CONTINUING IN THE FAITH

Am I telling you a secret when I tell you that the early Christians faced many of the same problems we find in our world? The same devil who sought to lead God's children into sin in the first century is alive and working hard to do the same for us. The warnings Peter gave to the early Christians are just as applicable today as they were in his day. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking him whom he may devour" (1 Pet. 5:8). The tense of the verbs "walk" and "seeking" mean the devil constantly walks about always seeking whom he may devour. Paul also warns of the devil's plan to destroy God's people. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil .... Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.... Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the devil" (Eph. 6:10-11, 13, 16).

Did you take careful note of the commands in these passages? Peter commanded: "Be sober, be vigilant" (1 Pet. 5:8). Paul urged his fellow Christians: "Be strong in the Lord.... Put on the whole armor of God.... Above all, taking the shield of faith." These commands are simply representative of the hundreds and hundreds of similar commands throughout the Bible. I have a question for you to consider. Must Christians obey the commands of the gospel to maintain our salvation? The Apostle John explains: "By this we know we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (l John 5:2-3). Do you honestly believe you can please God if you do not love him? Can you truly love him without keeping his commandments?

Are you aware that many religious leaders deny that we must keep God's commandments to maintain our salvation? I know it seem unreasonable, but there is not the slightest doubt about it. In his book, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), Dr. Ron Rhodes has one brief section on the topic, "Maintaining Holiness Is Not a Condition of Salvation." He affirms: "The view that we must maintain holiness to sustain one's salvation goes against God's gospel of grace as clearly delineated in Scripture" (pp. 274-275). Did Dr. Rhodes not know there is a command for Christians to be holy? "But as he who has called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be holy; for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:15-16). Paul reminded the Christians at Corinth of God's promise: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of mind and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 6: 17 -7: 1).

The Apostle Paul and his companions encountered severe opposition from the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium and in other cities in that area of Asia Minor. In Lystra, some Jews stoned Paul, drew him outside the city and supposed he was dead. "And when they (Paul and Barnabas) had preached the gospel in that city (Derbe), and had taught many, they returned to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch." Will you please listen carefully to what these faithful gospel preachers told the people in those cities? They confirmed the souls of the disciples, and exhorted them to continue in the faith, "and that we must through tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:19-22). Our study today will be devoted to the topic, "Continuing in the Faith."

The word "confirm" means to strengthen, to establish. Christ urged the dead Christians at Sardis: "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found your works perfect before God" (Rev. 3:2). The tense of the verb "confirm" involves repeated action. Paul exhorted those early Christians "to continue in the faith." They were to be constantly devoted to remaining or continuing in the faith.

The Greek word translated "abide" or "remain" or "endure" or "continue" appears one hundred twenty times in the New Testament. Jesus said to his disciples: "If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed" (John 8:31). Is it logical to affirm: "If you do not continue in my word, you are not my disciples?" Jesus Christ uses the word "abide" over and over in his Parable of the Vine and the Branches. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, and you are the branches: he who abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. 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. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:4-7).

In his first epistle, the Apostle John strongly emphasizes the necessity of abiding in the Lord. "He who says he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:6). The verb "abide" is present tense and means to keep on abiding in Christ. Did you notice the word "ought?" "He who says he abides in him ought himself also so to walk." The word "ought" involves moral obligation. John was not making a suggestion about abiding in Christ. He was saying that it was necessary - absolutely necessary. John adds: "Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son" (2 John 9).

"Keep" is another very important word in the New Testament. The New Testament uses several different words that are translated "keep." I shall concentrate on the one that appears most often in the sacred text - tereo. The inspired writers use that word seventy-five times. In fact, the word appears in seventeen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Sometimes the word is rendered "watch" or "observe," but most of the time it is translated "keep." Is there any higher authority in the universe than the Lord Jesus Christ? Please listen to his use of the word "keep." "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). Charles Williams takes into consideration the tense of the verb "keep." He translates the verse: "If you really love me, you will keep my commandments." If we do not keep his commandments, does that not mean we do not love him? But if we have to keep his commandments, does that not mean we are not saved by grace alone through faith alone?

Over and over the New Testament writers stress every Christian's obligation to keep God's word. I shall read some of those examples. Paul charged Timothy: "Keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22). "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (Jas. 1:27). "Hereby we now that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keeps his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby we know that we are in him" (1 John 2:3-5). The Lord said to the church at Thyatira: "He who overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations" (Rev. 2:26). The last chapter in the Bible helps us to know that keeping the teachings of the scripture is not optiona1. "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he who keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book.... Then says he unto me, See that you do not do it: for I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of them who keep the sayings of this book: worship God" (Rev. 22:7, 9). I could give you many other examples but these will have to do for the present.

There is one other word I must discuss briefly - the word "do." You would do yourself a great favor if you would take your concordance and examine the many times the word "do" appears in the sacred text. The Greek word translated "do" appears 576 times in the New Testament. James affirms: "Therefore to him who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin" (Jas. 4: 17). "Little children, let no man deceive you: he who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous" (1 John 3:7). If a preacher teaches that we do not have to do righteousness, is he not deceiving his listeners? John adds: "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he who does not love his brother" (1 John 3:10). Is John establishing conditions by which we can know we belong to God? If we fail to do righteousness, we are not of God. We must to the will of God to become Christians. We must do the will of God to remain Christians.

In their book, Conviction without Compromise: Standing Strong in the Core Beliefs of the Christian Faith (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2008), Norman Geisler and Ron Rhodes seek to prove the Calvinistic doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. In their chapter, "The Necessity of Faith," they cite these verses from John. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He who hears my word, and believes on him who sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but has passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Jesus said to Martha, the sister of Lazarus: "I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25).

Geisler and Rhodes comment: "If salvation were not by faith alone, then Jesus' message in the Gospel of John - manifest in the above quotations - would be deceptive. That is, if salvation is obtained by faith and good works, then it would have been wrong of Jesus to say so many times that there is only one condition of salvation - faith" (p. 143). There is a serious problem with Geisler and Rhodes' observation: Jesus never said even one time that "there is only one condition of salvation - faith." Do these distinguished evangelical scholars not know the difference between salvation by faith and salvation by faith alone? If salvation is by faith alone, as I have already pointed out, the Bible's use of words like "abide," "keep" and "do" is deceptive.

Incidentally, in his book, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, Dr. Rhodes affirms: "Salvation is said to be by faith alone close to 200 times in the New Testament." He mentions some of the same verses I read to you from John (p. 175). In their book, Conviction without Compromise, Geisler and Rhodes say: "Over 100 times in the New Testament, salvation is said to be by faith alone - with no works in sight" (p. 142). Which is it - 200 hundred times or 100 times? The simple truth is: Neither. There is not one verse in the New Testament which teaches salvation by faith alone - not one. James makes it plain that faith without works is dead (Jas. 2:17). When you take into consideration the tenses of the verbs, the passage reads: "Even so faith if it keeps on not having works, keeps on being dead, being continuously without works."

Remember that Paul exhorted the people of Lystra and Iconium to continue in the faith. If we must continue in the faith - and that is not one option among many for Christians - what do we have to do? There is no way to continue in the faith if we do not know what the faith is. Christians must devote many hours to the study of God's inspired, infallible and complete revelation of his will. Have you thought seriously about the emphasis the Bible places on knowing God and his will? The Apostle Peter concludes his second letter: "But grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18). The New Testament uses some form of the word "know" almost 900 times. The Apostle John tells us: "If you know that he is righteous, you know that every one who does righteousness is born of him" (1 John 2:29). Should we not set aside some time every day to study the word of God?

The little book of 1 John continuously stresses doing works of righteousness. We will have to study the Bible to know what works of righteousness are, but there is no doubt we must engage in those works. No amount of works can earn salvation for sinful human beings, but we must do the works. The Apostle John makes that very plain. I have already read the following verses to you, but I must repeat them. "Little children, let no man deceive you: he who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous... .In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he who does not love his brother" (1 John 3:7, 10). Calvinists say we are saved to do good works, not saved by our good works. Whatever the case: if we fail to do good works we are not of God. Paul affirmed: "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2: 1 0).

There surely is not a serious Bible student in the world who does not know what good works God demands of his children. We must feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison (Mt. 25: 35-36). We must visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction (Jas. 1:27). Paul admonished the Galatians: "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of the faith" (Gal. 6:9-10). The inspired author of Hebrews adds: "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; and them who suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body" (Heb. 13:1-3).

Can any person continue in the faith if he makes no effort to teach those who are not in the faith? That does not mean that every Christian must be a fulltime soul winner, but it does mean we should make an effort to teach our family members, our friends and neighbors. Jesus calls his followers "the salt of the earth" (Mt. 5:13). But the salt does no good, as Rebecca Manley affirms, so long as it is in the saltshaker. Jesus also calls Christians "the light of the world." He commands us: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Mt. 5: 14-16).

If we wish to continue in the faith, we must seek God's guidance. As I have already indicated, we seek his guidance through the study of his word. But in addition, we must pray to our heavenly Father. Have you noticed in Paul's epistles how often he mentioned prayer? He said to Timothy: "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; for kings, and for all who are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" (1 Tim. 2:1-2). He prayed for individuals, like Timothy, but he also prayed for churches. He told the Philippians: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.... And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment" (Phil. 1: 3-4, 9).

Finally, if we are to continue in the faith, we must worship regularly with God's people. When members of the church become irregular in worshipping with the church, they soon fall away from the faith. The author of Hebrews knew of some who were not worshipping regularly. He pled with members of the body of Christ: "Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as we see the day approaching" (Heb. 10:24-25).

The book of Hebrews constantly urges Christians to continue in the faith, although it does not use that language. Three verses from this great book will have to suffice for today. "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God" (Heb. 3: 12). "Let us labor therefore to enter into the rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief' (Heb. 4:11). "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help on time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334