"Continue in His Kindness [Grace]" (Ro 11:22)
SAVED ETERNALLY, NOT UN-CONDITIONALLY
Warning!
In the beginning, Satan tempted Eve into believing that she would never die [ironically, it was his first, and elementary teaching]. How did he do this? He opposed a conditional commandment of God for paradise. God said, “you will die” (if you eat of the tree Ge 3:3), but Satan said, “You surely will not die!” (Ge 3:4). Likewise, false teachers oppose the conditional commandments of Christ for salvation.Note: They say things like, “we are saved un-conditionally”, or “you can never lose your salvation”, or “once saved, always saved”, or we have the doctrine of “eternal security”. But God never said these things or meant the gospel to be mistakenly interpreted in this way. Yet, like Eve, many are misled by this.
Don’t Be Arrogant!
Paul said, “Do not be conceited [arrogant], but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches [the Jews], He will not spare you [Christians], either. Behold then the [1] kindness [the grace] and [2] severity [the wrath] of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness [grace], if [a condition] you continue in His kindness [grace]; otherwise you [Christians] also will be cut off [wrath]” (Ro 11:20, 21, 22).This is the most important condition to salvation: you must continue, reverently, in God’s grace to be saved. You have to keep going in it. But if you stop, discontinue, or end it and start walking in sin (for if you are not continuing in the grace of God then you are continuing in sin) you will be “cut off”, meaning separated from God eternally. Do not be arrogant about your own salvation, like they were at Rome. They were conceited Christians. Like the Jews, God will be severe with anyone who wanders away from His grace. So in order to remain saved, you must continue in the grace, that is the favor of God, continuing to overcome sin. Otherwise, as God said, "you will be cut off", just like the Jews.
Jesus Will ERASE Names from the Book of Eternal Life If, If...
Jesus said to the church in Sardis: “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with me in white; for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life” (Re 3:1-5).Erase his name from the book of life! A horrible possibility! What was the condition that these Christians must have satisfi ed in order for Jesus not to erase their names from the list of those with eternal life? They had to “repent” and “overcome” their sins. But if someone did not repent and failed to overcome his sins, his name would be erased by Jesus Himself! But someone will say, “They were not truly saved”. Do not be arrogant and lie against the truth! It is obvious that their names were written in the book of eternal life, therefore they were truly saved.
Note: Here is the problem, issue, or dilemma: Because the prophet Isaiah said, “The Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save” (Is 59:1), then we can be sure that God can reach down far enough to save us out of the pit of our own sins; a pit that we ourselves cannot save ourselves from. But in the very next verse it says, “But your iniquities [sins] have made a separation between you and your God” (Is 59:2). So while it is true that God has the power to save us, his people, by His grace, even eternally, it is also true at the same time that our sins can cause us to be separated from God, lost eternally, if we continue in them (especially those sins that God said lead to death, such as sexual immorality, idolatry, magic, etc.). You must keep this in mind in regards to your salvation. It is in keeping with the gospel.