We are approaching the day of October 31, the day on which 500 years have passed since the beginning of the great Reformation inside the Catholic Church, the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther: the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther, while translating the Bible into German, was deeply marked, translating Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, by what Paul wrote about salvation, the salvation of the human soul, salvation that is obtained only through faith. The passage that marked Luther was from the Letter to Romans 3: 21-30
One of the most significant achievements of the Reformation is the return to the biblical message that salvation, salvation of the soul from the consequences of sins, is received only through faith in Jesus Christ. Not through the payment of so-called “indulgences,” that is, donations made to the church, donations which solves the problem of a person’s sins; delete sins from the list of that person’s lifetime sins.
The tragedy is that there are still many today who believe that if they give money to the church, if they pay tithing and make donations, God closes one eye so that He does not see all the misery of their lives. And instead of making changes in life, they bribe God with some money. Extremely sad!
From the statement that salvation is obtained only through faith, many wrong theories have emerged.
Salvation, yes, is received only by faith, by every individual who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came to earth to give Himself as a Sacrifice for the sins of each of us. Thus, if we believe this, if we believe that we are sinners and that He died as a sacrifice for our sins, we receive in return, as a result of our faith, the salvation of the soul, the salvation of our soul from sin, hell, and our transfer to heaven, in the presence of God. These consequences are for an eternity. For our eternal life.
Faith means trust, conviction, about things and situations that we do not see but we KNOW that they exist and we know that they will take place.
In the first verse of Hebrews chapter 11 we have the definition of faith: “Now faith is the substance of the things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (NKJV translation)
The mistake that some distinguished theologians and preachers have made and still makes is that in order to reach heaven, to be saved, it is enough to believe on an intellectual level. Nothing else matters. You can do what you want, you can live as you want, because salvation is only by faith. And they quote Luther.
But Luther did not say that you can live as you wish. He said that indulgences, money given to the church, do not blot out your sins, do not secure your heaven, do not move you in the presence of God. Faith in Christ does that. We are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ.
That is: the only door to salvation in the Kingdom of God is faith in Jesus Christ.
But after I crossed that threshold, after I walked in that door?
Then my status changes completely. I am entering another country, where there are other laws. And the next step is to start learning the laws of the country I entered and respect them. Laws are not necessarily restrictive. They are a guide to live easily and freely in the new country.
Coming from Romania to Great Britain I had to quickly learn some basic things to live here. In order to avoid disaster, hospital or cemetery, I had to learn that cars do NOT drive on the right side of the road, as in Romania, but on the left. It’s a law in the UK and I have to abide by it, regardless of my opinion or my past experience. In order to move freely, without problems, I had to learn and apply the new traffic law in the country where I live. I bought the Traffic Law and drove for a few hours with an instructor.
Is the traffic law restrictive? Not. The law gives me the freedom to drive without problems. If I refuse to apply it, I don’t survive long. If I aspire to drive according to my law in Romania, I end badly. And if I don’t die, they’ll kick me out of the country. I have to adopt the new law of the country I entered. To have the right to stay in it.
So it is with salvation: I receive it ONLY through FAITH in Jesus Christ. But once I am saved, I must live by other laws if I want to be free, to live, and not be expelled from salvation. Just as I can be expelled from Britain, I can be expelled from salvation.
Then what keeps me in salvation? Doesn’t do it my faith in Jesus? Yes. Faith keeps me, but faith in action, ACTIVE FAITH. This is the saving faith. It is faith that PRODUCES deeds, attitudes, thoughts, words. A living faith that I prove by my deeds. My deeds are the CONSEQUENCE of my salvation. NOT my deeds, however wonderful they may be, give me salvation. The facts do not save my soul. They must be a consequence of my soul already saved by faith.
The letter of James explains this in James 2: 17-20: “Thus also faith by itself, if it doesnot have works, is dead. 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. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble ! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” (NKJV)
Unfortunately, they are among the so-called Christians today who claim that our lives, our deeds, are not so important, that God is Good and He understands our situation. And many forget that, yes, God is Good and is Love, but the Bible also tells us that He is Holy and a consuming Fire. And He also tells us that we cannot present ourselves before Him if we are not holy. That we will die on the spot. The requirement of holiness is addressed ONLY to those who have already received salvation through faith in Christ.
Therefore, God requires us to be holy, just as He is holy. (Peter’s first letter 1: 15-16)
But what does it mean to be holy? Holy means to be set aside for God, to serve Him. It means giving up what God considers unacceptable by His standards and embracing what God considers acceptable or desirable by His standards.
There are many Christians today, even preachers, pastors, priests, theologians, who plead for a life in which many things are tolerated that in the vision of God presented in the Bible, are unacceptable. And they not only tolerate them, but sometimes they even encourages others to do them.
The desire for power at any cost, the love of money and their acquisition at any cost, even stealing, lying, cheating; and the great plague of the century, sex. Sex outside of marriage, pornography, masturbation, homosexuality, sex change or sexual identity. In a society where men are considered superior to women, there sexual abuse is even more common.
This week I attended a course related to my job. Among other things, there was talk of a pyramid of human needs. And at the base of this pyramid were put the human needs, needs without which man cannot survive. And these were: breathing, water, food, sleep, going to the toilet and having sex. I objected that man can live without having sex. It is a necessity for humanity, otherwise we would disappear, but it is not a basic need to survive as an individual. I was ridiculed by everyone in the room and I was told that; “you can’t live without having sex.” I said it is possible. They all laughed at me. I KNOW it’s possible to live without sexual activity.
While studying at a Theological Institute, one of the subjects taught was “Spiritual Counseling.” I really liked the course. It was very useful to me and it still is.
One of the principles of counseling for as to follow: It is preferable for men to counsel men and women to counsel women. But if a man advises a woman, it is MANDATORY to do it in a room where the door has a transparent window, so that anyone outside can see what is happening in the room. It is not allowed for the two to sit very close to each other and it is not allowed for them to touch eachother. Not at all.
Many today say it’s a “nonsense” theory. It’s definitely not a crazy theory!
Many spiritual counselors ended up in bed with the person they are counselling. About 60-70% of Christians, pastors, priests, are or have been engaged in pornography on the Internet. The statistics say so.
The church in general has become so much like an organization that has little to do with the Bible and God. Therefore, meditating on the Reformation initiated by Luther 500 years ago should challenge us to a new reformation of the Church today. Returning to the teachings of the Bible and the saving faith is the ONLY solution. The topic of faith is the main vein of the New Testament.
Today, every Christian who wants to be saved should look in the mirror of the soul and see, through the prism of the Bible, how he/she is in reality. And then to re-enter the process of sanctification. It’s own sanctification. If, after looking at ourselves in the mirror, we consider that we have nothing to “sanctify”, to clean in us, then we look in a mirror that deforms.
Let’s not look at people, no matter who they are, to make models of life out of them. And this so that we are not disappointed by their falls and so that we do not follow their ways if they are wrong.
Let’s read the Bible and pray that God will show us the deep meaning of the words written there.
There is no time for intrigue, disputes, divisions, the pursuit of power, wealth, inadmissible pleasures. It is time to turn completely to God through faith in Christ.
We live in very difficult times both globally and individually. In order to resist and remain holy Christians, we must apply Bible principles in our lives. We must fight a constant battle with ourselves and with the pressure of the times in which we live in. THE BELIEF that Jesus died for me and that HE is committed to providing me with everything I need, not necessarily everything I want, must hold us back and help us stand up to the pressures of the society in which we live. Are we ridiculed because we are holy? Jesus was ridiculed. We will live in this world just for a while.
Are we in extreme situations, where we don’t think we will resist longer and everything seems hopeless? There comes the belief that He, Jesus, will make a way, He will intervene, He will not leave us. The solution in moments of maximum pressure is NOT to come out at any cost, even sinning. The solution is faith to the end that He, Jesus will intervene. In His time and by His methods.
I repeat over and over again: to rededicate our lives to Jesus, to fill our minds with the New Testament, to spend time in prayer. Let us repent, we, the repentants! Repentance is the only way for us and is the only way to help others follow Jesus. Jesus is ready to come. How am I waiting for Him? But you?
May God bless us with saving faith, active faith.
With love in Christ,
Georgeta
Geta's Blog 
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