How easily we all throw around the expression, “I’m saved!”, like it was tartar sauce at a fish fry.
The truth is that no one who is alive can truthfully say that they are saved.
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Now you may be thinking how I can say such a crazy thing as no one who is alive can say they are saved, but what is really crazy is using a word that is clearly representative of a past event to identify a current condition.
The word “saved” is in the past tense, and we are in the present. No one can really know that they are saved until after they have died, have come before the Lord, have had Yeshua intercede on their behalf, and received God’s final judgement of salvation.
Only then can anyone say, “I am saved!”
If you are thinking that once saved you are always saved, that is a lie from the pit of Sheol. The true acronym isn’t OSAS, but FUNT!
(If you think you know what that means, hold that thought until my message next week because FUNT is the subject of that drash)
How many times does the Bible talk about those who will apostatize in the Acharit haYamim (End Days)? Shaul mentions it to Timothy in both his letters to him; and the writer of Hebrews says in Chapter 6 that for those who turn from the faith, it will be impossible for them to return.
The frightening truth is that we may be forgiven, and will be able to seek forgiveness every time we sin (which we all will continue to do- don’t fool yourselves!) by means of the sacrificial death and shed innocent blood of Yeshua, BUT… we are always threatened by our own, sinful nature and too easily controlled emotions (which then control us) to throw our faith away, even when we think we are being faithful.
HUH? How can I be unfaithful when I am acting in a faithful way?
Easily- by following the wrong teachings.
Are you being taught that the instructions God gave in the Torah for worshiping him are just for Jews? Well, if you ignore the Torah, you ignore God!
Do you believe what John says when, in his Gospel, he said the Word became flesh? The only word at that time was the Torah, and if it became flesh in Yeshua, and Yeshua said that when we reject him we reject the one who sent him (Luke 10:16), then rejecting the Torah is rejecting the flesh that it became, which is rejecting Yeshua, which is rejecting God.
Who here thinks that they will be accepted by God after having rejected him their whole life?
OY! I suggest you go back and read that again to make sure you understand that if you don’t obey the Torah, you are rejecting God, and no amount of false worship, man-made ceremonies or holidays will have any effect on your salvation, other than to throw it away, while all the time you think you are doing what is right.
If you are following a religion, any religion, you are probably going in the wrong direction. I would say, although it sounds bias, at least Judaism, despite its many improper man-made traditions from the Talmud (called Halacha, the Way to Walk), is still the closest way to follow God since we try to be obedient to the Torah as best as we can.
It’s so simple that people cannot understand it – the only proper way to worship God is to do as he says to do, and the only place God tells us what he wants us to do is in the Torah. Modern Christianity is not based on the Torah or on Yeshua’s teachings, as much as it is based on misinterpretations and misuse of the letters Paul wrote to Gentile congregations.
And, sorry to burst anyone’s bubble, but Paul is not God, and his letters are not God-breathed scripture; they are nothing more than managerial directions to Gentile Believers who were having issues of faith, and interpersonal relationship problems. Read those letters with an open mind, and you will see the closest thing to scripture they come to is when he quotes from the Tanakh.
The bottom line is this: I believe by saying “I’m saved” we are actually fooling ourselves and creating a false sense of security. What we should be saying is “I am on the path to salvation”, because that is the reality of our condition. We aren’t saved until after we are dead; what we are is walking a path, a path with many misleading road signs such as religious non-biblical doctrine and false teachings which can make us lose our way.
By remembering there is only one path to God, and that map is the Torah, we are better equipped to stay on the right path.
Thank you for being here and please remember to share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey! after all, you never know how fertile the soil will be until you plant a seed in it.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!
