Hebrews 6 & 10 – The Impossibility of Salvation – Part 8
The false brethren in Acts 15 they weren’t necessarily teaching that you can LOSE your salvation. They were teaching that WORKS ARE REQUIRED AFTER salvation. They were teaching if you really ARE saved, you WILL work good works. They were teaching essentially the same thing that the false brethren of today teach: “works are the proof of salvation”!
That doctrine causes men to stumble and fall!
That doctrine turns the gospel of Jesus Christ into a stumblingstone!
Romans 9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
The reason people stumble at this stumblingstone, is because… THEY… DON’T… SEE IT!!!
Why? Because, it isn’t OBVIOUS. It is SUBTLE!
But “works are proof of salvation”, “works are the RESULT of salvation”, “works are the EVIDENCE of salvation”, “works are the fruit or the byproduct of salvation”, is a stumblingstone to the unsaved. They can’t see it. They don’t understand it. So when they WANT to get saved, they can’t get saved. They TRY to get saved, but instead they STUMBLE and FALL AWAY from grace.
Isaiah 8:14-15 And he [Jesus] shall be for a sanctuary [to the saved]; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
The reason they stumble, is because they don’t THINK they are seeking righteousness by the works of the law. “That’s not me! I’m only saved by faith… but you can’t just live however you want.”
The reason they stumble and fall, is because they can’t SEE the snare.
They can’t SEE how they are doing the same thing that Israel was doing.
No one falls into a trap if they SEE IT laid there.
John 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
No one trips and falls on a stone, whose location and shape they clearly see and understand.
They stumble and fall, because they DON’T see it. A snare works, because it is SUBTLE and NOT OBVIOUS.
It is not obviously “by the works of the law”, but effectively, they are indeed seeking righteousness, “by the works of the law”. Because it says…
Romans 9:32 … as it were by the works of the law.
The phrase “as it were” implies a bit of unclearness, an ambiguity.
Revelation 8:10 … there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, …
Revelation 10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, … and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Numbers 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
Revelation 21:21 … and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
“As it were” can mean “like”, or “as”, or “about”, “comparable to” or “similar to”.
His face may not be the sun, but that sure is what it looked like.
The strength of Israel as a nation may not be exactly the same as the strength of a unicorn, but that is a worthy description of it.
It may not EXACTLY be a lamp, or the sun, or the strength a unicorn, or transparent glass… but that is absolutely, an appropriate way to describe it.
“As it were” can also imply, not an EXACT accounting, but an appropriate APPROXIMATION:
John 21:8 …for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits…
1 Samuel 14:14 … within as it were an half acre of land, …
So you say, “Romans 9:32 isn’t me, I’m not seeking righteousness by the works of the law”.
Well… neither were the Jews… not exactly anyways. Not obviously anyways. They were seeking righteousness…
Romans 9:32 … as it were by the works of the law.
So, “by the works of the law” is the best way to describe how they seek to establish their righteousness.
To an unbiased, independent judge… to a reasonable evaluator, who can see clearly… that IS, effectively, what they were doing.
The Jews were NOT clearly and obviously seeking righteousness by the works of the law, but they may as well have been.
Likewise the false brethren of today are not OBVIOUSLY doing the works of the law to obtain salvation… but effectively, they are.
Its just LIKE they are trying to be saved by the works of the law.
Its “as it were” (equivalent to) trying to be saved by the works of the law.
You may not be trying to establish your own righteousness by doing the works of the law, EXACTLY AS Moses described them… but you may as well be.
Because that is the effect of “works are proof of salvation”, “works are the result of salvation”.
It isn’t OBVIOUSLY doing the works of the law for salvation… it is DECEITFULLY doing the works of the law for salvation.
“If you’re living in sin and you’re not living for the Lord, you can’t really be saved!”
“If you don’t try to love others, and do good things in your life, you aren’t really saved!”
“If you haven’t really changed your life, if you aren’t TRYING to get better every day, you can’t claim to truly be saved!”
That is seeking salvation AS IT WERE (equivalent to) by the works of the law.
The reason you don’t see it that obviously, is because the gospel of grace, and the binary nature of righteousness, is a SNARE to those that don’t understand it.
The snare is effective, but the snare is not obvious. AS, IT, WERE. …
–
The false brethren in Acts 15 taught the same lie that snares so many of the false brethren today.
They don’t SEE how they are REQUIRING the works of the law to BE saved; to BE righteous.
They believe, “salvation is by faith, but its EVIDENCE is obedience to the law”.
They will say, “the gospel doesn’t REQUIRE obedience, but it PRODUCES obedience”.
This is NOT OBVIOUSLY salvation by works. But effectively, this IS salvation by works. It is equivalent!
Acts 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
That is SCATHING rebuke! What these false brethren were teaching, SUBVERTS SOULS. It prevents people from getting saved.
Notice this: The Apostles said, “to whom we gave no such commandment”.
This isn’t just about what requirements the Jewish Apostles were putting on the Gentiles. This is about what THEY taught THEIR OWN people. The Jewish Apostles did not teach their own people (the Jewish believers) that they had to keep the law to BE saved. They didn’t teach works to the Gentiles, and they didn’t teach works in their own church in Jerusalem either!
They didn’t teach a different gospel than the one that we Gentiles have today!
Now let’s talk about this phrase:
Acts 15:24 … certain which went out from us …
Here is what happened here…
Obviously from Acts 15, we understand that SOME OF THE PEOPLE that were under the Apostles, in the church in Jerusalem, DID believe in works. But the Apostles didn’t know it!
And because those persons believed works were still required to BE saved – either that works were required to get saved, or just that works were “proof of salvation” – when those persons WENT OUT from the church in Jerusalem, when they WENT OUT FROM UNDER the authority of the Apostles, and started teaching what they really believed… that is when it was manifested, that is when THEY were manifested… that they were NOT REALLY SAVED.
How do I know that? How do I KNOW…
1 – That what they were teaching wasn’t just a misunderstanding, or an error, from unstable baby Christians, but that these men were not saved (not Real Christians).
2 – That they were manifested to be unsaved (false brethren) ONLY WHEN they went out from under the Apostles authority?
I know this, because here is the only other instance of “went out from us” in the entire Bible.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Those are the only two instances of “went out from us”. 1 John 2:19 is a direct link to Acts 15:24, doctrinally. John may even be talking about the exact same event, accounted in Acts!
You probably know how 1 John 2:19 is typically used, right?
It’s used to say that if someone leaves church, and doesn’t go back, then they were never really saved.
They take this, and teach that you can stay in church and serve God for your whole life… and after 80 years of good Christian service… if you then leave church and never go back before your death, then that whole time… for 80 years… you were NEVER REALLY saved.
“If you don’t stay in church with us… if you don’t continue trying to live a good Christian life… if you don’t at least keep repenting and coming back after your backslidings… then “ye cannot BE saved”.”
That is how they teach it today. But that is a complete and utter LIE!
That IS NOT what 1 John says,… and that isn’t what happened in Acts either.
Acts 15:1 And certain men… [vs24 – “certain which WENT OUT FROM US”] … taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Notice: These men didn’t leave Christianity. They didn’t leave church and never go back. They didn’t turn back to their sins. They didn’t go back to a worldly lifestyle. They didn’t stop believing in heaven and hell. They didn’t stop believing in salvation, or in the resurrection, or in God. They never stopped “believing” what they believed.
They actually just… WENT OUT… from one church to another church!
Going “out from us” was not a sin. It doesn’t mean they stopped serving God, or stopped going to church, or stopped believing in Jesus, or turned back to living in sin.
You can stay in church your whole life, and it doesn’t mean you are saved.
Likewise, you can leave church and never go back, and it doesn’t mean you are lost.
Whether you stay in the company of Christians, or you go out from their presence, is not an indication of whether you yourself are a Christian.
The act of going “out from us” was not the problem in Acts 15.
Their problem… was what they preached, WHEN they went out from the Apostles.
Going “out from us” doesn’t mean they left Christianity. It simply means they went out of the church in Jerusalem. They went out. So what? No big deal.
Except that… AFTER they “went out”, then they started teaching on their own.
A person can go out from the church and keep preaching what that church preaches.
But that’s not what these men in Acts 15 did. When they went out, they preached a different gospel. Why? Because that is what they truly believed. And once they went out, it was manifested that they did not believe the Apostles doctrine.
—
1 John 2:19 … they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
“Went out” simply means they went out from under the apostolic authority and teaching, and started teaching on their own. And that is when it was POSSIBLE for them to be MANIFEST, that they were not true believers.
If they were true Christians they would have continued teaching the same things that the Apostles taught; the same things that the true brethren believed.
But when THEY went out, it was manifest that they believed something different.
1 John 2:19 … if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us:
You’ll say “see, if you are really saved, you will stay in church”.
Understand… that doesn’t necessarily mean that true Christians will stay in the local church.
You don’t have to be a member of a church, you don’t have to attend a church, to “continue with” Christians.
Galatians 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
The apostles went separate ways, but they remained in fellowship because their doctrine was the same!
“went out from us” and being “manifest that they were not all of us” is not about leaving church, or changing your lifestyle at all. Its about the gospel that you preach. If you preach a different gospel… then you do not continue with, and fellowship with, Real Christians.
They didn’t “go out” BECAUSE they were unsaved, as if it was an evitability that no false Christian is able to stay in a church pew. That is not what it says. It says they “went out, THAT THEY MIGHT BE MADE MANIFEST” that they were not true believers.
1 John 2:19 … they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
The truth is that you don’t know whether or not someone is a Real Christian by whether or not they sit still in a church pew and say “Amen” at the preaching.
Even if they sit there every Sunday their whole life. It means NOTHING.
Whether they go faithfully their whole life, or they never go to church ONCE… it means NOTHING.
You cannot know whether people are Real Christians by what they DO in their flesh.
You know them by their WORDS. You know them by what they TEACH. You know them by what they BELIEVE!
That is when a false brother is manifest… WHEN HE STARTS SPEAKING!!! You see…
Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
When those men sat there quietly under the Apostles, the Apostles assumed that they were believers. They counted them wise. Why wouldn’t they? These guys are coming, they’re listening, they’re fellowshipping, they are “Amen-ing”. They aren’t saying, “This is all bullcrap”. They aren’t opposing us like, “Hey Peter, Hey James, you guys are teaching people wrong!”
No… They were keeping their mouths shut! So the Apostles ASSUMED that those men believed what was being preached to them.
But when they went out and they OPENED THEIR MOUTHS… THEN it was manifested, that they believed a DIFFERENT GOSPEL. A perverted gospel.
When they started SPEAKING, then it was manifested, that they had never repented of dead WORKS!
Proverbs 15:2 The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
That is how you know false brethren. That is how they are made manifest..
Jesus said…
Matthew 12:33 … for the tree is known by his fruit.
The wise King Solomon said…
Ecclesiastes 5:3 … a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
When he barely says anything, you don’t know that a fool is a fool.
But when he talks… when his words begin to flow out… that is when you know what he really is.
Proverbs 14:7 Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.
This is how you identify fools. This is how we know false brethren… by their words… by what they speak out of their lips. We know them, by their DOCTRINE. BY THEIR LEAVEEEENNNNN!
Galatians 5:9 A little leaven [a little works doctrine] leaveneth the whole lump.
It doesn’t have to be A LOT, to be effective. It just has to be a little. Just a subtle amount of works, not an obvious amount of works. Just a subtle way to establish your righteousness by the works of the law. Not an OBVIOUS means of establishing righteousness by the works of the law. But just “as it were” by the works of the law.
It just takes a little leaven… if you add one work, you add them all.
Just requiring a man to be circumcised… is adding ALL the works of the law, as leaven, into salvation doctrine.
Even just requiring a man to JUST LOVE his neighbor AFTER he believes on Jesus… is adding ALL the works of the law, as leaven, into the gospel of grace.
The person that does this is called a “deceitful worker”; he is UNSAVED.
2 Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
They are not Christians. They are not resters in Christ. They are WORKERS. It just isn’t obvious.
Because they are hiding their works, deceitfully.
The doctrine of “saved by grace but works are the result, or proof, of salvation” is teaching you to keep the works of the law. Not obviously, but effectively.
Saying we must do good works after we get saved, is equivalent to (as it were) salvation by the works of the law.
—
If you think you have to do ANY of those works, even just 2, then you MUST do ALL of them.
Galatians 5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
If you add one work of the law, one fleshly work: then you’ve added THE WHOLE LAW!
JUST ONE WORK.. it could be circumcision, it could be “keep the sabbath”, it could be “get baptized in water”, it could just be “love thy neighbor as thyself”.
All those are works of the law. Those works ARE the law.
Those are, as it were (equivalent to) the works of the law.
And if you’ve added one, you’ve added them all.
Just add one.. it doesn’t matter which one.
If you are trying to keep even ONE law of Moses, even ONE moral law like “love”, then you are a debtor to do ALL of the law of Moses.
Romans 2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another😉
If you are judging others by fleshly works… if you maintain that people who do this, this, and this, are not really saved, but you and others like you, ARE really saved, because you do this, this, and this… then you are a law unto yourself (not a new law – the same old law – of the same old works).
It doesn’t matter if you reject the 400+ Old Testament laws of Moses as inapplicable. If you maintain that just one fleshly good work is required, then you, having not the law, are a law unto yourself.
You “do by nature the things contained in the law”. You do the SAME WORKS. Love God, love others. You do fleshly good works.
No matter how much you say you don’t believe that you are saved BY works of the law… if you put even just this one moral law on men, then that is what you use to judge others… the law… “accusing or else excusing one another”.
Even without the law of Moses, you still judge by the same works contained in the law.
If you are putting ANY carnal commandments onto men to be saved… If you put ANY carnal law on mankind, even just keeping it very general, and very high-level, and so seemingly innocent like: “if you really ARE saved, you are GOING TO love God and love your neighbor”… if that is what you believe a man must do to truly BE saved… if you believe a man that walks away from God and lives the rest of his life demonstrating NO LOVE for God and NO LOVE for other people… if your belief is that that man is not really saved… then you have judged that man as in bondage, under the law.
And if that is how you judged others, then that is how you will be judged.
Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: …
Luke 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. …
If you judge others in your heart, as saved or lost based on THEIR works… then you’d better be PERFECT; as perfect as Jesus! Because God is going to judge you by the whole law. You are a debtor to do the WHOLE LAW.
Why? Because you judged others AS IT WERE by the works of the law; by the same works contained in the law, so you’re going to be judged the same way.
You judged by the law, now you shall be “judged by the law”.
And because you, and the people you have judged as unsaved sinners, do the same things, you will get the same judgment that you judged them worthy of: condemnation.
Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
I know you won’t admit condemnation… but Acts 15 absolutely condemns those that believe fleshly works matter; those that judge others by fleshly works.
You can claim that you don’t teach that we have to keep the law of Moses, but if you require Christians to love their neighbors, or to do ANY fleshly good works, then you, having not the law (of Moses), ARE A LAW unto yourself. You’ve judged others by the law, even if you don’t know you did.
Whether you knew it or not, the effect of your judgment was that you put the whole law on another man. So now, the whole law is all on you. You better keep the law perfectly. Otherwise, you will be condemned in the judgment. Condemned by your own mouth.
If you believe fleshly works matter… then you believe the same thing that the Acts 15 false brethren believed: “unless ye… keep the law [love – do good works]… ye cannot BE saved.” “If you don’t do good WORKS, then ARE NOT really saved.”
If you add just one work of the law, even just as a result of salvation… just one work… one fleshly work… just one requirement to do anything, or to “love” anyone in the flesh, then you have added the WHOLE LAW. Thus…
Galatians 5:2 … Christ shall profit you nothing.
You are:
Galatians 5:3 …a debtor to do the whole law.
Galatians 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you … ye are fallen from grace.
You get no Christ. You get no Salvation, You get NO GRACE.
You have failed of the grace of God. Just like Israel. Simply because you included just ONE fleshly work.
Jan 27 2025
Hebrews 6 & 10 – The Impossibility of Salvation – Part 8
Hebrews 6 & 10 – The Impossibility of Salvation – Part 8
The false brethren in Acts 15 they weren’t necessarily teaching that you can LOSE your salvation. They were teaching that WORKS ARE REQUIRED AFTER salvation. They were teaching if you really ARE saved, you WILL work good works. They were teaching essentially the same thing that the false brethren of today teach: “works are the proof of salvation”!
That doctrine causes men to stumble and fall!
That doctrine turns the gospel of Jesus Christ into a stumblingstone!
Romans 9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
The reason people stumble at this stumblingstone, is because… THEY… DON’T… SEE IT!!!
Why? Because, it isn’t OBVIOUS. It is SUBTLE!
But “works are proof of salvation”, “works are the RESULT of salvation”, “works are the EVIDENCE of salvation”, “works are the fruit or the byproduct of salvation”, is a stumblingstone to the unsaved. They can’t see it. They don’t understand it. So when they WANT to get saved, they can’t get saved. They TRY to get saved, but instead they STUMBLE and FALL AWAY from grace.
Isaiah 8:14-15 And he [Jesus] shall be for a sanctuary [to the saved]; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
The reason they stumble, is because they don’t THINK they are seeking righteousness by the works of the law. “That’s not me! I’m only saved by faith… but you can’t just live however you want.”
The reason they stumble and fall, is because they can’t SEE the snare.
They can’t SEE how they are doing the same thing that Israel was doing.
No one falls into a trap if they SEE IT laid there.
John 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
No one trips and falls on a stone, whose location and shape they clearly see and understand.
They stumble and fall, because they DON’T see it. A snare works, because it is SUBTLE and NOT OBVIOUS.
It is not obviously “by the works of the law”, but effectively, they are indeed seeking righteousness, “by the works of the law”. Because it says…
Romans 9:32 … as it were by the works of the law.
The phrase “as it were” implies a bit of unclearness, an ambiguity.
Revelation 8:10 … there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, …
Revelation 10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, … and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Numbers 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn.
Revelation 21:21 … and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
“As it were” can mean “like”, or “as”, or “about”, “comparable to” or “similar to”.
His face may not be the sun, but that sure is what it looked like.
The strength of Israel as a nation may not be exactly the same as the strength of a unicorn, but that is a worthy description of it.
It may not EXACTLY be a lamp, or the sun, or the strength a unicorn, or transparent glass… but that is absolutely, an appropriate way to describe it.
“As it were” can also imply, not an EXACT accounting, but an appropriate APPROXIMATION:
John 21:8 …for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits…
1 Samuel 14:14 … within as it were an half acre of land, …
So you say, “Romans 9:32 isn’t me, I’m not seeking righteousness by the works of the law”.
Well… neither were the Jews… not exactly anyways. Not obviously anyways. They were seeking righteousness…
Romans 9:32 … as it were by the works of the law.
So, “by the works of the law” is the best way to describe how they seek to establish their righteousness.
To an unbiased, independent judge… to a reasonable evaluator, who can see clearly… that IS, effectively, what they were doing.
The Jews were NOT clearly and obviously seeking righteousness by the works of the law, but they may as well have been.
Likewise the false brethren of today are not OBVIOUSLY doing the works of the law to obtain salvation… but effectively, they are.
Its just LIKE they are trying to be saved by the works of the law.
Its “as it were” (equivalent to) trying to be saved by the works of the law.
You may not be trying to establish your own righteousness by doing the works of the law, EXACTLY AS Moses described them… but you may as well be.
Because that is the effect of “works are proof of salvation”, “works are the result of salvation”.
It isn’t OBVIOUSLY doing the works of the law for salvation… it is DECEITFULLY doing the works of the law for salvation.
“If you’re living in sin and you’re not living for the Lord, you can’t really be saved!”
“If you don’t try to love others, and do good things in your life, you aren’t really saved!”
“If you haven’t really changed your life, if you aren’t TRYING to get better every day, you can’t claim to truly be saved!”
That is seeking salvation AS IT WERE (equivalent to) by the works of the law.
The reason you don’t see it that obviously, is because the gospel of grace, and the binary nature of righteousness, is a SNARE to those that don’t understand it.
The snare is effective, but the snare is not obvious. AS, IT, WERE. …
–
The false brethren in Acts 15 taught the same lie that snares so many of the false brethren today.
They don’t SEE how they are REQUIRING the works of the law to BE saved; to BE righteous.
They believe, “salvation is by faith, but its EVIDENCE is obedience to the law”.
They will say, “the gospel doesn’t REQUIRE obedience, but it PRODUCES obedience”.
This is NOT OBVIOUSLY salvation by works. But effectively, this IS salvation by works. It is equivalent!
Acts 15:24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
That is SCATHING rebuke! What these false brethren were teaching, SUBVERTS SOULS. It prevents people from getting saved.
Notice this: The Apostles said, “to whom we gave no such commandment”.
This isn’t just about what requirements the Jewish Apostles were putting on the Gentiles. This is about what THEY taught THEIR OWN people. The Jewish Apostles did not teach their own people (the Jewish believers) that they had to keep the law to BE saved. They didn’t teach works to the Gentiles, and they didn’t teach works in their own church in Jerusalem either!
They didn’t teach a different gospel than the one that we Gentiles have today!
Now let’s talk about this phrase:
Acts 15:24 … certain which went out from us …
Here is what happened here…
Obviously from Acts 15, we understand that SOME OF THE PEOPLE that were under the Apostles, in the church in Jerusalem, DID believe in works. But the Apostles didn’t know it!
And because those persons believed works were still required to BE saved – either that works were required to get saved, or just that works were “proof of salvation” – when those persons WENT OUT from the church in Jerusalem, when they WENT OUT FROM UNDER the authority of the Apostles, and started teaching what they really believed… that is when it was manifested, that is when THEY were manifested… that they were NOT REALLY SAVED.
How do I know that? How do I KNOW…
1 – That what they were teaching wasn’t just a misunderstanding, or an error, from unstable baby Christians, but that these men were not saved (not Real Christians).
2 – That they were manifested to be unsaved (false brethren) ONLY WHEN they went out from under the Apostles authority?
I know this, because here is the only other instance of “went out from us” in the entire Bible.
1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Those are the only two instances of “went out from us”. 1 John 2:19 is a direct link to Acts 15:24, doctrinally. John may even be talking about the exact same event, accounted in Acts!
You probably know how 1 John 2:19 is typically used, right?
It’s used to say that if someone leaves church, and doesn’t go back, then they were never really saved.
They take this, and teach that you can stay in church and serve God for your whole life… and after 80 years of good Christian service… if you then leave church and never go back before your death, then that whole time… for 80 years… you were NEVER REALLY saved.
“If you don’t stay in church with us… if you don’t continue trying to live a good Christian life… if you don’t at least keep repenting and coming back after your backslidings… then “ye cannot BE saved”.”
That is how they teach it today. But that is a complete and utter LIE!
That IS NOT what 1 John says,… and that isn’t what happened in Acts either.
Acts 15:1 And certain men… [vs24 – “certain which WENT OUT FROM US”] … taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Notice: These men didn’t leave Christianity. They didn’t leave church and never go back. They didn’t turn back to their sins. They didn’t go back to a worldly lifestyle. They didn’t stop believing in heaven and hell. They didn’t stop believing in salvation, or in the resurrection, or in God. They never stopped “believing” what they believed.
They actually just… WENT OUT… from one church to another church!
Going “out from us” was not a sin. It doesn’t mean they stopped serving God, or stopped going to church, or stopped believing in Jesus, or turned back to living in sin.
You can stay in church your whole life, and it doesn’t mean you are saved.
Likewise, you can leave church and never go back, and it doesn’t mean you are lost.
Whether you stay in the company of Christians, or you go out from their presence, is not an indication of whether you yourself are a Christian.
The act of going “out from us” was not the problem in Acts 15.
Their problem… was what they preached, WHEN they went out from the Apostles.
Going “out from us” doesn’t mean they left Christianity. It simply means they went out of the church in Jerusalem. They went out. So what? No big deal.
Except that… AFTER they “went out”, then they started teaching on their own.
A person can go out from the church and keep preaching what that church preaches.
But that’s not what these men in Acts 15 did. When they went out, they preached a different gospel. Why? Because that is what they truly believed. And once they went out, it was manifested that they did not believe the Apostles doctrine.
—
1 John 2:19 … they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
“Went out” simply means they went out from under the apostolic authority and teaching, and started teaching on their own. And that is when it was POSSIBLE for them to be MANIFEST, that they were not true believers.
If they were true Christians they would have continued teaching the same things that the Apostles taught; the same things that the true brethren believed.
But when THEY went out, it was manifest that they believed something different.
1 John 2:19 … if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us:
You’ll say “see, if you are really saved, you will stay in church”.
Understand… that doesn’t necessarily mean that true Christians will stay in the local church.
You don’t have to be a member of a church, you don’t have to attend a church, to “continue with” Christians.
Galatians 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
The apostles went separate ways, but they remained in fellowship because their doctrine was the same!
“went out from us” and being “manifest that they were not all of us” is not about leaving church, or changing your lifestyle at all. Its about the gospel that you preach. If you preach a different gospel… then you do not continue with, and fellowship with, Real Christians.
They didn’t “go out” BECAUSE they were unsaved, as if it was an evitability that no false Christian is able to stay in a church pew. That is not what it says. It says they “went out, THAT THEY MIGHT BE MADE MANIFEST” that they were not true believers.
1 John 2:19 … they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
The truth is that you don’t know whether or not someone is a Real Christian by whether or not they sit still in a church pew and say “Amen” at the preaching.
Even if they sit there every Sunday their whole life. It means NOTHING.
Whether they go faithfully their whole life, or they never go to church ONCE… it means NOTHING.
You cannot know whether people are Real Christians by what they DO in their flesh.
You know them by their WORDS. You know them by what they TEACH. You know them by what they BELIEVE!
That is when a false brother is manifest… WHEN HE STARTS SPEAKING!!! You see…
Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
When those men sat there quietly under the Apostles, the Apostles assumed that they were believers. They counted them wise. Why wouldn’t they? These guys are coming, they’re listening, they’re fellowshipping, they are “Amen-ing”. They aren’t saying, “This is all bullcrap”. They aren’t opposing us like, “Hey Peter, Hey James, you guys are teaching people wrong!”
No… They were keeping their mouths shut! So the Apostles ASSUMED that those men believed what was being preached to them.
But when they went out and they OPENED THEIR MOUTHS… THEN it was manifested, that they believed a DIFFERENT GOSPEL. A perverted gospel.
When they started SPEAKING, then it was manifested, that they had never repented of dead WORKS!
Proverbs 15:2 The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
That is how you know false brethren. That is how they are made manifest..
Jesus said…
Matthew 12:33 … for the tree is known by his fruit.
The wise King Solomon said…
Ecclesiastes 5:3 … a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
When he barely says anything, you don’t know that a fool is a fool.
But when he talks… when his words begin to flow out… that is when you know what he really is.
Proverbs 14:7 Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.
This is how you identify fools. This is how we know false brethren… by their words… by what they speak out of their lips. We know them, by their DOCTRINE. BY THEIR LEAVEEEENNNNN!
Galatians 5:9 A little leaven [a little works doctrine] leaveneth the whole lump.
It doesn’t have to be A LOT, to be effective. It just has to be a little. Just a subtle amount of works, not an obvious amount of works. Just a subtle way to establish your righteousness by the works of the law. Not an OBVIOUS means of establishing righteousness by the works of the law. But just “as it were” by the works of the law.
It just takes a little leaven… if you add one work, you add them all.
Just requiring a man to be circumcised… is adding ALL the works of the law, as leaven, into salvation doctrine.
Even just requiring a man to JUST LOVE his neighbor AFTER he believes on Jesus… is adding ALL the works of the law, as leaven, into the gospel of grace.
The person that does this is called a “deceitful worker”; he is UNSAVED.
2 Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
They are not Christians. They are not resters in Christ. They are WORKERS. It just isn’t obvious.
Because they are hiding their works, deceitfully.
The doctrine of “saved by grace but works are the result, or proof, of salvation” is teaching you to keep the works of the law. Not obviously, but effectively.
Saying we must do good works after we get saved, is equivalent to (as it were) salvation by the works of the law.
—
If you think you have to do ANY of those works, even just 2, then you MUST do ALL of them.
Galatians 5:3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
If you add one work of the law, one fleshly work: then you’ve added THE WHOLE LAW!
JUST ONE WORK.. it could be circumcision, it could be “keep the sabbath”, it could be “get baptized in water”, it could just be “love thy neighbor as thyself”.
All those are works of the law. Those works ARE the law.
Those are, as it were (equivalent to) the works of the law.
And if you’ve added one, you’ve added them all.
Just add one.. it doesn’t matter which one.
If you are trying to keep even ONE law of Moses, even ONE moral law like “love”, then you are a debtor to do ALL of the law of Moses.
Romans 2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another😉
If you are judging others by fleshly works… if you maintain that people who do this, this, and this, are not really saved, but you and others like you, ARE really saved, because you do this, this, and this… then you are a law unto yourself (not a new law – the same old law – of the same old works).
It doesn’t matter if you reject the 400+ Old Testament laws of Moses as inapplicable. If you maintain that just one fleshly good work is required, then you, having not the law, are a law unto yourself.
You “do by nature the things contained in the law”. You do the SAME WORKS. Love God, love others. You do fleshly good works.
No matter how much you say you don’t believe that you are saved BY works of the law… if you put even just this one moral law on men, then that is what you use to judge others… the law… “accusing or else excusing one another”.
Even without the law of Moses, you still judge by the same works contained in the law.
If you are putting ANY carnal commandments onto men to be saved… If you put ANY carnal law on mankind, even just keeping it very general, and very high-level, and so seemingly innocent like: “if you really ARE saved, you are GOING TO love God and love your neighbor”… if that is what you believe a man must do to truly BE saved… if you believe a man that walks away from God and lives the rest of his life demonstrating NO LOVE for God and NO LOVE for other people… if your belief is that that man is not really saved… then you have judged that man as in bondage, under the law.
And if that is how you judged others, then that is how you will be judged.
Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: …
Luke 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. …
If you judge others in your heart, as saved or lost based on THEIR works… then you’d better be PERFECT; as perfect as Jesus! Because God is going to judge you by the whole law. You are a debtor to do the WHOLE LAW.
Why? Because you judged others AS IT WERE by the works of the law; by the same works contained in the law, so you’re going to be judged the same way.
You judged by the law, now you shall be “judged by the law”.
And because you, and the people you have judged as unsaved sinners, do the same things, you will get the same judgment that you judged them worthy of: condemnation.
Romans 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
I know you won’t admit condemnation… but Acts 15 absolutely condemns those that believe fleshly works matter; those that judge others by fleshly works.
You can claim that you don’t teach that we have to keep the law of Moses, but if you require Christians to love their neighbors, or to do ANY fleshly good works, then you, having not the law (of Moses), ARE A LAW unto yourself. You’ve judged others by the law, even if you don’t know you did.
Whether you knew it or not, the effect of your judgment was that you put the whole law on another man. So now, the whole law is all on you. You better keep the law perfectly. Otherwise, you will be condemned in the judgment. Condemned by your own mouth.
If you believe fleshly works matter… then you believe the same thing that the Acts 15 false brethren believed: “unless ye… keep the law [love – do good works]… ye cannot BE saved.” “If you don’t do good WORKS, then ARE NOT really saved.”
If you add just one work of the law, even just as a result of salvation… just one work… one fleshly work… just one requirement to do anything, or to “love” anyone in the flesh, then you have added the WHOLE LAW. Thus…
Galatians 5:2 … Christ shall profit you nothing.
You are:
Galatians 5:3 …a debtor to do the whole law.
Galatians 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you … ye are fallen from grace.
You get no Christ. You get no Salvation, You get NO GRACE.
You have failed of the grace of God. Just like Israel. Simply because you included just ONE fleshly work.
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, Problem Texts • 0