Program 109: Salvation: Received Not Achieved

Salvation can only be accepted. It can never be achieved through works or merits.

Welcome to WLC Radio, a subsidiary of World’s Last Chance Ministries, an online ministry dedicated to learning how to live in constant readiness for the Savior's return.

For two thousand years, believers of every generation have longed to be the last generation. Contrary to popular belief, though, Christ did not give believers “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, he repeatedly warned that his coming would take even the faithful by surprise. Yahushua urgently warned believers to be ready because, he said, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Part 1: (Miles & Dave)

Miles Robey: Greetings! Welcome to World’s Last Chance Radio where we discuss the latest understanding in prophecy, Bible truths relevant to today’s issues, and more. I’m your host, Miles Robey, and with me as always is Dave Wright!

Dave Wright: Hello! Thanks for joining us today.

Miles: For those of you tuning in for the first time, at WLC we prefer, whenever possible, to use the personal name of the heavenly Father, which is Yahuwah, or Yah. It comes from the Hebrew verb of being, hayah.

Dave: Isn’t it interesting that this verb of being, which is the root word for the Creator’s personal name, appears in many cultures as a shout of power? People who practice karate and other forms of martial arts will yell, “Hayah!” because they say it gives their hits or their kicks more power.

Miles: Well, it does! As we’ve discussed in an earlier program, the word of Yah itself contains the power that called the universe into existence. This verb, hayah, is the same word that was used when Yahuwah spoke the world into existence.

In English it’s rather wordy. Our translations say: “Let there be light and there was light.” But a more direct translation is: “Light be! Light was” or: “Light hayah. Light hayah.”

Dave: What I find most beautiful about the divine name is that, since it is a verb of being, when you combine your need, with the divine name, it becomes a powerful promise you can claim. You’re in danger? BE protected. You’re in want? BE supplied. It’s very beautiful and it’s what Scripture means when it urges us to “call upon the name of the Lord,” which, in the original actually says: “call upon the name of Yahuwah.”

Miles: Names had a lot of meaning in Biblical times. Nowadays, a lot of cultures have moved away from putting so much meaning into names. Parents will give names that sound pleasing to the ear, and sometimes those names, while sounding pretty, have no actual meaning whatsoever. So, yeah. It’s important to know the Creator’s personal name. It opens up a whole new realm of understanding.

Dave: The Saviour’s name has meaning, too. “Jesus” is simply the English version of the Greek attempt to transliterate the name of Yahushua, or Yahshua. Yahushua is Yahuwah’s salvation and that is what his name means.

Often when reading Scripture or quotes by Christian authors, when it is clear who they’re talking about, we’ll restore the original names of the Father and the son.

Miles: You might also hear the words “el” or “elohim” in various Old Testament passages. These were Hebrew titles that refer to the Father.

So. Getting on to today’s topic. There was a recent news article about this high school principal in the United States named Derrick Nelson. Apparently, there’s something called “Be the Match” which is a worldwide bone marrow registry network.

Derrick had been matched with a 14-year old teenager in France. He told his school’s newspaper, quote: “If it’s just a little bit of pain for a little bit of time that can give someone years of joy, it’s all worth it.”

Dave: That’s very kind. Very altruistic.

Miles: It really is! But what made this story newsworthy was that, during the procedure to harvest the bone marrow, Derrick went into cardiac arrest before lapsing into a coma. A few weeks later, he died.

Dave: Wow! Bone marrow donation is typically a low-risk procedure!

Miles: Yeah. But he actually died as a result of trying to help this teenager in France.

Dave: Reminds me of John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Miles: And he didn’t even know the person he was doing it for!

Dave: How could you ever repay something like that? He literally sacrificed his life to help another.

Miles: You can’t.

Dave: No, you really can’t. Nothing that teen can ever do will ever be able to “repay” the value of the gift.

Miles: I agree. He—or she—can go on to live an honorable life, doing good to others. But ultimately, no: there’s no way to repay such a gift.

And that’s how I view our salvation. We’re sinners. Lost, and doomed to eternal death. We deserve eternal death.

And yet, Yahuwah comes along and, without any worthiness on our part; without any ability on our part to repay such a gift, He tells us: “I love you. And I’ve saved you. All you have to do is accept the gift. That’s it!”

Dave: That’s foundational to Christianity and is what sets the Christian religion apart from all others: sinners are saved by grace. There’s nothing you can ever do to earn it.

Miles: And yet …

And yet, works somehow always seem to worm their way back in. I was hoping you could shed some light on this for us today. Why is it that, even without our realizing it, it’s so easy to slip back into a works-oriented religion? Why is this such a danger and yet we seem so oblivious to it? We claim to believe in salvation by faith, and yet we end up trying to earn it, over and over and over again.

And finally, maybe you can share with us what the Bible says about how we’re saved.

Dave: It’s something of a conundrum, isn’t it? I mean, we all agree salvation is a gift of grace. And yet, despite this assurance, the vast majority of us, almost unbeknownst to ourselves, slip into a salvation-by-works mentality that contradicts our stated beliefs.

I’d like you to read a quote by Hudson Taylor. He was a British missionary who spent a total of 51 years in China. He faced struggles most of us will never have to face and, as a result, he understood that salvation is by faith, not works.

Here—I’ve pulled it up on my monitor. Can you see that?

Miles: Uh … yeah. It says, quote:

To every toiling, heavy-laden sinner, [Yahushua] says, “Come to me and rest.” But there are many toiling, heavy-laden believers, too. For them this same invitation is meant. Note well the words of [Yahushua], if you are heavy-laden with your service, and do not mistake it. It is not, “Go. Labor on,” as perhaps you imagine. On the contrary, it is, “Stop, turn back, come to me and rest.” Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never, never did he send a hungry one, a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one, away on any service. For such the Bible only says, “Come, come, come.”

Unquote. That’s really beautiful. I like that. We drive ourselves and others far more than Yah ever does.

Dave: Salvation, always, is a gift. There is nothing we can do to earn it and, furthermore, there is nothing we can do to maintain it.

Miles: What do you mean?

Dave: Well, you’d asked where this idea slips in that there’s surely something we must do for salvation, while at the same time we admit that salvation is a gift.

Miles: Our words acknowledge that salvation is a gift of grace, but our lives end up showing that we think there’s something we must do.

Dave: Salvation by works enters the Christian experience because we think that in order to maintain the gift of salvation, we must do our part. For example, we think that in order to maintain ourselves in a state of saving grace, we have to set our alarms an hour earlier in order to have plenty of time for prayer and morning devotions.

Miles: Well … those are important.

Dave: Sure! But what about the doctor who stayed up till midnight preforming an emergency surgery? Maybe he’s too tired to wake up extra early.

Miles: Yeah, but that doesn’t happen every night.

Dave: All right. Take the mum of a three-year-old who also has a two-month-old infant with colic. She’s up most the night pacing the floor with her crying baby. You think she’s sinning for sleeping just as long as possible morning after morning after morning?

What about the taxi driver who’s switched to working the night shift and drinks caffeine to stay awake? Has he lost his hold on divine grace because he’s drinking coffee or a coke?

What about the young woman who wears jewelry? Is her heart in rebellion against Yah because she pierced her ears?

See, this is where the attitude of salvation by works creeps in. Take, for example, diet. We know that our bodies are the temple of Yah, right?

Miles: Right.

Dave: We also know that a clean, healthy diet is important in order to have clear minds to discern the voice of the spirit of Yah.

So. Let’s say you have a sweet tooth …

Miles: Oh, I do! [No doubt about it.

Dave: All right. Have you ever wanted a bowl of ice cream, or a doughnut, or candy bar—whatever … but the reason you chose to abstain was because you believed you shouldn’t because it wasn’t healthy—

Miles: Sure.

Dave: –And you didn’t want to dishonor Yah by eating something unhealthy?

Did you ever sit next to someone who was eating what you really, really wanted to eat, too, but since you had chosen to abstain from eating … THAT, did you ever feel like you were the better Christian precisely because you were abstaining while he was indulging in what you really wanted to enjoy, too?

See, this is where works creeps in.

Miles: Spiritual pride, too.

Dave: Absolutely. When we worship on the true Sabbath, carefully guarding the edges of the Sabbath; when we—by excruciating self-denial—abstain from things we really want to do just because we think that that’s what you need to do to honor Yah (but we still secretly want to indulge) that’s works.

Miles: So are you saying we should all just go do whatever we want? Not live an abstemious life, whatever?

Dave: What I’m saying is, true obedience stems from the heart. Let’s take a look at Mathew 23. Turn there and read verses 23 and 24, would you please? Here, Christ is addressing this very issue.

Miles: All right. It says: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”

Dave: Notice: Yahushua is not saying that they shouldn’t have been so careful in keeping the letter of the law. But he is saying that is not the most important thing. The “weightier matters of the law” are justice, mercy, faith. “These ought ye to have done,” he says, “and not leave the others undone.”

But what we are too quick to forget is that obedience itself is a gift. Yes, salvation is a gift. Justification is a gift. At the moment the repentant sinner accepts Yah’s offer of salvation, he or she is declared righteous and stands before Yah as though he’d never sinned. That’s a gift.

Miles: But it’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s not a one-time deal.

Dave: Exactly! Remember the promise of Ezekiel 36?

Miles: Verses 26 and 27? Yeah, it says: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

Dave: If every Christian would let the words of this passage sink into their soul, there would be no more salvation by works.

• Yah gives us a new heart.
• Yah puts a new spirit within us.
• Yah causes us to walk in His statutes so that we can keep His commandments.

Philippians 2:13 says: “For it is Yah which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” It’s all Yahuwah! It’s all a gift. Never forget: obedience itself is a gift.

Miles: That’s incredibly encouraging because I know from personal experience, any time I try to obey, I just end up failing. Oh, sure. Maybe I can resist by strength of will and the sweat of my brow for a while, but just give it enough time and at some point, I’m going to be too tired, too hungry, too stressed and I’ll lose the strength of will to resist.

Dave: Happens to all of us. And if, by some minor miracle, we happen to successfully resist, then we feel proud of “our” ability to overcome.

Miles: Spiritual pride. Yep.

Well, we’re going to take a quick break. When we come back, could you share with us some of the Bible promises that explain exactly how salvation works?

Dave: Be happy to.

Miles: Stay tuned. We’ll be right back.

* * *

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* * *Part 2: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: Okay, as we’ve been saying, salvation is a free gift, but too often believers assume they must have some part to play, whether that’s denying self, or obtaining victory over sins—

Dave: Abstaining from—whatever—in your own strength.

Miles: And if we don’t, then the fear is that we lose the gift of salvation.

Dave: It’s a subtle mind-trap the devil snares us in. Interestingly enough, this sort of reasoning was adamantly rejected by the great Protestant reformer, Martin Luther. He asked, quote: “Is it not wonderful news to believe that salvation lies outside ourselves?” Unquote.

We’ve got to remember that daily surrender, victory over besetting sins, and a godly life are all the fruits of salvation. They are not, and never will be, righteous works that are required in order to maintain the gift of salvation.

Miles: Salvation is always received; never achieved.

Dave: Wow. That’s an excellent way to put it: salvation is always received. It’s never achieved. Paul was very clear on this point. Turn to Titus, chapter 3, and read verses 3 to 7, please.

Miles: All right … uh … here we go:

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

But after that the kindness and love of Yahuwah our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Yahushua Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Dave: “Not by works of righteousness that we have done.” If there were no other passage on the topic of salvation, this one right here would be sufficient to settle forever that salvation is a gift and can never be anything else.

Miles: In our last segment you were pointing out how, in Ezekiel 36, Yahuwah was saying that He would give us a new heart, and that He would write His law on our hearts. In essence, He would gift us with the ability to obey. It’s interesting in this passage that Paul seems to be concurring.

In verse 5, he talks about the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy spirit.” Obviously, those also are gifts. They have to be. We can’t cleanse ourselves. So even the cleansing—vital as it is to live a godly life—is also a gift.

Dave: Yep. Everything we need for salvation is available to those who accept it by faith. Again, salvation, always, is a gift.

All right. Next, let’s take a look at Romans 3. This is a theme Paul hammers on over, and over, and over again. He wanted believers to understand that there was nothing they could do to earn salvation. Whether he was writing to Jews who had converted, or those who had been pagan, the tendency was to return to “works of the law.”

Miles: Seems to always be the tendency of the human heart, doesn’t it?

Dave: Consciously, or subconsciously. We like to feel we’re helping out. But the only thing we can do is choose to exercise faith. Because this great gift is available only to those who accept it by faith.

You have Romans 3? Okay. Read verses 21 to 28. I know this is rather long, but there’s a lot in here, so take your time.

Miles:

But now the righteousness of Yah apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of Yahuwah, through faith in Yahushua Christ, to all and on all who believe.

For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Yah, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Yahushua, whom Yah set forth as a propitiation by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in His forbearance Yahuwah had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Yahushua.

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

Dave: Notice: we are gifted with Yahuwah’s own righteousness “through faith in Yahushua, to all and on all who believe.” Yes, we’ve all sinned, but we are “justified freely by His grace.”

Paul keeps repeating this theme over and over, as though, if he can just find the right way to phrase it, this truth will finally sink in.

Miles: I like how he refers to the “law of faith.” That’s powerful! Scientists speak of the “laws of thermodynamics.” We talk about the “laws of attraction.” And here we have the “law of faith” that lets a person be justified “by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”

Dave: Justification is a big word that simply means being declared righteous. When you are justified, Yahuwah takes the merits of Yahushua’s sinless life and blameless death and credits them to your account. Now, you are covered in the righteousness of Yahushua. His blameless life, covers your record and you stand before Yah as though you had never sinned.

And as we said earlier, it’s a gift that keeps on giving. It’s not a one-time transaction. You are not justified at the beginning of your Christian walk, only to be required to maintain that justification on your own by self-denying sinless living. Victory itself is also a gift.

Miles: That’s the stumbling block, isn’t it? It’s so easy to think that because we must cooperate, we’re responsible for overcoming. After all, James 4:7 says: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Dave: Ah! Ah! Ah!

Miles: What? That is what it says. So, it’s very easy to get this idea that, after we’ve received the gift of justification, we must now overcome in our own strength, since we’re supposed to resist the devil.

Dave: That’s what you get when you quote out of context.

Miles: Huh? What are you talking about?

Dave: You’re right: James 4:7 does say that we’re to resist the devil and he’ll flee from us, but that’s not all it says. Let’s turn there and take a look at it in context.

I think you’re right that this is where the idea has come from that we have something to do in addition to just accepting it by faith. But, once you read it in context it becomes clear that even in resisting the devil, it’s in Yah’s strength, not our own.

You have James 4? All right. Let’s read verses 5 to 10.

Miles: Okay, uh … quote:

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore submit to Yahuwah. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to Yah and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of Yahuwah, and He will lift you up.

Unquote.

Wow! I have to say, that really does put a completely different slant on it.

Dave: Doesn’t it, though? It doesn’t matter what the temptation is: Yahuwah gives more grace.

Therefore—because of this fact—submit yourself to Yahuwah. Then, in His strength, the divine strength given you as a free gift, you can resist the devil and he will flee from you.

It’s all a gift.

Now, that next verse. Read verse 8 again.

Miles: Uh … “Draw near to Yah and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Dave: Now. Don’t start thinking that cleansing your hands and purifying your heart is the work that you are to do. You can’t. I can’t. We’re “double-minded.” Only Yahuwah can cleanse us. That is His work. But He’s not going to do it without our consent.

Satan uses force; Yah is a lover of liberty and He has guaranteed everyone the liberty of conscience to choose for him- or herself.

Miles: That reminds me of a quote I once read by Augustine of Hippo. He was an early Christian theologian and philosopher. He lived from 350 … 354 to 430. Somewhere in there. Anyway, he said, quote: “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.”

Dave: That’s good. That’s really good. Salvation, first, and last, and always, is a gift. But it’s up to you—it’s up to me—whether or not we choose to accept it.

To paraphrase Augustine’s thought: Yah created us without our help and, with our consent, recreates us without our help as well.

Miles: Yep. Why is it so easy to forget that?

Dave: Satan wants us to because he knows that just as soon as we start resisting him in our strength, he’s got us.

All right. Another passage. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 4 to 7. What does that say?

Miles:

But Yahuwah, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Yahushua, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Yahushua.

Dave: “Grace” is defined as “unmerited (or undeserved) favor.” Any time in Scripture when you hear the word “grace,” you can just as easily insert the phrase, “undeserved favor.”

So, when we were dead in trespasses, who made us alive together with Christ?

Miles: Yahuwah.

Dave: How? How are we saved?

Miles: By undeserved favor.

Dave: You’ve got it. And Yahuwah did this for a very specific purpose. Read verse 7 again.

Miles: “That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Yahushua.”

Dave: This is His demonstration of divine love! He’s not going to require us to do that which we can’t anyway! Now, Paul circles back to his primary thesis. Read verses 8 to 10.

Miles: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of Yah: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Yahushua unto good works, which Yah hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Dave: The only “good works” any of us can ever do is that which flows from a heart that Yah has re-created.

Salvation-by-faith becomes salvation-by-works the moment you shift your focus from Christ’s merits to your own actions.

Miles: Like you were saying earlier, there’s that subtle sense of satisfaction when you see other Christians doing what you secretly want to do, too, but which you’re self-righteously abstaining from doing.

Dave: A sense of spiritual superiority is always a symptom of salvation-by-works. But here, Paul states that it’s Yahuwah that “made us alive together with Christ.” It is “not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Miles: It’s very revealing that in the same sentence it says that we were created “unto good works” it also says that “we are His workmanship.”

Dave: It’s all a gift! It’s Yah’s work. All any of us can do is to choose to accept it by faith. And that’s the thing: the Creator is also our re-Creator.

Would you read 2 Corinthians 5, verses 17 to 19?

Miles: Give me just a second to find it … okay:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of Yah, who has reconciled us to Himself through Yahushua Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that Yah was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Dave: The ultimate goal of the plan of salvation is to bring believers back into intimate communion with their Maker. Only the Creator can do this. He re-creates us in His image, restoring the purity that was lost at the fall of Adam. Yahushua’s exact words were: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect. [Matthew 5:48]

Miles: It’s redemption and complete restoration as a gift of undeserved favor.

* * *

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WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Daily Mailbag (Miles & Dave)

Dave: So. Where’s the question for our Daily Mailbag coming from today?

Miles: Canada!

Dave: You know, Canada is an interesting country. It’s the second largest country in the world but it has the fourth lowest population in the world.

Miles: Yeah, that’s amazing. Their population density is something like four people per square kilometer.

Dave: That’s not much, when you compare that to South Korea that has something like 517 people per square kilometer.

Miles: Here in the UK we’ve got a lot more than four people per square kilometer. Last I heard, we’ve got … what, 270? Two-hundred and seventy-two people for every square kilometer.

Dave: So, what’s our question for today’s daily mailbag?

Miles: Well, Sam and Lily Martin have a really great question that I think a lot of people can benefit from. They write: “Our daughter and son-in-law just informed us that they are expecting our first grandchild. We are thrilled, of course, and very blessed to live close enough to be a part of this new life. Our question is: How can we help this child grow up to be a strong Christian? Our kids are committed Christians themselves and we would like to support them and help them in raising this child for Yahuwah. Any suggestions?”

Dave: I’m delighted to have the chance to answer this. And, for listeners who aren’t grandparents, these principles hold true for anyone who has children in their lives in whatever capacity. Not just their children and grandchildren, but family friends, too.

Miles: We all have our own sphere of influence.

Dave: Your life touches the lives of others. Psalm 127 verse 3 says that “children are a heritage of Yahuwah.” Becoming a grandparent isn’t just another “season” in your life. It’s a privilege and a responsibility.

Miles: I’ve always thought what a unique privilege the patriarchs had in being able to influence and lead to Yah so many generations of their descendants. For example, you do the math, Noah died when Abram was 50! According to the Book of Jasher, Abram actually lived with Noah and Shem for 40 years.

Dave: And Abraham’s life, over-lapped Joseph’s. You can see how the influence of a godly lineage was handed down through the generations. View your influence as both a gift and a privilege—a responsibility. Don’t let the ease of retirement lead you to neglect your grandkids.

Miles: Not just retirement. Sometimes people let other causes—volunteering for mission trips, or whatever—take up their time to the detriment of their family. It can be satisfying to get accolades from outsiders, but family should come first.

Dave: I agree. So make the commitment to stay committed and involved in the lives of your children and grandchildren.

Another thing you can do is to ask Yah to help you recognize ways you can help out. Look: as an adult, a grandparent, your life experience is greater than that of your kids or grandkids! Life brings us problems, but with your life experience you can lead by example. Show the younger people that when you’re faced with problems, you can remain calm and trusting in Yah. This has to be taught by example: show how, in the face of problems, you claim a promise and trust in Yah. Show them how to speak words of faith and trust, and how doing so, will strengthen faith.

Miles: One thing my parents and in-laws did was they occasionally gave my wife and me a break. It let us reconnect as a couple and a strong marital bond always helps the parenting, too.

Dave: Parents are great for being a sounding-board, too. You won’t want to give unsolicited advice, but by respecting healthy boundaries and supporting your kids in their role of parents, you can show them that it’s safe for them to come to you for advice.

Miles: I’m going to add something here: if there are adopted grandchildren, or step-grandchildren involved, don’t play favorites. Give as much love and attention to these kids as you would any biological grandchild. Kids have a keen sense of justice and if you’re favoring one grandchild over another, they’re going to pick up on it and be hurt. It’s not their fault that the family structure is the way it is, but a kind adult, one that demonstrates through words and actions that the child is valued, will have a life-long impact on that child.

Dave: That’s very true. And when you do that, you’re modeling your relationship with the grandkids on Yah’s relationship with you!

Just like Yahuwah loves each one of us as though there weren’t another soul for whom Christ died, when we give unconditional love and acceptance to young people, it models the kind of love they can expect from their heavenly Father. This is particularly important if, for whatever reason, the child doesn’t have a close relationship with one or both parents.

Miles: In an interpersonal relationship like this, what would you say are the most important things a grandparent (or other influential adult) can bring to the lives of young people?

Dave: I would say non-judgmental acceptance. Yahuwah accepts us, failings and all. We need to do the same for these kids. They’re going to make mistakes. We all do! But if you can show them that you love and accept them, mistakes and all, you are living a powerful sermon about the love of Yah.

When you give them the gift of acceptance, you are also creating an environment in which they will feel safe to share. This is important. Often young people, particularly as they start to go through puberty, may feel uncomfortable going to their parents. If you can provide loving acceptance, if you can withhold judgment and just listen to them, they will feel that they can share their fears, doubts, and struggles with you. Give them the freedom to talk, the freedom to make mistakes without being judged, and you will be demonstrating divine love in a very powerful way that will, through them, influence still future generations.

Miles: You know, I’m not a grandparent yet, but as a parent, and from an adult’s perspective, one thing I now recognize that my grandparents did was that they realized they were passing down a legacy. As young parents, they had determined the qualities they wanted to nurture and develop in their children: qualities of integrity, a good work ethic, helpfulness to those in need, dedication to Yah, and being intellectually honest.

These are all things they consciously tried to pass on to their kids and, when their kids became parents, it became a generational legacy. They were there to support and bless their kids in their roles as parents. Grandparents may have a supporting role, but it’s an important supporting role.

Dave: It really is. And any influence for good that you can have in the lives of your grandkids will continue long past your death. I was talking with Elise O’Brien the other day. Her grandfather died when she was just a teenager, but he had a huge impact on her life. He was a very godly man. Fifteen years after his death, when she gave birth to her own son, she named him after her grandfather! That’s how lasting a godly legacy can be!

Miles: So, let me ask you this: there are no perfect parents. We all make mistakes. Now, Sam and Lily sound like they’ve got a good relationship with their daughter and son-in-law and that’s great. But what about people who have a somewhat strained relationship with their kids? Any words of wisdom on what grandparents in that kind of situation can do?

Dave: Well, first, pray and ask Yahuwah to heal the relationship. Ask Him to show you how any words or actions on your part may have contributed to the situation. If necessary, apologize! Sincere apologies can go so far in healing a damaged relationship. But be aware that problems that have troubled relationships for years won’t go away overnight. So, be patient. Don’t give up and keep praying.

Secondly, and very importantly, never undermine their parental authority. Respect their rules, even if you disagree. Your time to parent is past. It is now time to support them as parents.

Do the same for your sons-and-daughters-in-law. Treat them with respect and don’t criticize them to their mate. Supporting your kids in their marriages will only benefit your grandkids.

Support; don’t find fault.

Miles: That’s huge. Some grandparents take the attitude that they don’t have to respect the parents’ rules and can do whatever they want with the grandkids, even if it is something the parents don’t want.

But that’s wrong! It’s not only disrespectful to the parents, but it is demonstrating to the grandkids—

Dave: Who are watching.

Miles: Oh, you better believe the grandkids are watching! And it shows them that it is all right to violate boundaries. Is that really the sort of legacy you want to leave behind?

Now, all of this is great advice, but what about for when the grandkids hit their teen years? Any pointers for grandparents with older grandkids?

Dave: All the same principles apply. In your own life, model Christian integrity, compassion, and acceptance. Hold your standards high. Don’t preach one thing and live another. Children and teenagers see right through hypocrisy. When you make right moral choices, you are teaching by example. Take the time to explain to them why you make the choices you do, you can help your grandkids to develop the courage and discernment to make proper choices in their own lives.

Another important thing is to acquaint yourself with your grandkids’ culture.

Miles: That’s good. Because the world is different today than it was 40, 50, 60 years ago.

Dave: Grandparents (and parents, for that matter) should be informed about social media, movies, music, computer games, current fashions—the things that interest young people today. How else can you understand their world and relate to it if you don’t know anything about it? I’m not saying you have to agree with everything, but you’re not going to be able to relate to your grandchildren’s unique struggles if you don’t understand the world they’re living in: the fears they have, the struggles they face.

And this brings me to my next point: as grandparents, you can use your loving presence in their lives, your influence and example, to help your grandchildren choose to lead a life that honors Yah. By teaching them, through word and example, to follow truth regardless of the cost; to put Yah first, family second; to set aside time every day for personal devotions, all of these will bring a godly influence into their lives that will last all lifelong.

The only caution I’d add, is to be careful to not give, even teenagers, unsolicited advice.

Miles: Yeah, teens don’t like getting unsolicited advice.

Dave: Well, to be fair, I don’t think any of us like getting unsolicited advice.

Miles: No, you’re right. It feels condescending, doesn’t it? It works much better to develop a close, trusting, supportive relationship so that they’ll voluntarily ask for advice.

Dave: By treating them with the same love, compassion, and acceptance Yahuwah shows us, a godly grandparent can have such an influence for good that only in eternity will it be seen how far-reaching it is. Because not only do we influence those in our immediate circle of friends and acquaintances, but through them, we can reach still more.

Miles: All of which Yahuwah will bless to furthering His kingdom.

If you’ve got a question or comment, just go to WorldsLastChance.com and click on Contact Us. We always enjoy receiving your messages.

* * *Daily Promise

This is Elise O’Brien with your daily promise from Yah’s word.

Everyone everywhere longs to be accepted.

Everyone everywhere longs to be loved. In order for the human psyche to be healthy, it is essential that the individual receive, and give, love.

Debra Smith loved her father. When he passed away, it left a gaping hole in her heart that nothing could fill. Month after month passed, and she missed him! She missed his smile, his hugs, and his jokes. He even had a special way of signing cards and letters. He always signed them, “Love, The Me.” Debra didn’t know when that tradition had started but he was “The Me” and that is how he always signed his letters. His absence was a wound that nothing could heal. There was no escaping the darkness into which she had fallen.

One evening as Debra was tucking her little girl into bed, she grabbed a book she had found while sorting through her parents’ belongings. It was an old book, one that her mother had read to her when Debra herself was a little girl. It was The Little Engine That Could. It’s about a small, weaker train engine who overcame the scorn of larger, stronger engines. It’s a story of perseverance and courage.

As they were reading together, a small, ragged piece of paper slipped out from between the pages of the book. Picking it up and unfolding it, Debra’s heart skipped a beat.

Written on the little scrap of paper were just three words: “Love, The Me.” Those three short words were just what Debra’s heart needed to hear. It was a reminder that she had been loved by her earthly father, and a reassurance that her Heavenly Father loved her, too. In fact, the entirety of the gospel message can be summed up in the words of Debra’s father: Love, The Me.

Second Corinthians chapter 1, verses 3 and 4 state: “Blessed be Yahwuah, even the Father of our Lord Yahushua Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of Yah.”

One Christian author wrote, quote:

Let all who are afflicted or unjustly used, cry to [Yah]. Turn away from those whose hearts are as steel, and make your requests known to your Maker. Never is one repulsed who comes to Him with a contrite heart. Not one sincere prayer is lost. Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, [Yahuwah] hears the cries of the weakest human being. We pour out our heart’s desire in our closets, we breathe a prayer as we walk by the way, and our words reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe. They may be inaudible to any human ear, but they cannot die away into silence, nor can they be lost through the activities of business that are going on. Nothing can drown the soul’s desire. It rises above the din of the street, above the confusion of the multitude, to the heavenly courts. It is [Yah] to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard.

If you are hurting and feel that no one understands, know that Yahuwah understands. He feels what you feel and He has already set in motion events to bring you help, comfort, and strength.

We have been given great and precious promises. Go, and start claiming!

* * *Part 3: (Miles & Dave)

Miles: This has been really beneficial for me, too. I hadn’t realized my easy slippage into works was likely from thinking I had to resist the devil in my own strength. And of course, any time you do anything in your own strength, it’s a losing proposition.

Dave: Our part is to choose to accept the gift by faith, to trust in the efficacy of Christ’s blood. Romans 10, verse 9 says: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Yahushua and believe in your heart that Yah has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

How simple is that? It’s not of works! We can’t do the works. But we can accept the gift and choose to trust.

Miles: It’s such a priceless gift! You remember Yahushua’s prayer in John 17? He asked, quote: “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” Unquote.

Once we’re purified, we become “one” with Yah.

So, instead of agonizing self-denial, we’ll be simply doing what we want to do when we are doing the will of Yah! Obedience isn’t an issue when it’s what you want to do anyway.

Dave: But this is why even obedience cannot save you if it’s something you generate in yourself. The only obedience that is acceptable to Yah is that which comes from purified motives. And that level of purity? Again, it’s a gift.

But the choice is ours. Yah is never going to force you to accept it. He’ll invite. He’ll plead. But He won’t force.

Miles: He invites. I like that. Listen to Revelation 22, verse 17. This is in the last chapter of the Bible. It says: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

Dave: Listen, folks. Salvation is yours, right this very moment. There’s nothing you can do to achieve it, no works of obedience you must do to retain it. Salvation itself provides everything you need to be restored to the divine image, and that includes obedience that flows from purified motives.

You can never achieve salvation. You can, however, accept it. Hebrews 4, verses 9 to 10, says: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of Yah. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as Yahuwah did from His.”

Stop trying to earn your salvation. You can’t do it. You can, however, accept it as a gift. Then you, too, can enter into His rest.

Miles: Thank you, Dave. Charles Spurgeon, the great, 19^th-century English preacher observed, quote: “Not that our salvation should be the effect of our work, but our work should be the evidence of our salvation.”

And that’s what it gets down to: any good “works” we do are a natural outflow of Yah’s spirit dwelling in us. They are never something we do to earn salvation as salvation is always received; never achieved.

Join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

* * *

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This program and past episodes of WLC Radio are available for downloading on our website. They're great for sharing with friends and for use in Bible studies! They're also an excellent resource for those worshipping Yahuwah alone at home. To listen to previously aired programs, visit our website at WorldsLastChance.com. Click on the WLC Radio icon displayed on our homepage.

In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.