But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7
When we read the accounts of the life and works of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, it becomes glaringly obvious that Christ, even though being the Messiah promised by God to man, was hardly received with open arms by His own ethnic people, Israel. From His birth right the way through to His death and resurrection, Christ was surrounded by those who were hostile towards Him, until they eventually seemed to have their way by nailing Him to a Roman cross until dead. It can be easy at time as Christians today, to read these narratives with scorn towards the Jews of that day, wondering how on earth they could be so hard of both head and heart. After all, we never saw Christ in the flesh, and yet we chose to believe in Him didn’t we?
Reading further through these accounts of Jesus’ life, we begin to see some responding faithfully to His call to follow. We can begin to see the similarity in our own call to salvation, with the likes of Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. Jesus simply said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men!”, and we are told that they “immediately left their nets and followed him”. [Matt 4:19-20] Just as the first disciples, we heard the voice of Jesus calling us to follow Him, and we made the decision to follow Him, right? Doesn’t it naturally follow that, if we tell others loudly enough about our own lives, giving enthusiastic testimonies as to why we accepted Jesus as Lord, and how our lives are so much better because of our decision; doesn’t it naturally follow that others will be convinced and decide to accept Jesus as Lord too?
What I have described above is the reality of what is preached today in much of the visible church. It is all about our decision to follow Jesus, not us being chosen by God and given to Him, regardless of our own will. It is all about looking at us, listening to our testimony about our lives, all because of the good decision we made to make Jesus Lord of our life, and accept Him as our Saviour. This is not the Gospel, it is a putrid stench to the nostrils of God, and virtually ensures that those who believe such a lie, hear the words of Christ saying when He returns, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” [Mat 7:23].
If we are to believe and proclaim the ONLY Gospel that truly saves those who believe from the coming wrath of God, we must be certain that it is solely the work of God alone, and having nothing to do with our own works, including our decisions to follow. Father, Son and Holy Spirit must be at work in the life of a dead sinner, if there is any hope of salvation at all. It is the Father who chooses whomever He desires to give to His Son, and it is they alone that Christ will raise up on the Last Day without even one being lost. It is the Holy Spirit Himself who regenerates us, seals us, guarantees our inheritance in Christ, promising faithfully to complete the work He has begun. It is only those whose lives are hidden with Christ in God, who have been reckoned with the righteousness of Christ as their own, and their unrighteousness laid upon the shoulders of Christ Himself, to be borne upon the Cross of Calvary. All this is given to undeserving sinners, who far from being willing recipients, are spiritually dead enemies of God, who fight against His will to save them every step of the way. If we can in any way see the hardness of heart in the scribes and pharisees pictured in the Bible accounts, then we must also understand fully that we are no more deserving of God’s grace than they!
In Paul’s letter to Titus quoted from at the opening of this article, it is worth remembering Paul’s description of believers prior to the goodness and kindness of God being revealed to them through Jesus Christ.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. Titus 3:3
Let us remind ourselves constantly, and proclaim boldly the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, crucified for the forgiveness of our sins, and raised to life eternal for our justification. That the salvation He offers so freely, is available only to wretched sinners like us. None of us deserving of anything but His wrath, but without regard of any personal merit of our own, His grace reaching out to those who will believe with the sure hope of life everlasting. This is the Ultimate Gift of God’s grace, and is freely available today to all who believe and call upon His glorious Name.
PDF Possibly related posts:
