Bible Studies

Ok God But What Are You Saying To Me? Part 2

by Doug Laird 
07/05/26
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Unlike salvation, the post salvation discipleship is a very difficult and uphill climb. It is often mistaken for a requirement to retain salvation. It has got nothing to do with retaining salvation, but has got everything to with identifying, establishing, and maintaining the post (after) salvation spiritual life that God has in mind for every born-again individual!

Attempting to execute the post salvation spiritual life with a closed Bible is like wandering all around in a mine-field that the devil has laid out for your destruction. Among other things, the Bible provides us with a clear path that we need to follow, and accurate map of where the mines have been set. As much as God has a plan for every born-again believer’s edification and advancement along the road to spiritual maturity, the devil and his Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil have a counter-plan for the believer’s destruction (1Pet. 5: 8).

While he and they can do nothing to cause a born-again believer to lose his or her salvation, he can do much to remove him or her from the battlefield of spiritual combat. Sad to say, but away from the battlefield is where many so-called Christians want to be. They want the benefits, but would just as soon leave the fighting in the hands of other people.

. . .

The writing of New Testament Scripture took place during the decades of the 1st Century AD, and was completed around 96 AD. With the completion of what we would come to know as the Book of Revelation, the 1600-year process of producing what we now know as The Bible, was completed.

What any one of us knows about the living Word of God (John 1: 1), is equal to what we know about the Written Word of God.

Disbelieving, neglecting, adding to, taking from, and deviating from what the Bible a-c-t-u-a-l-l-y has to say, has been the downfall (Hosea 4: 6) of humans in all of the past dispensation’s (periods of history), and continues to be the case, here in the Church Age (1Tim. 4: 2).

I hyphenated the word a-c-t-u-a-l-l-y to emphasize the fact that in every dispensation, there have been those who can accurately quote all available Scripture, but are way off base when it comes to the correct interpretation and application of the very words they speak.

The classic example of this was the majority of the Jews during much of the Old Testament dispensation. They read or heard the Old Testament prophecies being quoted every week in their synagogues, and participated in all the required activities in the Temple, but failed to see the manifestation of these prophesies and activities when He (the Lord Jesus Christ) was standing right in front of them!

Thank God , that being true to His Matt. 16: 18 promise, there will always be in each generation of the Church Age, the Matt. 7: 14 minority who will preserve and promote the unadulterated Gospel Message (John 3: 16, 18) for salvation, and accurate Bible Doctrine for the promotion and development of post salvation discipleship.

The devil, and those who knowingly or unwittingly do his bidding, has mastered the art of quoting isolated verses of Scripture, to lead people away from God’s plan of salvation (John 14: 6), and or, as in the case of Jesus (Matt. 4/Luke 4), the individual part that each one of us has been called to embrace.

It matters not (to the devil) if or which “religious” path one chooses to take, as long as it is not the one and only one that can save and or edify a soul.

Edified disciples are well aware of how the Bible can be made to appear to say just about anything that a clever speaker wants it to say.

Weak (unedified) believers wouldn’t recognize a false teaching or practice if it jumped up behind them and bit them on their backside!

Weak believers are comfortable in their ignorance, just going through the motions, resent being challenged, and are among those who, after being presented with the truth, will say, “…the old (ways) are fine (Luke 5: 39 NASB2020 parenthesis mine).”

What distinguishes weak believers from advancing disciples is not necessarily the quantity of Bible verses that they have memorized, but having the correct interpretation, understanding, and the willingness to consistently apply what they know to what they think, say, and do on a DAILY basis (James 1: 22).

Fallen Man has mastered the art of justifying or excusing just about every thing they have chosen to embrace or to reject.

It is NOT God’s desire, but He will allow one to live without Him, die without Him, and endure never-ending torment without Him, in the lake of fire for all of eternity future, if that is what one chooses to do.

It’s been suggested that one of the reasons that God is not so hard on some sinners here on Earth, is because it is God’s mercy in action, knowing that whatever joy they have in this relatively short-lived time here on Earth, is all they will ever experience, in light of what is in store for them for all of Eternity future.

It’s like the secular tradition of allowing a condemned man his choice of his last meal, before facing the hangman in the morning.

Before we get too upset with the mercy that God extends to others, consider where we would be if God had not been merciful as He was in His dealings with the one we face in the mirror.

Granted, one can never be any more or any less (Romans 8 : 1) “saved,” than what became at the moment one was born-again (John 3: 5, 7), having then and there been sealed (Eph. 4: 30) and regenerated (Titus 3: 5) by the irreversible Work of God the Holy Spirit.

What then, one might ask, is all this Biblical discipleship all about?

Post (after) salvation Biblical discipleship has got NOTHING to do with retaining salvation, but has EVERYTHING to do with identifying and executing the post salvation spiritual life, here in the Church Age.

It’s when one’s daily reading becomes personally edifying that the stories and passages within Scripture are going to make its intended impact. This is the result of developing the spiritual discernment to perceive what God is saying to the one we face in the mirror, as we open our Bibles and open the eyes and ears of our soul during our daily Bible study.

Job, a man who had been through it all, had this to say, “ …I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food (Job. 23: 12 NASB2020.”

Jesus said, “…I have food to eat they you do not know about…My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work (John 4: 32, 34 NASB2020).”

Just as one’s appetite in the natural realm is a good indicator of one’s physical health, so is one’s appetite for one’s next feeding on the Word of God, an indication of where one is on the road to spiritual maturity.

In closing, when you open your Bible, ask God , “What is it that You are saying to me today?”

End of Part Two

End of Series