 Article by Tyler Ziemer:
We are saved by grace through faith, trusting Jesus alone to save us; there is no good work we can possibly do that will earn us salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). If people needn't do anything to obtain salvation, then why would they then be required to do something to keep it? In John 10:27-29, Jesus says, "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." Jesus gives His sheep eternal life. One might argue, "Well, you can pluck yourself out of God's hand." Can you? Are you a man? The verse says "no man," it doesn't say, "no man except yourself." It is Jesus and His Father's job to keep us saved, not ours. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). "...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). "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen" (Jude 24-25). Another might argue, "Well, all the sins you committed before you got saved were forgiven, but your future sins after salvation might not be paid for." How many of our sins were in the future when Jesus died? All of them. Jesus paid for all of our sins on Calvary: the ones we committed before salvation and the ones we will commit after salvation. Jesus says in John 5:24, "...He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." The word hath is in the present tense. Eternal life is a present possession of all who are saved, and it is eternal life; it lasts forever. Does this mean we can sin as much as we want and it's OK? Paul says in Romans, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1-2). The truth is, we do not do good works to stay saved; we do good works because we are saved. When God saves us, He changes us from the inside out; we become new creatures (II Corinthians 5:17). He gives us new desires, so that now we want to love Him and serve Him instead of live in sin. We will not be perfect; when we sin, we must confess our sins to God (I John 1:9), but He always forgives us. The sins we commit after salvation do not affect our relationship with God, but they do affect our fellowship with Him. If a son disobeys his father, does that mean he is no longer his father's son? No, he has been born into his father's family, but his fellowship with his father is broken; he must make it right before he can enjoy fellowship with his father again, but he is and always will be his son. In the same way, if you are saved, you are and always will be God's child. It is God's job to save us; all we have to do is receive salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Nothing can separate us from Him once we are saved. "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" (Romans 8:38-39). Because we are saved, let us live for Him! Comments are closed.
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