Salvation By Knowing The Truth pt.4 Spurgeon
The truth is useful to a man in another way: it saves him from prejudice. Often when men are awakened to know something about the wrath of God they begin to plunge about to discover divers methods by which they may escape from that wrath. Consulting, first of all, with themselves, they think that, if they can reform—give up their grosser sins, and if they can join with religious people, they will make it all right. And there are some who go and listen to a kind of religious teacher, who says, "You must do good works. You must earn a good character. You must add to all this the ceremonies of our church. You must be particular and precise in receiving blessing only through the appointed channel of the apostolical succession." Of the aforesaid mystical succession this teacher has the effrontery to assure his dupe that he is a legitimate instrument; and that sacraments received at his hands are means of grace. Under such untruthful notions we have known people who were somewhat aroused sit down again in a false peace. They have done all that they judged right and attended to all that they were told. Suddenly, by God's grace, they come to a knowledge of another truth, and that is that by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God. They discover that salvation is not by works of the law or by ceremonies, and that if any man be under the law he is also under the curse. Such a text as the following comes home, "Not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God"; and such another text as this, "Ye must be born again," and then this at the back of it—"that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." When they also find out that there is necessary a righteousness better than their own—a perfect righteousness to justify them before God, and when they discover that they must be made new creatures in Christ Jesus, or else they must utterly perish, then they are saved from false confidences, saved from crying, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace. It is a grand thing when a knowledge of the truth stops us from trusting in a lie. I am addressing some who remember when they were saved in that way. What an opening of the eyes it was to you! You had a great prejudice against the gospel of grace and the plan of salvation by faith; but when the Lord took you in hand and made you see your beautiful righteousness to be a moth-eaten mass of rags, and when the gold that you had accumulated suddenly turned into so much brass, cankered, and good for nothing,—when you stood stripped naked before God, and the poor cobwebs of ceremonies suddenly dropped from off you, oh, then the Lord was working his salvation in your soul, and you were being saved from false confidences by a knowledge of the truth.
6 Comments:
I hope all are edified by this series!
May 11, 2006 6:53 AM
Morning Friend
have a great day!
May 11, 2006 7:19 AM
Janice: Thank you! You too.
May 11, 2006 7:53 AM
It's a great series, Mark. :)
(Now I need you to go back over to my blog and add your thoughts, 'k?)
*~*~*~*~*~*
when you stood stripped naked before God, and the poor cobwebs of ceremonies suddenly dropped from off you, oh, then the Lord was working his salvation in your soul, and you were being saved from false confidences by a knowledge of the truth.
To me, if all boils down to this.
It speaks to what Bob said over at
Fundamentally Reformed. I was reading his 'story' the other night. It's very compelling. He was part of the Independent Fundamental Baptist church. Boy, does he have a testimony of just how God rescued from the legalism that indeed keeps one in bondage and false confidence.
I was never caught up in extreme works-oriented theology, but ANY amount of works-oriented theology is FALSE. My own story is rather compelling (well, to me anyway!), but I won't go into here. Just Thank God He saw fit to rescue me!!
May 11, 2006 12:55 PM
Gayla,
I would love to read "your own story". Please share it! Go right ahead and use this thread. I would love to read it!
Mark
May 11, 2006 1:23 PM
Great Mark
I love this :
"by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God"
I think that says it, what do you think?
Thanks my Friend
May 12, 2006 12:29 PM
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