“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:8-10
Recently, I saw a short media piece where a man made a very good point and then set a very bad example simultaneously.
He said that when somebody plays Beethoven poorly, who do you blame? You don’t blame Beethoven, you blame the player that is playing him badly, do you not?
So, when somebody plays Christ per se poorly, who do you blame? You don’t blame Christ, you blame the person who plays Christ poorly.
Just like the apostates found within the walls of the American church today, what does he do? Instead of correcting himself and repenting of his transgressions in his parable, he goes on to make excuses for his lack of obedience to the God that he says that he loves by saying, “none of us as Christians play Christ perfectly.”
Herein lies his first mistake: “We are saved by grace,” we do not save ourselves by works. It is because we are saved that we do the works.
He has it backward, which can be attributed to the modern Gospel.
He then goes on to say, “We’re all fallen, if we weren’t fallen we wouldn’t need a savior.”
This is true, but Scripture does not teach us, if we are saved by grace that we succumb to our sins, but rather we are saved by the grace that overcomes our sins.
“I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” -1 John 2:14
In 1 John 3:5-10, Scripture tells us:
“And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.”
Christ is not glorified by those who remain in a state of a reprobate (One abandoned to sin), just the opposite.
“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” -Romans 20-21
Also, read Titus 2:11-14.
Jesus, He who brought forth grace and truth (John 1:14), is a Savior from our sins, not in our sins (Matthew 1:21).
“In fact,” this apostate went on and said to a man inquiring about Christianity during a debate, “I’m a hypocrite. I can’t live up to what Jesus said, but if I could, I wouldn’t need him.”
No, it is because I need Him that shows me that I am born and led by His Spirit (John 3:3, 10:14, 27), and that He saved me from my sins, for His grace empowers me to do so.
Grace is His grip upon me, not my grip upon Him.
Scripture is clear in this matter:
“But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” -1 Corinthians 15:13-17
This hypocrite is dead in his sins, no doubt. One must ask themselves, what translation is this man reading?
In John 8:11, Jesus tells us them that have been driven by the Law to grace, “Go and sin no more.” Is Jesus giving us commands that we cannot keep? Not at all, for then it would counter Scripture, which He will not do.
Jesus said, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).
Grace leads one to glorify Christ, not the devil (John 15:8).
This hypocrite continues, “And so, when people tell me I can’t go to church because there’s too many hypocrites down there I always say come on down pal we got room for one more.”
WOW!
No wonder why people look at professed Christians the way that they do today. It is clear that this man has never repented of his sins (1 John 3:4) and yet, he is leading the Church. Incredible.
In response to his analogy, he is not being played by the Holy Ghost – Christ, he is being played by the devil that he serves.
Jesus was manifested to destroy the very works of the devil for which he is attempting to make excuses.
It is important for all genuine Christians to know the relevance of Jude 3-4, it tells us:
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
How many times I have seen people blame the hypocrites in the Church for the very things that Christ condemned; quite honestly, it’s more than can be numbered.
It is NOT Christians that do the things that Jesus condemns; it is the children of the devil.
“We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” -1 John 5:18
Conclusion:
We are not saved by obedience, for obedience is the result of salvation. We are saved by grace through faith because faith leads us to obey, and by His grace, He empowers us to do so.
