Basic HTML Version
in the future) as well as from PAST
sins. Christ carne to save us PROM
sinning-not to save us IN sin.
WHY the Holy Spirit?
1
have been showing you, step by
step, the way of salvation. Where
are you, now? You have been rec–
onciled to God- your past forgiv–
en-and you have received God's
Holy Spirit. But WHY?
God's Spirit, first of all, is his
very own LIFE injected into you–
the begettal of ETERNAL life. You
are now an HEIR of God- a joint–
heir- a co-heir with CHRIST. Not
yet an inheritor. The Holy Spirit
injects into you also the character–
istics of God. First of these is
LOVE-not carnal or human love,
but DIVINE love-God's !ove.
And WHY? In order to KEEP
Goo's
LAw-that's why!
How is
God's law fulfilled? "LovE is the
fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13: 10).
But carnal human !ove cannot fulfill
it. WHY? Because the law of God is a
SPlRITUAL law (Rom.
7:14).
Jt
can
be fulfilled only by a SPIRITUAL !ove,
which is the GIFT of God. It is "the
!ove of Goo ... shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy (Spirit]" (Rom.
5:5). And again, God gives his Holy
Spirit only to "them that OBEY him"
(Acts 5:32).
Also, it requires FAITH to keep
God's commandments. And
your
faith is not strong enough.
It
requires CHRIST'S faith-the same
faith he exercised and·lived by dur–
ing his human lifetime. God also
GIVES you this very same FAITH,
by
the Holy Spirit.
God's Spirit also
imparts to you spiritual compre–
hension-power to UNDERSTAND
spiritual truth; and wisdom, and
patience, and spiritual POWER! All
these are imparted to you from
God, by the Holy Spirit-as his
GIFT! But these are given to you to
UVE BY-tO USE, in order to GROW
spiritually in knowledge and grace,
and to overcome.
MUST There Be "WORKS"?
1
have tried to make it PLAIN that
we cannot EARN salvation by
"works."
Yet EVERYONE does produce
"works"-either good or bad. Your
evil works-disobedience of the
commandments-will EARN you
the penalty of DEATH. But what
January
1983
about GOOD works. Do
they
earn
you anything?
lNDEED THEY DO!
Are good WORKS required?
INDEED THEY ARE!
But WHAT, then, do they
EARN?
They do NOT earn salvation.
They do NOT earn eterna! life. They
will NOT get you into the kingdom
of God!
Well, then! What oo they
earn?
Ah-that is the point of this arti–
cle!
You are not JUSTIFIED by works,
nor "saved" by works, but you are
to be JUDGED by your works, and
rewarded according to your works.
This thing called "WORKS"–
meaning deeds, good or bad--can–
not put you INTO God's kingdom of
IMmortals. You get IN by GRACE!
But, once
in,
your works during
this present life-during your
Christian life after being converted
and receiving God's Holy Spirit–
oo determine WHAT OFFICE, or
POSITION, Or RANK, Or degree of
GLORY, you shall have!
This is what ALMOST NO ONE
seems to have understood!
First notice what Jesus said–
AFTER his resurrection- inspired
after the year
A.D. 90:
"To him
that OVERCOMETH will
1
grant to sit
with me in my THRONE . . ." (Rev.
3:21). Further: "And he that OVER–
COMETH,
and keepeth my works
unto the end,
to him will
1
give
POWER OVER THE NATIONS: ANO
HE SHALL RULE THEM ..." (Rev.
2:26-27).
Notice again, " ... hast made us
unto our God KINGS ANO PRIESTS:
and WE SHALL REIGN ON THE
EARTH" (Rev. 5:10).
Notice what is said of those in
the first RESURRECTION at Christ's
coming: " ... and they lived ANO
REIGNED with Christ a thousand
years. Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection:
on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, ANO SHALL
REIGN with him a thousand years"
(Rev.
20:4, 6).
Notice, in these scriptures, the
"saved" are to REIGN with Christ in
the coming WORLD GOVERNMENT,
the kingdom of God . And notice
the requirement of OVERCOMING,
and keeping Christ's WORKS and
aiSO of ENDURING TO THE END!
NoncE! Jesus said "he that ...
keepeth my works
unto the end."
Now notice further: "For the
Son of man shall come in the glo–
ry of his Father with his angels;
and then he shall REWARO every
man ACCORDING
TO
HIS
WORKS"
(Matt. 16:27).
No–
where does the Bible teach being
SAVED by our works, but it does
teach the degree of
reward
according to works.
Alexander the coppersmith did
great evil to the apostle Paul, and
Paul says: " ... the Lord reward
him according to his works"
(II Tim. 4: 14). Notice this distinc–
tion! This man did EVIL works. He
won't get salvation at Christ's com–
ing. He will be REWARDED-that
is, PAID
w
AGES according to his
WORKS-and the WAGES of SIN is
OEATH-eternaJ PUNISHMENT.
"WoRKS" means the wages you
earn-or the REWARO to be giv–
en-either
good or bad. Evil works
(sin) can EARN eterna] punishment,
but GOOD WORKS can EARN a bet–
ter position or office in God's king–
dom
IF
you get there-but it
can–
not
earn salvation!
Now notice Romans 4:4: "Now
to him that WORKETH is the
reward
NOT reckoned of GRACE, but of
DEBT." Salvation is not paid as a
DEBT, but ÍS GIVEN by GRACE–
undeserved GIFT. Bu.t WORKS earn
wages, paid as a debt. So what we
WANT ÍS not GRACE
or
WORKS, but
GRACE
and
WORKS. The GRACE
will get us into God's kingdom–
give us IMmortality as God's GIFT.
The WORKS will EARN us-that is,
QUALIFY us for a better office- an
opportunity for bigger SERVICE–
for doing MORE GOOD, once we are
born into God's kingdom.
Degree of Reward
Notice, now, Jesus ' parable of the
pounds.
Jesus' disciples wrongly sup–
posed the kingdom of God was to
appear
in their ilfetime.
To COR–
RECT this error, Jesus spoke this
parable.
" ...
because
they thought that
the kingdom of God should imme–
diately appear. He said therefore,
A certain nobleman went into a far
country to receive for himself a
13