How can you know you have something
that you don't know you had in the first place?
Let me first explain where this thought originates. This writer has recently genuinely wondered how it is that people of the Armenian faith could have ever been saved. That is, if they were physically born into the Armenian family of faith to begin with and have never known any other tradition. How can these people be genuinely saved believing that they can somehow influence, by their own works, the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary? How can that be?
So what is an Armenian? What do they believe that is different from the truth found in the Word of God. Well the short of it is that they believe that their own works in this life can have an influence on whether they can have everlasting life or not.
For the sake of clarity, this writer does not include those who are presently involved in the Armenian family of faith who came from a faith correctly rooted in the Word of truth and hence who are genuinely saved even though they may be confused about their salvation at the present time.
In order for us to be clear concerning what we mean by being saved or having everlasting life we need to include here at this point a fairly detailed and truthful description of what it means to be born again of the Spirit of God.
There are several seemingly different terms that are used to describe this state of being. Here are the most commonly accepted terms we might hear today. Most use the term 'saved' {as in: saved from everlasting death in the lake of fire}, 'born again' or 'born from above', 'justified in the eyes of God' or simply 'justified' or 'having everlasting life' {compared to having everlasting death} or being 'in Christ' compared to 'Christ in you', which is something else entirely.
For the sake of saving time and energy this writer will use the term 'saved' in the following text but the reader may also find any one of the terms listed above in the following text as well.
So what do these terms allude to? What does it mean to be 'saved'? Well, in a nut shell it means you must believe what God, the Father, has said about His Son.
God's Son was given the name Jesus. [Matthew 1:21]
So what did God, the Father say about Jesus that we must believe? God, the Father said that Jesus is the Christ or the Messiah, which means that Jesus is the Saviour of men and the cosmos that was created for and suited for men. God, the Father, says that Jesus is God Himself clothed in flesh from the womb of the virgin Mary. [Matthew 1:18-25]
God, the Father, says that He Himself, in the form of His Devine Spirit {the Holy Ghost}, caused the virgin Mary to become impregnated with the baby Jesus, in the form of flesh, and that the baby Jesus, when he became a grown young man and knowing the Devine will of God, the Father, caused the events that led to the death of Jesus, the Christ, as a sinless sacrifice for the sins of all men; so that now, when men believe this testimony that God says about His Devine Son, they are no longer held accountable for their sins because all of their sins have been wiped away by the sacrifice of God Himself in the form of the man, Jesus, the Christ. [Matthew 1:18-25]
So, now that we have a better grasp on what it means to be saved, let's take, for example, an Armenian believer who has supposedly believed they have everlasting life and yet, at the same time, have been convinced that they can lose everlasting life after they have believed what the Holy Scripture says in John Chapter 3 verse sixteen.
Now the writer must ask the question again - after reading this verse, how can the Armenian believer know that they are saved or have everlasting life?
It is an oxymoron to say in one breath that you believe God's testimony about His Son and in the next breath to say that you believe your earthly works, in the flesh or other wise, can have the effect of nullifying the Devine works of Jesus, the Christ in wiping away all of your sins and therefore making you clean and just in the eyes of God, the Father who is going to require that anyone who does not believe His testimony be cast from His presence and into everlasting torment in the lake of fire! That is the same as saying: I believe you but I don't!!!
Now if everlasting life is based upon belief and belief alone, how can the Armenian believer be saved or have everlasting life. The sad answer is that they can not have ever been saved if they also, from the beginning of their faith, believed that any of their own works has or may have any influence upon the finished works of Jesus, the Christ.
Again it is incumbent on us, at this point, to stop and define what the term "everlasting life" entails. To begin with let us establish that everyone will have everlasting life, according to the Holy Scriptures, but where they exist during that everlasting life is the more important question. Some people are going to have everlasting life in the heavenlies, in the presence and peace of God, the Father and some will have everlasting life in the lake of fire and therefore suffer the wrath of God, the Father.
Then there are those who have been saved or will be saved {having everlasting life in the new heavens and the new Earth} but because they were unfaithful, apostate and disobedient to the precepts and commandments of our Lord {Jesus, the Christ}, will be held or hurt by the second death for 1,000 years in blackness of darkness. {Note that this age belongs inside the envelope of time that God has allotted for the purpose of dealing with the rebellion of Angels and men. The total amount of time for men will be 7,000 years. The total amount of time for the Angels has never been revealed to us in the Scriptures to this writers knowledge.}
In other words they are saved but will suffer separation from God for the duration of Christ's Millennial Reign over the Earth, after which, they will be resurrected to stand at the Great White Throne Judgment.
Since they are saved, their names will be found in the Lambs Book of Life and they will escape everlasting damnation in the lake of fire and they will be admitted into God's kingdom for the everlasting ages to come {Note: This will come to pass only after God has created the new heavens and new Earth and the old heavens and Earth have been destroyed}.
Being separated from God and cast into the everlasting fire is described as 'second death'. Hence, the un-saved are separated from God for the everlasting ages, in everlasting torment, in the lake of fire {with the emphasis on being separated from God for the everlasting ages}.
Therefore, being saved or 'having everlasting life' generally means one will escape the everlasting wrath of God in flames, and will have their part in the family of God, as an adopted child of God, for the everlasting ages to come.
How can a person really believe that they have everlasting life when they also believe they can lose everlasting life? Now I repeat the question in the title again but in a way that applies specifically to this notion.
How can you know you have everlasting life when you don't know you had everlasting life in the first place? The answer is: you can't!
Those who believe you can lose everlasting life have never really believed John 3:16 in the first place. Or, to put in another way, they have never believed God's Word in the first place.
The other side of this coin is just as bad. If they are attempting to prove that they have everlasting life based upon the evidence of their everyday lives and how "good" they are, then they are really saying that it is my 'good works' that have saved me and keeps me saved unto everlasting life and God's Holy book says we can't do that.
The Word of God says this about our works achieving everlasting life:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." [Ephesians 2:8-9]
So if we have never believed God's Word in either of these two precepts, how then can we say that we are or ever have been saved or have everlasting life? We can't, and therein lies the problem with so called anti-Christian cults that tell their congregations that they can lose everlasting life.
But let's tighten our terms for the sake of understanding the terms 'life' and 'death'. Let's define everlasting life with God simply as 'everlasting life' and let us define everlasting death in the lake of fire, without God, as 'everlasting death'. These are the spiritual terms used to describe one's everlasting state after physical death.
These cults are based on a belief system known as Armenianism. It is a school of theology based on the * {false} teachings of Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius, for whom it is named. It is perhaps most prominent in the Methodist movement and found in various other evangelical circles today. It stands in contrast to Calvinism. Armenians as well as Calvinists appeal to various Scriptures and the early church fathers to support their respective views, however the differences remain — particularly as related to the sovereignty of God in salvation and the ideas of election and predestination. http://www.theopedia.com/Arminianism * The
word 'false and it's parenthesis above belongs to this writer.Some cults believe that God predestines only those whom He chooses for everlasting life, through His own sovereign will, which totally removes any responsibility of choice, by believing through faith, by the un-saved. Calvinism is the major source of this type of theology. Calvinists purposely overlook the fact that God's Word specifically says:
Did you see the words "whosoever will, let him"? That means that God does not predestine or pick and choose only certain people to be saved! On the contrary, it means that the choice is left up to every individual ever born as to whether they will believe God's Word or not.
"Calvinism is the theological system associated with the Reformer John Calvin that proposes a particular understanding of Scripture, God, humanity, salvation, and the church. Some aspects of Calvinism are unique (e.g. double predestination), while other portions are similar, if not identical, to Protestant doctrines of the Reformation." http://www.theopedia.com/Calvinism.
Nonetheless, Calvinism is as much an anti-Christian cult as is Armenianism. Each in their own way dovetail eventually into the same theological error.
The only predestination that God exercises is that every individual will have their chance to respond to the Will of God and if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they have everlasting life. But, if they don't believe the Word of God they will not have everlasting life but will suffer everlasting second death in the lake of fire.
The first death, for the saved, would be the death of our physical body before the rapture of the Church, although Paul sometimes refers to this death as being asleep in Christ. The first death, for the un-saved will be their physical death from the life we now know and experience.
The second death, for the saved overcomer, would be the death of the physical, Adamic body just after the rapture of the Church. But in the moment of a twinkling of an eye they will be resurrected from second death into their everlasting spiritual bodies like Christ had when He was resurrected.
The second death, for the saved non-overcomer will occur just after the rapture of the Church but they will not be worthy to be resurrected from the second death until the judgment at the Great White Throne 1,000 years later.
[Revelation 20:12]The second death, for the un-saved, will occur at the time when they are judged at the Great White Throne judgment and when their names are not found in the Lambs Book of Life and their souls will be cast into the everlasting lake of fire where they will remain throughout the everlasting ages.
Since God can see the beginning from the end, God knows who it is that has and who it is that will, in the future, respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit and will therefore respond to the Will of God and be saved. The Holy Spirit urges every person to respond to the Will of God but that does not mean that everyone will respond and thus be saved.
So what is the Will of God, one might ask? And the Word of God has the ready answer for anyone who will make the effort to read God's Word to find it out.
God is not a respecter of persons and therefore leaves no one out when it comes to His urgings for men to respond to His Will to be saved unto everlasting life.
Armenianism holds to the falsity that one can lose everlasting life while Calvinism holds to the falsity that God chooses only a certain number to be saved and no others. My question to the Calvinist has always been: Then how do you know if God chose you or not? How do you know if you are saved? And their answer has always been that they know they have been saved because they are leading good and decent lives.
Well, God's Word says if we think that it is our works that determines whether we are saved then we most certainly are not saved for it is written: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
So you see, it is by the works of Jesus, the Christ and Him alone that we are saved. Period.
So both of these main-line anti-Christian cults come together in the end by admitting that they really don't know they have been or are saved and that can be for only one reason. They have never believed God's Holy Word on the matter, in the first place, and God's Word says that you must believe; for is it not written: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Let God be true and all men be made liars.
It is my express hope that this brief meditation has helped someone see the Truth that is God's Word in a more helpful way and in seeing the Truth will be able to believe God's Word unto everlasting life.
Your brother in Christ Jesus,
Sam Ennis