Thursday, April 9, 2009

How To Lose Your SALVATION

Lose Your Salvation?

By Pastor David F. Reagan

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How to Lose It in Fourteen Easy Steps

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INTRODUCTION

So...you want to lose your salvation. Well, you don’t really want to lose it--but you think you have, or could, or that someone you know certainly has lost theirs. They used to go to church every service and teach a Sunday School class, but now they cuss and drink and won’t step inside a church door. They were obviously saved before. They are obviously lost now. So, they must have lost their salvation. It’s as simple as that...or is it?

The idea of losing your salvation is simple. All you have to do is lose everything you gained when you got saved. Since you could never go to hell with anything you received when you were saved, then everything you obtained through salvation must be either reversed or destroyed. Then you can go to hell. So your next move is to find the source which can tell you how to reverse these steps.

Well, if you are going to lose your salvation (just bear with me if you want to keep yours), then you must lose it according to the rules. The rule book is, of course, the word of God. You must not rely on feelings, or common sense, or human reasoning. Feelings can be wrong. Human thinking may not be God’s way (Isaiah 55:8-9). Only God’s Word is the absolute authority.

This brings us to the fourteen easy steps for losing your salvation. Since every one of these steps represents some great blessing you received when you got saved, then all of these steps must be completed without fail in order to lose your salvation. You cannot miss any of them and become lost. You must accomplish them all. Now It’s time to tackle that first step!

I. DECLARE GOD’S GRACE AS INSUFFICIENT

This first step involves the basis of your salvation. When you accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, you are saved totally by the grace of God.

Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches:

For by grace are ye saved through

faith; and that not of yourselves:

it is the gift of God: Not of works,

lest any man should boast.

Grace is defined as God’s unmerited favor. It is God doing for you what you cannot do for yourself. Since you cannot save yourself, God offers His gift of grace as the basis of your salvation. This means you cannot save yourself by good works. Water baptism, church membership, church confirmation, loving your neighbor, and even the keeping of the ten commandments are all unable to give you or anyone else a place in heaven.

Romans 3:20 states:

Therefore by the deeds of the law

there shall no flesh be justified in his

sight: for by the law is the knowledge

of sin.

Titus 3:5 declares:

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;

Now, since good works can do nothing to earn salvation (see also Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9), then evil works can do nothing to remove salvation. You are saved in spite of your sins; you cannot become lost because of your sins. Since you are saved by grace, you can only become lost by declaring God’s grace as insufficient for you. That is the first step.

II. FIND THE FAITH OF CHRIST TO BE FAULTY

Whereas the first step removed the basis of salvation--grace, the second step is necessary to reverse the method of salvation--faith. Contrary to popular belief, you are not saved by producing enough faith so that God will accept you. Oh yes, you must believe. But your belief is completed by the faith of Christ. Again, the Bible must be the authority. Look once more at Ephesians 2:8:

For by grace are ye saved through

faith; and that not of yourselves:

it is the gift of God:

You are saved by grace and through faith. But that faith is not of yourself; it is the gift of God. Does this mean that we are saved apart from our own decision to believe? Not at all! Read carefully Galatians 2:16

Knowing that a man is not justified

by the works of the law, but by the

faith of Jesus Christ, even we have

believed in Jesus Christ, that we

might be justified by the faith of Christ,

and not by the works of the law: for by

the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

You cannot be justified by the works of the law. But you can be justified by the faith of Jesus Christ. This is not faith in Christ, but the faith of Jesus Christ. But in order to be justified by the faith of Christ, you must believe in Him. Sound confusing?

Look at Romans 3:22:

Even the righteousness of God which is

by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon

all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Notice the wording carefully. The righteousness of God is received on the basis of the faith of Jesus Christ. The faith of Jesus Christ is given “unto all and upon all them that believe.” (See also Philippians 3:9.)

Although you must believe to the best of your ability, the perfect faith which provides for you a perfect salvation is the faith of Christ. This means that there is no need to “pray through” or “hold on” in order to get saved. We come to God in simple belief, and He completes our faulty faith with the perfect faith of Christ. This also means that you cannot become lost by losing faith. Although your faith may waver at times, your salvation is based on the faith of Christ. Therefore, the only way to lose your salvation is to find the faith of Christ to be faulty. That completes the second step.

III. GET CHRIST TO TAKE BACK HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

This third step has to do with one of the great products of your salvation--imputed righteousness.. This imputed righteousness (that means righteousness placed on us from an outside source) involves the most uneven swap in the universe. When you get saved, you trade the rags of your sin for the robes of Christ’s righteousness. Let’s consider this trade one part at a time.

When Christ died on the cross, He took our sins upon Himself and paid for them in full. Galatians 3:13 reads:

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the

law, being made a curse for us: for it is written,

Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

II Corinthians 5:21 teaches:

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew

no sin; that we might be made the righteousness

of God in him.

God the Father made God the Son (Jesus Christ--the One who knew no sin) to be sin for us. That is, Christ took your sins upon Himself when He died n the cross, so that you could take His righteousness upon yourself when you accept Him as Saviour. When you are saved, you are clothed in the righteousness of Christ (see 1Corinthians 1:30). When God the Father sees you, He sees you through the blood of His Son. Therefore, you will never have to stand before God in your own righteousness (Philippians 3:9). You are truly complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

This also means that you cannot become lost by losing your own righteousness. Though your righteousness may fail from time to time, the righteousness of Christ can never fail. In order to lose your salvation, you must get Christ to take back His righteousness, and you must take back upon yourself the sin for which He died. And so the third step is completed.

IV. HAVE THE PARDON REMOVED FROM YOUR SIN

You receive something very special when you accept Christ. You receive a pardon for your sin greater than the pardon any criminal ever received from any governor or president. This pardon is based on none other than the shed blood of Christ.

Ephesians 1:7 declares:

In whom we have redemption through

his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according

to the riches of his grace;

When you are quickened (or, made alive) together with Christ, you are forgiven all trespasses: not just some or most, but all! This is why the forgiveness which saved is a completed act of the past and not a repeated act of the present.

Ephesians 4:32 reads:

And be ye kind one to another,

tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

even as God for Christ’s sake hath

forgiven you.

We are to be “forgiving” (present tense) others as God “hath forgiven” (past tense) us, not as He “forgives” (present tense) us. God forgave all of your sins at salvation: past, present, and future. Therefore, there is no need for a continual forgiving of sins in order to go to heaven. (NOTE: Of course, such complete forgiveness does not remove the need to repent from sins committed after salvation. But this daily cleansing of sins has no effect on salvation.)

Since you receive a full pardon at salvation, you cannot become lost by committing unpardoned sins. There can be no such thing for the saved person. Although you may sin and displease God after your salvation, God knew when He saved you what you would do and forgave you of those sins also. The only way out is to have the pardon which you received at salvation removed from your sin. And so ends step four.

V. CONVINCE THE FATHER TO FAIL IN HIS COMMITMENT

The fifth step has to do with the safekeeping of your soul. Before you are saved, you are the keeper of your own soul, and you cannot do anything but fail in its keeping. But when you get saved, you turn your soul over to the protection of another--God.

In II Timothy 1:12, Paul says:

For the which cause I also suffer these

things: for I know whom I have believed,

and am persuaded that he is able to keep

that which I have committed unto him against

that day.

In salvation, you gave up control of your own soul, and turned its safe keeping over to God the Father. God is now committed to the keeping of your soul to the end.

I Corinthians 1:8 declares:

Who shall also confirm you unto the end,

that ye may be blameless in the day of our

Lord Jesus Christ.

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The Appearing In Heaven

.........The timing of the realization of our BLESSED HOPE......After Israel were put to one side at the end of the book of Acts, Paul was inspired to write Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians 1@Timothy, Titus and Philemon. In Ephesians we read of the wonderful new hope set before us believers today; Eph 2:1 And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins, Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us Eph 2:5 (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), Eph 2:6 and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, Eph 2:7 so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. God has declared that we have been quickened (made alive) in Christ, we have been raised together, and seated together in the heavenlies in Christ, exactly the same place where Christ has been raised and seated at the Father’s right hand, see Ephesians 1:19-21. There, where Christ is seated above all of the heavenly rulers and authorities, is our glorious inheritance in front of God’s face. There our blessings are located and there we are the heirs of God. Is it any wonder Paul brings this wonderful section to a close with these verses; Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, Eph 2:9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Many Christians love these verses thinking they only refer to Christ dying for our sin and sins, but the salvation provided by grace through faith in Ephesians 2 goes way past these foundational truths to include our glorious inheritance in the heavenlies and the unique blessings we have there. We have been raised and seated together in the heavenlies that is the context of “FOR by grace you are saved through faith”. Praise the Lord, what a wonderful salvation by grace! This salvation is not an earthly one. We, the Church which is His Body, are not destined for the earth. We are not to be blessed with faithful Abraham; nor is the Jerusalem above the mother of us all today. These things were put aside with Israel at Acts 28. Galatians, 1@2Corinthians, 1@2 Thessalonians, Hebrews and Romans which were written before Acts 28, speak of Christ dying for our sins, but they know nothing of the wonderful hope we have today by grace through faith as found in Ephesians and Colossians written after Acts 28. After Israel was put aside then the Lord gave to Paul this wonderful salvation concerning heavenly places. This hope is an element of the Mystery, the present dispensation of the grace of God which was hidden away from ages and generations and it was also hidden away from Paul during the Acts period. We now begin to address a very important question. Since God’s Word says we, in Christ, have been raised and seated in the heavenlies where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, exactly when will we literally be seated there in the heavenlies or heavenly places? In other words, when will our hope become sight? When will our faith be realized? When will God’s Word regarding us come to pass? When will we be seated there in our wonderful new bodies “fashioned like His glorious body”? What is the timing of our hope? The answer to this is found in Colossians 3:1-4 which flows wonderfully onwards from Ephesians 2; Col 3:1 If then (or since, if does not always mean doubt) you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Col 3:2 Be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth. Col 3:3 For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God. Col 3:4 When Christ our Life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Here we are clearly told that “WHEN” our Lord, The Head is revealed, “THEN” we, the Church which is His Body, will also be revealed “WITH HIM”. That is the timing of our hope; the revealing of our Lord. Here are one or two other versions: Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (KJV) And Col 3:1 If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Col 3:2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. Col 3:3 For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. (RV) These three versions use “revealed”, “appear” and “manifested” to translate the Greek word “phaneroo”. Here are some helpful definitions of “phaneroo”: Strong’s. phaneroo; from G5318; to render apparent (literally or figuratively): - appear, manifestly declare, (make) manifest (forth), shew (self). Word Study (E-Sword). phaneroo; manifest, visible, conspicuous. To make apparent, manifest, known, show openly. Dr Strong says that the word “phaneroo” comes from another word, G5318 which is “phaneros”. Phaneros means “shining” and itself comes from a word which means “light, to give light”. When our Lord appears it is a moment of revelation involving great light, a shining forth. Where is this shining forth; this appearing of our Lord? The location is very clearly identified; it is “where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God”. Our Lord will be seated at God’s right hand when He is manifested. We shall look more closely at this in a later lesson but for now we recognize this is not in the air of 1 Thess.4, where the clouds are located. We can see a contrast in this Colossians passage. Notice, our life is “hidden with Christ in God” and while these things are hidden now, there is a time coming when they will be manifested or revealed. This moment will be a very bright one, a blazing forth as some have described it. It will be a glorious moment when our Lord and Head is manifested, but you and me and the rest of the Church which is His Body will be manifested there, in the heavenly places with Him. What will this appearing be like? Imagine you are sitting on a chair on top of a hill which, if there was light, would be clearly visible to the city below. The hill and the city are in darkness but there comes a time when the top of the hill is illuminated with a bright light. Then you, sitting on top of the hill, will be clearly visible to all those in the city below. You on your chair have been “manifested”, you have been “revealed”, you have “appeared” to all. In a similar but far more extensive way the Lord will appear to all in a blazing forth of light. He will be seen by those in the heavenly places, and by those on the earth beneath. Please consider the following verses as an anticipation of future lessons; Mat 24:27 For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. Mat 24:29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Mat 24:30 And then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear (phaino-the same family of words giving phaneroo of Colossians 3) in the heavens. Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before that great and glorious (epiphanes- the same family of words giving phaneroo of Colossians 3) Day of the Lord. And Mat 26:64 Jesus said to him, You said it. I tell you more. From this time you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of the heavens. Act 7:56 And he (Stephen) said, Behold, I see Heaven opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. And this passage; Rev 6:12 And when He had opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs when she is shaken by a mighty wind. Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed like a scroll when it is rolled together. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. Rev 6:16 And they said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; When the Lord is manifested in the heavenly places, the world will be morally, spiritually and physically dark and in that darkened day a light will blaze forth, our Lord shall be visible and “every eye shall see Him”. The heavens will be peeled back and they will see Him sitting on the right hand of God. This “appearing” of our Lord and Head is far above the clouds, and the air of 1 Thess.4. This is before He begins His descent to the earth. In the day; in the moment our Lord is manifested on the right hand of God, we shall be there in our seats manifested with Him. What an honor, what a moment of unimaginable joy. Let each one of us set our affection “where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God”, for there, in front of God’s face, we have been raised and seated to “appear with Him”. That moment of His appearing is when our hope will be realized. .....

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TRUST JESUS CHRIST AND HIS (FINISHED WORK) PLUS NOTHING

I started this blog for the Lord in January 2008.
The first post was about the confusion of when the Rapture
will occur. Pre, Mid, Post, and other ideas. The Holy Spirit
has been teaching me all these things because The Lord has
given me a love of his TRUTH. I was saved before I started the blog because I already trusted in Jesus' FINISHED WORK
on the cross and believed in the Scriptural resurrection of
our Savior. The FIRST STEP for any person to understand
your Bible, is to TRUST ONLY IN JESUS CHRIST for his
completed saving work on the cross and believe he was resurrected to Glory as Scripture tells us......PLUS NOTHING
else ! Not works of any kind, denominational dogmas and
traditions of men that try to add works and sacraments,
good deeds, tithing, creeds, laws of men or God, baptism in
water by men in any name, and anything else men try to tell
you need to do in their particular denomination of men to add
to the FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST on the cross. ONCE YOU TOTALLY TRUST CHRIST JESUS FOR YOUR SALVATION AND PLUS NOTHING ELSE, The Holy Spirit
will at that very moment...baptize you into the Body of Christ
and from then, on the Holy Spirit will teach you all things a little at a time, line upon line from the Living Word of Truth
in Scriptures. Don't trust anyone or denomination, but
search in HIS WORD to see if these things are so.

The second thing barring sincere seekers of truth from
Truth, is that most all denominations, including the first
denomination the RCC, believe in some way, they as "the church", have received Israel's blessings and have become
the new, "Spiritual Israel" This teaching found in Replacement
Theology, Amillennialism, Covenant Theology are totally
FALSE. To understand properly God's Word, one must
do what is found in II Tim 2:15. 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

All Scripture is for your knowledge and understanding, but
God has worked with men differently in times past, now,
and in the future. All Scripture is not written to you to follow
as it was to Israel in the past. Israel was under the LAW program and the Body of Christ today is under the GRACE
program. You must(rightly divide)between the two of these
churches to understand what was meant for Times past and what is meant for the Body of Christ today.

I will be talking about and posting from now on about what
the Holy Spirit has been teaching me in particular in my walk
in faith and in spirit in Christ, as part of his Body.

May God bless you richly in the wonders and DEEP RICHES
spiritually of his Grace.

Amen
Sincerely in Christ Jesus,
Your Brother Mark

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GLEAN and GROW in FAITH and KNOWLEDEGE

It is a common, but very serious MISTAKE.....
to think that just because you disagree on some points....
another brother in Christ Jesus, in the Body of Christ, has about the Rapture....that you cannot "GLEAN " MANY OTHER IMPORTANT NUGGETS OF TRUTH.......
that will aid us in growing in grace and knowledge of the
BIG PICTURE overall in what is happening and will happen
in PROPHECY...on the stage of history.

Come Brothers....let us share and learn about issues of
importants.... WITHOUT getting upset. There are many wonderful pieces of the puzzle we can glean from other brothers.
Hold fast to your truth...but don't be so dogmatic, so closed minded, so upset....not to dialog between brothers and sisters of the same
Body of Christ...even though we might disagree on some points.

God will act His way regardless of our.....
at this present time....SEEING THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

Remember....When we are all changed we will understand
ALL.....and see Him as He Is.......Amen

God Bless,
BrotherMark

The Price To Free You Has Been Paid...Just Accept It

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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

How To Lose Your SALVATION

Lose Your Salvation?

By Pastor David F. Reagan

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