The Supernatural Work of Salvation

We have been discussing what it means to be saved today on Facebook, and so many are confused, believing that if someone professes to be a Christian, he or she must be. Maybe someone decides to start going to church and "become a Christian". Is it that simple? Surely God would honor someone's confession. I wanted to take a look at what the Bible says about the condition of the heart of someone who is lost vs. the condition of the heart of someone who is truly saved. If there has been no regeneration of the heart by a supernatural act of God, the person is not saved. The person has never been brought from death to life; he is still just as "dead" as ever in his sins. Even demons know Scripture, so religious, demonic spirits can draw a person to the Scripture to twist it and deceive themselves and others away from a true, saving knowledge of Christ. This is Satan's work.

We are all walking dead people before salvation, "dead" spiritually, that is. Only God can regenerate a heart to LIFE.

"And you were DEAD in your trespasses and sins in which you FORMERLY walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit working now in the sons of disobedience." Ephesians 2:1-2

We were "children of wrath" BEFORE SALVATION, so, no, God does not love the lost the same as He loves His own.

Ephesians 2:3:"Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."

But look at what happens in Ephesians 2:4:

"BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which He loved us, EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN OUR TRANSGRESSIONS made us ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST (by grace you have been saved.)"

God loves those whom He is calling after so much that He is calling them to QUICKEN them to repentance. This is not an act of man--it is an act of God. His work is to get the person to a place of surrender, where he or she gives up and surrenders to God, admitting that he or she is a sinner, making a SUPERNATURAL decision to turn from sin. This is salvation.

Romans 6:6 and 2 Corinthians 5:17. "OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY, behold new things have come." If the old things have not passed away, there has been no regeneration!

Does this mean the Christian will not sin? Of course not, but it does mean that the person with NEW LIFE will not enjoy sin; demonic spirituality will no longer have a hold on the person. He or she will SUPERNATURALLY "renounce the hidden things." 2 Corinthians 4:2. We STOP "adulterating the word of God" (2 Corinthians 4:2), because God has supernaturally quickened us to life and UNDERSTANDING. (Romans 3:10). Apart from such miraculous regeneration, no man can understand the things of the Lord.

It is because of this amazing gift FROM GOD of salvation that NO MAN CAN BOAST. 1 Corinthians 1:29

So, that being taught plainly in Scripture, we must ask ourselves this in order to "test ourselves and see if we are in the faith" (2 Corinthians 13:5):

1. Do you still feel the same way you have always felt about error? If you have always believed, for instance, that Mormonism is Christian, and then you start "going to church" and calling yourself a "Christian", and someone points out the different "Jesus" of Mormonism based on the Bible, and you could not care less about any turth that challenges your preset beliefs there is absolutely no sign whatsoever of regeneration of the heart.

2. Do you love religion? Do you love your good deeds and feel superior to others? There has been no supernatural quickening of humility and UNDERSTANDING BEFORE THE LORD if this is the case according to Scripture.

3. Has there been any change in your behavior since "becoming a Christian"? Has there been any "dying"? With all of the deceivers in the world, calling themselves Christians when they are not, here are some good questions to ask them: "Tell me, how have you died? How have you suffered since you have come to know Christ as a result of obedience to the Bible? How have 'the old things passed away'? What 'new things' have come to you? (1 Corinthians 15:31; Romans 7:4; 2 Timothy 1:8; 2:11)

Here is what happens, and we see this all throughout the Bible. People want the promises of Jesus, and people want to hide behind a pure mask to deceive others, but they don't want Him. They don't want to repent. Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you will die in your sins." People don't want this naturally. Going to church and calling themselves "Christians" is not only much easier, but it is fun for most. People then get to be proud of their religiosity and find it easier to look down on others and consider themselves "good." They have absolutely no interest whatsoever in turning from sin. Why? Because such a desire is a SUPERNATURAL ACT OF GOD. (Matthew 3:2; Luke 13:5)

Can a Christian be saved and then decide to not be saved? Absolutely not! If the Christian did not save himself, he certainly cannot "unsave" himself. People who believe this do not understand GOD'S WORK in salvation. "The gifts and CALLINGS of God are IRREVOCABLE." (Romans 11:29) "ALL that the Father gives Me will come to me." (John 6:37). God has predestined people to come to Jesus as a love gift from the Father to the Son. (Ephesians 1). If God has predestined 99 to come to Jesus, all 99 will come--it is not like 97 will come and 3 won't make it--they are ALL going to come, because they have been supernaturally predestined as love gifts from the Father to the Son as people SET APART TO LIVE FOR JESUS AS HIS OWN POSSESSION.

Once a person experiences this MIRACULOUS gift of NEW LIFE and quickening of his spirit from death, God's "seed" abides IN HIM through the Holy Spirit. 1 John 3:9

John 6:37 says that Jesus promises to "lose none" of us. If we are His, He keeps us. We can go out and sin like the devil, but we are still God's property, because HE CHOSE US, and He will discipline His own and get us back. Why? Because salvation is not the work of man. If you don't understand this, you are probably not saved. Understanding is granted to God's own. John 15:16: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you..."

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and DIES, it remains by itself alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. HE WHO LOVES HIS LIFE LOSES IT; AND HE WHO HATES HIS LIFE IN THIS WORLD SHALL KEEP IT TO LIVE ETERNAL." John 12:24-25

So, have you ever died? Have old things PASSED AWAY, or do you still ENJOY losing your temper and believing cults are "Christian" and taking exception to Scripture here and there as your own mind and heart deems best? Do you still LIKE your old way of thinking before "going to church" and "becoming a Christian"? Then you are not saved. There has been no miraculous change in your heart. You are still "of the world," and you can quote Bible verses all day long. Without a miraculous regenerated heart, you are just as lost as can be. Sure, some people at "church" might be fooled, but those who understand salvation, "abiding in Christ," won't be, because the ONE WHO KNOWS ALL MEN LIVES IN THE HEART OF A BELIEVER. THE BELIEVER IS HIS POSSESSION, and "the great deceiver" and all of his followers "in church" callling themselves "Christians" won't be able to deceive the person whose heart has been bought by the blood of Christ, because JESUS said "by their fruits" we shall know them. He did not say, "By their works." What is the fruit of the Spirit? Galatians 5:22-25 (Some people may challenge that Christians can be deceived by such people. Well, the closer we walk with the Lord the more He lets us know things about others professing to know Him as Savior when "something is just not right." We go to such a person and it even becomes more evident. I have seen pastors in churches deceive everyone UNTIL God decided to expose them....) If we are truly God's, we will have His SPIRIT, and it is not the spirt of the "dead" who self-righteously roam around churches, boasting in their own goodness with absolutely no regeneration whatsoever.

"And those who will walk by this truth, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God." Galatians 6:16