359 - 2 - DOES YOUR SALVATION DEPEND ON YOU?June 26, 1977
Henry F. Kulp
Colossians 1: 20 - 23 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
In verse 22, In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
God tells us we are holy, unblameable and unreproveable in God’s sight. There is not a more glorious verse in the entire Bible, and all of this is true because Jesus Christ died for us. But then, when we come to the 23rd verse and we see the first word in that verse is “if” and immediately it brings us to a halt. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Some argue from this verse that it is possible for one who has been saved to fall away, but that cannot be Paul’s meaning. Paul does not teach two distinct and opposite doctrines. If he teaches eternal security in one place, he doesn’t teach the possibility of falling away in another place. And we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Bible teaches eternal security, and teaches it very clearly.
1/ LET US GET A DEFINITION FOR ETERNAL SECURITY. They whom God hath accepted in His beloved Son, and effectively called and sanctified by His Holy Spirit, can neither totally, nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly continue therein to the end and be eternally saved.
2/ This definition can be supported by many Bible verses. Let us look at Hebrews 7: 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Notice that this text does not say from the uttermost but rather to the uttermost, and literally it should read, ALL THE WAY TO THE END. Some people call eternal security the perseverance of the saints, but that is not correct. It is not the saints that perseveres. It is God who perseveres through the saint.
3/ Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Here we read the gift of God is eternal life. In the first place, God does not give us eternal life because we deserve it. We deserve eternal death and condemnation. Then secondly, eternal life is not given because of our works, neither is it taken away because of our works. We did not receive salvation because of works, how can we lose it because of works? Works have nothing to do with our salvation, neither before or after our salvation. It is a gift.
4/ II Timothy 1: 9, 10 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works. So our works are not a factor in salvation. What Jesus Christ did on Calvary—purchased our salvation.
5/ Our salvation is not something that God thought of after man sinned, but something God promised us in eternity past.
Titus 1: 2, 3 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began.
6/ The work of the Holy Spirit is another proof of eternal security.
Ephesians 1: 13, 14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in whom also upon believing. This is the correct way—upon believing we were sealed. The sealing of Holy Spirit, who is a person is the guarantee of our salvation.
Ephesians 4: 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Here we read we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit because He has sealed us unto the day of redemption. Not until we lose our salvation. The day of redemption refers to the redemption of the body. When Christ comes our body of humiliation will be changed and fashioned like unto to the glorious resurrection Body of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
7/ Romans 3: 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
The believer is secure because he is justified. Now, that great term has been erroneously interpreted, just as if I had never sinned. That would mean we would be merely innocent. Adam was in that condition before he sinned, but to be justified is far more than that. To be justified is to be declared righteous—as righteous as God. Not merely innocent.
8/ Romans 4: 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Notice, Christ by His grace justified the ungodly. Not those who are living good lives. Not those who by their own merits are being fine individuals.
9/ Now let us go back to Colossians 1: 23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
We have shown you by the Word of God that a believer cannot be saved by his own works, and cannot lose his salvation by his works. Therefore, what does Paul mean when he says we will be holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight, if ye continue in the faith. The word, “if” is a first class condition and it means “if, and it’s true”,—so if, and it’s true, ye continue in the faith. We have the wrong idea of this Greek word, if, when it is a first class word condition. We think—I’ll go on a picnic, if it doesn’t rain. But that’s not what is meant here. It means it is true. It is not conditional.
10/ The word, continue, is EPEE-MEN-O. Epee means upon and Meno means to abide. You put the two together and it means, to prolong a stay, or persist in something. And then the word, faith, PISS-TIS and it has the definite article in front of it, so it should be translated IF YOU PERSIST IN THE BIBLE DOCTRINE AND YOU DO. The faith means Bible doctrine, and the word, grounded, means TO LAY A FOUNDATION and the word, settle, is TO BE STABILIZED. So this means you do not add anything to Bible doctrine, but you believe what the Bible has taught concerning yourself and Jesus Christ.
11/ And be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel. That is literally not to swerve away, and the word, HOPE, is AL-PUS confidence. The confidence of the Gospel, not to swerve from it. This is the Gospel that you have heard, and was preached. The word, preached KAY- RUE SO and it means publicly proclaimed.
Then notice, whereof, I Paul am made a minister. So what is he saying here? He is saying that you must persevere in the doctrine that I have given, be grounded, founded and settled, and have the hope of the Gospel. The gospel that Paul preached.
Romans 2: 16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Then notice, Romans 16: 25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
II Timothy 2: 8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
So it is the Gospel of Paul that reveals the truth, that you are holy, unblameable, unreprovable in God’s sight. There is no law, no commandments, just faith in Jesus Christ, that produces this situation.
12/ Colossians 1: 24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
This is a very peculiar verse. Some have naturally taken from it that the suffering of Christ was not sufficient that Paul helped to make it up. This is not true, and that is not in this verse. This verse doesn’t speak to the suffering of Christ. Just let me read it again.
13/ Not the sufferings of Christ, but the afflictions of Christ in Paul’s body. The sufferings of Christ on the cross are never called afflictions. When man is judged before a court and sentenced, that is not affliction, that is judgement. Jesus Christ bore judgement on the cross. But the Lord Jesus Christ has ordained certain afflictions in His people for the gathering of the church, the Body of Christ, and Paul said, I want to finish out what is God’s plan for me, to suffer for Christ in my body that the church may be gathered.
14/ Did you know that the church of Christ has never been gathered without suffering? Just look throughout the Bible. Certainly, Paul didn’t have a good time—he suffered tremendously, constantly, continually, and down through the ages, the martyrs tell us that God has gathered the church by the suffering of people. When God uses a man there is suffering somewhere. Paul is literally saying, I am glad to suffer for Jesus Christ, and oh, how he suffered.
II Corinthians 11: 23 - 25 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
15/ Have you ever read Foxes Book of Martyrs? Wesley and Whitefield, and Morrison and Carey, and the great preachers that came out of the ashes of the English martyrs? Before the age of Evangelism, before the missionaries went to India, and Africa and China there was terrible persecution, and thousands laid down their lives.
16/ Colossians 1: 25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Here we have a very important verse, and it has been overlooked by so many people. Paul was made a minister according to the dispensation of God. That was given to him to fulfill the Word of God. Paul completed the Word of God, not the Book of Revelation.
17/ What Paul tells us is the greatest revelation in the Book from Genesis to Revelation. In the Book of Revelation there is nothing particularly new. Revelation is almost entirely composed of quotations from all the rest of the Book. All the truth we have in Revelation we have in other parts of the Bible. But Revelation brings it all together in the great book of final things. It is Paul who received the Revelation—the fact that Christ was gathering people called the church the Body of Christ.
Notice Ephesians 1: 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Paul uses the word, riches, and that word belongs to him. The riches of His grace.
Then in Ephesians 2: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
The exceeding riches of His grace. You think grace is a lot? The riches of His grace is more.
AMEN
Ref: 06/26/1977 / 359-2 DOES YOUR SALVATION DEPEND ON YOU? / 09/07/2020
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