What you have asked is of extreme importance. Our most important mission while alive is to bring as many people as possible to Christ as we possibly can. Clarity in presenting the gospel should be one of our great driving forces.
If a person does not understand eternal security when they come to Christ for salvation they have not really come to Christ
Before we get specifically to your question let’s take a few moments to see how strongly GOD feels about the clarity of the gospel and the people who bring it to others.
Then as an interesting point of interest, just for the fun of it lets see what happens in heaven when someone gets saved.
I. About the Gospel Message
A. About the Clarity of the Gospel
8) But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you,
let him be eternally condemned!
9) As we have already said, so now I say again:
If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,
let him be eternally condemned!
---Galatians 1:8-9--
GOD could not be clearer about it. To tell to someone a false gospel is the most heinous thing we can do. Because that persons eternity may very possibly rest upon understanding it.
Our striving to understand the gospel and to make it clear to others is of massive importance. GOD states it this way:
B. About the Messenger
can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
15) And how can they preach unless they are sent?
As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet
of those who bring good news!"
---Romans 10:14-15---
What makes something particularly valuable? Usually things are valuable because they are rare. Did you notice in this text that even the feet of people who bring others to salvation through Christ are beautiful to GOD?
C. About the Messenger #2
They are beautiful because they are rare. Not many people do this. Yet their value to GOD is so extremely high that for all eternity those people will shine brighter than other people in heaven.
Those who are wise
will shine like the brightness of the heavens,
and those who lead many to righteousness,
like the stars for ever and ever.
---Daniel 12:3---
D. About the Angels
In the same way, I tell you,
there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents."
---Luke 17:10---
The only thing I want to point out here is that angels who see things so much more clearly than we do are wild with joy whenever anyone comes to Christ.
II. Once Saved always Saved
There are several texts which prove that once we are saved it is irrevocable. Let’s start with John 5:24
A. John 5:24
I tell you the truth,
whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me
has eternal life
and will not be condemned;
he has crossed over from death to life.
1. Has
Notice the word has. Think about what that word means. It is a word of right now possession. It is a word of certainty. There is no ambiguity about it.
When we accept Christ we have eternal life.
2. will not
We will not be condemned. It could not be more clear! Some people may say that you can lose your salvation by doing any number of things but this verse exposes that teaching as wrong. We will not be condemned! Under any circumstance.
3. has crossed over
Here is another reason that we cannot lose our salvation. As far as GOD is concerned we are already in heaven. We are just waiting for our bodies to die.
We have passed over from death to life. There are no scriptures that tell us that we can pass from life back to death.
B We are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30)
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
---Ephesians 4:30---
What is the significance of this word seal? In Paul’ day when a person of power wrote a document of importance and value they would pour hot wax on the edges where it came together when rolled up.
When the wax was still hot he pressed it with a ring or other devise that had a particular design on it that everyone knew was his. No one was permitted by law to open the thing sealed except the one to whom it was addressed.
We, upon salvation, received GOD’S seal on us and no one but GOD Himself can lawfully remove the seal until we arrive at the destination that became our destiny the instant we were saved.
2. For the day of redemption
When is the day of redemption? It is the day we die.
C. No one can take us out of Christ’s hand (John 10:28-29)
28) I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29) My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all
no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
1. never
When does never occur? Obviously never , never occurs. So when Christ says we never perish we will do just that we will never perish.
2. No one
That means that no one: a person (ourselves included), the devil or any being that exists can take a believer out of the hand of GOD. Neither will GOD let go of us.
First He said we already passed from death to life
Second He said we will never perish. Because we can not be taken out of the hand of GOD
Third He said we are sealed until we die
Anonymous we have seen some versus that clearly show that once we are saved we are always saved. There are many more. But these are more than sufficient.
Don
Proverbs 24:11-12
No comments:
Post a Comment