>>> Part 1 here - http://csplalumni.blogspot.com.ng/2015/12/understanding-error-in-once-saved.html
>>> Part 2 here - http://csplalumni.blogspot.com.ng/2015/12/understanding-error-in-once-saved_16.html
>>> Part 3 here - http://csplalumni.blogspot.com.ng/2015/12/understanding-error-in-once-saved_73.html
>>> Part 4 here - http://csplalumni.blogspot.com.ng/2015/12/understanding-error-in-once-saved_32.html
As we said in Part 4, the grace package that we receive at salvation can be likened to a SEED. A seed has the in-built capability to turn into a massive oak tree. But to be fruitful, the SEED, first of all, must rest on soil. And the soil in this case is the human heart. You’ll recall that Jesus gave a few parables to express this truth, including the Parable of the Sower.
But for our illustration, it is to the Parable of the Growing Seed that we will turn in Mark 4:26-29 (ESV), “And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
This is illustrative of the work of the GRACE PACKAGE (THE SEED) in the life of a believer. Once the seed is on the soil, it becomes self-producing. The man ‘KNOWS NOT HOW’. The life is in the seed, and AS LONG AS THE CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT, the seed will bring forth the blade, then the ear, then the full grain. And after that is the harvest. This is a true picture of what happens when grace is allowed in the human heart - it will DEFINITELY bring forth fruits of righteousness. And this will be in a way that is beyond the capacity of the believer. For it is God that works in us to do His will. (Philippians 2:13)
What is the role of the believer in all these? We are the soil, the ground, on which the seed falls. But the conditions have to be right for fruitfulness to occur. At this point, please let us turn to the Parable of Sower, in Matthew 13:1-23, for illustrative purpose. For the first category, the seed (grace) does not even penetrate the heart at all. Satan steals the seed, and grace does not penetrate at all. The man is totally unconverted. For the second category, the seed (grace) enters the rocky ground. But because there was ‘not much soil’ (not much heart in it), the man could not endure the hardship of the cross. And so the seed withers, and is also unfruitful.
In the third category, the quality and depth of the soil were much better than the second category. The only problem was that thorns were also allowed to grow on the same ground. Jesus described these thorns as ‘the care of this world’ and the ‘deceitfulness of riches’. As the seed was blossoming, the thorns choked it to death. In practical terms, this is the same way that worldliness and the pursuit of prosperity are sapping many believers today from fruitfulness. The seed (grace) is there quite alright, but so are the thorns! Indeed has Scriptures said, “He that will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). WORLDLINESS CHOKES GRACE IN OUR LIVES. And that is why the worldly church of our days has been devoid of the fruit of the Gospel. Today, many believers are also TRAPPED in this category – grace suffocated by thorns.
For the fourth category, there was a 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold harvest. What was the condition that facilitated the germination of the seed here? In one word – UNDERSTANDING (verse 23). It takes understanding to know that A SEED is NOT A FRUIT. And that for A SEED (grace) to become fruits, it takes a PROCESS. And a process requires CONTINUITY. This CONTINUITY is the focus of Part 1 of this series of articles. And it is based on over 20 passages in the New Testament that stress the fact that ONLY believers that CONTINUE TO THE END shall be saved.
Salvation is a process – just as a seed requires a process to attain unto maturity (first, the ear; then the blade; and then the full corn, as we saw earlier in the parable). But through it all, the soil has to remain YIELDED to the process. We spoke at length on this in Part 3. Interestingly, Jesus also spoke about ABIDING IN HIM CONTINUOUSLY in John 15:1-11. What was the reason He wants us to abide continuously? For FRUITFULNESS! That is the harmony of Scriptures.
To abide in Christ continuously is to SUBMIT to His Lordship in obedience to His word (1 John 2:5). SUBMISSION is an act of free-will. Submission is NEVER, EVER enforced. Submission that is enforced ceases to be submission – it becomes SUBJUGATION. And God will NEVER subjugate any man; because subjugation is NOT LOVE (remember that God is Love).
In the matter of salvation, God will invite us (“come unto me”), He will woo us, He will love us, He will do everything for us, BUT a response will still be on the basis of PRESENT YOURSELF (Romans 12:1-2), DENY YOURSELF (Luke 9:23), YIELD YOURSELF (Romans 6:18), SUBMIT YOURSELF (James 4:7), HUMBLE YOURSELF UNDER…. (1 Peter 5:6), etc. This is our ‘reasonable service’ in response to grace as Apostle Paul admonishes us in Romans 12:1-2. It is OUR reasonable service, NOT God’s service.
Once we have presented ourselves to God, does He take over our freewill to make us conformed to His image? A CAPITAL NO!!! He will help us all the way, through grace, BUT He wants us to exercise our free-will in following Him on A DAILY BASIS – “…take up his cross DAILY, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Jesus re-emphasised this in another way in Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and COME AFTER ME, CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.”
Salvation is a matter of free-will submission to God on a day-to-day basis. This is what we previously described in Part 3 as ‘a moment-by-moment DEPENDENCE ON GOD ALONE FOR EVERYTHING’. This is the meaning of YIELDEDNESS. Our obedience/yieldedness to the Gospel is not with a view to qualifying for heaven (qualification for heaven is already fully embedded in our GRACE PACKAGE).
Rather, our obedience is to yield to God, so that He can work in our lives to produce the fruits of the Gospel. In yieldedness (with fear and trembling), we can only WORK OUT what GOD WORKS IN – according to Philippians 2:12-13. This is why an aspect of our fruitfulness is called ‘the fruit of the Spirit’. It is His fruit, not our fruit. BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT DOES NOT GROW IN THE AIR – it needs the soil to flourish. And this is what our yieldedness provides. The more yielded we are to God, the more fruitful we become. And the more we do His will.
Conversely, believers that are not yielded to the Lord, can never, ever produce any fruits (John 15:5), and they will be burned in hell (verse 6) - irrespective of the false doctrine of ‘ONCE-SAVED-FOREVER-SAVED’.
When a wife labours to submit to her husband, she is NOT trying to ‘earn’ her salvation. She is YIELDING to the Lord, and it is this YIELDEDNESS that creates the enabling environment for God to work in her home as a part of His Kingdom. When a man loves his wife, that is YIELDEDNESS. When we pray for our enemies, that is YIELDEDNESS for God to work. When we forgive those that hurt us, that is YIELDEDNESS. When we flee fornication, that is YIELDEDNESS - so that the Holy Spirit can abide and work unhindered in His temple. When we dress modestly, that is YIELDEDNESS. When we obey God’s commandments, that is YIELDEDNESS – all so that He can step in and do His will through our lives. And in the end, that is the basis of our rewards in heaven. The yielded ones are the fruitful ones, and these are the rewarded ones – the overcomers.
On the Last Day, a brother walks up the pearly gates with a seed in his hand. The seed is his GRACE PACKAGE. “I was a partaker in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”, he announces joyfully to the angels, “His sacrifice for me has saved me once-and-forever, this seed is the proof.” He was shocked when he was confronted with the truth that it is ONLY those that allowed grace to yield the fruit of righteousness in their lives that will be allowed into the Kingdom of heaven. Those are the ones that had FAITH – with evidence. As the darkness slowly engulfed him outside the pearly gates, this brother saw the five foolish virgins on his left side, and on his right side was the slothful servant that had buried his talent. And the door was shut against them all. Forever.
Brother and sisters, it is crucial to our salvation that we YIELD to the Lord on a daily basis. As Apostle Peter advised, please let us give diligence to make our CALLING AND ELECTION SURE: for if we do these things, we shall never fall (2 Peter 1:10). May the Lord grant us the grace to be followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the fullness of the promise of God in the Gospel of Christ (Hebrews 6:12).
Thanks for reading, God bless.
(PS – Part 6 will take a quick overview of Parts 1 – 5, and point out why the ‘ONCE-SAVED-FOREVER-SAVED’ doctrine is popular today, why it will continue to grow, and what you need to do about it in practical terms. As an ambassador of God’s Kingdom here on earth, we must join hands to contend for the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pls look out for Part 6. Thanks.)
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