Brother Zhang then gave fellowship, saying: “Thank the Lord, these words have made it crystal clear as to what true salvation is! True salvation means that, once someone has gained the truth and been cleansed and perfected by God, they cast off sin completely and cast off the dark influence of Satan, and they no longer commit sin or defy God. The work the Lord Jesus did was actually the work of redemption, and we merely no longer belonged to sin. But the satanic nature within us was deeply rooted, and even though our sins received the Lord’s absolution, when we encounter issues, we are still capable of coming under the domination of the satanic dispositions, such as arrogance and conceit, crookedness and deceit, selfishness and meanness, and insidiousness and maliciousness, and we often can’t help but sin and defy God, and are simply unable to put the Lord’s words into practice. This is like being a thief who is caught by the police for stealing other people’s things. His parents can’t stand the thought of their son languishing in detention, and so they pay a king’s ransom to keep their son out of jail. But the thief’s nature is still within him, and when a suitable opportunity comes along, he will again be dominated by his nature and will continue to steal things. Therefore, if we understand all aspects of the truth, being completely freed from Satan’s domain, having our satanic, corrupt dispositions cleansed, casting off the binds of sin, and seeking God’s will, practicing God’s words and truly revering and obeying God no matter the environment, then we are always saved, and only then are we people who are completely gained by God.”
I said happily, “Thank God’s enlightenment and guidance for enabling me to understand that the view of ‘once saved, always saved, and then one can enter into the kingdom of heaven’ is wrong. I also understand that eternal salvation means ridding ourselves of our sinful nature and being cleansed, and that this is entirely different from being saved once and having our sins absolved. This book really makes it clear what true salvation is, so is there a way within its pages that can allow us to rid ourselves of sin and be saved? If we could find a way to rid ourselves of sin, and practice in accordance with that way, wouldn’t we then be able to of attain true salvation and enter into the kingdom of heaven?”
Brother Zhang said with joy, “Brother Yang, you are so right! Thank the Lord, if we could only find the way to rid ourselves of sin and resolve the problem of our sinful nature, we could then attain true salvation and enter into the kingdom of heaven. This book talks very clearly about this aspect of the truth, so let’s keep reading …”
I said happily, “Thank God’s enlightenment and guidance for enabling me to understand that the view of ‘once saved, always saved, and then one can enter into the kingdom of heaven’ is wrong. I also understand that eternal salvation means ridding ourselves of our sinful nature and being cleansed, and that this is entirely different from being saved once and having our sins absolved. This book really makes it clear what true salvation is, so is there a way within its pages that can allow us to rid ourselves of sin and be saved? If we could find a way to rid ourselves of sin, and practice in accordance with that way, wouldn’t we then be able to of attain true salvation and enter into the kingdom of heaven?”
Brother Zhang said with joy, “Brother Yang, you are so right! Thank the Lord, if we could only find the way to rid ourselves of sin and resolve the problem of our sinful nature, we could then attain true salvation and enter into the kingdom of heaven. This book talks very clearly about this aspect of the truth, so let’s keep reading …”
