Authority of Christ

The main purpose of God coming to this world in the flesh is to call people to Him. This is well known to those who have truly believed in Him. They also know He revealed Himself to us as Jesus Christ or the Messiah. But, a great number do not comprehend the inherent meaning of Messiah. Though on the outset they know Him as “the Anointed,” as in God anointed Him, they are still short of knowing Him. It is because they have not known the power or authority the Name carries. What if Jesus Christ is the anointed of God? Yes, He performed works like no other; yes, He taught the kingdom of God and yes, He died on the cross and rose up from the grave. But, how does He relate Himself to the Messiah? How is He the God that saves? What we read next gives us the invaluable answer. “To fulfill the word which He spoke, ‘Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one’” (John 18:9).

If you have believed God and in His sending of Jesus for the salvation of your soul, you are not lost. It is as simple as that. By salvation I mean the forgiveness of your sins through repentance or the admittance of your sins and sinful nature before Him; accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. When you do this, God hands you over to the authority of Christ, who received all authority from Him. For this reason, Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the God that saves. Those whom God has given Him, He will not lose. He receives them in power, holiness and righteousness of God. If God the Father has made you righteous by faith, it is sufficient for Christ to keep you safe into eternity. For the judgment of His God is perfect and cannot be undone. Therefore, it was elsewhere written as the LORD saying, ‘I and the children whom God has given Me.’

Jesus does not lose you, if you wholly believed in Him. This does not mean you will not sin. Yet, it does mean that He will discipline you, test you and even allow temptations to come to you. All these He does so that you seek and find Him; so that you become strong in faith to do His will and enter into His eternal kingdom. He does not do them to lose you, but to keep you to Himself, to keep you whom God has given Him and to bless you. He works for you, because He is the God who caused you to be born again. And you seek Him, because you believed Him and He knows that you will find Him. This is the meaning of wholly believing in Him.

Beware there is a doctrine out there that says once saved does not mean always saved. Such doctrine is the reason for many Christians striving to perform works apart from God’s will to continue in salvation. It is severing them from wholly believing in God. (I too at one time was under it due to ignorance and fear of men). If it is true, then grace can be reverted. It further means that the all knowing God’s judgment which is by power, holiness, and righteousness is wanting. If you do not possess the authority over grace, you also do not possess the authority to cancel it. For if salvation is through grace by faith and you receive grace, it is not by your judgment that you are saved, but God’s. He has judged your belief as blameless and has given you to Christ to keep you. Yet, Christ lost one of the twelve that betrayed Him. It was because he never believed in God. For no other from the twelve other than him regularly stole from the money box; he had a different belief. Hence, it is men with intellectual faith who think they are saved that brought forth the doctrine ‘once saved is not always saved.’ If this is not true, the Spirit through Paul would not have said, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 1:2).

Not just this one time, but many times the Spirit mentions them to the believers throughout the New Testament. What does it mean except that Jesus will not to lose them? Now, there are a few Scriptures that seem to supply the doctrine ‘once saved not always saved.’ And perhaps the severest of them all is Paul’s words to the Galatians, who thought of including circumcision into faith. All of them are for a warning that those who came into Christ should not go back. And what we see in the case of Galatians is God expressing His anger through Paul to put fear in them. It is not that they were lost, but it is disciplining them whom He handed over to Christ in power, holiness and righteousness. When we come to such wonderful knowledge of God who with unfathomable love controls us, we become intimate with Him and are liberated from men and their principles. For who among us will tread on the road ignoring the warning signs? Even so God warned them beforehand that He must not lose them. He does it to all that obtained His grace.

See what else can be understood of the Christ who keeps everyone God gives Him. “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this” (Rev. 2:1). He constantly keeps watching over the believers. Christians can be rest assured of this. The stars He holds in His right hand are the angels and the seven golden lampstands are the churches. He is the One with all authority and He uses all of it to safeguard us, who wholly believe in Him. Our belief with which we first knew Him and through which God gifted us His grace, He will never cast away. This indicates our salvation. When people think salvation to include works, erroneous doctrines are born. But note that He availed us His grace knowing that we sin. Now, do not be confused. For sin is of the flesh and belief is from the spirit; God who died for us will save us from the sin of our flesh through our repenting in the spirit. This is the reason behind gifting us His grace. The fear of God He put in us will track us back to Him. So, elsewhere Paul faithfully thanked God who saves through Jesus, because on the one hand he was serving the law of God with his mind and on the other serving the law of sin with his flesh. He knew God will set him free from sin.

Consider this statement: “You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” (John 4:12). How great do you think Jesus really is? I myself have asked this question and the answer I found was the same that this woman later arrived at. Many speak and try telling people of Jesus ability to perform miracles, provide riches, etc. But, those are smaller issues to Him. If they knew what He can really provide, they will know the rest are not an issue to Him. By now you know what He alone can provide. It is the living water. Truly, He is greater than Jacob and everyone else. Ask Him how great He is instead of knowing it by what someone has already asked. He will show it to you. He will give you the living water. You will realize that it is by grace and not of your strength. How then can you be lost? When that which is living is in you, you cannot die, can you? Jesus who received you from God will make sure the living water dwells in you. For this reason, He walks among the golden lampstands. Then, has He lost you or can you really undo your salvation? What do I mean? Once you taste the living water, you will know its sweetness. You will know where your home is and who you belong to; you will know the mind of God, His desire and purpose for you. You long to fear Him. You keep Him in your thoughts at all times. He will discipline you when you sin and train you for all forms of battles. When you fall, He will pick you up. This is the reason God has given you His grace. He knew your belief and will bring you to Him. God does not waste His grace; for He justified giving it to you by His power, holiness and righteousness.

The following must invigorate our souls, because it was by the promise of God. “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:” (Matt. 1:1). This promise was based on nothing else, but faith. By faith Abraham received the promise of the seed, which is Christ; by faith David received the promise of an heir, which is Christ. God keeps His promises. He sent Jesus the Messiah, who has the power and authority to sit on the everlasting throne so that He will have a Kingdom forever. His kingdom is you and I who have been saved by grace through faith. We are under His control to overcome the flesh and serve God in the spirit. Therefore, He said, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh” (John 6:51).

Because you believed God and His sending of Jesus for the salvation of your soul, you ate the living bread. God has given you to Christ that He should not lose you. When He in His power, holiness, righteousness and justice has saved you, you choose no other option, but to live forever. Since you ate His flesh, i.e. the word, you obtain the living water; you will only go forward for the prize of God’s upward call. No one with intellectual faith that thinks he is saved will have an effect on you. For the flesh of Jesus through which you receive the living water will overcome your flesh to keep your spirit secure for the glory of God. Thus, He said, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law” (Gal. 5:18).

Posted in 2012, Archives.