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social and religious customs, inter–
ests, pleasures that are contrary to
Goo's WAYS.
lt
means THE BIBLE becomes the
SUPREME AUTHORITY over your
life- your
guide to living- yes,
to
happy, abundant, gracious living,
and SUCCESSFUL and righteous liv–
ing, henceforth and forever- to
live your life from now on with
Goo'S HELP, and BY HIS POWER,
according to the spirit and princi–
pie, as well as the letter and precept
of his Commandments. You hence–
forth STUDY THE BIBLE- nOt jus t
carelessly read, but STUDY, to learn
Goo's WAYS, and to LIVE BY EVERY
woRo OF Goo!
Now ask yourself, candid ly:
How MANY people who profess sal–
vation - who have "accepted
Christ"-do you believe have
REALLY COME TO THIS KIND OF
REAL REPENTANCE? "Except ye
REPENT," warned Jesus, "ye shal l
all likewise PERISH" (Luke 13:3, 5).
And again, "He that SAITH, 1 know
him, and keepeth not his command–
ments, is a LIAR, and the truth is
not in him" (1 John 2:4). Yes, MIL–
LIONS ARE OECEIVED!
But if millions are deceived
about the prior CONDITION of
repentance, just as many millions
are deceived today as to the KI ND
OF FAITH that really SAVES!
The FAITH That SAVES
Now
think
a moment!
Use your
REASON! We are taught, and
rightly, that we cannot EARN our
salvation- it is the GIFT of God. lt
is by GRACE-and "grace" means
undeserved pardon
and
free gtft.
Yet, notice how inconsistent
people are! They argue there must
be NO WORKs-no OBEDIENCE to
the Commandments, or doing
aooo--no recognizing of God's
AUTHORITY over your daily liv–
ing- because salvation comes by
GRACE-God's free GIFT. And yet
they seem to believe that some–
how WE must supply the FAITH
that brings salvation!
If
WE work
up, or if WE suppJy this FAITH by
which we are saved,
wou/d not
that.
in fact, amount to our pro–
ducing
our own salvation
by the
very WORKS
of supp/ying this
FAITH'?
36
So notice, briefly! Notice more
CLOSELY than you did before! "For
BY GRACE are ye saved through
FAITH; and that (that FAITH) not of
yourselves; it [this saving FAITH] is
the gift of
Goo"! (Eph.
2:8.)
The
faith that really saves is GIVEN TO
US
by
GQD-Ít is a GIFT from HIM!
You don' t supply it, or work it
u
p .
Did you ever notice that
before?
Well, wbat then? In Gal. 2:16,
Paul explains a man is justified
only "by THE FAITH
Oj Jesus
Christ."
Notice, he does not say, by
the man's faith IN Jesus Christ-he
says by " the faith of Jesus
Christ"-which means CHRIST's
FAITH-the faith HE has and uses–
the same faith with which he per–
formed all his miracles-the same
faith by which he lived- his faith,
placed by a miracle, as a gift direct
from God, into the man!
So, PLEASE UNDERSTANO! Salva–
tion is Goo's GIFT. You do not,
cannot, earn it. God GIVES it.
But- and here is where people
become mixed up, and stumble–
God will GIVE it only on condition!
Yes, there are terms and condi–
tions! God has set these terms, and
you can't alter them, and he won't
change them!
1 want to make this perfectly
PLAIN.
lt
is not
your
faith in
C h rist- a faith YOU supply by
BELIEVING in him as Savior- that
saves you.
It
is CHRIST's faith,
which
he
supplies and places in you
by bis Holy Spirit, which actually
IMPARTS ETERNAL LIFE. But WHAT,
then? Is it not necessary for vou to
believe, with YOUR OWN faith, in
Christ?
Now Jet me make this PLAIN! Sal–
vation is Goo's FREE GIFT-it is by
GRACE ALONE. Yet the very purpose
of God demands TWO prior CONDI–
TIONS on YOUR part. First, you must
REPENT! Second, you must BELIEVE
in
Christ as Savior. But you cannot
believe in Christ unless you also
believe his message-the gospel of
the Kingdom of God (Mark 16:1 5-
16). But NEITHER your repentance,
followed by your obedience, NOR
YOUR faith earns any salvation! They
are merely prior CONDITIONS. But
when you supply these two ingre-
dients, then God STANDS BOUNO BY
HIS PROMISE to impart to you by his
Holy Spirit HIS
righteousness, and
CHRIST'S
jaith- and
THESE,
sup–
p/ied by
Goo, are the ingredients
that SAVE ANO IMPART ETERNAL
LIFE!
Paul explains: "Even
we
have
believed
IN J esus Christ,
that we
might be justified
BY THE FAITH
OF CHRIST" (Gal. 2: 16) . You
must repent and believe
in Christ,
as a condition, a prerequisite, IN
OROER THAT you may receive, and
be saved
by
the faith OF Christ–
by his faith placed within you!
Cut Off From GOD
All have sinned!
All have gone the way that seems
right in human eyes. And our sins
have cut us off from God: "Your
iniquities have separated between
you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he
will not hear" (Isa. 59:2).
Now salvation-eternal life–
comes from Goo. But your sins
have cut you off from God. The
connection is SEVEREo. You sev–
ered it! God will not GIVE you his
gift of eternallife until you are r<..c–
onciled to him!
But he so LOVED you, that he
GAVE his only begotten Son, Jesus
Christ, to DIE FOR YOU SO that you
need not perish-but, through
Jesus Christ, be brought into con–
tact with him so he can GIVE you
eternal life!
The PENALTY of transgressing
his law is DEATH! Jesus paid that
penalty in your stead. lf, and when,
you TRULY REPENT, as
1
have
explained at Jength, and BELIEVE on
Jesus Christ as your Lord and per–
sonal Savior from sin and from sin–
ning, then by and through HIM you
gain access to Goo THE FATHER.
The two conditions of turning
FROM sin, and
accepting
Christ (in–
cluding baptism), YOU
must
DO
YOURSELF! That's what YOU must
do! That is NOT
what saves you!
It
merely
reconciles
you to Goo–
brings you into CONTACT
with God,
so that
God wi/1 then
GIVE YOU
his
HOLY SPIRIT-and bis SPIRIT
imparts the
gift of the
FÁITH
that
saves- and
is also the Spirit of
UNDERSTANDING, Of
know/edge,
of
The PLAIN TRUTH