KEEP YOUR SALVATION

Partners In Courage, August 2021

Keep Your Salvation!

Sermon by Wes Daughenbaugh

Introduction: Salvation from sin and eternal judgment can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ.  This salvation is a free gift.  Those who receive it have not earned it or deserved it.  However, they have done several things to receive it.

            1.  They humbled themselves and admitted they were not good enough to go to heaven on the basis of their own good works.

            2.  They repented of their sins and asked God’s forgiveness.

            3.  They believed that Jesus is God in human form and believed that God raised him from the dead. 

            4.  They received Christ Himself, opening the door of their hearts to his entrance by His Holy Spirit.

            5.  They publicly confessed their faith in Jesus by receiving him in the presence of other people, testifying before people that they had accepted him, and/or by water baptism (in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) thereby publicly identifying with him.

            There is a demonic lie that has permeated the Body of Christ on earth.  It sounds right, but is in fact two lies in one.  Here is the lie:  “We did nothing to obtain our salvation, therefore we can do nothing to lose it.”

            The first lie is that you did nothing to obtain salvation.  But of course, if you have salvation, then you DID do something.  You humbled yourself, admitted your need, repented of your sins, believed on Christ, received him into your life and publicly identified with him, unashamed to be called by his name. The second lie is that you can’t do anything to lose it—once saved, always saved, “eternal security.”

            Salvation cannot be lost after a person dies in faith and enters heaven.  But while we live on earth, salvation can be lost, and is in fact obtained and then lost by millions. 

            Salvation cannot be lost accidentally.  We can be absolutely sure of our salvation.   You will be more sure of your salvation if you understand that you can lose it and understand how to keep it.  That is the purpose of this writing, to help you keep salvation until you cross the finish line into eternal glory where salvation is then eternal security.

1. A person can get out of Christ by doing the opposite

of what got them into Christ.

            1.  They can exalt themselves in pride, which is independence from God.

            Paul instructed Timothy not to let a novice be put into the office of a pastor, “not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil,” (1 Ti. 3:6-7 NKJV).  Seasoned veterans should read this and tremble. There are many haughty and prideful pastors and Christian “leaders.”  If God will not excuse the pride of a novice, God will certainly not excuse the self-exaltation of a veteran preacher!

            Both the Apostle James and the Apostle Peter quote, “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble,” (James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 NKJV).

            If grace was solely “unmerited favor” then God would give grace to the proud.  Many say, “Nothing we do can cause us to lose our salvation because we have it by grace.”  But if you are self-exalting, prideful and arrogant and do not repent—you will not have grace.  You will only have God resisting you! 

            2. They can choose sin and refuse to repent. This is called rebellion.  Rebellion is never covered by the blood of Christ.  God always sees rebellion, gives warnings, and if a person persists in rebellion and dies in it, they forfeit salvation.

            3.  They can deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ and put their faith in some other god. This is idolatry. Idolatry is never covered by the blood of Christ.  Greed is a form of idolatry—where money becomes first in a person’s life, rather than the Lord.  Self could become first.  Some other person could become first.  Whatever you put first is your god.  Jesus must be Lord of all or he is not Lord at all.

            4. They can harden their hearts and close their hearts to the Holy Spirit.

            5.  They can be ashamed to be identified with Jesus and publicly deny him.

2. All this can be easily proved with scriptures.  But

first, you must realize that God has made your

salvation as secure as he possibly can.

            **** When a person makes an offer to buy a house they sign a purchase agreement and put down a deposit, an earnest money deposit.  The seller has to accept this offer.  Then the house moves toward “closing.”  It is sold, but the deal isn’t finalized until closing.

            The Bible says that God put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (1 Cor. 1:22 NIV).  The same thing is repeated in 2 Cor. 5:5.  If a buyer makes an offer for a million dollar house and puts down $500,000 in an earnest money deposit, it’s very likely that he or she would follow through and pay the full amount. They would not want to lose the deposit.  If they change their mind and decide they don’t want the house, then the seller could keep the deposit.

            In God’s case, he has put down a deposit that is too big to lose.  He has put down His own spirit as a deposit. This means he cannot back out of the deal.  So from his side, he has done all he can to purchase your salvation.  The sacrifice of Jesus is in God’s bank, so to speak, all that’s needed to purchase you for himself forever.  The great earnest deposit has been made—His own Spirit.  He won’t be backing out of the deal.

            **** However, the seller can back out, no matter how large the deposit is.  Up until closing, the seller can back out. If the seller does back out, the buyer could take him to court and he would be liable to judgment.

            This is the way it is with salvation.  God cannot back out of the deal, but YOU can.  If you do, you’ll be liable to the judgment of God—which is eternal judgment reserved for the wicked.

            Therefore we fear the Lord.  We do not fear that he will back out of our salvation. Rather we fear his judgment if we back out! 

 

3. The devil likes to turn grace into a license for sin. 

            He does this by redefining grace as only unmerited favor.  Real grace gives us spiritual power to overcome sin, temptations, the world and the devil.  Grace and power always go together.  But false grace is lazy and weak.  It cannot do anything, because it thinks, “If I do anything then I’ll be trying to earn my salvation by works.” 

            This false grace negates every command of Jesus.  Jesus says that we must forgive or we cannot be forgiven.  Proponents of this false grace immediately take issue with that. “If we have to forgive someone, then it means we’ll actually be doing something to obtain salvation.  But we are saved by grace, that not of ourselves, not of works, lest any man boast” (Paraphrase of Eph. 2:8-9).  Thus they twist the words of the Apostle Paul to negate the words of the Lord Jesus himself! Paul said, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV). But they ignore the words of the Apostle James who wrote, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?  So also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.  But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”  Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:14-18 ESV). It takes faith to receive grace!  And real faith is alive and active.

            The proverb says, “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth” (Prov. 26:15 NIV). That is what false grace is like.  It’s so lazy it cannot do anything.  It cannot obey—that would be a “work.”  It cannot forgive.  That would be a “work.”  Thus unforgiveness and disobedience are excused and “grace” becomes a license for sin.

            Proponents of this false grace always say, “Those who refuse to repent or obey were never really saved in the first place.”  This is biblical ignorance gone to seed!

            The Bible says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son” (Rom. 8:29 NIV).  Foreknowledge means that he knows in advance what you will chose but does not force you to choose.  He looks ahead and knows who will stick with him and who will not.  However, on earth he treats them just the same.   The same level of kindness and faithfulness and even revelation of himself is given to those who will someday forsake and betray him as to those who will faithfully obey and serve him. This even includes powerful spiritual gifts!

`           A person could say, “Jesus has appeared to me several times.  He treats me as a total friend.  I’ve been used to do miracles.  I’ve cast out demons.” Good.  But you could still turn from him.  He is treating you like a dear friend because he loves all people.  He treated Judas with the kindness of a friend.  At the last supper John whispered, “Who is it?” Jesus whispered back, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish” (John 13:26 NIV).  Jesus didn’t point to Judas and publicly berate him.  He treated him with dignity.  When Judas betrayed him with a kiss Jesus said, “Do what you came for, friend” (Matt. 26:50 NIV). He called Judas friend. 

            It is impossible for you to know if you are one whom God has foreknown.  You cannot know if anyone else is foreknown by God no matter how much God is using them right now.  Since his foreknowledge of your choices determines his choices, you must keep choosing him and his will.  You don’t doubt God. Rather, you watch yourself.  You guard yourself.  God told King Solomon, “Keep your heart with all vigilance” (Prov. 4:23 ESV).  He wrote it in his book of Proverbs, but he did not do it!  His heart was turned away from the Lord by the hundreds of young foreign women he took into his huge harem. He died in idolatry!   As the Apostle said, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12 NKJV).

           

4. The apostle Paul knew he could forfeit salvation, in

spite of being caught up to heaven in visions and

being so powerfully used by the Holy Spirit.

      He wrote, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27 NKJV).

            Paul wrote something similar to the Philippians, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

            “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made Me his own.  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.  Only let us hold true to what we have attained” (Phil. 3:8-16 ESV).

            The Resurrected Glorified Christ said twice, “Hold on to what you have” (Rev. 2:25 and Rev. 3:11 NIV). False grace, lazy grace says, “Oh no. We can’t ‘hold on’ because to hold on to something would be work, and we are saved by grace, not by works.”  So Paul would not be welcome to preach in churches where this false grace is the trusted idol, nor would Jesus Christ himself!

            Paul didn’t believe he had unconditional eternal security.  He had salvation but wasn’t across the finish line.  He didn’t rely on the past and how friendly Jesus had been to him, all the times Jesus had appeared to him and spoken to him.  He didn’t rely on his past faithfulness but pressed on to be faithful in the NOW and the future until he crossed that finish line in the faith.

5.  We all have the BIG IFs to overcome.

            In Revelation, Jesus speaks, “To him who overcomes I will give the right to eat of the tree of life” (Rev. 2:7 NKJV). He also said, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life” (Rev. 3:5 NKJV).

            Your name would have to be IN the Book of Life before your name could be blotted out of it! 

            Here are the four big IF’s Jesus spoke of.

            I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

            I am the vine; you are the branches.  (Verse 5)  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  (Verse 6)  If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (Verse 7)   If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 

            “As the Father has loved me so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love. (Verse 10) If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this:  love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:1-12 NIV).

            Jesus would not be welcome in many churches.  He says that we must obey his commands to remain in his love, and that if we do not remain in his love we will be cut off and thrown into fire as dead branches. Unconditional eternal security, once saved, always saved takes away the IF.  Lazy false grace says, “If we have to keep even one command, then we are working for salvation.  Therefore all obedience is optional.”

            Can’t you see that teaching is of the devil? What could be more demonic than a teaching that makes obeying the Lord Jesus optional?

           

6. If we could not back out of salvation then Jesus

would not have admonished us to  REMAIN in him. 

            To remain means we are in him, but we could leave.  We still have a choice.  He won’t leave us. He didn’t say, “If I remain in you.” He will remain true to salvation.  But we must remain true.

            Again, In Matthew 7, Jesus said, “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 who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV).

            Lazy grace proponents always say, “Well, those people were never saved in the first place.”  How can you cast out demons if you are not submitted to Christ?  You can’t!  These preachers in hell, of whom there are many, did not remain in Jesus. They are among the branches that were cut off and cast into the fire to be burned.  They went into rebellion or idolatry and died in that condition, trusting in a false grace that exempted them from obedience, humility, and love for other Christians.

            Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, “You will say then ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith.  Do not be arrogant, but tremble.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you, either.

            “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God:  sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.  Otherwise, you also will be cut off.  And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (Romans 11:19-23 NIV).

            You must continue in God’s kindness.  God would never cut off a living branch. He only cuts off the dead ones—those who by their own choice back out of salvation through rebellion and idolatry.

7. We must understand the blood covering.

            Paul wrote, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—IF you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel” (Col. 1:21-23 NIV).     

            Paul is writing to Christians, believers, those who have been reconciled by Christ’s atoning death and are now “holy in God’s sight.”

            **** This means that the blood of Jesus covers you like an umbrella.  As God looks down through the blood of Christ at you he sees you as holy in his sight.  You look like you are already perfect.  In fact, you don’t even have a wart or a mole or a wrinkle or an age spot!  You look beautiful, without a blemish.  And you are free from the accusation of the devil.

            But—you must not MOVE from this hope.  You move out from under the blood through rebellion and/or idolatry.  Rebellion is the opposite of repentance.  Idolatry is the opposite of faith in Christ. It is the choosing of some other god to be first place. 

            In other words, the blood of Christ covers imperfect obedience and makes you appear perfect. 

            **** Once I was going to lead a new worship song that had difficult inverted chords and many rapid changes.  I told the Lord I’d like to pretend that hitting all the right chords would be like keeping all his commands.  So I practiced, but the day I led the song I missed some of the chords.  I was dejected and said, “I didn’t do it perfect.”  Then God spoke to me, “I heard it perfect.”

            I’m so appreciative of the blood of Christ that makes me look holy in God’s sight.  I try to obey perfectly, but like the way I played the song, my obedience is usually less than perfect.  But I know that this blood is not a license to sin.  It doesn’t cover rebellion or idolatry. If I choose to walk in either of those ways, I’d move out from under this hope of eternal salvation.

            If you had eternal salvation now, you’d have complete salvation. But Peter says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation THAT IS READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME” (1 Peter 1:3-5 NIV).

            We are shielded under the powerful blood of Christ, and if we remain in him and do not move from this hope, we’ll experience the fullness of salvation—a resurrected body like unto the body of the glorified Christ and we’ll enter into eternal security, a salvation that we will never back out of.

            The writer of Hebrews, which we believe was the Apostle Paul wrote, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” (Heb. 10:26 NIV).

            If we deliberately keep on sinning—that means he’s talking to real believers who have received Jesus.  This is the very definition of rebellion—if we deliberately keep on sinning.  If we sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us, warns us, and reminds us of the words of Jesus.  We are given time to repent.

            In Revelation Jesus said, “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she was unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways” (Rev. 2:21-22 NIV).  This woman was in both rebellion and idolatry. She was teaching Christians to practice sexual immorality (rebellion) and eat foods sacrificed to idols (idolatry).  She was given time to repent.  Those who followed her ways could still repent, but if they did not repent—they would all be cast into eternal intense suffering. 

8. I pray that God will keep me as his very own.

            I know that God will not back out of salvation. However, I could succumb to temptation.  If faced with martyrdom, I could give into fear and deny the Lord.  I don’t assume I would be able to hold on without God’s help. 

            **** Once I felt like I was falling into the destruction of my faith and ministry. I was brought so low that I prayed, “Oh God. I can’t keep it together any more.  I’m falling.  But you can still keep me, I want to be kept.”

            God did keep me.  Then I realized that I was like Peter who said, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you” (Mark 14:31 NIV). He was sure that he would remain faithful, but when push came to shove, Peter denied Jesus three times!  Jesus had told him, “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32 NIV).

            So I tell the Lord, “I want to be kept.  Keep me as your very own.”  The people who rebel and who go into idolatry really don’t want to be kept.  Paul wrote, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (Titus 1:16 NIV).

            Jude wrote, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25 ESV).

            We should also pray that God will keep giving us more character virtues by his grace.  Peter wrote, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness;  and to goodness, knowledge;  and to knowledge, self-control;  and to self-control, perseverance;  and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, mutual affection;  and to mutual affection, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

            Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election.  For if you do these things you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-10 NIV).

            Again Peter wrote, “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position” (2 Peter 3:17 NIV). 

            **** You see, we are secure in Christ—as if on an observation deck on a rooftop, with a big secure railing around it.  If a person climbed up on the railing to take a selfie they could fall to their death.  They would have fallen from a secure position.

            God warns us that we could be carried away into the error of the lawless and we could fall from our secure position.  If we had eternal unconditional security now then we could not fall. 

            Notice, Peter was not preaching lazy grace.  Grace has power that empowers us.  Peter says to “make every effort to confirm your calling and election.”  We do this by growing in character virtues.

            **** Take a tree. The life of the tree is in the little green growth ring just under the bark. All the past growth is dead wood, while all the life of the tree is in the growth ring. If the tree is not growing, it is dead regardless of its glorious past!!!

            Likewise, Christians can allow their faith to become dead.  Jesus warned, “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.  I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up!  Strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.  Remember, therefore what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.  But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you” (Rev. 3:1-3 NIV).

            False lazy grace says, “You do not need to repent. You don’t need to hold fast—because if you held fast, that would be a “work” and we are saved by grace, not works.”  Thus, not even the Resurrected Christ of glory would be allowed to preach in their churches!

9. Always remember that real grace is God’s activated power.  

            See how grace and power always go together. Grace is never just a license to sin. Grace is never an excuse for spiritual laziness.  Grace is never a substitute for obedience or works of faith. Paul wrote, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:8-10 NIV).

            Notice—God was going to give him grace and it empowered him. It made him strong. It wasn’t an excuse to live in weakness and compromise.

            Paul wrote, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.  No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10 NIV). 

            This grace was not lazy!!! It empowered Paul to work harder than all other apostles, and the grace of God itself was working!  But false grace not only excuses complete laziness, it also justifies ignoring admonitions to forgive, to hold on to what we have, or to work hard as working for the Lord.

            Paul wrote, “As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1 NIV).  How could anyone receive God’s grace in vain?  This means they could received it, but then lose it. 

            Jesus said to the believers in Thyatira who had not followed after the Jezebel-type false prophetess, “I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come” (Rev. 2:25 NIV).

            Lazy false grace says, “What?  If I have to hold on to anything that will be a work and I’m saved by grace, not by works. I didn’t do anything to earn salvation, therefore I can’t do anything to lose it.”  But you can stop growing and have dead faith.  You can stop abiding and be a dead branch.  You can choose to keep on sinning and refuse repentance and nothing but raging fire that consumes the enemies of God will be your portion.  If you have real grace, you’ll be empowered to HOLD ON.  You won’t receive God’s grace in vain if you let it empower you to do God’s will.

            Again, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21 NIV).

            I love doing God’s will.  I continually pray to be “filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col. 1:9 NIV).  I thank God for the covering blood of Jesus whereby God sees me holy in his sight, without a blemish and free from accusation (Col. 1:21-22).  I’ll enjoy my secure position but I won’t take selfies on the railing, so to speak (See 2 Peter 3:17). Rather, by God’s grace I will add to my faith the character virtues of Jesus (1 Peter 1:5-10).  I’ll ask God to keep me forever as his very own (Jude 1:24).  I will never be spiritually lazy, but with God’s grace helping me I’ll work for Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind and strength (1 Cor. 15:10).  

CLOSING:  Jude wrote, “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.  They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 1:4 NIV).  Notice, they practice rebellion—unrepentant sin and they deny Jesus as Lord, meaning they are idolaters, putting something else first.  They may in fact preach Christ. Paul wrote, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (Titus 1:16 NIV).

            May the Lord Jesus cleanse his temple—the body of Christ on earth, from the demonic doctrine of unconditional eternal security that results in making rebels and idolaters feel safe in a false security, which leads to destruction.

 Come Lord Jesus.  Amen.