What About the Jews?

Question: Are the Jews automatically saved? Without going into a lot of detail, can you explain the relationship between Jews, Gentiles, and the “church” as we get closer and closer to the End Times? 

Response: Judaism is as invalid for automatic salvation as Islam. No one is saved simply because he is Jewish. The gospel “is to the Jew first,” so the Jew must need to be saved through the redemptive work of Christ just like the Gentile. That’s basic. 

The church is made up of both Jews and Gentiles who have been made into one new man through the cross of Christ. But again, that does not do away with either Jews or Gentiles, so Paul reminds us that there are now Jews, Gentiles, and the church of God. 

On the other hand, as a nation the Jews remain God’s chosen people—with a special place in God’s plan and special promises to them that pertain to the land of Palestine and the coming kingdom. Jesus was born King of the Jews, and, as the Messiah of Israel, He must reign upon the throne of His father David, as Gabriel stated to Mary. This didn’t happen when He was here the first time, and it will be fulfilled when He returns. Read Zechariah chapters 12-14. Christ returns to this earth, not to Washington, DC or London or Paris, but to Jerusalem, where His feet come down on the Mount of Olives. 

Why? To rescue His people Israel, not to rescue the church! Those who survive to this moment (about two-thirds of Israel will have perished) will see Him whom they have pierced and will realize that He is indeed the Messiah for whom they have waited, and will believe that He died for their sins, and be saved and enter into the Kingdom—and He will rule that Millennial Kingdom from Jerusalem. 

Granted, some have said it is nonsense to maintain that there is some kind of special provision for the Israelites as a nation and as a people, even when they continue to reject the gift of the cross, but anyone who says that obviously needs to read the Bible more carefully. Israel has had a long history of rejecting God, all through the wilderness and even in the promised land, and God has had to judge them for it, but He has not repudiated His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning their land, and He has sworn that He will not.

The Berean Call newsletter, May 2022.

The Blood of Christ — Does the Blood Itself Save?

Today I received a comment regarding a long ago posted article or comment string, which I am not going to try to find.  This comment is pretty much the same one as posted by this person previously (I’m not going to give his blog “handle” because I’m not sending people to false teaching KJVOs). (And it violated comment rules by being on an article which had nothing to do with the comment — 8/21/19!)

I’m going to divide the comment into the four paragraphs he wrote, and then comment on each one  separately.  The purpose of this exercise is to educate people on the weird theologies out there.

I am not going to take the time to look up the specific thread in which you falsely accused me of slandering John MacArthur, falsely claiming he does NOT agree with Mary Baker Eddy concerning the blood of Christ, so I will leave this comment here. 

The point was not that MacArthur agreed with Eddy, because he didn’t!!! There is a subtle difference in what they said, and it is an important difference.  The slander was the commenter putting MacArthur on the same level as Eddy as a teacher!

I have never even BEEN charismatic, but I was nevertheless amazed that there was actually a BAPTIST who is faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I highly recommend Dr. (Rev.) D. A. Waite's "John MacArthur's Heresy on the Blood of Christ," to enlighten you concerning this serious matter. 

Charismatics often teach that the blood of Christ had some mystical properties in and of itself, so whether or not this individual is charismatic, his theology about the blood is similar.  D.A. Waite was a rabid KJV Onlyer and called anyone who disagreed with the KJVO stance a heretic. Talk about false teachers!!!!  And it is very apparent that, if he also said MacArthur agreed with Eddy, then Waite really didn’t notice the difference either!

So here is what John MacArthur says concerning the blood of Christ (which DOES indeed save us, cleanse us and justify us, according to SCRIPTURE): "We don't want to get caught in the BIZARRE NOTION that there's any saving efficacy in the FLUID that ran from his body" (And what does GOD SAY? "For the life of the flesh is in the BLOOD, and I have given it to you on the altar FOR THE ATONEMENT OF YOUR SOULS. For it is THE BLOOD that makes atonement by the life" Lev. 17:11). And here is what Eddy says "The material blood of Christ was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed on 'the accursed tree,' than when it was flowing in his veins as he went about his Father's business." 

Note there is a difference between what MacArthur said and what Eddy said. MacArthur said there was no “saving efficacy” while Eddy said it was not “efficacious to cleanse from sin.”

Here’s the point. If Jesus had cut himself while working as a carpenter, and spilled his blood on the ground or smeared it on lumber, that blood had no saving power, nor did it cleanse from sin. Jesus’ blood in and of itself was not miraculous, nor special in any other way.  And that is the point MacArthur was making.

In the Old Testament animals were sacrificed to pay for sin; not that the blood was efficacious in and of itself, but was symbolic as a covering — it covered over the sin of the people. In the same way, when Jesus was offered as a sacrifice, his blood symbolically covered over sin — which is where Eddy went wrong in denying this aspect.  But the blood itself had no saving power — just as MacArthur stated.  The saving power was in the actual sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Christ; if Christ had not raised from the dead there would be no salvation!

You defended JMac, agreeing it wouldn't have done any good if He'd bled and lived, yet SCRIPTURE says "Without the shedding of BLOOD there IS no remission of sin" (Hebrews 9:22). And here's a warning from God as well: "How much severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated the BLOOD OF THE COVENANT that SANCTIFIED them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. 10:29). This is a serious enough issue to break fellowship over. 

The point is that if Jesus had lived, then he wouldn’t have died for our sin, so if all his wounds left trails of blood and yet didn’t kill him, then a sacrifice would not have been made! And yet this commenter thinks it is wrong to say this!

I’m sorry, fella, but Jesus’ blood alone, in and of itself, was no different than that of any other man.  What made it different was that only HIS blood, during HIS sacrifice, atoned for — covered over — our sins. But if he had not died and risen from the dead, that blood would not save anyone.  And that is the Biblical truth!

This is what KJVO legalism, and KJVO twisting of Scripture, and KJOV cultic beliefs lead to — a total misunderstanding of the Gospel. 

I may have the exact details of the theology not quite precise, but it is a FACT that Jesus’ blood had no miraculous qualities, and in and of itself did not save us. What saved us was the sacrifice of Christ with the blood atonement covering sin, his actual death as a sacrifice, and his resurrection proving the sacrifice was acceptable to God for the salvation of those who place their faith in Christ and his death and resurrection.

UPDATE 9/10/19:

The following links were sent to me by James Kieferdorf, proving that James MacArthur has never taught heretically regarding the blood of Jesus, nor has he taught anything near what Mary Baker Eddy taught.

The Blood of Christ. By John MacArthur

What's All the Controversy About John MacArthur and the Blood of Christ? By Phillip R. Johnson.

Once Saved, Always Saved?

There are some different views on whether once a person has been saved by faith in Christ, if he can lose his salvation.  Calvinists say that since God chooses who to elect for salvation we have nothing to say in the matter and therefore will always be saved.  Meanwhile, other groups like the Church of Christ say one can become entangled in sin and lose salvation until they’ve repented and rejoined the assembly.  Catholics declare that if you’ve committed a “mortal sin” and have not confessed it to a priest and received absolution prior to death, then you have lost your salvation.  Some people (e.g. Calvinists) say if YOU chose to accept Christ by faith, then you can also choose to leave the faith. So what is the truth—can one truly saved lose his salvation?  I say “no.”

What I believe the Bible teaches is that once someone truly by faith accepts the fact that Jesus died as an atonement for our sins, and that he arose from the dead as proof that his sacrifice was accepted, that person is saved and always will be; he will not walk away from it because he knows how very serious the faith is and wants to live his life the best he can for the Lord.  However, there are a great number of people who accept such facts intellectually and consider themselves saved but never accepted the faith in Christ into their lives, and when things don’t go in their lives as they think they should, then they turn their backs on the doctrines of the Christian faith and deny their necessity. They didn’t lose their salvation—they never were saved! 

If falling into sin caused a loss of salvation, then how does one account for King David’s sin of adultery and murder being forgiven by God and restored to fellowship? And how does one account for the fact that we all sin daily? And how does one then account for the fact that Christ died for ALL our sins, not just the ones we committed before we became believers?

Some people  even claim that “once saved, always saved” (OSAS) theology gives a license to sin, but my answer to that is Romans 6.

Let’s look at some passages which I believe substantiate my belief, and then we can look at some passages which are used to say that salvation can be lost. (All passages will be from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.)

First, I have to say that there are numerous passages which specifically state that salvation is available to ALL (not just the Calvinist’s “elect”), and many of those are noted in my article about Calvinism.  Not a single one of those passages say that it is a salvation you can lose once you’ve accepted it, and I think if that was a possibility then at least one or two would have such a warning!

Matthew 13, the parable of the sower.  Jesus describes three types of soil on which the seed fell and what the result was.  

The first important soil for this article is the rocky ground: This is the person “who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.  Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived.  When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles.” The man was not truly saved; he accepted it intellectually but never took it to heart and left the faith when persecution or pressure became too tough. 

The second important one is the seed falling among the thorns. “this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and so it becomes unfruitful.”  I once had a very good friend who I invited to the Navigators Bible studies when I was a new believer, and he became on fire for the Lord and accepted the faith.  I “knew” he was a Christian, but then after so many months he was seduced into transcendental meditation and decided that was where the truth was. He was never saved, just took the word and had it choked.  I’ve known others who claimed to have accepted the faith and become Christians but their lifestyles never changed as they were more and more seduced into sexual immorality and hedonism, all the while still intellectually agreeing that the Christian faith is true. I know a young woman who said she had accepted the faith at an AOG assembly, but there was so much mistreatment that she strayed until she became involved with the American Indian culture and marrying into it, and then syncretized Christianity with American Indian spirituality; she still talks all the same “Christianese” and claims to be saved, but it is obvious that she has no real understanding of the word, having it all chocked out by mistreatment in the Church and acceptance of pagan spirituality. I’m sure just about everyone has heard stories of people who “grew up in the faith” and believed themselves to be saved, even speaking of going down for altar calls, but then things happened in the church which turned them sour on it, or things happened in their lives which they think should never happen if one follows God, etc, and they leave the faith, saying that they discovered it wasn’t what it claimed to be; these people may have accepted the Christian teachings intellectually, but never took them to heart. They didn’t lose their salvation—they never had it.

Romans 10:9:  …if you confess with your mouth , ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Not “you might be saved,” but “you will be saved.” But notice it says to believe in your heart, not just intellectually.  Believing it in your heart means you accept it as bonafide truth, and no one would leave such a faith knowing it is true.

Romans 11:16-25:  A lengthy passage so I’ll let you look it up.  Again, it is not talking of loss of salvation, rather it is speaking of those who have not fully accepted the faith while claiming to be part of the Church — they will be pruned off!

1 John 5:12-13:  “The one who has the Son has life.  The one who doesn’t have the Son of God does not have life.  I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you man know that you have eternal life.”  Notice that John says, “so that you may know you have eternal life.”  Know you already have eternal life, not that you might have it if you don’t walk away.

At this point I can’t think of any specific passages demonstrating that salvation is forever, except as I noted above with the myriad of passages of which none warn you can lose what you get.  So let me look at the “if” passages used to deny that one is always saved if they really were saved.

Romans 11:22: “Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity; severity towards those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you—if you remain in His kindness.  Otherwise you to will be cut off.”  This really addresses the rocky and thorny grounds; those people are cut off, so if you don’t want to be cut off, you need to re-evaluate your faith to see if you’ve taken it to heart rather than just intellectually.

1 Corinthians 15:2:  “You are also saved by [the gospel] if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed to no purpose.”  I think this passage is misused for the OSAS debate.  Paul is talking about if the message itself was believed to no purpose because there will be no resurrection; his argument is to prove that without the resurrection our faith is worthless because it is based on a lie.

Colossians 1:22-23:  “But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him—if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast the faith, and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” Again, this is the same concept as Matthew 13.  Accept the faith to the heart and not just intellectually, otherwise it is not a saving faith.  2 Corinthians 13:5 speaks to this very thing—TEST YOURSELF to be sure you are indeed taking the faith to heart and not just intellectually.

1 Timothy 5:11-15: “But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when they are drawn away from Christ by desire, they want to marry and will therefore receive condemnation because they have renounced their original pledge. At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn’t say. Therefore, I want younger women to marry, have children, manage their households, and give the adversary no opportunity to accuse us. For some have already turned away to follow Satan.” Here we are not talking about people who lost their salvation, but rather have been led into temptation and sin, i.e. “following Satan.”  A Christian man or woman who gets caught up in adultery (whether physical or pornography) has not lost their salvation by following Satan’s temptations, but they are certainly out of fellowship with God and the Church until such time as they repent.

Hebrews 2:1:  “We must therefore pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.”  All this is saying is that one can drift away into being lax in their faith, not drifting out of salvation.

Hebrews 3:6:  “But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household, whose household we are if we hold on to the courage and the confidence of our hope.”  Again, check your faith to see if it is real (2 Cor. 13:5)

Hebrews 3:12-14:  “Watch out, brothers, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become companions of the Messiah if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start.” Another passage about checking our heart to see if our faith is a true saving faith.

Hebrews 6:4-8: “For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, became companions with the Holy Spirit, tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt. For ground that has drunk the rain that has often fallen on it and that produces vegetation useful to those it is cultivated for receives a blessing from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and will be burned at the end.” Notice he said the individuals were “enlightened” and “tasted” the message, but didn’t fully accept it into their hearts—they were never saved and have rejected the message.

Hebrews 10:26-29: “For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries. If anyone disregards Moses’ law, he dies without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”  This speaks to those who live a lifestyle of sin after proclaiming that they accepted the faith; but notice he says that the received the knowledge of the truth, not that they took it to heart. They have received the intellectual knowledge but their behavior shows they haven’t accepted it into the heart.  It’s a warning to take it to heart if you want to be saved.

James 5:19-20: “My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.” I see this as pointing out how to handle one who has fallen into sin, by leading him back to repentance. The death discussed is physical death, which we see has been used by God in the N.T. to punish Christians who were, shall we say, “misbehaving”?  (Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 11:30).

2 Peter 2:  This chapter is discussing false believers; false teachers and false prophets.  It is not discussing people losing their salvation.

As for blotting people out of the “Book of Life,” I see that as EVERYONE has their name in the book at the beginning but only remain there if they accept the salvation offered to them.

Again, if one really, truly accepts the Faith to heart, knowing exactly what it means and what it requires, he will never turn his back on it.  He may be sidelined by tragedies, may have some doubts, become ineffective as a worker for the Lord due to temptations, etc, but he will never leave the faith.  When he deliberately sins the Holy Spirit continue to make him feel guilty until he repents and leaves the sin behind, but he does not lose his salvation because of it.