DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT 03-28-2014 SALVATION - ETERNAL SECURITY – AND FREEWILL I would like to take a few moments to address the issues of salvation, the eternal security of the believer, and free will. First lets talk about the gospel of salvation. What is required in order to be saved? 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 says: 1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Verse 1 says that this message that Paul is preaching is in regards to the gospel of salvation. Verse 2 states that the Corinthians were saved by believing it. Verses 3-4 provides the information needed for one to be saved. 1. That Christ died for our sins 2. That He rose again the third day This is the gospel, and when we believe this and this alone by the faith, which God has provided to us, at that very moment we become born again believers in Christ Jesus. No works are required in regards to our salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Not only that God provides us with a guarantee that He will keep His promise in regards to our salvation. Ephesians 1:13-14 says: 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of Gods own possession, to the praise of His glory. At the very moment we believed the gospel, God sealed us in Christ with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to every believer in Jesus Christ as a pledge of our inheritance in regards to our redemption. What this is actually saying is that God has saved us, sealed us, and secured us in our salvation, when we believed that Christ died for our sins, and rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), apart from any works that we may have done, or ever will do. ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED I believe that every true believer in Jesus Christ is saved for eternity and can never lose their salvation. 1 Peter 1:3-5 says: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Verse 4 states that our inheritance is imperishable, unfadeable, and reserved in heaven for us. Verse 5 identifies what our inheritance is. It is our salvation, which is ready to be revealed in the last days. Romans 8:38-39 says: 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. This passage assures us that absolutely nothing can separate believers from Gods love. One of the things mentioned is death. Death cannot separate a believer from God, because death no longer has any power over the believer in Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 says: 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory”. 55 O death, where is your victory? o death, where is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Finely John 10:27-29 says: 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Fathers hand. Never will perish, and never be snatched away. In the original Greek this passage is written very strongly, meaning that it is impossible for anyone or anything to ever take us out of Christs hand or the Fathers hand. We are saved by grace apart from works when we believe the gospel, and we are secure in our salvation for all eternity. Now I would like to address the FREEWILL issue. Romans 3:10-12 says: 10 As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one; 11 there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for god; 12 all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Look what will happens if man is left to his own freewill. 1. There is none who understands 2. There is none who seeks after God 3. There is none who does good 4. They are all useless According to this passage of scripture, there is nobody who understands. There is no one who seeks or desires God. There is no one who does anything that is of any spiritual good. Everything that everyone does from Gods perspective is useless. So how can a person who is totally useless, and by virtue of his own sinful freewill, ever make a decision to believe the gospel and follow Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says: But a natural man (unsaved man) does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. The message of the Gospel of our Salvation (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) is part of the things of the Spirit . It is part of the inspired word of God, and in order to be comprehended, it must be spiritually discerned. The only way that an unsaved individual could discern it, is by God’s drawing power. John 6:44 says: No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. God does the Choosing 1 Peter 1:3 says: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Who caused us to be born again? This verse says God the Father did. Not our freewill. Ephesians 1:3-4 says: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. God has provided us with every spiritual blessing. One of those blessings is His choosing of us. Look at what verse 4 says. He chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world. Do you think that our freewill could ever do that? Would our freewill ever determine to make us holy and without blame? And finely James 1:18 says: Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. What does this passage say? Whos will brought us forth? Clearly it was God the Fathers will that brought us forth, not our own. God Bless - Fred
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 23:59:27 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015