Post by pitbull on Nov 14, 2005 8:06:02 GMT -5
A very familiar promise of God’s is found in Romans 8:35-39 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For they sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 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.”
We are creatures of God (Genesis. 1:27) and the creature is never more powerful than the Creator. This corresponds to the promise found in John 10:27-30 – “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” In order for you to do something to loose your salvation, you must claim to be more powerful than God Himself! That is a very audacious [and perhaps blasphemous] statement! Yet, there are churches that are indirectly teaching this by saying that you can loose your salvation.
The Lord even takes this one step further in the promise found in 2 Timothy 2:12,13 – “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” Arneomat is the Greek word use for "deny" in vs. 12 means to disavow, reject, abnegate, and never accept. This is referring to someone that learns the Gospel but never comes to know Christ as Savior. In verse 13, "believe not" can also be translated "not faithful" or “disobedient”. It is actually not as powerful of a Greek word as the one used for when Peter denied Christ, and yet he did not lose his salvation! When we become a Christian, Christ comes to live in us. No matter what we say or do, He will not desert us or forsake us even if we fail Him in being faithful to serving Him.
• “…for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” [Deuteronomy 31:6]
• “…I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” [Joshua 1:5]
• “For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.” [1 Samuel 12:22]
• “…for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee…” [1 Chronicles 28:20]
• “…I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” [Isaiah 41:17]
• “…These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” [Isaiah 42:16]
• “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” [Hebrews 13:5]
How is this done? Our salvation is by the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross. In the Old Testament, sacrifices had to be made on a continual basis as a covering for sins. Christ instead did a one-time sacrifice as a cleansing for sins. Hebrews 10:12-14 tells it this way – “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” Remember that in John 19:30 when Jesus said, “It is finished” – He meant it. He did the work for our salvation that we could not do. This is why He is known as “author and finisher of our faith” [Hebrews 12:2]. There is nothing more that needs to be done to earn or keep our salvation. Did Jesus Christ lie? Either He paid for all our sins on the cross [which were all future sins, in my case] or we need to finish the job that He couldn’t get done. Can you imagine someone teaching that Jesus Christ is a liar? Well, this is what happens each time that you deny the doctrine of eternal security.
This is why we can agree with Paul when he records “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” [2 Timothy 1:12] Do you also believe that God will keep His promises?
We are creatures of God (Genesis. 1:27) and the creature is never more powerful than the Creator. This corresponds to the promise found in John 10:27-30 – “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” In order for you to do something to loose your salvation, you must claim to be more powerful than God Himself! That is a very audacious [and perhaps blasphemous] statement! Yet, there are churches that are indirectly teaching this by saying that you can loose your salvation.
The Lord even takes this one step further in the promise found in 2 Timothy 2:12,13 – “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” Arneomat is the Greek word use for "deny" in vs. 12 means to disavow, reject, abnegate, and never accept. This is referring to someone that learns the Gospel but never comes to know Christ as Savior. In verse 13, "believe not" can also be translated "not faithful" or “disobedient”. It is actually not as powerful of a Greek word as the one used for when Peter denied Christ, and yet he did not lose his salvation! When we become a Christian, Christ comes to live in us. No matter what we say or do, He will not desert us or forsake us even if we fail Him in being faithful to serving Him.
• “…for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” [Deuteronomy 31:6]
• “…I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” [Joshua 1:5]
• “For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.” [1 Samuel 12:22]
• “…for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee…” [1 Chronicles 28:20]
• “…I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” [Isaiah 41:17]
• “…These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” [Isaiah 42:16]
• “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” [Hebrews 13:5]
How is this done? Our salvation is by the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross. In the Old Testament, sacrifices had to be made on a continual basis as a covering for sins. Christ instead did a one-time sacrifice as a cleansing for sins. Hebrews 10:12-14 tells it this way – “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” Remember that in John 19:30 when Jesus said, “It is finished” – He meant it. He did the work for our salvation that we could not do. This is why He is known as “author and finisher of our faith” [Hebrews 12:2]. There is nothing more that needs to be done to earn or keep our salvation. Did Jesus Christ lie? Either He paid for all our sins on the cross [which were all future sins, in my case] or we need to finish the job that He couldn’t get done. Can you imagine someone teaching that Jesus Christ is a liar? Well, this is what happens each time that you deny the doctrine of eternal security.
This is why we can agree with Paul when he records “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” [2 Timothy 1:12] Do you also believe that God will keep His promises?