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Last Updated (Friday, 18 February 2011 18:46)
Can I Lose My SalvationCan I ever lose my salvation?
NO! Now, let’s look at why…
There are many reasons why one who is saved could never lose his salvation. Simply, when we are saved, we are safe in the hands of Jesus. Who is more powerful than Jesus? No one. Who can take something from Jesus? No one. So long as Jesus is alive, those who are saved will never perish. More than that, imagine being in Jesus' hand and Jesus' hand being in the hand of God the Father. One who is saved is as safe as anyone could ever be.
He who hears and believes, in other words, he who is saved shall have what God describes as everlasting life. When we think about the timelessness of God, and how He promises everlasting life. God is offering anyone who would be saved everlasting life. In God's mind, how long is everlasting?
This is a crucial point. Many people believe that God will, for some reason, cast them out or take away their salvation. God is proclaiming in HIS Word that this is not possible. We have a clear promise from God that there will never be a point in time where He will cast us out. We can take assurance in this fact alone. However, there is still more.
Verses 38 and 39 list a large gamut of things on all levels. In fact, the list of trials generally cover every aspect of our life. Everything which we could possibly face is covered in this list. Yet, despite this all-inclusive list, there is nothing which will separate us from the love of Christ. No matter what comes in our lives, Christ loves us.
Not only will Jesus always love us, but we are kept by the power of God. Our preservation is not in just any power, but the power of God. A power plant can produce a lot of energy, but they require maintenance and sometimes fail. Sometimes, we see hurricanes or cyclones. These are some of the most powerful storms, but they eventually die out. As powerful as some of these things are, they all fail or die. The power of God which keeps us is the same power which created the world - which created the storms. That is the power which keeps us - the almighty power of God.
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Another reason we can trust in our salvation is because we are sealed. Again, this isn't just any seal. This seal is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit of God moves into our lives. Lining in us and through us, the Holy Spirit of God becomes our seal literally marking the believer as one who has been redeemed by God. As you study the work of the Holy Spirit, you will see that a part of the work of the Holy Spirit is producing fruit through us. That fruit becomes our seal. As a result of the work of the Spirit of God in the believer's life, and the fruit of the Spirit of God, the world around the believer should easily recognize the believer as a child of God.
Salvation is a gift from God, not something we can earn. Because it is a gift God gives us, it could only ever be taken away from us by the one who gave it to us - God. God has promised never to forsake us which means that God will never take the gift away from us.
Salvation is not something we can work for - it is not something we earned. Because we do not earn our salvation, we do not have to work to maintain our salvation. This is a key, a critical concept which many people fail to grasp. They falsely believe they must work for and earn their salvation. What gift did you ever have to earn?
An adoption is a permanent acceptance into the family. When one is adopted, he is forever a part of the new family just as if he were born into that family. When we are saved, we are adopted into the family of God to be, forever, children of God.
After looking at these verses, it should be easy to see that once someone is genuinely saved, they are saved forever. One cannot lose his salvation, nor can he have his salvation taken away from him. True salvation is forever.Work out your own salvation...
Lately, there have been many people posting various thoughts based on a portion of Philippians 2:12. That portion reads, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Some have claimed that you can literally “work out” or resolve your own salvation while others have lifted this verse as a proof text indicating that you can change principles of the Word of God to suit whatever personal preference you may have. Could there possibly be a verse which indicates salvation is a result of something we work out? Could God have possibly indicated that we should look at clear principles in the Word of God and work their meaning out on our own? NO! This is a neo-evangelical position based in the idea of the Bible becomes the Word of God as you personally apply it to your life. Under this principle, two people can take two completely different, contradictory thoughts from the same passage. Of course, these ideas are completely false. 2 Peter 1:20 tells us, “…no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” We simply cannot lift a passage of Scripture and apply it as we see fit. The Word of God is God’s Word to us. It is what God wanted us to know about Him, about history, about salvation and about the application of His law in our lives. To claim that the Word of God could mean different things to different people is no different than claiming that this article could mean different things to different people. As the writer, I know what thoughts I want to convey. This article means exactly what I want it to mean, nothing else. Likewise, God’s letter to us means exactly what God wanted it to mean. If we apply an interpretation to the Word of God which contradicts any other principle of the Word of God or which violates the meaning God intended for us, our private interpretation is completely wrong. Those who make an application of Phil 2:12 claiming that we can work out our own salvation or work out our own application of other Scriptural principles are wrong and are looking for excuses to compromise the Word of God and mold it to fit their own personal preference.
So, what is this passage telling us? First, we must always consider a verse in its context.
Philippians 2:5-13 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (12) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (13) For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
First, we need to remember to think like God. We can never apply our own personal interpretation to Scriptures. We must look for the application God intended for each passage. When we examine a passage of Scripture, we must look at its immediate context. What do the verses around the passage we are examining have to say? What is the general theme of the entire passage? We must also look at the target of the passage. The Bible is written and must be studied in the light of the various dispensations. Passages written to the children of Israel are truth and do contain lessons for us, but we cannot apply the Mosiac Law to our lives. Likewise, events recorded in the book of Acts are historical. We must be extremely careful when we look to the actions of the early church for today’s doctrine. Third, we must look at the people to whom a given passage is written. Some books are prophecy which were written for all generations. Other books are history, recounting what God has done. Still other books were given to the church. In each case we must be very careful in how we apply each book to our lives and to the doctrine and practices of the church.
Next, we see that Jesus was both in the form of God and completely equal with God. This idea shoots down those who believe Jesus was merely a prophet or a “good man.” The Bible is very clear that Jesus is the son of God and yet also God in the flesh. No reasonable person would ever deny this. The Bible shows this, Jesus makes the claim and God acknowledges it. There is little more to discuss regarding the subject.
Third, we see that Jesus, even though He was God, made Himself of no reputation and made Himself a servant. After taking on the role of a servant and the form of a man, Jesus was obedient unto death on the cross. Jesus did all of this for one reason: to purchase salvation for all of mankind. From the moment man sinned in the Garden of Eden, a price was required. The price required for sin is death. A sacrifice had to be offered. However, any sacrifice we could offer in our own flesh would be nothing but a sin-filled offering. We could never pay for sin with sin. The only offering which could ever be sufficient is a perfect sacrifice. Jesus was that perfect sacrifice. When Jesus made that sacrifice for us, He worked out our salvation for us. Because God, in the form of a man – Jesus, humbled Himself and purchased salvation for all mankind, Jesus is to be exalted above all others.
This brings us to verse twelve. Are we then to work out our own salvation? No. Our salvation has already been worked out by Jesus. So, what does this mean? Again, we cannot lift the verse or a part of the verse out of its context. By doing so, we are perverting the meaning of the Word of God. I must admit, it was hard to grasp the meaning of this verse until I began examining what others had to say about it and even how the verse is translated in other languages. Remember – the King James Bible is not the inspired text, it is the faithfully, perfectly translated text for the English-speaking people. However, even a perfect translation loses something when translated to an imperfect language such as English. The truth I am about to share with you is there in our English KJV Bible. But in this rare case, the truth is more evident in another language. In his commentary, Gill cites the Syriac version, the passage is rendered as “do the work” of salvation. In other words, the fruit of our salvation should work through our lives. When we are saved, that salvation should be evident, working in us and through us.
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