Before I start on salvation, here is a few scriptures that Jesus gives us in The Sermon on the Mount I would like you to look at.
Matthew 7:21-23 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." "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?" "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Those scriptures struck me deep in my heart when I read them. For over 40 years I thought I was a Christian, but then discovered I wasn't. I was not doing the will of God, but I was living in the world as I sat in a pew singing and praising God on Sunday. It was all a sham, but I didn't realize it. Satan had me exactly where he wanted me, sitting in a church pew complete ignorant and undone. In the scriptures above, who was Jesus talking to? It was to those who think or say they are Christians, that's who. Those "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:5)
In other words, pews are filled with those who practice "religion" only on Sundays but when they leave church, revert back to their old ways of living, the ways of the world. Are you faithfully reading your bible daily to see what is expected of you? If so, do you pray daily that the Holy Spirit will give you guidance and understanding? If not, how do you think you're going to know what is expected of you and how you are to conduct yourself so as to be the light of the world? Many don't care, they simply think that going to church on Sunday is enough. But is it? Worship isn't done in the church, it's done in the mission field. That's starts outside the door of the church when you go back into the world. That's where the true worship begins, in doing the Will of God and by being a witness to the worldly.
What do these following scriptures spoken by Jesus mean to you? Think about it carefully before reading this section on Salvation and as you read each of these scriptures, pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you into understanding each one.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. (Do you know what Jesus' commandments are, and they are not the 10 commandments only)
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (Do you know where to find these commandments?)
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (Commandments / Words, these are the same)
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (Do you see a common theme here which is a requirement of all Christians?)
John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (Do you know where to find these commandments?)
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (Commandments / Words, these are the same)
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (Do you see a common theme here which is a requirement of all Christians?)
What each Christian is expected to do is to read God's Word, daily. That's how we grow in Christ. Hosea 4:6 tell us: "My people perish from a lack of knowledge." Don't be one of those people.
Heb. 6 v.4-6: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you determine the real meaning of the scriptures that are included here, that He may make manifest the truth to you as you study this.
The following is supporting scripture for the question of Eternal Security
The following 6 categories contain scripture sounding like you can lose your salvation
Definitions
The word "security" emphasizes the status of our forgiveness, whereby "perseverance" also includes the idea of persistent growth in Godliness.
Those who are against the "once saved, always saved" thinking tend to base their arguments on the following:
- The fear that it will lead un-repentant, persistent sinners thinking that they are Christians because of a one time religious experience. They see this as being dangerous because it could seem to imply that a person could make a one time commitment, perhaps as a child, then live a life of sin, rebellion and unbelief, then go to heaven. What incentive is there to pursue obedience if our salvation does not depend on it they ask?
They have a misunderstanding of how God works through us to keep us in the faith. The Bible gives us every reason to believe that those who live like described above were never saved in the first place and whatever profession of faith the sinner made was not genuine. (Read: "Can we live as we want after salvation?")
To often teachers of eternal security have often left themselves open to their opponents' fear. Many evangelists make too little mention of repentance and give the impression that people are eternally saved simply by praying the "sinner's prayer". Not that they may not be saved, but if they are, one will begin to notice changes in these newly born again Christians which will make their profession of faith quite evident. With the conversion will bring many changes in a person's life which is shown in Ephesians and we will discuss in detail later.
Eph. 4 v.22-24: That ye put off concerning the former conversation (meaning conduct) the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
"Put off the old man" to renounce pre-conversion life and sins; and "be renewed in your mind, to be constantly changed, being brought more and more in line with God's own viewpoint; and "put on the new man, that is, to assume a new nature (character) and conduct (life) at conversion.
The causalities in this battle over whether or not you can lose your salvation are twofold. First, millions of Christians cannot live with joy and confidence, because they do not have the assurance that they will go to heaven when they die. They live in fear that they might fall into sin and lose their salvation. They don't feel that God is near to them. (Read: "Joy of Salvation")
Second, there are also millions who made a "decision for Christ" but have never moved away from their life of sin. Even so, they have been told that they had been forgiven. (Read: "Assurance.")
I believe the Bible is very clear that salvation is both permanent and unconditional. This is the doctrine of eternal security or the perseverance of the saints. Those who profess Christ should be aware of exactly what transpires with believers after they give their life to Jesus Christ. This article should help clarify that process.
The Word of God (Bible) tells us the act of believing in Jesus (involving both faith and repentance) is associated with the moment of salvation, and those who believe are forgiven of their sins and will be saved. We'll start with some of those scriptures. Note the bold areas for reference:
Scriptures showing the act of believing in Jesus is associated with salvation and those who believe are forgiven and saved.
- John 3 v.18: "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
- John 3 v.36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
- John 10 v.9: "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."
- Acts 2 v.21: "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
- Acts 10 v.43: "Of him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.
- Acts 16 v.31: "They said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Don't be confused with this verse as it is saying that each one in the jailer's household had to believe in order to be saved. You cannot save someone else, only yourself)
- Rom 5 v.10: "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
- Rom 10 v.9-10: "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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
- Eph 1 v.13-14: "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory."
- John 3 v.14-16 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
- John 5 v.24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."
- John 6 v.40: "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who behold the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
- John 6 v.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 6 v.46-47: "Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
- 1 John 5 v.10-13: "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and the life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
Now that we see to be saved all we have to do is to "believe in Jesus Christ" and to accept Him. But what does this mean, all I need to know is that He was God's Son and believe that you ask? No, the demons knew Jesus was the Son of God, but they won't be in Heaven. When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their savior, their life will change dramatically. Just as the scripture in Ephesians tells us, the old man dies and the new man is born.
- Rom. 8 v.14-17: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
The witness of the Spirit is the inner assurance of God's truth. One of the conditions of this inner conviction concerning the things of God is obedience to His known will (John 7 v.17). God uses this ministry of the Holy Spirit to convince us of truth that cannot be understood other than through His divine help (Matt. 16 v.17). This witness was obvious in Peter's confession to Christ (Matt. 16 v.16-17). Even though others had observed Christ and drawn certain erroneous conclusions, Peter received spiritual insight from God as to who Jesus really was (Matt. 16 v.17) This enlightenment did not mean he had nothing more to learn, because within minutes of his confession, he was being rebuked by Jesus for his lack of spiritual insight (Matt. 16 v.23) Christians should be careful always to obey the clearly revealed Will of God, so as not to hinder this ministry in their lives.
- Rom 8 v.1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- Psalm 37 v.28: "For the Lord loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever.
- John 5 v.24: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
- John 6 v.37: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out."
- John 6 v.39-40: "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. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
- John 10 v.27-29: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 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."
The doctrine of eternal security teaches that God is able to complete the good work of eternal life that He has begun in every believer. (Phil. 1 v.6) The eternal security of the believer is guaranteed by the person and work of God. He is true and just, and cannot deny Himself. Therefore anyone who has eternal life has it forever. God promises that no one can ever be separated from His love (Romans 8 v.33-39). Some argue this doctrine leads to antinomianism (allowing Christians to live in sin). This charge however, denies the very nature of salvation, which involves union with Christ and death to sin (Romans chapter 6). But to the extent that a Christian fails to serve God, his reward may be lost, though he will be saved from everlasting wrath (1 Cor. 3 v.15). The Christian is saved and secured by faith, but in love and gratitude to Christ will seek to faithfully serve Him.
- Romans 8 v.33-35 & 38-39: "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Phil 1 v.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."
- 2 Tim 1 v.12: "For I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day."
- Heb 6 v.17-20: "In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
- 1 Peter 1 v.3-5: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
In 1 Peter 1 v.3-5 the portrayal of salvation looks to the future. The author of salvation is portrayed as the blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The work of salvation is described as to its effect. Hath begotten us again refers to a new stage of life that begins at salvation. This lively hope has no element of uncertainty, for it is guaranteed by Jesus' resurrection from the dead. The believer's inheritance is described as incorruptible (imperishable or indestructible) and undefiled (morally untainted). That fadeth not away means it is not subject to the ravages of time. Further it is reserved, that is, it has been preserved in the past and still is in heaven. Kept is a present passive participle, we are secure because we are continually guarded by God, who never relaxes His vigil. Salvation here refers to final salvation, that is, deliverance from the presence of sin and into the presence of God.
- 1 John 2 v.1: "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
- 1 Cor 3 v.10-16: "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
Notice the scripture tells us quite clearly, "he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved". Such a one does not suffer the loss of his salvation, but the loss of reward. The stress in the entire passage is not on a person's relationship to Christ, but on his or her service to Christ.
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