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 satisfied 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.

It’s Better to Be an Unbeliever than a Backslider

Peter said, “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,’ and, ‘A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire’ ” (2 Pe 2:20, 22).

So some people “have escaped” their sins through knowing Jesus; they give them up, or spit them up. But later they turn back to practice those same sins. They once knew Jesus, but afterward they decided to return to a life of sin. They did not continue in the grace of God. Therefore, salvation is conditional on whether we turn away from our vomit of sin, or if we go back to dine again at its table.

Disciple-Making Can Be In Vain

Paul said, “For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain [meaningless, useless]<” (1 Thess 3:5). Paul was afraid that his efforts to make these disciples could have later proved meaningless or useless, if they would have fallen back into sin through Satan’s temptations.

Like Paul, a great teacher of the gospel, do your teachers have a holy fear that the ones they are discipling, even you, could be lost if they fall back into sin? Are your teachers like Paul? Or do they deceptively assure you, like the Devil did to Eve, that you can never be lost, that you'll never die eternally? Are they among the greatest security salesman in the world?

THE JEWS WERE ONCE SAVED, BUT LATER LOST

Jude said, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 1:5). They were once saved, but later destroyed for their lack of faith toward God.

Paul explained what their unbelief really was. He said that the Jews were all baptized into Moses through the Red Sea, and that they ate spiritual food, and drank spiritual drink but God was not well pleased with most of them because of how they acted in immorality, idolatry, grumbling, and testing the Lord. So he put them to death in the wilderness (1 Co 10:11). As a result, those Jews could not enter the Promised Land of Canaan. This is a clear example for our learning. It teaches us that God will not permit religious people to enter the Promised Land of Heaven if they continue walk in their sins. The Jews were saved. They were baptized into Moses and ate spiritual food. But all but two ended up lost. Like the Jews, many sinners become saved. They are baptized and eat the Lord’s Supper. But they will be lost if they fail to continue in the grace of God to overcome their sins.

The Conclusion Is This

You should be convinced that God will not save you if you continue in sin and disobedience to His word. Do not let anyone persuade you that there are no conditions to your salvation. For sure, you can be saved eternally, but not unconditionally. You must continue in the grace of God, the favor of God, to remain saved. Stay in God’s good graces, His favor. Indeed, grow in the grace of God (2 Pe 3:18). Grow in the favor of God and you will most certainly be saved eternally. Amen and amen.

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