Podcast: Download (100.6MB)
Sunday 05/31/20
Series: Do we REALLY believe?
Message – Soul Salvation
Share this:
Soul Salvation
In our series of “Do we REALLY believe?” we’ve been talking about entering into the sufferings of Christ.
We’ve discovered that those sufferings take on three primary forms.
- Saying no to our flesh and it’s sinful tenancies.
- Trials God in His sovereignty approves for His purposes.
- Temptations, oppositions, persecutions and afflictions from the world.
Now, one thing I failed to mention last week but which I placed on the website that is very important is that God NEVER TEMPTS ANYONE! But as I told you last week, the second & third categories of sufferings are sometimes difficult to distinguish between….not always…but sometimes.
Let me offer you an example of a time when it would be easy to mistake a test from God with a trial or temptation from the devil.
There may be times when satan may manipulate situations so that we experience lack and may even go hungry for a short time in order to tempt us away from trust in Christ and question His willingness and ability to provide for us.
Other times God, in His sovereignty, may cause us to hunger even as He did the Israelites in the wilderness in order to test them – so as to reveal what was in their hearts.
One is clearly a temptation intended to draw you away, the other is a test in order to encourage you to draw near, or to reveal that your heart is not as inclined to trust God as you thought.
Now I keep using the phrase “Draw you away” as you might suspect I get this from James who in the first chapter of his letter addressed temptation in this way…
James 1:2-4, “(2) Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, (3) knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (4) But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
Skipping down to verse 12
James 1:12-18, “(12) Blessed is a man who endures trials, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that He has promised to those who love Him. (13) No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself doesn’t tempt anyone. (14) But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. (15) Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. (16) Don’t be deceived, my dearly loved brothers. (17) Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. (18) By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth so that we would be the firstfruits of His creatures.”
So we see here several things about temptations:
- They NEVER come from God.
- They are designed to draw you away from implicit reliance (trust) in God through Jesus.
- God uses them as stepping stones into the image of Christ, by using them as a TEST of our faith.
- The response for the Christian is to not be deceived
- Count it all Great Joy!
So I’ll repeat that again in order to give you a moment to jot those down if you are a note taker, because it is important.
We started off last week looking at 1Peter 4 and then ended in 1Peter 1, so let’s turn back to 1Peter 1 again so we can develop these thoughts.
Soul Salvation…what is it?
Well this part of our lesson requires a brief explanation of the soul, which we really do not have time for, but I believe it is a little necessary anyway.
The soul in the Bible is represented by the Greek word soul psuche – from which we get the words psych, psyche, psychological, psychology and so on.
This part of man is our intellect, our will or desires and our emotions. They exist independent of the body but I deeply believe the scripture teach it has an existence apart from the spirit of man as well and that if it did not, salvation would in fact be impossible.
Psuche is contrasted with sṓma (G4983), the body, and pneúma (G4151), the spirit (1Thess. 5:23).
This part of man, regardless of the tremendous impact it has upon life is nonetheless, associated with the lower region of man’s being rather than the higher. This is a major clue that points to the soul as more than just a subdivision of the spirit, but that it has a real and separate existence from the spirit – while it’s expression is fully interdependent.
The word of God is said to be sharper than any two-edged sword and is able to divide between the soul and spirit in the same way a knife can divide between bones and joints. While bones and joints are no doubt part of one body and work synergisticly they do in fact have an existence independent of one another and that is the understanding which I have regarding the soul.
We do not have the time this morning to devote to this subject which requires a great deal of comparing and studying statements in scripture, I will just say this. A few things which I believe REQUIRE the spirit and the soul to have separate existences is the fact that something about the human being is made 100% like God the moment we are born again. We are regenerated and now “ALL is of God”. That statement is NOT a propositional one – it is not pointing to a progressive work it is an immediate reality. Yet, we know both from experience and scripture that such is NOT true about our body and soul. The soul is BEING saved and the body WILL be saved, so far as scripture reveals the makeup of a human – this leaves only one part of man which could have been made 100% perfect and like God the moment of our regeneration and that is our spirit.
Finally and this last one is of more importance than I could even begin to express. The bible speaks ardently against sorcery. The word sorcery is Pharmakeia where we get our words for pharmacology, pharmaceuticals and pharmacists. Many of these drugs impact not only the body but the soul. God so designed the soul of mankind to lead them both to the awareness of God and a respect for Him which compels them to be uneasy until they find their rest in Him. Today, this inner voice is muffled by drugs which tamper with those messages – creating an artificial calm which lies to us about the storm we are in. They effectively place a piece of tape over the warning lights freeing our conscience to press harder on the gas pedal without fear – all the while leading to destruction.
You know James also tells us that God’s words are planted in our hearts in order to yield the fruit of soul salvation.
Peter also mentions the salvation of the soul, by which is meant, reconciling our hearts to God in perfect union and agreement.
If you remember the Bible has MUCH to say about our thoughts and how they are directly linked to our actions and our person. This is a theme which is put forth as much in the New Covenant as it ever was in the Old.
We are told, by Paul in Romans that, if our thoughts are focused upon worldly things, we will live worldly lives, and if our thoughts are focused upon God and His words then we will live godly lives.
A phrase we used to use all the time say it well – As a man thinks in he heart so is he. Of course that is a distortion of a passage from Proverbs which is taken out of context, but the message is sound.
Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
James says that the mouth sets the course for one’s life.
Jesus talks about receiving His words into your heart as the ground receives seed. If the heart is good it will yield the fruit of character reformation. We will become like Jesus which IS soul salvation!
In the end, ALL of this is about the truthfulness of our confession of Jesus as Lord.
If He truly is our Lord and Master, then it will be evidenced by our rendering to Jesus implicit obedience and reverent worship.
THAT is what is being tested and that is what is being placed upon trial!
The more and more Jesus is formed in us, the more and more we will pass these tests and sail through these trials to victory!
As we read earlier in James 1, and we mentioned it last week as well.
Each word God gives us is in one way or another a revelation of His Son Jesus. These are seeds which remain in our hearts and mature to the point of bearing the fruits of His likeness. Those who overcome temptations or pass tests of our faith, will be honored with knowing Christ more.
It is the REAL cycle of life.
Life begins with God. Jesus said, The WORDS I speak unto you they ARE Spirit they ARE Life!
Those words deposited into our hearts, CAN yield a harvest of Christ likeness in your heart…in your soul. THAT is our GREAT HOPE & GLORY! Romans 8 tells us that Christ in us is our Hope of Glory!
THAT is what SOUL salvation is!
Our mind, will and emotions are being transformed into His likeness from glory to glory by the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts!
Have you arrived at 1Peter 1 yet?
1 Peter 1:3-25,“(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
(4) and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, (5) who are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Notice that the uncorruptible inheritance we are receiving is the direct result of what is being revealed to us, which as we have already covered this morning is Jesus Himself.
As you may recall, it was and is the ministry of the Holy Spirit – to take of what belongs to Jesus and reveal it to us. Jesus told His disciples that He had many more things He wanted to share with them but they were unable to handle it yet. He then said that when the Holy Spirit came, He would lead and guide them into all truth, that He would take of what was Jesus’ and reveal it to us!
Right now this revelation comes as it always has “line upon line here a little there a little” as is says it was going to come to Israel at Messiah’s coming – but they would not listen.
So God in His wisdom turned to the Gentiles and we are hearing the same way, but we are listening!
The passage is found in Isaiah 28:9-12 and is in some sense echoed in the words of Jesus during His week of passion as He wept over Jerusalem,
“(9) Who is he trying to teach? Who is he trying to instruct? Infants just weaned from milk? Babies removed from the breast? (10) For he says: “Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there.” (11) So He will speak to this people with stammering speech and in a foreign language. (12) He had said to them: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen.”
Let’s continue in 1Peter 1… Now watch with me for the elements James mentioned regarding temptations and trials, and that is – joy & reward for overcoming.
“(6) You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials (7) so that the genuineness of your faith–more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire–may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (8) You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, (9) because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
You can readily see that the joy is at the prospect of overcoming and that overcoming results in soul salvation. Remember when I told you that this is a test of our TRUST? This trust, is trust in God regarding our soul’s Salvation.
Let me ask you a question…are you aware of expending any faith at ALL towards and regarding your soul’s salvation. Are you deliberately & actively trusting Christ to form Himself in you – to mature you? Are you receiving His words – like the ones you are hearing this morning even right now with PURPOSE – are you being intentional about the WAY you hear? Are you coming to church and to your times in God’s Word – and in your petitions in the Spirit with the direct and deliberate intent of seeking Christ Jesus being formed in you?
Listen to the words of Paul regarding this matter and how important it was…
Philippians 3:8-21, “(8) Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, (11) if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (12) Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (13) Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, (14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (15) Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. (16) Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. (17) Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (18) For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: (19) whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. (20) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (21) who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
This soul salvation is NOT a new concept but was foreseen even under the Old Covenant. Let’s keep reading so you can see it…
“(10) Concerning this [soul] salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and carefully investigated. (11) They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow.”
Notice the familiar words, phrases and concepts.
Soul salvation is due to grace coming to us.
Titus 2:11-15, “(11) For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, (13) looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (14) who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (15) Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.”
Continue in verse 12
“(12) It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you concerning things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Angels desire to look into these things.”
What should be our response then?
“(13) Therefore, get your minds ready for action, being self-disciplined, and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Remember I told you that every word from God to you is ultimately a revelation of Christ. Now, in this life this happens slowly and progressively, at the end it will be suddenly and completely!
Notice that conformity to His nature, character and likeness is the desired outcome which he introduces by expressing the opposite…
“(14) As obedient children, DO NOT BE conformed to the desires of your former ignorance (15) but, as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct;”
Salvation is about being restored to union and oneness with God. That oneness requires a heart change. Righteousness can have no shared life and experience with unrighteousness. Not light with darkness, nor godliness with ungodliness. Therefore, knowing the goal is oneness, God repeatedly makes statements consistent with this goal – throughout the narrative of scripture, and it is stated in this next verse.
“(16) for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. (17) And if you address as Father the One Who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during this time of temporary residence.”
“(18) For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things, like silver or gold, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. (20) He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the times for you (21) who through Him are believers in God, Who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
Here Peter goes full circle pointing back to the origin and source of our salvation God’s seed of Christ deposited within our hearts by His holy Words He speaks to us.
“(22) By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, (23) since you have been born again–not of perishable seed but of imperishable–through the living and enduring word of God.”
“(24) For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower drops off, (25) but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.”
Knowing as we do that true belief is evidenced by actions I ask you…Do I REALLY believe?
I hope this message will bless you richly…not because I taught it, but because it reveals Christ. He alone is our blessing and if in any way – whether big or small, 100% accurate or even just partially so – I have revealed our great God and Savior to you in a relationally knowable way, then this was time well spent on both our parts.
We at Living Grace Fellowship encourage you to place your trust in Jesus Christ, deliberately choosing Him and bowing the knee to Him as your Master and Lord, so as to come to realize Him as your Savior.
You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. The fact that you exist… that you are His creation, says you were in His heart, you are His delight!
If you do not know Him, please reach out to us. Give us a call at the number located on every page of this website or use our ‘Contact Us‘ page. We would be deeply honored, if you gave us the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will EVER be mentioned.
If you HAVE been spiritually fed by this ministry and WANT to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but please understand that all the outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.
Blessings!
