Once
Saved Always Saved
1.
Is
salvation by grace or by works?
2.
The
meaning of the phrase, eternal life.
3.
the
difference between law and grace
4.
understanding
rewards
5.
unconditional
verses conditional promises
6.
verses
and passages that support eternal security
7.
Fellowship
with God
8.
The
teaching of the permanent indwelling of the holy spirit.
9.
the argument and
flaw in saying you can lose your salvation and the dangers and negative
consequences of teaching that person can lose their salvation.
Is salvation by grace or by works?
This is the first thing question that
must be answered and that must be understood if you are going to understand
eternal security. You see, to believe you can lose your salvation is to believe
that salvation is by works. Because by saying that you can lose your salvation
you’re saying that whether you are saved or not is based on what you do. It
doesn’t make sense to say that you are saved by grace but then after you are
saved by grace you’re works determined if you are saved or not. If that was
true then it was’nt grace in the first place. So you have to understand what
the Bible teaches about salvation by grace and not of works if you want to
understand eternal security.
The book of Romans is the great book
in the Bible on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Or you could say Romans is the
great doctrinal book on salvation. You need to understand the book of Romans if
you want to understand the gospel. What people are often confused by is the
relationship between works and faith. Often faith and works are mingled
together in an explanation of the gospel. As we look at these verses we are
going to see that the Bible makes it clear salvation is by faith alone and
works has nothing to do with it. Later on in this study we will discuss the
passage in James 2 which says faith without works is dead. James chapter 2 is
the big passage which is used to teach that a person can lose their salvation
or than a person is saved by works and not just by grace.
But first lets
look at Romans chapter 4:1-5 which says, Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to
the flesh, hath found? Romans 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by
works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. Romans 4:3 For what saith
the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness. Romans 4:4
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but
of debt. Romans 4:5
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
These verses make it very clear
Abraham believed God and it was accounted to Him for righteousness. These verses
are making it very clear it was not Abraham’s works that justified Him. Romans
4 also goes on to use King David as an example. But the big example used
is Abraham. Just think about some of the phrases stated in these verses of
Romans chapter 4: Abraham believed God, and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. Or Think
about what verse 5 says to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness. What does it mean to believe? Why believe means to trust
to rely upon.
Acts
Now let’s talk about grace and works.
The word grace implies a free gift, unmerited favor. Grace is what God gives
freely. Works implies human effort, what a person does.
If salvation
is by works then ask yourself this question. Why did
Jesus die on the cross? What was the point of Jesus suffering and dying on the cross for your sins if your salvation is
based on your works and not based on God’s grace? Jesus would not have come to
die on the cross if salvation was based on works. That’s the whole point of
grace, the whole point of a free gift, there’s nothing you can do to earn it, there
is nothing you can do to work for it, there is no good deed or amount of good
deeds that you can do, it is given to you freely.
There is a
big difference between someone giving you a free gift, and someone giving you
something because they owe it to you. Salvation is a free gift. If you try to
work for it, you are implying that God will eventually owe you something. It
will be a debt for Him to pay. Of course, you could never do enough to earn it
anyway. You could never of your own works make up for the sins that you have
committed.
For
example.
If you rob a bank but then go and give money to the
poor. You still robbed that bank. Giving money to the poor doesn’t nullify the
fact that you robbed a bank. You are still going to get arrested and stand
before a judge and that judge is going to say guilty and send you to jail for
robbing that bank. It works the same way with God. When you stand before God to
be judged and you say to him I did this and this and this good deed God is
going to say to you well you did this and this and this sin. What God is going
to look at in determining whether or not to declare you righteous is not how
many good deeds you have done but whether or not you have trusted in Jesus
Christ.
If you have entered into faith, you have
nothing to fear. You can be confident of God’s kind regards towards you. You
did not gain salvation through your good works, and you cannot lose it through
bad works. If you have entered into faith, you may yet fail miserably, even as
Peter did when he denied Christ. But with kindness and gentleness the Lord
sought Peter out and encouraged him, because it is all based upon God’s grace
and not our works. One of the great promises of the Bible we will come to in
Romans chapter 8. It says, "And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." This promise and others like it can only be
possible if we are basing everything on the principle of God’s grace.
Romans 11:6 And if by
grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no
more work.
Salvation cannot be both by grace and
by works. That is contradictory. If something is free then you cannot earn it.
If something is earned by works then It’s not free. So
it’s not possible to receive something for free and yet earn it at the same
time. It has to be one or the other. And that is what this verse in Romans 11:6
is saying.
Just to clarify the matter even more
let’s look at 3 other passages that clearly teach Salvation is by grace and not
by works.
The most well known and commonly used
passage is Ephesians 2:8 which says, “For by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
This verse makes it clear salvation is
by grace not by works. But we can look at more of the verses to show that this
verse is not being taken out of context.
Ephesians 2:4-10, “Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus: Ephesians 2:7 That in the
ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Ephesians 2:9 Not
of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians
Ephesians 2:5, by grace are ye saved. (Remember grace is
what God gives freely.)
Ephesians 2:8 grace through faith. Ephesians
2:9 NOT OF WORKS….now in looking at these verses how in the world does someone
say not of works means well some works. It doesn’t mean that it means No works.
Ephesians
Make
sure you do not misunderstand what Ephesians
Now lets
look at another passage which clearly teaches salvation is by grace not by
works.
Titus 3:4-7 says, “Titus 3:4, But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour
toward man appeared, Titus 3:5
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; Titus 3:6 Which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Look at
these verses. Titus 3:5 says Not by works of
righteous. Titus 3:7, justified by His
grace.
So here
is another group of verses which are clearly stating Salvation is by grace not
by works. It cannot be said any more clearly than this.
Consider
these verses: Romans 10:9-15, “Romans 10:9 That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans
In this
passage the key verse is Romans 10:13 which says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.” This verse is repeated in Acts
This
verse does not say whosoever shall do works shall be saved, this verse says
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now if you want
to get real detailed about this particular passage then look up the meaning of
the word called. It has the idea of worship. In other words if your calling on
the name of Jesus your worshiping Him. You’re recognizing that Jesus is God and
you’re submitting yourself unto Him. This is what a person does when they
repent of their sins to Christ and trust Jesus they submit unto Him they accept
the truth that Christ is all powerful and is the Judge, the Final authority,
the King of kings and the one who was judged in place of their sins.
There is
more than one way to skin a cat or you could say there is more than one way to
say the same thing. That is why when the Bible teaches salvation it has quite a
few different ways of saying the same thing. Call upon the name of the Lord,
repent of your sins to Jesus, confess your sins to Jesus, ask Jesus into your
heart, bow before the feet of Jesus, faith pleases God,
salvation is by grace through faith and not of yourselves, not according to
works of righteousness but according to His mercy He saved us. Be born again.
Be baptized. Be redeemed. Jesus is the atonement. Jesus is the propitiation for
our sins. All of these phrases mean the same thing.
In other
words you’re either relying upon God’s grace to save you or your relying upon
your own works. If you are in anyway relying upon your own works to save you
then you’re not saved because that is not how salvation works.
Why do people want so much to believe
that salvation is by works and not accept the free gift of Christ. Pride. They want to be able to say I did this, I earned
this. And that will keep them from going to heaven.
The conclusion is this in regards to
the issue of salvation by grace or by works…if salvation is by grace you can’t
lose your salvation because its not based on what you
do but it is based on what God has done for you. If salvation is by works you
can lose your salvation because instead of it being a free gift it’s based on your
works, what you do, you earning it. And the Bible is very clear salvation is by
grace not by works.
The meaning of the phrase, eternal life.
The word eternal means everlasting,
perpetual without end.
How long is eternal? If I already
have eternal life because I already believe in Jesus, then my eternal life can
never end. Eternal life cannot end, or
it is not eternal. Jesus said a similar thing about the believer possessing
something that the believer will never lose in John 11:26: "And whosoever lives
and believes in me shall never die."
In other words the very concept of
what eternal means implies that you cannot lose your salvation. It is either
eternal or it is not. Eternal means eternal eternal does not mean temporary.
The
difference between law and grace
Understanding the difference between
law and grace will help you to understand eternal security. The difference
between law and grace is almost the same as saying the difference between
salvation by grace or by works.
Grace-what God gives freely.
Law-a list of do’s
and do nots…
Grace therefore implies not doing. It
cannot be earned through human effort because it is given freely.
Law therefore implies works. Things
you have to do or not do through human effort.
To truly understand salvation you
have to understand the difference between law and grace. It is people that do
not understand the difference between law and grace that are confused about
eternal security and that are confused about whether salvation is by grace or
by works.
Are you saved by the keeping of the
law or are you saved by the grace of God?
The Bible very clear states in Romans
Understanding
rewards
Sometimes people confuse the concept
of reaping what you sow, the concept that God is going to give out rewards,
they confuse this with the teaching of salvation. Receiving rewards in heaven
for the good works that you do for Christ does not mean that salvation is by works.
Lets look at Revelation 20:11-15
which says, Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was
found no place for them. Revelation
This passage makes it very clear that
there is life and death and then the judgment. Sometimes people do not
understand the judgment and therefore they are confused about salvation.
Unsaved people will stand before God and be judged for their works. Saved
people will stand before God and be rewarded for their works for Christ.
What is the difference between a saved
person and an unsaved person? The answer is righteousness. A person who trusts
in Christ for forgiveness of their sins is in effect saying that they are
relying upon the work of Christ on the Cross and not their own work to get them
into heaven. You see you are either in Christ or you are not in Christ. If you
are in Christ then you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. That means
the righteous of God is imputed unto you. The word imputed is Biblical word. It’s
used many times in the bible even in the book of James in the very middle of
the passage that people often use to try to argue works salvation, James
chapter 2.
James
The word
imputed means reckoned. It means God thinks. God looks at you and thinks, God
decides, God declares that you are righteous because of Jesus not because of
your own works.
To understand the concept of rewards
and to not confused being rewarded for your works with being saved not by works
but by grace you have to understand that there two kinds of righteousness.
There is you’re
positional righteousness and there is practical righteousness. Positional
righteousness speaks of salvation. It speaks of a person’s position in Christ.
They have trusted in Christ they have relied upon Christ, they have believed
Christ and therefore the righteousness of God is freely given to them. They
didn’t earn it through works but they received it freely.
Practical righteousness refers to
works. It means how consistent I am on a day by day basis at doing what is
right. We reap what we so. Practically speaking what we do God is going to
reward us for in Heaven.
It is important to not be confused about the concept of earning
rewards and of salvation by grace and not by works.
Another great passage that explains
rewards is 1 Corinthians 3:11-17 which says, “1Corinthians
These verses are talking about the
earning of rewards in heaven and the losing of rewards. If you can earn rewards
in heaven then you can lose rewards too if you go away from God and fail to
serve God and fail to do His will. Losing your rewards is not losing your
salvation. 1Corinthians
One of the key verses to understand
in this passage is the last verse 1Corinthians
The key words in this verse are the
words defile and destroy. They actually mean the same thing. Defile can mean
destroy and destroy can mean defile. Remember in the context of this passage
God is talking to believers. This is the law of reciprocity. Or you could say
if you bounce a ball at a wall it will bounce back at you. What you cause to
happen will happen to you. In other words it is possible for A Christian to go
so far from God ,to stray so far into sin and not
repent of that sin that God will judge that person by ending their life and
taking them off the earth. If that happens to a Christian are they losing their
salvation? NO. Their losing their rewards. They are
taken off the earth so they lose the opportunity to serve God and the things
could have accomplished for God if they had lived and had served God they lose.
It’s a lose of rewards.
Another
passage in the Bible that clearly teaches this in regards to the lose of rewards
is Hebrews 10:26-30 which says, “Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin
wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, Hebrews 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. Hebrews 10:28 He
that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Hebrews
10:29 Of how
much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace? Hebrews
Now this passage of scripture is often
misunderstood and some people use it to say you can lose your salvation. So lets look at what it says. Look at the phrase in Hebrews
10:26, If we sin willfully. This phrase in the Greek
is in the present tense, the idea is that of continuing in sin and not
repenting.
Now look at verses 28-29
Hebrews 10:28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under
two or three witnesses: Hebrews 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose
ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and
hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Remember
these verses are talking to Christians. In the Old Testament under the law
Christians died faced the death penalty for just about any sin. The deathl
penalty was the common punishment for sinning. And so the comparison is made
between the law and the gospel. If believers died for breaking the law in old
Testament times how much sorerer of a punish is a Christian going to receive
who takes for granted who slanders, the blood of Jesus Christ by refusing to
repent of their sins. What is worse to break one of the ten
commandments or to live a life as a Christian that is a horrible
testimony to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The one resulted in dead and the other
most certainly will result in death. This is why the very last phrase in Hebews
unconditional promises verses conditional promises
Heres
another way of understating salvation and eternal security. There two
kinds of covenants or you could say promises. Conditional and
unconditional. A conditional promise means that God is going to do
something if you do something. The best example of this is the law and the
keeping of the law. The promise of the law is that if you obey the law then you
receive the blessings. If you don’t obey the law you don’t receive the
blessings but you receive the curses. This is what Deuteronomy chapter 27 is
about. The Old Testament covenant of the law is a conditional covenant if you
do such and such then God will in response do such and such.
An
unconditional covenant means that God makes a promise and that promise is based
on what God is going to do on what God has done and in no way shape or form is
it based on man doing anything. And that’s what salvation is. Salvation is an
unconditional promise or covenant. Jesus died for our sins, paid the debt for
our sins and therefore there is nothing for us to do we don’t have to pay the
debt for our sins not by burning in hell nor by trying to do good works. An unconditional promise. Because salvation is an
unconditional promise that means we can’t lose our salvation. It’s
unconditional.
verses
and passages that support eternal security
Lets look at a few passages in the
Bible that clear teach Eternal Security. There’s a lot
of passages but only need to look at a few.
One of the most common passages used
is in the Gospel of John.
John 10:27-30 says, John 10:27 My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. John
The key
verse here is John
Who does
the giving? Jesus does. You don’t give yourself eternal life Jesus gives you
eternal life. Remember the word Eternal
means eternal, everlasting it does not mean temporary. If you could lose the
eternal life it would not be eternal. Now notice the phrase they shall never
perish. It’s a very clear phrase. Never means never. This verse doesn’t say
they shall perish unless they sin again it says they shall never perish. This
is an unconditional promise.
Now notice the phrase neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. This is a very interesting passage to look at in the Greek. The word
man is actually not in the Greek. In the KJV the word man was added to smooth
out the translation. So it actually says neither shall any pluck them out of my
hand. I don’t think the KJV translators were wrong to add the word man because
it does not change the meaning it does help to clarify the meaning but lets
look at the word ANY. ANY can mean all. Its like if I say you can have any of these
apples. Now that could mean take one apple among all of them or it could mean
take which ever of the apples you want including 1 or all of them. So Any means All. Any is a word used to imply the entire group.
It does help to look at the context. In the context of these verses it should
be obvious that any means all. The actual Greek word used here and translated
any can actually be translated
Another great verse to look at to see
eternal security or could say another great unconditional promise to look at
which teaches eternal security is Hebrews 13:5 which says, Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content
with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee. That’s eternal security. That’s a promise
which is not based on anything that I do, not based on my works, but a promise
simply based on what God has said. Is God a liar. Does
God do what He says He is going to do or not?
Now lets look at a phrase in the Old Testament. Psalms 106:1
says, “Praise ye the LORD. O give
thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth
for ever.” His mercy endureth forever. This phrase is found many many
times in the Old Testament especially in the book of Psalms. We can explain the
word forever the same way we have explained the word eternal in the sense of
eternal life. Remember if something is eternal it’s not temporary. If God’s
mercy endureth forever then
that is saying eternal security, once saved always saved. If you can lose your salvation then God’s mercy isn’t enduring
forever is it? It would only be enduring temporarily. So it makes sense
that once saved always saved is what the Bible teaches.
Understanding
the principle of being in or out of Fellowship with God.
The
illustration of Marriage
Hosea 2:19-20, “Hosea
God
created marriage between a man and a woman. And marriage is used to symbolize
our relationship with Christ. How does a marriage work.
In a marriage two people can either be in fellowship or out of fellowship, in a
marriage two people can either be getting along or not getting along. For
example a married couple might have an argument, the one spouse might do or say
something wrong to the other spouse and then they are out of fellowship until
the one spouse who wronged the other spouse comes to them and says I’m sorry I
shouldn’t have said that I shouldn’t have done that I shouldn’t have treated
you that way. But during the time that they are out of fellowship are they
still married? Yes they are married still they are just out of fellowship.
And that
is the principle here. Being out of fellowship with God is not losing your
salvation. If a Christian sins they are out of fellowship with God until they
come to Jesus and say Lord please forgive me
I’m sorry for what I did I’m going to try to do better and to not do
that sinful action again.
Jesus explained this concept of fellowship
in the gospel of John 13:3-17 which says, “John 13:3 Jesus knowing that
the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God,
and went to God; John 13:4 He riseth
from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
John 13:5 After
that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and
to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. John 13:6 Then cometh he
to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? John 13:7 Jesus answered
and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know
hereafter. John 13:8
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus
answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part
with me. John 13:9 Simon Peter saith unto him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. John
The key verses in this passage are John 13:9-10.
John 13:9 Simon
Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my
head. John
The washing was an example of
forgiveness or the washing away of sin. Their bodies were already clean (an
example of salvation), but their feet still got dirty when they went out on a
walk and needed to be washed (an example of a believer’s daily life in this
world, and the need for forgiveness to stay in fellowship with God.) So this
passage shows eternal security. If a person could lose their salvation then
Jesus would have taught the disciples that they needed to wash their whole
bodies and not just their feet. Jesus said, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet.. In other words a person that is saved doesn’t
need to get saved again when they sin but they need to confess their sins daily
to stay in fellowship with the Lord.
One more point about fellowship. Sometimes people will argue based on
experience that they knew someone who claimed to be a Christian and then they
saw that person
stray away from God, stop serving God and go live like the world. And so they
say see there’s an example of a person who lost their salvation.
But
consider this verse 1John
The
phrase they went out means to depart. In other words this verse is saying the
departed because they were never truly saved in the first place. This is a much
more logical explanation when we considered all these verses in the bible that
teach salvation by grace and that teach eternal security.
The
teaching of the permanent indwelling of the holy spirit.
To understand this we have realize
the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In Old
Testament times there was not a permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There were
times in which there were fillings of the Spirit. The permanent indwelling of
the Holy Spirit came after Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave.
You will find no verses in the New
Testament that say or indicate that A Christian can lose the Spirit of God.
Let’s look at a passage in the Gospel
of John that talks about the Holy Spirit also called the Comforter.
John 14:16-18, John 14:16 And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
John 14:17 Even the Spirit of
truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John
The Word comforter means called along side. These verses make it clear
that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit came after Jesus left the earth and asended
into heaven. No where in these verses are there any words or phrases that
suggest that if you sin you lose your salvation or that the Spirit of God
leaves you. There are passages in the New
Testament that talk about grieving the Spirit and quenching the Spirit. But
grieving and quenching is not losing the Spirit lets look at those verses.
Ephesians
1
Thessalonians
the
argument and flaw in saying you can lose your salvation and the dangers and
negative consequences of teaching that person can lose their salvation.
Hebrews 9:25-28 says, “Hebrews 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself
often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of
others; Hebrews 9:26 For then must he
often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end
of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews
The key
verse here is Hebrews 9:28 which says, “Christ was
once offered.” Notice the word Once. Christ died once not twice not three times but once. If you can lose
your salvation then that would make void Christ’s death on the cross and He
would have to come and die again for your sins and the Bible makes it very
clear Christ was Once offered, Once. One sacrifice,
One time and that’s it.
1 John
3:18-22 says, “ 1John
The key
verse of these verses is 1John
Now let’s
address the most common passage used to teach that you can lose your salvation.
James chapter 2.
James
2:17-26 says, James
As James
said, "Faith
without works is dead." But good
works do not help gain justification,
they are simply an evidence of it. Don’t put the cart before the horse. It’s
not what you do that determines if you are righteous, it’s what you believe. "Abraham believed
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."
In other
words If you have faith you will have works. Faith produces works. The result,
the consequence of having faith is that there will be works. Or could say if
there is faith a person will produce fruit. Now they may not produce a lot of
fruit but they will produce some fruit. If they are not saved they will produce
no fruit. That is what these verses are saying. These verses are not saying a
person is saved by works or that a person can lose their salvation.
In Conclusion
You can’t say that salvation is a
free gift but I’m going to give back that gift. Because God won’t take back the
gift God makes you keep the gift. Salvation is based on the power of God not on power
or will of man. If you say salvation is by grace but whether I stay saved or
not is based on works…that in effect still saying that salvation is by works.
If a person
can lose their salvation? Which sins is it that causes a
person to lose their salvation? If you say well it is certain sins only that
doesn’t make sense it would have to be every sin for God to be just and fair.
That would mean every time you sin and every time you make a mistake you lose
your salvation…that would also mean that your salvation is based on what you
do...your works...and not based on grace.
The teaching that a person can lose
their salvation is a bad teaching. It can damage and destroy a person faith in
God. Where is the peace, where is the confidence where is the understanding of
God’s unconditional love for us as His children? God doesn’t unforgive us of
our sins. Once you are forgiven you are forgiven. God wants us to have peace,
God wants us to have confidence, God wants us to have joy, God wants us to have
assurance that He keeps His promises, that He loves us that nothing can
separate from the Love of Christ once we are saved just as it says in Romans chapter
8:35-39, “Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans
Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ not even your own
sins, once you are saved. It’s a horrible teaching to teach you can lose your
salvation, it torments people, it causes them to live in fear to wonder if God
loves them to wonder if God forgives them, it takes away their peace in regards
to what their eternal destiny is and it forces them to focus on their works and
to worry and to stress over whether or not they are doing and have done enough
good works to get into heaven. Salvation is not by works but by grace. You must
understand this basic teaching of the gospel if you want to understand anything
else about the Bible the way and to the depth that it is meant to be understood
and especially if you wan to be the testimony to the lost of the world that God
wants you to be. To be the testimony to the lost of this world that God wants
you to be you need the joy and the confidence that comes with understanding
eternal security that comes with understanding the forgiveness of your sins in
Christ and the unconditional love that God has for you. So let go of your pride
stop relying upon your works your own righteousness to do so is pride instead
rely upon the righteousness of Christ.
Romans
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Copyright; 2017 by Bruce
Creech
All Rights Reserved