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Topic: Elementary School (07/19/04)
TITLE: What We Learn In Christian Elementary School Determines Our Ability To Perceive What The Post-salvation Life Is All About By Doug Laird 07/21/04 |
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All of the individual members of any given congregation are at different stages of spiritual development.
There will always be those in attendance who have never heard the basic doctrines of the faith & it will never do the “veterans” any harm to hear them again.
Just like studying the Bible on a daily basis improves the student’s knowledge & spiritual insight, hearing the same doctrine being taught again can accomplish the same goal. There is always something new to learn or something that could use a little polish or rust remover in the spiritual life of all of us.
Any deficiency on the part of the elementary student to grasp the basic doctrines will impact his/her ability to accurately perceive and apply the more advanced doctrines of the faith.
The Doctrine of Eternal Security and/or the Eschatological doctrines are fine examples to illustrate this point.
A believer who rejects the Doctrine of Eternal Security will inevitably turn or return to a system of works in order to retain salvation.
This issue/problem surfaced very early in the Church and much of the Book of Galatians was written to address this very issue, both then & now.
Satan knew the negative impact that a distorted view of the security of one’s salvation can have on the quality of the post-salvation spiritual life. It remains an area of heated battle in which Satan will use his trump card (religion) to lure a weak believer away from the truth.
Such a believer’s post-salvation spiritual life will be spent on trying to retain something (salvation) that cannot be lost instead of living a life that glorifies God under the filling of the Holy Spirit. Such a believer is no less saved, but will never come to experience in this lifetime the truth that sets one “free” (John 8:32NIV) from such religious bondage.
A person is “saved” if/when he believes in the Person (who He is) and Works (what He did on the cross) of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:18). An attack on the Doctrine of Eternal Security is at best false doctrine and at worst, blasphemy as it is an insult to the character, nature, and work of the Lord Jesus Christ while on the cross.
Although salvation can never be lost, the eternal reward(s) that are available for having carried out the true post-salvation spiritual life can be lost (1Cor.3: 15). Failing to make this distinction is the cause for much of the misinterpretation and misapplication of a host of passages of Scripture and the resulting false doctrines.
A believer, who rejects the Eschatological Doctrines relating to the Rapture and Millennial earthly Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ that precedes the Eternal State, will spend much of his post-salvation spiritual life attempting to clean up the Devil’s World. Such a deceived believer has the best of intentions, but will see the Mission of the Church as being the elimination of evil in the Devil’s World in order to prepare the world for the Second Advent.
The true Mission of the Church is the spreading of the Gospel & the spiritual edification of its members. Any other endeavor may very well have purpose & meaning in the Devil’s world, but has nothing to do with the Mission of the Church, otherwise called the Great Commission (Matt.28: 19).
The eternal destiny of the antichrist & the destruction the Antichrist’s worldwide order and forces will be the first order of business upon the Lord’s return and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom (Rev.19). Such passages as this & Matt. 24:22 & Rev. 12:12 clearly reveal that the world will not be one in which good has overcome evil prior to the Second Advent.
The Bible speaks of the “elementary truths of God’s word” (Heb.5: 12 NIV). They are to comprise the curriculum of the Christian Elementary School. A believer, so schooled, will have the ability to discern between false and true doctrines. Such perception is necessary to have a Biblical understanding of the issues related to salvation and to execute the true post-salvation spiritual life.
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R) Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All Rights reserved.