This is a recently published article I wrote for examiner.com.
Many people have many different views of salvation. What exactly is it? To fully understand salvation, we must first look at man and our relationship with God. If our relationship were completely intact, as it was prior to the fall, man would be free to commune with God regularly. However, due to the fall of Adam, that relationship between God and man, although primary, is impossible due to our innate sin nature. God has judged us and found us guilty of sin therefore, we are unable to be in His presense. However, through justification through the union with Christ, we have moved from guilty to not guitly. We are now deemed just in the eyes of God and we are seen as fulfilling the divine requirements set forth by God. Not only are we in need of reestablishing our relationship with God, we must now realize that work must be accomplished within our heart. This is the basic change in one’s life from the natural inclination to sin to the intent to live righteously. Through regeneration, which the literal term is new birth, man is changed from a child of the world to a child of God and is discussed in Titus 3:4-7. We are changed so we can now respond to the work of the Holy Spirit with our whole being including an altered disposition, a mind illuminated toward God and His work, our free will open to guidance, and a renewed nature.
Due to innate differences between us and God, this is how God can have us in His presence. The Holy Spirit works within us, transforming us to Christ’s image. Sanctification is not only necessary, but a gift from God. In order to be in God’s presence, our nature must be changed, and God desires for us to follow His will, and be within His kingdom. Sanctification allows for that transformation to take place, allowing us to actively participate in the work of His kingdom. The Lord has provided us with full redemption as well as full pardon from our sins. The Holy Spirit then sanctifies us and we are deemed not guilty through redemption, righteousness and sanctification. This is the most amazing gift as God sees us instantly sanctified through Christ and we are set apart for a specific purpose.
Can we lose our salvation? Biblically no. A believer cannot lose their salvation due to the work the Lord has done within his or her life. Through justification, regeneration and sanctification the believer is now in a state acceptable to God. Within the believer’s spirit the work of the Holy Spirit will initiate change within the person with long lasting results.
There are also scriptural references to this in we can see that God is holding fast to us, never allowing us to be taken from His Hand, and never casting us out. John 5:24, 6:37, 10:27-30, 14:13-14, and 17:12.
By looking at each verse our salvation is secure in Christ because His work is not lacking in any way.
There are a couple of problems invovled thinking the believer can lose their salvation. The first problem would be that Christ would have then died a limited death. If Christ’s death only covers certain sins, or up to a specific point then His death was lacking and was not able to cover all people and sins, although it states the fact that Christ’s death is sufficient for us all clearly within Scripture in Romans 8:30. Our salvation would ultimately have a yo-yo effect as we could daily lose our salvation due to sin, and daily repent, only to lose it again the next minute.
The second problem would be that we are then on a works based system. The reason to say this is because, once we have received our salvation, we must do something, or continue to do something in order to maintain it. If we do not fulfill these requirements, we are no longer in God’s grace. That then leads to the argument of while we were in our sin, Christ came to us and pulled us out. We are now justified, regenerated, and sanctified, yet afterward we did not complete some requirement, although it is not stated in the Bible what that requirement or requirements might be; we are now in the same shape as we were before our relationship with Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, or ever more so, we are now even worse than we were before. This mindset will lead to tremendous anxiety and will limit our growth in the Lord.
Due to innate differences between us and God, this is how God can have us in His presence. The Holy Spirit works within us, transforming us to Christ’s image. Sanctification is not only necessary, but a gift from God. In order to be in God’s presence, our nature must be changed, and God desires for us to follow His will, and be within His kingdom. Sanctification allows for that transformation to take place, allowing us to actively participate in the work of His kingdom. The Lord has provided us with full redemption as well as full pardon from our sins. The Holy Spirit then sanctifies us and we are deemed not guilty through redemption, righteousness and sanctification. This is the most amazing gift as God sees us instantly sanctified through Christ and we are set apart for a specific purpose.
Can we lose our salvation? Biblically no. A believer cannot lose their salvation due to the work the Lord has done within his or her life. Through justification, regeneration and sanctification the believer is now in a state acceptable to God. Within the believer’s spirit the work of the Holy Spirit will initiate change within the person with long lasting results.
There are also scriptural references to this in we can see that God is holding fast to us, never allowing us to be taken from His Hand, and never casting us out. John 5:24, 6:37, 10:27-30, 14:13-14, and 17:12.
By looking at each verse our salvation is secure in Christ because His work is not lacking in any way.
There are a couple of problems invovled thinking the believer can lose their salvation. The first problem would be that Christ would have then died a limited death. If Christ’s death only covers certain sins, or up to a specific point then His death was lacking and was not able to cover all people and sins, although it states the fact that Christ’s death is sufficient for us all clearly within Scripture in Romans 8:30. Our salvation would ultimately have a yo-yo effect as we could daily lose our salvation due to sin, and daily repent, only to lose it again the next minute.
The second problem would be that we are then on a works based system. The reason to say this is because, once we have received our salvation, we must do something, or continue to do something in order to maintain it. If we do not fulfill these requirements, we are no longer in God’s grace. That then leads to the argument of while we were in our sin, Christ came to us and pulled us out. We are now justified, regenerated, and sanctified, yet afterward we did not complete some requirement, although it is not stated in the Bible what that requirement or requirements might be; we are now in the same shape as we were before our relationship with Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, or ever more so, we are now even worse than we were before. This mindset will lead to tremendous anxiety and will limit our growth in the Lord.
The Lord’s work is perfect, and it has nothing to do with us and our feelings about it, or our reaction within it. To say that we can lose our salvation limits the work of Jesus on the Cross and within our lives, making God less than He is and putting too much faith in us, our works and our state. When God sees us, He sees Christ, the only sinless being to live, so our actions are overshadowed by His grace. The work of the Holy Spirit within our lives, hearts and minds will lead to the change so we can live obediently with our eyes focused on God and His kingdom, not our lives and this world.
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Do we really understand salvation? - Provo Christianity | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/christianity-in-provo/what-really-is-salvation#ixzz1L4m4rC14
If you like that, check me out at http://www.examiner.com/christianity-in-provo/what-really-is-salvation
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