Hebrews 6 & 10 – The Impossibility of Salvation – Part 24

Hebrews 6 & 10 – The Impossibility of Salvation – Part 24

Here is another requirement to meet: you have to give them YOUR LIFE!

Romans 5:8-10 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Jesus died to give us HIS LIFE – a life we didn’t already have.

Not, to FINITELY extend our OWN present lives.

Jesus died to give us HIS eternal life.

 

Hebrews 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

Jesus gave us HIS LIFE. But me physically “dying for” someone else isn’t giving that person MY life.

And even if it were… IT isn’t the same thing that Jesus did, because His life, is an ETERNAL LIFE.

 

1 John 3:16 … he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

How is me laying down my own FINITE, fleshly life, EQUAL to Jesus laying down HIS ETERNAL LIFE?

 

John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Jesus laid down something WAY more valuable than MY OWN life.

In my flesh, I’m going to die anyways. So what is the real loss for me?

But Jesus would NEVER have died!

 

Jesus laid down HIS ENDLESS life, so that those that believe in Him, would receive HIS ENDLESS life.

 

But, if you lay down your fleshly life for someone else in this world… do they live forever?

If not, then how can you apply these passages TO THE FLESH, and think that Christians are able to “lay down our lives” as Jesus did, IN THE FLESH?

 

Dying for someone else, in the flesh, is not giving someone a life that they didn’t already have. Much less is it giving anyone else an ETERNAL life!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

There’s another requirement that you have to meet: they have to BELIEVE in you for this to work!

Jesus laid down His life “that whosoever believeth… should not perish”.

Jumping in front of a bus for someone else… does that require men to BELIEVE anything in order to be “saved”?… Nope!

 

Here’s another qualification to meet:

You have to be innocent, and not fight condemnation at all!

1 Peter 2:22  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Matthew 27:4  Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. …

Not a single Christian meets this qualification!

 

Jesus willingly died, being SINLESS, being INNOCENT, and didn’t defend himself AT ALL.

Matthew 27:13-14  Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?  14  And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

 

Not even The Apostle Paul did that when he had a chance to do the same thing Jesus did IN THE FLESH! So how the heck can this be a requirement for salvation, imposed on anyone else IN THIS WORLD???

Acts 25:11  For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.

This just CANNOT be imposed as a requirement on men’s fleshly lives. But it CAN be true of our SPIRITUAL lives IN CHRIST.

 

Here’s another qualification to meet:

You have to be sinless – it has to be impossible for you to sin!

Titus 1:2  … God, that cannot lie, …

Hebrews 6:18  … it was impossible for God to lie

2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Not a single Christian meets this qualification!

 

Here’s another qualification to meet:

You have to take away their ABILITY TO SIN!

1 John 3:8-9  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.  9  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

 

1 John 3:5-6  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.  6  Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: …

 

2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

 

Here’s yet another qualification:

You have to die for sinners. You have to die for your enemies!

Romans 5:6-10  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. … 10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

 

1 Timothy 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

You have to die for ungodly SINNERS: your enemies, who you hate, and who hate you.

(Lev 20:23,26:30, Deu 32:41, 2Sa 22:18,41, Est 9:1,5, Psa 5:5,7:11,11:5,10:3,21:8,55:12,69:4, Dan 4:19, Hos 9:15, Zec 11:8, Luk 1:71,6:27)

 

Another requirement for you to meet, if you want to do this with your flesh:

They have to live IN YOU!

John 11:49-52 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,  50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.  51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;  52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

The reason for, and the effect of Jesus “dying for us”, was us, collectively, living with him, and IN HIM!

Is that what your PHYSICAL death can do for other men in this world??? Do they live IN you???

 

2 Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

 

So how can you apply these things to the FLESH, to the FLESHLY LIVES of men?

John 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

1 John 3:16-18  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

 

You CAN’T apply this to the flesh. We CANNOT “lay down our lives” in the flesh, in TRUE UNFEIGNED love of the brethren.

Sinful flesh, dying for sinful flesh, is NOT a manifestation of true unfeigned love.

That CANNOT be the true interpretation of these passages!

 

John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

How is me choosing to not commit sin, AS, or EQUAL TO, what Jesus did?

How is me choosing to serve my neighbor’s flesh instead of serving my own flesh, EQUAL what Jesus did?

Me living a more godly life in this world, is not laying down my life.

 

Even if we say that to “lay down my earthly life” is to physically die… then still…

How is my flesh, dying for another person’s flesh, EQUAL to what Jesus did?

It’s not!

 

And if that weren’t enough to convince you that this CANNOT BE about laying down YOUR FLESHLY LIFE, and even if it were, that you CAN’T DO IT, AS Jesus did it… there are yet a couple more requirements for you to meet:

 

You have to deliver them from this present world!

Galatians 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Can your death for another person, whether alive or dead, do that??

 

And then… another requirement… having delivered them from THIS world, you have to raise them up to live IN HEAVEN!

Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

How do you lay down YOUR life, and then take it up again, so you can live together, WITH those whom you save, IN YOU, IN HEAVEN?

This is true love. Not just laying down your life for someone else… but taking your life back up, and raising them up with you, to have YOUR life, WITH you, IN you, IN HEAVEN.

Can your physical death do that??

If not, then maybe we should consider that there must be some SPIRITUAL way to “lay down your life”.

 

There are so many problems with applying this concept to men’s FLESH:

  1. Unsaved people can do the same thing! And they do!

(“without me ye can do nothing”, “for a good man some would even dare to die”)

  1. You don’t have an eternal life to give.
  2. You can’t give men a life that they don’t already have.
  3. You can’t raise the dead.
  4. You can’t rise again after you die.

(“I lay down my life, that I might take it again.”)

  1. You can’t LIVE TOGETHER WITH the person you die for.
  2. The don’t have to BELIEVE in you, to be saved.
  3. You don’t have ETERNAL life in you.
  4. You can’t give them ETERNAL life.
  5. You are not INNOCENT, (and most likely will never go quietly into death, being innocent)
  6. You are not SINLESS.
  7. You can’t make THEM SINLESS (i.e. take away THEIR ability to sin).
  8. They can’t live IN you.
  9. They don’t escape this present evil world.
  10. They don’t live IN HEAVEN, with/in you.

 

 

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

How is my physical life, or even my physical DEATH, supposed to give anyone else a LIFE that they didn’t ALREADY have?

 

The problem with applying this to the flesh, is… I can’t give anyone else life, because…

I HAVE NO LIFE in me!

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

If I WERE lay down my life, as in die physically, for someone else, COULD it give them (eternal) life?

 

Ecclesiastes 6:12 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? …

Ecclesiastes 9:9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

But people really think THAT is what God wants from us? To lay down OUR fleshly, worldly life, as in DIE PHYSICALLY for another person?

Is that going to profit anyone? Is that going to save anyone? … It’s a vain thing!

 

James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

People think that God wants us to live THAT life, this fleshly life, for Him???

And people think that God wants us to lay down THAT life for the brethren?

 

Luke 12:22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. …

Yet I hear things like, “you need to give YOUR LIFE to Jesus”.

“Let me tell you about what Jesus did for me, in MY LIFE!”

“You should tell people what Jesus did for YOUR LIFE.”

“Thanks for doing what you’re doing, you’re really making an impact on people’s LIVES.”

 

Our lives are a vain thing. Giving my life to God is giving him a “vain thing”.

And, a CORRUPT thing! (Mal 1:14, Rom 1:23, Gal 6:8, 1Co 15:50)

 

So how am I supposed to lay down my life for the brethren, AS Jesus did?

1 John 3:16-19 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? … 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth …

 

My fleshly life isn’t a “good thing”, … neither is there any “good thing” in my flesh that I can give to another man.

How can I give MY LIFE to others, when I have NO LIFE in me?

How can I give GOOD THINGS to others, when I have NO GOOD THING in me?

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: …

 

How can Christians do what Jesus did, AS Jesus did it??

How can you DIE… and through that death, give someone else a life that YOU have, but that THEY DON’T have, and then also rise again, so that you both live together in Christ, in heaven, as perfect sinless creatures with ENDLESS life??

 

So, how am I supposed to LAY DOWN MY LIFE, and GIVE GOOD THINGS to those that “have need”, and “hereby perceive…the love of God” in me, and “herebyknow” that I have the true, unfeigned love of God in me?

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I believe… the only way… is to give them CHRIST!

We need to give them Christ, because Christ, IS OUR LIFE!

 

Colossians 3:1-4  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.