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Your Salvation Is Secure
When inviting people to put their trust in Jesus Christ to renew their lives now and give them eternal life, how can they know that this is a true saying? What surety do they have from God's word that they will have eternal life and that nothing can take it away from them? First of all is there anything that could cause a real Christian to lose his or her salvation? Let's have a look at why it is just not possible that an all knowing God who knows the end from the beginning could be so surprised by how someone he called and chose would act that He would have to renounce his child! In Rom 8:35 Paul asks a rhetorical question. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” And his answer is - Romans 8:38-39: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Is there anything that could be left out from that list? Neither death or life; Neither good angels or evil angels (principalities and powers); Nothing around today or in the future; Nothing high or deep; And, just to be complete, No other creature; shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ. Doesn't that tell you that your salvation is sure? Is there anything with clout that's been left out of the list? There isn't! You're covered! Nothing has been exempt from that list. So, once having accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior and received the Holy Spirit; once having been regenerated and become the new creation in Jesus Christ; living by HIS spirit according to HIS principles, nothing can snatch you from Christ's hand. Every true Christian is safe following Jesus. Now some might say, “What if I let down and do something wrong?” “What if I sin?” Well didn't
you sin before? Didn't God forgive you and correct you and didn't
you both move on? Do you not have the Holy Spirit to guide you
and bring you to the stature and the maturity, of Jesus Christ? Look
at Philippians 1:6. Writing to the saints, the apostle Paul says,
Phil 1:6
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ.”
The Holy
Spirit is not going to give up on you! It's not a question of
your ability or strength or your perseverance. It's a question of
his! And, having begun that work in you he will perform it until
Jesus Christ returns! Your character and attitude will be reformed
to conform with that of Jesus Christ, day by day!
But, you may ask,
isn't our acceptance of Christ only sufficient to remove past sins?
Don't we have to keep going
back every Easter or Passover or Atonement or Saturday or Sunday,
to have new sins removed?
That's not
supported by the scriptural evidence! In Hebrews the writer
contrasts that Old Covenant type of thinking where new sacrifices
were made continually because the offerings could not forgive sin.
They only covered it for a while. At atonement for one year at most.
“For by one offering He (Jesus) has
perfected for ever those that are sanctified.”
See how long
they are perfected? It's not just till they mess up again. It's
not till the next sin or the next Easter or atonement. No, we are told in
Hebrews 10 that when Jesus Christ came into the world
and offered Himself as the propitiation for our sins, the effect of His
sacrifice was eternal. “He has perfected for ever those
that are sanctified.” This is the power of the New
Covenant.
Some may say,
“ Let me see this from Christ himself.” For you then,
let's look at (John_3:16).
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
You are in
safe hands, now and forever. The fantastic thing is that we have
that everlasting life starting now! Starting from conversion!
It's absolutely guaranteed. This is not to say that our attitude is
not always to be one of humble contrition for sins committed. We
will always have a repentant attitude, wanting Christ to clean up
our words, thoughts, and deeds so that we live according to HIS guide.
(John 5:24),
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears My word, and
believes on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life”
.
Having
received eternal life, no-one and nothing can snatch you away
from God; No-one and nothing can cause a Christian to leave
Jesus.
Now the scriptures do show that some can put themselve into a position
where they cannot be saved.
In Mat 12:22-32 we see it recorded for our benefit that Jesus cast
a devil out of a man that was blind and dumb, and healed him. The
Pharisees who were present were so self-willed, deceived and had their
hearts so hardened that even though they were in the presence of God
incarnate and saw Him perform a notable miracle of healing, they
attributed this to the working of the devil.
The reason there was no forgiveness for this blasphemous state of
deception was because the Spirit of God could not penetrate their
hardened hearts and convict them of their sins and of the truth.
That is why in 1Jn 5:6 we are told that there is no reason to even pray
for those who sin a sin unto death.
People who are in this state will have no concern for their soul at all
and will only scoff at the claims and works of Jesus, just like the
Pharisees who were prepared to spread abroad that Jesus was operating
under the power of Beelzebub or Satan.
But God's children are not like this. They know Jesus as Lord.
In John
10:27-29 we are told by Jesus...
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and
I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them eternal
life and they shall NEVER perish and no-one can snatch them out
of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than
all, and no-one can snatch them out of My Father's hand.”
As one of
Jesus's sheep you can see your character above. And notice
the things about his relationship with you – “He
knows you; He gives you eternal life; and no-one can separate you
from Him!” Both His hands and the Father's hands are
circled around you. Can your eternal life be safer than that? When you
listen to Jesus and follow him your heart will be filled with
wanting to do things for His glory. That's where the good works
that a Christian does spring from.
But some may
still worry that they could slip away from Christ, because they
believe it depends on them enduring till Christ's return and they
could fail. Some may think they could become like the people in
Matthew 7:22-23, where the Lord Jesus says...
Matt 7:22-23 “Many will say
to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy
name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done
many wonderful works?" Notice
precisely what Jesus says. He does not say that he knew them once
but they left him. He does not say he knew them once but they
began to work iniquity. He says, “I NEVER knew you.”
This can NEVER apply to those whom Jesus knows. Are you a true
Christian? One who has believed on Jesus; who has accepted his
sacrifice as payment for your sins, and whose life is one of
listening to Jesus and following him? Then you ARE known by
Jesus! You can nevermore be unknown!
This and other passages do show though that not all will be saved. Why not?
2 Pe 2:20-22 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through
the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,
than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered
unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog
is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing
in the mire.
I do not believe this is talking about committed Christians who have the
Holy Spirit in them. This is not talking about sheep returning to vomit or
sheep wallowing in the mire. These are those who tasted the Lord and saw that
He was good, but did not 'eat his flesh and drink his blood'!
Mat 18:12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them
strays, does he not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and
seek the straying one?
Sheep can go astray, but the Good Shepherd seeks them
out and brings them back to the fold! Once you commit to Christ, God the
Father, our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit commit to you! NO-ONE
and NO-THING can snatch you away!
AS A CHRISTIAN YOUR ETERNAL
INHERITANCE IS SECURE!
If you're not
sure about your salvation, because you believe it depends on your
ability and strength to endure, re-read this article!
Those who understand their eternal hope rests in the secure hands
of Jesus will want to share this with others. They have a REAL hope
to offer. They know their salvation is sure and they know that they
know. Their life is hid in Jesus Christ.
Joh 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. This is the
contrast. If you are reliant on your own strength of endurance for
your salvation it is like keeping your fingers crossed that all
will go well! If it depends on YOU there's no guarantee! Some may say,
"if it depends on us it guarantees failure"! The Bible says we should not
put our trust in Princes. Do we put our trust in ourselves? Better far
to trust in God! AS A CHRISTIAN YOUR ETERNAL LIFE IS SECURE. THAT is a hope to share with others! Attlee. For more on the
Gospel Click Here.
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