Being saved in the Age of Grace
is not the same as being saved in the end time?
We believed in the Lord Jesus and have changed to some degree.
Doesn't it mean we are saved?
A man's outward good behavior
is not a true indication his life disposition is a holy one,
in the same way it's not an indication that someone has truly been saved.
If one only has good behavior,
but has no transformation in life disposition,
and could often continue to find himself committing sins,
and resisting God as well, he isn't saved.
We're all aware there are many Christians who just keep committing sins,
no matter how they try to get free from it.
All the same, there are many true believers in God.
They read and observe the word of the Lord, bear His cross,
try hard to be light and salt of the world, love their enemies, and so on.
Who are you, who are any of the people gathered here
to just decide these people haven't been transformed by their belief?
You just can't sit there and say this is true!
Many pious believers can be humble. They can be patient.
They don't have vices like drinking and smoking.
Wouldn't you call this transformation?
I tell you. I used to curse others.
And yet ever since I first believed in the Lord Jesus,
I've become more tolerant and patient,
and I've stopped using those dirty words that shame God.
My friend's son used to always drink and get into fights.
After he believed in the Lord, he has stopped these things.
Whatever you say,
all of us know many true believers who have been changed this way.
Everybody, we were saved through the grace of Jesus.
Our outward behaviors actually have changed somewhat.
We are no longer dissipated and fallen like unbelievers,
but this doesn't mean
that we will no longer sin and can easily obey and worship God,
and that is not to mention finding true salvation.
The fact of the matter is our sinfulness remains.
We can still commit sins involuntarily,
expressing a satanic disposition of being arrogant and self-righteous.
This is exactly what we learn from what Almighty God says to us.
Page 1082.
From the words of Almighty God,
we can all see that he who enjoys true salvation
not only exhibits good outward behavior,
but actually has his corrupt disposition cleansed from within.
He can be absolutely faithful and true to God and obey God,
in addition to no longer disobeying, neither does he resist God at all.
If one only has good behavior,
but has no transformation in life disposition,
and could often continue to find himself committing sins,
and resisting God as well, he isn't saved.
I find that to be an unacceptable opinion.
A great number of believers continue to endure, to sacrifice,
working for the Lord diligently all of the time,
never straying from the Lord in spite of terrible problems.
Are you telling me that such a faith isn't worthy of the Lord's approval?
Aren't they obeying the Lord and staying faithful to Him then?
Pastor Han,
this kind of outward behavior
doesn't necessarily prove a person's obedience and faithfulness to God.
For instance, man can be humble and have love for a period of time,
but he can express corrupt disposition
of being arrogant, selfish, and base at any time,
which shows us that the actual substance of man's true nature
is at its core corrupt and unholy.
Besides, you will all remember that
those Judaistic Scribes and Pharisees
were outwardly pious, outwardly faithful, and outwardly patient,
earning the approval of a great many people.
However, when the Lord Jesus came to work,
they neither sought nor investigated.
Instead, they frenziedly gave false testimony to condemn and frame Jesus.
At last, they nailed Jesus onto the cross.
And this fact is enough to sufficiently prove that
a man's outward good behavior
is not a true indication his life disposition is a holy one,
in the same way it's not an indication that someone has truly been saved.
Yeah, you always say that someone hasn't truly been saved.
So please, what do you mean by truly being saved?
We believed in the Lord Jesus and have changed to some degree.
Doesn't it mean we are saved?
Yes. Why are you saying that we are not saved?
Everyone, the ones who've been truly saved,
each and every one of them, not only exhibit good outward behavior
but even more important than appearances,
because they have understanding of the truth,
the corrupt disposition of their nature can be transformed,
and then they can practice the truth and obey God absolutely.
When they practice patience, love, and humility,
no longer are these outward practices,
they are natural expressions of the people they are inside.
Such virtue can stand the tests of time and tide.
However, the ones who were saved through grace
only show some changes in outward behavior,
and their virtue crumbles.
Because they don't understand the truth,
the corrupt disposition within them is not transformed,
and their viewpoints on things haven't really changed.
So they can still love the world, money, position, fame and gain,
they can still indulge in fleshly ease,
and they can still follow the evil trends of the world,
and in so doing, betray God.
However, those who have found true salvation,
because they understand the truth about God's end-time work,
their outlooks on life and values are changed.
They know the value and meaning of gaining the truth,
and have discernment for the negative things.
So they can be sanctified from the world,
no longer being deceived or even enticed at all by Satan.
They'll no longer resist or betray God even the slightest,
and then they can truly live their lives according to God's words.
So according to what you've been saying,
being saved in the Age of Grace
is not the same as being saved in the end time?
Yes, exactly.
Being saved in the Age of Grace and being saved in the end time
are two totally different and separate concepts.
And there are substantial differences between the two.
So to clarify this topic of being saved,
let us read from this book
and we can see what Almighty God has to say.
From reading Almighty God's words,
we can clearly see this, the criterion of mankind's being saved
is breaking away from sins and is becoming holy.
That is, the purpose of God's managing mankind
is to gain a group of people who can break away from sins,
and who can truly obey and worship God,
instead of those who are only redeemed from sins
but all too often still commit the same sins and continue to resist God.
So, the truly saved people are the ones
who have been redeemed by God and then are completely purified
in God's end-time work of judgment.
And they are the ones who truly understand the truth,
and have God's words as their life.
Their arrogance, their craftiness, selfishness, greed, and evil,
all the original corrupt dispositions have been transformed.
They can totally be directed by God's words,
and can live according to the truth.
Their satanic nature cannot work within.
No matter what trials and tribulations come upon them,
they can stand their testimony,
without any complaining or their choosing their own way,
and can still offer praise to God and flawlessly obey God.
And even if God decides to hand these people back over to Satan,
Satan has no possible way to corrupt them.
Such men are truly what we can call the saved ones,
and I tell you that this is really the true meaning of being saved.
According to what they said,
being saved as we believe doesn't mean being truly saved!
Everyone, there is a substantial difference
between finding salvation in the Age of Grace and finding it in the end-time.
Being saved in the Age of Grace
only means that someone's sins were forgiven
and also that someone is no longer condemned.
But, the root of men's still committing sins
has obviously yet to be resolved.
However, being saved in the end time means that
after experiencing God's end-time work of purification,
men gain the truth, break away from sins,
become truly holy, and are completely gained by God.
Brothers and sisters, if we accept Jesus' redemption
and continue to reject the end-time salvation of God,
then we are never going to break away
from the bondage and the restriction of sin.
So, we see that the reason for the end-time work, for God's new work,
is the rooting out of this underlying problem,
causing man's continuing to commit sins.
Can I ask you to take the time to explain this further?
So the root cause of why people sin just hasn't been resolved yet? Humph!
But I bet you're going to explain it!
Yes! Why don't you tell us what's the root cause of sin?
Everyone, as for the root causes of men's committing of sins,
we are fortunate
because it is God who has told us the things we are telling you about this.
So now let us read a paragraph directly from Almighty God's words.
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From Almighty God's words,
we can see that the basic cause of all man's sinning
is traceable to his very nature of rebelling against God.
Man's mind has been deeply, deeply corrupted by Satan.
All kinds of Satan's poisons have taken root in man.
As a result, man's principles of living and doing things
are extensions of Satan's thoughts and philosophy,
which means all of his viewpoints are disobedient of God and resistant of God.
So, as he does things according to Satan's mind and philosophy,
he will resist God and disobey God in everything.
If these problems can't be solved,
that is, if his thoughts and his opinions continue unaltered
and his disposition hasn't been transformed,
then he will remain at enmity with God,
and he and God will be incompatible.
Excuse me, Preacher,
but could you please take a moment
to talk a little about how man's very corrupt nature and satanic mind
is at enmity with God?
Let me give you an example.
It is something that Jesus said,
Here, we can see that God is pleased with a person
who is willing to be humble and willing to be obedient.
And in fact, the more humble he is, the more he is noble.
However, corrupt humankind's view is
that praise and admiration and such translate to glory,
but humility and submission to others translate to shame.
So, having been so long corroded by this view,
our nature became exceedingly arrogant.
We are self-important, conceited, and overweening,
and we don't like others to have the upper hand.
The way that we are,
we simply cannot hold on to the Lord's way and fear God,
and are also unable to shun evil,
very much like the priests and Pharisees under the law.
They all knew the law. They knew the law quite well.
They knew what God expected of man,
that God requested man to be humble in all things.
But, driven by their arrogant nature,
when the Lord Jesus came to work,
they didn't want to give up their high position in the synagogue
and follow the Lord Jesus.
And what did they do to preserve their power and position and influence?
Not only did they denounce Jesus but they also killed Him.
And then they hunted down His disciples everywhere.
Humph!
Then take a look at today.
All followers of the Lord
clearly want to keep and preserve the Lord's teaching.
They often speak Jesus' words
like "be humble and patient, forgive,
love, help, and pass no judgment."
Nevertheless when God comes to start the new work in the end time,
because of their preposterous ideas and arrogant nature,
they involuntarily judge, condemn, slander, and blaspheme at will.
Let's all see together what Almighty God says about this subject.
Please turn with me to page 297.
So now you and I can all clearly see,
the root of our sins is from Satan's own corrupt ideas.
When we see things and act according to these corrupt ideas,
we will sin involuntarily and resist and rebel against God.
So in the end of time, God Himself comes to express His words.
He comes to judge and reveal man's corrupt ideas
and man's satanic nature that exists inside him.
It helps us know and see clearly that all of those things
are both ridiculous and also evil and are hostile to God.
Then we can deny and reject them
and finally accept the truth from God.