Part 2
Eternal Life
Throughout the Bible, Christians are promised eternal life. None of the verses indicate that one can lose the eternal life that God promises (Matt 19:29; Mark 10:29-30; Luke 18:29-30; John 3:16,36; 5:24; 6:39-40; John 17:2-3; Acts 13:47-48; Rom 5:20-21; 6:23; 2 Cor 5:1; Gal 6:8; 1 Tim 1:16; 6:12; Titus 1:2; 3:5-7; 1 John 2:24-25; 5:11-13; Jude 1:21).
The Christian knows that they have already crossed over from death and have been appointed to eternal life because Jesus lives inside of them through the rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (John 5:24; Acts 13:48; 1 John 5:11-12; Titus 3:5-7). Jesus said He would "lose none" of those the Father gave Him (John 6:39). He will keep them strong and blameless on the day Jesus returns (1 Cor 1:8).
Name Written in the Book of Life
The Old Testament (OT) speaks of the "book of life" and indicates that all the living are placed in that book and are removed from it as the result of systematic sin (i.e., unbelief). In the NT, the book of Revelation says that names are written in the Book of Life only for those who actively believe (i.e., Born-Again). However, their names were written in the book "from the creation of the world." Jesus said He "will never blot out his name from the book of life" of those who overcome (Revelation 3:5). He didn't say He would blot out the names of those who fall. Christians have been given the authority to "overcome all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19).
Jesus said that genuine overcomers are those who are Born-Again and have been born of God. The name of the Christian is written in the Book of Life "from the creation of the world" and they "will never” be taken out of it” (Rev 3:5). When the Christian stands before Jesus, they will be dressed in white (Rev 7:9). They will never be blotted out of the Book of Life because "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God" and they will acknowledge His name before the Father and His angels. (1 John 3:9, 5:4-5; Rev 3:5; 13:8,17:8 - see also Ex 32:32,33; Ps 69:28).
Working Out Salvation
Christians don’t need to work for or work up their salvation; they must continually work out their salvation by doing the things that accompany it. God has given them eternal salvation as a gift in Jesus Christ, and it is His will that they obey Him, not in order to save themselves or in order to help God save them, but because they are already saved. It is God who provides the complete salvation (Phil 2:12-13).
People who consider themselves a Christian need to examine their fruit to test and see if they actually are (2 Cor 13:5). The Bible is very clear on this, “Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10).
“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-8 ESV)
Sons of God and Overcomers
Christians are “sons of God” who hold onto the teaching of Jesus because they are saved (John 8:31). God has given the Holy Spirit to "those who obey Him," and they are led by Him (Acts 5:32). Those who chose to live under the law and not under grace will be condemned by it (Rom 8:12-13).
Because salvation is a gift from God, it is not based upon works or abiding by obedience to the Law, but upon what Jesus did on the Cross (Acts 2:38-39). Jesus said that genuine overcomers are those who are Born-Again and have been born of God through the new birth of the New Covenant,
The Christian will stand firm to the end, even in the face of persecution, because they are overcomers by trusting-faith in Jesus, who is in them, and greater than he who is in the world (Matt 10:22; 24:12-13; Mark 13:13; Luke 10:19; 1 John 4:4, 5:3-5). They overcame the enemy “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Rev 12:11). Sitting on the throne is a reward for the overcomer (Matt 19:28, 25:31; Heb 8:1, 12:2; Rev 3:21).
Deliberate Sin and Falling Away
The Christian does not deliberately keep on sinning (Heb 10:26). They must be careful not to fall after being tempted to sin (1 Cor 10:12). However, if they do sin, God is faithful. He will not let them be tempted beyond what they can bear and will provide a way out (1 Cor 10:13). Jesus is their advocate and lives within them (1 John 2:1).
Those who have “once been enlightened,” and “tasted (not eaten) the heavenly gift,” and “shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away,” it is impossible “to be brought back to repentance” because “To their loss, they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace” (Heb 6:4-8).
The natural and habitual behavior of a Christian is just the opposite. Sinners sin, and Christians are ‘saved’ sinners. Still, they do not live in a state of continual and habitual sin because they naturally produce the good fruit of repentance and sanctification and do those things that accompany salvation (Matt 7:16-23). The Bible is very clear that those who leave the faith were never with Jesus, and He never knew them because they would have continued with Him (1 John 2:19).
When a person “deliberately” keeps “on sinning after they have understood the message of Jesus and 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” and not the children of God (Heb 10:26-27). Those who never accepted the Gospel to become Born-Again even though they clearly understood the message of Jesus, had a taste of the heavenly gift of God's Word, and then walk away, it is “impossible to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt” (Heb 6:4-6).
The Bible says that when the Christian sins (and they will conditionally because they are still just saved sinners), they "have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous," and He will not cast them out (Matt 12:31; 1 John 2:1). They are heirs of the righteousness that comes by the faith of Jesus and are His dwelling place, the new Holy of Holies (Heb 11:7; 1 John 3:9; 5:4-5; Rev 3:5).
The Bible tells us that salvation is difficult for the righteous to be saved. Judgment begins “with the family of God," and the “righteous receive their due on earth," so “what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17-18; Prov 11:31).
Jesus said people have to enter through the narrow gate and that few find it. Those who think they are a Christian should examine themselves and live as righteous examples and continuously “do good" in spite of trials and persecution (1 Peter 4:17-18).
The Christian does “the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget” their “work and the love” they ‘have shown him as” they “have helped his people and continue to help them” (Heb 6:9-10). When they “confess” their “sins, he is faithful and just to forgive” their “sins and to cleanse” them “from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
It is, at the very least, illogical and intellectually incongruous to say that a Christian could be separated from the love of God, who promised to never leave them, and bought and paid for them, or remove themselves from His firm grasp, and are now and forever His possession, as well as His dwelling place, the Holy of Holies. This means that if that person were to become somehow unborn again and ‘lose’ their salvation, He would go with them when they spend eternity in Hell (John 10:28-29; 1 John 2:1). A Christian cannot lose their salvation through sin. It is the unbeliever who never comes to faith in Jesus Christ, who suffers the second death due to unforgiven sin in his life (James 1:13-15).
The ‘falling away’ will continue until the very end of days when there will be those who make the reprehensible and blasphemous act of willful defiance against God by taking the mark of the beast, which is essentially worshipping satan. Those who take the mark will have chosen to serve satan rather than obey God and receive Jesus as Savior. When people make that decision during the tribulation, God will grant their request to be eternally separated from Him. The Bible says that those who walk, fall away, or leave the faith were never with Jesus, and He never knew them because they would have continued with Him (1 John 2:19).
There is absolutely no way a person can know the spiritual condition before God of any other person. That is a hypothetical supposition to say otherwise, especially with zero biblical support. Only God knows the heart. We can see their fruits, and if they are habitually bad, it is a pretty good indicator that they are a bad tree (Luke 6:43-45; Matt 7:21-23). If they were really a Christian, they would have remained in the faith because no one who "keeps on sinning has either seen" (Jesus) "or known him" (1 John 2:19, 3:6).
Abiding In Christ
Christians are the property of Jesus, not their own, and are given eternal life. Nothing can make them stumble. They have passed from death into eternal life because Jesus justified them by His grace and predestined them to spend eternity with Him (John 1:2, 3:16, 5:24, 17:2; Gal 3:13-15; 1 Cor 6:20, 7:23; Col 2:13-14; Ps 119:165; Rom 3:24, 8:30).
A true Christian was given by the Father to Jesus as a love gift for the sacrifice He made coming to earth and shedding His innocent blood that bought and paid for them, forgave all their sins, and gave them the right to become children of God. They naturally abide in Jesus, and “no one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God" (1 John 3:9, 5:4-5; Rev 3:5).
The Bible is very clear that those who leave the faith were never with Jesus, and He never knew them because they would have continued with Him (1 John 2:4,19; also Matt 16:24-25; 19:21)
Jesus said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24; 14:26-27)
The proof of “who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are” is “Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10).
The Christian is commanded to “not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2). They naturally abide in God and His love in deed and truth by loving others, which is how the world knows they are a Christian (John 13:35, 4:13-15; 1 John 3:17-18). They are able to abide in Him because they have the Holy Spirit living within them and, as a result, love His Word (John 8:31,35-36). They also abide by the teaching of Jesus, which proves they are His disciples because Jesus has set them free, and they are no longer a slave to sin (2 John 9-10).
Those who are truly Christian naturally turn away from unrighteousness because they have become justified and righteous in Christ. They will never die (John 11:26). They will always do the “better things” that “accompany salvation” (Heb 6:9). God has given the Holy Spirit to "those who obey Him." They are led by the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32). Just as God has always done, He will not allow them to be tempted beyond their ability to withstand the test (1 Cor 10:13).
The Bible says that the person who holds to the teaching of Jesus keeps His commandments by obeying them, has His seed in them because they have been born of God and do the things that accompany salvation, because the Holy Spirit, who “began” the “good work in” in them, “will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (John 8:31, 14:15-16,21; 1 John 2:4, 2:19-20; 3:9-10, 24, 5:4-5; Heb 6:9; Phil 1:6)
Discipline
The Father deals with each Christian just as a loving earthly parent does with their children to encourage, comfort, teach, train, warning them of the many snares of the old nature, and discipling them like a judge who decides a ruling in a trial (1 Cor 11:32; 1 Thess 2:11-12; Heb 12:5-6; Rom 7:24). That is why they must learn to walk daily in repentant humility in order to maintain a close relationship with God and discipline themselves (1 Cor 9:27).
When the Lord judges a Christian, they are being disciplined so that they will not be condemned by the world (1 Cor 11:32; Col 2:13-14). The Bible is very clear that the only sin that can never be forgiven in this life, or the next, is rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. No person comes to Jesus unless the Father draws them by the Holy Spirit (John 6:44,65, 10:25-27,16:13-14; 1 John 5:6; 2 Thess 2:13-14; Titus 3:5).
Christians do not deliberately keep on habitually sinning (Heb 10:26). Every Christian must be careful that they don’t fall after being tempted to sin (1 Cor 10:12). However, if they do, God is faithful. He will not let them be tempted beyond what they can bear and will provide a way out (1 Cor 10:13). Jesus is their advocate (1 John 2:1).
Perseverance
Moses was able to persevere in trusting faith because he saw the coming Messiah (Heb 11:27). The Christian dwells in Love, and Love in them they rejoice “with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Cor 13:6-7). They will persevere in trusting faith under all circumstances, even in the face of extreme opposition, because they were reconciled to God "in order to present” them before Jesus “holy and blameless and beyond reproach" (Col 1:21-23; 1 Tim 4:16; James 1:3-4, 12, 5:11; 2 Peter 1:6; Rev 2:2-3,19). Their perseverance will be blessed by the promises of God (Heb 10:36, 12:1; James 1:12). Those who have not received Jesus as their Lord and Savior will “shrink back to destruction” (Heb 10:39; Matt 13:19-21). Those who do not hold fast and endure for the promise of the resurrection have believed in vain. (1 Cor 15:12-19).
Every Christian is to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching...." "... always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Tim 4:2-5).
Moses was able to persevere in trusting faith because he saw the coming Messiah (Heb 11:27).
The Christian dwells in love and love in them, and they rejoice “with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Cor 13:6-7). They will persevere in trusting faith under all circumstances, even in the face of extreme opposition, because they were reconciled to God "in order to present” them before Jesus “holy and blameless and beyond reproach" (Col 1:21-23; 1 Tim 4:16; James 1:3-4,12; 5:11; 2 Peter 1:6; Rev 2:2-3,19). Their perseverance will be blessed by the promises of God (Heb 10:36; 12:1; James 1:12). Those who have not received Jesus as their Lord and Savior will “shrink back to destruction” (Heb 10:39; Matt 13:19-21). Those who do not hold fast and endure for the promise of the resurrection have believed in vain (1 Cor 15:12-19).
“But we are NOT of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who HAVE FAITH and PRESERVE their souls.” (Heb 10:39)
Salvation Is By Grace Alone
The arduous effort required to live under the curse of the Law (Gal 3:10-14; Rom 6:14, 7:4-6) and avoid breaking just one of them while faithfully walking the wearisome road of works is beyond measure and extremely difficult for those who prefer to take it.
The free will God gave all human beings is, in fact, the freedom of willful choice to enter into an eternal contract with Him. He will not arbitrarily usurp or overrule human free will to prove He is sovereign, but He will also never break His contract with them. If, how, or when that line is crossed, can be known only by God and not by personal observation or anecdotal stories of 'I knew a guy who knew a guy, who knew a guy who lost his salvation."
If it were possible because of Free Will, a number of the events described in the Bible would have to take place if a person willingly chose to ‘fall,’ ‘slip away,’ and intentionally reject Jesus, losing their Salvation and becoming un-Born-Again.
Jesus said that He came to fulfill all the 613 laws and the words of the Prophets of the OT and that they hang on just one commandment like a door on its hinge - "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt 5:17, 22:37-38; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). He then said that the second royal commandment was precisely the same as the first, "love your neighbor as yourself" (vs. 22:39; James 2:8). When a Christian bears another's burdens, they fulfill the Great Commandment - the law of Christ (Gal 6:2).
If a person willingly chooses to lose their salvation (why would they?) after repenting of their sin and receiving Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, the common-sense, logical reality is that the following would have to occur (Acts 2:38, 16:31; Rom 10:9-10).
God, the Father, would have to:
- ask Jesus, God the Son, to give back His gift of love to Him (John 17:2)
- go back on His promise never to cast them out (John 6:37)
- cut them out of His Will as co-heirs with Jesus (Rom 8:17)
- The person would have to un-drink the water of eternal life given by Jesus so that they will be thirsty again (John 4:14)
God, the Son, Jesus would have to:
- quit as their defense attorney (1 John 2:1)
- no longer protect or keep them safe (John 17:9-12)
- divorce them (Rev 19:7)
- un-adopt them (Rom 8:23)
- rescind His promise to make them a citizen of Heaven (John 15:16; Eph 2:12-13,19)
- make them an un-new creation (2 Cor 5:17)
- make them un-near to Him (Eph 2:12-13,19)
- un-crucify their old nature (Gal 2:20)
- blot out their names from the Book of Life (Rev 3:5)
- un-bury them and un-baptize them so that they will no longer walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4)
- put them back into the world (John 17:16)
- un-circumcise them (Col 2:11)
- and un-complete them (Col 2:9-10)
- allow death and life, angels and rulers, things present and things to come, powers, height, and depth, and anything else in all creation, to separate them from the love of God found in Him (Rom 8:38-39)
- no longer be their advocate before the Father (1 John 2:1)
- un-buy and refund the payment He made by His blood (Gal 3:15-17)
- un-predestine them so they can no longer be conformed to His image (Eph 1:5; Rom 8:29)
- un-sanctify and un-deliver them from the domain of darkness (1 Cor 6:11; Col 1:13)
- un-transfer them out of His kingdom, where they were once conditionally sanctified daily (Heb 10:14; Rom 8:28-31; Eph 1:11)
- un-call, un-justify and un-glorify them (Rom 8:25, 28-31)
- un-cancel all their spiritual debts (Col 2:13-14)
- un-seal them (2 Cor 1:22, 5:5; Eph 1:13, 4:30)
- un-wash and un-forgive them of all their sins (Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 6:11)
- re-remember their sins (Heb 10:17)
- un-consider them holy and blameless in His sight (Eph 1:4, 2:8; Rom 8:9,11:6)
- un-buy and un-born them of God (1 Cor 6:20; John 3:7)
- move out from living within them as the new Holy of Holies (1 Cor 6:19-20, 7:23-24; 1 John 2:19, 3:6,9; Rom 8:9)
- rescind and fail to honor His promise never to leave and forsake them (Heb 13:5)
- revoke their position of no longer living in His new nature (Rom 8:9)
- go back on and fail to honor His promise never to cast them out (John 6:37)
God, the Holy Spirit, who was given as a guarantee (2 Cor 5:5), would have to:
- all the above, and:
- un-save them (Eph 2:8)
- un-fill them (becoming un-Born-Again) (Col 2:9-10)
- un-anoint them (1 John 2:27)
- stop His good work begun in them (Hebr 13:2)
- fail to honor His promise to keep them from stumbling until the end when Jesus comes again (1 Cor 1:8; Phil 1:6, 2:13; Jude 1:24-25).
To say that an individual could be separated from the love of God or remove themselves from His firm grasp and from His promise never to leave them after He bought and paid for them, and they are His possession, as well as His dwelling place, the Holy of Holies, is at the very least, illogical and intellectually inconsistent. When God makes a promise, He never reneges on or breaks His word.
CONCLUSION - Love is the Proof
I chose decades ago to continually keep my focus on Jesus, the author, finisher, and giver of His gifts of love, merciful kindness and super abounding grace (Eph 2:8-9; Heb 12:2; Titus 3:3-7; Rom 3:19-28; 4:4-5; 11:6). He ruined me for anything - and anyone - else, and many times, in the midst of angry agony and desperate despair, ambushed me with His love and captured my heart again and again, proving to me daily He is trustworthy of all my worship, honor, and praise (Eph 2:8-9; Heb 12:2; Titus 3:3-7; Rom 3:19-28; 4:4-5; 11:6).
It is because His "yoke is easy" and "burden is light" (Matt 11:30). He compels me to do nothing less but trust Him new each day so that I can effortlessly fulfill the Great Commandment. The least I can do is give Him my whole heart, soul, and mind" (Eph 3:14-21).
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Matt 22:37-40)
“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother”…“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” (1 John 3:10,14)
Those who left the faith were never with Jesus, and He never knew them because they would have continued with Him (1 John 2:19).
“Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case--things that accompany salvation.” (Heb 6:9)
Christians have crossed over from death and have been appointed to eternal life because Jesus lives inside of them through rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (John 5:24; Acts 13:48; 1 John 5:11-12; Titus 3:5-7). Jesus said He would "lose none" of those the Father gave Him (John 6:39). He will keep them strong and blameless on the day Jesus returns (1 Cor 1:8).
In the end, the Bible clearly and consistently says that salvation begins at the moment a person repents of their sin and receives Jesus as their Lord and Savior, which results in an instantly and eternally changed life, and those who 'turn away' by totally abandoning their faith, denouncing Jesus as Creator Lord, declaring themselves a non-believer, etc., and persisting in a godless life, were never saved in the first place (John 10:28–29; Rom 8:38–39; 2 Cor 3:18; Gal 5:22–23; 1 John 2:4–6,19; James 2:17–19). They were never with Jesus, and He never knew them because they would have continued with Him (Matt 7:16, 13:1-9, 18-23; Rom 8:13; 1 John 2:19, 3:7-10).
Salvation is impossible with human beings (Mark 10:27). Jesus proclaimed that His "yoke is easy" and the "burden is light" (Matt 11:30). That being said, the arduous effort required to live under the curse of the 613 laws and avoid breaking just one of them while walking the road of works faithfully is very tedious and extremely difficult for those who prefer to take it (Gal 3:10-14; Rom 6:14; 7:4-6). It is God's mercy and kind goodness that leads one to repentance (Rom 2:4).
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and not of any self-sustaining effort (Eph 2:8). Those who seek to be justified by keeping the law alone through working their way to Heaven will ultimately fall from grace (Gal 5:4). Continuous good works that result from genuine conversion prove that the Holy Spirit lives within them and that their faith is truly alive and not dead (James 2:26; 2 Cor 1:22, 5:5).
Jesus is God, the Son, and is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He created all things and has always existed (John 1:1-3). He came to earth 100% fully God and 100% fully human. He is worthy of all honor, glory, and praise forever and ever, and His word can be trusted that He will never leave or forsake the Christian and will always be with them wherever they go (Deut 31:8; Heb 13:5).
"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you." (Ps 139:7-12)
The free will God gave all human beings is, in fact, the freedom of willful choice to enter into an eternal contract with Him. He will not arbitrarily usurp or overrule their free will to prove He is sovereign, but He will also never break His contract with them. If, how, or when that line is crossed can be known only by God and not by personal observation or anecdotal stories of “I knew a guy who knew a guy, who knew a guy, who lost his salvation."
As for me, I will continue to focus on the love and merciful kindness of Jesus, the author, finisher, and giver of my gift of His super-abounding grace (Eph 2:8-9; Heb 12:2; Titus 3:3-7; Rom 3:19-28; 4:4-5; 11:6).
God’s love and mercy are new every day, and He induces me to fulfill the Great Commandment as a devoted worshipper and lover of the triune God (Lam 3:23; Mark 12:30). It is because His "yoke is easy" and "burden is light" (Matt 11:30) that He compels me to do nothing less but trust Him new each day so that I can effortlessly fulfill the Great Commandment as a devoted The least I can do is give Him my whole heart, soul, and mind" (Eph 3:14-21).
It is time to stop complicating the simplicity of the Gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, plus nothing, and focus on what Jesus has already done and not what a person must do to be a 'good' Christian in order to keep earning and retaining their salvation. It is ALL about Him and NOT about you - and everything written north, south, east, and west of it! (Eph 2:8). Jesus commanded Christians not to be worried, concerned, or focused on tomorrow (Matt 6:34). He promised to enter into every life circumstance to work it out for the best, no matter how much 'threshing" they will go through (Rom 8:28). They are to focus daily on fulfilling the Great Commandment and Great Commission through trusting-faith - period! (Matt 22:37, 28:16-20; Prov 3:5-8)
