Saved forever.
Romans 8:35 -- 39. 07/11/04
I want you to turn to Romans 8 if you will please. I want to preach a message on one of my favorite passages found in the Word of God. I want to preach a message titled saved forever.
Paul starts out by asking a question. I want to pose a question if I may. Could there be anything better than knowing that Jesus is in your heart, and that you have been born again, and that the Holy Spirit lives within you? Is there anything better than knowing that? Just one thing better than that. That is knowing that Jesus is in your heart, and that you have been born again, and that the holy spirit lives within you, and that you can never lose it. That is what the Word of God teaches. The Bible teaches that once a person is saved, he is saved for eternity.
Now I want to say something else before I get into the message. I am not saying that all members of the church have eternal security. I am not saying that everyone who has been baptized has eternal security. As a matter of fact, if you doubt eternal security then you doubt your own and you need to examine your life. And if you are depending on your works to get you to heaven, the best three minutes of your life will never get you there.
I know some of you are thinking: what about a person that walked the Isle and committed to the church for some time then after a few weeks gone again as though nothing ever happened? Well, actually, nothing did happen. They may have had religion for a while but not a relationship. The Bible speaks of getting religion and not a relationship. In second Peter, Peter talks about a religious person with no relationship. He says the dog turning to his own vomit and a washed hog wallowing in the mud. In other words, they went back to what was natural. The religious person will turn again to the world, but a saved person will experience a changed life. The Bible teaches that the faith that fizzles before the finish had a fault from the first.
Now how do I know that when a person is saved, that he is saved forever? No. 1 because of THE PROMISE OF THE SCRIPTURE. Eternal security is not Baptist doctrine, it is Bible doctrine. The verse we read at the beginning said nothing can separate us from the love of God. There is no power in heaven no power in earth, no power on the earth that can make you unsaved. There is nothing that can take you away from Jesus. That is the promise of the holy Scripture.
In John 10:28, Jesus said of the born again believe, “I give to them eternal life, and they shall never ever perish, and not anyone shall pluck them out of my hand.
No. 2, when a person is saved, he is saved forever because of THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SPIRIT. In Philippians 1:6, Paul said I am confident of this one thing. I like a preacher that is confident in the Word of God don’t you? Paul said I am confident of this one thing, that he that have begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. The good work he begun in you is salvation. He is able to keep you saved and secure. Thank God, I don’t have to hold out and hold on for he is holding me. He has given me the spirit of God who dwells in me to teach, to convict and keep me going. Without the holy spirit of God I would never be here this morning. You would not teach and take part in the service without the spirit of God indwelling you. The Bible says he who has the spirit of God is the sons of God. Aren’t you glad the holy spirit of God lives in you? We should let the spirit of God in us praise the father as he is worthy of praise. We ought to just turn him loose and enjoy the blessings. It will put a little kick in you step. Each day we should allow God to mold us into the image of his son.
No. 3, the reason I know that I am saved and saved forever is because of THE POSITION OF THE SAINTS. The Bible says in second Cor. 5:17, “therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” When you were born, you were placed in Adam. The Bible says in Adam all die. But when you were born again, God takes you out of Adam and places you in Jesus and that is your position in the family of God. I am standing in this building this morning but I am positioned in Christ. Position is not in a place but in a person.
Now everybody is spiritually located either in Adam or in Jesus. The Bible says in Adam all die. If you aren’t sure today that you are in Christ spiritually, then you need to come and profess him as savior. That is what salvation is all about.
No. 4, the reason I know that I am saved and saved forever is because of THE PRAYER OF THE SAVIOR.
In John 17, we find Jesus praying. He says I pray not for the world but that you keep those who believe on your Word. Then he says I pray for those in the future who will profess me as savior. Now folks, was there ever a prayer that Jesus prayed that wasn’t answered?
If you are truly born in, then you can know that you are secure in Jesus and going to heaven after this life. If you doubt your salvation, then you need to take care of that today. Come to Jesus.
