ONLY ONE PATH TO ASSURED SALVATION

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me."... “All that the Father gives me will COME TO ME, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”… “no one can COME TO ME unless it is granted him by the Father." For "It is the Spirit that quickens [gives life, regenerates]. the flesh counts for nothing."

 

Jesus Christ is the way...

·  into God's presence ·  into God's acceptance ·  into salvation ·  into the true church

·  into heaven ·  into the Kingdom of God ·  into eternal life

Therefore, if a man wishes to enter where God is, he must enter the Door of Christ. A man enters God's sheepfold only through the Door of Christ, for Christ is the only Door into God's presence. Things are controlled and happen as God means them to happen. The purpose of God is being done. He is God;  He rules and controls all things

          The assurance for the believer is God's predestination. It is those whom "the Father gives" that come to Christ. However, the stress is not predestination; it is assurance to the believer. Christ wants believers to take heart and to be assured of their salvation. It is God Himself who has drawn believers, who has moved upon and stirred them to come to Christ. The absolute sovereign will of God is what is emphasized by the selection of those who come to Him for salvation. The idea of “gives me” is that every individual chosen by God and drawn to God must be seen as a gift of the Father’s love to His Son.

The person who comes to Christ is a person who has been drawn by God, a person who has experienced the divine initiative. A man does not act alone and come to Christ by his own effort and energy, not by his own works, whether mental [ii] (thought or will, or labor (good deeds), iii. A man is a dead spirit; therefore, he can do nothing spiritually just as a dead body can do nothing physically. The natural man prefers self and sin; therefore, if a man with a dead spirit is to come to Christ, he has to be acted upon and drawn by God. Both God and man have a part in salvation. How God draws a man is clearly stated. He draws by teaching. The Holy Spirit quickens the gospel to a man's mind so that he sees it as never before. He sees, understands, grasps as never before that "the Father...hath sent" Christ to feed and nourish man (to save and to give him life).

The great majority of people are offended by the fact that God draws and saves man, that man does not save himself. Jesus said: "No man can come unto me, unless it were given him of my Father." iv

 

Jesus was saying:

Þ  No man can come to Him unless God draws and stirs him to come;

Þ  No man belongs to God who has not come to Him;

Þ  No man is saved unless they come to Him;

Þ  All men are lost unless they come to Him.

This fact greatly disturbs people, for they feel that they are good enough and have done enough good to be acceptable to God. Few people think they are lost and doomed to be separated from God; therefore, hearing this fact preached offends them. But note the critical point. The only saved person is a person who has been drawn to Christ by God and who has surrendered to God's pull and movement within his heart.

This is the key, of those drawn by God, how many surrender to Him?  Don’t be deceived for many of what we consider to worst of all beings have been called and have surrendered to God. And many more considered “good” have rejected the call so have not been drawn.

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i.                    John 14:6; 6:37; 6:64; 6:63

ii.                  John 1:13

iii.                Ephesians 2:8-9

iv.                John 6:44