I am a nighttime worrier. If there is something to worry about, I will wait till it’s bedtime. Anyone else like that? I suppose it’s because there’s nothing to distract me from this distraction. I’m often too busy or over stimulated to be bothered worrying. What kinds of things do we worry about?
School, tests, girls, boys, conversations we’ve had (did it all come out right? Were they offended), financial security, future, salvation.
Some people live in constant fear of losing their salvation.
Has anyone here ever threatened to run away? How did that go?
I did a couple of times, although I was too afraid to, thanks to my mom. I guess that turned out to be some good parenting. One time I did run away, and I made all the way to the pond ¼ mile from our house. I sat on a bench for about 5 minutes, until I was fully bored, and I went home. My great escape was brief and super lame. It probably lasted 9 minutes in total, counting travel time.
Before I left, I told my dad that I was mad at him, and I wanted to run away, and I didn’t want to live with him anymore. I don’t know what caused the fight, other than puberty, punishments, and an emotionally unstable 13-year old boy. But I said some things I shouldn’t have said, and I walked away.
When I got home, my dad received me just like a father would receive a son. What I mean is that he still punished me. I was not liberated or emancipated. I still fell under his fatherly rule, so he yelled at me, sent me to my room, and smacked me on the back of the head as I walked by, all in love for me. By the way, punishment is a sign of a maintained relationship with your parents and with God.
Sometimes we run out on God, our Heavenly Father, too, right? We ignore Him, don’t spend time with Him, get downright angry with Him and totally walk away. Then, when we return, He receives us back as sons and daughters, and sometimes that includes a little loving correction.
But what if we do not choose to come back? What then?
What do you think? (The students mostly agreed that one could not.)
Are there any exceptions? People often teach in error that a person can lose his salvation for the unpardonable sin, but that is not true. That is a sin that can only take place before salvation, because it is the ultimate rejection of the Holy Spirit, and ultimately Jesus Christ and God the Father. It can simply be taught as unbelief, because unbelief is what leads to rejection. The Pharisees that were guilty of this had never believed in Jesus and never would, because they completely rejected Him, His work, and His Power Source.
Read 31-34a – Who can be against us? How will He (God) not give us all things (seeing what He has already given us)? Who can bring any charge against (or demand payment of a debt) against God’s children? Who will condemn?
Read 34 – The answer to the questions is actually an answer that supersedes the questions: Jesus Christ died for us, was raised again, and is sitting right next to God interceding on our behalf. If the Devil brings a charge against us, saying we belong with him, we’ve got Jesus serving as our defense attorney.
Read 35-39 – We have complete victory, and it doesn’t depend on us! Once we’re in, we’re in. We can’t be separated by dying. We can’t be separated by living. Angels can’t take us. The devil can’t have us. The things in our past can’t disqualify us. The things in our present don’t own us. The things in our future can’t defeat us. There is nothing that has ever been created, including ourselves, that can separate us from the love of God, which we have attained through Jesus Christ. It is the most solid bond that has ever existed. There is no wedge that can be driven between us and God. Once we are His, we are His.
Hebrews 7 discusses the High Priesthood under the old covenant, versus Jesus’ High Priesthood.
The High Priests of old were flawed, sinful, mortal individuals. They needed to make constant intercessions, first for themselves as sinners, and then for the sins of the people. Jesus, however, died once and paid for sin once and for all. Then He rose again, and He lives forever to intercede for us. Therefore, He is able to save us COMPLETELY!
We will never lose our Mediator, because He will never die, leave us, or forsake us.
What does it mean to be sealed? If a King sealed a document, he would put hot wax on it and press his ring, or cygnet, into the wax. That made it his official seal, and only specific people were authorized to open that document.
The Holy Spirit has sealed us with His divine mark. Who can open this seal? We see in Revelations that Jesus Christ is the only one worth to open the seals of God.
So the Holy Spirit is the one that seals us, and only Jesus Christ can open that seal, and we’ve already seen that He has sided with us once we place our faith in Him.
We see again that we have an Advocate. This time it’s the Holy Spirit. An advocate is one that pleads another’s case in a civil court. Civil court is where payment of debts is determined. We can never be held accountable for our civil debt – death in Hell – once we receive the Holy Spirit as our Advocate.
God holds us within His hands. No one is powerful enough to get us out of His hands. Not the Devil, not even you.
I’ve heard it taught that a person cannot lose their salvation by sinning, but they can reject God and choose to lose their salvation in that way. For that to be true, a person must be more powerful than Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. They are all three actively working to maintain our salvation, and for me to be able to discard it, I would need to be able to perform a greater work than they ever could. Do you believe that is possible?
There has been a lot of talk about Hell lately. Would God send someone to Hell? There’s a book coming out with the thoughts of a famous pastor on this very topic, and I like that Pastor. I’ve read his stuff, listened to his sermons, and watched his videos. I don’t dislike him. I don’t hate him. I do disagree with his latest assertion, though. The thought of the book is that a loving God could not possibly send someone to Hell. I’ve heard this argument before, and I can see where they take particular verses and reinterpret them in this way, but you have to interpret Scripture passages in light of other portions of Scripture. Look at Revelation 20:11-15.
That’s not the best news. So how do we avoid that?
There is good news! There is a way, and it’s not universal. All roads do not lead to God. Only Jesus does.
It’s by grace and through faith. Being a really, really good person doesn’t get us there. Going to church doesn’t get us there. Placing our faith in Jesus
There is no life outside of Jesus Christ. Do you know Him? Do you know that you have eternal life? Why go to bed worrying about possibilities? Go to sleep knowing you know Christ.
I think the word "lose" carries a lot of weight with me on this one. I lose my keys, my money and my mind at one point or another in a day. When it comes to salvation, we don't misplace it but rather... we hand it back? I think that might be a better way to describe what happens. Justification is a gift from Christ with purposes that go beyond just getting saved from damnation but how often do we decide out of bitterness that we don't want something someone gave us?
ReplyDeleteBut there's still the question of who is powerful enough to do that? If we are saved completely (thoroughly, to the uttermost, to a full end) by Jesus Christ and then sealed until the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit, who are we to be able to undo that work? Who is worthy to break that seal?
ReplyDeleteAlso, we seem a lot alike. I lose all of those things everyday, as well.
It's interesting to think about. My brother and I have talked about this. He has friends who he is sure were Christians, and then completely turned around, deciding that they do not believe at all anymore. My brother thinks that they have "lost" their salvation, not by doing something like lying or stealing, or anything like that, but by not believing. I think that they were probably never saved in the first place, or they still are despite their unbelief. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI did talk about that more on Sunday night than I posted here. These are only the notes that lead to me teaching for many minutes. I do not think someone can give back their salvation. I do agree that some people go to church and become like Christians without actually becoming Christians. Jesus talked about people who thought they were His but were sent away. I agree with you.
ReplyDelete