TITLE: SAVED THEN LOST????

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Subtitle: A Few Words Of Comfort About A Subject That Should Never Trouble God's Children

It is heartbreaking to receive email from those who are terrified that they have "committed the unpardonable sin", or are in danger of going to hell because they have been divorced, remarried, and "living in adultery." Several told me that they have been troubled for years and just cannot find any peace of heart and mind because of sin(s) they committed prior to receiving Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior--while others expressed similar concerns due to failures after they were saved. And bless their pointed little heads, some "preachers" cause much of  this confusion and heartache by taking Scripture completely out of context, thereby creating doctrine where none was intended.

Please listen to me child of grace, when Jesus Christ died on that cross--100% of your sins and mine were still in the future! And when we were born again 100% of them--past, present, and future (yes, even those we will commit later on)--were not merely forgiven, but totally removed as we see in the following verse:

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us" Psalm 103:12 (KJV).

The best illustration I know of to explain what takes place when we are saved is that of a condemned criminal on death row  awaiting execution. He has been convicted of a capital offense by a jury of his peers, all of the appeals process has been exhausted, and the death chamber--just a few steps down the hall--is scheduled to receive him in just a few short minutes. He has only one glimmer of hope at this point and that is the governor might grant a last-minute stay of execution. The guards come for him, lead him in chains to the chamber, strap him down to a special bed made for that purpose, the intravenous lines are inserted into his arm, and then they wait for the warden's signal to inject the lethal dose. But suddenly a telephone rings and the unimaginable happens! No, it is not the governor on the phone with a stay of execution--it is God Himself with orders to release the man immediately because he has been declared not guilty and cleared of all charges. This last-minute intervention is not merely a pardon, but a total exoneration of guilt!!!.

And the point we must not miss is that the formerly condemned individual is guilty as charged and everybody knows it. But once released, is he going to spend the rest of his life worrying that the verdict might be rescinded? Absolutely not! Because he knows that once that type of legal decree is made--it is irreversible. From time to time he may experience feelings of guilt and remorse about what he did, but his life will never again be in jeopardy for that particular crime. And the astounding thing is that God has done infinitely more for each and every soul He saves! Not just one capital offense is forgiven, but so many that only He knows the actual number! You see, each and every sin we have committed, or will commit in the future, carries with it a sentence of eternal death! But Almighty God, the Supreme Judge of the Universe, has extended His grace to the elect and justified us. And that judicial act was an acomplished fact prior to creation, according to Ephesians 1:4 and Romans 8:30. Then when the time was right, the penalty for all our sins was paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross. Beloved, the technical term "justified" means He issued a legal decree that totally wiped our slate clean of all sin--past, present, and future! In an act of astounding grace, He  declared us to be "just", or totally righteous, in His sight--even though every one of us is guilty as charged.  How could He do that and still be a righteous Judge, you ask? The answer is that He took upon Himself our sentence of death! God died that we might live. And if that does not bring a tear to your eye and cause a lump in your throat, you have a "thumping gizzard" for a heart.

If you have been born again and have the Holy Spirit residing within you, "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal.5:22-23) is proof positive that you are free from all guilt and condemnation--forever! But please understand that this does not give you or me a license to sin. Absolutely not! Sin will, unfortunately, continue to plague us as long as we live because we do not lose our fallen and depraved nature after being regenerated from above. Our daily walk with Jesus Christ is one in which we must strive to sin less and realize that when we do fail, it is as a child violating our heavenly Father's rules. The penalty for our sin has become totally different from that which He imposes as the Supreme Judge of the Universe. Transgressions are still serious and will often result in chastening (Hebrews 12:6), but our position has forever changed from convict to child!

Yet untold numbers of people continue to worry and fret that they can lose their salvation, because of some "big" sin they have committed. I was contacted recently by someone telling me that their sister--who was born again subsequent to a bad marriage--had been told by a preacher she was going to hell if she did not leave her second husband (as I recall, after a happy 30 year marriage) and "quit living in adultery." That kind of Scriptural ignorance by one professing to be called to the ministry is inexcusable, but widespread today. Folks, listen to me-- I do not mean to minimize any sin--but adultery is just one sin among many! Since when did the Word of God assign a special corner of hell to adultery? Again, I want to make it very clear that all sin is wrong and we should be on constant guard, but men have obviously attached a special stigma to this particular sin that is unwarranted and not backed by Scripture. Where God's penalty is concerned, sin is sin--period!!!! Without exception, each transgression  is punishable by eternal spiritual death, so what possible reason could there be for teaching one is more serious than all others? I submit to you that the reason is to be found in a false doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that has "spilled over" into Protestant thinking. The RCC teaches that marriage is a sacrament and, once entered into, is a necessary element in one's salvation. Therefore, to divorce a mate is tantamount to losing salvation and by that teaching they have terrorized millions over many centuries. It has apparently escaped them that nothing of the sort is backed by the Word of God, but they have a record of not letting such details get in their way. And fundamental, Bible-believing pastors ought to know better!

If losing one's salvation were possible, a legal action would have to be taken that is so ridiculous as to be laughable. The Holy Spirit Himself would have to be forfeited because of God's failure to stand good on a promise! Get serious, you say? Well, read it for yourself: (all KJV, emphases mine).

"Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" 2 Cor. 1:22

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit" 2 Cor. 5:5

"Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory" Ephes. 1:14

The Greek word translated "earnest" is:

arrhabon,  ar-hrab-ohn'; of Hebrew origin [Hebrew 6162 (`arabown)]; a pledge, i.e. part of the purchase-money or property given in advance as security for the rest :- earnest. (Strong's Concordance, emphasis mine).

And you should find interesting that which W.E. Vine had to say about this particular word in his Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p.11, vol.2 (emphasis mine):

EARNEST (Noun)--ARRABON, "originally, earnest money, deposited by the purchaser and forfeited if the purchase was not completed, was probably a Phoenician word, introduced into Greece. In general usage it came to denote a pledge or earnest of any sort; in the N.T. it is used only of that which is assured by God to believers; it is said of the Holy Spirit as the Divine pledge of all their future blessedness, 2 Cor.1:22; 5:5; in Eph.1:14, particularly of their eternal inheritance.....In modern Greek arrabona is an engagement ring."

So in each of these 3 verses of Scripture the Apostle Paul clearly and unambiguously tells us that the Holy Spirit is given to the believer as the "earnest" of God's promise to save. And if that promise were ever broken the Holy Spirit Himself would have to be forfeited. Beloved, it aint gonna happen!!!!

Next, ask yourself this (ridiculous) question: Is there any sin that I could possibly commit that would change the fact of my earthly, biological parentage? Why, of course not! You were born to your parents according to the Sovereign will of God and to change that fact of history is a total impossibility. Then with that being the obvious case, why is it so hard for God's children to understand the same is true of our relationship to Him? We were literally born into His family through the "new birth" of regeneration. Plus we were also adopted by Him at the same time! The riches of heaven were put on our heavenly account, Jesus Christ became our elder brother in the faith, and, as such, we found ourselves joint heirs with Him of all that God has to offer. So in light of all these stupendous blessings bestowed upon us, does it make any sense to you that we could then sin and become "unborn" and lose it all? Our God is Omniscient--all knowing--so why would He grant such blessings if He knew full well we would commit a specific sin and lose it all? To even think that way is nonsense!

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is quoted in the Gospel of John as saying:

"The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice, and I know them and they follow me, [28] And I give them eternal life, and they shall never lose it or perish throughout the ages--to all eternity they shall never by any means be destroyed. And no one is able to snatch [them] out of My hand. [29] My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater and mightier than all else; and no one is able to snatch [them] out of the Father's hand" John 10:27-29 (Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible commentary, emphasis mine).

The meaning of the English words "eternal" and "never" has not changed. And please do not miss the point that the Lord's "sheep"--His children--are held fast in both His hand and the hand of the Father! We are doubly safe in that regard. And when we look at the compound Greek word translated "never," we find that it is a double negative:

"ou me,  oo may; i.e. Greek 3756 (ou) and Greek 3361 (me); a double negative strengthening the denial; not at all :- any more, at all, by any (no) means, neither, never, no (at all), in no case (wise), nor ever, not (at all, in any wise).  Compare Greek 3378 (me ouk)" (Strong's Concordance, emphasis mine)

And I believe the following comments by the Apostle Paul should settle the issue beyond all doubt:

"Who shall bring any charge against God's elect [when it is] God Who justifies--Who puts us in right relation to Himself? (Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God, Who acquits us?) [34] Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus, the Messiah, Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us? [35] Who shall ever separate us from Christ's love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution, or hunger, or destitution, or peril, or sword?.......[38] For I am pursuaded beyond doubt--am sure--that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening, nor things to come,  nor powers, [39] Nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:33-39 (Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified Bible commentary).

Notice the clear and irrefutable logic found in the first statement (vs.33). Will God--the One Who justified us, the Supreme Judge who acquitted us--ever come forward to bring additional charges against us? Will our Savior, Jesus Christ, stop interceding on our behalf before God the Father and bring additional charges against us (vs.34)? Of course the expected answer is a resounding, NO!! Common sense dictates that once the Judge declares us to be righteous by imputing the very righteousness of Jesus Christ to our account, nothing we can do--or fail to do--can ever alter that decree. We did not deserve salvation and why oh why should anyone think it can ever be lost when it was bestowed upon us by grace in the first place?

The concept of grace--the unmerited favor of God extended to His elect--must be understood in its proper context. In our system of justice a person exonorated of all charges cannot be tried for the same crime twice. This is called "double jeopardy" and is a position held by most judicial systems around the world. But if that same person goes out and commits another capital offense, he is responsible for his actions and will be held accountable. If he is convicted by a jury of his peers, back to death row he goes! And it is at this point where so many people fail to understand the difference between God's decree and that of a human court. Man looks at each individual legal infraction and judgment is meted out accordingly. Break the law again and you will be tried again. Whereas God, by grace, grants a blanket forgiveness that can never be rescinded! Not only the infractions of the past, but those still future are covered by His decree of imputed righteousness. Beloved, in essence we have been given a heavenly "diplomatic immunity" and can never again be held accountable where the penalty of eternal death is concerned. However--and do not miss this-- as His children, we do remain accountable to God the Father (as opposed to God as the Supreme Judge of the universe) and no sin will go unpunished in this life. Please never get the idea that we have "a home-free card" and can get away with sin. Nothing could be further from the truth because, "For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth" (Hebrews 12:6). Break His commandments and you will be punished--just as a  human father who really loves his children will do when they disobey. But praise the Lord's holy Name, He loves us so much that punishing us by death has become no more of an option than it would be for our earthly fathers. His grace has totally changed our position relative to His law and the death penalty. And that change will never, ever--for all eternity--be reversed.

THEREFORE: If you truly know Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit of God reveals Himself to others in and through your daily walk (the fruit of the Spirit, Gal.5:22-23), you have "passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). No sin you have committed in the past, or will commit in the future has any bearing upon your eternal salvation because all have been forgiven in Christ.

If your preacher tries to tell you otherwise, you need to look for a new preacher--because the old one does not know the Scriptures.

If you have been born again and received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, but have been very lukewarm in your spiritual walk with Him, you need to immediately ask Him for forgiveness and for renewal. He will instantly forgive you, and fill your heart with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Then, you need to begin a daily walk of prayer and personal Bible Study.

If you have never placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, but have come to sense His reality and the approaching End of the Age, and want to receive His FREE Gift of Eternal Life, you can do so now, in the privacy of your home. Once you truly believe in Him as Lord and Savior, you are spiritually Born Again, and are as assured of Heaven as if you were already there. Then, you can rest assured that the Kingdom of Antichrist will not touch you spiritually. If you would like to become Born Again, turn to our Salvation Page now.

We hope you have been blessed by this ministry, which seeks to educate and warn people, so that they can see the coming New World Order—Kingdom of Antichrist—in their daily news.

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God bless you.