Grace, the Forbidden Gospel - Online Christian Library

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not
even named among the Gentiles – that a man has his father’s wife! (1 Cor 5:1 NKJV)
Let’s look at the Greek word used for “salvation” in 2 Corinthians 7:10:
G4991 σωτηρία (so-tay-ree'-ah)
Feminine of a derivative of G4990 as (properly abstract) noun; rescue or safety (physically or morally):
- deliver, health, salvation, save, saving.
Paul wasn’t saying that these believers were going to lose their salvation if they persisted with these evil
works; he was saying that their turning away from these things actually saved them from a whole heap of
heartache, pain and dire consequences later on. Just imagine the conflict that would exist in a church if it
became known that a boy was sleeping with his mother!
But because these people changed their thinking and realized that their conduct was actually not in line with
their identity as purified, cleansed and forgiven believers, they were motivated to change their ways, hence
Paul’s praise for them in this, his second letter:
Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with
comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. (2 Cor 7:4 NKJV)
It’s worth noting that their motivation to change their behavior was neither a threat of punishment nor the
danger of losing their salvation: it was the revelation that they were unconditionally loved by God in spite of
their evil conduct! God’s promises and love to them remained true in spite of their conduct and this brought
about their change of heart. Look at the opening words of this same chapter:
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh... (2
Cor 7:1a NKJV, emphasis added)
Paul told them that because they had God’s promises (of love, blessing, eternal life, etc.) they should get
their act together, not that God was going to reject or punish them for their transgressions.
Example 3
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.
(Act 17:30 NKJV, emphasis added)
In this chapter Paul was preaching to non-believers in Athens:
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city
was given over to idols. Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile
worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. (Act 17:16-17 NKJV)
Paul was telling these people who were wholly given to idolatry, to repent and be saved. He urged them to
place their trust in the “unknown” God in verse 23. They had so many gods and temples and statues in their
city that someone had even erected an altar that had been dedicated to the “Unknown God”. Paul then used
this as an opportunity to tell them about Jesus Christ and the resurrection, whereof they had no prior
knowledge. And by God’s grace, some were born again that day!
Example 4
“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in
Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that
they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. (Act 26:19-20 NKJV, emphasis
added)
Here Paul explained how he told the Gentiles (unbelievers) to repent (become born again) and then, just as
in our example 2, he motivated them to afterwards do works that corresponded with who they would become
after they had repented: Sanctified, forgiven, holy born again believers. These two verses therefore pertain to
non believers and then also to believers.
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