Those Who Will Perish

Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). He made it clear. There are no exceptions, repent or perish. Those who are saved have come to repentance. Those who will perish are all who refuse to repent.

God's command to all people everywhere is to repent. "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). Those who will perish disobey God's command to repent. That includes all who do not repent.

The word repent (metanoeo) means to have a change of mind that leads to a change of direction in a person's life. It's a change of mind toward God about our sin, and a change of direction in life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God's command for all people to repent is clear. He saves all who repent. Let us always remember that our responsibility is to repent and believe in Christ (Acts 17:30; John 1:12). God's will "that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9) is His will of command to all people everywhere (Acts 17:30).

What God commands, God gives to us in Christ. That includes our repentance, "if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth" (2 Timothy 2:25). God's goodness in our Lord Jesus Christ leads us to repentance (Acts 2:38; Romans 2:4). Those who will perish reject God's goodness in Christ.

God Revealed to All

God is revealed to all through creation and conscience. Reason concludes from creation, there must be a Creator. Conscience convicts us when we have done wrong. Even though God is revealed to all, still we may resist and refuse to believe. Therefore, we are without excuse before God.

Let no reasonable person say there is no God. Creation declares the glory and wisdom of God in the created order (Romans 1:19-21). If there is no God, then the irrational conclusion is simple. Nothing made everything. What a foolish conclusion. That's God's common grace resisted. God is revealed to all.

God is revealed to all not only through the created order, but also through our conscience (Romans 2:15). We are created as responsible moral agents. However, when we ignore conscience in our sin, we would like to think that we are not accountable to God. Yet, God's common grace resisted leaves no excuse.

Mankind, in the corruption of sin, willfully chooses to reject common grace. We don't want to be accountable to God, because of our own natural bias to sin. If there really is a Creator and conscience is true, we need an excuse. However, God revealed to all gives no excuse. 

Believe God's Promises

Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, "The whole burden of our salvation rests upon the faithfulness of our covenant God. The whole matter of salvation is centered on the attribute of God's great faithfulness."

Believe God's promises according to the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21). God's covenant promises are for every believer (Hebrews 8:10-13). He is faithful to keep his covenant promises. God has bound himself to his people forever with his oath of covenant promises.

Believe God's promises for you in the gospel. Jesus died on the cross as the everlasting covenant sacrifice. God is faithful to forgive and cleanse you from all sin, through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7-9). The power of God's covenant promises are proven forever through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Believe all God's promises in Christ. They are Yes and Amen for you (2 Corinthians 1:20). God will not break his covenant word. He has sworn with an oath. Your faith stands upon God's covenant promises. That's God's oath of promise. To doubt God's word in the Bible is to doubt his great faithfulness.

Believe God's promises found in your Bible. That's the assurance of your salvation based upon God's covenant promises. Your assurance is faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, as your covenant surety (Hebrews 7:20-22). God's covenant promises makes your salvation sure in Christ.

God's Saving Grace

God shows common grace to all. For example, common grace gives us rain with fruitful seasons, providing for the natural needs of all mankind. God's goodness to all is common grace. Yet, common grace is not saving grace.

God's saving grace is in Christ. The only way that you can have a personal relationship with God is through grace alone in Christ alone. He must reveal himself to you and in you. That has been appropriately called amazing grace. It's not what you do for God. It's what God has done for you in Christ. All that you are or ever hope to be is by the grace of God.

God's saving grace is to believers through the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Every believer's testimony echoes the words of the apostle Paul, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain" (First Corinthians 15:10). Grace gives all the glory to God. That's because grace is always God's gift to you, that you never merit nor earn. 

God's saving grace is freely given. There is no way you can merit nor earn the favor of God. It comes to you only as a gift to be freely received (Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith in Jesus Christ receives the grace of God. Don't fall for the idea that you can somehow be good enough to merit God's gift. Grace is not for good people. Grace in Christ is offered to sinners, and that includes all of us (Romans 3:23).

God Will Save Whoever

The promise of God is to save whoever calls upon the Lord. He promises to respond. The promise is not for only a few. It's for whoever. His promise is to save whoever calls upon the Lord. That includes you. "Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

Whoever calls on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. The word Lord speaks of his rule over all. He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is Lord, which means that he died for our sins, and he is risen from the dead (Romans 10:9).

No one is beyond the Lord's saving power. He saves us from the power of sin and the spiritual powers of darkness (Colossians 1:13). As we call upon the Lord, he is more than able to save us to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).

The promise of God is to save whoever. He is not only powerful enough to save whoever, but he is also good enough to do so. "For the Lord is good" (Psalm 100:5). Those who trust God's goodness will not be disappointed. "For the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him" (Romans 10:12).

Christ Died for Us

The prophet Isaiah foretold how Jesus died as our substitute. He died in the place of every believer, for our sins. It was prophesied centuries before it happened. "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter" (Isaiah 53:7). The Bible is such an amazing book. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Bible declares by the foreknowledge of God, how Christ died for us centuries before it was fulfilled.

Christ died as the Lamb of God, dying for the sins of the world. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecy. He said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). He died to redeem believers out of all nations (Revelation 5:9). That is how Jesus died as our substitute.

Christ Jesus, like the passover lamb in the Old Testament, died in our place. He is every believer's substitute at the cross. He took your judgment and punishment. He shed his blood and poured out his life on your behalf. He died that believers may have life eternal. Our sin debt was paid in full by the Lamb of God.

Every believer can testify, that on the cross Jesus died in my place. Our testimony of faith is made sure by the Holy Spirit working grace in our hearts. By faith we see how Jesus died on the cross for us, knowing that he was the sacrifice for all of our sins (1 John 1:7).

How Faith Is Given

"God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Romans 12:3). What God requires of you, God provides for you. Faith will. come as a gift of the Holy Spirit. Faith comes to you as a gift of God's grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith is one of the three abiding gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Faith is given by the Holy Spirit, through the word of God. The word of Holy Scripture is inspired by the Spirit of God. The same Holy Spirit gives us faith from God through the word of God. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Therefore, "receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21).

Faith is given by the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are "looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Faith is not self-confidence. To the contrary, it is confidence in God through Christ. He is both the author and finisher of our faith.

Faith is given with boldness. That boldness is confident assurance in Christ. The gift of faith has bold access to God through "Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him" (Ephesians 3:11-12).