Salvation Is Either By Grace Or Works, But Not Both

Romans 11:1-6, “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

I love that passage of Scripture. The apostle Paul is writings to the Gentile believer at Rome. He teaches them about Israel. God has not cast away His people. In 586 BC, God delivered Israel into the cruel hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. It was the third and final invasion of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. 

War is a cruel thing! I have studied war much throughout history, crying often as I read about the atrocities inflicted by one human being against another. Most of the Jewish men were slaughtered by Babylon when Jerusalem was conquered. The people were tortured and killed by the sword. Many of the women and girls were gang raped by the soldiers. Their homes were burned to the ground. Several thousand surviving Jews were taken captive as slaves, marched 400 miles east to Babylon. These type of brutalities exist in all wars. During World War II, between 1945 and 1949, over 125,000 women were brutally raped, many of whom commit suicide. Some were forced by their own fathers to commit suicide, in disgrace and shame. Over 10,000 German women in Berlin died as a result of sexual abuse by soldiers. This is the ugly reality of the human race at its worst without God! 

Since 586 BC, Israel has no longer existed as a sovereign nation. God divorced Israel because of her habitual adultery with false gods (Jeremiah 3:8). The apostle Paul teaches in Romans 11:1-6 that God has not abandoned His people, but has made a way to come back, but only through faith. Elijah was depressed and thought he was the only saint left in the land, but God told Elijah that He had 7,000 more saints, who had not bowed their knee a whoring after Baal. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Jesus didn't say you must be willing to “repent of your sin” to have eternal life, he simply said to BELIEVE ON ME!!! Do you believe dear reader? Is all your hope in the finished redemptive work of Christ? Mine is! If I go to Hell it will be Jesus' fault, because I am completely trusting Him, because He died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and physically resurrected 72 hours later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). That is “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3b). It is simple, easy and free to be saved. To “be saved” is synonymous in the Bible with being “born again,” “redeemed,” “converted” or “a child of God.” If you are saved, you are a redeemed saint of God. Amen!

We're not saved by works, nor are we kept saved by works! God's gift is salvation, not probation! The only kind of life God gives is eternal life, not temporary life or probationary life. I am heartbroken as I hear popular and trusted preachers corrupt the Gospel. Case in point is Dr. Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University since 2014), who denies the doctrine of eternal security. On January 26, 2020 at BJU, he told 2,700 students:

“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)

Dr. Pettit is a false prophet, who teaches that you CANNOT KNOW you are 100% saved, until you finish the race when you get to Heaven. There are no Biblical requirements or stipulations on how you have to live to get to Heaven, otherwise salvation cannot be by God's grace! Mr. Pettit further heretically states: 

“So when we talk about 'The Race,' what are we talking about? We're talking about beginning and salvation, and then running the race through pursuing holiness and ministry, and service to others. But then let me say, that number three: This race HAS TO be faithfully run to the finish! You HAVE TO finish. Salvation is not just a past reality—“I GOT SAVED,” but is a future destiny! The race is not completed until you cross the finish line at death. What is this race—it is the race as we are running as we are headed toward Heaven.” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 10:27)

That is a corrupt plan of salvation, which superficially professes the simplicity that is in Christ by faith alone, but then perverts the Gospel by requiring discipleship in order to be saved. Salvation must be by grace and by grace alone!!! God's grace is UNMERITED. If you cannot say, “I HAVE IT,” then you don't understand or posses it! Anyone who clearly understands what Christ did on the cross will not have a problem with eternal security. When they understand THE GOSPEL, they will not have a problem with eternal security! Eternal security is not a separate doctrine from salvation, IT IS SALVATION!!! Those who do not know they are saved forever, usually do not know they were saved to start with! If you've ever been saved, you still are saved!!! No amount of fear, worry or doubt can nullify your eternal life!!! IF SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED!!!

Romans 11:1-6 teaches that God has reserved a remnant of Israel, all born-again Jews, saved by faith alone. No unsaved Jew will ever enter into Heaven, and no believing Gentile will ever enter into Hell. The Bible teaches that Jews and Gentiles alike are saved by faith. Gentiles are adopted into Abraham's seed. Literally, if you are saved as a Gentile, you are a spiritual Jew. ...

Galatians 3:26-29, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

It matters not whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, the Messiah Himself said: “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN” (John 3:7). My mother was Swedish. My father was English. “Stewart” is an English name. As far as I know, I am fully a Gentile; yet the Bible says I am of the seed of Abraham, because we share God as our heavenly Father. Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” 

The Bible is so simple. God's promise of blessings ALWAYS followed a line of faith in the Bible, and so it is the same today. Many Jewish people think they are guaranteed eternal life merely because they are biologically, to some extent, Jewish. But the Bible says one is NOT a Jew, who is one OUTWARDLY, but INWARDLY, by faith in Jesus Christ. Do you have the only begotten Son of God dear friend? If you do, you have eternal life; if you don't, you don't have life, but the wrath of God abideth on you (John 3:36). 1st John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” I love that! JESUS IS THE TRUE GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE!!! Jesus is God and eternal life!!! You cannot accept Jesus Christ and not have eternal life, it is IMPOSSIBLE!!! 

“Being saved is not something that you perform, it is something that He performs.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, a great quote from the awesome sermon, “Raised For Our Justification”