WHEN
IS A PERSON SAVED?
Part 1
Religion gives us many
answers to that question. Some say that God's elect were saved in eternity.
They tell us that election is salvation; but that in not so. Election is unto
salvation. Election secures salvation and makes it certain. But election is not
salvation. "God hath from the
beginning chosen us unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth."
Some say that a child is
saved when it is brought, by its believing parents, to a priest or a preacher
as an infant, to be sprinkled with water. But that cannot be true. Such
doctrine is foreign to the Word of God and denies the grace of God. The practice
of infant baptism is no where taught in the Bible. You simply cannot find,
anywhere in the Bible, a justification for it. The Word of God makes it
abundantly clear that salvation does not come by religious heritage or
religious ceremony. The children of God are born, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God".
Some say that a child is
saved when he learns the church catechism, when he comes to what men call
"the age-of accountability" and is confirmed in the church. But such
foolishness is no where taught in the Scriptures.
Some say that a person is
saved when he makes a decision for Jesus and professes faith in him. Judas
decided to follow Jesus, but he was not saved. Demas professed faith, but he
did not have faith. Simon Magus had a profession and a decision, but he was a
lost man. My friends, profession is not possession. A decision for Jesus is not
a saving knowledge of the Son of God.
Some say that a person is
saved when he reforms his life and starts living for God. You know that cannot
be true. The Pharisees were thoroughly reformed in their lives. They were very
moral and very religious. Annanias was a thoroughly reformed man. Diotrophes
served the church of God zealously. But all of them are in hell today.
Some say that a person is
saved if he can hold on, hold out, or hang in to the end. It is true that those
who are truly saved will continue in the faith; but our continuance in the
faith is not dependent upon us. We continue in the faith because God keeps us
in his hands of omnipotent grace.
Some say that a person is
saved when he is baptized, when he joins the church, when he receives the
Lord's Supper, or when he has performed enough good works to merit heaven.
And some say that a person
is not saved until the day of judgment. When we get to heaven and hear the Lord
say, "Come ye blessed" we
will find out who is saved but not until then.
None of these statements
about salvation are true. They are all the inventions of men. Not one of them
has any foundation in the Word of God. All of them are heretical, idolatrous,
and damning to those who believe them. If you think you were saved when you did
any of these things, you are yet unsaved.
When is a person saved? The
Apostle Paul tells us that A PERSON IS
SAVED WHEN IT PLEASES GOD TO SAVE HIM. "When
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his
graces to reveal his Son in me." "When the fulness of time was come
... God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba
Father". My friends, "Salvation
is of the Lord," Salvation comes to men according to God's sovereign
pleasure. He says, "I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy." God saves whomsoever he is pleased to
save; and he saves them whenever it pleases his to do so. When is a person
saved? Mark it down. A PERSON IS SAVED
WHEN IT PLEASES GOD TO SAVE HIM.
AMEN.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For
Today Radio Message #636
2734 Old Stanford Road - Danville,
Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S.
Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net