May 9 — Salvation Litmus Test. Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
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As I’ve mentioned before, my posts typically reflect the book I’m studying in the Bible. Today is no exception as we look at Ephesians, and compare it with claims of the LDS Church I came across from a 2017 General Conference. As I read what Ms. Jones said to young members of the Church, my thoughts immediately went to Paul’s letter to written to young members of the church in Ephesus.
I’ll always be amazed at how this epistle never grows old. It’s rich with instruction about salvation for us individually, and corporately. In my bible study the pastor pointed out that in the three verses above we find four distinct characteristics of true salvation He called it salvation’s litmus test.
The cause — Grace
The means — Faith
The effects — Works
The promise — Assurance
If any of those are missing, or embedded with clauses, it’s not true salvation.
About a week ago we looked at an another litmus test of sorts in Mr. Soares’ talk when he claimed salvation and truth could be found with man looking inwardly. Today’s LDS reference declared our worthiness is a result of obedience (see 2 Nephi 25:23 for more lies on this). All these falsehoods contradict what Mr. Soares said, moreover, it contradicts what our Lord told us through Paul!
Beloved, we’ll never be worthy of salvation without the spilt blood of Christ Jesus. It’s not achieved by looking inwardly, nor is it found in our haphazard obedience. If we’re looking anywhere but the cross, we’ll never find it.
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General Conference, ‘Value beyond Measure’, October 2017 “Worthiness is achieved through obedience. If we sin, we are less worthy, but we are never worth less!” — Joy D. Jones
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