Category Archives: Eternal Security

Worshipers Remember God’s Work

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Worship Includes Memories

Have you ever considered that a proper worship of God includes your memories? It’s not proper worship to be disengaged with our minds! King David tells Israel to worship God by remembering all that’s He’s done for them: “Remember the wonderful works He has done, His wonders, and the judgments He has pronounced” (1 Chronicles 16:12).  In other words, give testimony to the work that God is doing; and, has done in your life! “Let the redeemed of the LORD proclaim that He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe” (Psalm 107:2). We worship God when we stand, before our church faith community, and testify to the way God is working in our lives!

Let The Redeemed Tell Their Story

The NIV actually translates Psalm 107:2 like this:  “Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story…” If you’re truly seeking after God in your life, He will show you how busy He is in your life! Your life will be intentional and purposeful. You’ll have stories to tell of the wonderful ways that God is at work. Notice that David follows that up by telling Israel to worship God by remembering His covenants. I’m thinking we don’t do this enough— at least not in my church! We don’t remember and rehearse enough that God is a covenant-keeping God: “Remember His covenant forever—the promise He ordained for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, swore to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob as a decree, and to Israel as an everlasting covenant” (1 Chronicles 16:14-22).

The New Covenant

At the Last Supper— on the night that He was betrayed— Jesus took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” REMEMBER the New Covenant, He says! Here’s why we can be secure in our salvation— because God has made a covenant to save us when we put our faith in Christ’s work on the cross, and He keeps us saved and seals us through that covenant confirmed by Jesus’ shed blood! Then David turns his attention to the nations: “Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Proclaim His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all peoples” (1 Chronicles 16:23). Making disciples of Christ is worship!

We Worship By Making Disciples

The making of disciples is NOT just a New Testament thing! It was never God’s plan for Israel to keep His salvation to themselves! David continues, “…all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens…”; “Ascribe to the Lord, families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength” (1 Chronicles 16:26,28). Israel, like the Church, was to be a peculiar people and a priesthood of believers to the world! It is the destiny of future history that one day, “…every tribe, every nation, and every people group will be gathered around the throne of God to worship Him…” (Revelation 7:9). Have you ever considered that it’s an act of worship when we make disciples? It honors Jesus’ commission! REMEMBER THAT!

What Happens After We Die?

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That Question Has Some Anxiety Attached To It

I’m convinced that even the most devout follower, of Jesus Christ, approaches death with some anxiety. You can be secure in your faith & in your relationship with Jesus! You can totally believe that you’re going to spend eternity with Him; but, still have a certain fear because of the “unknown”! There’s always some anxiety when we’re forced into something new; what does it feel like to die? In part we fear death because it’s beyond our control, isn’t it?

Don’t Fear The Reaper

It’s that image of the Grim Reaper lurking around the corner; stalking us; and, we never know “when” he’s gonna show up, do we? John 14:1-6 begins with Jesus words to His disciples: “Let not your hearts be troubled…”; and, He tells them why in v.6: “…because I am the way, the truth & the life.” If you’ve placed your trust in Jesus’ atonement work on the cross than you don’t have to fear death because Jesus IS your life! The fear of death can paralyze you; but, knowing you have eternal life in Christ sets you free from that fear! And, in that text, Jesus tells the disciples that they don’t have to fear death because after they die, they get out of here! “I will come again,” Jesus says in v.3, “and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Death Benefits

That’s one of the benefits of death—we get out of here! No more heartaches & betrayals; no more worries & anxieties! Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble.” And, don’t we know it! Jesus shared another benefit in v.2—after we die, we get a room in God’s Big House! “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told that I go to prepare a place for you?” God has a house! Not a hotel! Not an Inn; but, a big house! He’s not going to run out of space; and, if you have life in Christ, there’s a room reserved for you, with your name on it! We’re not going to be guests in a lodge! We’re His CHILDREN! We’ll live in His house with Him! In v.3 Jesus said: “I will take you to myself!” That’s the best part of death! We “inherit” Jesus! He’s the real “treasure” that we seek; and, we’ll have Him—ALL of Him—when He takes us to Himself!

We Don’t Mourn Like An Unbeliever

I have watched many friends & loved ones die; and, I mourn! But, not for them! I don’t wish that they could come back to me! I would never wish that upon them! I would never wish for them to come back to this place! I mourn for ME! That I remain behind! While I suffer & mourn the temporary loss of their friendship, I rejoice for them! I’m jealous for them; and, I long for the day when we’ll be reunited in a better place; but, NOT HERE! Oh, there’s some tension there, isn’t there—we still have Jesus’ Kingdom work to do while we remain! But, we don’t hold too tightly to anything here!

 

Can We Lose Our Salvation?

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Can I Lose My Salvation?

As a 13-year old, new follower of Jesus, that was a question that haunted me! Was I strong enough to keep it? Or, was I capable of doing something to lose it? It’s a question that just won’t go away.

But, They Said The “Sinners Prayer”

Usually, someone is asking because they know a person who professed faith in Jesus Christ, only to leave it and go back to a life of sin. Surely they must have “lost” their salvation because they said the “Sinners Prayer”—a “prayer”, by the way, that I’ve never found in Scripture.

Jesus: “I Know Them!”

What I have read in Scripture, that addresses this concern, are the words of Jesus in John 10:27-29: “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Notice the intimacy? “I KNOW them!” Jesus says. There is a “personal” relationship!

Jesus: “I Never Knew Them”

By contrast, look at what Jesus said about another group of people: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, I never knew you! Depart from Me” Matthew 7:21-23. To this group Jesus will say, “I NEVER knew you!” It’s possible, according to Jesus, to do all kinds of “churchy” things & to have never been saved! (See also 1 John 2:19; 2 Peter 2:22)

Where Is Our Security?

Look again at the John passage. Jesus describes a genuine believer—they hear His voice; they follow Him; He gives them eternal life; and, they’ll never perish! No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand! Do you hear what Jesus is saying? He’s saying that for someone to lose eternal life, they’d have to be more powerful than God to wrestle a soul away from Him! Bottom Line:  “The security of our salvation rests not in our power to stay saved; but, in God’s power to keep us saved”

Speaking Of A Pseudo-Faith

Peter said: “It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud” 1 Peter 2:22 You can dress them up & show them at the county fair; but, bring them back to the farm & where do they go? The hog goes back to the slop & the dog eats his own vomit! Because that’s who they are! That’s their nature! Place an unbeliever in an environment of believers for a time & they may appear to be a believer! But, given the opportunity, they return to the slop & vomit of the world! Why? Because that’s who they are! That’s their nature!