Is Eternal Security REALLY So ?
What an important question!
Each person needs to know --- regardless of their social status:
Rich man .... poor man .... beggar man .... thief ....
Doctor .... Lawyer .... Indian chief.
You can’t buy your way into Heaven ....
neither can you pay to stay there!
These words of Jesus echo throughout ALL the ages:
Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Can A Person Lose Their Salvation ?
That is a question that arises from failure to rightly divide.
For example, Calvinism teaches a doctrine
called Perseverance of the Saints.
They claim that an elect person WILL maintain a life of holiness
(their standard of it) all the way up to the time of their death:
Matt 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall
be saved.
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The uncertainty about eternal security is an old problem.
Ever since ‘way back when’ .... the Jews have been fearful about it:
Heb 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he (that is, Christ) also himself likewise took part of
the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage.
Here’s another scary passage .... IF you don’t rightly divide:
Heb 6:4-6 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,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the
world to come, (Don’t you think that world to come .... would come
in the Ages to Come?)
6 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.
As we continue in the letter to the HEBREWS, we also read:
Heb 10:26-27 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the
knowledge of the truth (Uh, oh! Anybody guilty?), there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries.
No wonder folks who don’t rightly divide are afraid of their Bible.
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Can I Lose My Salvation ?
That question also comes from trusting something OTHER
THAN ‘the gospel of our salvation’ revealed through Paul.
For example, notice carefully how Jesus answered this question:
Matt 19:16-21 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good
Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none
good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder,
Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt
not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from
my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:
and come and follow me.
So, if a person did NOT keep the commandments and sell ALL
their possessions, then there was no assurance:
Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, IF we
keep his commandments.
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We have demonstrated HOW folks can easily be confused ....
even when using (actually, MIS-using) Bible verses.
Multitudes of professing Christians are grossly ignorant to the
blessed truths we know and rejoice in.
Therefore, it behooves us --- to open our mouth BOLDLY and
help them!
Can I Lose My Salvation ?
That question can be answered simply:
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Eternal life is just that. It’s eternal. It never ends.
By simply understanding our text passage, we’ll get confidence:
We’ll read our text verses, and then look at the phrases:
Eph 1:13-14 In whom (that is, Christ -- from verse 12)
ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory.
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We get saved by trusting Christ.
The first part of Eph 1:13 says, In whom ye also trusted,
We believe (that’s trusting) in Christ’s D - B - R for salvation,
that’s His • Death • Burial and • Resurrection:
1 Cor 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and
wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Trusting .... is believing something you cannot see .... it’s FAITH:
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God:
The next part of Eph 1:13 says, after that ye heard the word of truth,
Obviously, to trust in someone, in something .... you have to hear it!
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.
We hear God’s TRUE word and trust it!
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Back to Eph 1:13, we’re at, the gospel of your salvation:
We’re saved by placing our faith in the good news
of what Christ did for us. Those who don’t believe it are lost:
2 Cor 4:3-4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Paul is giving thanks to God for the Colossian believers:
Col 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof
ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
The next phrase in Eph 1:13 reads, in whom also after that
ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
To be sealed means to be fastened .... fixed .... kept securely ....
confirmed .... attached together.
God does that to us --- He bonds us to Himself.
He deposits His Holy Spirit within us:
2 Cor 1:21-22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ,
and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in
our hearts. (Keep the word ‘earnest’ in mind.)
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You know what ‘earnest money’ is:
It’s a down-payment on a sure purchase.
Now in Eph 1:14, we have the Holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance
It guarantees you’re getting something ....
in this case, it’s our SALVATION that God pledged to us.
When God saved the Apostle Paul,
He gave him a specific message for us Gentiles:
Acts 26:16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet:
for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,
to make thee a minister and a witness
both of these things which thou hast seen,
and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto
whom now I send thee,
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins,
and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Paul was grateful that God qualified us .... for the inheritance:
Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
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Return to Eph 1:14, until the redemption
of the purchased possession,
The Spirit’s promise is an absolute warranty of our rescue:
Rom 8:22-25 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and
travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for
what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience
wait for it.
Hope is similar to faith --- in the aspect, that you can’t see it.
Hope is the confident expectation of something good.
God’s Holy Spirit seals us until the time when He redeems us:
Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption.
We have assurance that Christ will appear in the clouds .... to
change us, catch us up, and transport us to Heaven to be with Him:
Phil 3:20-21 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also
we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able
even to subdue all things unto himself.
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These truths are linked together --- as we’d say, “It’s a ‘done deal.”
God will redeem us
because we have trusted the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ:
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Now go back to Eph 1:14, until the redemption
of the purchased possession,
WE, the church, the Body of Christ are that ‘purchased possession.’
Jesus Christ paid the price to redeem us.
His death satisfied the demands of the JUSTICE of God:
Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the
flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to
feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own
blood.
The last words of Eph 1:14 are, unto the praise of his glory.
God, alone, is worthy to be worshipped. God will admit us into
Heaven .... because Christ paid our way .... and put us in Him:
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath
made us accepted in the beloved.
This is David Dowell, saying, “Think about it!”
http://magnifiedword.com/newmessages.htm
How should we live in these last days, Ray?
It is not by works of the law.
Please listen to this:
Download 7. Not By Works
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