Salvation is not by Works

Albert Jesus Major
"Salvation is not works to get saved, remain saved or "prove" one is saved. Even if one never does any good works but just believes the Gospel, they are saved. For example:

 
Romans 4:5 (KJB)
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Salvation is not a "behavior modification." You cannot boast. Salvation is not of works.

 
Don't mix salvation (justification) with service/discipleship, don’t merge what one must do to be saved with what an already saved believer should do now that they are saved."

Choose Life or Death?

The next time someone calls you a fanatic by speaking so much about Christ, ask them if they are fanatics about not speaking of Him. We choose what to be fanatical about, I choose Christ.

Then remind them that Christ died a brutal death for the sins of mankind, and rose from the dead proving He is God and will come for believers in the rapture. Then tell them that is pretty radical and fanatical what Christ did, shouldn't our response to Him be entirely devoted to Him?!!!!

Next time someone chastises you for loving Christ more than everyone and everything, remind them that they love themselves more than anyone or anything else. We have just chosen different paths of love and theirs leads to eternal death.

Matthew 25:46

"And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The Christian "religion" is not something we add at the bottom of our list of important matters, Christ is one with us and He lives in us. Not only is He not at the bottom of our list in life He is at the top and in every situation.

Here is the destiny of those who have chosen to follow Christ:

Revelation 21:4

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Here is the destiny of those who reject Christ and prefer worldliness:

Revelation 21:8

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Life awaits the fanatical born-again believer who loves Christ more than anyone or anything else. Death awaits those who love themselves more than anything or anyone else.

Never Place Unsaved Family Above God

When we place family above God we have an idol. God first, then the people of God. Unsaved family members are not family to us. We must see unsaved family members as those who need to become born again into God's family. Until they do this they have no fellowship with us.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15 "14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?"

One of the reasons we see so much of Christianity being watered down producing only baby food, is because too many Christians are spending too much time with ungodly people. They have compromised their walk with Christ to remain with family who do not love Him. The family members have become more important than Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:6-11

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. / Therefore do not be partakers with them. / For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,"

1 John 1:5-7

"And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. / If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. / But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

No One is More Important than Christ in the Life of a Born Again Believer

Some say the hardest thing to do is to walk away from family members who work to derail your walk with Christ. I say, when we love Christ no one is more important than Him and it is not hard to walk away from those who do not obey the scriptures.

John 14:23-24 "…23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love Me does not keep My word. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me."

The only reason it would be hard to walk away from ungodly family is if they meant more to us than Christ does.

Those who do not love Christ do not love us either, they become a security blanket for us from the fear of being alone. When we love Christ we are never alone and we do not fear solitude.

There have been many times in my life I felt far more alone while in the group than I did if I were completely alone. The silly superficial banter of those who are focused almost entirely on the things of the world is overwhelming for me, my sense of wanting to flee is intense.

The sense of loneliness comes from the need to feel validated by people. When we have Christ we do not need the validation of others, we can do what we should even if no one supports us. We love being alone with Christ, He has all the answer to everything and can instruct us at any moment for any thing.

1 John 4:6

We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

When we find "Christians" who act as though they hate discussing things of the Bible with us then we know that person is not a good friend to us, since everything we think and do all day long is based on what the Holy Spirit approves. All conversation brings to mind the things of God, the way He thinks.

Yes, as born-again believers who desire to follow the scriptures, the very words and essence of Christ, we cannot evaluate anything except according to the Bible.

John 5:38-40

"38 Also you do not have His word remaining in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent.

39 You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; 40 and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life."

There are many "Christians" who examine the scriptures to have knowledge of them but as they do it they ignore much of it and retain those things that elevate themselves. They cannot love God and negate His word in this way.

John 3:34

"34 For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly."

I wonder how many of you are like me, every encounter I have with people always brings to mind what God thinks of it. This is irritating to people who have said to me: "can't you think with your own mind?" My answer is why would I want to think my own way when Christ can give me His mind.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16

"15 But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."

We are instructed to think with the mind of Christ as born again believers, we must not think any other way and we do this about all things.

Corinthians 2:14 "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.".

When we encounter those who are affended by our continual use of Scripture to explain things we know we are in the presence of a possible pretender no matter what they say about themselves. Those who are filled with Christ do not fight against God's Word, they love it and they do not make rules about who can speak of Christ and His words. Everyone is blessed when we all share Christ together.

1 Peter 2:9

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

We are all priests and all have gifts and callings, no exception.

1 Corinthians 12:15-17 "…15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?…"

All born-again believers love to speak of the Lord, they were saved by Him, changed by him and live for Him.

The Legalists

Have you noticed that legalists make rules about outer appearances or for humans to obey while ignoring the Holy Spirit's leading!

Legalists often choose the ideas of man to force people into rules God never made and ignore many things God proclaimed.