start all over again, seeking to do my best to live for You again, so I don’t forfeit my salvation and wind up in hell. I confess my sins to You once again so I can have my salvation restored again.” PS. “I’ll be sure to confess my sin to You again - the next time I am lost. Amen.” Questions for Searching and Sincere Christians: Romans 8:33-34 asks: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Why do you condemn yourself, if God does not condemn you? Why do you fear condemnation if God declares He will NEVER condemn you? Isn’t Jesus’ intercessory work in Heaven (Heb. 7:25) good enough to maintain your salvation and acceptance before God? Isn’t the declaration of Christ’s sacrifice in Heaven enough to save and keep you forever? If God says “nothing can separate from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” then what can you do to separate yourself from God’s amazing love found in Jesus Christ? If salvation is conditional, how good must you be to get into Heaven? How bad must you be to go to hell? Hebrews 10:19-20 concludes that we can have absolute confidence that God accepts us (“boldness to enter into the holiest”) and can draw near to God “by the blood of Jesus” with the “full assurance of faith” that He will not turn us away from His presence. He will always accept for He has forgiven us of all our sins. Isn’t God’s Word good enough for you? Isn’t the blood of Jesus capable of delivering you from a fearful and an “evil conscience” when you remember that Jesus paid for all your sins and provided complete forgiveness for you?
something in ADDITTION to purchase our redemption? “It is finished” (John 19:30). How can you in good conscience attempt to add your works, which are termed as “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6) to Christ’s finished work on the cross? Isn’t Jesus enough? How can you add something to that which already finished? If you MUST live a certain way or DO good things in order to go to Heaven, then why did Christ die on the cross? Christ’s death would be worthless if it can’t save us forever. Are you willing to say that “Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21) by adding your legalism beside grace? How can Jesus be the Savior, if you don’t allow Him (ALONE) to be your Savior? Since it’s the Gospel ALONE that saves us (Rom. 1:16; Eph. 1:13) then how can the way we live contribute to our salvation? Is the Gospel really “good news” (1 Cor. 15:3-4), if in the end, it can’t save and keep you? The Bible says we are “justified freely by his grace” (Rom. 3:24). Is God’s declaration of our legal standing before God in Heaven (justification) by FREE and UNCONDITIONAL GRACE (Rom. 5:18) a true or false statement from God? Are you willing to “frustrate the grace of God” (Gal. 2:21) or violate the message of free grace by adding your works to Christ’s sacrifice? Jesus saves us to the “uttermost” (completely and forever) because He is our great High Priest (Heb. 7:25). Who are you to say (Rom. 8:34) that Christ’s intercession in Heaven is not enough to give you eternal acceptance before God? How can you lose something that is eternal (John 3:15-16, 5:24; 6:47)?
advantage of God’s love and earn our way into Heaven. However, if one interprets the verse in this way they are really saying that God’s love is conditioned on our obedience and not the sacrifice of Christ. A Christian does not keep themselves in God’s love, by somehow coaxing God to keep loving them through legal obedience, since God loves us unconditionally! Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In Christ, God loves the believer unconditionally. We can be sure that we are not being told to preserve ourselves in God's favor. I don’t have to do something to earn God’s love. He loves me no matter what I do in my Christian life – good or bad! Do you love your children only when they obey you? Do you stop loving them just because they make a wrong decision? No, you continue to love them and don’t want to see them hurt themselves. What does it mean when the Bible calls for the Christian to keep themselves in the love of God? The word “keep” means "to watch over" or "to keep an eye on." Keeping oneself in the love of God is not some kind of legalistic ritual but a commitment to maintain a relational walk with God where we are enjoying God’s love for us as we walk in His presence (Ps. 16:11) and also expressing God’s love to others (John 15:12). Keeping ourselves in the love of God means we will keep a guard about our lives so that we might not stop loving God and others as we should. One thing is very evident; when a Christian keeps themselves in the love of God it means that they are keeping their life in tune with God so they can experience His precious love for them. They are keeping an eye on their relationship with God so they can experience the joy and wonder of His love and companionship in their life. The Lord made a similar statement of keeping oneself in His love in John 15:9 when He said to His disciples, “Continue ye in my love” (abide in my
Freedom and liberty is experienced in our life when we know and believe that Christ’s death is able to save us from God’s wrath and condemnation forever. Our liberty is experienced when we are freed from legalism (earning our salvation through human effort, works, and good deeds). Knowing that it’s only Christ that saves us from hell frees us from the fear of God’s wrath and also frees us from legalism (our attempt to gain God’s favor and grace through good deeds and works). We don’t have to live in the bondage that legalism brings to us by creating a law system that condemns us but one that cannot deliver us. We can by faith alone trust in the saving sacrifice of Christ’s death and be free from striving to earn our salvation, be free from the fear of God’s rejection and condemnation, and be free to experience God’s unconditional love and unchanging grace. Those who actually believe that a believer can be removed from the position of God’s grace through Christ must remember that Jesus Christ paid the necessary sin debt in full when He died upon the cross to free us forever from God’s wrath. The liberty that we possess in Christ is to know that we have been released from the awful debt of sin and judgment that we acquired before God and that we will never again be condemned for our sins. This is true freedom, and liberty. When we know this and believe it, we will be released from the fear of condemnation before God and bask in the sunshine of God’s freedom from guilt and judgment for our sins. John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Read it and believe it – “Not condemned!” Our simple faith in Christ keeps us from God’s wrath. If we truly believe this promise we will be free from the fear of God’s wrath and punishment and bask in the sunshine of His love and acceptance, and grace. John 5:24
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not (at any time in the future) come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” Notice something: We must hear the truth – “heareth my word” Without believing the record of truth that Jesus gave regarding salvation and eternal life, we cannot be saved. We need to give something that people can believe and what they need to give them is the Gospel truth. We must believe the truth – “believeth on him that sent me” Jesus said that a person must believe on “him that sent me” (believe on the Father). The thought here is that one must believe that the Father sent Jesus Christ into the world. What must he believe? He must believe that the Father sent the Lord Jesus to be our Savior. We must believe what the Father says about the Lord Jesus is absolutely true, that He is the only Savior that can take away our sins and judgment. In short, we must hear the truth that Jesus told us and also believe that the Father backs up the same message that the Son has shared regarding salvation and eternal life. What is the truth that we must believe? The present possession of eternal life – “hath everlasting life” Notice that Jesus says the person “hath everlasting life.” He did not say that the believer will in the future have eternal life, but that he has it right now! The future freedom from wrath – “shall not come into condemnation” Jesus is covering both the present and future by now stating that we “shall not come into condemnation.” The thought here is that the believer is not condemned now and will never be condemned in the future. The one who believes on the Lord Jesus is free from judgment because Christ has paid the penalty for his sins on Calvary. God will not demand the payment of this penalty twice. Christ has paid it as our Substitute, and that is sufficient. The glorious transaction to spiritual life – “passed from death unto life”
Preserved forever in Christ’s saving work – Jude 1 Perfected forever in Christ’s finished work – Heb. 10:14 Pardoned forever by Christ’s amazing grace – Rom. 4:7-8 Positioned forever in Christ’s perfection righteousness – Eph. 1:6 Instead of trying to “wrest” or twist the Scriptures (2 Pet. 3:16) by teaching that a saved person can lose his or her salvation, you should rest in the truth of Scripture that the work of salvation is finished (John 19:30) and that you are saved and prepared to meet God by the free expression of grace found in Jesus Christ alone (Rom. 3:24). “Mercy there was great, and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty, At Calvary.”