A post on a Christian forum was titled, "Can you lose your salvation and eternal life?" Here we are again. How many times have we all heard this question, been asked it or asked it ourselves? This is like Christianity's version of the chicken and the egg dilemma that has baffled people for ages without an apparent resolution. According to the Australian Academy of Science, the chicken and the egg is an "old riddle that’s sparked many arguments through the ages: was it the chicken or the egg that came first? It’s such a tricky question because you need a chicken to lay an egg, but chickens come from eggs, leaving us with an intractable circle of clucky, feathery life that apparently has no clear starting point." But, this question is simply answered when you use God's Word as a resource. How do I know this? The first chapter of the Bible gives us the answer. "And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:24-25)." We clearly see it says that on the sixth day of creation God created "livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kind." No doubt that the chicken was included in this group of animals. Therefore, the chicken came first. Now, I admit, I am being a bit silly, but you get my point; not everything is as complicated as we make it. So it is with the question of eternal security. There is no reason at all that a Christian should believe that they can lose their salvation much less be debating it with each other for ages like is the case with the chicken and the egg. From my experience, the problem begins with a misunderstanding of the Gospel. The Gospel being sin, death, forgiveness, and the restoration of life. Adam sinned by eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6). This violated God's command to Adam that he "must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die (Genesis 2:17)." The life of God breathed into Adam when he was created (Genesis 2:7) was removed and Adam died spiritually. God, in His love, desired to restore His life back to mankind, but He first had to deal with the problem of sin that caused Him to remove His life in the first place. Therefore, God became a man, in Christ Jesus, to live the life we could not and died in our place to take the penalty for our sin (Philippians 2:5-8). Having accomplished the forgiveness of sins, God could now offer His life to all who accept Jesus Christ by faith through the Resurrection (John 11;25; Romans 5:10). Therefore, because sin is no longer an issue between man and God, there is no sin that can cause His life to leave a person when they are spiritually raised from the dead through faith in Jesus Christ. It is an eternal life that will carry a person the rest of their physical life, through death, and into eternity. That is what I call eternal security. As for what I said in answer to the question about losing salvation, I invite you to read on. I pray what I said helps to begin to settle this issue.
"I wonder how many people who believe they can lose their salvation have lost it in their estimation? And what did they do to get it back? It seems that only they are the ones that believe they are doing what is required by God in order to obtain or maintain this elusive salvation. Jesus said to be as perfect as your Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:48). How are they doing with this? If one can lose salvation, it means that Jesus' finished work on the cross was not enough and that our sins are still being counted against us despite scripture saying God is not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 4:8), that there is no longer any sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:17-18), and when Jesus returns it is to bring salvation to those waiting for Him not to deal with sin (Hebrews 9:28). Scripture also says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). Therefore, your confession booths, 1 John 1:9ing (taken out of context), short accounts, altar calls, etc., are all bloodless sacrifices God does not require or accept. If you can lose eternal life, it is not eternal. By continuing to make sin an issue we are trampling the Son of God underfoot (Hebrews 10:29) by effectively putting Him back on the cross. If our works of obedience play a role in our salvation then we must still be under the law and Paul was mistaken when He said we are not (Galatians 3:24-25). Furthermore, if there is no law then sin is not taken into account (Romans 5:13). And if sin is not taken into account because we are not under the law, what is it that causes us to lose salvation? And John must have been lying when he said: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13)." You can never know you have eternal if you can lose it! But, hey, we can't have another endless thread on eternal security if our salvation is secure. We are still immature Christians drinking milk if we are continuing to debate eternal security. God can't grow us and mature us in the grace and knowledge of Himself if we are still uncertain about whether or not we are His children. No wonder the author of Hebrews said, "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are dull of hearing. Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food! For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness (Hebrews 5:11-13)." Grace and Peace"
Showing posts with label eternal life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eternal life. Show all posts
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Sinning After Salvation
"All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." John 6:37-40
"If you keep sinning after you've been saved are you still saved? Jesus promises in John 6:37-40 to not lose one single believer but do believers continue to sin after they've been saved? Like, for example, say you're caught in the same set of sins are you still saved? Even if you cannot stop doing those same sins over and over again? Like, say you like to use Christ's name in vain a lot or if you swear a lot or if you're stuck in one particular sin is that person still given to Jesus by God the Father and eternally secure?" This is the opening comment on a public, Christian, forum by someone who believes that a person can lose their salvation. One thing I have noticed is how people will often quote scriptures that answer the questions they are asking but choose to ignore the answer or are just blind to the answer sitting in plain sight. The commenter quotes John 6:37-40 as their proof text to ask their question. The passage clearly shows Jesus saying, "whoever comes to me I will never drive away." If that is not enough Jesus continues on by saying, "I shall lose none of all those he has given me." For good measure, Jesus concludes that everyone who believes in Him, "shall have eternal life." This should be the end of the story, right? Wrong. The commenter clearly doesn't understand the implications of the death of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, why ask if believers continue to sin after being saved? Obviously, Christians still sin after being saved. We will continue to sin until the day we die and leave this earth. Granted, as one grows in their understanding of the Lord and who they are through faith in Jesus Christ, sin should diminish in their life, but this is only as a byproduct of trusting in and depending on God. But, a person will never get to that point if they don't first settle the sin issue in their mind. There are multiple scriptures that clearly state the sin issue is over between God and man. A few are 2 Corinthians 5:19, which states, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them." Hebrews 10:17 reads, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." Romans 4:8 says, "Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them." In just three verses what does God's word say about our sins? That God is "not counting" them against us, that He remembers our sin "no more," and that He will "never count" them against us. Therefore, we have New Covenant proof confirming the promise Jesus made in the Gospel of John. Jesus never drives us away, doesn't lose any of us, and says we have eternal life because God is no longer remembering our sins and is not counting them against us. Therefore, if we keep on sinning after we are saved, we are still saved because there is no sin being held against us that would cause us to lose eternal life.
Unfortunately, it is simple to see this truth, but not easy for others to believe it. There are some who assume that because people are still sinning then they must not be saved because to them only "true" Christians do not sin. This makes me wonder if they believe they are not sinning? But, I digress. What they will often bring up to support this idea is Hebrews 10:26-27. There we read, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." What happens is that they see phrases like "deliberately keep on sinning," "expectation of judgment," and "consume the enemies of God," and falsely attribute these statements to Christians who sin, or more specifically, continue to engage in a specific sin. When, in fact, these statements are pointing directly at the ones making the accusation. Earlier in Hebrews 10, it says, "But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool ... And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary (Hebrews 10:12-13, 18)." The deliberate sin mentioned in Hebrews 10:26 is those who do not believe that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was once and for all. It is not talking about those who still sin, but those who still believe sin separates us from God. Furthermore, for those who don't believe the sin issue is over they are the ones who must perform sacrifices for sin that God does not require or accept as sufficient. Therefore, they are, in essence, the enemies of God because they do not believe Him! Just to be clear, this does not mean that sin is okay or that God is somehow encouraging us to sin. What it means is that if someone is trapped in sin, God remains faithful to them. But, we need to go to that person and ask them "Why" are they committing a particular sin? It is deeper than just sin is wrong, but that there is something missing in a person's understanding of their relationship with God that must be addressed. Forgiveness allows a person to approach God and for Him to approach them without their sin separating the two. That allows all parties involved to get to the root cause of the problem. The problem between God and man is not that man is a sinner in need of forgiveness, but that man is spiritually dead and in need of the life of God being restored to them. A born again Christian has had the life of God restored to them and will never lose it because there is no unforgiven sin that will cause God to remove His life. While we still sin, the forgiveness we have is the driving force behind God staying faithful to us, continuing to love us, never leaving us, never forsaking us, not separating from us, not driving us away, not losing us, and, definitely, not taking our salvation (His indwelling life) away from us!
"If you keep sinning after you've been saved are you still saved? Jesus promises in John 6:37-40 to not lose one single believer but do believers continue to sin after they've been saved? Like, for example, say you're caught in the same set of sins are you still saved? Even if you cannot stop doing those same sins over and over again? Like, say you like to use Christ's name in vain a lot or if you swear a lot or if you're stuck in one particular sin is that person still given to Jesus by God the Father and eternally secure?" This is the opening comment on a public, Christian, forum by someone who believes that a person can lose their salvation. One thing I have noticed is how people will often quote scriptures that answer the questions they are asking but choose to ignore the answer or are just blind to the answer sitting in plain sight. The commenter quotes John 6:37-40 as their proof text to ask their question. The passage clearly shows Jesus saying, "whoever comes to me I will never drive away." If that is not enough Jesus continues on by saying, "I shall lose none of all those he has given me." For good measure, Jesus concludes that everyone who believes in Him, "shall have eternal life." This should be the end of the story, right? Wrong. The commenter clearly doesn't understand the implications of the death of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, why ask if believers continue to sin after being saved? Obviously, Christians still sin after being saved. We will continue to sin until the day we die and leave this earth. Granted, as one grows in their understanding of the Lord and who they are through faith in Jesus Christ, sin should diminish in their life, but this is only as a byproduct of trusting in and depending on God. But, a person will never get to that point if they don't first settle the sin issue in their mind. There are multiple scriptures that clearly state the sin issue is over between God and man. A few are 2 Corinthians 5:19, which states, "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them." Hebrews 10:17 reads, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." Romans 4:8 says, "Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them." In just three verses what does God's word say about our sins? That God is "not counting" them against us, that He remembers our sin "no more," and that He will "never count" them against us. Therefore, we have New Covenant proof confirming the promise Jesus made in the Gospel of John. Jesus never drives us away, doesn't lose any of us, and says we have eternal life because God is no longer remembering our sins and is not counting them against us. Therefore, if we keep on sinning after we are saved, we are still saved because there is no sin being held against us that would cause us to lose eternal life.
Unfortunately, it is simple to see this truth, but not easy for others to believe it. There are some who assume that because people are still sinning then they must not be saved because to them only "true" Christians do not sin. This makes me wonder if they believe they are not sinning? But, I digress. What they will often bring up to support this idea is Hebrews 10:26-27. There we read, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." What happens is that they see phrases like "deliberately keep on sinning," "expectation of judgment," and "consume the enemies of God," and falsely attribute these statements to Christians who sin, or more specifically, continue to engage in a specific sin. When, in fact, these statements are pointing directly at the ones making the accusation. Earlier in Hebrews 10, it says, "But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool ... And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary (Hebrews 10:12-13, 18)." The deliberate sin mentioned in Hebrews 10:26 is those who do not believe that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was once and for all. It is not talking about those who still sin, but those who still believe sin separates us from God. Furthermore, for those who don't believe the sin issue is over they are the ones who must perform sacrifices for sin that God does not require or accept as sufficient. Therefore, they are, in essence, the enemies of God because they do not believe Him! Just to be clear, this does not mean that sin is okay or that God is somehow encouraging us to sin. What it means is that if someone is trapped in sin, God remains faithful to them. But, we need to go to that person and ask them "Why" are they committing a particular sin? It is deeper than just sin is wrong, but that there is something missing in a person's understanding of their relationship with God that must be addressed. Forgiveness allows a person to approach God and for Him to approach them without their sin separating the two. That allows all parties involved to get to the root cause of the problem. The problem between God and man is not that man is a sinner in need of forgiveness, but that man is spiritually dead and in need of the life of God being restored to them. A born again Christian has had the life of God restored to them and will never lose it because there is no unforgiven sin that will cause God to remove His life. While we still sin, the forgiveness we have is the driving force behind God staying faithful to us, continuing to love us, never leaving us, never forsaking us, not separating from us, not driving us away, not losing us, and, definitely, not taking our salvation (His indwelling life) away from us!
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Love and Love More
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26
I recently had the privilege of speaking with a military veteran from the Vietnam War who was a double recipient of the Purple Heart. As we chatted, the conversation briefly turned to religion. This led the gentleman to say, "I asked a pastor once, 'If God loves me, why should I fear him?' The pastor didn't have an answer." I chimed in with,"There are two kinds of fear; fear that makes you afraid and fear that means you respect someone's power." Continuing, I mentioned that if you are a Christian the fear you have is one of awe and respect at who God is. However, if you are not a Christian you should be afraid of what happens to those who don't believe.. He said, "I have never heard that before." Hopefully, God can use what I said. However, his question was a good one. How often have we heard people say, "Why would a loving God send a person to Hell?" The short answer is that God doesn't send anybody to Hell. Rather, a person chooses to go to Hell because they reject God and His offer of salvation, found only in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41)." God originally created Hell for the devil and his angels, not for man. However, for those who reject Jesus Christ as their savior, He hasn't created any other place for them to go. But, often times people get confused by verses that suggest God does not love them, when He says He does, and that they should be afraid of Him. In Luke 14:26, Jesus seems to be saying that in order to be His disciple, you must hate your mother, father, wife, children, brothers, sisters and your own life. Not only does this seem harsh, it also appears to contradict the Mosaic Law where it says, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12)." However, Jesus is using something called a Hebraic idiomatic expression. An idiom is an expression, a term, or a phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts. In this case, Jesus is using it as a way to establish and define the magnitude of what He is talking about; love. He is not saying you should hate your father and mother, etc.
For example, in Genesis 29:30-35, it reads, "So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing." Leah gave birth to four of Jacob's sons. Normally, if a man hates a woman, they are probably not engaging in this type of behavior on a consistent basis to the point where they are having children. When the scripture says that Leah was "hated," it isn't as if Jacob didn't want anything to do with her and wanted her out of his life. It doesn't mean he hated her at all. What it means, and the scripture confirms, is that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Therefore, when Jesus says that the price of being His disciple is to hate your parents, loved ones and yourself, He is saying that you should love Him to the point that, in comparison, it would look like you hated these other things. You love your family and friends, but you love Him more. With all this in mind you can now have a clearer picture as it relates to how a loving God can allow someone to go to Hell. God loves those who reject Him and His offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. He doesn't hate them. But, He loves those who accept His offer of salvation more. This is summed up nicely in John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." God loves those who don't believe in His Son, Jesus. He just loves those who do believe in His Son more. Those who believe have eternal life. Those who don't believe, perish.
I recently had the privilege of speaking with a military veteran from the Vietnam War who was a double recipient of the Purple Heart. As we chatted, the conversation briefly turned to religion. This led the gentleman to say, "I asked a pastor once, 'If God loves me, why should I fear him?' The pastor didn't have an answer." I chimed in with,"There are two kinds of fear; fear that makes you afraid and fear that means you respect someone's power." Continuing, I mentioned that if you are a Christian the fear you have is one of awe and respect at who God is. However, if you are not a Christian you should be afraid of what happens to those who don't believe.. He said, "I have never heard that before." Hopefully, God can use what I said. However, his question was a good one. How often have we heard people say, "Why would a loving God send a person to Hell?" The short answer is that God doesn't send anybody to Hell. Rather, a person chooses to go to Hell because they reject God and His offer of salvation, found only in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41)." God originally created Hell for the devil and his angels, not for man. However, for those who reject Jesus Christ as their savior, He hasn't created any other place for them to go. But, often times people get confused by verses that suggest God does not love them, when He says He does, and that they should be afraid of Him. In Luke 14:26, Jesus seems to be saying that in order to be His disciple, you must hate your mother, father, wife, children, brothers, sisters and your own life. Not only does this seem harsh, it also appears to contradict the Mosaic Law where it says, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12)." However, Jesus is using something called a Hebraic idiomatic expression. An idiom is an expression, a term, or a phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts. In this case, Jesus is using it as a way to establish and define the magnitude of what He is talking about; love. He is not saying you should hate your father and mother, etc.
For example, in Genesis 29:30-35, it reads, "So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years. When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing." Leah gave birth to four of Jacob's sons. Normally, if a man hates a woman, they are probably not engaging in this type of behavior on a consistent basis to the point where they are having children. When the scripture says that Leah was "hated," it isn't as if Jacob didn't want anything to do with her and wanted her out of his life. It doesn't mean he hated her at all. What it means, and the scripture confirms, is that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Therefore, when Jesus says that the price of being His disciple is to hate your parents, loved ones and yourself, He is saying that you should love Him to the point that, in comparison, it would look like you hated these other things. You love your family and friends, but you love Him more. With all this in mind you can now have a clearer picture as it relates to how a loving God can allow someone to go to Hell. God loves those who reject Him and His offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. He doesn't hate them. But, He loves those who accept His offer of salvation more. This is summed up nicely in John 3:16. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." God loves those who don't believe in His Son, Jesus. He just loves those who do believe in His Son more. Those who believe have eternal life. Those who don't believe, perish.
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