Category: Foundations

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Repentance

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Is repentance a pre-requisite for salvation, or are you already saved and therefore repentance is a fruit of salvation?

Christian Universalists believe we are already saved because of what Jesus did on the cross, and all we need to do is realise that we are already saved (see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/three-views-of-salvation/). Then, believing that all are already saved, they therefore also believe that repentance is a fruit not a pre-requisite of salvation. But according to the Bible, we are saved and justified when we believe (Mark 16:16, Acts 16:31, Rom 10:9-13, Heb 10:39, 1 Cor 15:2, Gal 2:16).  With this belief straightened out, we can now see that repentance precedes salvation. We can see this from Scripture as follows:

  • According to Acts 2:38, Peter told people to repent and be baptised      before receiving the Holy      Spirit. In Acts 3:19, 8:22 and 1 John 1:9 it is stated that confession of      sins and repentance is required for sins to be forgiven:
  • Acts 3:19      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 8:22      Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the      thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
  • 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to      forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

These scriptures make no sense with a Universalist belief that all are saved.  It is obvious from Scripture that we are saved and justified when we believe, and repentance is therefore a pre-requisite for salvation. Believers also sometimes need to repent, see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/repentance-process/.

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When we believe

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We are only saved (by the life of Christ) when we confess the Lord Jesus, believe and call upon Him – Paul makes this abundantly clear later on in Romans, in chapter 10 verses 9, 10 and 13 – “if thou shalt confess and believe… thou shalt be saved…..with the mouth confession is made unto salvation….whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  The same truth that you are saved when you believe (and not before) and that we are saved by grace through faith (which is the faith of Jesus Christ, a gift of God) can be seen from Mark 16:16, Acts 16:31, Heb 10:39, 1 Cor 15:2, Eph 2:8 and Gal 2:16.  Romans 5:1 also does not say “all humans are justified by faith”. No, this idea is universalism, Romans 5:1 says “being justified by faith, we….” So this verse says “we” i.e. those Paul was writing to, believers, it does not say all, and it also says that we are justified by faith, so it is obvious that unbelievers (who do not have faith) are not justified, as we are justified by faith.

More to be written, come back later.

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Finished Work at Calvary

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Many people use the phrase “finished works of Christ on the cross” and have built many false teachings around this.  For a response to many of these false teachings, see http://spiritbodysoul.com/finished-work/.  However, let us look at the true origins of the teaching of the finished work of Calvary. This was first taught by William Durham around the time of the Azusa Street revival at the beginning of last century. See for example http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/am_pentecostals/durham.html.
“William Durham… began a preaching mission at the Upper Room Mission in Los Angeles but, despite his brilliant oratory and pulpit presence, the congregation ejected him over sanctification teaching of the “Finished Work.” This teaching repudiated the holiness doctrine of sanctification as a second work of grace and instead declared that everything a believer would ever need was included in the finished work of Christ on the cross. This repudiation of the Holiness doctrine of sanctification as a “second work of grace,” argued that the “finished work” of Christ on Calvary becomes available to the believer at the time of justification. The benefits of Calvary are therefore appropriated for sanctification over the entire period of the Christian’s life, rather than at a single subsequent moment, as was believed by most Pentecostals in Durham’s day. ”

For more about sanctifiction see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/sanctification-holiness and http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/sanctification-process. For more about what happened on the cross see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/on-cross.

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Who is in Christ?

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These are the majority of the Scriptures which refer to being “in Christ”, and show that only those who are believers are said to be “in Christ”:

In John 15 Jesus speaks on being “in me”, saying that we cannot bear fruit unless we abide in Him – if everyone abides in Him then everyone must be bearing fruit, but clearly they are not.  Jesus spoke very clearly in v.6 of the consequences of not abiding in Him.  Why say this if everyone is in him? It would be a pointless statement.

Ro 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  If everyone is in Christ Jesus then this is a pointless statement for Paul to make, as there would then be condemnation for no-one, there would be no hell, and no point in preaching the gospel.  The second part of the verse makes it clear who is in Christ – those who walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

Ro 12:5 “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”   From the context Paul is clearly talking about believers, not everyone in the world.  Only believers are in Christ, not the whole world.

Ro 16:7 “Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.”  If everyone has been in Christ since Christ died then this statement would not make sense.  Clearly this verse means these people became believers (were “in Christ”) before Paul did.

1Co 1:2 “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”   Why would Paul say this if everyone was already sanctified in Christ?  It is very clear that not everyone calls upon the name of Jesus Christ, yet Paul says that only those who do this are in Christ. So it cannot be true that everyone is in Christ.

1Co 3:1 “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”  “Babes in Christ” clearly refers to immature believers.  If everyone is in Christ and has always been then why would Paul say this – it would make no sense.

Eph 1:10 “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”  This is probably the most difficult verse in this list to explain but here goes.  The verse again does not actually tell us who is in Christ, but many Bible versions, based on corrupt manuscripts miss out the first “in Christ”, which confuses the whole meaning here.  Basically God will gather together in one, in Christ, all things which are already in Christ. To be expanded.

Eph 2:6 “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Who was this written to? According to Eph 1:1 it was written to “the saints…and faithful in Christ Jesus”, so it is believers, not unbelievers who sit together in heavely places in Christ Jesus.

Eph 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”  Again, according to Eph 1:1, this is written to believers, as stated above.

Col 1:2 “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”    Only the saints and faithful brethren are in Christ.  Clearly not everyone in the world are saints and faithful brethren, so it is clear that not everyone is in Christ.

1Th 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”   Hence there are some who rise first, and they are the people in Christ.  If everyone was in Christ, then everyone who is dead would rise at the same time and what Paul says here would be a pointless statement.

2Ti 2:10 “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”   Paul does this so people may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus. If everyone is already saved and in Christ then it would be pointless for Paul to endure all things.

2Ti 3:12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”   If everyone was in Christ, then everyone would be persecuted, but this is clearly not the case, no obviously not everyone is in Christ.

1Pe 5:14 “Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.”   Peter was clearly addressing believers here, who are those in Christ.  If everyone was in Christ, this would again be a pointless statement.

So we conclude then that those who are “in Christ” always refers to believers.  The Bible never says anywhere that the whole world is “in Christ”.

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On the cross

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What happens at the cross and when we believe?

Central to the gospel is of course Jesus – his death, burial and resurrection (1 Cor 15:1-8).  The good news is that Jesus is the way to the Father (John 14:6).  God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die for us so that the world might be saved (John 3:17).

Only by the shedding of blood is remission, cleansing or forgiveness of sin (Heb 9:22, Mt 26:28, 1 John 1:7). So forgiveness is only possible because of what Jesus did on the cross and faith in that shed blood (Rom 3:25).  The Old Testament sacrifices all foreshadowed the complete and final sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for sin (Heb 9:26-28).   All this was done for us so that, if we believe, we won’t perish and are saved from condemnation and have eternal life (John 3:16 and 18).

Salvation is by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus on the cross and not by works (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 3:25).

Through His death on the cross, Jesus has justified us and made us righteous (Rom 3:22-24, 4:6, 5:9, 6:18, Gal 2:16), without works.

Salvation is by grace through the blood of Jesus on the cross and not by works (Eph 2:8-9).

Through the death of Jesus on the cross, our sins have been made whiter than snow (Rev 7:14, Isa 1:18).

This is a list of many of the things that Jesus provided for us when He died on the cross:

Forgiveness of sins

Salvation

Justification

Sanctification

Born again

Made righteous

Made a new creature

In Christ

Redeemed

Regenerated

Receive eternal life

Who is all this for?

Universalists believe all the following happened when Jesus died on the cross, and they believe all these happened to everyone in the world (see http://spiritbodysoul.com/gci-errors/).  So the universalists believe everyone is saved, justified, born again, sanctified, forgiven, etc. The truth is that Jesus provided all this for everyone on the cross, that aspect is all completed, but until a person believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, none of these are received by that person.  Only when we believe are we saved, justified, sanctified, forgiven, redeemed, in Christ etc.

Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2), but that does not mean that everyone is saved.  Titus 2:14, Heb 9:12, 1 Peter 1:18, Rev 5:9, Rev 14:4 are all clearly written to believers, who are said to be redeemed by the blood of Jesus shed on the cross.  Jesus is the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14), but only those who believe in Jesus Christ are saved.

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Sanctification / holiness

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The Bible teaches that, contrary to what some of us have been taught in the past, in one sense we are already sanctified – 1 Co 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, 1 Co 6:11 but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.   Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Jude 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.

So we can see that a past sanctification is taught in Scripture.

In Jn 17:17 Jesus says “sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth“ –  Jesus is speaking here of his disciples being sanctified, not the world.  In 1 Cor 1:30, Eph 5:26, Paul says “Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it” – so it is the church that is cleansed and sanctified, not the world. In 2 Tim 2:21 “If a man purge himself from these…he shall be sanctified” – this does not say the whole world will be sanctified, but those who purge themselves, clearly referring to believers. In Heb 10:10 “We are sanctified through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ” – who is the “we”? It is believers, not the whole world. In 1 Peter 1:2 “elect…through sanctification, unto obedience” – again this is to believers – the whole world is not the elect.  In 1 Thess 4:3 and 5:23 sanctification even seems to be a process, and this book again is not written to unbelievers but to believers.  Search the scriptures as much as you like, but you will not find any scriptures that say what GCI says, that the whole world was sanctified, which yet again is universalism. No, believers are sanctified, not the whole world.

The Bible is clear that because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, we are already made holy. For example, consider the following Scriptures:   Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight. 1 Cor 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.  Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;   1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.  1 Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:  Also note that it is only God who is holy – it is really only God dwelling in us that makes us holy.   Re 15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy.

There are also other verses that imply a future or process of sanctification and becoming holy – see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/sanctification-process.

Its interesting that the issue of whether sanctification was accomplished through what Jesus did on the cross and was available to the believer as soon as they believe or was a subsequent experience to salvation (a “second work of grace”) caused a huge split in the Azusa Street Revival. See for example http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/am_pentecostals/durham.html
‘William Durham… began a preaching mission at the Upper Room Mission in Los Angeles but, despite his brilliant oratory and pulpit presence, the congregation ejected him over sanctification teaching of the “Finished Work.” This teaching repudiated the holiness doctrine of sanctification as a second work of grace and instead declared that everything a believer would ever need was included in the finished work of Christ on the cross. This repudiation of the Holiness doctrine of sanctification as a “second work of grace,” argued that the “finished work” of Christ on Calvary becomes available to the believer at the time of justification. The benefits of Calvary are therefore appropriated for sanctification over the entire period of the Christian’s life, rather than at a single subsequent moment, as was believed by most Pentecostals in Durham’s day. ‘

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Justification / righteousness

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Justification means to be considered righteous.  Paul discusses “the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” in Rom 3:22; see also Phil 3:9. Those who are considered righteous (i.e. justified) are those who believe, and it is by faith.  “Abraham believed God, and this was accounted to him for righteousness” (Gal 3:6, see also Gen 15:6) – again, believers are accounted as righteous (i.e. justified).  “All that believe are justified” (Acts 13:39). In Ro 5:1 and Gal 3:24, Paul says we are “justified by faith”. In 1 Cor 6:11, Paul says “ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of God” – this is addressed to the church (see 1 Cor 1:2), i.e. believers.

Through His death on the cross, Jesus has justified us and made us righteous (Rom 3:22-24, 4:6, 5:9, 6:18, Gal 2:16).  The book of Titus is a wonderful letter, in which Paul discusses how we are justified by the grace and mercy of God (2:11, 3:4, 7), the sacrifice of Christ (2:14).

Romans 5:1 says “being justified by faith, we….” So this verse says “we” i.e. those Paul was writing to, believers, and it also says that we are justified by faith.

Rom 5:18, which in its context means that justification is offered to all, not that all are justified, as is indicated in verse 19 which says “shall many be made righteous” – so many, not all are righteous.

Gal 2:16, says that we are justified by the faith of Christ.

In Rom 8:29-30 again those whom God foreknew, predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus and called, he justified and glorified.

In Rom 3:23-24 Paul says “all… being justified freely”, he does not say all are justified. In verse 26, just two verses after this, Paul says Jesus is the justifier of those who believe in Jesus.

Note that Believers, or those who have faith, are justified; unbelievers are not justified until they believe.

We were sinners but now we are washed, sanctified and justified (1 Cor 6:11).

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Freewill

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What is freewill

One definition of freewill is “the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints.” Freewill is simply about choices.

Why is freewill important?

It is very important because without freewill (or choice), all human beings would be robots, and would not be able to determine (choose) their destiny. The only alternative to freewill is that God dictates everything, including who will be saved. So, logically, the only alternatives to freewill are either God dictates that everyone is saved (this is known as universalism) or He dictates that only a select few, or the “elect” will be saved (this is known as Calvinism). So if you don’t believe in freewill, then you are either a universalist or a Calvinist. The belief that everyone has freewill to choose their salvation is known as Arminianism. For more about these three views of salvation and why Arminianism is to be preferred, see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/three-views-of-salvation/.

What freewill is not

Freewill is not a struggle, it is not mindpower, it is not salvation by works.

Why freewill is Biblical

Here we explain why freewill is a Biblical concept and that we have a choice in our salvation:
Before we explain this we must make it very clear that we believe that salvation is by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus on the cross and not by works (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 3:25). Rom.9:11-16 says “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. …. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” Eph. 1:4-5 teaches that God chooses and predestines us to adoptions as sons. But does this mean that only some selected people are called? Actually it is clear from Scripture that God calls everyone (John 12:32, John 1:9, Romans 1:19-20). Predestination is on the basis of God’s foreknowledge of whether we will believe or not (Rom 8:29).
So why is it then that not everyone is saved? Is it, as the first point of Calvinism teaches, due to the “total inability” of unbelievers to be saved (sometimes called “total depravity”)? No, it is not the inability of some people, but their unwillingness that prevents them from being saved, as can be seen from the following Scriptures:

Ye will not come to me, that ye will have life (Jn 5:40).

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Mt 23:37),

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Rev 22:17).

The following Scriptures clearly show that we have a choice to follow God or not:
• But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (Jn 1:12).
• Deuteronomy 30:15 See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong [your] days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.
• John 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.
• John 15: 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 ¶ As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
• 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and [before] Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep [this] commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing.
• 2 Timothy 2:21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
There is a reward for doing good works, as can be seen from the following verses. It is clearly a choice whether to do those good works.
• Romans 2:10 but glory, honour, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
• 1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain [it]. 25 And everyone who competes [for the prize] is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a perishable crown, but we [for] an imperishable [crown].
• Ephesians 6:8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
Without free will, many Bible statements would make no sense:
• People can “resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:10; 7:51-55); this clearly indicates that they have free will.
• Why do you call me Lord and don’t do what I say (Lk 6:46)? Jesus puts the responsibility on the person’s freewill to choose not to obey Him, He does not say that “God willed it that you don’t do what I say!”
• Whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16). The verse does not say “whosoever God makes a believer will have eternal life”.
• And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30). God does not force people to repent, but He commands people to repent, and of their free will they decide whether or not to repent.
• Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Re 22:17). Not “only whosoever is selected by God can take the water of life.”
• And whosoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them (Lk 9:5). Not a testimony against God for not choosing them.
• Come to me you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28). Not “God makes you come to me.”
• Philemon 14 But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly. This is free will.
For further discussion which shows that we have freewill, refer to the following excellent Rational Roundtable Freewill Megadebate series of Youtube videos by Michael J Crawford:

We are aware that Spurgeon stated that “free will carried many a soul to Hell, but never a soul to Heaven”. Also Luther talked about an “idolatry of free will”. We do not agree with this, for the reasons described above. For more information see also http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Doctrines/Calvinism/spurgeon.htm. Calvin’s rejection of freewill ended up with him controlling Geneva by forced conversion and violence and punishment to those who dared to question him – see http://www.biblelife.org/calvinism.htm  similar in some ways to the controlling, bullying and threatening behaviour of some of the Christian universalists who deny freewill today, which we have personally observed.
It is also said by some people that it is pride, self-religion and works to talk about free will. Of course Jesus Christ saved us through his blood, but we still have free will whether or not to receive his free gift of salvation, God does not force anyone to be saved. In fact free will is also a gift from God, as everything on this earth is.

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Forgiven / free from sin

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It is a very important truth that we are dead to sin (Romans 6:2, 11) and made free from sin (Rom 6:7, 18) through the death of Christ on the cross, and, once born again we cannot repeatedly commit sin (1 John 3:9). This is because we (our “old man”) are crucified with Christ – see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/old-self-crucified/. Through His death on the cross, Jesus has justified us and made us righteous, without works – see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/justification/.  We are therefore not called sinners any more (Rom 5:8, 19, 1 Tim 1:9, 15), but righteous (Rom 5:19) and saints (throughout most books of the New Testament). There is no scripture that calls believers sinners (see http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/christiansinner.htm), but many scriptures that call believers saints. Note that in 1 Tim 1:15, Paul says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”. This can simply be explained by saying that Paul was not now a chief sinner, but a chief saved one who had been a sinner. If he was saying he was still a sinner it would contradict everything else he ever wrote.

Who does this apply to? It was addressed to believers in Jesus, not to unbelievers, as can be seen from Rom 1:7 which makes it clear that the book of Romans is addressed to the “beloved of God, and called to be saints” and v.8 speaks of “your faith” and in v.13 calls them “brethren”. Clearly this means believers in Jesus, not to unbelievers. 1 John is written to “my little children”, clearly to believers in Jesus.  So it is very clear that when you believe, then you are made free from sin.

In Col 2:13 Paul says of Christ, “having forgiven you all trespasses”. Who is Paul referring to here? In v.5 he speaks of his readers’ “faith in Christ” and in v.12 “through faith in the operation of God”. So Paul is not saying the whole world is forgiven already, no, he is very clear that only those who have faith and believe are forgiven.  Eph 1:7: In Jesus Christ we have the forgiveness of sins – who is the “we”? This is answered in v.1: the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. The Bible is very clear that forgiveness of sins applies to believers, and never says that all humanity is forgiven – which is universalism – see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/three-views-of-salvation.

Forgiveness is possible because of what Jesus did on the cross – only by the shedding of blood is remission, cleansing or forgiveness of sin (Heb 9:22, 1 John 1:7).  Also this forgiveness is of course a free gift available to everyone in the world, as Jesus died to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). In Acts 3:19, again after the death and resurrection of Christ, Peter said “repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out”.  So forgiveness of sins occurs when we repent (turn away from sin unbelief and turn to God). In Acts 8:22 Peter said “repent of this thy wickedness, and pray God that perhaps the thought of thine heart be forgiven thee”.  It would be pointless for Peter to say these things if everyone were forgiven already.  Romans 3 makes it very clear that righteousness (v.21) and remission of sin (v.25) are “by faith in Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all those who believe” (v.22) and “through faith in His blood” (v.25). Jesus is the justifier (which involves forgiveness) not of everyone in the world, but “of him who believeth in Jesus” (v.26). In Rom 8:29-30 again those whom God foreknew, predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus and called, he justified and glorified. This clearly refers to those who believe and does not apply to unbelievers.  For more about repentance for believers see http://word.spiritbodysoul.com/repentance-process/.  In Col 2:13 Paul says “having forgiven you all trespasses”, but who is he talking to?  In v.5 he speaks of his readers’ “faith in Christ” and in v.12 “through faith in the operation of God”. So Paul is not saying the whole world is forgiven already, no, he is very clear that only those who have faith and believe are forgiven.  Eph 1:7: In Jesus Christ we have the forgiveness of sins – who is the “we”? This is answered in v.1: the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus. The Bible is very clear that forgiveness of sins applies to believers, and never says that all humanity is forgiven. See http://www.thirsty4truth.com/are-we-to-forgive-those-who-do-not-ask-for-forgiveness.html and http://www.heart-talks.com/forgiveness.html.

1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If all humanity were already forgiven and we don’t need to confess our sins, why would John say this? Confession of sins is necessary for us to be forgiven.  Otherwise everyone should just carry on sinning, as they are already forgiven.  But when the Holy Spirit comes in to us when we believe in Jesus Christ, He enables us to confess our sins. But the promise is there in the Bible that Jesus forgives those sins when we confess them, because of what He did on the cross.

Some people teach that there is no need to ask for forgiveness for sin, as Jesus has already shed His blood on the cross and therefore we are already forgiven.  This may sound reasonable, but those who teach this ignore what Jesus Himself taught in the “Lord’s prayer” in Luke 11:4 “And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.” This again is similar to confession of sin, and the promise is in Scripture that God forgives us when we ask him to and confess our sin. For more information on this see http://www.letusreason.org/Biblexp246.htm. Take the case of healing, the Bible says “by his stripes we were healed” (1 Peter 2:24), which means that we were healed when Jesus died on the cross.  But we still need to pray for healing, or as Jesus said “heal the sick” (Mt 10:8, Luke 10:9) – we tell the sickness to be healed using the authority Jesus has given us! We don’t simply assume the sick are already healed and do nothing.  In the same way, we can say to God “forgive us our sins”, it is a declaration of what Jesus has done on the cross for us, God forgives our sins as we confess that we have sinned and ask for forgiveness.

 

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Grace

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What is grace?

Salvation is by grace and not by works (Eph 2:5, 8-9, Titus 3:5, Gal 2:16).

Who does the Bible say grace came from? In John 1:17 it is stated that “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

We recommend this great article by Andrew Murray on “The Freedom of the Christian”: http://articles.ochristian.com/article310.shtml and books by Andrew Murray. Phil Whitehead has written an excellent book entitled “Thriving In the Grace of God”, see http://www.eden.co.uk/shop/thriving_in_the_grace_of_god_pb_95476.html.  We recommend Andrew Wommack, Paul White and Lucas Miles.  Mike Bickle from IHOP Kansas City has written an excellent article on grace, which we highly recommend.  Another excellent book which addresses this subject is “The Supernatural Ways of Royalty” by Bill Johnson & Kris Vallotton. All these men preach grace but don’t preach universalism.

More to be written, come back later.