THE GREAT MYSTERY OF SALVATION
Part 1
Bro. Eli Soriano
(www.angdatingdaan.org)
Good day to everyone. We are now going forward in our quest for God's truth regarding salvation. I said that we are going forward because we will not stop here. We have known that salvation is a very broad thing and we have to analyze each issue regarding salvation. Of course, there are issues in salvation, whether our listeners accept it or not. I say " issues" because religious groups are not one in teaching the process or the way to salvation. There are groups that believe that salvation is instant, that by raising your hands and accepting our Lord Jesus Christ as allegedly " your own personal Lord and Savior", you will be saved without doing anything. And once salvation is obtained you will not lose it as the Baptists claim that once you are saved, you are always saved. We have proven that to be incorrect beyond any reasonable doubt. There are chances wherein a Christian may fall or can be a reprobate. Reprobate means that they were once enlightened, they were ones living with God, but they became reprobates because of their misdeeds.
Now, I said that we must forward or advance our studies because there are still other issues to clarify regarding salvation. For example, there is a mystery that is in Christ that we have to understand for us to be saved. For our Lord Jesus Christ to save us, we have to be a part of that great mystery in the scriptures. To start, I want to read this in the book of Eph. 5:30-32 --
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
These verses tell us of a great mystery, according to Paul. Whether people appreciate this or not, that is not our concern. Our concern is to preach what is in the scriptures. According to Paul, (he is speaking to the Christians of Ephesus) he said that " we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." So, the oneness of Christians or the congregation of Christians, according to Paul, pertains to what he said that, " we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones."
Of course, that is not the physical body of Christ. That is not the physical being of Christ while he was on earth some 2000 years ago. When the apostle Paul said that we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones, he means something else. And for this cause he said in verse 31-32, " shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."
This is a mystery which was misunderstood throughout all the ages of human history. Why do we say that this was misunderstood? Evidently in the scriptures, Moses had written such a pronouncement. If we will read in the book of Genesis 2:23-24 --
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
After creating Eve from one of the ribs of Adam, God handed Eve to Adam. He gave Eve, the woman, unto the man whom he had made. Upon receiving Eve, there was a poetic utterance of Adam which says: " This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." That was what Adam said. But what was the interpretation of Moses? Let us continue in 24 --
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
That "therefore" is now coming from Moses and not from Adam anymore. The idea came from Moses and it did not come from Adam. Moses said this because he presumed that the earthly or the carnal relationship that have to take place between a man and his wife is what is meant by this quotation from God. Of course, this came from God himself. Moses heard this from God, "shall a man leave his father and his mother… "
And to prove that the quotation really came from God himself, let us read Mat. 19:4-5 --
Mat 19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Mat 19:5 And said …
"And said .." Who said that? In verse 4, "He which made them…" It is very clear on the explanation of our Lord Jesus Christ when he answered the scribes and Pharisees. (Jesus Christ is speaking in this occasion). Christ said, " Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said…" Who said? It is the creator. It is God. What did God say? Let us read verse 5 --
Mat 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
And in verse 6 --
Mat 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Who is speaking in verse 6? It is our legislator, our Lord Jesus Christ. He interpreted what the Father had said during the time of Moses. The interpretation is that: " Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not no man put asunder."
So, it is God who is establishing the relationship between the man and the woman. He is joining them together as one. They are not anymore twain but one flesh. That was the pronouncement heard by Moses from God and he applied it to the relationship of Adam and Eve.
But if we will to analyze deeply what the Bible says, remember that Moses is writing this incidence many thousands of years after the creation. Moses is just telling us what happened in the garden of Eden wherein he was not present yet. This writing is by the inspiration of the holy spirit and by the dictate of the holy spirit. He is telling us something that he had heard from God; that there is a pronouncement from God telling that " a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and the twain shall be one flesh".
To be continued …
