March 7, 2006
Will A Man Rob God?
[Edited]
There is a form of robbery, or rather attempted robbery, going on in the Lord's church and Christendom today which mostly goes unnoticed. There are many who preach doubt and question other believer's salvation, thus robbing them of their assurance of salvation. This is devilish, for Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10), and those who do this are serving his purposes, even if they don't realize it. But, there is another way that attempted robbery is going on.
Psalm 3:8 tells us, Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. Salvation is the private property of God Almighty. No human can give it or remove it. It is personally ours in one sense, and yet it is not. It belongs to God from whence it came. He paid for it with His own blood, Acts 20:28.
David said, Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. While David obviously knew he was saved personally, yet he calls it "thy salvation". In a very real sense it belongs to the Lord. In fact, it is quite amazing how many times the scriptures speak of "thy salvation" in reference to God owning it! Look it up in Sword Searcher or your computer Bible program. I was surprised.
The last, and perhaps most significant reference to "thy salvation" is in Luke 2:30, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. Simeon was speaking here of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, whom he saw in the temple.
Acts 28:28 tells us ...that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. Note that it is God's salvation. It is also Christ.
Consider this verse - Revelation 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. We might think, "Why would God need salvation? Why give that to Him?" Well, in the context of what we're considering here, salvation belongs to Him. Power belongs to Him also; so does might. Why not give Him salvation? It is His. He owns it. He was the only one that could ever pay for it!
Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
So, salvation - which belongs to the Lord - is applied to individuals by belief and confession of Jesus Christ. Who then decides who is saved and who is not? Only GOD. Can it be possible that a man or woman could take someone's salvation away? John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. It is God's salvation and eternal life, and He gives it. Ultimately it does not belong to the person the thieves are trying to rob! It belongs to God! So, in essence, they are trying to rob God of what is rightfully His!
They also try to rob Him of the right to apply it in accordance to His word. When they begin to make lists of works that are "necessary" to prove salvation, they are actually trying to take salvation into their own hands. Horrible thought! There isn't one of them I would trust to save me!
Just a few "requirements" man uses to rob God through questioning people’s salvation:
Church attendance
Standards (many, many different issues)
Denominational and/or church membership
Baptism
"Holy communion"
Submission to man's authority (pastor, pope, bishop, etc.)
Acceptance of scholarship
Speaking in tongues
Observance of the Old Testament Law
Sabbath keeping
etc. ad nauseam.
When a man says, "If I can talk you out of your salvation, you weren't saved to begin with" he is a hireling and a thief. He is trying to steal what is not his to take, nor ours to lose! Sure, we might be weak enough to think we lost something we never earned in the first place – something that was given to us as a free gift. What does that prove? Our salvation belongs to God, and NO ONE can get it out of His hand. Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory to God!
Perhaps one reason some people indulge in this attempted thievery is because of the end of Psalm 3:8, ... thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. It galls some people that God would bless folks who "aren't right with God" by their standards. It infuriates some. I'm not entirely sure, but I cannot help wondering if really these folks are mad at God and so they take it out on people by trying to rob them of the hope of their salvation. I suppose it could be. Nevertheless, the LORD gives salvation and He gives blessing according to His word. We need not fear man. Psalm 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? Man cannot take our salvation – it belongs to God.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
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