Meditations

Passages to be considered:

Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  -kjv

1 Corinthians 15
1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:  -kjv

Question from  moody radio listener on October 14, 2017:
What exactly is salvation? It’s believing in Jesus, that’s all salvation is, right?

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik:
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus?
Listener: Yes
Dr Michael Rydelnik:
That’s good. That’s wonderful.
Listener: I’m coming from a religious background. You have to do this and you have to do this and that’s what salvation really is.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:
Let’s do a little bible study together, ok? Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.  It says this: “For by grace, grace means God’s kindness, in this context. For by kindness, you are saved. Saved means delivered, can refer to physical deliverance, but I believe in this context, it says we are lost in trespasses and sins, the salvation being described here is deliverance from our sin, forgiveness by God, entering into a relationship with him as his child. It says, by grace, God’s kindness, are you delivered from sin, saved, through faith. Faith is trust, that’s what it means, trusting Christ. Now, if we want to know what faith is, the object of our  faith is that Jesus died for our sins, taken the punishment that we deserve and was raised again, proving he’s God. And so when we talk about faith, that’s what he’s talking about, the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says that’s the message by which we are saved. So, what we have to believe is that Jesus died for our sins and rose again.
Now the problem is some people think that faith means mere intellectual assent. I know this fact, I agree to it. That’s not what faith is. Faith has three components, it is mind, I have to know the facts, it is heart, I have to convinced of the truth and will, I have to commit to following it. ok? Mind, heart and will, it’s sort of like if you think about  the Titanic. When the Titanic went down, there were some people who did not even know the facts, they did not have the content, the mind to know that there were life preservers or life boats. So, they never went to the side of the ship, they just went down with the ship. They needed the content. Secondly, there were some people who had the content but then they look out of the stormy atlantic with the icebergs and they thought these little boats can’t save us, they did not have the conviction of the truth of the knowledge. And so, they did not get into the life boat. Then there were other people who knew that there were life boats, they have the mind, they had the conviction that those life boats could save them, they have the heart but they did not want to leave their spouse who was not going to get  in the lifeboat, and so they chose not to get into the boat, and they were lost with the Titanic. Then there were some who knew there were life boats, believe and had the conviction that the life boat could save them, and then thirdly, got into the boat. They had the will. They chose to get into the boat. And that’s what faith is. Faith has three components, we have to know the message that Jesus died for us and rose again, we have to have the conviction that it is true, that it can really save us and then we have to choose to trust in it, to say I am going to trust in Jesus, that alone will save me. So, when it says here in Ephesians 2, “For by God’s kindness are you saved, meaning delivered from sin through faith, it is meaning faith in the three fold components there, mind, heart and will, in the fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. That’s pretty clear, don’t you think? It says this is not from yourself, this salvation, it is God’s gift, some people will think it is the faith, it’s not, it’s talking about the whole thing, the salvation process, it is a gift of God, not from works, so that  no one can boasts. None of us can say that there’s something special about me, something I did, no, it is purely God’s kindness. And  then it says, and this is the important part, for we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus,  for good works, which God prepared ahead of time, so that we should walk in them. What this is saying  here is we are saved by God’s grace but the outcome is that he will built good works into our lives. And because he built good works into our lives, we can then be assured that he will be working. So, what is the root? It is salvation but the fruit are good works. And I think the problem you have encountered and that a lot of people  have erred is that they take the fruit and want to make that the root. The root is God’s kindness working and saving us by faith, an then by grace through faith and then the outcome of that, the fruit, is the good works that should follow. I do think what we should do is be obedient, we should be a part of the family of faith, we should obey His word, that’s no question about that, that’s the good works that He has prepared beforehand for us. But, that’s an outcome, a result, not a means of salvation.