Introduction:
A. When dealing with such a controversial subject, several questions need answering that only the Word of God can answer with any authority.
1. Who is a child of God? (Not everyone)
a. A child of God is one who has received Jesus as their Savior. John 1:12-13
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (Power: privilege, right, it is permitted.)
b. One who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ is a child of God.
Acts 16:30-31
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
2. What is salvation?
a. It is a spiritual experience, not a physical act of the individual.
John 3:3-6
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
b. Salvation means deliverance.
i. Not a deliverance from sin. (To keep yourself from sin requires action on your part.)
ii. Salvation is deliverance from the penalty of sin, the judgment to come.
3. Who is it that saves? 1 Timothy 1:15
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (Not to help them save themselves.)
B. The question is not “Can one lose his salvation?” but “Has he been saved to start with?”
C. A person can be sure of his salvation because of the reasons about salvation found in the Bible.
I. Salvation Is Permanent
A. The words used to refer to salvation show it to be permanent.
1. The word “ eternal”. John 3:15
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
a. “Eternal” is indeterminate as to duration.
b. Man has not been able to measure it.
2. The word “everlasting. John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
3. From the moment you plug into “eternal”, life it is “everlastingly” yours.
B. We live in and through Jesus Christ. 1 John 5:11-12
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
1. Jesus gives life and He maintains it and as long as He lives, we live.
2. When our life expires, the life in us from Jesus lives on.
II. Jesus Declared That He Will Not Lose One
A. John 10:28-29
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
(a)po/llumi- perish: to destroy utterly, to kill, to bring to nought, make void, to lose, be deprived of, to be destroyed, perish, to be put to death, to die, to be lost, to stray.)
B. John 11:26
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
(a)poqanh- die: death of final condemnation, utter separation.)
III. Jesus Died For Us Once For All
A. Jesus said, “It is finished” and that is just what He meant.
B. If we are saved often, then Jesus must be sacrificed often. Hebrews 10:10
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
1. He would have to do like the Levitical priest. Hebrews 10:11-12
And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;
2. Hebrews 6:4-6
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
IV. It Is The Lord Who Keeps Us Therefore There Is No Separation
A. 2 Timothy 1:12
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
B. We are kept by the power of God. 1 Peter 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
C. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
Conclusion:
A. The question is not, “Can a person lose his salvation?” but “Has he ever been saved to began with?”
B. One may ask, “What happens when a child of God does sins?” Hebrews 12:7
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
C. Place your faith in Christ for salvation, not yourself.
