Introduction
In the space of Christendom, many people have and still to this day teach that good works are necessary for your salvation. A popular form of this works-based doctrine is what some in the Free Grace community would call “backloading.” This form of works salvation teaches that even though you are saved by grace through faith and not by your works, if you are truly saved, you will perform/bear good works. By this standard, one can look at their works and determine if they are saved or not based on the "evidence" of works. For a more in-depth explanation, you can check out this blog. However, this doctrine has a giant oversight, which is ignoring the Biblical doctrine of the new man. When this teaching from the Bible is brought into consideration, the backloaded gospel crumbles.
A Believer's Two Parts
According to the Bible, a believer has two parts to them. You are both born of the flesh and born again of the Spirit. Jesus explains to Nicodemus in John 3 how having these two parts to you is necessary for you to be saved.
John 3:3-5
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
In this passage, after hearing what Jesus said about being born again, Nicodemus asked Jesus how he could possibly be born again. He says, “can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Nicodemus assumed that to be born again is to only have one part of you or one man that is of the flesh. In response, Jesus told him that he needed to be born of “water and of the Spirit,” water being your physical birth, and of the Spirit being a spiritual birth.
In Romans 8, Paul explains that our spiritual birth is us being born of God.
Romans 8:14-16
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”
The Differences Between the Old & New Man
Jesus said these two parts of you are of the flesh and of the Spirit, and Paul refers to them as the old man and the new man. The old man is your fleshly, physical body, and the new man is your spiritual body, which we will receive physically at the resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:44
“It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”
The Old Man:
Romans 6:6
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
The New Man:
Ephesians 4:24
“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
1 Peter 1:23
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Now, you might have noticed the important distinction between the old and new man from these verses, which is that the old man is tainted by sin, but the new man is righteous. In fact, 1 John 3:9 says that the new man “cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Lastly, we are the new man and not the old man, even though it may seem like we are.
Romans 7:20
“Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
Wrapping Things Together
So, how does this tie back into backloading being a false doctrine? In the beginning, I explained how backloaders teach that “if you are truly saved, you will produce good works.” They apply a universal standard to every saved person, that being they will all show forth righteous acts. Here’s the problem: even if you do not produce good works, that does not mean you are not saved. The reason why is because even though you are acting within the old man, or walking in the flesh, you are not the one sinning anymore. You, the new man, the one who shall inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50), cannot sin. Old things have passed away. Just because one brother may put on the new man or walk in the Spirit while another does not, both are saved because they are of the Spirit. The brother that walks in the Spirit is manifesting the righteousness of the new man outwardly by shining his light. And even if the other brother does not manifest the works of the Spirit and fulfills the lust of the flesh, that does not mean the new man is not inside him; he still has that light, it is just hidden (Matthew 5:14-16).
Not all believers will universally bear good works, so we cannot look at it to conclude who is saved or not. To say otherwise would be to say the flesh is the Spirit, that you as a believer do not have two natures.
Conclusion
There is a universal standard that does apply to us, however, which is that we are all saved according to the righteousness God has given us. Discern by doctrines if you really want to know who is approved among you (1 Corinthians 11:19).
1 Samuel 16:7
“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
Romans 2:28-29
“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”
Comentários