If 1000 church people were asked to prove that they are saved, born again, ready for the rapture, in good standing with the Lord, a child of God, etc., their answers would most likely consist of the following: 1) the identification of their membership (of “belonging to”) a specific religious organization (church, denomination, faith, etc. and 2) the quotation of one or more of the following Biblical verses which they would automatically apply to themselves. We will examine each verse and compare it to the “walk” (life) of the members of “the church” relative to “proof” of their being “in Him” and right standing with Him. The goal of this series is to prove to all church members that all of the things we do, say and think on the spiritual level are meaningless without OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD (LAW/GOSPEL/TRUTH) OF GOD.

JOHN 15:15: “Hereafter I will not call you ‘servants,’ for a servant does not know what his lord does. I will call you (My) ‘FRIENDS’ for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” In this passage Jesus is talking to His disciples who having been with Him, hearing Him and watching Him day and night for over three years. They have preached His Gospel, healed the sick, cast out devils, etc. And He now calls them His “FRIENDS.” Do they need further proof of their spiritual status? Yes, indeed. As Jesus tells us, in spite of all we do in His name, there is a condition that they must meet in order to be to be His “FRIENDS” indeed. We learn about this condition (requirement, caveat) by studying the two previous verses where He had said to them and says to us: “Greater love has no man than this, that He lay down His life for his friends. You are My friends IF YOU DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU TO DO.” In spite of all they had sacrificed and done, WE MUST OBEY HIS WORD IN ORDER FOR HIS DEATH TO HAVE MEANING FOR US. RELAIVE TO ME PERSONALLY, IF I DO NOT OBEY HIM, HE DIED IN VAIN.

SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:17: “If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all things are made new.” We must not assume that churchivity and religiosity are enough to guarantee salvation. The key to the believer’s current spiritual status lies in the words: “IN CHRIST” and exactly what those words mean. In the series titled Who Are God’s People and “My People who are Called by My Name” (key words People and Called respectively), I prove that the vast majority of those who are His people and are called by His name are “CINO’s” (Christians In Name Only), also known as “Sinners Saved By Grace.” A biblical case in point was the church at Corinth. In his first letter to that church the Apostle Paul separated the few TRUE CHRISTIANS from the others in the church by addressing his words to “THEM” who were “SANCTIFIED” (“set aside” for holy works), who were true “SAINTS” (“holy ones”) within the congregation. In John 17:17 Jesus prayed to God that He would “SANCTIFY THEM (His disciples) BY YOUR WORD.” True saints are set aside from all others by obeying God’s Word which must be “worked” (obeyed). God will “JUDGE every person by his WORKS” (Rev. 20:13), meaning the person’s OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORDS (Jn. 12:48-4-50). The Apostle James tells us that faith alone does not save the soul (2:14), that faith without WORKS (obedience) is dead faith (vss 17,24,26). In Ephesians 2:10 the Apostle Paul tells us that those IN CHRIST are “CREATED TO DO GOOD WORKS.” “We live by our faith (in God’s Word–Rom. 10:19). Dead faith (no works)=dead believer. No spiritually dead person (sinner) is “IN CHRIST” in Whom there is “NO DARKNESS (SIN) AT ALL” (1 Jn. 1:5) . Those “IN CHRIST” (obedient saints) are holy/righteous (1 Pet. 1:15,16; 2:5,9). “Only the RIGHTEOUS will be saved” (1 Pet. 4:17,18). The RIGHTEOUS who WORK (OBEY HIS WORDS) “UNTIL THE END OF THEIR LIVES WILL BE SAVED” (Mat. 10:22) upon Christ’s return. Read Born Again. Key word–Born.

JOHN 1:12,13: “For as many as receive Him (take Him as their Savior) … and BELIEVE in His name … He gave the power TO BECOME sons of God.” Taking Jesus as our Savior is a mental construct (a decision) that, if not WORKED (BY OBEYING HIS WORD) is meaningless. The Word of God HAS THE POWER TO MAKE ONE A CHILD OF GOD, BUT ONLY IF OBEYED. I have the power to mow my yard. The yard gets mowed ONLY IF I MOW IT. The power of God’s Word to save us applies to us ONLY IF WE OBEY IT.

One of the “proofs” of one’s salvation is that the speaker “loves Jesus.” However, when shown the following Scriptures relative to our love for Christ, we find that the vast majority of church people do not love Him for the right reason. They love Him for supposedly saving them; they do not love Him enough to obey Him. One cannot be a Sinner Saved By Grace and be IN HIM because “IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS (SIN) AT ALL.” Sin is the transgression of the (Ten Commandment) Law” (1 Jn. 3:4). The fourth (God’s Sabbath) commandment must be obeyed like the other nine. If we break one of the commandments we break (transgress) the entire Law (Jam. 2:10), making us “workers of INIQUITY” (Law-breakers) whom Jesus will reject Him on Judgment Day (Mat. 7:23) because they did not obey the fourth commandment. He said in JOHN 14:15: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” AS PROOF OF ONE’S LOVE FOR HIM. In verse 23 He equates His commandments to His Words. Every Word is a command. In JOHN 15:10 He says: “If you keep My commandments, (then and only then) you will abide in My Love, JUST AS I KEEP GOD’S COMMANDMENTS AND (THEREBY) ABIDE IN HIS LOVE.” Even Jesus had to obey God’s Law.

JOHN 2:3-6: In order to love Jesus we must KNOW HIM. All who are supposedly saved and born again claim to know Him. In this passage John states that we indeed know Him (only) IF WE KEEP (OBEY) HIS COMMANDMENTS. Anyone who claims to know Jesus and does not keep all ten of His commandments “IS A LIAR AND THE TRUTH IS NOT IN HIM.” Such a one most certainly does not ABIDE IN HIM. Whosoever KEEPS (OBEYS) HIS WORD HAS THE LOVE OF GOD PERFECTED IN HIM AND IS TRULY IN HIM. This is he who PROVES that he is “IN HIM” by “walking as He (Jesus) walked” while on earth as a man. L.J.