Reference: Ephesians 2:8-9
Anybody who reads the above verse ofscripture would have to admit the fact that nobody can save themselves no matter what they could possibly contributeto the cause and effect. I believe that they greatest majority of peoplerealize that they cannot save themselves, but I doubt that five percent ofpeople today know what it means to be saved and how this condition is broughtabout. Almighty God is the one that saves an individual, but are you aware ofthe fact that you will be aware of how God is performing this operation on you?The word of God tells us that we cannot be saved by our own works lest a manshould boast. To boast means to brag about what we may have achieved. Since Godis the one that saves a person then there is absolutely no room for us to boastabout it. Many people cannot understand what it means to be saved throughfaith. These same people can understand what it means to try saving themselvesby works but they do not understand what it means to be saved by grace throughfaith. If you do not understand what it means to be saved by grace throughfaith, then it would be an evident fact that you are not saved.
Most peoplerealize that they cannot save themselves, but knowing this fact is not what itmeans to be saved through faith. I want you to notice that God's word says thatwe are saved through faith and not by faith. Are you aware of the fact myfriend that there is a difference between saying by faith, and through faith?As an illustration to show you what I mean, do you realize that you can behealed of a sickness either in an instant by faith or progressively throughfaith? To be healed by faith means that you received your healing withina fraction of time, but to be healed progressively means that you throughfaith kept right on believing that you were going to get better until youwere completely healed. Now since the word of God tells us that we are saved bythe grace of God THROUGH FAITH, then can't you see the fact that ittakes time and patience to be truly saved? This time and patience does not meanthat you perform some kind of works that will merit your being saved. Mostpeople today believe that you are saved in an instant by faith or elseyou will try to do works to merit salvation. They think that through aprogressive stage of seeking to be saved is trying to be saved by works, butthis is not the truth with true salvation. Make no mistake about it my friend,you certainly cannot save yourself, but what you are not realizing is the factas to how God goes about saving you. God has a way of saving you and this wayrequires your obedience. All that you can do is to submit yourself to God sothat he can perform the saving operation on you. Your submitting yourself toGod by your obedience to his revealed word is not what the Bible calls works inyour ownself. The works that won't save you, that is spoken about in Ephesians 2:9, are the worksof the law. The works of the law is your struggling to keep the moral laws ofthe Ten Commandments using them as your justifier and guide. You can trykeeping the law all you want to, but this will not save nor justify you in theleast. You can only be saved by the grace of God through faith. Through faithmeans that you place your trust in the revealed word of truth that the gospelcontains. The common teaching in the religious world today on the subject to besaved is just to believe on Christ and accept him as your personal Lord andSaviour. Even this belief is based on believing something. What I want you tosee is that just believing on Christ accepting him as Lord and Saviour is notall that there is to receive and believe in order to be saved. Your confessionof accepting Christ as Lord and Saviour is not what it means to be savedthrough faith. Faith in Christ means faith in the revealed word of God. Theword of God says that man must live by every word that proceeds from the mouthof God. Your receiving the revealed truth that the gospel contains is what willsave you. To be saved means that you are being preserved for another purposeand this purpose is to inherit eternal life in the new world to come. A savedperson is a person that God has preserved. To be preserved is a progressivework performed on the believer that obeys the word of God. When you buy fruitjars from the store to do some home canning, you know that you have to gothrough a process of cooking the fruits and vegetables before you place them inthe jars to be sealed. The sealing of the jars keeps the fruits and vegetablesfrom spoiling. The apostle Paul reveals in IThessalonians 5:23 these inspiredwords, "And the veryGod of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul andbody be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Please notice what our whole being is to be preserved inChrist. This preserving involves our entire being which consists of our body,soul, and spirit. A human being consisits of three parts thatmake up our one body. A human being has a body made of flesh. The spirit is notmade of flesh and neither is the soul. Each part of the entire person isinvolved in the process of being preserved in Christ unto his coming back tothis earth again. The preserving of the entire person is a progressive workwrought in the heart and life by the work of the Holy Spirit. This operation iscalled the new birth. A person can only be born again through the process ofthe work by the water and the Spirit as Christ said in John 3:5. The water isthe washing of water by the word. The Spirit by the word transforms thebeliever into a new creation in Christ, where old things have passed away andall things have become new. When a person truly repents of sin wanting to serveGod, they will realize that they cannot cease from their natural way of asinful life until the Spirit takes up his abode in the heart. The Spirit in theheart purifies the heart removing the automatic way and desires of the sinfullife. The Spirit will then lead the believer into all truth revealed in thegospel. The revealed truth will renew the mind making it a spiritual mind. Ourabstaining from sin will crucify the lusts and desires of the fleshly body.This whole operation is a progressive work that takes time. We are told in Romans 8:12-13 that we aredebtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh, but rather if we live afterthe flesh, we shall die: but if we through the Spirit do mortify the deeds ofthe body, we shall live... Themortifying of the deeds of the body is what Paul summed up in II Corinthians 7:1by saying, "Havingtherefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from allfilthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear ofGod." The promisesmentioned here are the revealed truths that the gospel contians and revealed tous by the revelation of the Holy Ghost. So therefore to be saved is aprogressive operation performed on the believer by the work of the Spiritthrough the washing of water by the word of God. You must with meekness receivethe engrafted word that is able to save your soul. (James 1:21) Many people aretrying to save themselves by the works of the law, but you cannot be saved inthat manner. Faith in Christ establishes the law: not doing away withit........