Pastor George Theroux's Desk

What I look for in a True Church – Salvation by Grace

I look to see that it preaches the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Christ, not of works.

“By grace are ye saved, through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God and not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9. That simply means that a sinner is saved by the grace of God, not by any work he performed yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That is what it means. So when I look for the New Testament Church, that is a local, visible assembly of God’s people who are saved and scripturally baptized, associating together in some definite locality for the purpose of carrying out the Lord’s Commission.

I want to find out what they are preaching to the lost world. What is the plan of salvation?

You say, “We are preaching that folks have to be good in order to get to Heaven.” Friends, that is not the New Testament doctrine. Christ didn’t die to save good people. He died to save sinners. He didn’t come down here to put men on probation and say, if you will be good, I will save you. He, said, if you repent of your sins, I will save you. Luke 13:3. He didn’t come to save good people at all. So I want you to know about the way of salvation, what have you to offer? They say, “Well, we are going to preach that you have to do something.” I will say, “No sir!” The New Testament said you had to be something. It is not a matter of doing something, it is a matter of being something. You have to be born again. John 3:3. You say, “Preacher, don’t you believe that sinners are saved by keeping the Ten Commandments?” No. an unsaved man is a man that is dead in trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2:1-2. They’re dead in trespasses in sins and without the Holy Ghost there is no way you can know the spiritual things of God. I Corinthians 2:14. Spiritually, he is unborn, he is still the natural man, he must be born again. But a saved man, is dead to his sins, not in his sins. There’s a big difference. So, does the true Word of God teaches that you are saved by keeping the Ten Commandments? Absolutely not! The law just reveals that man is a sinner and needs a Saviour, and there must be the shedding of blood for sin. You have a mirror in your bathroom, which is a picture of the law and there is a basin underneath the mirror. You do not wash yourself with the mirror, it only reveals the dirt. Likewise, with the Law, it’s a mirror that reveals our sin and beneath that mirror there is a wash basin. Remember, the Law is the knowledge of sin, not redemption from sin and sin shall not have dominion over them. For they are not under the Law, but under grace. Romans 6:14. So the purpose of the law was to bring us to Christ. Galatians 3:24. Law demands – Grace gives. Law says do – Grace says believe. Law says work – Grace says it is finished. The Law condemns the best man, grace saves the worst man. The Ten Commandments never save anyone, but it derives us to the Saviour.

Read Part One – The True Church’s Beginnings

0 Comments

Add a Comment