THE ONGOING PROCESS OF SALVATION

Have you been saved? I have been asked this question many times. It is a sincere question, asked by sincere people who are genuinely concerned for my spiritual well being. What is the Answer? In the sense that the question is meant, are you saved? The people asking the question are asking from this point of view; When you accept the blood of Yahshua as the atonement for your sins and claim Him as your personal savior, you are saved. At that time your eternal salvation is assured. They are asking from the perspective of "once saved always saved ". This idea comes from a statement made by the apostle Paul. ROMANS 8:1 "There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yahshua". From this perspective, all that is necessary is belief in the Messiah. This idea also comes from a statement of Paul.

ACTS 16:31 A jailor asked him,"What must I do to be saved"? Paul answered him, "Believe in the Master Yahshua and you will be saved, you and your household".

The two scriptures quoted above are crucial for salvation, but must be taken out of context to arrive at the "once saved always saved" belief. This belief removes any responsibility on our part, in salvation . Belief is all that is required of us. Everything else rests on Yahshua’s shoulders . This is a very comfortable doctrine and makes the religions of this world very easy to follow.

Another statement of Paul adds fuel to this concept , when taken out of context . This is the most often quoted scripture in Christendom. EPHESIANS 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of your own doing , it is a gift of Elohim". All of the above statements of Paul are true and hold a wealth of information when taken in context . But is Paul really saying we have no part to play in our ultimate salvation ?

To begin to understand , let us look at another statement of Paul. PHILIPPIANS 2:12 "Therefore my beloved, as you have always OBEYED, so now, not only in my presence, but also in my absence WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING". Paul says obedience and work are required to achieve salvation. The Greek word translated "work" is "Katergazomai". It means to work fully, fashion or finish. Paul believes that there was something the brethren at Phillipi had to do to ensure their salvation. He did not even imply that their salvation was a done

Deal. Paul understood that they were in the salvation process. He knew that we all have a part to play in our ultimate salvation. Paul knew that while we are alive, in these corruptible bodies, salvation is not a done deal.

Paul reinforces this concept of eternal salvation not happening immediately on conversion. ROMANS 13:11 "And that, knowing the time, that it is now high time to awake out of sleep: for now our Salvation is nearer than when we first believed ." Paul says salvation is nearer, not yet here. The salvation process is begun in us but not yet complete .

SALVATION CAN BE LOST

Paul often likens the "WAY” to everyday things as Yahshua did. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he compares the "WAY" to a race, something they would be very familiar with. 1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27 He said all participants compete for the prize at the finish. Isn't that what we all hope for, the prize of eternal life and serving with Yahshua? Paul made a statement that will be disturbing to the "once saved always saved" proponents. He says in verse 27 " But I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified". Paul knew that there was a chance he could lose his reward, salvation, if he failed to perform in the standards of the "WAY". If Paul could possibly fail to win the prize, couldn't we? Before we investigate the scriptures that lead to the "Once saved always saved" doctrine, we must come to understand that salvation is a process in which we have a part to play.

THE PROCESS BEGINS

The process of salvation began with the coming of Messiah Yahshua as a suffering servant. It will not be complete until He returns as an almighty, glorious King of kings. We, and the whole world were alienated from our Heavenly Father by our sins. ROMANS 5:10 Paul says we were actually Yahweh’s enemies. He was not our enemy. We were His enemy. ISAIAH 59:2 Because of our sins we were hidden from the Father, by our choice, not His. Reconciliation was necessary to bring us to the Father. Nothing we could do on our own could bring about this reconciliation. It could only be brought about by the payment of the death penalty that our sins required. ROMANS 6:23

Yahweh is Holy. He cannot be where evil is. In our evil state we could not approach Him. This situation had to be rectified. Yahshua could rectify it by paying the penalty in our stead. He did this with the pure sacrifice of His Holy Blood. His sacrifice will be applied to each one of us. All that we need do is to have the faith in His word that He actually did this on our behalf and ask for this application

What Yahshua did on our behalf laid the groundwork for the salvation process to begin. We did not initiate the step but we must take part. Yahshua said, "No one can come to me except the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day". JOHN 6:44 Before the salvation process can begin in us we must be called by our Heavenly Father. Our part in the process now begins. There is a decision to be made. We must answer the call to follow Yahshua. If the answer is yes, Yahshua will begin to work with us. He will not work for us. He will work with us. During this beginning stage He will lead us to repent of what we were. What we were separated us from Yahweh in the first place. We must recognize this and make the decision to change. We must realize that even the best of us were filthy rags compared to Yahweh. ISAIAH 64:6 The sacrifice of Yahshua cannot be applied to us personally until we come to this realization. Once we do this we have taken the first step in the salvation process. ACTS 2:38

Step number two involves the application of the sacrifice of Yahshua directly to us. We have a part in this step as well.

ACTS 2:38 We must be immersed into the saving name of Yahshua. We are submitting to the death and burial of our old sinful self with Yahshua. ROMANS 6:1-11 It is the outward show of the faith we have that Yahshua truly did die in our

place. When we are raised from the water, we are in a clean spotless condition. We are now reconciled to the Father. In this pure state, He can now give us the most valuable gift we will ever receive. His HOLY SPIRIT. His very mind. This will enable us to begin to think as He and His Son do. 1 CORINTHIANS 2:16

TAKE SPECIAL NOTE OF THIS; At this point we are not eternally saved. We are reconciled to the Father by the death of Yahshua. Our slates are clean and we, because of Yahshua, are righteous before Yahweh. Yahshua did it, we did not but we did play a part in this beginning of the salvation process. We answered the call, repented and were immersed into the name of Yahshua. Paul said in ROMANS 5:10 "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to Elohim by the death of His son, much more, now that we are reconciled, we SHALL BE SAVED by His life". Did you notice that? WE SHALL BE SAVED not are ARE SAVED. So you can see that the salvation process is not complete after, the call, repentance,

baptism, and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. The process has begun. We now stand under YAHWEH’S grace.

EPHESIANS 2:8. Grace is unearned, undeserved forgiveness or pardon. We are saved from the eternal death penalty, required by our past sins, through the Holy Blood of Yahshua and stand under the Grace of our Heavenly Father.

In a previous article (Yahweh’s Law Applies Today) we saw that through the sacrifice of Yahshua, the Cheirographon that was against us, (a legal bond of indebtedness held by Yahweh) was marked paid and nailed to the stake with Yahshua COLOSSIANS 2:14 We also saw that the law that convicted us in the first place is still intact and has the power to convict for its transgression. While we are under the Grace of Yahweh, it has no power over us. Keep this in mind. It has no power over us while we stand under Yahweh’s Grace. Could this condition change? Could one possibly fall from this Grace in which we stand? With these questions in mind, lets go back and qualify the scriptures quoted at the beginning of this study and fully understand them.

ROMANS 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Yahshua Messiah who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." To get the full meaning of this scripture, read also verses 2 to 4. Notice that Yahweh did what we could not do by our own efforts, make us righteous .He sent His Son to satisfy the requirement of the law. The law demanded a death penalty be paid. With that penalty unpaid , our righteousness was not possible .Now that the penalty has been paid on our behalf, the righteous precepts of the law can live in us. Notice also, that it is those who live in the spirit and not in the flesh who no longer stand condemned.

What does it mean to live in the spirit and not in the flesh? It means simply that once we have been admitted to the Grace of our Heavenly Father following repentance and baptism we respond to the urges of the Holy Spirit, that He has given us, instead of the urges of our human, fleshly self. Our fleshly urges lead to condemnation and death but the urges of the Spirit lead to righteousness and eternal life.

Also note that it is those who are in Messiah Yahshua for whom there is no longer condemnation. What does it mean to be in Yahshua Messiah? Lets turn to the book of Amos to begin to understand.

AMOS 3:3 He asks, "Can two walk together unless they be in agreement?" The answer of course is NO they can't. If they try there will be discord. This is not talking about taking a stroll together. It is talking about a life walk such as a husband and wife enter into.

When we accept the sacrifice of Yahshua, repent and are baptized, we enter into a life walk with Yahshua and our Heavenly Father. For this walk to be successful there has to be agreement and a close harmonic fellowship. Yahweh and Yahshua will never introduce discord, but we can by responding to our carnal fleshly urges which are not compatible with the urges of the Holy Spirit. As long as we are in this close harmonic fellowship there will be no condemnation .

Does this mean that there can never be condemnation for a converted baptized person who sins? I don't mean unintentional sin committed in human weakness through temptation. 1 JOHN 1:9 and 1 JOHN 2:1-2 Tell us if we do sin in this way Yahweh is faithful and just and will forgive us.

What about intentional, unrepented of sin? Could a truly converted person actually commit such sin? (I have been told that if one did, they were not truly converted in the first place. Scripture disagrees with this) Yahweh’s word says they can commit such a sin.

HEBREWS 10:26 tells us;"If we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin”. HEBREWS 6:4-6 Tells us that once one has partaken of the Holy Spirit and tasted the Heavenly gifts and deliberately turns away, that one crucifies the Messiah all over again and holds Him up to contempt. Such a one will never repent and stands condemned once again. How can we be sure to avoid such a spiritual condition as this?

Lets investigate some words of Yahshua to help us understand how we can depend on Yahweh and Yahshua to lead us in this salvation process and the life walk with them. Yahshua said in MATT. 22:14 "Many are called but few are chosen”. Lets understand this statement fully and how it relates to the salvation process.

The lifelong walk with Yahweh and Yahshua is similar to being employed by a corporation. A call goes out for applicants to fill certain positions. This is like Yahweh’s call to us to train for positions in His Kingdom. When we answer the call to apply for the positions offered and are accepted by the corporation we must serve a probationary period. This serves two purposes. This time allows us to assess the corporation and decide if it is the company we wish to work for long-term. It is also a time for the company to assess our performance and decide if we will be an asset.

This probationary period is like the time we spend between being called by Yahweh and to the time of our immersion into Yahshua and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Our baptism is our acceptance of Yahweh and Yahshua as our bosses and the giving to us of the Spirit is their acceptance of us to fill one of the positions offered.

During our probationary period we will assess the position offered. We will count the costs compared to the benefits. Yahshua told us to do this very thing. LUKE 14:25-33 He is telling us to assess the situation first. Are we willing to pay the cost of receiving the benefits of this position? He even lists some of the costs. These are personal costs. Are we willing to pay them? If the answer is "YES” then we must stop counting the cost and concentrate on the job at hand. No one will ever know the job to its fullest. There will be new discoveries. There will be technicological advances that require additional training and upgrading of our skills. That is what gives a job its interest. That is what makes it enjoyable.

It is the same with the fellowship walk with Yahweh and Yahshua. During our walk with them we are continually growing in knowledge and maturing as they train us for the promotion we are to receive at the return of Yahshua. They are good bosses. They will give us the help we need to accomplish the goal. HEB. 13: 6 "Yahweh is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?" HEB.13: 5 " I will never leave you or forsake you." MATT.28: 20 ---"I am with you always even to the close of the age."

Lets turn now to a parable of Yahshua to delve deeper into this subject. How could one possibly turn to a sinful life after being accepted into this fellowship walk with the two most awesome powers of the universe and beyond? MATT.13:1-23 This is the parable of the sower. Read it very carefully and absorb what Yahshua is saying. Starting verse 18 He explains what the parable means. Can you see why the various people went astray? What is the difference between them and the one who bore fruit and grew spiritually?

Number one is someone who hears and does not understand the word of truth. Perhaps he did not know that Yahweh gives wisdom and understanding to those who fervently ask Him. JAS.1: 5

Number two hears and does understand and jumps in with both feet. He was very enthusiastic in the beginning. But he has no depth of commitment because he failed to count the full cost and when faced with some of these costs was not able or willing to pay them. He had seen only the benefits and none of the personal costs.

Number three is one who hears the word, understands and accepts the cost. However instead of forging ahead with the job at hand in the life walk with Yahweh and Yahshua he continues to count the cost and is distracted from the goal and his fleshly desires choke the word and it cannot grow into good fruit. GAL.5: 22-23

Number four has heard, understood, counted the cost and forged ahead and did bear the fruit of the Spirit .How could this one do this and be successful and the others not? What was the difference in these people ? Notice that the first three were focussed inward on the self and how things were affecting them .

Tribulation, persecution, and the desire for things to make the self feel good. They lost sight of the goal. The cost became too high. They turned their back on Yahweh and Yahshua and did not respond to the urges of the Spirit and instead responded to the urges of the flesh. They no longer lived in the Spirit with Yahweh and Yahshua.

Number four was focussed outward and upward. The cost had been counted and found to be small compared to the assets. This one did what the others failed to do. When tribulation, persecution, and temptation arose, number four took Yahweh’s escape route. 1 COR.10: 13 Yahweh is faithful and will never allow us to be tested or tempted beyond our ability to cope. With the test He will provide the means of escape. When temptation comes turn to Yahweh who cannot be tempted and His strength will be the means of escape. One who is focussed inward will fail to see Yahweh’s escape route. They will see only the immediate effect on the self. They will fail to see Yahweh’s hand and see only the test or the temptation. The one bearing fruit and walking in close harmonic fellowship with Yahweh and Yahshua will see the test from Their point of view ROM.5:1-5 The escape route is always through Yahshua and with Yahshua.

The first three may have thought,"all I have to do is believe in Messiah Yahshua and I will be saved.” ACTS 16:31 When persecution tribulation and temptation comes, belief is not enough to see you through. Paul knew this. You might ask, "Why did he say what he did in ACTS 16:31 if it isn't enough?"The truth is that Paul did not say what most people think he did in this scripture.

To begin to understand lets turn to a letter form Yahshua’s brother JAMES 2:19 James tells us that even the demons believe. They certainly believe that Elohim is one and that Yahshua is the messiah. Satan surely believes that Yahshua is returning to start Yahweh’s Kingdom and give eternal life to His followers. That is why he is so full of hatred and anger. Is he or his demons saved by this belief? Absolutely not!!

In the Greek language there are many words that we would translate as believe. The one used in ACTS 16:31 is PISTEUO. It goes far beyond our English word BELIEVE. It means, to be totally reliant on, give total credence to, have absolute faith in. Is not Paul actually telling the jailor and us to be totally dependent on and give complete credence to Yahshua’s word as true and unchanging? Is this not where those in the parable of the sower fell short? Their belief did not go deep enough. They did not rely on Yahshua for the strength necessary to go on to the finish. This happened because they did not give total credence to His word. Paul’s advice to the jailor is invaluable when properly understood. The word PISTEUO incorporates, belief, reliance, trust and undoubting faith. This is what Paul told the jailor he needed to be saved .

We must PISTEUO Yahshua continually throughout our lives or we could fall from this Grace in which we stand.

Lets turn now to another scripture mentioned at the beginning of this study. EPH.2: 8 " By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is a gift of Elohim". This is one of the most often quoted scriptures of this age. It is quoted so quickly that the true intent of the words are lost. What one is saved from is never mentioned. However, saved for all eternity is the inference intended. Still unanswered is, saved from what? We are saved by grace as a gift from Yahweh. What is grace? The word translated.” Grace " is translated from the Greek " Charis ". It has a wide range of uses. The meaning intended here is "benefit " or " Favour ". This coincides with the real meaning of grace in English. Undeserved favour or benefit. We stand in Yahweh’s favour, His grace. How did we get there? Once we understand what we are saved from we will also understand how we came to be under Yahweh’s grace or favour.

In ACTS 16:31 Paul told the jailor he would be saved. From what? In ROMANS 8:1 Paul said that there is now no condemnation for those in messiah Yahshua. Condemnation for what? These scriptures all interconnect in their statements. All are talking about the same thing. OUR PAST TRANSGRESSIONS OR SINS. The condition we were in BEFORE the sacrifice of Yahshua was applied to us at baptism.

We were dead in our sins, COLL.2: 13 We were all in a downward spiral to eternal death. We were sick to death spiritually. We were in need of healing.

Lets now understand the full meaning of the Greek word translated "saved”. It is, "SOZO". It has a wide variety of meanings that all apply to the situation. I am sure that is why Yahweh inspired it. It means; " deliver, heal, preserve, make whole, and make safe ". Look at our prebaptismal condition prior to Yahshua’s intervention. Did we not need someone to do all of these things for us? We could not do them on our own. We could not heal ourselves of the spiritual sickness that gripped us. We could not deliver ourselves from the death sentence that the law demanded. We had no power to preserve our lives.

Yahweh sent His son to do all of these things for us .It was His gift to us .We did not earn it or deserve it .He did it because of His great love for us as His children. JOHN.3:16 Isn't that why He created us? Weren't we created so Yahweh and Yahshua could love us? There is no other reason. Through His son Yahshua, Yahweh showed this great love by reconciling us to Himself. 2 COR.5:19 not counting our sins against us. He saved us from eternal death by His loving favour and placed us under His Holy grace so we could undertake the lifelong fellowship walk with Him and His son in this age and eternal life with them in the age to come.

HE began the salvation process in us at that time. That process will continue as long as we are willing to obey Him.

ACTS 5:32, HEB. 5:7-10 The decision is ours. Do we walk in harmony with our loving Elohim, living by every word that proceeds from Him MATT? 4:4 or do we in discord seek salvation our own way?

Do we say,"I am saved " or do we say, "I am being saved ". If we say I am saved then there is nothing for us to do . If we say, I am being saved, then we can see that we have a part to play and are in a partnership with Yahweh and Yahshua in this lifelong fellowship walk.

We will close this study with one final scripture of Paul from his letter to the brethren in Philipi. He wrote this letter from prison many years after he had been converted .He knew even after all these years his salvation had still not reached completion and that he was still in the process. PHIL.3: 8-14 He knew that he was in the process, not because of his own righteousness but because of the righteousness that comes from Yahweh through Yahshua. In VERSE 12 He states that the salvation process was not yet completed in him and he had not yet reached perfection through the resurrection. But he says in VERSE 13 that he presses on with that as his goal. VERSE 14 He says he pressed on toward the prize of the upward call of Elohim that will reach completion in Yahshua Messiah.

Paul completes the subject perfectly in VERSE 15-16 I will quote from the Jerusalem Bible as it is worded so clearly.

"We who are mature must all think in this way. If there is some point on which you see things differently, Elohim will make it clear to you; meanwhile let us go forward on the road that has brought us to where we are".

May Yahweh bless you as you walk in fellowship with Him and His son Yahshua. HalleluYah.