gift of God is offered to all, it is initiated and maintained by God’s grace, it means we are once again accepted by God and given a new way a new life.
So is the work of God through salvation ever lost? No, never. But can we make a conscious decision to walk away from him or to refuse His free gift? Yes, of course. After all God give us free will to choose, and unfortunately sometimes we choose wrong.
Doctrine number nine of The Salvation Army teaches us that if we do not remain faithful, that if we do not remain obedient to God we will lose our walk with him. Not that God does this in us, but by our refusal we can forfeit our place by His side.
But how can we know for sure? Am I truly saved, will I go to heaven? As we have mentioned if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe it in your heart you are saved. But now you must begin the work of understanding what this new membership encompasses.
One assurance that we can get on whether or not we are living our lives according to God’s plan for us lives comes through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Last month when we spoke of doctrine number eight we discovered a direct quotation from 1 John 5:10, he that believes has the witness in himself.
Because of God’s great mercy, we can have confidence that our salvation is secure. After all we know that he who began a good work in us will see it to completion.
This is a particularly protestant teaching. We stress the trustworthiness of God. The giver of the promise can be trusted (Hebrews 10:22-23)
John Wesley which is the founder of our Wesleyan theology expressed it this way in 1738. As I read the change which God works in the heart of the believer through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
What an amazingly personal account this is. Perhaps you may be able to testify to a similar assurance. I know I can, without a doubt I know that Christ has saved me, that he has redeemed me and that his work in my life is leading me into a complete transformation from what I use to be into what God has designed and dreamed for me to be.
But like many things this matter of salvation requires our personal attention and our careful working at it, otherwise we may suffer the unfortunate consequence of backsliding from our faith.
Here is where this doctrine gets a bit controversial, but I know we can acquire a clear understanding this morning. Assurance of salvation is not the same as once saved always saved.
This is a belief based on a different theological interpretation that proclaims that our salvation is so secured that it cannot be negated in any way though our personal behavior or response to God. This interpretation depends on the understanding that God will save whomever he will and that his salvation is not for everyone, but only for an elected few.
In 2 Peter 3:9 the apostle Peter who first hand experienced the mercy and grace of God as revealed to him first by Jesus himself and then by the Holy Spirit reminds us that: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
John Calvin, one who took a different theological view to salvation, believed that it was not possible for a believer to back slide but in our Wesleyan tradition we accept that it is not only possible, but it is something that has happen and will happen to those who do not guard their salvation and relationship with God.
Remember the choice is always ours. God is merely the provider the manufacturer; we much choose what we will accept from him. The price has already been paid all we need to do is to pick it up and take it home.
Think about when you buy an appliance. You research it, you look it over and eventually you make a choice, you buy it and you take home. No one forces to by one model over another one, the decision is yours.
Once you take it home you may begin to neglect it and soon it breaks down and instead of fixing it you simply through it away and search for something else to take its place and fulfill your need. The manufacturer created the appliance for you to use, but you chose to buy a particular model. Then when it broke, you could have taken it back and it would have been fixed made new again, but you chose to go another route.
The very same thing applies to our faith and salvation as it relates to this doctrine. God has provided Salvation through the person of Jesus Christ but it is our choice to accept it. Then it is also our responsibility to maintain that relationship. If the relationship is damaged or broken because of our neglect or our direct actions we need to come to God so that it may be corrected, but if we don’t if we walk away, if we backslide then we forfeit his gift.
If we deny it, if we turn it away, God will not force it on us, but in the end we will be the cause of our loosing of the gift not God.
The good news in this doctrine is that it is not final, that is until the day we are in the presence of God. By why risk it, why waste time. Why not examined your own walk with God today and come to understand his assurance in your life?
The bottom line is that Jesus came to free us from everything that binds us, anything that enslaves us. But it is up to us to say yes Lord I accept you and yes Lord I will work every day to improve upon my relationship with you.
Remember we are all sinner, and we all still fall short of the glory of God, so do not fool yourself into thinking this message is not for you, for it is indeed for us all. If we don’t work on our relationship with Christ we can actually come to lose it!
I want us all to close our eyes. I want you all to search your hearts this morning and ask yourselves this question? Am I truly saved? Have I accepted the free gift of Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior? If you answer yes then great but if your answer is no then wont you open your heart to His redemptive work today and let Him replace the bad and the ugly in you with a new heart a new creation? The gift is yours for the taken but you must confess him as lord of your life and you will be saved.
Now I want us all to think about, is there anything that I am doing that could cause me to miss out on God’s blessings, maybe you are being disobedient in an area of your life, maybe you are fighting with your neighbor, maybe you have not given God the time and that he requires in order to build you up and strengthen your own faith.
Maybe you have gotten so caught up in doing right and living right that you have forgotten that your salvation must be shared with others and this has caused you to be a fruitless Christian. It has caused you to neglect your responsibilities to share God’s hope and grace with others.
Wont you also take this opportunity to come back to the Father and to ask him to restore you, to cleanse you renovate your faith, to bring you back from your disobedience, to tear down your self-righteousness and to allow you to once aging surrender your life in a daily sacrifice of love to Him?
God is here today in our mist, and he is the God of reconciliation. Whether you know him or not, he wants to restore us this morning. Won’t you allow him to do so now? Won’t you join us down here as we pray?
