I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.
I
There are many that believe that you can lose your salvation, once it has been ask for, given, and received… This causes many to doubt whether they are saved because of whatever sin they may have already committed, or be trapped in, or that they may commit in the future…
This is a lie from the pit of hell and from the father of all lies, satan. But let me ask you a question, or two:
- How long is ever-lasting? Is there a single spot anywhere along an ever-lasting timeline that halts or stops.
Well, if there is, then it cannot be an ever-lasting timeline, can it? - Does eternal mean non-stop… ever-continuing… ever-present???
- Does never-ending mean without end… on-going… never-ceasing???
- Do any of the above words and phrases include the possibility of pausing and starting again?
Yes. I know. I’m sorry for the redundancy and for the hammering I did to drive the point home, but with so many doubting, and being taught to doubt, their salvation, I felt the need for overdrive in this message.
Your salvation is secure and once you are saved you are always saved – and there is yet another phrase for never-ending… always saved – but you don’t have to take my word for it; let us look at the scriptures which proclaim it:
John 10: 28-29
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will 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 John 5:13
13 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.
John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Hebrews 13:5
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
Never will I forsake you.”
Well, there it is, and I find it very interesting that God, Himself, thought this issue important enough to practice redundancy to drive the point home. Yet, there are still those who doubt and, more importantly, there are those that teach salvation lost…
There are a number of scriptures upon which they attempt to lay a foundation for this belief, but for this particular sermon, we will address a single block of text that is sometimes used…
Some point to Matthew 7:21-23 as proof that you can Lose your salvation because of sin:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
So, what does it mean: but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven?
Well, God’s Will is God’s Desire… yes??? So, to do God’s Will is to do what God desires of and from us… yes??? But where do we find that answer? Well, it is clearly stated in Scripture:
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
“…Not Willing that Any Should Perish, but that All Should Come to Repentance…”
According to the Holman’s Bible Dictionary, Repentance is defined as follows:
A feeling of regret, a changing of the mind, or a turning from sin to God…
It is the turning from oneself, to God. It is to put on the Mind of Christ, who’s consistent thought was Thy Will Be Done, Not Mine.
If you sincerely turn to God, through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord, you are doing the Will of the Father… but what of evil doers? Does that mean anyone that sins???
The phrase away from me you evildoers! is just one of many pieces or parts of scripture that is lifted, or plucked, from the whole passage in order to bend the scriptures to say, or mean, other than what is clearly stated…
The context of this block of scripture is revealed by the phrase I never knew you.
I never knew you is Jesus telling those He is speaking to that they were never saved. Notice He does not say, get away from me those I once saved but now condemn…
No. You cannot lose your salvation, once you have accepted it as a free gift (John 10: 28-29, 1 John 5:13, John 3:16-18, Romans 5:15, Romans 6:23). However there are – and will be – many in that day who will say, Lord, Lord! Didn’t we do this or that, in Your Name… for whom a saving relationship with Christ never took place… You cannot lose your salvation, but many who will think they are saved, will not be.
You see the problem, yes??? They did this or that in the name of Jesus. But a genuine, saving, faith is one in which we submit to the authority of God, through total submission to and a personal relationship with Jesus… We ask Him to take over our lives, and then we allow Him to work through us to accomplish His Kingdom Purposes…
The entire chapter of Matthew 7 is speaking of Fake Christians (those who have not come to a saving faith in Christ, but act as if they have). It speaks to :
- Judgmental People — Hypocrites
- False Disciples (those who teach a twisted narrative, which is in reality False Doctrine).
- Those who believe they can purchase Heaven through doing enough good works, and Christian things to earn it…
These so-called-Christians point to other scriptures to support their you better be careful: God will take your salvation away false teachings, manipulations, and holier-than-thou personas.
I will be addressing these scriptures in future posts, as we move along… sometimes in devotionals, and sometimes in scriptural explanation… For now, we are answering the argument that your salvation can be lost.
If Salvation is a Free GIFT, by its simple declaration, it cannot be bought or earned or traded for…
If something is purchased, or bought by one person, and given to another, does the person receiving the gift have the obligation to reimburse the giver???
Or, does the receiver of the gift assume the debt incurred by the purchase of the giver???
Or, must the recipient of the gift pay – again – for that which has already been paid for by the giver???
And does the receiver forfeit ownership of the gift, simply because it was bought by someone else???
OF COURSE NOT!!!
Well for Christians, Jesus Paid it All; He paid the price for all sin, for all time… and all we have to do is accept the gift He purchased and offers to us…
If you buy a gift for someone, who will not accept it, do you force them to take it???
OF COURSE NOT!!!
And Neither Will God force you to accept His Freely Offered Gift… He is going to honor your choice to decline the offer.
Okay. So, just who are the people to whom Jesus will say, I never knew you, get away from me you doers of evil?
They are the very ones that are leading others down the path of destruction with their false doctrine and their seemingly good works, and sometimes with the very way they are living their own lives…
You can live your life well by Earthly Standards. You can even spend your whole life doing good things – in your own strength and by your own intent – and you will have done it without Jesus. You will have done it without allowing Him to know you and without appreciating (much less accepting) the eternal gift of salvation, that He Paid Such an Extremely Awful Price to offer you…
Oh, you might ask: Well, if I spend my life doing good things for others, how can God justify sending me to Hell. This, too, is a twisted falsehood, spread by the uninformed and the deceived.
God does not send you to Hell and it is precisely because He is Just that He consistently and persistently offers you – at various points along your entire life – the choice to not go there…
He paid the terrible price of admission to Heaven for you, but if you refuse to accept the gift, you will have chosen to exist without the freely offered gift… You will have chosen to be eternally apart from God, by rejecting both His Offer, and the Sacrifice made on your behalf, for the price of admittance into Heaven.
So, everyone for whom Hell awaits, will have chosen to not accept the eternal gift that was bought, paid for, and offered them… They, themselves, will have chosen to reject God, and insofar as He cannot Lie, and because He has seen to it that every individual has been given multiple opportunities for salvation, through giving them the knowledge of the His Offer, He is bound by Truth to honor your desire to live without Him. And it is Your desire – not His – that sends you to Hell.
That is first and foremost.
Secondly; let us look at your life of good deeds. What have they accomplished, in the broad scope of eternity???
The answer is very definitely not — NOTHING… Your good deeds, without God, will have accomplished much, and your failure to recognize it will not mitigate the circumstances.
You will have done all of YOUR good, and not God through you. So, what does that mean?
It means that many, many, people who have watched you doing good things, without Christ, and who have watched you enjoy the worldly benefits you have acquired, will never come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ…
They will point to your life, and tell others, See? They have a good life, we don’t need God…
You will have lived your life in a way that those watching will never consider the truth of their eternal condition, or that will cause them to reject the truth of John 14:6:
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
In this way, you will have lead others, who may lead others still, into a Non-Saving Relationship with God, Almighty…
We either have a Saving Relationship with God, or an Adversarial One. There is no in-between… Jesus, Himself, declared Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters (Matthew 12:30).
You may ask, What??? I thought you Christians taught that either I have a relationship with God, through Christ, or I don’t…
That, too, is misinformation (something the Father of All Lies… the one that roams the earth seeking whom he may devour consistently puts before us: 1 Peter 5:8)
Everyone on the planet has a relationship with God… You are either in a Saving Relationship with God, or you are in an Adversarial Relationship with God and there is no in-between…
II
You either accept the eternal gift that He paid such an awful price for, or you do not… It really is as simple as that… This is described, Biblically, as the Simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).
By now, you may be thinking, Where is the encouragement in all of this?!?
Ah, but this IS encouraging… You see? Matthew 7 is not proof that you can lose your salvation — you cannot.
Salvation is not something you have to work for, or pay for… and that IS encouraging…
Those People to whom Jesus is speaking in Matthew 7 have chosen to disbelieve God, and to reject the gift He freely offers. They are the ones who disbelieve God and nullify His GIFT by trying to work their way into Heaven.
What is even more terrible than the fate they have set for themselves is that, in so doing, they have lead many away from God… And since God is all Good, “away from God” is “toward evil.” With their GOODNESS, they will have lead others straight to Hell.
It is one thing to refuse this gift of salvation and, thereby, choose to pay your own sin-debt, but it is entirely another matter when, by doing so, you lead others to an eternity away from God — to having to endure an eternity where there is no good thing because God has removed His presence, in order to honor the choice they made to reject Him and His free gift of salvation.
Sin must be paid for. You will either accept the payment Jesus made on your behalf, or you will chose to reject that which He purchased for you, and pay that debt yourself…
If payment is not made for your house, or car, it is taken from you… yes???
In the same way, the banker does not care where the payment comes from… as long as somebody pays, but the debt must be settled… yes???
Well, there you have it. But how do you know that the payment of Jesus is accredited to your account with God??? How do you KNOW that you ARE saved??? How do you know that you are NOT one that will hear Jesus say, Away From Me, You Evil Doers???
What must you DO to BE saved???
Declare Jesus Lord of Your Life, and Believe in the Resurrection for the forgiveness of sins… That is ALL that is necessary.
Romans 10: 9-10 states, very clearly:
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.
When your heart is lined up with the words you speak… when your desire is to have Jesus be your Lord and Savior and you declare him as such, while believing in the resurrection for the forgiveness of sin, the righteousness of Jesus is extended to you because of your belief…
Genesis 15:6 declares:
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Accept God and Believe. That really is all there is to it… Confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior and believe that God raised Him from the dead… there is nothing else to be done.
And that, my friend, is Very Good News…
Please remember that Romans 5:15 and 6:23 declare that salvation is a gift, and that John 10: 28-29, 1 John 5:13, John 3:16-18, and Hebrews 13:5, define the unending length of time for which you will not be condemned, nor forsaken…
I give them eternal life…
I write these things that you may know that you have eternal life…
For God so Loved the world that whosoever believes shall have eternal life…
God did not Send His Son into the world to condemn but to save…
NEVER will I leave you; NEVER will I forsake you…
THAT is Encouraging… Yes???
Does any of those Promises of God sound like you can lose your Salvation??? No. They Do Not and You Cannot.
Remember: God cannot Lie (Hebrews 6:18).
And Romans 10: 9-10, as well as Matthew 7:21-23, guarantee that you do not have to, nor can you, work for or earn salvation…
So, be encouraged and know in your mind, your heart, and in your soul, that you are saved and that you cannot lose your salvation…
If you are NOT saved, however, simply pray this prayer and invite Christ to be your Lord and Savior:
Oh God, I am a sinner, just as everyone else is, but I now confess Jesus as my Lord and I believe that you raised him from the Dead to defeat sin and death and save all who would simply believe, including me.
Please send the Holy Spirit to teach me, guide me, and call to remembrance all that Jesus said, as You promised in John 14:26…
Amen, Amen and Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, your name has been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and it cannot and will not be removed. Not ever.
You now are guaranteed eternal life in the Presence of God and all that is good.
You have not only asked for and received salvation, but you have also asked God to teach you and help you remember scripture, that will equip you to walk evermore closely with God and enjoy His Power and Peace and Love more and more.
And if you still have a nagging bit of doubt as to whether you are able to believe unto Salvation, please pray the prayer of the father of the boy who was possessed — the father who wanted, desperately to believe, but feared that what belief he had would be insufficient…
Mark 9:22-25
22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
So, You See? Jesus Helped the Man – who earnestly asked – with his unbelief and rewarded his sincerity with the desired answer to his request. He will do the same for you.
Congratulations to all who have become Christian. But to all who have not: Please do so, that we may, together – with those that have gone before us – spend eternity in the very dwelling place of Love and those that know how to, and do, love each other…
Oh! What a Wonderful World that Will Be!!!
May God Bless & Keep You & Yours, Always!!!!
