So when
Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His
head, He gave up His spirit. John
19:30 NKJV
As
someone who has spent the majority of his life trying to teach others, one thing
I have always encouraged others to do is to ask questions. Although it might seem as if that is
something I would not necessarily need to do, you might be surprised how many
people shy away from asking questions for fear of how others might regard
them. The unfortunate result of this,
however, is those who feel they have all the answers usually dominate even when
they are wrong. Sadly, even within the
body of Christ, this happens all too often as those who speak the loudest often
drown out the words of wisdom others might bring to a discussion.
One
of the things I have noticed over the years is that there are certain questions
which never seem to go away, and in fact, also seem to evolve into more complex
ones resulting in believers having to
take sides on issues of theology. A good
example of this would be the seemingly never ending debate concerning eternal
security, which has grown to include faith versus works, and even what is known
as the partial rapture theory. Although
I am sure those who advocate these positions would disagree, after many years
of thought I sincerely believe they are a result of a lack of understanding of
the grace of God, which allows Him to offer salvation to mankind as a reward
for belief only, and not by anything else on our part.
While
I have no illusions of having the last word on this debate, my purpose today is
to simply encourage you to ask your own questions, and allow the Holy Spirit to
help you to understand the questions we all have as a result of studying the
Word. In my own mind, regarding the
subject mentioned above, one of the reasons I choose to believe in eternal
security is a result of what Jesus’ final words were as He died for our
sins. Although I am sure most of us
would say we know what they were, how many have taken the time to really think
about them within the context of what He came to this earth to do?
The
phrase, “It is finished!”, is translated from one Greek word, “teleo”, which means; “with reference also to the form, to do just
as commanded, and generally involving the notion of time, to perform the last act which completes a process, to accomplish,
fulfil”. I highlighted the portion
of the definition which I believe should be our answer to those who might hold
a different view. In His own words,
Jesus plainly states that His death on the cross completed the process whereby
we can be saved. There is simply nothing
left to be done but for us to believe that His death paid the price for our sins.
In
the book of Hebrews, Paul is addressing a group of believers who were
considering returning to the old covenant way of worship. He makes it clear in his letter that the
sacrifice Jesus made on the cross was sufficient for our salvation.
Therefore
He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him,
since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High
Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from
sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need
daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins
and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up
Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have
weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son
who has been perfected forever.
Hebrews 7:25-28 NKJV
The
phrase “saved to the uttermost” is the Greek word pantelēs, which means “all
complete, perfect, completely, perfectly, utterly”. There are many more passages which state
the same thing to us concerning the sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation and the
point in all of them is that there is absolutely nothing more necessary for our
salvation than for us to believe. Jesus’
own words to the unbelievers in the Laodicean church is a promise we all can
take and use for our comfort in knowing we are saved by His grace.
“Behold,
I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I
will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20 NKJV
In
regards to the partial rapture theory, where some choose to believe that you
can be saved but left behind at the rapture of the Church because you have somehow
failed to measure up, I think Paul makes it pretty clear in his teachings that
all who have made the decision to put their faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
will go to meet Him in the air. Look
closely at Paul’s words in his letter to the church at Thessalonica where he
describes the rapture, and those who go.
For the
Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we
who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one
another with these words. 1 Thessalonians
4:16-18 NKJV
There
are two things here that I would point out to you, and those who choose to
believe that not all of us will go.
First of all, Paul says plainly that after the dead in Christ are
raptured, “we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”.
Notice Paul did not say “some of us”, or “those who deserve it”,
but all who are alive and believers in Jesus Christ will go to meet Him in the
air.
Have
you made the decision to accept the salvation offered to us by the sacrifice of
Jesus on the cross for our sins? If you
have, as Paul said, find comfort in the knowledge that you are saved, and
nothing can take that away from you. When
Jesus returns to take us home to be with Him, you will go.
If you have never made that decision to
accept Jesus as you personal Savior, as the passage from Revelations says, He
stands at the door and knocks. Open the
door of your heart today and ask Him to come in. He promises to come in, and you can rest in
the knowledge He will take you home to be with Him for eternity.
Keep
watching.
