This is Part II of this article. You might want to read Part I first to completely make sense of our discussion in this Part II.
I am attempting here to debunk what some have not come to label the “hyper grace” or “save or always saved” doctrine that is now plaguing our churches.
Where were we? Yes, how God flipped the script in the new testament to address the “flesh issue” as no one could ever fulfill the law via the flesh. Considering Jesus Christ as our full salvation premium package rather than simply reducing and limiting all that could be found in him to calvary alone is a must here. There is a reason why he is the only way to the father. The upgraded premium salvation package which is Jesus Christ addresses two main issues: human sins which God cannot stand and the sinful nature of humans with our corrupted flesh.
In Part I of this article, we covered the first and crucial salvation feature God
put in Jesus Christ and that was bought by his blood for us at Cavalry for the remission of sins. When we come to Jesus, his blood poured out at Calvary wipes away all our past sins to give us a fresh start. However, we discussed how many hyper-grace movement supporters stop there when Jesus himself never did. Calvary is the new beginning that gave us clean slates; however the following question should be: after Cavalry, then what? Jesus answered that question for us as mentioned at the end of Part I of this article:
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:1-21, ESV)
If we have been saved by grace which we 100% were, and we come to Christ and our sins were wiped away but we go right back to living the way we used to only to repeatedly pollute ourselves until we die, what sense does it make? If you were God, would you appreciate it? Will that please you if someone treats the most precious gift you ever had and handed to them in that poor manner? Was it not to prevent us from going back to our old sinful lives that Jesus told us to repent (turn away), and learn a new way of living which is different from the traditions of men and cultural values the world taught us?:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2)
Another critical aspect of our salvation package Jesus Christ that supporters of the hyper grace doctrine overlook is the requirement of baptism that Jesus Christ introduced. Note that I mentioned that this is a requirement, not an option or debate. Jesus knew he will die yet he never said that “you cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven if you don’t believe in me” as believing in Christ automatically get us saved according to the word and his blood wipes away ours sins. Then why the need of Baptism if the blood by grace is all we need? Worst yet our ability to make it into heaven as Jesus Christ said is depending on it. Again, why the need of the baptism(s)?
Because we still need to be able to live right by God.
And we already know that we can never achieve it in the flesh. The Israelites were never able to! No one can as the flesh is eternally corrupted. As a result, God flipped the script as we mentioned in Part I of this article in the new testament and added new features in his son Jesus Christ, our premium salvation package of aside from the forgiveness our sins through the blood that Jesus poured out at Calvary: and that is the ability to kill the flesh and be reborn altogether a new creature by his own Spirit.
The only scenario where baptism(s), note the plural notation here, did not take place in the life of a believer in the New Testament for example was in the case of one of the thief who was on one of the cross with Jesus at Calvary. He received and believed in Jesus Christ and Jesus immediately said that that very day he will be with him in heaven. I personally believe that this is the case of many who receive Jesus Christ during their last hours on this earth. Their slates are wiped clean and immediately they leave this earth and go to be with the father. However, after receiving Jesus many of us will live on until our appointed on this earth comes. And until then, we will need to help living clean lives before God by keeping his commandments while fellowshipping with him in the light continuously.
The are 2 baptisms Jesus required before we could see heaven in John 3:1-21outlines earlier at the beginning of this article: Being born of the water and then the Spirit. The purpose of the first water baptism is described as followed:
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2, 11 – 13)
See, through water baptism God is creating a new you altogether first and getting rid of the old sinful man:
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are 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 if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin. (Romans 6, 3 – 7, KJV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17, English Standard Version)
However looking at the description of water baptism, you can tell that we are going to need more than that if the goal of God is to help us live right before him and bare good fruits. That old man can try to come back at any time and draw us back to the flesh and our old ways. That is where Jesus prescribed the second baptism, that of the Holy Ghost. Although John the Baptist started baptizing before Jesus started his ministry to prepare the way for Jesus Christ, he was unable to perform that second baptism needed to complete the “born again” process. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the full salvation package and only him can complete that second baptism by giving us the Holy Ghost:
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11, NKJV)
All this is still to be received by faith only for they are all gifts of God found in our Lord Jesus Christ! Even in this sense, we were still saved by grace only! Our salvation starts with the atonement of our sins with the blood of Jesus, baptism with water by which we die with Jesus Christ and are quicken back to life a new creature in him by faith in God, then through Jesus Christ we receive the Holy Ghost to help us love him by keeping his commandments by which we bear good fruits. All this is found in Jesus Christ as he is truly the only way to God!
As we mentioned in the old article, obedience to God’s commandments was a requirement in the old testament and was a require of Jesus himself as well:
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (New International Version, John 14:21)
Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35, New International Version)
Satan led a rebellion as we know in heaven and you can be sure that God will not let any rebellious human who is only interested in living like he/she pleases to enter heaven. The GREAT I AM is called the King of all Kings and heaven is a kingdom. There is no democracy in Heaven. What God says in final because he is not a president elected but a King. And the other reason the New Covenant is a better covenant aside from Jesus Christ himself pouring out his blood for us is that we now have the Holy Spirit through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not require us to go through both baptisms because he rejoices seeing people dipped in water or wants to give more work to his spirit to keep him busy. No. To remedy to the second challenge of the sinful flesh through which we could never leave in obedience, he flipped the script and got us a “helper” who is in charge of helping our spirit man directly to help us live right before him. The Holy Spirit that Jesus gives us through the baptism of the Holy Ghost after we go through a water baptism is called a “helper”:
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes forth from the Father, He will bear witness concerning Me. (John 15:26-27, John 15:26)
One the helper comes, he helps your spirit man overcome the sinful flesh so that you can now bare good fruits or good “works” :
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8: 1 – 4, KJV)
Do you know that if you don’t have the Holy Ghost you don’t belong to Jesus Christ?
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8- 9)
Many churches shy away from preaching this truth because many would fear that because they do not speak in tongues, they do not have the Holy Spirit. That is a completely different topic of discussion for another day but the focus here is our need of the Holy Spirit in our salvation journey. If you do not have the Holy Spirit you cannot make it as he is the one who bears witness that you are the indeed the child of God (“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” Romans 8:16). The Holy Ghost is therefore God’s secret weapon to deal with our inability to live in obedience through the flesh as was the case in the old covenant.
He now went the “spirit way” rather than the “flesh way” by empowering our spirit man directly through the power of his own Spirit to overcome the flesh so that we can produce the good fruits of obedience.
God hence decentralized the Holy Ghost so that we each through Jesus Christ can receive. Back in the old testament the Holy Ghost only abided on certain people called by God to fulfill specific purposes. To hear anything for God at that time as well, you had to go inquire with the priest.. As a result if anyone ever tells you that you were saved by grace therefore you can go back to living like the devil and break all the commandments of God in the Bible, you have been deceived and will go to hell. Not my words:
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7, -20, KJV)
Don’t you know that Jesus Christ doesn’t care about what you say! Our words are cheap to him. He is looking at your fruits or works . Only by those he can tell whom you belong to.
Now imagine people telling you that you are saved by grace so you no longer need to obey the commandments of Jesus Christ. Imagine a fellow brethren who sleeps with your wife or husband and tells you that he/she was saved by grace so he no longer has to live under the law so he is forgiven? Does that make sense? Wouldn’t you say something in the lines of : “I Thought you were a Christian?” Why? Because the fruits or works of Christians are supposed to be different from those of the people of the world. Was that truly what Paul was referring to when he elaborated about us no longer being under the law? For us and continue living anyhow under the pretext that we could never lose our Salvation? What did Paul say:
“What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” (Romans 6:15, KJV)
So there was “work” under the law that the new covenant did away with as no one could ever fulfill to law in the flesh. And there is “good fruits” aka “work” under the New Testament that many apostles mentioned that has to do with the fruits you are bearing through the Holy Ghost in you on this earth:
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:14-26, NKJV)
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. (Romans 6:12-13,NIV)
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7: 21 – 23, KJV)
Glory Be to God for flipping the script in the new covenant sealed in the blood of Jesus!
Once the Holy Ghost comes and seals you he will also help you overcome the flesh, then you will be living differently from your old way of life before Jesus Christ. How would people know then that something changed? You will start doing “weird things” that you never used to doing before but that Jesus commanded us such as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law – (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV) If these is no law against those things, doesn’t that mean then that the law is fulfilled and the commandment of God kept?
Now to the proponent of the hyper-grace movement who believe that because you have been saved so you need not to follow God’s commandment and rather live freely in sin while continuously asking God for forgiveness without repenting, how will you fulfil the greatest commandment Jesus talked about which is:
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22, 38 – 40, KJV)
And let me close by asking you the same question Paul (the apostle who advoked the most about grace) asked the early Christians:
“What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” (Romans 6:15, KJV)
His answer again is: “God Forbid!”
Let us hold on fast to the faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ and serve him in truth and spirit!
And to echo the word Jesus told the woman who was about to commit adultery in John 8:11:
“Now go and sin no more.”
Jesus is coming back soon, do you want to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Please pray this simple prayer to invite him into your life!
Glory be to the Great I AM the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Our Lord God is One!
Thank you Jesus the GREAT I AM!
