Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. ~ Colossians 1:25-28

Notice that Paul states that he labored in ministry by God’s working which worked mightily in him so as to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Now, what is Paul talking about? Throughout the epistles we see a repeated promise, hope, and expectation of the faithfulness of God working within us.

For example, consider Paul’s words to the Philippians in chapter one.

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. ~ Philippians 1:3-7

The promise, hope, and expectation that we have in Christ is that God will complete the work he has begun in us. Paul takes hold of this in his prayers, so much so that he says to the Philippians, “I have you in my heart.” Not only in his prayers, but also in his preaching and ministry service, Paul served by the truth that God is faithful to complete in us what he had begun.

Notice again, Paul’s words to the Colossians: Whom (Christ) we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

Not only did Paul believe that God is faithful to complete the work he had begun us, he also believed that those for whom he prayed and served, should participate.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. ~ Philippians 3:12-13

The promise, hope, and expectation of the faithfulness of God to complete the work he has begun in us must be coupled with our faith in God to do exactly that! And that is where the disconnect is for so many Christians who have embraced the eternal security of the Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS) doctrine.

Eternal security within the context of OSAS is not an expectation of victory which results from the faithfulness of God accomplishing his work within us. Instead, it is a safety net for failure. Eternal security focuses on going to Heaven after you die, rather than living in victory over sin and darkness in this present world. Yet, Paul believed that Jesus had given himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father ~ Galatians 1:4

The message of eternal security is that of believing and then going to heaven, while skipping over the importance of overcoming in this life, by the walk of faith. The Bible has far more to say about our walk of faith in this life than it does about going to Heaven. Yet many who embrace OSAS doctrine view faithfulness to Jesus in this life as salvation by works.

This is evident in a statement made by a OSAS advocate who opposed my position that the OSAS gospel is about the benefit of going to Heaven, and not about true cleansing from sin so that we might serve God faithfully as a redeemed people.

My position regarding serving God faithfully in this life was met with the following reply: So what you’re saying is Salvation is by WORKS.  Like I said, you’re NOT Saved.  Is Salvation a Gift or Not?

According to this person, my focus on true cleansing from sin so that I can serve God faithfully as a redeemed person, meant that I believe that salvation is by works, and that I am not saved, and that I don’t understand that salvation is a gift. That’s the conclusion he reached! This is the same fellow whom I mentioned in a previous article that stated, “if you don’t believe in OSAS, then you’re Not Saved because you are Trusting in your Works to get you to Heaven.”

In response to another, this same person said the following: Christians Shouldn’t Drink Alcohol, but if they have Believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and Received Eternal Life, they can NEVER “Lose” their Salvation, even if they Kill Someone like King David did.  Salvation is NOT by Works. For by Grace are ye Saved through Faith, and not that of yourselves,  it is the Gift of God, not of Works lest any man Boast.

It doesn’t take a detective to understand that this fellow thinks that believing in Jesus is about having the security of going to heaven even if you kill somebody. The real tragedy is that the OSAS doctrine he has embraced could cause him to miss out on the knowledge of the faithfulness of God to keep us and give us victory over sin in this present world.

He makes another statement, which echos the view that many sincere christians have saying, “We Christians SHOULD do good Works, and I’m trying my Best, but I’m not trusting in Good Works to get me to Heaven…”
 
I have no doubt in my mind that this person is a fellow believer and a brother in Christ, even though he told me that I am not saved because he interprets my take regarding faithfulness to Jesus as me saying we are saved by works and not by grace.

Where he and I part ways (doctrinally) is that the salvation that I believe I received through Christ when I believed the gospel, continues to work in me daily by the power of Christ. It will continue working in me to conform me to the likeness of Christ until the day I see Christ face to face. His belief is that his faith in Christ secured for him a place in Heaven while he does the best he can, but if he becomes terrible sinner, such as a murderer, he will still go to Heaven.

Can you see the difference?

Again, I accept him as a brother even though that doesn’t reciprocate from him to me, at lest not based on his comment to me. Let me encourage everyone reading this to stop doing the best you can in your service to Christ, and enter into rest trusting in the faithfulness of God. This is another fault I find with the OSAS doctrine. Its robs the child of God of the joy that our faithful God and Father will work in us unceasingly until we are fully mature and bearing fruit by the grace of God.

God’s word exhorts us to enter into the rest of faith. The rest of faith is the abiding trust that God will perform all his good will and work in our lives. The writer of Hebrews who teaches us and encourages us concerning this rest, says in the benediction of the epistle Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ~ Hebrews 13:20-21

The biblical path into the rest that we are to enter, is not that of believing we will enter our promised land after death. Instead, it is abiding in the faithfulness of God who will perfect in us every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight. This, he will accomplish through his Son, Jesus Christ, who is our faithful High Priest!

Now, do you remember all those references in the New Testament about overcoming?

Overcoming is not about going to Heaven even if we murder somebody. It’s victory over the flesh and sin in this world so that we might glorify God in these mortal bodies. This is the victory that Paul is appealing to when speaks of being confident that God, who has begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

It is not God’s will for us to live in failure, overcome by sin in this life. It is God’s will to give us victory over sin so that you may be testimony for the glory of God!

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

Let’s delve for a moment into this. Paul says, thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. Paul then tells us that through the triumph that we have in Christ, we are a savor or fragrance of the knowledge of God in every place.

God himself causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus. This echos Paul’s words to the Philippians that God will be faithful to complete the work he has begun in us and that it is God who is at work in us both to will and to do his good pleasure.

Paul tells us regarding the triumph that we have in Christ, that God (not us, but God) causes the fragrance of his knowledge to be known in every place, by the triumph he gives us in Christ. This is the faithfulness of God working in us enabling our lives to glorify him in this world. God’s desire is for us to overcome the sins that Jesus has cleansed, and continues to cleanses us from when we fail, so that by the power of his Holy Spirit we live in victory as overcomes. 

The apostle Peter says something similar in his second epistle, telling us that God’s divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue. Peter then says, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Peter follows this by listing several virtues that we should add to our faith: virtue, knowledge, self control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. That sounds a lot like the fruit of the Spirit mentioned by Paul in Galatians, doesn’t it? Now notice what Peter says next:

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ~ 2 Peter 1:8-11

An entrance into the everlasting Kingdom is what every true believer who has embraced OSAS doctrine, desires, and Peter tells us exactly how to have assurance that we will have it.

Now, Paul says of the our triumph in Jesus, that we are the fragrance of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the fragrance of death unto death; and to the other the fragrance of life unto life.

To those who saved we are the fragrance of death to death. In other words, we carry the knowledge of the power of Christ’s death as victory over sin and the flesh by the work of God in us. Seeing your brother overcome is inspiring, encouraging, and causes much thanks to God for his glorious grace. For our brothers and sisters in Christ, our triumph in Christ ministers hope and expectation that God will do the same in them. To the other (the unsaved) we are the fragrance of life unto life. The power of the life of Jesus works in us to give life to those who are dead in this trespasses and sins.

That is a far cry from the safety net of eternal security. The only safety net that we need is the faithfulness of God who has promised to complete the work he has begun in us.

God is faithful!

Blessings…