AND NOW, from the coffee cafe' here in the Bright City, we bring you: "FIFTY REASONS WHY A SAVED PERSON CAN BE LOST:"
1. ETERNAL LIFE IS ETERNAL! Once a believer has eternal life it can never be taken away. But---eternal life is not really received until the believer DIES. Until then, his living state, is SAVED. And salvation can be rejected. "We will be presented holy and blameless before Him, IF INDEED WE CONTINUE in the faith firmly established and steadfast and
not be moved away from the Hope of the Gospel". "If we endure we shall reign with Him. But if we deny Him, then He will deny us (and we shall not reign)...
2. EVERLASTING LIFE IS EVERLASTING! But our
grasp of that "everlasting life" is
changeable. "The inheritance is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in Heaven for us, we-who-are-protected by the power of God
through faith (OUR faith, not HIS faith...) for a salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time. It is everlasting regardless of the believer's behavior? Jesus never said that. Neither did Paul. Paul says, "Do not be deceived, these (list) will NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!!! And as such
WERE some of you..." AND, "If I continue sinning willfully, there no longer remains a sacrifice for my sins, but a terrifying certainty of judgment and the fury of fire which will condemn the adversaries...."
3.John 6:39 says "Jesus will lose none of whom God has given Him". Who are "those given to Jesus"? They are those who
chose to believe. While Eph4:4 says "we were chosen before the foundation of the world", and Jn15:16 says "you did not choose Me but I chose you"---nevertheless, Matt22:2-14 very clearly shows that ALL were called, but only those who ACCEPTED (and clothed themselves with His righteousness), became the chosen!
"For MANY are CALLED, but FEW are CHOSEN" (Besides, the same chapter of Jn says "anyone who does not abide is cut off and cast into the fire....")
4. HEAVEN IS RESERVED FOR HIM! 1 Peter 1:4; An inheritance in heaven is reserved for the believer. And "he who endures to the end will be saved!" But if we do not endure? The inheritance will continue
without us...
5. INHERITANCE IS INCORRUPTIBLE! 1 Peter 1:4; No one can corrupt something God has made incorruptible. Alas, salvation and eternal life are vastly different things. The latter is incorruptible, but our
grasp of it is very forsakable...
6. INHERITANCE CANNOT BE DEFILED! 1 Peter 1:4; No one can defile something which God says cannot be defiled. But alas, if we "are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, to falling away from the living God", that inheritance will continue without us...
7. HE IS SEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT! Ephesians 1:13; "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
having also believed, you were sealed in Him
with the Holy Spirit of promise." Our seal was conditional upon our belief. If we cease to believe, that seal is broken. There is not one verse that says the seal cannot be broken.
8. HE IS SEALED UNTO THE DAY OF REDEMPTION! Ephesians 4:30 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption". For/unto is a
promise, not a time (until). If we DO "grieve the Holy Spirit", will the seal remain? No.
9. HOLY SPIRIT WILL ABIDE FOREVER! John 14:16-17; "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
THAT He
MAY be with you forever. That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not know Him; but you now Him because He abides with you, and will be in you". "And if any man does not abide in Me he is cut off and burned as a dried branch" Jn15:6...
10. HE IS PRESERVED FOREVER! Psalm 37:28; God preserves the saint forever. "The Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever; but the children of the wicked will be cut off". Encouragement to "abide in Him and be godly", rather than to be wicked, isn't it???
11. HE IS BORN OF GOD! John 1:12-13 The believer actually becomes God's child, by belief. We are saved according to His will, by our own belief. If we disbelieve, we are rejecting His will-of-salvation, His plan-in-Jesus-by-the-Cross...
12. HE IS A NEW CREATURE! 2 Corinthians 5:17; God has made the believer a new creature. "Therefore, if any man
is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old have passed away, behold all has become new." Very much encourages us to "abide in Christ", doesn't it??? "You, beloved,
KEEP yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
to eternal life..." Jd21
13. HE IS CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS! Ephesians 2:10; The saint was created in his Savior. "For by grace (God's) have you been saved through faith (yours), and that (free-gift-of-grace) is not of yourselves it is the gift of God; (free-gift-of-grace) is not as a result of works lest anyone boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (by our salvation and abiding in Him, by our surrender to His Lordship) for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we (who have received Him) might walk in them..."
14. HE IS PRESERVED UNTO THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM! 2 Timothy 4:18; The believer is preserved like Paul since God is no respecter of persons. "The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to His Heavenly kingdom..." IF I "endure to the end". "But I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others,
I myself should be disqualified..." 1Cor9:27 BTW, "God is no respecter of persons" is from: "For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong he has done, for God is no respecter of persons" Col3:25. God is very much a "respecter of persons" in regards to salvation (conditional upon our belief), in regards to gifts (all do NOT prophesy, DO they!), etc...
15. HE IS KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD! THROUGH FAITH!
OUR FAITH! 1 Peter 1:5, Rom10:17---"Now, FAITH comes from HEARING". Faith-unto-salvation is not a unilateral gift from God...
16. CHRIST HAS PRAYED FOR HIM! John 17:11; Jesus prayed that God would keep all who He had given Him. Jesus cares that we "abide in Him", shows concern that we may fall away...
17. WORKS CANNOT AFFECT HIS SALVATION! Romans 11:6; Salvation is not gained by works, so it cannot be lost by works. But it can be lost by unbelief...
18. HIS FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS! Romans 4:5; It is faith which brings salvation to a believer. And it is faithlessness that causes him to fall...
19. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE HIM FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST! Romans 8:38-39; Nothing material, immaterial, past, present, or future can separate a believer from Christ's love. And yet, He showed His love for us, in that while we were YET SINNERS, He died for us. Rm5:8 If we disbelieve and perish, He will not stop loving us...
20. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD! Jonah 2:9 Salvation is all God's work. He bought it and provided it. And the provision is that "all who believe will not perish". And all who disbelieve, are condemned already...
21. GOD IS ABLE TO KEEP HIM! 2 Timothy 1:12; The believer's salvation rests on God's omnipotent ability to keep him. (And Jd24) He is
able to. Does He do it without our permission? No. Inasmuch as He rescues us from temptation by providing us with a
choice (1Cor10:13), "abiding in Him to salvation" is also a choice...
22. HE IS PROMISED NOT TO COME INTO CONDEMNATION! John 5:24; This promise would be broken if even one believer fell into eternal condemnation. "Truly I say to you,
he who hears My word AND BELIEVES Him who sent Me, has eternal life and does not come into judgement, but has passed out of death into life." But he who
disbelieves DOES come into judgment. The "promise" is founded upon our belief...
23. HE IS PROMISED TO NEVER PERISH! John 10:27-28; Every saint has an unconditional promise to never perish. As long as "you are My sheep". "If anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved" (and become My sheep) Jn10:9.
24. HE WILL NEVER BE CAST OUT! John 6:37; Under no condition will any believer be cast out from Christ or Heaven. "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and
he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me (every one who comes and believes) and he who comes I will not cast out." The condition is always
our belief. Just as in the parable of Matt22, ALL were invited, but the FEW accepted, and ONE OF THEM refused to put on the Master's righteous clothing and was cast out. MANY are called but FEW are chosen. The CHOSEN are they who RECEIVE Him, AND clothe themselves with His righteousness...
25. ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO HIM! Romans 8:28; It would not be good for one to lose his salvation. "All things work together for good
to those who love God and are called according to His purpose". Does this conflict with the idea that "salvation is by our own choosing, our own faith"? Certainly not! Those who are not His,
do not love Him and are not called according to His purpose...