I Have A Friend Who Thinks That Once You're Saved You Can Live How You Want

I Have A Friend Who…

Believes That Once You Are Saved You Can Do Whatever You Want…

TODAY – we conclude our message series, I Have A Friend Who… The theme verse for this series is 1 Peter 3:15 “…always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

The goal of this message series has been twofold; FIRST – to equip us to do what God commands us to do in 1 Peter 3:15 – TO make a defense of the gospel – TO answer the questions that those who are honestly seeking God may have… AND – the second goal has been – TO re-enforce and firm up our own faith, to give us more confidence in what and why we believe & to give us, a greater eagerness to share the truth. LISTEN – the Christian faith has it’s reasons – it is not a faith for the brain dead.

ON February 2nd, we saw HOW evidence like, a Little Debbie Nutty Bar, the incredible design of creation (an incredible design that demands an incredible designer, the moral law – the sense of right and wrong that is woven into the soul of every human being, in all cultures and in all time. AND HOW changed lives point to the existence of [a non contingent, uncaused by anything else, self sufficient, self reliant, powerful, intelligent, all existing, unique and moral God who loves us.

AND in week 2 - we saw HOW – the bible is not just another book – it is unique (it is in a class of it’s own). No other book – have been translated into more languages, No other book has been more published… No other book has been so viscously attacked and it still remains - No other book speaks so clearly and powerfully to the human heart… No other book has such lasting appeal [the psalms are 3000+ year old poetry]… And no other book has such incredible diversity in it’s composition (40 + writers, 1500 years) AND the bible is accurate (we can trust what it says) and it’s supernatural (it knows stuff that only God the Creator could know)… LISTEN – if God who we know exists were to write a book – we would expect that book to be just like the bible…

In week 3; we exposed 4 myths in regards to the new sexual ethic that our culture has embraced; The 4 myths we exposed were - sex is just a physical thing; sex is such a powerful drive it cannot be controlled; living together is a good idea; #4 - there really are no good reasons to wait until you are married to have sex… [and listen we ‘nuked’ that 4th myth by giving 4 powerful reasons why you should wait until you are married to have sex – your future spouse wants you to wait; your future children wants you to wait, the future spouse of the person you are now dating wants you to wait and Jesus Christ wants you to wait…]

In week 4 we saw that Jesus was so much more than just a great man – we saw that He is the very Son of God… In week 5 we saw that the statement, “all religions are the same,” cannot be true. WHY? – because every religion makes different claims about; God, the after life and salvation… AND we ended that message by viewing a video of something that only one religion has – Jesus Christ… UNDERSTAND – only one religion has God dying for his people, suffering and bleeding a cross just so He could BE with you.…

AND – the last two Sundays using the bible as our authority, we have talked about the reality of heaven & hell… in a message called, I Have A Friend Who Doesn’t Believe In Heaven Or In Hell.

FRIENDS – heaven is real and it is going to be incredible – FOREVER.

And hell is real and it is going to be horrifying – FOREVER.

UNDERSTAND – there are 2 eternities and YOU get to choose.

THIS MORNING – I want to wrap up this series with a message called; “I Have A Friend Who Thinks That Once You Are Saved That You Can Do Whatever You Want…” QUESTION – do people really think this way? Do people really believe that once you are saved that regardless of how you live - you can never loose your salvation? YES – many do. AND - it’s a teaching that is sometimes called, The Doctrine of Eternal Security - OR - Once Saved Always Saved…

Sam Morris, a preacher in Stamford, TX wrote an article entitled, "Do A Christian’s sins damn his souls"? Here is a quote from the article: