Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

A heart renewed day by day in hope rests in the sovereign grace of God at work in the believer and by means of His Word, which has a purifying effect on the mind and heart whereby the saint is changed and is being changed, even when the effects are not necessarily felt but believed. This hope sanctifies the believer.

This hope in the resurrected Christ, whose promise to His bride is not mere words or inventions of men but the words of the sovereign God demonstrated in power through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, is applied to those who are being saved. It is not merely hearing but an effectual hearing. It is not merely believing or giving intellectual assent but a saving faith that results in a living faith.

Many think that if someone repeats the words “Jesus is Lord,” or says they believe, then they are saved. They prove themselves not to understand that when Scripture speaks of one who says Jesus is Lord or claims belief, it also speaks of the many who called Him Lord yet were not known by Him. It speaks of many who claimed to believe, but whose faith, when tested, proved not to be saving faith.

Many call Jesus Lord. Many believe. Yet many of these do not know the true saving power of being brought from death to life through the effectual call, being filled, baptized, and sealed by the Spirit. Many love Jesus. Many follow Him. Many do many works in His name. And many will fall away, proving they were never of Him. But there will also be many who appear to make it to the end who will stand before Him and hear Him say that He never knew them.

The Gospel is not mere words, but the power of God for salvation.

The truth sanctifies the bride. Hope in Christ for who He is, what He has truly said, and what He has done has a sanctifying effect on the believer.

Many seek Christ for their own fulfillment and do not desire the truth that has the purifying effect on the church and the true power of the Spirit at work in the believer. They want something else, something more. The grace gifts of God for the church in their proper order and true purpose throughout the history of the church mean little to them. They desire gifts that are not for them, and they are willing to pervert those gifts, redefine them, and make them their own.

They covet power, fame, wealth, health, success, and all they may get from God. They are willing to claim power and authority that have not been given to them. They do so while claiming to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. They ascribe some of the most heinous manifestations to the Holy Spirit. They bring reproach upon the name of Christ. They abuse the grace gifts and turn them into marketable means for their own success.

Yet the truth remains. It exposes them and sanctifies every saint who desires truth.

Many desire power, authority, health, wealth, and success. Not all desire truth. Not all desire that the grace gifts of God be defined biblically, given their right place within the history of the church, and that all things be done decently and in order. No. Many despise order, claiming that unless you are willing to make a fool of yourself, you are not worthy of more power, more authority, more blessings.

They despise the truth. They despise order. They despise the gifts being defined and restrained by Scripture. They despise humility under the authority of God’s Word. They despise the true work of the Spirit.

God has given all things for His purpose and for His glory. Order is beautiful. The truth is beautiful. His bride is set apart to be holy and to exercise all things decently and in order, representing Christ.

Nowhere do we read in Scripture of the reprehensible manifestations that are prevalent in many churches today and are said to be of the Holy Spirit.

The truth sanctifies and purifies. Many are entirely dissatisfied with that. They desire a word that promises them power, authority, and all their sinful hearts desire in the name of God. They are deceived at best. They are accountable.

Be content, dear saint, in the Gospel, in Christ, and in God’s unfolding redemptive plan. Be content in your place within that plan, in true unity with fellow saints, in your effectual calling, and in where He has placed you for His purpose. Be content in His true and better promises, in the hope set before us, in the Word of God, and in the true work of the Spirit.

Submit your heart and mind daily to scriptures power and authority and to its sanctifying and purifying effect in your life, even on the days, especially on the days, when you do not feel it. For those are the days it is most precious, because you trust not in a feeling but in the God who has spoken, and you believe Him even when you do not feel the effects of what He is working in you.

Grace and peace.
Soli Deo Gloria