Intro: SO GREAT A SALVATION - IT'S PERMANENCE.
1. A salvation that you could lose would't be so great! And it would assume that it was the work of man not God because God's work cannot fail.
2. Let us just briefly look at this important doctrine.
I. First the Passages which clearly teach that salvation is permanent.
A. Promises of God (Jn.5:24; 6:37; 10:28/Rom.8:29-30/etc.)
'If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." 2 Timothy 2:13
B. Power of God which is behind those promises (Jn.10:29/Rom.4:21; 8:31,38-39; 14:4/ Eph.3:20/Phil.3:21/2Tim.1:12/etc.)
"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy." Jude 1:24
C. The Passionate love of God toward His own (Jn.3:16/Rom. 8:31-39/etc.
"8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:8-10
D. The answered Prayer of Christ before the Father.
"9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are." John 17:9-11
"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;" John 17:20
E. The fact that the Father is Propitiated by the substitutionary death of Christ (Rom.3:25-26 /1 John 4:10/etc.)
"and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." 1 John 2:2
F. Provision of resurrected, eternal life (Jn.3:16; 10:28/Rom.6:23/etc.)
The believer has received the resurrected life of the Son, which is called eternal life. If we were saved for 50 years and then lost - it would not have been eternal life but 50 year life. God does not promise 50 or 100 or even 600 year life, but eternal life.
We have by way of our identification with Christ been united with the last Adam, and, as all died in the first Adam, so all live in the last Adam. The last Adam cannot fall! (Rom.7:4)
"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive." 1 Corinthians 15:22
"So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." 1 Corinthians 15:45
G. The continual Prayer of Christ (Rom.5:10; 8:34).
"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7:25
H. The Protection by Christ's advocacy (Rom.8:324/Heb.9:24).
"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" 1 John 2:1
I. The Paternal relationship we have with God (Jn.1:12-13; 3:3-6/1 Pet.1:4/1 Jn.3:9).
"13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:13
J. The Permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.2:12; 6:16/1 Jn.3:24/Jn.7:37-39/Ro.5:5; 8:9).
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;" John 14:16
K. The fact that we are Part of the Body of Christ (1 Cor.12:13; 6:17/2 Cor.5:17/Gal.3:27).
Spirit baptism places every believer, at the moment they believe, into the body of Christ. Christ's body will never be mutilated, not a single member will be lost!
"Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it." 1 Corinthians 12:27
L. The Preservation by the sealing of the Holy Spirit (Eph.1:13; 4:30/2 Cor.1:22).
"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:30
II. Furthermore the Problem passages.
The problem passages are solved by looking at them in their context, that are:
A. Passages which refer to the apostates of the last days of the Church - these are people who claim to be believers but were never regenerated.
"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves." 2 Peter 2:1
It can be said that the Lord "bought them" because Jesus paid the redemption price, but they reject that redemption.
B. Passages which speak of a mere reformation.
"43 "Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 "Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 "Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation." Matthew 12:43-45
C. Passages that are concerned about the evidence of real faith.
"14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." James 2:14-26
Abraham was saved when he believed God (Rom.4:1-3), what James is talking about happened some 40 years later when he offered up Isaac. We act as if Abraham was saved on Monday and offered Isaac on Friday - it took Abraham 40 years to offer up this work that James is talking about.
Paul is talking about faith that God sees immediatley, while James is talking about works produced by that faith, which man sees.
D. Warning passages. Heb.6:4-9; 10:26/etc.
The key to understanding the book of Hebrews is to realize that it is written to Jewish Christians who were undergoing great persecution BEFORE the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. [the temple being the only place Jews could offer up animal sacrifices].
Some were thinking about going back to the animal sacrifices to avoid persecution. The point made by the writter is that, that would be going from the Substance [Christ being the fulfillment of those sacrifices] to the Shadows [the sacrifices point to Christ] and thus would be abandoning their only hope of salvation.
He is giving a hypothetical warning and there is no indication that these believers ever went back to the animal sacrifices; nor is it relevant today since the temple no longer stands.
"9 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Hebrews 6:9-12
This is a difficult passage and it would be foolish to build a doctrine of a difficult passage and ignore the many clear passages. I would rather have Heb. 6 be my problem passage then say Phil. 1:6 and countless other such clear passages!
E. A passage which deals with the Gentiles corporately: Rom. 11:17-24.
"21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off." Romans 11:21-22
This passage deals not with individuals but with the position of the Gentiles as a whole. During this age the Gentiles are in the place of special privilege, while Israel has been temporarily binded. But this should not cause the Gentiles to boast because one day the positions will be reversed when Christ returns.
Keep in mind the Church is neither Jew or Gentiles (Gal.3:28/1 Cor.10:32; 12:2).
F. Passages which speak of rewards for the Christian (1 Cor. 3:15; 9:27).
"Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward." 2 John 1:8
G. Passages which speak of a loss of fellowship and chastisement (1 Cor.11:29-32/1 Cor.5:1-5/1 Jn. 5:16).
"29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world." 1 Corinthians 11:29-32
H. A Passage which speaks of falling from grace: Gal. 5:4
To fall from grace is not to go our and get drunk or the like and thus lose one's salvation. The context is speaking of just the opposite! It is to think that because you do not get drunk and the like that you can earn something from God.
The Law was given to Expose sin; Excite the old sin nature; Exhaust any hope of being saved [or sanctified for that matter] by self-effort; and then cause one to Exercise faith in Jesus Christ [Read Romans 7 carefully].
To fall from grace is to stop living according to grace principles as the context of the passage makes abundantly clear. It is to try and maintain salvation by human works or merit, which is exactly what the person is doing who thinks they can secure their salvation by something they do!
I. Passages which speak of the tribulations that Christians endure (Ac.14:22/1 Pet.4:18/etc)
Going through tribulations and even failing as Peter and others did, does not mean that believers are in danger of losing their salvation.
"37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:37-39
III. Finally, the causion against human Perception.
We hear people talk about knowing a person who was once a Christian but now no longer wants anything to do with Christ. Several things:
A. First, we do not build doctrine on what people say, do, or experience but on the Word of God.
B. Next, we cannot know if a person is really saved. It is possible for one to play the game, even occupy a pulpit and not be saved. One the other hand it is possible for one to be saved and have fruits that only God can see. I would have never thought that Lot was saved by reading the Old Testament account - but God says Lot was saved (2 Pet.2:7-8)!
Con:
In a day where we just make cute little statement, I thought it would be good to give something more then a silly sound bite. No, this "So Great a Salvation" was not indepth but extremely brief, but in days of one line spin, I think only a brief presentation has any hope of being read by this shallow generation.
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
