CHAPTER
FOUR
ENTERING
INTO THE FULLNESS
OF CHRIST
"Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of
Christ" EPHESIANS
4:13
“.
. . Repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name among all nations. .
.'
(Luke
24:47)
". . . except
ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish."
(Luke
13:5) ". . . The
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. .
."
(Romans
2:4)
It is well established
that the first word of the gospel is
repent.
From the time of the Old Testament
prophets to John the Baptist, continuing through
Jesus and the apostles, the command is given to
repent.
Repentance is not simply another word for
believe, but the means of entering into
grace.
To preach the true gospel you must
preach
repentance; to believe the true gospel
there must be true
repentance.
The dictionary defines the
word repent as feeling pain, sorrow or regret
for something one has done or left undone, to be
wounded or afflicted in conscience. In
theology, it implies sorrow that leads to an
amending of one's beliefs and actions.
This amending of one’s
ways is a troubling concept to some because it
sounds like ‘works righteousness’ or ‘saving
yourself so that God can save you’.
Whether you hold to doctrines that call
for justification unto repentance or repentance
unto justification, it does not alter the need
to repent.
God has commanded all men everywhere to
repent.
". . . the Lord is. . . not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to
repentance."
According to Romans
2:4 God leads us to the place of
repentance, but we are
called to repent. (The
only other option is for Jesus, who took our
sins upon Himself, to also do our repenting for
us.
I find no verse in the Bible stating this
as part of His work.) He works
in us to will and do, we must work it
out. To
a Calvinist, this verse
refers to God’s
'elect' -- and
only the elect -- as those God is not
willing should perish; those chosen to
eternal life. (All
others are appoint-ed to wrath; chosen
for eternal judgment. This is
the doctrine of Reprobation.)
Actually, Peter has
written it is the Lord’s will that all come to
repentance so that they do not perish. In other
words, those who do not repent shall
perish.
Whether one is a pagan or disciple, the
first word of the gospel ---
repent,
(turning from all known sin) -- still
stands.
If this verse
were a proof text for the elect not
perishing, why did so many of God’s old
covenant elect, the Jews, perish? Because
they did not believe the message or the
Messenger.
Even though
'chosen', Jesus told them they were ‘of
their father, the Devil’, because it was Satan's will
they were doing, not God's.
There is another
difficulty with this equation. If
the
‘all not perishing’ applies (only) to the
Elect, why is the ‘all coming to repentance’ not
also applicable? The same
Reformed doctrine that teaches Election and
Reprobation, also teaches that we sin everyday
in word, thought and deed. If
this is true, where is their repentance?
How can one claim to sin these three
ways, everyday, and be producing the fruits of
repentance?
We need to return to the
simplicity of the gospel. ". . . the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this
seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His.
And, Let every one that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity."
(2
Timothy 2:19) Those
who are His repent, depart from iniquity,
and do the will of their Father. It
is God’s will that we be
holy. We
cannot do this by sinning everyday in thought,
word and deed!
Let God be true -- for
such men are liars!
We should all
pray for godly sorrow, a broken and
contrite heart, from which true
repentance comes.
Those who heard
Peter’s words on the day of Pentecost were
‘pricked in their hearts’; the
burden of their guilt laying heavy on
them.
Their reaction was to ask what they could
do.
How they could be forgiven for what they
had done,
(or not done), how their consciences
could be purged from the guilt that was breaking
their hearts. Peter’s
answer:
". . .Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins. .
." (Acts
2:38) They
welcomed Peter’s words and obeyed them. Their
sorrow was a godly sorrow, which lead to
repentance.
When Stephen gave the same
message, his hearers were ‘cut to the
heart’, but they became exasperated and
irritated that he was ‘laying a guilt trip on
them'.
Their reaction was to gnash their teeth,
cry with a loud voice, stop their ears and stone
Stephen.
They killed the messenger to stop the
message. This is the worldly sorrow, which Paul
tells us leads to
death.
We must repent, turn to
God, and do works worthy of
repentance. Some
insist that we are justified before we
repent, but the Apostle strongly implied
otherwise when he said, "Repent
ye therefore, and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord".' (Acts
3:19)
Jesus relates
this parable: "Two
men went up into the temple to pray; the one a
Pharisee, and the other a publican (tax
collector). The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even
as this publican. I
fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all I
possess.
And the publican, standing afar off,
would not lift up so much as his eyes unto
heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God
be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified rather than the
other:
for every one that exalteth himself shall
be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted."
(Luke
18:10-14; cf. 1 John 1:9) Repentance
is realizing our guilt and shame, throwing us on
the mercy of God, our judge, with a heart now
determined to obey Him.
The nature of repentance
is only ongoing insofar as we are convicted of
something, which we had not pre-viously been
aware, that God wants us to forsake out of love for
Him.
Not ongoing because we know there is
something wrong in our life, yet we
neglect or reject doing anything about it.
The Psalmist refers to this as regarding
iniquity in your heart.
". . . To him that
knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it
is sin." (James
4:17)
True
repentance is a turning away from the sin, as
opposed to simple mental assent to it being a
sin.
We come to the throne of
grace for help in times of temptation for God’s
power to overcome --- not
as a perpetual confessional for unrepentant
sin!
He who confesses and
forsakes his sin shall prosper;
not one who confesses a sin and then goes
back to it again, like a dog returning to its
own vomit.
We obtain mercy and find help in time of
need at His throne of grace, because the grace
of God has appeared to all men to teach us to
say 'No' to
unrighteousness.
Wake up!
This change of mind is far
reaching. Many need to repent of a willfully
deceived heart, for heaping up teachers’ who
tell them that God will somehow overlook their
sinning
- because of grace. If
you think, as many do, you yourself are no
longer required to fulfill all the righteous
requirements of the law because
Christ is ‘the end of the law to all who
believe’, you have entirely misunderstood the
meaning of the grace that saves you.
BELIEVING
".
. . The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth,
and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith,
which we preach; That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised Him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and
with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation." (Romans
10:8-10) "Those who
come to God must believe that He is and that He
is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek
Him." (Hebrews
11:6)
God sent Peter to
Cornelius’ household. These
were people who feared God. They
were devout, living in
repentance, praying continually, and
giving many gifts to the poor, searching
for God with all their heart and honoring Him
with their lives. He
rewarded them by sending Peter, a messenger of
salvation. They
needed to know Jesus and Him crucified, for
without the shedding of blood there is no
remission of sin.
The scripture testifies that, while these
words were still in Peter’s mouth, the Holy
Spirit fell on the hearers of his words.
Because their hearts were prepared, as
soon as they heard of the Lord Jesus they
believed, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit
as at Pentecost.
".
. . Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved . . ."
(Acts
16:31)
What does it mean to believe? If
we believe Jesus walked the earth in
the form of a man, died on the cross and
rose from the dead --- even
that He is the Son of God -- does
this save us? If
that were all there is to believing, demons
could be saved, for it is written that they
believe and
tremble. (That is
more than could be said of many professing
Christians.)
The Greek word can help make it clear: it
is believe into Him.
In John 3:36 belief and
obedience are shown to be the same: "He that
believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth
not (obey not) the Son
of God shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him." (This is
also the case in Hebrews 3:18,19:
"And to whom sware He that they should not enter
into His rest, but to them that believed not
(were disobedient)? So we
see that they could not enter in because of
unbelief."
We
see that belief is not a head knowledge that
believes certain things about Him and then walks
away unchanged. It is a
belief of the heart, which causes you to commit
yourself in obedience to Him as
Lord.
Believe His great love for
you that caused Him to leave Heaven and take on
the form of man; accept, by
faith, His finished
work on the cross for your justification and
sanctification.
“But we are not of them
who draw back unto perdition; but of
them that believe to the saving of the
soul.
Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
(Hebrews
10:39-11:1)
Faith, the evidence and substance of
things hoped for.
Our hope is eternal life with
Him. We
eagerly await the deliverance of our bodies from
decay by the hope of the resurrection of the
dead, the
glorification of the body when we shall see Him
as He is.
Everyone who has this hope purifies
himself, as He is pure. Through
our faith in Jesus Christ, we receive the
promise of the Spirit, justification, a purified
heart, and
sanctification.
Without faith it is impossible to please
God. By
faith we live, walk, stand in grace, are healed,
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one,
and receive the
promises. We
are cautioned that if we have faith to move
mountains but no love, we are as
nothing, and that
faith without works is dead.
We are warned about departing from the
faith by giving heed to doctrines of
demons, or not
providing for those of our own
hold; casting off
our faith by wantonness, straying
from our faith by greediness.
Our faith is in Jesus
Christ, our great High Priest, who can
sympathize with our weakness because He was
tempted in all points as we are. We go to
His throne in time of need, because
His grace is sufficient, and His strength made
perfect in our weakness. When we
are weak, it is then we can become strong
through Him.
When we give up trying to do things in
our own power, (called ‘works
righteousness’), and put our faith in Christ,
then his power can rest on
us and we are
strong.
Through faith in Him and who He is, we
receive the grace to undergo any trial and
refrain from any sin; for when we are in Him,
and He in us, it is in His strength we
overcome. We
are exhorted to continue in the faith,
grounded and steadfast, and not be moved
away from the hope of the
gospel.
the end of our faith is the salvation of
our souls.
JUSTIFICATION
"Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in His
blood, to declare His righteousness for the
remission of sins that are
passed, through
the forbearance of God . . . that He might be
just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus." (Romans
3:24-26)
The first
work of grace that God does is
justification. He
justifies, by the blood of
Christ, all
those who have
faith in Him. Someone
has defined justification: just as if I
had never sinned.
Grace, made effectual through the shed
blood, is the agent that brings justification to
those who have faith in Christ, and is not
accomplished by the deeds of the
law.
".
. . rejoicing . . . the testimony of our
conscience, that in simplicity and godly
sincerity . . . by the grace of God . . . we
have had our conversation in the
world." (2
Corinthians 1:12) This is
not a positional righteousness, (whose
fruit is produced only in heaven), but a true,
experiential righteousness to live out here, in
this world.
The righteousness of God by faith,
without the law, that had been testified to by
the law and the
prophets.
The law reveals the sin
that can then be repented of and forgiveness
granted through faith in the blood of Christ
Jesus. If
we hear the Gospel and it is mixed with
faith to
obedience, this is believing unto
justification.
God then justifies us by removing the
guilt of the sins of our past. We
begin again, new creatures.
Clean.
Just as if we had never sinned.
When we repent and believe, are forgiven
and justified, we become worthy through the
blood of Jesus, to receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. We
are made the righteousness of God. . . in
Him.
Do not believe those who
tell you He can be your Savior without being
your Lord.
"But
why do you call Me, Lord, Lord and do not
do the things which I say?"
(Luke
6:46) "For not the
hearers of the law are just before God, but the
doers of the law shall be
justified. . . Which show the work of the
law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness . . ."
(Romans
2:13,15) "But
wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without
works is dead?
Was not Abraham our father justified by
works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon
the altar?
Seeth thou how faith wrought with
his works, and works made faith perfect?
And the scripture was fulfilled which
saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed
unto him for righteousness: and he was called
the Friend of God. Ye see
then how that by works a man is justified, and
not by faith only."
(James
2:20-24)
In times past, the general
Protestant teaching was no doing of any
kind could be involved in our salvation. This
was to oppose the Catholic doctrine that doing
good works was the way to earn a place in
heaven.
The Protestants pointed to Paul, the
Catholics to James. In
order for each to show they were more accepted
in God’s sight, never the twain did meet.
While no flesh is
justified by the works of the
law, and the
Spirit is not received by the works of the
law, and miracles
are not done by the works of the
law; we
are commanded to do works befitting
repentance, be
thoroughly equipped for every good
work, walk in
good works, and be
careful to maintain good
works.
Works of faith, not works of the
law.
A true believer is a doer!
"What
doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he
hath faith, and have not works? can
faith save him?. . . Even so faith, if it hath
not works, is dead, being alone." (James
2:14,17)
It is not enough to simply profess to
believe, or ‘confess
with your mouth that Jesus is Lord'.
You must confess Jesus as your
Lord by obedience to Him. There
are those who "profess that they know God;
but in works they deny Him, being abominable,
and disobedient, and unto every good work
reprobate." (Titus
1:16)
Our faith is to be a walk.
Not something done at a particular moment in
time, but rather a continuing belief, a
commitment that causes action. "By faith, Noah . . . moved with
fear, prepared an ark . . . By faith Abraham,
when he was called . . . obeyed."
(Hebrews
11:7-8)
Because of today’s
teaching, that to be ‘saved’
means we are saved from hell, many believe that
justification guarantees entrance into the
celestial city. Biblical
salvation speaks of being saved from sin, not
hell.
"Who
gave Himself for us, that he might redeem us
from all iniquity" -- (deeds, the
practice of sin, not the consequences only)
-- "and purify unto Himself a
peculiar people, zealous for good works."
(Titus
2:14)
One piece of the armor of
God, spoken of in Ephesians six, is the helmet
of salvation.
Putting on this helmet is not ‘putting on
eternal life’, but so applying the blood of
Jesus that, as Hebrews 9:14 says, it purges the
conscience from acts that lead to
death.
This is how Christ is the covering for
our heads.
Consequently, being saved from our sin is
the way in which we are saved from hell. If
we are not saved from our sin we will not be
saved from hell.
Neither is the helmet of
salvation the crown of life He promises
to those who overcome. They are
two distinct
'headpieces'; the latter will be given at
the end. Those
who receive this crown of life are said to have
overcome him (Satan)
by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their
testimony.
Testimony, often translated witness, it
is the Greek word marturia, from martus
(martyr). We
may not all die what is commonly referred to as
a martyrs death ---
being burned at the stake or run through with a
sword
--- but we are all called to be
martyrs.
Called to give up our life for and to
Him, die to sin and the world, do His will no
matter what the cost, and lose our life to find
it.
All those who will enter heaven are
martyrs and will receive the crown of life - be
crowned with eternal life - because they
overcame and remained faithful until
death. We
fight the battle by His grace: the gift
of power to live upright and godly in this
present age.
BAPTISM
".
. . Baptizing them . . . teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you.
. ." (Matthew
28:19-20) ". . . How
shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein?
Know ye not, that so many of us as were
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into
His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by
baptism into death: that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life . . . For he that is
dead is freed from sin. . .
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Lord . . . For sin shall not
have dominion over you: for ye
are not under law, but under grace. . .
Being then made free from sin, ye became
the servants of righteousness." (Romans
6:2-4,7,11,14,18)
Romans 6:14&18 should
make it clear that, even though we are under
grace and not law, the righteous re-quirements
of the law still stand. We
have no license to sin. The
waters of baptism are not for the remitting of
past sins; the blood of Jesus washed them away
when we were justified. The waters of baptism
are not figurative of Christ’s blood. They are
figurative of our identification with His death
and resurrection to newness of life, to live
above and outside sin, as a slave of
righteousness.
In Acts 2:38, when Peter
was asked by his hearers what they should do, he
told them, "Repent, and
be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the
remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit." Some
assume that because the statement ‘for the
remission of your sins’ follows the command to
be baptized, it means baptism is the agent used
to wash away our sins. This is
termed
‘baptismal regeneration’ and to believe
it, we must disregard the scriptures and credit
water with the forgiveness of sin. 1 Peter
3:21 tell us, "The
like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now
save us (not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ".
It is not the washing of the
flesh by water that saves us, but the ‘like
figure’:
the answer of a good conscience toward
God.
The beginning of the
fourth chapter is the climax of the thought that
began in 3:18. "Forasmuch then as Christ hath
suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise
with the same mind: for he
that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from
sin; That he no longer should live the rest of
his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but
to the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1-2)
The purpose of our baptism is that, for
the rest of our time while in the flesh,
we should no longer live to the lusts of men.
