The Ways Of God
May 2023 |
“Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.”
—Hebrews 3:8-10
The ways of God involve the processes and means by which God works. Israel was able to see the works that God did, but they didn’t understand what He was doing or why He operated the way He did. The ways of God are unique and special. Above all, God desires His people to recognize, acknowledge, and walk in the processes that He has designed and designated. A failure to recognize the ways of God is a definite error of the heart. In most cases it involves the evil of unbelief, even as it did in Israel of old. Let us take a closer look at the ways of God and ask ourselves if we, like Israel, have hardened our hearts to the manner that God has chosen to work. If we see that we have, then repentance is certainly called for, and the way of God must be acknowledged and embraced. We will look at three “ways of God” that have been defined by Scripture. The way of salvation, the way of sanctification, and the way of service.
THE WAY OF SALVATION
There is only one way or means of salvation. Jesus declared that He was the way, the truth, and the life; that no man could come to the Father but by Him. Whenever a believing sinner expresses faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, he immediately experiences the benefits of salvation. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ paid the sin debt for every person who would ever live. His sacrifice is the only means or way acceptable to God regarding salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” It is through the means of faith and grace that God initiates the way of salvation. Our part is faith in Christ and His finished work. God, in response, extends grace toward all whose faith is properly placed in Christ and Him crucified. There is no other means or way by which man may be saved. We cannot work for it. We cannot labor for it. We do not deserve it. The way of salvation establishes how any relationship with God is to be inaugurated. That is the way of grace and faith. Salvation is the initial experience of accepting Christ, which prepares the individual for spiritual growth.
THE WAY OF SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification takes place in the life of the believer the moment of salvation. This means that the individual who has accepted Christ by faith is immediately cleansed and qualified for an ongoing relationship with God. Sanctification is sometimes referred to as progressive. This is true, but it must be properly understood that the believer is already freed from the power of sin, the powers or principalities of darkness, the draw of the world, and the lust of the flesh. This is accomplished at the time of one’s salvation. This truth defines what it means to be sanctified. We do not progressively grow into the benefits named above. Instead, we are to progressively grow from the established belief and understanding that our union with Christ has already provided us with the above-named freedoms. It might be best to say that we proceed or progress in sanctification as opposed to attempting to achieve sanctification. The way of sanctification is the same as the way of salvation. We place our faith in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Then, the indwelling power and person of the Holy Spirit has the legal right to transform and renew us continuously. Operating from the basis of faith in Christ, grace is released and progressively metamorphosizes the believer into the image of Christ. The way of sanctification is also the way of grace and faith. The right object of faith remains Christ and Him crucified. Paul would write in Colossians 2:6, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.”
THE WAY OF SERVICE
Service for the Lord is the responsibility of every saved and sanctified individual. The work we are called to should be viewed more as a joy and a privilege as opposed to an obligation. Just like salvation and sanctification, power for service can only be obtained through the person of the Holy Spirit.
While the way of salvation and sanctification begins at the born-again experience, the Pentecostal view of power for service involves a second subsequent experience in the life of the believer that Pentecostals refer to as “the baptism with the Holy Spirit.” In the book of Acts we find that the early church expected to receive supernatural power to witness for Christ (Acts 1:8). Nothing is ever accomplished for God outside of the moving and operation of the Holy Spirit.
While a person who has not yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit can certainly be used to promote Christ and His kingdom, the baptism with the Holy Spirit stands as a chief catalyst in the new covenant process of spreading the gospel. However, let me caution the Pentecostal world that the way of service does not depend solely upon receiving this second subsequent work. Many have received this experience and yet failed to understand how or why the Holy Spirit works. As with salvation and sanctification, it is properly placed faith that gives the Holy Spirit the “green light” to work through an individual in a supernatural way. If we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, then we must also comprehend the need to have our faith securely and singularly placed in Christ and Him crucified. In doing so, we bring glory to Christ and fail to bring attention to ourselves.
Let us walk in the way of salvation, the way of sanctification, and the way of service by forever maintaining properly centered faith in Christ and Him crucified.
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