ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED? “Perhaps you were saved at one time, but that doesn’t mean you are saved now. You have to work to stay saved. You may profess a belief in saving but faith without regular saving works saves no one.” “Saving is a tricky business. You need to hold fast when you save. You have to work out your saving with fear and trembling because only he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” #At least the above is what some people think! I know this because I spend a lot of time doing a massive study on the subject of eternal security. #My goal is to study every single New Testament scripture that speaks to the issue of our eternal security. -All told, there are 300 scriptures that are used either to support or attack the idea of “once saved, always saved.” -I then filter every scripture through the lens of Jesus and his finished work to see what I might learn. And what did I find? *****Bow down in worship because once saved, always saved. Haha! #Seriously, in my heart I have always known that I am secure in my Father’s love – he holds me, he keeps me, and he will never let me go. -But many people are not secure. They’ve been told they have to abide, continue, hold fast to end, overcome, obey, endure, and otherwise do things to stay saved. -Naturally, this unsettles them. What if I don’t do what God expects of me? What if I stumble at the last hurdle? What then? #If this is you, I have already addressed some of the toughest scriptures and more yet to be addressed! So checkout our facebook pages (Integrity Power, Jam Squad Karamoja, Karamoja Missioners Fellowship, Karamoja House Church, Youth @ watoto church north, Ntinda Youth Fellowship, Friends of Karamoja, Singles of hope). #Unpackage those scriptures yourself in light of who Christ is and what he has done for us, -You’re going to be so blessed! -You’re going to want to shout and thank Jesus from the roof-tops. #But before you do your own Bible study, take a moment to polish your spectacles and check for cracks in the lenses. ***CHECK YOUR GLASSES! -What you look through determines what you see. If you look at the world through a cracked lens, everything will appear to be fuzzy and distorted. -Similarly, if you have a distorted view of God, everything you read will be filtered through your distortion. -The Bible was written in such a way to confound the wisdom of the so-called wise. -It contains scriptures that appear to contradict one another making it impossible to be used as a rule-book. -The only way to get life out of the written word is to filter all you read through the Living Word- who Jesus is and what he has done. ***That’s what I always try to do in my study, and you can do that for yourself! ***However, I am well aware that the issue of ‘eternal security’ is an ancient old minefield of divisive and ugly Christianity. *****CONSUMER HEALTH WARNING! In my study I visit countless websites and online ministries devoted exclusively to one side of the issue or the other. -In many cases, what I see is not a pretty sight. -Mocking rhetoric, ad hominem arguments, and provocative metaphors. ***Of course I try to rise above all this and stay on the high ground. -But to be honest, I’m not confident that I can. -If you have followed me long enough you may have seen me responding to critics in all my stinking flesh. -There have been occasions when I have put winning ahead of loving and I am not proud of that. -The problem is, God made me a debater and I’m good at it! I’m good at arguing. -I confess I sometimes use my superpowers for carnal, unloving purposes. Please forgive me when I do. FOUR BLIND SPOTS IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE INSECURE! #Now that I have confessed my weaknesses to you, -I want to humbly suggest that those who preach insecurity (i.e., your salvation is not assured and you must work to stay saved), have four blind spots. ***(Don’t be threatened. We all have blind spots. The sooner you see yours, the better.) #These four blind spots, or cracks in the lens, if you like, are as follows; CAN YOU SPOT THE DIFFERENCE??? #OLD COVENANT ***If you do…. -If you listen (Exo 23:22) -If you look (Deut 4:29) -If you bring (Lev 2:4) -If you follow (Lev 26:3) -If you pay attention (Deut 7:12) -If you make (Deut 23:21) -If you obey (Deut 28:2) -If you disobey (Deu 28:15) #NEW COVENANT ***It is done…. -You are forgiven! (Col 2:13) -You are healed! (1 Pet 2:24) -You are blessed! (Eph 1:3) -You are righteous! (2 Cor 5:21) -You are holy! (Heb 10:10) -You are mighty! (Eph 1:19) -You are accepted! (Rom 15:7) -You are loved! (Rom 8:39) #ANSWER; Old covenant preachers focus on you and what you must do. New covenant preachers focus on Christ and what He has done. Under law, God requires. Under grace, God provides. Which do you prefer? #1. The cross changed nothing! -Since they don’t know what makes the new covenant new, insecurity preachers typically interpret conditional statements in the New Testament as threats, rather than promises. -They read them just as they would in the old covenant: “You have to (INSERT ACTIVITY HERE) in order to receive (INSERT REWARD HERE) or to avoid (INSERT PUNISHMENT HERE)” -Since their theology of mixture affects all they say, they argue that your eternal security hinges on you and what you do rather than Christ and what he has done. -A classic example is the commands of Jesus (Jn 14:15) which are interpreted as Instructions You Must Obey Or You Will Lose Your Salvation. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Jn 14:15) ***The insecurity preachers read this backwards; “You will keep my commandments if you love me.” -In other words, we must prove our love for God by doing what He commands. -Commandment keeping is our duty, a condition we must meet if we are to enjoy His love. ***But someone who is walking in grace reads it just as Jesus said it. -He understands that keeping His commands is a by-product of love. -Paul explains this in Romans 8:3-4. I will return to this issue of obedience in the new covenant in a forthcoming post. #2. Hell is for under-performing Christians! -Insecurity preachers wear hellfire-tinted lenses, meaning, they see one consequence for everything we can get wrong; eternal condemnation. -I’m not diminishing the seriousness of hell but I want to tell you there is no condemnation for those who are one with the Lord. -You may think that God will kick you out but he promised he wouldn’t. -As I said in a post (Standing firm on God’s promises), the chances of a saint losing their salvation are the same as the chances God will break his promises, i.e., zero. -I don’t doubt for a second that there are serious consequences to wandering, going astray, falling from grace, etc. -But the consequences are clearly spelled out in scripture and for the saint none of them is hell. I’ll list 14 consequences pretty soon. #3. Salvation comes in a box! -Insecurity preachers seem to think that the gift of salvation comes in a box, meaning, it’s something you have to hold on to or lose. -You might think, then, that such folks would be preoccupied minding and not losing their own salvation boxes, but they are not. -Instead, they are busy attacking OTHER people’s boxes with doubt and strife. -They seem to derive security by making others feel less secure. It works too. -Fearful, insecure Christians lap it up revealing their distrust in God’s awesome grace. This is the tragedy of our age. ***Happily, salvation is not a box. -It is the miracle of new life. It is Christ himself living in you. Paul said, “Christ is your life” (Col 3:4). -Whether you hold onto him strongly or weakly, he holds on to you, and the good news is he will never let you go (Jn 6:37). -If you were to wander and go off track, Christ won’t kick you out for he’s a good shepherd who knows his sheep and won’t lose any (John 6:29, 10:14). -And he won’t come after you with a rod to break your leg either, for he’s our compassionate high priest who deals gently with those going astray (Heb 5:1-2). #4. Some sin is excusable! -Those in the insecurity camp think there are different classes of sin, that they are capable of avoiding willful sin, and that God is not troubled by their unintentional sins. -This would be laughable if it wasn’t so widely believed. -Sin is sin. If God kept a record of sin, who could stand (Psa 130:3)? -The good news is not that God has forgiven only some of your sins - the ones you did by accident - but that he has forgiven all your sin for all time! (Acts 13:38, 26:18, Rom 4:7, 2 Cor 5:18-19, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14, 2:13, Heb 9:12, 26, 10:10-12, 1 Jn 2:12) -Am I promoting grace as a license to sin? Of course not! -I’m saying be Christ-conscious instead of sin-conscious. Since God keeps no records of your sins, neither should you. #I have not gone in depth, but I will be going slow! -I want you to see clearly from scripture how secure you are in the Lord. “But, Nico, what about this scripture and that scripture?” -Patience, my friend. We’ll get there. (Lots of scriptures I plan to address) #Just for fun I already started at the ending. Checkout the post on standing firm on God’s promises. #CHURCHBOY
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 08:08:50 +0000
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