Our sole reason for receiving everlasting life is the Lord Jesus Christ, faith is the sign of our salvation

Every time I read the Affirmations of Belief at the Grace Evangelical Society’s website I am comforted, because it reminds me what a great gift Christ has given me and all who believe in him. These affirmations also serve to put my whole life in proper perspective by explaining salvation assurance, discipleship or growing in Christ and even my practical motivation for doing so in simple and direct words.

If I could change a small portion of the affirmations, it would probably come in the first paragraph which currently (at the website listed below) reads:

“The sole condition for receiving everlasting life is faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died a substitutionary death on the cross for man’s sin and rose bodily from the dead (John 3:16-18; 6:47, Acts 16:31).

In place of the phrase “the sole condition” I would substitute “the sole reason” for receiving everlasting is "the Lord Jesus Christ.himself."

In other words, it would read: The sole reason for receiving everlasting life is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who gives us the gift of faith to believe in him, his substitutionary death on the cross for our sin and his rising bodily from the dead (John 3:16-18, 6:47, Acts 16:31).

In other words, the real “sole condition” of our salvation is Jesus. He and he alone saved us. Faith is important to us in that it acts as a sign from Jesus that we do indeed believe in him.

I am very thankful to the Grace Evangelical Society for these affirmations because they are really blessed sign posts of our faith to keep in mind and rejoice in again and again as we walk through this life. I reprint the Grace Evangelical Society affirmations in full as they appear on the website at http://www.faithalone.org/


Affirmations of Belief
Salvation

The sole condition for receiving everlasting life is faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died a substitutionary death on the cross for man’s sin and rose bodily from the dead (John 3:16-18; 6:47; Acts 16:31).

Faith is the conviction that something is true. To believe in Jesus (“he who believes in Me has everlasting life”) is to be convinced that He guarantees everlasting life to all who simply believe in Him for it (John 4:14; 5:24; 6:47; 11:26; 1 Tim 1:16).

No act of obedience, preceding or following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, such as commitment to obey, sorrow for sin, turning from one’s sin, baptism or submission to the Lordship of Christ, may be added to, or considered part of, faith as a condition for receiving everlasting life (Rom 4:5; Gal 2:16; Titus 3:5). This saving transaction between God and the sinner is simply the giving and receiving of a free gift (Eph 2:8-9; John 4:10 ; Rev 22:17 ).

Assurance

Assurance of everlasting life is certainty that one is eternally secure simply by faith in Jesus. Assurance of everlasting life is based only on the promise God makes in His Word that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ alone possesses everlasting life (John 5:24; 1 John 5:9-13). Good works, which can and should follow regeneration, are not necessary for a person to have assurance of everlasting life (Eph 2:10 ; Titus 3:8).
Assurance is of the essence of believing in Jesus for everlasting life. That is, as long as a person believes in Jesus for everlasting life, he knows he has everlasting life (John 5:24 ; 6:35 , 47; 11:27 ; 1 John 5:9-13).

Discipleship (Growing in Christ)

The ultimate goal of the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer’s life is to produce spiritual maturity reflected in consistent Christlike behavior and attitudes (Gal 5:22-25; Luke 14:25-33; Col 1:23-29). Therefore, obedience to the Word of God, while not necessary for obtaining everlasting life, is the essential responsibility of each Christian (Rom 6:12-23; Heb 5:13-14; 1 Cor 2:14–3:4). However, the Bible does not teach that this obedience will be manifested in all believers. If a believer does not yield to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in his experience, failure will result, evidenced by sinful acts or even prolonged disobedience (1 Cor 10:1-13; Gal 5:16-21).


Motivation

The believer is assured of everlasting life and is thus eternally secure, since that life is guaranteed by the Lord Jesus Christ to all who believe in Him, and is based upon His substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection (John 10:28-29; Rom 8:38-39). Therefore, it is inconsistent with the gospel and with Scripture to seek to gain or keep everlasting life by godly living. The Scriptures, however, do present several motivations for obedience in the Christian life.

1. A powerful motivation for living the Christian life is gratitude to God for saving us by His grace (Rom 12:1-2; 2 Cor 5:14 -15; Gal 2:20 ).

2. Believers should also be motivated by the knowledge that their heavenly Father both blesses obedience and disciplines disobedience in His children (Heb 12:3-11; Lev 26:1-45). God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, that he also reaps (Gal 6:7).

3. Finally, every Christian must stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, not to determine his eternal destiny, for that is already set, but to assess the quality of his Christian life on earth (2 Cor 5:10; Rev 22:12). Anticipating either reward or loss of reward at the Judgment Seat should also motivate believers to perseverance and to faithfulness to God’s revealed will (1 Cor 3:10 -17, 9:24 -27; Jas 5:8-9; 1 John 2:28 ). One’s capacity to glorify Jesus will forever be based on how faithful he was in his stewardship in this life (Luke 19:17 , 19, 22-26).


Grace Evangelical Society is firmly committed to the fundamental doctrines of the historic Christian faith. Not all of those doctrines are delineated in this affirmation of belief.

Unintended description of our world today?

This is the phrase used in a commercial for one of the latest electronic devices... though obviously unintended, it seems to describe one of the big problems that we face in these days of rampant technology.

"Getting lost in the things we love has never felt quite like this."  iPad2

Election, an incentive to evangelism!

(A sizeable excerpt from “Election: Friend or Foe of Evangelism? By Bill Boekestein)

The Outlook, March 2007, Volume 57, No. 3, pp. 9-10 at http://www.reformedfellowship.net/articles/boekestein_mar07_v57_n03.htm

How is election an incentive to evangelism?

First, election should promote evangelism because it guarantees results. Our only hope of seeing anyone converted to Christ is rooted in His eternal unconditional election. Consider the alternative. "If the depravity of man is such that no sinner, of himself, will repent and believe the gospel, then, unless God has determined to bring some to repentance, all will inevitably perish." Without election missions would be a hopeless activity.

Isn't that what Paul might have thought as he ministered in Corinth? "God, you want me to minister in this city! What for?" If any city in the New Testament world appeared to be God-forsaken, it was Corinth. Yet Christ said, "I have many people in this city!" Imagine the perspective that this gave Paul as he ministered in Corinth for the next eighteen months.

Commenting on this passage J. I. Packer summarizes that, "...the sovereignty of God in grace gave Paul hope of success as he preached to deaf ears, and held up Christ before blind eyes, and sought to move stony hearts."

Notice how this same doctrine is cited in Acts 13:48: "And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." Only because of election was the Apostle's preaching in Antioch (and Corinth) one hundred percent effective!

Second, election keeps our eyes humbly focused upon God in our evangelism. Paul's success in Corinth led him to rely more and more on the sovereign purpose of God to save men. When he wrote back to the Corinthians he told them that while he had planted and Apollos watered, it was God who gave the increase (I Corinthians 3:6,8). This is encouraging because there will not always be a visible increase. Thankfully, a firm belief in election also comforts us in our evangelistic "failures."

Third, election gives a sense of purpose to our mission. When Christ commissioned Paul to be an evangelist he did so by closely connecting Paul's mission with his own calling and election. "[Paul]," said Christ, "is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). Significantly, this "predestined commission" was not only given to Paul and to the other apostles. The Apostle Peter links the election of all of God's people with evangelism. He calls God's people a chosen (elect) generation. Flowing out of this election is a purpose, namely "to proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (I Peter 2:9).

When opponents charge that the doctrine of election makes evangelism unnecessary they betray an ignorance of the purpose of election. The election of the saints is their divine commission to evangelize. This doctrine affords the believer courage knowing that his name is written in the book of life. It also removes any ulterior motives from the evangelistic efforts of the Calvinist. He has no reason frenetically to engage in evangelism as if he himself is responsible for the "decisions" of others.

Finally, election is an incentive to evangelism because it intrinsically requires the use of means. God could have decided to convert sinners without means, but He has not. Instead, He has determined that "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). The Canons of Dort, a thoroughly predestinarian document, highlights the importance of the means of gospel communication already in its third paragraph (1.3). If you believe in election then you also believe in the need for Christians to communicate the gospel.

Still, the proper use of means without the blessing of God will be ineffectual. Not all of those who heard Christ Himself preach were converted. There must be more than the proper use of means. There must be a divine work of God that begins in His decree of election.

So we end where we began. It is indeed, only the unchangeable decree of election that renders the salvation of the elect completely certain. This certainty, however, far from being a discouragement is actually "the only ground of encouragement to preach the gospel to sinners." Election does not make evangelism unnecessary, rather election demands evangelism.

Mr. Bill Boekestein is a Senior at the Puritan Reformed Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is a member of the United Reformed Church in Dutton, Michigan.

Thoughts from Martin Luther on the Roman Catholic priesthood and mass

(The following from Luther is not to say that there is no such thing as pastors who are called to lead the flock, serve spiritual needs and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper--that's clearly not what he intended. Instead, he’s showing that the teachings of Roman Catholicism on the priesthood and the so-called sacrifice of the mass are without proof of any kind in the Bible—strictly man made. On the otherhand, the Bible is clear Who the real Priest is and what that means for all true Christians.)

First, let us deal with the priesthood. Every true Christian really ought to know that in the New Testament there is no outward, visible priest, except those whom the devil has exalted and set up through human lies. We have only one single priest, Christ, who has sacrificed himself for us and all of us with him. Peter speaks of this in 1 Peter 3:18: “Christ died once for our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us—dead in the flesh but alive in the spirit—to God.” And Hebrews 10:14 says: “For by a single offering he has finished and perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

This is a spiritual priesthood, held in common by all Christians, through which we are all priests with Christ. That is, we are children of Christ, the high priest; we need no priest of mediator other than Christ. “Every priest (Hebrews 5:1) is appointed to order that he might pray for the people and preach.” Thus every Christian on his own may pray in Christ (the high priest) and have access to God (Romans 5:2) as Isaiah has proclaimed in chapter 65:24: “It shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are speaking I will hear them.”…Hence it comes that Christ says in John 6:45: “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’”

…Go to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves build up on him, to be holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5).” And a little further on (1 Peter 2:9): “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy people, dearly bought, that you may declare the might of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Let this be the first assault on the fictitious popish priesthood: how strong and mighty an assault it is, let every pious Christian judge. Here all the splendor and pomp of the popish mass comes to naught (nothing)…For the priesthood and law change together (Hebrews 7:12). If now the priesthood and the law are nothing, then the sacrifices and the works which are supposed to take place through the priest…are even less. From this it follows that the pope’s law is sheer deceit and falsehood; the papal priesthood is nothing but a mask and outward show, and the papists’ mass, which they call a sacrifice, is idolatry and a shameful misuse of the holy sacrament.

Pages 138 – 142 Luther’s Works Vol. 36 Word and Sacrament, The Misuse of the Mass

The great promoters of useless work (as described by Thomas Merton)

I’m reading an old book “New Seeds of Contemplation” by the late priest-monk Thomas Merton, and the chapter is on everyone’s need for solitude. He talks about some, apparently referring to his fellow monks and priests (“men dedicated to God”), who fight it.

But I also find that this paragraph seems to apply to a much broader audience—maybe you and me.

“We have said that the solitude that is important to a contemplative is, above all, an interior and spiritual thing. We have admitted that it is possible to live in deep and peaceful interior solitude even in the midst of the world and its confusion. But this truth is sometime abused in religion. There are men dedicated to God whose lives are full of restlessness and who have no real desire to be alone. They admit that exterior solitude is good, in theory, but they insist that it is far better to preserve interior solitude while living in the midst of others. In practice, their lives are devoured by activities and strangled with attachments. Interior solitude is impossible for them. They fear it. They do everything they can to escape it. What is worse, they try to draw everyone else into activities as senseless and as devouring as their own. They are great promoters of useless work. They love to organize meetings and banquets and conferences and lectures. They print circulars, write letters, talk for hours on the telephone in order that they may gather a hundred people together in a large room where they will all fill the air with smoke and make a great deal of noise and roar at one another an clap their hands and stagger home at last patting one another on the back with the assurance that they have all done great things to spread the kingdom of God.”

Secret to 75-year marriage: "...Stay up and fight!"

Ray and Irma Ziff of Thousand Oaks, Calif. celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary in March of 2008. Yakov Smirnoff  interviewed the couple for a television special in 2010. He asked them the secret to their longevity and Irma piped up, "Don't go to bed angry--stay up and fight!"

I saw a few other articles where Irma offered some "ground rules" such as: Don't snap at each other and don't walk or storm out of the room during an arguement, and don't be afraid to say you're sorry.

Marriage--accepting the cross in it

(The beginning of dying to ourselves -- an excerpt from a wedding sermon...)

The wedding is only the beginning of death. If you go through this ceremony and then continue to live as you have always lived, you have not understood the first thing about this ceremony. Jonathan, if you continue the habits of a single man, you are mocking the marriage vows you take today. Jonathan, if you do not give your life to guard and support and nourish your wife, you are not keeping your vows, and God will hold you accountable. Hannah, if you live as if you were unmarried, you are not fulfilling your calling. Hannah, if you do not give your life to help and support your husband, you are not keeping your vows, and God will hold you accountable.

Nearly four decades ago, Alexander Schmemann said that the problem with modern marriage “is not adultery or lack of ‘adjustment’ or ‘mental cruelty.’” Instead, the problem is the “idolization of the family” that identifies “marriage with happiness” and refuses “to accept the cross in it.” God’s presence as a “third party” in the marriage spells “the death of the marriage as something only ‘natural,’” and directs it to its true end of the kingdom of God. In short, Schmemann argued, the glory of marriage is “that of the martyr’s crown. For the way to the Kingdom is the matyria—bearing witness to Christ. And this means crucifixion and suffering. A marriage that does not constantly crucify its own selfishness and self-sufficiency, which does not ‘die to itself’ that it may point beyond itself, is not a Christian marriage.”

From Chapter 8 in the book “A Great Mystery; Fourteen Wedding Sermons” by Peter J. Leithart