8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as 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 so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 (NASB)
Our salvation is far more than simply justification by faith, which in and of itself is incredible, but also includes the imputation of the actual active righteousness of Christ, His good works or keeping of the Law, which is required for our complete acceptation by God into His Kingdom. I know that many reading this may not have no idea what I am talking about. However, please understand, I am praying that you will understand the truth of this because this is a huge missing piece from the gospel in the church in our time….
Without this teaching, the church is plagued with professing Christians who are in a form of self-salvation. They did the religious thing “to get saved” at church. They were sincere, but there is no real change in their lives. However, the Bible is very clear as in the passage above that we are saved “not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Therefore, there is a huge problem with a lack of assurance in these people. The issue is not their lack of sincerity or their lack of obedience since their religious experience, but that they have believed a false, man-made gospel that has no spiritual power to really save or regenerate anyone.
Today on Facebook I encountered an individual who called me a heretic and all who believe in Reformation Theology as defining the Gospel as heretics as well. I asked him to prove it. Did he use Sacred Scripture to do this? No, he posted a link to a book that he had read that was titled “Why I Disagree With All 5 Points of Calvinism.” Is suggesting he use Sacred Scriptures not proof. I asked for Biblical proof. I then started asking him diagnostic questions that I would ask anyone if I was sharing the Gospel with them. He was all over the map. He gave me solid answers about us being saved by faith alone and that the faith that saves us is a gift from God (he actually gave me the correct Biblical verses for that), but then he said God gave him the gift because he had exercised his free will first to believe so God regenerated him. The discussion degenerated from there so I told him that I was done with it. When someone is that confused, but refuses to listen to the truth while at the same time calling me a heretic I refuse to go any further. God had obviously not drawn him into the light.