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Rev Terry Fox
Reverend Terry G. Fox is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church. He is Chairman of the North American Mission Board, member of its Executive Committee and the FamilyNet Broadcast Communications Committee, as well as numerous other subcommittees. He's listed on the Who's Who Among Outstanding Corporate Executives. He is a sought after speaker and has traveled and ministered in many places in the United States, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Rev. Fox and his wife Barbara have three children. You may contact him at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 South Topeka, Wichita, Kansas, 67211; phone (316) 262-1452; or Fax (316) 262-4704.
Religion
2006-03-01 10:52:00
Ask the insurance man-series
QUESTIONL Are good works necessary for salvation?
ANSWER: Is Christian salvation by a person's "works" or by the work of Jesus Christ?  It is by the work of Christ.  This is what distinguishes Christianity from other religions.  It is surprising, and may seem contradictory.  In all of life we get what we work for and deserve....why is this not the case with God?   It is hard to give up the idea of "works salvation!" To think that we can earn our way to heaven is to fail to understand the following:  (1) God's standards are too high for fallen man to achieve.  He is holy!  We can never improve ourselves to be able to live with Him. (2)  We are sinful.  Our human nature is perverse, selfish, dishonest and rebellious.  (3)  If salvation was available to us, Christ would not have had to come to earth. The price paid in the incarnation, life and the death of the Son of God shows us how terrible was our plight. He paid the price of our rebellion. (4) We need to have a new nature to survive in God's presence...and that is what Heaven is.  It is not a celestial retirement community!  It is life in the presence of God.  Forgiveness AND a new nature are necessary. Jesus emphasized it: "You must be born again or you cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)  Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is necessary to be acceptable to God, and this follows our acceptance of Jesus as our substitutionary Savior and Lord.No one in heaven will be able to say, "I am here because I deserve to be here."  All will praise Christ for His grace. Humility will be the common standard there!  Then why does the Bible spend so much time teaching about living good lives?  For two reasons:  (1) Living a good moral life is good for you. When Moses brought down the commandments of God, he stated that God had given them "for our own good."  This is the way that life will be most fulfilling.  The essence of sin is believing that I know better than God what is best for me. And when we try, we find it difficult to do what is right.  (2) Even after receiving Christ as Savior, we need all this instruction and encouragement to recover from the moral sickness that has infected our race.  The understanding that we need much moral instruction is common to all religions; that we can receive God's total forgiveness and internal help is the Christian distinction. Let me say it this way: Christians believe that living a good, moral life is the result and proof of salvation, not the method of getting it.  But don't some non-Christians live better lives that some Christians?  I am afraid so! Only God understands their true selves...where they are coming from and what their inner and outer circumstances are...and whether or not they are truly Christ's.  Jesus warned about false believers.  Fortunately, I don't have to judge. The Bible warns against trying to be the judge except for judging myself.  My hope for Heaven rests on what Christ has done for me, not what I have done for Him.  But His love for me must result in my obeying and serving Him and serving those for whom He lived and died.  "Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but by His mercy He has saved us; by the washing of regeneration and a renewing by the Holy Spirit" {Titus 3:5).
 
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