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Men today are teaching a
false system of Bible theology concerning salvation in
different periods of Bible history. Some say they were
saved by works in the period of the Law. Some say you
were saved by faith and works in other time periods.
I've even heard it said that in Acts 2:38 a person was
saved by baptism. What does the Bible say?
First of all, a good look
at the depravity of man would be helpful. In Isaiah 64:6
it reads, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do
fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have
taken us away.” God says, "... all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags."
That means all of mankind
and all of its natural goodness adds up to nothing.
Mankind stinks in the nostrils of a Holy God! Romans
3:10-12 reads, "There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that
seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable; there is none
that doeth good, no, not one." After reading these
verses could anyone ever think that anyone could ever
please the Lord with something they could do? The Bible
says in Galatians 3:11, "But that no man is justified by
the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for, The
just shall live by faith." This is true in the New
Testament and in the Old Testament. For it is written in
Habakkuk 2:4, "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is
not upright in him: but the just shall live by his
faith." We are saved by faith now and that is how people
were saved in the past. Man is totally depraved and can
never please God with works.
The Bible says, "But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he
that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews
11:6. In Hebrews 11:26, Moses esteemed "the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for
he had respect unto the recompence of the reward." It
also says in I Corinthians 10:4, "And did all drink the
same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual
Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”
When Moses obeyed God and
killed the passover lamb and applied the blood, he was
safe from the destroyer (Exodus 12:23). Was his soul
saved by the actual good works of his life and the
sacrifices he offered? Of course he wasn't saved that
way. The Bible says in Hebrews 10:1, "For the law having
a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image
of the things, can never with those sacrifices which
they offered year by year continually make the comers
thereunto perfect."
Are we saved by good
works in our life now? Of course not, for the Bible
says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9. Are we
saved by the communion now? Of course not, for the Bible
says, “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this
do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of
me." I Corinthians 11:25b. As we partake of communion,
we look back to the Saviour who came. If we have no
faith in our hearts concerning the Saviour in regard to
our sin, then we are just putting on a show and it will
be to no avail. If a person back in Moses’ time offered
sacrifices in a mechanical way, and with no true faith,
he was a hypocrite. He was to look forward by faith (as
we look back) to a time when God would provide the real
sacrifice, of which all sacrifices are just a type.
Moses knew about a
"Prophet" that would come in the future. In Deuteronomy
18:15 it says, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee
a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like
unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;"
Adam and Eve knew about
the seed of women that would bruise the serpent’s heel.
For it says in Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise they head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel." They also received the coats of skins found
in Genesis 3:21, which is a type of Christ's
righteousness. Abel offered a lamb. It says in Hebrews
11:4, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that
he was righteous…”
Abraham believed God in
that he believed God was going to use someone from his
seed to bless all the families of the earth. It says in
Genesis 12:3, "And I will bless them that bless thee,
and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed." Later on he offered
up Isaac as a sacrifice, but the Lord stopped him. He
even believed that God could raise him from the dead. It
says in Hebrews 11:19, "Accounting that God was able to
raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he
received him in a figure." Abraham was saved by faith
for it says in Romans 4:3, "For what saith the
scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness." In fact, all the heroes of
the faith were saved by faith for it says in Hebrews
11:39, 40, "And these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise: God having
provided some better thing for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect."
Saints in the Old
Testament believed God in everything he revealed to them
regarding the remission of sins and the coming Messiah.
We know more information about the Lord Jesus Christ
than Isaiah did. However, he knew quite a bit for in
Isaiah 53:6 it says; "All we like sheep have gone
astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the
Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." That is
the gospel! In fact, the book of Isaiah is called the
"Gospel of the Old Testament."
What about David and
Psalm 22? It says in verses 16-18, "For dogs have
compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed
me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my
bones; they look and stare upon me. They part my
garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture."
These men knew of a Saviour that was going to come. Did
they trust their good works? No, a thousand times, no.
If the devil can get us to believe our good works could
have saved us in the past it will be very easy for him
to say that the time has come that we can please God now
with our good works or a mixture of good works and
faith. This is all blasphemous and degrading to our
wonderful Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in
Colossians 1:20, “And, having made peace through the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto
himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth,
or things in heaven." Abraham, Isaac, Moses,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, John the Baptist, Noah, Abel,
David and all the other Old Testament saints are in
heaven. How did they get reconciled to God? Colossians
1:20 said it was "through the blood of his cross."
Peter did not preach
salvation by baptism and faith in Acts 2:38. The
repenting did the saving, not the baptizing. These
ultra-dispensationalists must make the baptismal
regenerationalists very happy. They are just one
dispensation away from each other in regard to their
doctrine of salvation. It is ungodly and heretical to
say that water could ever wash or help wash away sin. I
Peter 3:21 says, "The like figure whereunto even baptism
doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth
of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward
God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”
Baptism is just a sign to
others that we have faith and a good conscience toward
God. What was circumcision? It was a sign and it never
helped one become righteous. It doesn't now either. In
Romans 4:11 it says, "And he received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he
might be the father of all them that believe,
though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might
be imputed unto them also:"
A profound fact in regard
to our subject is "Paradise." This is where all the Old
Testament saints went when they died. In Genesis 25:8 it
says, "Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a
good old age, and old man, and full of years; and was
gathered to his people." "Gathered to his people ",
means that he went down into paradise. This same phrase
is used with other Patriarchs. Also, in Luke 16:22 it
says, "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and
was carried by the angles into Abraham’s bosom: the rich
man also died, and was buried;" Paradise was in the
earth across from the burning side of hell. The Lord
taught that this is where he was going in Matthew 12:40,
"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the
whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth. " Christ went
down to "Abraham's Bosom". What does all this have to do
with "salvation by grace in any time period"? It has
everything to do with it. These saints were saved and
were not thrown into hell, but they could not be taken
up to the presence of God until the Messiah came and
made the sacrifice for sin.
When Christians die, they
go right to the third heaven - where God is. We know now
"paradise" is in the third heaven for it says in II
Corinthians 12:2b-4, "...such and one caught up to the
third heaven. And I knew such a man, (Whether in the
body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to
utter." Paradise was moved from the inside of the earth
up to the third heaven, God's abode, after the death of
Christ. In II Corinthians 5:8 it says, "We are
confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from
the body, and to be present with the Lord."
Saints could not go to be
with the Lord until the Saviour came to make the
atonement for sins. When the Lord Jesus Christ left
paradise, He took the Old Testament saints up with Him.
In Ephesians 4:8-10 it says, “Wherefore he saith, When
he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and
gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it
but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? He that descended is the same also that
ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill
all things. )" The Old Testament saints were fit to be
in the presence of Holy God at this time. If their
works saved them, they could have gone right to the
abode of God when they died! It wasn't until after
the Lord Jesus Christ died that they could go to be in
the presence of God.
In any dispensation, the
central figure for salvation is the "cross". The
basis for salvation is "the shedding of blood"
and the means of salvation is "faith",
Heaven has a testimony
that I will use for a closing. Revelation 5:9 says, "And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation:"
Again in Revelation 5:12 it says, "...Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom
and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."
Let's glorify the Lord
and teach that salvation could only be by grace through
faith now or any other time in history. Glory to
God! And let's "contend for the faith" in this very
vital area of doctrine.
Pastor Fred R. Fowler
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