Chapter 4
COME LET US REASON TOGETHER
35 THE
BORN AGAIN ARE PRESERVED IN CHRIST JESUS. Jude
1:1
“Jude, the servant of Jesus
Christ, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ.”
Religion teaches that we are preserved if our behavior withstands the test of time until our death. Yet, the above Scripture does not state that Christians are being sanctified, but rather have been sanctified by the Father and preserved in Christ Jesus. Most believers have no idea their soul has been preserved in Jesus Christ since the day they were saved. This is why many fear losing their souls salvation. Christians who believe the born again can lose their salvation obviously don’t understand what being “preserved” means. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word preserved means:
· to be kept from harm, damage, danger.
· to be kept from spoiling or rotting.
· to be saved and defended from destruction.
We comprehend this when it pertains to strawberry preserves and such, but our understanding seems to fail when it comes to God’s preservation of our very souls. The Bible records that “He preserveth the souls of his saints.” (Ps. 97:10)
After his salvation, the Apostle Paul went on record that his soul was "preserved unto the heavenly kingdom,” and he was “chief” of sinners. (2 Tim. 4:18) The redeemed are not just preserved, but “preserved blameless” (protected from pollutions) inside the sinless Christ until His Second Coming. Paul wrote:
“And
the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes. 5:23)
Let us remember that in the King James Version of the Bible the italicized words were added by the translators, so let’s remove these words and re-examine this passage. It now reads:
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This passage agrees with Jude’s statement that Christians
are sanctified by the Father and “preserved in Christ Jesus.” Paul ends this passage by stating, “faithful
is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (1 Thes. 5:24) This lets you know that you are not, by any
means, preserving yourself. The
Scripture declares He “will do it” which allows us to be quite confident that
no soul Jesus preserves shall ever spoil, because Jesus is our life preserver.
(Mark 3:27) Order audio teaching supplement: Preserved in Christ.
36 GOD CANNOT RECALL HIS GIFT
OF SALVATION FROM ANY SOUL THAT
RECEIVES IT. Rom. 11:29
"For the gifts and calling of God
are without repentance."
A prize or reward is something earned or deserved, whereas a gift is something we receive without compensation. According to Scripture, the gifts of God are without repentance. In other words, God will not give you a gift, change His mind, then take it back. Thankfully, we read that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23) Furthermore, once this “gift of God” is received, it is non-transferable. Your eternal life has been placed in an irrevocable trust reserved in heaven for you, the gospel believer. (Col. 1:5, 1 Peter 1:4-5) If God took back this gift of eternal life it would make Him a thief, because once a gift is received, the giver relinquishes all rights of ownership. Total ownership is transferred to the receiver.
Salvation does not come by grace through wholesome living,
good character, self-improvement, good works, high integrity, good behavior, or
noble achievements. (Eph. 2:8-9) Those
character traits may get you into the Boy Scouts, but never into the
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by
the washing..."
Jeremiah wrote "it is because of
the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed.” (Lam. 3:22) Outside of believing in
Christ’s death, blood, and resurrection for the free gift of eternal life, there is nothing you can do
or stop doing that will save you. Yet, some people think they are actually saved by turning away from sins. In
truth, not even this "work of righteousness which we have
done" is contributory toward our salvation. (Titus 3:5) Remind such "forgetful hearers"
that one sin is too much because one sin still leaves the person “guilty of
all.” (James 2:10) So just turning away
from the “biggies” isn’t good enough.
Jesus Christ “was made manifest to take away our sins.” Again it is by His mercies and not our
righteousness “that we are not consumed” and “his mercies are new every
morning.” (Lam. 3:22)
You are saved because you believed that God in His
mercy sent His Son to die for your sins, and you responded to this love by
believing that Jesus was raised from the dead for your salvation. (
38
GOD’S
SHEEP CAN ONLY BE LOST IF ITS SHEPHERD IS UNABLE TO
RETRIEVE IT. John 18:9
"Of them which thou
gavest me I have lost none."
When a sheep is placed into
a new fold, it may run away and need to be retrieved against its will. At times the shepherd may have to bring a
sheep back on his own shoulders, because that’s exactly where that sheep’s
security lies, squarely on the shoulders of its shepherd. It is the shepherd's responsibility to bring
his wandering sheep back into the fold. It isn’t the sheep's responsibility to
stay — or else why would it need a shepherd?
Shepherds are keepers of the sheep.
Sheep do not keep themselves.
When a sheep strays from the fold, other sheep may look upon
it as lost, but the shepherd still regards that sheep as his, and will leave
“the ninety and nine” to retrieve it. (Matt. 18:2) Likewise, when a sheep of Christ’s pasture
wanders from the fold, it may even feel lost itself. However, the Good Shepherd of our souls knows
the location of each sheep every second, and at an appointed time, the rapture,
He shall present such sheep with His entire sheepfold to His father with
excitement and joy. (Jude 24) Why? Because he has never left or forsaken a
single one, but successfully fulfilled his role as “Shepherd and Bishop” of the
souls of the redeemed. After entering the sheepfold called the body of Christ,
“not one of them is lost.” (Rom. 3:10, John
17:12, 11:51-52) The Lord's sheep shall all be present and accounted for,
because Jesus enjoys counting sheep.
Note: Jesus’ record is the same yesterday, today,
and forever, and He told His Father that of all the souls (His sheep) given
Him, He has lost none. So, how many
causalities can you expect from him in the future? None!
39
IN
ORDER TO LOSE YOUR SALVATION EITHER YOU OR SATAN MUST BIND
<GOD AND ROB HIM OF IT. Matt. 12:29
"Or
how else can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except
he first bind the strong
man? And then he will spoil his
house."
Here the Master outlines a thief’s strategy for robbing a strong man’s house. Since the house of God “is the church which is His body,” do you know anyone strong enough to bind God, ransack his house, and spoil one soul that He shed His blood to save? By what power can you bind heaven’s “strong man,” when after His resurrection He declared “all power in heaven and earth” had been given unto Him? (Matt. 28:18) I have yet to see a sheep bind its shepherd.
The only way to lose
your salvation would be for you to bind heaven's strong man, enter His house to
recapture redeemed soul, then restore it to the kingdom of darkness. Since
"the flesh is weak" this, of course, cannot happen. Your “old man,”
human nature, cannot overpower heaven’s strong man to spoil anything. (Mark 14:38,
Which none of the principalities of this world
knew: for had they
known it, they would have
never crucified the
Lord of glory. (1 Cor. 2:8)
Through
the violence of death, Jesus destroyed Satan at the cross, so you can put away
all notions of a devastated devil with his plundered principalities, binding
heaven’s strong man to rob him of anything, much less the weakest saint’s
eternal life. Matt. 28:18-20) The born
again
cannot be robbed of their salvation, because God will not allow it.
40 EVERY BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN
IS CONCURRENTLY SEATED IN CHRIST IN
HEAVENLY PLACES, AND
THERE IS NO RECORD OF ANY ONE OF THEM
BEING KICKED OUT. Eph. 2:6
"God hath raised us up
together, and made us to sit together, in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus:"
When a woman brings life into the world it is a soul
contained within a body. No woman has
ever gone into labor and given birth to a soul minus a body. From the beginning, souls have been deposited
into bodies. When God breathed the
breath of life into his mud-man's lifeless body, He deposited in Adam a living
soul. Souls are transmitted into bodies,
and so it is with the body of Christ.
Inside our physical beings dwells an immaterial "body of
sin" called the flesh. (Romans
6:6) When a sinner believes the gospel,
his soul is extrapolated from this immaterial body of sin and "translated
into the
“We are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For by one offering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified.”
Since
God accepts nothing less than perfection, one sin in your life destroys all
hope of heaven. It makes us scream with
Peter, “Who then can be saved?” (Matt. 19:25)
Jesus Christ meant what He said when He commanded us to “Be perfect,
even as your father which is in heaven is perfect,” and He does not grade on a
curve. (Matt 5:48) “Our Father who art
in heaven” is perfect forever and requires the same of us. Many people think if they don’t strive to
keep the law, they risk losing their salvation. However, Paul called the Galatians “foolish”
for thinking this way, and he wrote that “The law makes no thing perfect.”
Including us! (Hebrews 7:19) If we could keep the law perfectly, it still
wouldn’t make us perfect, just as getting an A+ on a term paper doesn’t mean
the student is perfect. Nevertheless, continuous unwavering perfection is a
requirement for you and I to enter heaven.
Therefore, either the IQ of the born again is slipping or the majority
of us don’t believe God’s Word when he declared us “perfected forever.”
Hebrews 10:14 provides a
sparkling example of this unbelief by stating, “We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For by one offering he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified.” Imagine
going to a car dealership and the salesman tells you about a new creation hot
off the assembly line that was guaranteed perfected forever. He says, “Forget
about the 100,000 mile power train warranties other companies offer. Forget
about changing oil filters, fan belts, and air filters. This car has a written
guarantee to be perfected forever. You
can hand this vehicle down to your children and your children’s children and it
will be as perfect 90 years from now as it is today, because every inch of it
is guaranteed to be perfect forever. You have our written word on this.”
Against this backdrop, you can see how irreverent many born again believers are
toward God’s written word that records “By one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And
“We [not will be but] are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all.” The only
people God sees as perfect, as Himself, are the redeemed. Therefore, “if thou wilt be perfect, ye must
be born again!” (Matt. 19:21, John 3:3)
When a soul comes to Christ, it is “purged” from sin and sanctified by
the blood of Jesus: “perfected forever.” (Heb. 10:1-14) After Christ’s sanctifies you with eternal redemption, in God’s sight you
will never be less than perfect or less than redeemed, not even for a fraction
of a second. (Heb. 10:14, John 17:23)
Now, if you purchased the car that was guaranteed perfect forever, and
later found a defect in it, you could sue the dealer for false
advertising. Subsequently, if you could
lose your salvation, then “the Scripture of truth” lied by stating you had
eternal salvation, eternal redemption, eternal life, and were “perfected forever”
by the offering of Christ. Then, like
the new car salesmen, its distributor, Jesus Christ, would be a liar. (Dan.
10:21, Heb. 10:14) When you believed the
gospel it produced in you the new man born of God, without any birth defects,
perfected forever. For “Whosoever is
born of God doth not sin, and cannot sin, because he is born of God. Whosoever
is born of God sinneth not.” (1 John 3:9, 5:18)
The hidden man, born of God in you is perfected forever, because He
cannot sin. He is “Christ in you” your
eternal perfection before God. (Luke 13:32)
Perfection belongs to the Lord and not to your flesh.
42 THE
VERY DEFINITIONS OF ETERNAL LIFE AND EVERLASTING LIFE REVEAL
THE
PERMANENCE OF THE ETERNAL SALVATION OF THE REDEEMED.
John 10:28
“I give unto them eternal life; and they shall
never perish.”
In the eyes of most
Christians, asking them to choose between eternal life or everlasting life
would be like asking them to choose between their right hand and their right
hand. This is because many Christians
think everlasting life is synonymous with eternal life, when it is not. The fundamental differences between these
life-types become more clear when outlined in geometric expressions. For example, natural life has a definite
starting point (birth) and a definite endpoint (death).
Birth Death
Natural
Life is depicted as: •----------------•
The natural life of mankind begins in the womb of women. Everlasting life is different than natural life, because everlasting life begins when the soul receives the atonement. From that point, the soul is endowed with life everlasting, which begins but has no end, as depicted below.
Birth Death
Natural
life •----------------•
Soul
Atoned
Everlasting Life is
represented as:
*---------------------------------->
From here to eternity communion with God
Everlasting life was issued from the time of Abel
until the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and will resume issuance
after the rapture of the Church, when:
“the
gospel of the kingdom,”
that was preached by John the Baptist, resumes being “preached to all the world as a witness” by the 144,000 Jewish men. (Matt. 24:14, Rev. 14:4)
The following life-type is superior by
far, since it has no beginning and no end.
It is eternal life. This gift of
God is depicted below:
Birth Death
Natural life •--------------------------•
Soul endowed with the ever
existent Life of the Eternal God
Eternal Life is represented as: Eternity Past <-------------*----------------------------->
Eternity Future
Soul redeemed
The
added benefit of having eternal life
versus everlasting life is that eternal life is the exact life of God Himself
and is sometimes referred to as “Zoe,” which literally means the life of
God. Jesus Christ issues eternal life
exclusively to those who believe:
“the gospel of the grace of God”
enacted
at His resurrection and to be preached until the rapture of the Church. (Heb.
9:16-17, Acts 20:24, Gal. 1:11-12)
Truly, Paul must have rejoiced when he wrote “when Christ, who is our life shall
appear, then shall we appear with him in glory.” (Col. 3:4) Eternal
life will only be issued between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the
rapture of his Church.
Our Old Testament heroes were believers before the resurrection ratified the good news with its better promises, which included having the divine nature, the exact life of “the great God” Himself. (1 John 3:9) Neither Abraham, the friend of God, Noah, the preacher of righteousness, nor the perfect Job have eternal life – only life everlasting. Not even David, the man after God’s own heart, or Moses, the Lawgiver, possess eternal life. They only have everlasting life. Jesus stated that no greater man was born of woman than John the Baptist, but not even John possesses eternal life. Scripture states:
“Among
them that are born of women there
hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist
notwithstanding;
he that is least in the kingdom
of
heaven is greater than he.” (Matt. 11:11)
The least member in the body of Christ has preferred status above John the Baptist, the greatest man born of woman. (Col. 1:13) Although John received the atonement, he was not a member of the body of Christ, sharing God’s exact life. John was not born again and thereby was not a son of God by the second birth, but rather a servant of God. (John 5:35) Like John, Abraham was a friend of God, but not a son of God. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2) To be like Him is to have the exact life of God Himself, which is to be:
“Without father, without mother, without
descent,
having neither beginning of days, nor end of
life;
but made like unto the son of God.” (Heb. 7:3)
This is life eternal. (John 17:3)
Soul redeemed
God’s life received
God’s
life in Eternity Past <-----------*-------------------> God’s life in Eternity Future
New Birth Date
Birth Death
Natural life •------------------•
name
of the son of God; that ye may know that ye have
eternal
life, and we are in him that is true, even in his son
[past tense] given us eternal life and this life is in his Son.”
(1
John 5:13, 11)
Notice no endpoints are represented in the lifeline of eternal life, for God’s life is uninhibited. It’s “life without end.”
43 BORN AGAIN
BELIEVERS ARE SAVED TO THE UTTERMOST. Hebrews 7:25
"Wherefore
he is able to save them to the uttermost those that come unto God
by him.”
Webster's Dictionary defines the uttermost as the furthest
distance from its point of reference.
Born again believers have been saved to the uttermost. To illustrate what this means let’s use earth
as a reference point. Suppose you were
transported to the uttermost that being the farthest distance from earth, then
informed you had only “three score years and ten” (70 years) to make it back to
the planet. You couldn’t return from the
uttermost region of the universe in a lifetime, even if you traveled at twice
light speed.
The
Uttermost Region of the Universe
|
| Your 70
year life span spent in
| trying
to return from the uttermost
| at twice light speed!
V Times up!
Focal point planet Earth
·
In seventy light years of
travel, you wouldn’t even come close.
Now,
let’s apply this theorem to your soul being “saved to the uttermost.” As Christians, we must use hell as our point
of reference, because that is what God saved us from. Being saved to the uttermost, our soul was
translated out of “the power of darkness into the
Nevertheless, headstrong believers have
little regard for our Savior’s statement that “without me you can do
nothing.” They presume that without Him
they can transport their redeemed souls from the uttermost of God’s kingdom to
the nether regions of hell. The previous
illustration showed that you could not make it back from the physical uttermost
in a lifetime, even if you traveled at twice light speed. So, why do Christians
think they can make the trip from an even further distance and plunge their
souls into hell itself from which Christ saved them? Quite frankly, according to Romans 5:13, a
carnal Christian could commit many sins in a lifetime, and not one of those
sins would mitigate his salvation because the Scriptures state, “Sin is not imputed (charged against you) when
there is no law, and ye are not under law but under grace.” (Rom. 5:13,
6:14) Although
we sin, God has saved the born again in such a way that sin cannot annul their
salvation. (Gal. 3:17, 1 John 3:4)
The
following “
·
“Ye are not under law.” (Rom. 6:14)
·
“When there is no law, sin is not imputed (charged against you)” (Rom.
5:13)
·
“Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute (charge) sin.”
(Rom. 4:8)
·
For “who shall lay anything to the charge of
God’s elect. It is “Christ that justifieth.” (Rom. 8:33)
·
“Without the law sin is dead.”
(Rom. 7:8)
·
“Where there is no law there is no transgression i.e., sin.” (
·
“Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the
law.” (Rom. 3:28)
·
“Being justified by grace we have peace with God through our
Lord
Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:1)
These recorded precepts in God’s Word are quite unsettling to those who teach that the born again can lose their salvation by sinning. It is only because the born again are not under law that our intercessor can say, “Father lay not this sin to their charge.” For “sin is not imputed [charged against you] when there is no law,” and the born again “are not under law but under grace.” No one but the redeemed have been saved to this uttermost degree recorded in Romans 4:8 that reads, “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not impute sin.” This is why the born again can never lose their salvation.
Note: Brethren, “ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh” lest “the name of God be blasphemed through you” by those outside Christ. (Gal 5:13, Rom. 2:24) When you find carnal Christians abusing their liberty, as a custodian of the gospel, you are responsible to exhort him or her to stop “that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.” (1 Tim. 6:1) In 1 Corinthians 9:23 and 10:29-33, Paul wrote that he restrained his liberty in Christ for the “gospel’s sake” stating, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient [profitable]: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” (1 Cor. 10:23) Although sin is not being imputed to the redeemed, the redeemed will give account of themselves to God for actions that hinder the furtherance of the gospel. Therefore, Paul wrote “Take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak…” (1 Cor. 8:9) The Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Cor. 5:10 that God was not imputing (charging) sin to believers in Christ, and King Solomon’s warning is appropriate for such carnal Christians:
“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer
thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine
heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that
for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Therefore, put away evil from thy flesh.” (Eccl. 11:9-10)
44
NO
SAINT, SINNER, DEVIL OR DEMON CAN REMOVE THE SEAL OF THE
SPIRIT FROM OFF THE REDEEMED. Eph. 1:13
“After ye believed the gospel ye wwere sealed with the Spirit of
promise.”
Isn’t
it wonderful that God Almighty thought enough of His plan of salvation to seal
us in the body of his Son the moment we first believed his gospel? (2 Cor. 1:22)
Believers who say we can lose our salvation evidently don’t think much
of the seal of God. Hosts of Christians
are audacious enough to believe they can (by their sinfulness, no less) break
God’s seal to loosen themselves from the body of Christ. According to Christ, John the Baptist was the
greatest man born of woman, yet even John, being the pinnacle of greatness,
admitted he wasn’t worthy to loosen “a shoe latchet” off Christ’s physical
body. Therefore, to presume yourself
worthy to loosen the seal of God from your soul that is preserved in Christ’s
resurrected and glorified body is foolhardy indeed.
When
“Who is
worthy to open the book, and loose the
seals
thereof. And no man in heaven, nor in
earth,
neither under the earth was able....” (Rev. 5:2-3)
Since “no man in heaven” was able to loosen the seals
contained in the book, we must conclude Christians cannot loosen God’s
seals. For if a man is in heaven, he is
of consequence a Christian, since those who are not redeemed certainly aren’t
allowed there. (1 John 2:23). Not even
When John heard “the Seven
Thunders” rumble prophesies regarding earth’s inhabitants before Christ’s
Second Coming, God instructed him to “Seal up those things which the seven
thunders have uttered, and write them not.” (Rev. 10:4) Has one secret the Seven Thunders uttered
been unsealed and revealed to this day?
No. Also consider, when God
revealed to Daniel what the end of the world would hold, he told Daniel to go
his way “For the words are closed up and
sealed till the time of the end.” (Dan. 12:9)
Has any Christian unsealed the words Daniel sealed till the end
times? No. Have you unsealed one mystery the Seven
Thunders uttered? No. Should you have
been counted worthy to loosen the seals on those books in heaven? No.
Then, Christ would ask, “If you cannot do that which is least, why take
ye thought for the greater?”
The Scriptures state that the Holy Spirit has sealed you unto the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30)
Now do you think you can make a liar out of God’s Holy Spirit by
unsealing yourself before the appointed day?
The very thought that someone can loosen the seal of eternal salvation
is demented, the height of absurdity, and blasphemous! According to the word of God, any soul the
Spirit seals shall remain sealed until “the day of redemption” and not a moment
sooner. (Eph. 4:30) If you put your trust in Jesus for the
salvation of your soul, the Holy Spirit has sealed
your fate.
Note: At the time of the loosening of the seals,
John the Baptist, the greatest man born of woman, was in heaven. Yet, he could not approach the book, though
he was the greatest. John the Baptist,
like believers today, was not worthy to break God’s seals. Until the redemption of our bodies, it is
preposterous for us to think we are presently qualified to loosen the seal of
God’s Holy Spirit that grafts us into the body of Christ.
45 CHRIST IN YOU IS THE ANCHOR OF YOUR SOUL,
AND THIS IS ONE ANCHOR
THAT DOES NOT DRAG! Heb. 6:19
"Which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast...."
In 1st Timothy
1:1, we find the "Lord Jesus Christ is our hope." He is "Christ in you,
the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27)
After a soul believes the gospel, "the Captain of our salvation”
drops anchor in that soul, an anchor that is “both sure and steadfast,” the
hidden man. According to Webster's
Dictionary, an anchor’s responsibility is to hold a vessel securely in
place. Notice it isn’t the vessel's
responsibility to keep itself from drifting away, because vessels have not this
ability —and neither do you. If you
could keep yourself in Christ, then you would not need an anchor of
salvation. Our problem is that we don’t
remain sure (reliable) and steadfast at all times. The definition of the word sure is "secure,
safe, stable; always effective, can be relied upon, trustworthy; that which
will not fail." The only person
with these attributes is our anchorman, Jesus Christ.
Another, characteristic of the believer’s anchor is
that it is steadfast which means
“firmly established, that which cannot be moved.” After its redemption, your soul can never
drag anchor into hell’s harbor or the lake of fire, because Jesus Christ is the
anchor of your soul “whom the heavens must retain until the restitution of all
things.” If you could lose your
salvation and be cast into hell, Jesus Christ would have to be dragged from His
Father's presence and hurled from heaven like Satan into the pit, since He is
your anchor that is both sure and steadfast.
Do believers actually think their “anchor within the veil” carries no weight with God? Evidently, because many Christians sing an old hymn that erroneously indicates that their faithfulness is the anchor that “holds and grips the solid rock” Christ Jesus. The anchor of your soul holds you. You do not hold Him. As David prophesied, He “holdeth our soul in life." (Ps. 66:9) Jesus anchored the born again in His body and promised His Father never to let you go. (John 17:12) A believer's faith and faithfulness can swerve, waver, be blown about, or become shipwrecked, whereas the believer’s soul cannot. Jesus is the anchor of your soul’s salvation, until the day the Father hoists it up into Glory. You are no longer the master of your fate or the captain of your soul; Jesus is! (Heb. 2:10)
46 JESUS
REVEALED THAT ONE DRINK FROM THE WELL OF SALVATION CAUSES YOU TO LIVE FOREVER. John 4:10-15
“If thou knewst the gift of God and who it is
that saith unto thee, give me to drink
thou
wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water.
Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the
water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into
everlasting life.”
Concerning the “wells of salvation” called the
gospel, Jesus states its partakers shall never thirst for life again, because
this water in them shall spring up into everlasting life. (John 4:10-14) Then come legalists, ever to make a lie of
the words of Christ by boasting that the born again have the power to cap off
this fountain of life at will — their human will. Apparently they know something Jesus doesn’t,
or else He was speaking of them when He, by His spirit, said:
“They have
forsaken me, the fountain of life,
and
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that
can hold no water.” (Jer. 2:13)
Legalists want the born again to think the new creation delivered to them at the new birth is a broken cistern that cannot hold the water of life without their flesh’s permission. In spite of Jesus’ words, legalists teach that you must go back again and again to take another drink each time you stray. They presume you can make yourself thirsty again and again for this gift of eternal life. This would make our Lord a liar, because He claimed to give you the water of life so you would never thirst for life again. Yet legalists say, “Not so Lord.” At this point I sigh in my spirit crying, “Dear Jesus! Deliver me from your followers.” The definition of a legalist is a false teacher who despises the grace of God that saves them, whereas a pure legalist is a false teacher who despises the grace of God that saves others. Through their natural reasoning, legalists have forsaken the words of life, and hewn out false doctrines that cannot hold water. Their theories on losing salvation are broken cisterns. May God grant you Samson’s strength and Solomon’s wisdom to crush their broken cisterns to pieces. For once a sinner drinks of the gospel by grace through faith in Christ, that one drink is sufficient to save that soul forever.
When Philip
met an Ethiopian Eunuch who was trying to understand Scripture, Philip offered
that black man a drink of the gospel, and the man accepted Jesus as his savior
and went on his way rejoicing. (Jer. 13:23, Acts 8:26-35, 39) For with joy he drank water “from the well of
salvation.” (Isa. 12:3) Philip did not
schedule a follow-up meeting with this first documented non-Jewish convert to
Christianity to give him another sip.
Neither did the man tremble in fear of losing his newly found
salvation. One drink sent that African
on his way, rejoicing in the joy of his salvation, Jesus Christ. Thank God this babe in Christ did not run
into the legalists Paul fought who would have saddled him with false conditions
for retaining his salvation. (Gal. 6:13)
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one drink. (John 4:14, 1 Cor. 10:4)
47 THE
BELIEVER’S ETERNAL LIFE IS KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD IN THE HANDS OF A FAITHFUL
CREATOR. 1 Peter 1:5, 2 Corinthians 4:7, 3:5
“Who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. We have this
treasure [Christ in us] in our earthen vessels that the excellency of the power
may be of God, and not of us. Not that we are
sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves, our sufficiency
is of God.”
In spite of ourselves we, the
redeemed, are kept by “the power of God,” so that “the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us.” (1 Cor. 1:24, 2 Cor. 4:7) Christians who fear losing their salvation
have such irrational fears because they think the power keeping them saved is
partially of them and not fully of God. Our human nature lusts against the
excellency of the power that keeps us saved, desiring to furnish some of this
power itself, so it can boast of his character, its works, and its noble
achievements. This is why God crucified our old man with Christ – to eliminate
this boasting. (
“We
have committed the keeping of our souls to him as unto a faithful Creator.” (1
Pet. 4:19)
“We are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation.” (1 Pet. 1:5)
We cannot lose our salvation, because our Lord
declared that we are in His hand, and He is in His Father’s hand. Jesus further stated, “I give unto them
eternal life: and no man shall pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28) Aren’t
you just a man? Be ye woman or
human? Jesus proclaimed that no man can pluck the redeemed out of His
hand, and your “old man” is the only scoundrel rambunctious enough to try. You’re in good hands with Jesus.
48 THE
BORN AGAIN ARE "SAVED BY HIS LIFE,” NOT THEIRS. Rom. 5:10
"much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life."
Contrary to popular belief,
the born again are not saved by living a disciplined life, for no one can live
a life sinless enough for God to accept. The only life God can admit into his
kingdom is the life that has no ability to
sin. For:
"there shall in no wise enter into it anything
that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination, or maketh a lie.” (Rev. 21:27)
Since Solomon wrote, “there
is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” The only
life within believers that does not and cannot sin (defile) is the life of
Christ in them. (1 John 3:9, John 14:6)
As far as God is concerned, you have no life, except Christ in you, “For
if Christ be in you, your body is dead.” (Rom. 8:10) For “who hath the son hath life.” Believers
are like father Abraham who could not rely upon “his own body that was dead,” while he yet lived. (Rom. 4:19) When it comes to your salvation, your
"dead body" can only produce "dead works" which cannot
initiate or sustain eternal salvation.
Does a Christian's works profit for rewards? Yes! But salvation? No!
According to Scripture, “We shall be saved by his life.” (Rom.
5:10) Funny, it doesn’t mention a thing
about ours! Wounds the pride of the
flesh doesn’t it?
“Does the Scripture say in vain"
that you are to "hate" your life?
(Luke 14:26) Job thought he was living the life, and God affirmed
he was indeed. (Job 1:8) Are you
"living the life" as perfectly as Job? When you walk into town, do "princes lay
their hands on their mouths” to refrain from speaking? Do the tongues of nobles cleave to the roofs
of their mouths at your introduction?
Does your presence make widows’ hearts sing for joy? Do the dying call you to their bedside to
will you their wealth? Do you break the
jaws of the wicked to protect the helpless?
Do men wait in silence for you to speak, then afterwards remain silent?
(Job 29:7-25) Perfect Job had all these
credentials, yet when he was in the Lord’s presence, he said, "I abhor
(hate) myself and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6) Like Job, we are to abhor, i.e.
"hate," our life, because our life is as far from true holiness as
self-righteousness is from "the righteousness of God” which is by faith in
Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:9)
The Scriptures state “if Christ be in you, your body is dead
because of sin.” Obviously the dead can
do no living; right, wrong, or otherwise. (Romans 8:10) Since “ye are dead and your life is hid with
Christ in God,” it is Christ in you that is doing the living, for he is “our
life.” (Col. 3:4) Scriptures declare
that the born again shall "be saved by his life," and not by anything
within their own, save Jesus Christ. (Col. 3:3,