Reference: Psalms 27:11, and Matthew 7:13-14
The dictionaries definition for the word"way" simply means a manner or method of doing something. David thepsalmist is found many times asking God to teach and show his way to him. Nowwe know that Almighty God has a way in doing things no matter what it may bethat he does.
Wealso know that God is the one that must save a person if they ever become savedin this life. There are many things that God does and has already done that wewill probably never know how it was done, but when it comes to salvation thereis a way that God saves a person and the way that he does this will be knownonly to them that has been saved.
Now the average person today who confessesto be saved will say that they don't understand how God saved them, butnevertheless they say that they are saved. Now I would like to know how aperson can believe that they are saved without knowing they are, having beenconvinced by some sort of an evidence.
The Bible plainly teaches that we aresaved by the grace of God through faith, but I just about know for a fact thatmost people are totally void of knowing exactly what it means to be saved bygrace through faith. We are told that the just shall live by faith meaning ofcourse that we do not live the christian life in our own power and effort, butrather we live it by the faith of the Son of God, which is Christ Jesus.
To ask the average person today whoconfesses to be saved just exactly what convinces them that they are saved andmost of them, if not all, will tell you that they know they are saved based onthe fact that they just believe it, having been convinced by what one or twoverses of scriptures says. I would say that the most believed verse ofscripture that most people base their being saved on is found in Acts 16:31 where it saysto believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved.
Now God's word in many places speak abouta way that a person must walk in so that they can be saved, but just thinkingyou are saved by a mere confession on Christ is absolutely not the way thatGod's word reveals.
Now it's an established fact that a personis saved by faith, but just to say you believe that you are saved is not whatit means to be saved by faith. The prophet Isaiah tells us about this way, hecalls it a way of holiness. (Isaiah 35:8)
In order to be truly saved then a personabsolutely must walk in the way that the word of God reveals. This way is a wayof holiness and it is a progressive way. God's way of saving a person is doneby the Holy Spirit revealing truth to you from the gospel.
Coming to the knowledge of the truth andto receive and obey it is how God saves a person. The world today has been ledto believe that a person is saved when they confess belief on the Lord Jesushaving accepted him as their own personal Lord and Saviour. They think thatthis is God's way of saving a person, but actually they are nowhere near thetruth that will set them free and truly save them like the word of God revealsit. God is the author of the whole saving operation which begins withrepentance and we know that repentance itself is a gift from God that he alonemust lead a person to.
A person can't and won't repent unless Godbegins to deal with them on this subject. There are very few people who trulyunderstands what true repentance is and how this is brought about in the lifeof the converted christian.
Repentance is not offered to a person byGod telling them either to repent or else to refuse to in just a split secondof time. The Bible says that it's the goodness of God that leads us torepentance. This leading us to repentance is bringing us to a reality ofknowing just exactly where we stand in his sight.
God doesn't just command repentance butrather he brings a person to a position where they can make a choice of eitherturning from a life of sin or else reject to do so. It takes godly sorrow towork repentance to salvation, but many today are thinking that worldly sorrowleads to repentance.
Attempting to tell a person to repent willnot bring genuine repentance unless the Spirit of God has dealt with thatperson. Many people today are taking membership in some church by following theteaching on repentance that is absolutely not true scriptural repentance as theBible teaches it.
Most churches today get their members tojoin their organization by causing them to come to the altar and confess theirsins and to accept Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Saviour, butthis is not true repentance and will not lead to their coming to the knowledgeof the truth that the gospel reveals.
The way of salvation is not just acceptingthe Lord Jesus as Lord and Saviour and then joining some church and becoming anactive member of that organization like it's commonly taught today. Truerepentance is turning away from a life of sin and then you absolutely mustcontinue on in God's word and this continuing on in God's word will allow theword of truth to wash you from all sin and spiritually transform your life intothe new creation spoken of in the scriptures. The truth will wash you andmiraculously transform your life by the renewing of the mind and the crucifyingof your fleshly lusts and desires.
Most people today has been led to believethat becoming this new creation is done in an instant of time when Christ hasbeen received as Lord and Saviour, but this is exactly where the many falseprophets and teachers has just about deceived the whole world.
God's way of salvation is our walking inthe light of truth and allowing it to be the souce of power that will transformour life into a new creation in a daily process. This truth the average personwill absolutely not accept and believe simply because to do so will mean thatthey will have to make a drastic change in their life and also they would haveto come out of the organization that they are affilliated with.
The common teaching today is that a personis born again when they accept Christ as Lord and Saviour and then they aretold to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, but the truth of thematter is that, to be born again is the entire work wrought by the Holy Spiritthat is received at the beginning of genuine repentance.
Some teach that a person is first bornagain and after that they are baptized into Christ's body by the Holy Ghost andis called the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is theentire operation of the new birth which is a daily process as we walk in andobey the truth of the gospel. You can't be born again before you receive theHoly Ghost simply because it takes the Holy Spirit to lead you into the truththat will do the work of the new birth on you. The receiving of the Spirit willthen proceed to teach you the truth that will make you a son of God....