The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Greatest Lie Ever Told, #11

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)

We are not being saved from the earth to Heaven, we are being saved from Satan to God.

To be redeemed is to be turned from darkness to light, from the authority of Satan to God.

Again we have a definition of redemption. It has nothing to do with going to Heaven but with being turned from Satan to God. We do not receive forgiveness of sins until we are turned from the power of Satan unto God.

The Christian salvation may be thought of as a journey. We commence in the image of Satan and have Satan's spirit in us. We think the thoughts of Satan, speak the words of Satan, and perform the actions of Satan.

By the time we reach the end of the journey we are in the image of God and have God's Spirit in us. We think the thoughts of God, speak the words of God, and perform the actions of God. This is what the Christian redemption accomplishes.

The Christian redemption includes forgiveness. But the forgiveness is a legal maneuver based upon the atonement made on the cross of Calvary. It is a covering that makes it possible for God to accept us while the transformation takes place.

When the transformation does not take place, and the fruit the Farmer is looking for does not appear, then we stand in clear scriptural danger of being removed from Christ. We have turned the grace of God into an excuse for immorality.

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (James 5:7)

And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. (Luke 13:9)

Salvation is moral transformation. To be saved is to be released from Satan and brought into holy fellowship with God. Salvation is a continuing process in our life. Salvation has a specific beginning, a specific divinely-guided program, and a specific conclusion. It has an alpha and an omega. Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of our salvation.

He or she who endures to the end shall be saved. We cannot stop at one point on the journey and state we are eternally saved. Rather, we can say I have been saved from fornication, I have been saved from drunkenness, I have been saved from gossiping. I have been delivered from the control of the enemy and the Lord Jesus is helping me to worship Him and live for Him.

The righteous are saved with difficulty!

The part of us that has not as yet been redeemed from the hand of the enemy is still under the authority of the Lake of Fire, except that Jesus keeps His protection over us as long as we are abiding in Him and submitting to His rebukes and deliverances. We must "work out" our salvation.

To be continued.