Yesterday, we studied
the flaws of Islam, and especially the uncertainty of the promises that Islam
represents. If a message is from God,
then that message is perfect. If the
message is anything other than perfect then it is not from God, and the
follower risks losing their eternal life.Life is a very serious
business. Your entire future is on the
line, and to avoid the responsibility of pointing out to those who might be
lost forever, would be totally irresponsible. To tolerate their beliefs is one thing, but
to remain silent so as not to offend, is quite another.
And now here Paul, with
one swoop of the pen in a single verse, especially following the previous
verse, where he warns that those who reject truth, will with certainty, be lost
forever, gives us the doctrines of salvation and of eternal security of that
same salvation.
Once you have been
saved, you are always saved.
Once you have believed
in Christ, you will not stop committing sins.
This is the devils world and you are in bodies of corruptibility. Even denying that you sin, is a fools comment.
However, once saved, always saved.
Once born, you cannot unborn yourself.
Once born again, you cannot unborn again yourself. Tell your momma that you would like to unborn
yourself and return to the womb, and if she doesn’t smack you senseless … Well, look into the
mirror and identify stupid.
Anyway, sinless
perfection in this life is unattainable, 1 Kings 8:46, Psa. 143:2, Prov. 20:9,
Eccl. 7:20, 1 John 1:8,10.
1 Kings 8:46
46 “When they sin
against Thee (for there is no man who does not sin)
1 John 1:8
8 If we say that we
have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Through your belief in
Christ, God chose you, even elected you into salvation. He saw in eternity past, your choice to
believe in Christ now. Without coercion, without being intimidated, without pressure of
any kind. You made the choice to
believe in Christ.
And through your faith,
salvation became yours forever.
Rom 8:29-30
29 For
whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;
30 and whom He
predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified;
and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Gods election is permanent. Gods foreknowledge
is permanent. He cannot see you saved
and then see you unsaved, afterwords. For you cannot lose your salvation. There is nothing that you can think or do, that will cause you to lose your salvation. That would imply that your thoughts or
actions are greater than God. And that
is impossible.
Jesus, likewise stated
that anything given to Him by the Father, could never, repeat, never be lost.
John 6:37
37 “All that the
Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who
comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
John 6:39-40
39 “And this is
the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing,
but raise it up on the last day.
40 “For this is
the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him,
may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up
on the last day.”
John 6:44
44 “No one can
come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him;
and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 10:27-29
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
28 and I give eternal
life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
29 “My Father, who
has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one
is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Salvation began with
Gods sovereign and uninfluenced love. It
is not based on the merit or numbers of the individual, otherwise that would
imply that the person could earn salvation or negotiate his salvation through
his own works. Such is not the case. God made His decision, even before the
foundation of the world, before humanity even existed.
Eph 1:4-5
4 just as He chose us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind
intention of His will, NASB
Deut. 7:7
7 The Lord did not set
His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the
peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, NASB
And even though many
will believe and be saved, there will be many who will have the same choice of
salvation, but through their own volition, will reject Christ. For to think those six little words, ‘Father
I believe in Jesus Christ,’ seems to be an insurmountable hurdle for unbelievers.
And for the life of me,
how anyone can refuse to even think these words, which would take all of but a
second of time, seems the epitome of arrogance and stubbornness, when the
alternative is the Lake of Fire and eternal condemnation. Why would anyone even take that risk, over a
simple thought?
So Paul lays out four
simple contrasts. There are those who
love and obey truth vs. those who refuse to love and obey. There are those who God redeems vs. those who
God judges. There are those who believe
truth vs. those who believe the lies (which are from Satan). There are those who follow Christ vs. those
who follow anti-christ.
Note that good yields
freedom, prosperity, security and so forth.
Bad yields slavery and suffering and worse.
There is no room for
the bad, if you want anything good.
Place out a piece of
meat on the counter and leave it there.
What happens? It rots. Can the meat cure its own rot? No. No
person can cure their own flaws through their own work. Only God can work that miracle.
2 Tim. 1:9
9 who has saved us, and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His
own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
Once saved, always
saved, for all of eternity.
Once saved, the
believers name is sealed permanently to the book of life and is never blotted
out. Believers are called the elect or
the chosen, Rev 13:8, 17:8, Matt. 24:22,24,31, Mark 13:20,22,27, Luke 18:7, Rom.
8:33, Matt. 22:14, Rom. 11:7, Col. 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:10, Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1.
God doing all of the
work crushes mans arrogance, Titus 3:5.
Titus 3:5
5 He saved us, not on
the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His
mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, NASB
Salvation exalts God, Psa.
115:1. It produces happiness in knowing
one is saved, 1 Pet. 1:1-2, 6, 8. It
grants privileges beyond imagination, Eph. 1:3.
It paves the way for holiness in believers, Col. 3:12-13.
And, the key to this
passage, it provides eternal security, Phil. 1:6
Phil. 1:6
6 For
I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will
perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
The Holy Spirit, in
salvation, sets apart (sanctifies), the believer from the world, and aligns the
believer with Gods righteousness, not mans righteousness, Rom. 15:16, 1 Cor 6:11, 1 Peter 1:2.
And as for our part in
all of this, we merely believe.
We believe in Jesus
Christ who accomplished all of the work for salvation. Man can do nothing to earn nor does he
deserve salvation. It is Gods gift.
Eph 2:8
8 For
by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God;
Acts 16:31
31 And they said,
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your
household.”
The principle that salvation
is by faith is found in many passages in the Bible, Mark 1:15, John 1:12, 3:15-16,36,
5:24, 6:40,47, Acts 10:43, Rom. 1:16, 1 Tim. 1:16, 2 Tim. 3:15, 1 Peter 1:9, 1
John 5:1.
Therefore, God has done
all of the work. The Father planned it,
the Son executed it, and the Holy Spirit secures it. That makes salvation permanent. No one can take it away from you, and you
certainly cannot lose it.
By:https://dailybiblestudy.org/wp/table-of-contents-special-studies/ |
