In thinking about who will be harpazoed in the rapture, I have been chewing on this analogy the Lord gave me recently. Think of genuine, blood-bought, Spirit-regenerated salvation as being like a glass of crystal clean Living Water that flows from God's throne. Pure, pristine, healing, life-giving water. Now, think of our filthy self-righteous works as dog poop. (Lest you cringe at the crude analogy, do a little research, if you have not already, on the nature of the filthy rag to which our self-righteous deeds are equated to by the Lord’s prophet in Isaiah 64:6. It’s possible you may find dog poop to be less cringe-worthy than what is described there. Just sayin’.) The slightest bit of dog poop added to the glass of Living Water pollutes and defiles the whole glass, removing its life-giving quality. None of us, for even a moment, would give any serious consideration to drinking that glass of water if we knew there was even just a little dog poop in it. So it is with the Lord’s gracious gift of salvation. Grace is no longer pure, undefiled, soul-saving grace if it is qualified by some additional requirement of works by man as the basis for either earning or maintaining that salvation. We are saved by grace, through faith, and not of works, lest any man should boast. When someone tries to add some sort of work to God’s grace as a prerequisite for receiving or maintaining salvation, I do not think it becomes a hair-splitting theological debate. I think it puts that person who is relying on the required work in peril of their eternal soul’s destiny. I say that because to require some addition of man’s deeds to the finished work of Jesus Christ is to characterize His work as being somehow insufficient and in need of something more. It is not insufficient, and it is not in need of something more. In fact, it is just the opposite. In order for it to accomplish what it is intended to, God’s grace requires that absolutely nothing be added to it. This is quite serious stuff. I’ve heard of people adding all sorts of things as prerequisites to being saved from God’s judgment and granted the gift of eternal life. Being baptized, speaking in tongues, observing the Sabbath and making sure all accounts are flawlessly current in repenting of your sins are four big ones that come to mind. I shutter to think of how many professing believers will be left behind because they have not yet truly trusted solely in the finished work of Jesus Christ, embodied in His death, burial and resurrection. Not everyone who says to Him, Lord, Lord on that day will be headed to the bridal chamber at Abba’s house. I hope that perhaps someone who has intentionally added some dog poop to the Lord’s glass of Living Water will see this, change their mind, and put their full trust in Him before that trumpet sounds, or worse yet, they breathe their last. As I read the scriptures, the only work required for salvation is the work that we believe on Him (Jesus) whom the Father has sent. (John 6:29) Good works will follow, but they are never the basis for obtaining or maintaining the Lord’s gift of salvation by grace. I had to think on this one a little bit. Of course, I agree that nothing can be added to grace, and if someone is trusting in their own righteousness to save them, they are greatly deceived. Paul makes that clear in Galatians. But when a person has trusted in Christ, then becomes confused about adding some human effort toward being justified, I don't think they forfeit their salvation, or their place in the rapture. They are wrong, and if the Spirit lives within them, I believe they should be disciplined by the Lord and corrected. A refusal to heed the warnings could indicate they never knew Christ to begin with and were false brethren. No one can defend adding good works to grace in order to be saved. However, I do think saved people can become confused and God will set them on the right path, as long as they once genuinely trusted in the cross alone. They can do tremendous damage by teaching otherwise. Instead of being "left behind," (speaking of believers) I can see all their works being tried by fire and the wood, hay and stubble going up in smoke. They might be saved as someone fleeing a burning house, escaping with only their life. There will be those who say, "Lord, Lord" to Him, and he says, "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you." I have to agree here with David. While I cringe at the glass of water analogy and understand what you were getting at Watchman, I think there is an essential difference. My uncle believed he could lose his salvation. He would have fallen into the dirty glass of water part in your analogy, but I fully believe he is in heaven now. I think he may have woken up in heaven and realized that he had wasted a lot of time trying to earn the salvation that he felt unworthy of, but had been given freely when he initially repented of his sin. Like David mentioned, many born-again believers will see things go up in smoke that we thought were "helping" us in our long journey, but were really wasting time. Those who are denied entrance to heaven, by my understanding of the verses, did not truly repent of their sins and accept Jesus' free gift of salvation. They called themselves something they were not. For example, I could tell people I was french. I could speak with a french accent, maybe even know the language enough to throw around some french phrases. Maybe I fool the people around me into believing that I am french. But if a real french person spoke to me, they would detect instantly that I am not french. Maybe a poor analogy, but I hope it makes the point. LOL ... yep the poop in the glass of water analogy has me going ew! Its hard to know people’s hearts whether they are truly saved or not. We can only go by what they say and their actions. I love this chart I saw posted on the RITA facebook side ... it helps in identifying if someone is truly trusting in the Biblical Jesus or the modern day one. I have trouble understanding when someone who claims to be a believer and yet they struggle with “once saved always saved” and have no assurance if they will make heaven. Or those who say I never felt any emotion when I got saved. Nothing happened - no change. This disturbs me ... because a true saved person would experience joy and peace instantly because they know their sins are forgiven and they are heaven bound! When King David sinned he said “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation”. And once a believer during the church age gets saved ... the Holy Spirit resides in them ... and what are the fruits of the Spirit? The first 3 are ... “love, joy and peace” this is why I don’t get why others in the church or on Christian forum boards struggle with the salvation issue ... it leads me to wonder if they only have a head knowledge belief. :unsure: Indeed Geri7, as discussed earlier we either have the seal of the Holy Spirit or we don't! I guess this is how people will be surprised, because often a different measuring stick than God! I know that the promises and work of God are True and Faithful, but the weight of my own sins and the knowledge that I deserve Hell does often cause me to wonder! TR
