Saved to the Uttermost

Hebrews 7:25 (New King James Version)
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

There is so very little understanding of the amazing work of grace that God has wrought through Jesus Christ. Many tend to think that because we are sinners that Christ died to pay for our sin so that we could go on sinning without penalty as long as at some point we are sorry for it. Often the choice is made to enter into a sinful situation knowing that later we will feel sorry and repentant and that God will forgive us and all will be well again. This is very short sighted and definitely erroneous thinking for a number of reasons. First of all we were redeemed in order that we might bring glory to God and be a light to those who are in darkness. How much damage is done to the cause of Christ when a Christian sins and is exposed. Just as much harm occurs when His deeds remain in darkness because there are eyes everywhere including in the spiritual realm and the battle in the spiritual realm is just as fierce as it is in the visible. Sooner or later every evil deed will be exposed. The goal of our instruction as stated in;

1 Timothy 1:5 (New American Standard Bible)

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

How can we say we have a good conscience when we are knowingly sinning? Christ came and sacrificed Himself to completely deliver us from the power of sin. Please take note of these words. "THE POWER OF SIN, NOT THE DESIRE TO SIN". As long as there is a breath in this body there will be the desire to sin. It is the very nature of mankind and the result of the law. Parents know that all it takes is to tell your child not to do something and that is the very thing that they are going to do. The command "NO" in itself creates the desire to do. So what is the cure for our sinful tendencies? Surrender in total helplessness to the working of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. What do I mean when I say surrender totally? We must come to the realization that we are helpless and weak beyond hope. This is humbling and most people want to feel strong and in control and to be able to say "I have victory" for it makes the flesh feel good. But please note, this makes us prideful and does not give glory to God but draws attention to ourselves and makes others uncomfortable around us because they know that we think we are better than them.

So when we think about our problems and sinful condition we need to be thinking about Christ and His ministry to us through the Holy Spirit for the answers. Let's look at some scriptures but before we do let me make a comparison. I am using a computer to accomplish not only this task but a number of tasks related to my making a living. However I know very little about what the computer is capable of doing since I have never taken a course. I am self taught and I barely know enough to type a simple letter and send an email and I can edit photographs and put an ad on eBay. Every once in a while someone is watching me doing something on the computer and says "why don't you try this?" and presto I have a new helpful tool at my disposal that reduces my time spent and also my frustration level. The real shame is that I sometimes have to pay someone to correct problems on my computer that I could do myself if only I would take the time to study some of the help books that I have setting around. I could take this illustration to much greater lengths but I hope you get the point. We get out of something according to the same measure we put into it. A person who has really studied computers can make a great living off those who are unwilling to study for themselves.

In the same manner person who is willing to put a lot of effort into learning and knowing God and His Son Jesus is going to be able to receive all that He has provided for His own. It just doesn't come automatically and the reason for that is that He wants us to know Him intimately because that is the only way we will ever trust Him fully and and that is the very best description of FAITH. You cannot possibly have mountain moving faith if you do not have a deep and abiding personal knowledge and trust in Jesus to do everything He has promised to do for His chosen ones. Many tell me that they do know Him and trust Him and yet they have terrible struggles with sinful thoughts and actions so I have to say to them "No you do not yet know Him as you need to". I am not saying that it is their fault nor making an accusation for it is the fault of the pastors and teachers that they have looked to for leadership who are only giving them enough to keep them dependent. The apostle Paul admonished the Hebrews (5:13) that they should already be teachers but he found they were so ignorant that they needed to go back on a diet of milk because they weren't ready for meat. It is the job of teachers to teach the people how to study scriptures for themselves and make sure they understand them and to emphasize how important it is to hear from the Holy Spirit for yourself and they simply are not doing that.

Let's continue with the topic of receiving God's perfect life to replace this very flawed and imperfect life of ours. The secret is found in weakness. That runs so contrary to human logic. We think we must be strong and be over-comers but the result is always the same, either we fail miserably or we have some success and become unbearably proud and either one is an abomination to God. Fail and you bring shame to the name of Christ, become proud and you will turn people away from Christ with your "holier than thou attitude".

Psalm 34:18 (New King James Version)

18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite (humble) spirit.

The word "Contrite" means Humble. A broken heart means that you know just how bad you really are and are helpless to do anything about it. God loves to scoop you up in His big arms and hold you when you come to Him with this attitude.
Any parent can relate to what I am saying; consider your toddler child and how helpless they can be and how lovable they are and how much you love to do things for them and help them and comfort them when they are hurt or frightened. But just wait until they are in their teens and know it all and yet you know that they really know nothing about real life and left to their own devices will get into much trouble. Because of their arrogance there is little you can do for them but pray they will grow out of their insanity before they destroy their future before it begins. It is little different in the spiritual realm. We are all infants and totally incapable of knowing anything much less doing anything right because God's ways and thoughts are not the ways of man.
Isaiah 55:9 (New King James Version)
9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Jesus totally baffled the people of His day and we read about it now and think that we understand and can't figure out why they couldn't back then but I can assure you that if you were to spend time with Him today you would find Him just as baffling as they did. We just aren't wired to heavenly thinking and that is why we need to give Him total control if we want to live a life that is pleasing to Him. He has promised to direct it in every detail if you will let Him but it takes time to develop that "ear to hear".
Psalm 51:17 (New King James Version)

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

Isaiah 57:15 (New King James Version)
15 For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“ I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

No living man knew the Lord better than the apostle Paul but here's what he had to say; 2 Corinthians 12:10 (New King James Version)
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Lest you think he is only speaking about physical weakness here is another one that is more to the point;1 Timothy 1:15 (New King James Version)
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. This he is saying near the end of his life, whereas the scripture below is what he says at the early part of his ministry before he really has spent a lot of time with the Lord and knows Him intimately;

2 Corinthians 11:5 (New King James Version)

5 For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles. Sounds a bit arrogant doesn't it?

But with the passing of time and experience he writes to the Hebrews:Hebrews 11:33-34 (New King James Version)
33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Pay special attention to the part that says that "out of weakness they were made strong". When that arrogant teenager comes to the parent in tears and says "I have been so foolish and made so many mistakes and don't know what to do, Please help me" does not the good parent respond with love and compassion and is he not willing to spend much time with the child guiding him in the right direction. I must declare that at some point the comparison breaks down because God wants us to always remain dependent on Him though with the passage of time as we get to know God's heart we will be able to do many things without asking because we will have been trained by Him and His Spirit within us will provide and check if we start off in a wrong direction and we will heed the check.

So back once again to the sinful nature and our thought life. I have said before that "WE STRUGGLE WITH SIN TO THE SAME DEGREE THAT WE FLIRT WITH IT". We can compare our minds with our car and wind. When you are in your car and there is a wind and you open the door the wind comes in and begins to stir up whatever is laying around loose in the car, however if someone opens a door on the other side the result is like a tornado and you lose control of everything. Our brain is the same way, thoughts come randomly and without invitation just like the wind. We can then close the door on them and reject them just like shutting the car door to keep out the wind, or we can invite them in for a while and make friends with them and have a party. By doing so we are opening the door of our heart and letting those thoughts in there where they will take up permanent residence and be there to haunt and condemn you, creating a tornado effect just as two open doors of the car.

There is a huge difference between having a mental tendency to something and indulging in it. the entire 7Th chapter of Romans is addressing this issue. Many people think that the apostle Paul wrote this letter to show that we would always sin but that is not true. He wrote it to explain that this flesh is always corrupt and would never change but followed it with chapter 8 to explain that a life with the Spirit Christ would set us free from having to give in to the power of the flesh.
It is simply a matter of who you decide to give control to. Hence the title of this blog. Saved to the Uttermost means that you have given Him control at all times. You think that is not possible? Yes it is more possible than you think because that is His total purpose with mankind and the goal of redemption and He will do it but you must ask Him to do it and be willing to cooperate. It is a process whereby you learn what is'Romans 11:33 (New King James Version)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Ephesians 3:17-19 (New King James Version)
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The only power that we have we must exercise to the utmost and that is the power to seek Him with all of our heart.Jeremiah 29:13 (New King James Version)
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.



God bless you and give you the desire to pursue Him like never before. It's worth it.
john Martin
email: justjohn@eoni.com